Sunday, Septmeber 30, 2007

Laena and I went to church in Holland for the last time today. The Temple President was there as a speaker, so we talked to him and arranged a time where we could go to the Temple on Tuesday. What perfect timing!! Did I forget to mention that the first time we went to church, one of the missionaries there thought that I was Laena's mom? I think Laena was much more insulted than I was with that news because I thought it was a little humorous. Anyway, moving on...

After church we had a delicous spinach salad and soup for lunch. Yummmm.... Then we went to the molen museum, which showed how windmills work and how they were used back in the day when the mill keeper and his family lived in them. Pretty cool!!

How would you like to carry these pails around all the time?

Then we went to Stompetoren, where the WWII memorial is with some of our family. Our Oma's sister, Tante Trien was married during WWII. Her husband and father-in-law were part of the Dutch underground railroad, and ended up getting killed by the Germans, along with many others. So this was a memorial to some of those men.


Our Tante Ita and my Oma's nephew had stained glass made to put up in the church's windows as a memorial. We also got to drive by the old farmhouse, where our Tante Trien and Ome Piet had lived when the Germans burst in, killed the men, and burned down the farm. It was a really sad story, but it does make me proud to hear how my relatives fought for their country. I had heard this story when I first went to Holland when I was 11, this was the first time I was able to see the memorial or the house, so it really brought it to life. It is a story I will never forget.



For all of the pictures from the day click here.