Good Bye!

Well here are the Coles on my last day of work. Aran is holding little Oisin on the left, Darragh is in the middle and Dave on the right.

I took some pictures on my last day. It is HARD to get good pictures of children! This is Oisin. Oh, we have been thru some storms together, but we've also been thru very sunny days. I've always wanted kids, but hanging out with him has made me realize how much I REALLY want kids.

I love this one. It is such a Darragh face.

When I first watched Darragh, oh man, I just didn't care for this little guy at all. He made life so difficult! But after a few tries, we seemed to figure each other out and now I LOVE to watch him! He is so much fun! I used to dread the days where I'd have to watch both, but the last months I always looked forward to it.

Ah, I will miss them. They have been very sweet to me. The work was very hard, but it gave me so much practice. The last week went really well. It was a good way to go.

Today was our last sunday! This is our church building.

I think it's neat that our sign is in another language.

Once I walk in the doors it's on my way to Primary and I climb these steps . . .

Then these ones aren't so bad . . .

But these ones are . . .

So are these . . .

Not done yet . . .

Last one!

I suppose it's a way to get away with working out on a Sunday. It's pretty hilarious. All the kids when they reach the top are SO out of breath. Loudly panting. It's pretty funny. Makes me feel better that I'm just a little winded and not gasping for air. There is an elevator, but the one time I took it with the kids it got stuck and the kids went into panic and all started crying and shaking. It was not fun. We were in there maybe 5 minutes. I really wanted to take a picture of the whole Primary, as well as my class, but there were only 5 kids (one from my class) so it just wasn't the same. Usually we have 30 or so. I am glad to be done teaching awhile. It was really fun to play piano though. I really loved being a part of the Primary program. It really is inspired.

We have so many people to say goodbye to! This is Natasha. She is just a sweet heart.

The Berz family. They are so nice. They have the sweetest kids. Justin, the youngest, is in my sunbeam class. Rebecca teaches us Salsa! They have been very kind to us.

This is Stephanie. She is french. She loves to dance. We would moan to each other about work. She's also an Au Pair (a nanny).

Christian. He is just a sweet guy. I've probably gotten to know him better than Greg. He's also from Brazil.

Denis and Sinoui. They're both from the Congo. It's crazy, we've lived here almost a year, but we don't feel like we've really gotten to know Europeans. The people we have been befriended by the most and feel the closest to are the Brazilians and Africans. They are always so friendly and heartfelt and it makes me want to move to Africa or Brazil and meet more!

This is Queiroz. He is Brazilian. He's very nice. He only speaks french and portuguese so we mostly just smile and say hi but Greg has gotten to know him very well.

Danilo and Ana Paula

This is Louisette. The first time I met her was at a big welcoming party when the wards first split/merged together. We split into groups and she just spoke french 100 miles a minute and I kept looking at her and trying to tell her, "I have no idea what you're saying," but she just kept on talking! And just the fact that she did, though she knew I couldn't understand- I don't know, we were just instant friends. I never knew what she was saying but that night on felt very very close to her. Every sunday for 5 months she would chat to me in French and I'd almost never understand her and then 2 MONTHS AGO I find out she can TOTALLY speak english! I couldn't believe it! 

I am in love with this baby. The first time I saw her, I thought she was the tiniest thing I'd ever seen and couldn't wait to grab Greg so he could die like I was. The family was french speaking and I didn't know them at all but couldn't help but ask to hold her. She is the best feeling. It sends me to another world. Every sunday I would anticipate holding her and the last few weeks she's developed a little afro and it's so cute! 

Everyone has been so wonderful. We really have loved both the wards we've been in. Everyone has been really sweet in their goodbyes. We will think of them.

These are our headphones for translation. Our translators are amazing. They are given our talks in advance to translate, but on fast and testimony they just have to do it on the spot. They truly have the gift of tongues.

I will really miss singing hymns in french. I'm considering buying a french hymn book. There were english hymn books as well, but Greg and I always sung in french. At first I did it just to help my pronunciation, but I've really grown to love it. I've realized how well I really do know the hymns. I could figure out a lot of the french words, because I knew what they were in english. I was really surprised! As much as I've already been taught this, it was just a testament to me that God is all around the world and he speaks all languages.

Our church building was being remodeled for a couple weeks so we had to meet at the Strombeek chapel (1 1/2 hours away). As much as I hate riding all the way out there, I love the stop we get off at. There is graffiti all along the track, but the coolest graffiti I've ever seen. I LOVE it and just think it is SO incredible. 

We're pretty excited to come home! We're moving out of our apartment in 2 days! Right now we just have our bed and no other furniture. It's weird to think we'll be home in 5 days. Back to cars and more space and being able to call somebody in the same time zone. Back to cheaper, easier to find things- did you know the U.S is cheap? IT SO IS!!!! Back to public bathrooms and free water. Back to poop free sidewalks and NO MORE COBBLESTONE!!! Dishwashers and clothes washers and having more than 4 forks! Ah, back to the good ol' life. Ha ha. No we really have loved it here. We've had a fabulous time and there will be just as many things we'll miss about Belgium once we're back in the U.S again.