Oude Kerk, Temple Trip, & More

The first Saturday Cameron was gone, Andy and I visited Oude Kerk (Old Church), which is Amsterdam's oldest building and oldest parish church--it was founded in 1213.  I had a pleasant surprise while I was there.  Sweelinck is virtually the only "famous" Dutch composer, and it turns out he's buried there and has a plaque in the church!  (Yes, I realize famous is a relative term here.  I would be shocked if anyone reading this had heard of him.)  Sweelinck (1562-1621) served as the church organist there for 44 years, starting at age 15.  His work served as a bridge from the late Renaissance to the early Baroque and helped establish the N. German organ tradition.  Anyway--I was excited. :)  

I've realized I don't take nearly enough pictures here in Amsterdam.  I guess that's the way it is when you're living somewhere?  You tend to take it for granted.  So I've tried to take a few more pictures.  I can't believe I'm lucky enough to have this be neighborhood and to pass these things literally every day.

Dam Square: just a 5 minute walk from us. 

Royal Palace in Dam Square 

I will miss the beautiful canals here.

Here's a funny annoying thing Andy's been doing.  He thinks it's a blast to bring his toys into the kitchen and throw them on the counter, one by one.  Every. Single. Toy. We thought it was pretty cute the first time, but it's proved to be challenging if he throws things into the sink with dirty dishes, or throws things at the the stove while I'm cooking--and we have a gas stove.  It's terrifying!  Not to mention it's getting a little old cleaning it all up.  It's completely his personality to be hard at work on something random like that.  Love our crazy little guy!

For me, the highlight of this past month has been the temple trip Cameron and I took this last saturday.  Claire was generous enough to watch Andy for us all day--9 AM-5 PM--and she wouldn't even let us pay her.  Cameron and I haven't done a session together for an embarrassingly long amount of time, so it was a special experience for us.  The temple is called "The Hague Temple,"  but it's technically in Zoetermeer, just outside of The Hague.  It's the only temple in the Netherlands.  It took about two hours each way to get there, including a tram ride, two train rides, and a lengthy walk.  We'd heard it was a big pain to go by public transport (compared to the 40 minute drive it would have been by car), but we found it relaxing and loved every minute of it, probably because we weren't having to entertain Mr. Andy.  The temple itself is beautiful.  It's one of the "small" temples built during Pres. Hinckley's time.  It looks normal sized in pictures, but in person it's itty bitty!  It was a wonderful, rejuvenating day.  I find it so comforting the the church is the same everywhere you go.  Being in the temple reminded me of home.  It was wonderful to worship the Lord there together.  

The windmill in Zoetermeer; there really are windmills all over here.