I'm back in Chicago... and I brought the gorgeous weather from Germany back with me :)

the trip was great and just the right length. I was at home for 5 days, and then spent 2 days in Amsterdam. The reason I went to Amsterdam was for a training course for work, but I was there a day early, so my friend Mieske picked me up from the airport in Amsterdam and took me to see the Tulip fields in full bloom. Then we went to see her new house (which is being built, but we were able to go inside and see it anyway), walked around The Hague, and then had dinner on the beach together with her boyfriend Bart. Great Day! Mieske will be in Chicago next month, and I can't wait to have her here :)

The time in Germany was great too. I've already talked about the kids Communion, but I thought I'd put up a picture of them too. I don't know why, but I don't have any pictures of all three of them in their white dresses. So I have chosen the picture of the them from the day before.

The last thing I will mention is that I flew back on KLM, and it was the first time I had flown with them since I started working for an airline. The airport in Amsterdam is really easy to get through, and check in was done entirely at a machine (including passport scan etc). Everything worked out perfect, but when I got to the gate I realized I hadn't gone through any security checks yet. To my surprise, the security check is at each gate! I thought that must be a nightmare for boarding and punctuality, but they made it work! The flight was really full, but they managed to get me into Business Class! :) Nothing special... the food wasn't good, the seat was ok, the picture quality on the TV was aweful, but at least the service was very nice! And I did sleep for a while, so I really can't complain. Oh, and I watched a great movie... The Freedom Writers! If you haven't seen it yet, go rent it. It's very inspirational. Made me wanna become a teacher.

It's always nice to be gone, but it's just as nice to come home. And sometimes jetlag rocks... I woke up at 6:30am this morning and went running - 3 miles :) Felt great to be up so early!

Hope everyone is having a lovely day....