Merry Christmas!!!

Christmas day is just wrapping up, and it's been great! We had a lot of fun, and we were all worn out by the end, especially Millie.

For dinner on Christmas Eve, Amanda made her specialty - chicken noodle soup. Amanda let Millie play with the extra dough. Our little one couldn't have been any happier.

Millie loves her new slippers!

Here we are in our Christmas pajamas. I'm extra happy because Amanda now has her own pajamas, which means I can finally wear mine.

Look at the haul that Santa left for Millie!

A Backyardigans activity book!!! Santa is freakin' awesome!!!

Millie spent as much time as she could today playing with her favorite new toy. We're going to have to see if we can fit this in our luggage, otherwise we'll have one sad little girl when we leave to Italy in two days. It's been nice for me to have a break from school so that I can spend time with Millie and Amanda. Merry Christmas everyone!

Holland ~ home of my ancesters

Finals are over and now we get to spend some quality time together as a family. Our 1st adventure over the break was to hit up the Netherlands. The Gotz family had everything all planned out so we tagged along for the ride. Our hotel was right in downtown Amsterdam which was very convenient and very interesting. I am really glad we went to Amsterdam, but I don't think I would visit the city again. I saw what I wanted there and once is enough. Monday we toured the canals a little and went to the Anne Frank House and the Van Gough Museum. Seeing the actual hiding place of the Frank Family was completely overwhelming to me. There are no words to describe it. I am extremely happy we went there.

Us outside Anne Frank's hiding place

A shot of the house and the shadow of the tree Anne speaks of in her diary

“Our chestnut tree is in full blossom. It is covered with leaves and is even more beautiful than last year...” - Anne Frank, 13 May 1944

Brady and his favorite Van Gough painting

I absolutely loved the Van Gough Museum. It was so interesting to compare how his style of painting changed over his life. Especially when he was feeling the effects of his illness. It was so fun to see all the classic Van Gough's that I love and also to enjoy paintings I had never seen before.

Us outside the museum

Brady and Millie

Naarden

Tuesday Brady, Millie and I left the Gotz in Amsterdam and we headed into a couple little towns. One was called Naarden and the other Weesp. Brady really wanted to go to Naarden because of an areal shot that he found on the internet. I didn't really care, I just wanted to see the windmills in Weesp. Naarden ended up being a darling little town with a cute little petting zoo for Millie. We had a fantastic lunch in a tiny cafe, where I had the best hot chocolate I have ever had, and Brady had the best sandwich ever made. We had a wonderful time.

Here an aerial shot of Naarden.

I love that they had wood shoes for the kids to borrow. Millie didn't want to take hers off.

The Giant Chicken



My Dutch Girl

Sadly I didn't realize how loud I was singing and you can hardly hear Millie's little voice

Weesp

I am so glad we made a special trip to see the windmills! When I think of Holland I think of windmills.

Wednesday the Gotz family joined us on an adventure to see a castle that ended up being closed. So Sad! But we did have a fun time seeing the little fishing town and also the smallest car I have seen in my whole life!

Danalisa, Owen, Me
They let us walk around the castle grounds
The Gardens

Thursday we did some shopping and then ate a cone of lard, well I didn't. French fries with mayo, no thanks!

Good Times!

Our Family

Downtown Amsterdam

Elf tastic!

We aren't sending out cards this year, but we still wish you a
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!
Love,
The WHOLE Flamm Family

Brady, Amanda, Millie and the one and only Pablo

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1668938739

Two Millies?

If you read my blog regularly then you know who Kristina is; but for those that don't... Kristina is one of my friends here in Oxford. She helps make living so far away from home easier. Millie loves Kristina and she is always so happy when she gets to play with her. We met Kristina's family tonight and her sweet grandma MILLIE brought my little Millie this darling Christmas Bear. Sadly she wasn't feeling well and we didn't get to meet grandma Millie, but it was so nice of her to think of us. Millie Loves her new bear.

Thank You!

Happy Birthday Mom!!!

We are in Holland right now and our internet connection is horrible, but I wanted everyone in the whole world to know that today is my mom's birthday and I love her so much. She has so many qualities that I strive for in myself. My mom is the most charitable person I know. She is so giving with her time and of her talents. She is funny, and smart, she is kind, and sweet, she is spirtual and loving, she is energetic, and down-to-earth, she is beautiful, and powerful, she is thoughtful and giving, she is strong, and one of my favorite things about about my mom is that she is goofy. She is the most wonderful grandma because she gets down on the same level as her grandkids. She is their friend and their teacher, they love her for being silly with them and she lets them make messes and run around like hooligans, yet she has order and love. At grandma's house the kids get to be kids. Ms. Millie loves you and it makes me love you that much more. We all miss you and wish we could be there to say we love you and happy birthday, but we can't, so this will have to do.

Exams and an Interview

This is me on Monday before my first exam. Don't I look smashing in my subfusc?

Well, this has been an interesting week for me. I sat for six exams from Monday to Thursday. I'm going to go out on a limb that it was the most stressful week of my life. The exams I took for my business classes at the U generally included a lot of multiple choice questions, and weren't too bad. Sitting in an examination school dressed in subfusc to write a three hour essay exam that includes reading an eighteen page case study is pretty nerve racking.

I felt somewhat calm during some of the exams, but I was literally shaking by the end of others. I spent the most time preparing for the finance exam, figuring it was my best shot at getting a distinction. The finance exam was only one hour, and had fairly complicated problems. The majority of us didn't finish it. I'm generally the first one done with an exam, and I wasn't even close to finishing it. It was a rough day.

Directly after my finance exam I came home, changed suits, and got on a train to London for a job interview. I interviewed with M3 Capital Partners, a boutique investment bank that specializes in real estate. I think it went fairly well, all in all. After six exams, I didn't feel too sharp, and I hadn't had time to properly prepare for the interview.

M3 is the first company I've really applied for, and I'm excited about the opportunities there. They remind me of OMNI, my previous employer, in a lot of ways, and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens.

We're now getting ready to enjoy the short break I have between terms. We're going to Amsterdam this Sunday for a few days, and then we'll come back to Oxford for Christmas. On the 27th we'll head to Italy for a week and a half.

We (mostly Amanda, of course) will keep you posted!

HoHoHo

Wednesday was the Christmas party at Oxford. Millie is still not a fan of Santa, but he did give her a cute little book. She even ran back to tell him thank you. We had a good time.

The Fam

Yes, I wore the same outfit two days in a row. I had no choice, my cute new Uggs matched my outfit perfectly!

Don't ask

My little helper

Thank you so much for all your thoughts on my birthday Tuesday. I really had a wonderful day. Brady had two finals, but I was able to spend the afternoon with friends. We had knitting in the morning and then Jodi, Danalisa and Kristina took me to lunch and got a giant birthday cookie! When I got home there were presents everywhere! My sweet parents sent me a sweater (the one I'm wearing) and some jewelry. They also surprised me with the most beautiful flowers! Later that day my mom told me to check my emails and she also sent for the new Ugg's! So cute! They were on Opera's "Favorite Things". I got them Wednesday and I absolutely love them. All of my wonderful in laws sent gifts when Nancy came to visit in November. I got more jewelry, an umbrella, a purse, and money from Jeff and Nancy. Although Brady was completely stressed out he still managed to get a cake, take me to dinner and surprise me with a trip to the day spa. I actually went with the girls today and got a massage and spent the afternoon in their "relaxation" room. It was wonderful! Thank you so much for all of your thoughts. I got so many calls and emails and I really felt all of your love. It was a very Happy Birthday.

One Hot Santa!

We had our ward Christmas Party last night and it really was the funniest holiday party! They had GREAT food, fun games for the kids and the decorations were wonderful. The best part of the party was that Father Christmas popped in for a visit. Santa has never made my heart pitter patter until last night. There was just something about him!

Millie didn't like Santa as much as I did.

I really liked the table center piece. It's hard to tell from the picture, but it was really cool.

HoHoHo, Merry Christmas

Santa brought Millie a book about the Nativity. Sadly we left it at the church and it was nowhere to be found today. At least we read it last night.

We forgot the book because we were trying not to miss our bus. While we were waiting for the bus it started to rain and Millie was practicing her umbrella turns.

Brady just took this picture of Millie before he left to study for his finals tomorrow. Millie loves her backyardagians! Her favorite thing to do is line them up in the window and sing them songs. She's my little princess. On a side note the cute dress she is wearing is the same dress she wore for her Alice costume.

Whirl Wind

Okay, so I really haven't been in the blogging mood the past week and now I have a lot to catch you all up on. I know you have all been dying to see what we have been up to! Last Wednesday Millie and I went with Danalisa and Owen up to Rhyme Time at the Library. Millie was being a bully and we almost had to leave, but once they started singing her favorite song "Twinkle Twinkle" she calmed down, told everyone sorry and we had a good time. It's so fun to watch her sing and dance; Beat up on the other kids, not so much...

Thursday Kristina, Danalisa, and I went to the park to let the kids play and after we headed into a little pub called The Holly Bush. Sadly Jodi couldn't join us because she had a baby appointment. While we were there we met a sweet, yet crazy old man that stunk incredible bad. He claimed to be mates with Rockefeller, to know all the old time movie actors in High Noon, and best of all to have written the old Maverick. Sadly the real writer died in 2002. He had Albert Einstein hair, a fluffy silk scarf around his neck and plaid from head to toe. Our waitress assured us he was harmless. He was fascinated by Millie and kept comparing her to Grace Kelly. Good Times.

Friday was the Business' School end of the term "happy hour". I wandered over with Millie and waited for Brady to get out of a presentation. We basically sat around eating crisps and then headed home. It wasn't worth getting out of my pjs and wandering over in the rain, but oh well. Kristina-Me-Danalisa

Tuesday Connie came over and we had another knitting lesson and then Jodi, Danalisa and I/Millie headed into some town (I don't remember the name) to do some shopping for Christmas. They were outlet stores so we were stoked to find some good deals! Oh wait we were totally wrong, they were outlets, but for high end retail. I'd tell you the names, but I can't spell them! It was pretty funny. The one cheap thing we found were these lovely jeans Jodi is modeling for us. Hum, is it a little strange to anyone else that they are made to be that bow legged? WOW!

Wednesday night we headed over to Merton as a family to hear a young adults choir from Australia. They sang so beautifully! It really was amazing to sit in Merton's chapel and hear their voices bounce off the walls. Sadly you could also hear Millie's voice bounce off the walls, so Brady took her home and I was able to stay and listen awhile longer.

Present day. Sven scored us ticket to the Oxford vs Cambridge rugby game and we had a blast. Kristina and Danalisa watched Millie for us since the game was in London. Unfortunately we lost but it was fun all the same. Thanks to all those who helped out today!

Brady and Me on our way to the game. I bought my hat at the "outlet" stores, it was our only purchase.

Adam, Gareth, Brady, Sven

Us with Tony and Jodi in the background. I don't think I watched more then a minute of the second half because I was talking to Jodi the whole time. It was nice to have some good old girl talk.

The stadium can seat 82,000 people!

Sven, Brady, Gareth

Danalisa emailed this picture of Millie to me. She took it while we were out. I love that little girl!!!

Brady's finals are next week so hopefully you will hear a little something from him soon! We have some fun things planned for the holidays, so you will have to stay tuned to the Flamm channel.