catching up with Sinterklaas

Last year's Sinterklaas celebration wasn't quite the roaring event it was in 2012 when we invited our Dutch returned missionary friends over to the party. Instead we got together as a family and were joined by one special returned missionary and his family. Spencer Sutherland made a big impact on Sander 14 years ago when he lived in Holland as an LDS missionary and taught Sander about the gospel once Sander decided he was curious. He also quickly became a good friend, and we have stayed friends over all this time. Then we got to know his wife Traci after we moved over here and quickly learned she is pretty great too, so we decided to let her in on the friendship. The best part: seeing our kids develop a new generation of friendship. It seems that especially Julia and Paige have found a kindred spirit in each other. Julia has stated several times that Paige's Birthday party at the Lion House was her favorite moment of 2013! 

As usual the wait to find out if Sinterklaas would pay us a visit this year was quite grueling. Luckily he didn't make us wait too long - there was a loud knock on the door as we were singing all the Sinterklaas songs we could muster and all kids (and some adults) sprang to their feet in excitement/fear. Sure enough, there on our doorstep sat the familiar burlap sack filled with the goodies only Sinterklaas could put together. All were spoiled, and many even received a personal poem written by one of the many helpful (and oh so naughty) Pieten. A few examples:

See what I mean about that naughty streak?

I want to make special mention of my friend Tom Kamstra, who played an important role in the success of our Sinterklaas celebration. Without me asking or even hinting, Tom went ahead and put a special Sinterklaas package together and mailed it to us from the Netherlands. It really made the night that much better to have things like 'strooigoed' there (the candy that Piet traditionally tosses around for the kids to scramble over). So from all of us a big DANKJEWEL to Tom! My dad was also very generous this year and ordered a bunch of traditional Sinterklaas treats for the kids (and adults) to enjoy. It all made for a night to remember! Now for the photos.

hot fun in the summertime

With the temperatures having risen to a steady 85-99 degrees F here in Utah (that's 29-37 C) we have been spending most of our time in the shade, near water, and enjoying our wonderful backyard. While these high temperatures can only motivate me to curl up into a ball of sweaty misery next to the air conditioning vent, the kids seem to thrive on them. They know our summer vacation treat this year is a season pass to the local water slide park and that is the sole topic of harassment. I was going to say 'conversation' but when you have 4 kids constantly bombarding you with whine-question torpedoes, harassment is really more accurate.

*quick in-between-note: Lara just informed me that she will name her first daughter Wendy's, and her first son Denny's. I figure she should just have 4 more boys so she can name them Five Guys. (that one was thanks to my mom's quick wit)*

It's safe to say these guys love the Slip 'n Slide. Unfortunately our outside water pressure leaves a bit to the imagination. Anybody out there have any ideas on how to deal with that? The water is supposed to be shooting up at least 2 feet and instead we get a pathetic 2 inches. Though I must admit the girls found a way to make it work:  

I have to say, I have a feeling this summer is going to be really nice. We have our weekly kid's movie passes ($1 per child for 1 movie each week for 10 weeks of summer), our water park passes, one more month of gym membership with access to the outdoor pool, Oma and Maarten coming to visit in July (yay!), weekly library activities, and the South Ogden splash pad. We've also planned a few short camping trips around Utah. Add to that the yard with sprinklers, jungle gym, and slip 'n slide... and I think we'll be O.K.! 

Oh and I nearly forgot: summer music!

*another side note: Julia knocked on my bedroom door early this morning all wide-eyed and serious looking. Here is what she had to report: "Mom there are ghosts in the living room. I can see them because of the little boy in my brain. He says there is also one in daddy's office but that he is a bad one and we're not supposed to look at him." 

I have put her up for sale on Ebay, she's yours for real cheap.*

moving on

Yup. We did it again. We moved to a new house! No more renting for the Koots, we are once again part of the home owning society! Although technically I suppose we still were, with our Holland home not having sold yet and all. You may want to keep your fingers crossed for us in that department. Nothing like the pressure that the financial responsibility of paying off two mortgages brings....

But let's not think about that now! We are blessed and truly thankful that we were able to put an offer in on this beautiful new home. We were ecstatic when it was accepted. Then we were substantially worried about the sale falling through, clear up to mere days before the final signing of deeds and titles over to our name. The sellers were in something of a financial pickle we found out over time, and had begun filing for bankruptcy which, if approved, could very well mean we would not get the house. It wasn't until we got word that the coast was truly clear and sunny that we allowed ourselves to get excited, and what a release that was! We hadn't packed up our rental home for nothing!

So let me tell you a little bit about this place so you can understand what has got me so over the moon lately.

1. It is located only 10 minutes from where we lived, just a lot closer to the beautiful South Ogden mountains. We have an almost unobstructed view of them from our front door.

2. We have a HUGE yard! For my Dutch family and friends, I honestly don't know what to compare it with. Maybe this will give you an idea: When we first went to view the home we brought Max and Elliot with us. Upon returning to the car after the viewing the first thing Max asked was "Hey mom, when can we go back to the park?". It is a child's paradise, complete with awesome wonky jungle-gym-swingset-playhouse-in-one.

3. The neighborhood is fantastic. We are in a very quiet cul-de-sac. When we moved in, the traffic in our street quadrupled. It is spacious, green, safe, and friendly. Of course the friendliness also quadrupled with us moving in. No wait, I think I mean the craziness. Yeah that was it...

4. The house is gawjuss. That's 'gorgeous' for when normal spelling just doesn't an object's perfectness justice. I love the light color of the bricks (yay bricks!), the pretty landscaping, and the way it lights up at night like something from a fairytale.

5. The house is also kinda, um, big. Like, a little intimidatingly so. There are no less than 7 official bedrooms (though there is an 8th room we will be using for guest sleeping purposes), 5 bathrooms, 2 family rooms, a separate dining room and what we call 'the music room'. Or what some people refer to as 'Caesar's Palace' because it has columns. Yeah you heard me, there are actual columns inside my house. It's kinda ridiculous.

6. But wait, we are not keeping all that square footage to ourselves! We totally agree with you that 8 bedrooms are a little much, even for a family with 4 children (though school is out and it feels more like 27). So we bought the house together with my parents, who will be moving into the 'basement'! I can hardly call it a basement because their entire living area is on ground level because of the way the ground slopes around the house. They have full windows in all three of their light and airy bedrooms, french doors to their walk-out patio that leads straight into the yard, a full bathroom, and a kitchenette. The basement also features a large family room that in essence will mainly be used by them. They are complete self-contained, but right there whenever we have family activities or just want to hang out. Right now it's live-in babysitters for us, and built-in care for when they grow too fragile to cut their own strawberries for them. Win-win!

7. We have room for guests! We might be most excited about this detail. Can't wait to have friends and loved ones over. You're going to be so comfortable in your room with your very own window seat and en suite bathroom!

Alright, that's enough for today. It's high time I showed you some pictures. Here are the visuals of (in order) the drive from the old to the new home, the heavy lifting, and some peeks at how we are making this new place our own. There is more to come in the picture department, but this should appease you guys for now.


Yes, we bought the house because it has a jacuzzi. You would do the same!