The Packing List

Passports.........check!

Boarding passes.......check!

After procrastinating the packing for a few days in favor of dejunking the pantry and Atticus' room we are finally all packed up. All three of us have nestled our items into a smaller piece of check-in luggage; it's nice how light summer clothing is. We're just hoping that it is actually Summer when we arrive in Calgary. Canadian weather, particularly Alberta weather, has been known to do some funny things; however, we are packed for summer so we are hoping for summer.

Laura and Atticus were able to visit with some friends today who will be moving while we are gone, so it was the last chance to see one another. It was sad to say goodbye, but we are sure our paths will cross again. We picked up a few items at the grocery store which will hopefully allow the flight to go smoothly with Atticus. He has been very active the last few days, so we will certainly get our exercise on the flight as we walk up and down the aisle. It's a good way to meet all the other passengers!

We head to the airport in the morning. Please pray for a smooth, problem-free flight.

See you soon.

Love,

The Clog Crew

Day Trip to Haarlem

 

Hello Haarlem!

Beautiful, isn't it? We couldn't have asked for more perfect weather.

We started off with walking the cobble stone streets and admiring all the little shops. Then, it was off to tour the Grote Kerk (Great Church), which sits on the main square.

(oooooooo, ahhhhhhhh)

This is not the original church; a fire burned that one down. This relatively new church took 150 years to build and was finished in 1540. Take a close look at the tower; the tower was classified as part of the town's defense since Napolean used it as a lookout.

Our favorite feature of this church was inside...

That gorgeous organ behind Jason and Atticus dates back to 1738 and is 100 feet high. We had the pleasure of listening to its song echo through the church, however, we couldn't help imagining how amazing it would have been to be there when Handel, Schweitzer or 10-year-old Mozart were at the controls.

Of course, there were other neat things to see and learn about in the Grote Kerk, but we will let Atticus take centre stage for a moment.

"Hi, everyone!"

After the church, it was off to enjoy the ambiance of the market, to eat lunch and wait until our next tour.

We love going to market (Leiden has a nice one as well). It is fun to see how many new things we can try while we are there. Herring is a particularly popular item and Jason is definitely a fan. Here is a family photo in the market, with Grote Kerk in the background.

The town hall is also on the square, but we are facing it so you can not see it in the photo. 

In the afternoon, we went to a tour at the Corrie ten Boom House. You may have heard about the book (or the movie) called 'The Hiding Place' which tells about the Ten Boom family's experience protecting Jews from the Nazi's. The Ten Boom family allowed their home to be a place of hiding for Jews and others who needed a safe place from the Nazis. When necessary, those staying with the Ten Boom family would crawl behind a small door in the linen closet to hide in a very small room behind a false wall.

Here are Laura and Atticus in front of The Hiding Place. Part of the wall has been torn away so that visitors can see inside the room.

If you would like to know more about the Ten Boom family story there are a few reliable sources you could check out. Bishop Keith B. McMullen relayed a wonderful story about Corrie Ten Boom in April General Conference (click here for the text and here for the video). You can check out the museum website (click here). Or, you could always pick up a copy of the book or movie (click here or here).

We are so grateful for the experience to see and hear about the sacrifice that the Ten Boom family made for others. Their courage is inspiring.

After chatting with some of the other people in our tour (there was a couple from Acme, Alberta!) we headed off to enjoy some Gelato and wander back to the train station.

It was a great day. We saw and experienced some wonderful things and met some good people. 

To add to the blessings; Atticus was a trooper.

Looking forward to our next adventure!

Love and miss you all.

-The Clog Crew

Quality Time in the Kitchen - Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies

We love spending time together in the kitchen. Laura loves experimenting with recipes and creating new ones. Jason, well, he loves to taste-test. And Atticus is following in his Daddy's footprints on this one.

Since we spend so much time together as a family in the kitchen, cooking, baking and eating, we thought we would share some recipes with everyone from time to time so you can have a closer look at our little family's life together. 

One of Jason's favorites is Peanut Butter Cookies, as he is a lover of all things Peanut Butter. So, Laura found this tasty looking recipe, made it vegan and tried it out with ground oats in place of flour (which makes the recipe gluten-free if you buy certified gluten-free oats). 

In case you are wondering, the picture was taken of a batch we made with Spelt flour. And for those of you who are not keen on turning on the oven in the warm summer months, we have some tasty oven-free suggestions following the recipe. If you have any questions about the recipe, let us know!

Love and miss you all.
-The Clog Crew


Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies

3/4 cup ground oats, spelt flour or wheat flour

3/4 cup oats
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup natural peanut butter *

1/2 cup agave **

2 teaspoons vanilla
1 medium sized mashed banana

Preheat oven to 180C. Mix dry ingredients. Mix wet ingredients then stir into dry ingredients. Mixture should be wet; allow to sit for about 10 minutes and the ground oats will absorb some of the moisture. Roll into 1.5 inch balls and place on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Press cookies down with dampened fork. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until bottom edges begin to turn a slight golden brown.

*In theory, this recipe should also work with almond butter, but I have yet to give it a try. Will let you know when I have.

**If you are not worried about making the cookie vegan, you can use honey. Honey will also give you a slightly softer cookie.

Some Oven-Free Alternatives! 
We really like eating this as a cookie dough, especially on top of  Ice Cream (Vegan Banana Ice Cream to be exact). You can also leave it as cookie dough, shape into balls and roll in cocoa, carob powder or icing sugar (if you are not worried about the sugar). Cool finished balls in the fridge for roughly 3 hours before eating (or however long you are able to wait). Then enjoy!