Good things come in threes...

...Like a three-pack of Hannahs on lend from Stillwater, Minnesota.

Ken, Karen and Peter Hannah came out to spend a week with us last week and we had an absolutely wonderful time. Karen and I have been in dialogue about a trip like this for about two years, and thanks to some good deals with NWA, they were able to make it happen.

We are lucky to have many friends and family who are interested in our lives here, and a few of those -above and beyond seeing us - seem to have European souls. People who walk off a plane, are magnetized toward the train (and various forms of public transport), and within hours of landing, want to be biking like the locals. People who, perhaps in a past life, belonged to some part of this continent (Jolie, I'm talking to you!).

Well, the Hannahs are such people.

In our week together, we had great fun, balancing days full of museum and sight-seeing (which they did on their own) with nights full of good food eaten by the canalside window (as Karen requested before arriving, she wanted the same view as our Christmas tree), and plenty of gaming for all...Aggravation and the Wii being the biggest hits. We also managed to squeeze in a few social engagements, catching up with Marc Blum when he was in town, and grabbing a glass of wine with Jenn, Asif, Donna and Espen...great fun!

Being the kind and generous-spirited folk that they are, they offered their hands toward a few household projects that have loomed for many months. First, cutting a few centimeters off of our dining room table legs. And second, painting our master bedroom (which, of course, came with a side-helping of Gamma...a Dutch hardware store.) (And I learned that it doesn't matter what country you're in...talking guys into going to a hardware store is never a difficult task.) THe bedroom looks beautiful. We couldn't be happier. Such a sweet offer to spare a day out in the city to roll up their sleeves and give our room a facelift.

Karen, Ken and Peter...we are so glad you came out to see us. What a wonderful week. With lots of love and looking forward to a reunion in Minnesota...
LD5