Den Haag, Netherlands

Ok, all we've been told about the town of Den Haag is that it is the political capital of the Netherlands. It is where the Dutch Parliament and the International Court of Justice are located. Den Haag is just a 15 minute train ride from Leiden we headed there after the tulip fields. We had no clue where to go once we arrived. As we looked at the map in the train station Skyler saw an advertisement for a mexican food restaurant. It sounded good so we climbed in a cab and headed that direction.

Much to our surprise we ended up on the beach!! We didn't even know Den Haag was near the beach! It felt like a whole different country. The mexican food restaurant wasn't open for lunch so we walked along the beach front where there were hundreds of adorable resaurants. The beach area of Den Haag is actually called Scheveningen. As you can see to the left the restaurants are literally on the beach. We stopped at Cocomo Beachclub. Jared, Skyler, and Sam are sitting at the table nearest the water in the picture above.


After lunch we moved to an area of the restaurant consisting of huge, bright bean bags. You can barely see them in the lower left corner of this picture. It was the most relaxing hour we've had since we've been here. We ordered coffee and took naps under the sun next to the beach. The biggest factor on our enjoyment was the sun. Only on rare occasions have we seen the sun and the weather was predicted to be rainy. It was perfect! After our moment of relaxation, we took a tram to this place called Madurodam. Madurodam is a minature replica of all of Holland. I really can't tell you more than that because once we arrived and saw the price we decided our time was better spent back at the beach of Scheveningen.

The tram dropped us back off at the beautiful hotel you see in the picture to the left. Across from the hotel was a casino. Although Skyler has gambled before, Jared has never been in a Casino. He's too hard on himself and can feel such intense regret that he has always had the concern of losing money. However, many players have been making money over here at the casino's, so Jared was tempted. Samantha and I decided we'd walk around the beach for an hour or so while the boys took only their ID's and 50 euro's each. When we met up at our meeting point the boys told us they ended down. Of course I knew Jared was going to joke with me when he came back, and he finally told me that he actually ended up 110 euro's!! That's $136.53! I can't decide if I'm happy that he won the the money or not, because now he has more confidence and the desire to go back to the casino. The picture of Skyler and Jared is a little hard to see due to the lighting, but they are holding up their winnings.

Before heading to dinner at the mexican food restaurant, we took a nice walk out on the pier and along the beach. Although, we didn't see anything Den Haag is known for, we really enjoyed our day on the beach.

Tulip Fields

For the team's day off this week Jared, Skyler, Samantha, and I headed to the remarkable tulip fields of Holland. Our journey began with an early train to Leiden, followed by a bus to Keukenhof. Keukenhof is one of the most spectacular flower gardens in the world. It is set in 70 acres of wooded park on the outskirts of Lisse and consist of over 7 million bulbs that are in bloom from late March to late May. Believe it or not, but the picture to the right was taken with my Olympus Camera! It doesn't even look real! According to Jared, "it looks like a cartoon". The whole park is immaculately designed with the most beautiful trees, rivers, and flowers (mostly tulips). We are so blessed to be here during the 2 months that the tulips are in bloom. It is a sight we will never forget.

On the outskirts of the gardens are the massive fields where they grow billions of tulips. We met these 2 very nice couples from the states who were traveling Europe. They took the
picture of the four of us in front of the section of the yellow tulips. It was so refreshing to stumble upon fellow Americans. One of the couples actually had relatives who live in Edmond.




Please enjoy scrolling through the pictures of God's glorious creation. As amazing as the pictures are, they just don't do the beauty justice.









Anyone who knows Jared, knows that he's pretty much a big kid about 80% of the time. Here is proof... Samantha was taking a very romantic picture of us standing in front of the fountain. She counted 1...2... and right as she said 3, Jared jokingly tried to throw me into the water. He succeeded in getting quite a few laughs out of it.

Dusseldorf, Germany

Dusseldorf, Germany is located right on the bank of the Rhine River, just 18 miles downstream (which is actually north) of Cologne. The bus ride from Utrecht took about 2 1/2 hours. We arrived around 4:00pm and Jared and I immediately caught a cab to Old Town, also known as Altstadt. The Old Town area is cobblestone streets near the river that are filled with restaurants, pubs, shops, street entertainers, and an open market.


As always, our first stop was Starbucks. You probably think we are addicts. We're not, we just can't find decent coffee anywhere in Holland. Jared was very excited to see that they had cinnamon rolls, and it made his day that they would warm it up for him! He also enjoyed the new banana cream frappacino.


Jared and I were walking around on Friday at 5 so everyone was heading to their favorite hangout spot after work. The streets were packed with people. The weather was nice so all of the restaurants tables outside were filling up. The next picture shows crowds of people standing around tall tables enjoying a drink. Instead of a restaurant, there would be a big beer stand with tons of tall tables and that seemed to be where everyone gathered.
The open market was unbelievable. Located in the center of this huge town square, vendors would set up these elaborate stands of all sorts of produce. All the produce you could dream of was sold there and it was so beautiful it looked fake. They also had stands selling amazing, flowers, meat, cheese, bread, etc. We wandered through the market taking pictures of everything.

After the market, we walked along the streets browsing in the shops. Most of our time shopping was spent in this one local shoe store. After each of us had tried on a number of shoes we each picked one pair to purchase. Surprised??
Saturday before the game Samantha and I took a cab back to Old Town. We had more time to sightsee and found some really beautiful scenery. Pretty much by accident we found the Rhine. The picture to the left is of the Rhine River, the Rhine Tower, and the bridge that crosses the Rhine. Although it is impossible to see in this picture, the port holes on the tower form the world's largest digital clock.


















Dusseldorf's internationally best known trade mark is the Konigsallee (Ko). It is Germany's most sophisticated mile and is considered one of the world's grand luxurious boulevards. Sam and I managed to spend our time in the shops outside of Ko, which were much more in our price range.

Admirals Sweep Rhine

Saturday, 4-22-2006, the Admirals faced Rhine for the second time. With the victory over Rhine in Amsterdam last weekend, the two teams each had a a record of 4-1. To solidify their top rank in the league the Admirals needed to win. The game was in the unique city of Dusseldorf, Germany.

To the left is a picture of the arena before the game. The stands continued all the way around the field in the exact set-up you see. The crowd was larger, over 20,000, and much louder than any other crowd so far this season. The horns, whistles, and drums make it impossible to talk to the person next to you.

All of us girls rode the bus with the guys to this game. The demeanor of the players before the game was an absolute shock to me. I've never been around the team and experienced silence from every player. Everyone was focusing on the game and no one said a word the whole way. Needless to say, the ride home after the game was the exact opposite.

In the second picture you can see our girls group after we moved away from the smoking, screaming, horn blowing fans. From top left: Me, Samantha, RiRi, CiCi, and Debra. RiRi and CiCi are from an island in the Caribbean and their real names are much longer. They have been studying in Utrecht for 7 years and are about to graduate.

There are many differences in the football games here in Europe and the games in the states. One interesting difference is the people they choose to do the coin toss. As you can see in the picture, for this week's game an American who produces TV shows in Germany tossed the coin while women in swimsuit's escorted him. Apparently, he is currently producing "Germany's Next Top Model" and the female escorts are the finalists.

This week was Jared's turn to play in the 2nd quarter. I tried to get some pictures with our binoculars. If you hold them still they get some awesome pictures. Unfortunately, I was cold and really nervous so I had a hard time trying not to shake. I managed to get a few pictures of Jared that turned out pretty good.

The first picture is of Jared in the huddle calling the play. Just a reminder to help you spot him in the pictures, he is #12. The next is of him "under center". I don't know if... actually highly doubt if these pictures are in sequential order. There's a good chance they aren't even grouped in the same series. I'm just a fan, not a professional!

The defense was blitzing hard on Jared and on more than one occasion he had to escape a defender. He got hit pretty hard a few times and had a roughing the passer and a face mask call on Jared against the Defense. It's been awhile since I've seen him in that rough of a game in awhile and it made me really nervous. However, he played really well and came out of the game injury free.

This picture is of one of his completions. I apologize that it is pretty blurry, i'm sure I jumped after he released the ball. If you look close you can see that he has just thrown the ball (which is just under the 2nd CocaCola sign), and the receiver is about to catch it.

The next picture is of Jared about to throw the ball across the field to the running back. As he was dropping back he had to run outside of the pocket and then allude a defender who actually grabbed and pulled his face mask, then turned and threw it. Jared told me that the defender that is running towards him in left side of the picture actually hit him really hard after he threw the ball. I think his exact words were, "that guy lit me up!".


Jared completed 5 of 6 passes for 43 yards. He assisted in the teams 30-21 victory over the Fire. The Admirals are now 5-1 and play the Hamburg Seadevils next week in Hamburg.

Bowling Night 4/19/2006

Well, yesterday Jared came home from practice very tired and somewhat disappointed that the team had a competitive bowling night planned. Neither of us was very excited about it, but Jared was put on a team of 4 and required to bowl at least one game with his team. I could tell from the minute we got there that Jared's comptetive edge was kicking in. I had planned on just encouraging Jared for 30 minutes or so before walking back to the hotel. Apparently somehow they were short 2 players so Angela (the strenght coach's wife) and myself were talked into playing.

Jared and I have never been bowling together so this was a first for us. Unfortunately, Jared's team was bowling in the first lane and my team was in the last lane, so we couldn't really even bowl together. On my team were Earl Cochran-DE, Jeremy Cain-LB, and Syoei Hasegawa-WR. I am so disappointed that I forgot to bring my camera to show this monumental occasion.

OK... I know the Bible calls us as wives to be submissive to our husbands, however, God created me with that same competitive edge that he gave Jared. It wasn't until the end of the game that it became a competition between Jared and I. I started bowling with the mentality that I had to do decent for a girl. I was doing pretty good.. spare here or there, but nothing spectacular. Jared's game ended before mine and he finished with a score of 96. A few of the guys caught onto the fact that I was in my ninth frame and I had a 93. All of a sudden when it was my last turn to bowl I had a small crowd watching and cheering for me to hit 4 pins. My first ball went straight for the gutter!!! What?!? I hadn't bowled a gutter ball all game!! I guess I just got really nervous. So, I did what any other competive person would do... I sucked it up, got serious and rolled the best ball I could down that lane. All 10 pins hit the floor!! Wahoo!! I even got to bowl one more ball and all in all I finshed with 110. Not that I would, but I don't even have to rub it in because he has plenty of teammates to remind him that I beat him.

In Jared's defense, he wasn't the ONLY guy I beat. I actually beat at least half of the guys, if not more. Keep in mind these guys are football players, not bowlers. I can promise you that before we come home Jared and I will have a rematch, Jared has mentioned it on more than one occasion!

A Netherlands Cultural Experience

This week for Jared's day off some of the loyal fans offered to show us a taste of traditional Holland. Jeremy, Carly, 5 of the O-linemen, Jared and myself met in the lobby to pile in their 5 cars with them. Keep in mind that the cars over here are about the size of Geo Metros. They
first took us to a town called ZAANSE SCHANS. Zaanse Schans is a very rural, traditional town. Everything Holland is known for is not only sold, but produced in Zaanse Schans.
There are goats, cows, and sheep roaming the fields. Inside the first building we were given a demonstration on how they make their world famous cheese. We were able to taste all of the different kinds of cheeses they make at that location and we purchased some smoked cheese that makes for a wonderful cheese and crackers snack in our room.

We next walked along a canal lined with working windmills. The middle windmill in the picture is actually the last wind-powered dye mill in the world. Inside the windmill are artifacts showing the different colors of dye they make there and what they are typically used for. Although very few of the windmills are still used for production, the town once had about 1,000 windmills used to make barley, rice, paper, wood, cooking oil, mustard, tobacco, hemp and many other products.


Although most of the town is now used to attract tourist, it is still home to many people. The adorable homes can be described as Jared put it... "Like a scene from Hansel and Gretel". The gardens are flourishing and the houses well kept. It was a side of the Netherlands we hadn't seen.

Other sights we enjoyed were a pewter making shop, the very first Albert Heijn (grocery store), and the Deflt Blue pottery shop.




The last building we visited was the wooden shoe museum and clog making shop. Outside the museum is a huge wooden clog that you can see Jared and I climbed in for a picture. The more humorous picture of all the big guys in the shoe I did not post. Inside we were given a demonstration on how they make the traditional wooden shoes. Before leaving, Jared and I took pictures of ourselves wearing the clogs. There are tons of different decoratively painted shoes to choose from. Jared is some pretty yellow and red ones. I couldn't talk him in to putting on the pink ones in his size.

VOLENDAM: After visiting Zaanse Schans we were taken to the very quaint village of Volendam. Volendam is a former fishing port north of Amsterdam. The village is now predominately a tourist trap. The locals wear the traditional dress for festivals and events. We were told no one can move to Volendam. On the rare occasion a home in Volendam is for sale, it will only be sold to a current resident or family member. The residents have lived there for many years and exclude outsiders from moving in.


The streets of Volendam are lined with tourist shops, restaurants, and pubs; all of which are kept very clean. Fresh fish is sold by vendors along the streets. In the bay area and docked up are some very nice boats. The boats here are the traditional wooden sail and house boats, much different from the speed boats and yachts in Boca Raton.


After our tour of the Netherlands, we were taken to the home of Raymond and Josie (pronounced Yosie). They had recorded 3 episodes of American Idol for us to watch while they cooked food for us. They had this long table taking up the whole downstairs just covered with food. They grilled us hamburgers, chicken skewers, pork chops, sausage, spare ribs, and salmon. Wow was it good!!! The food just kept coming. They also served us a fresh fruit salad, potatoes, bread, and some other options consisting of mayonnaise that I just skipped right over. They were the most hospitable group of people we've met in a long time. They would hardly even let us stand up to get something. It was so wonderful to experience their history, culture, and lifestyle.

Easter Sunday

Sadly, this was the first Easter Sunday for both of us to NOT attend church. We were both very homesick on Sunday. Thanks to technology we were able to watch Lifechurch's Easter Service live on the internet. We knew the earliest service we would be able to watch was the 10:00am service in Edmond which was 5pm for us.

Jared had a meeting Sunday morning and then we had the opportunity to attend a FC Utrecht soccer game. The soccer games here are always quite an experience. As you can see from the picture, the fans are wild! The whole endzone section had these streamers that they would throw at the other teams goalie. This picture was taken before the game, but even during the game they would throw them on the field. There would be a corner kick and streamers would be thrown on the field to try to distract the goalie and defenders. I was in shock that this was even allowed. The men on the sidelines would try to keep the field clean but there were still occasions when the streamer would get stuck a players cleats.

At half time 4 of the Admirals (3 O-linemen and the kicker) participated in a challenge. The football players had to kick a soccerball and try to hit the crossbar. Four fans had to kick a football and try to hit the crossbar. If they hit it, they received free season tickets to the FC Utrecht games for next season. Ryan Killeen (the Admirals kicker) and one fan both hit the crossbar!! Needless to say none of the O-linemen were successful.

It is an Eliot Family tradition to not only dye, but decorate hard-boiled eggs for Easter. Jared and I were so sad to miss out on the event this year. As you can see everyone joins in on the fun and (if you're in town) the occasion is not to be missed!

The adults all design an egg honoring their almamater and/or current location. This was the first year for a University of Tulsa egg!! Although Jared and I weren't there to color our FAU and OU eggs, my family made 2 eggs in our honor. One said "We Miss You!" and the other was blue and orange with the admirals shield on it! We were very happy to see that picture!

NOTHING CHANGES:

• From what I was told, my brothers (at 28 and 29) were still recklessly competing to gather the most Easter eggs.
• As you can see to the right, the adults are still enjoying the presents the Easter bunny brings the children more then the children themselves. It was Dawson's first Easter and Daddy stole his bunny ears!!
• The Easter bunny doesn't hide eggs in plain sight at my house! DJ and Miekel learned that lesson as they sat down outside to watch the kids hunt and heard a crack under the bench cushion. I don't think that was a first for DJ!

What a cute Easter picture for one branch of the Eliot's. Jason, Josh, Abby, and Traci (baby in tow) look very nice in their Easter attire. Abby's Easter dress came all the way from Utrecht, Netherlands!! She wears the European style well!

This picture really makes Jared and I jealous of the weather in Edmond right now. When it's in the 50's here we say it's warmed up!

Victory Celebration

After the BIG win against Rhein we all enjoyed the postgame meal before heading back to the hotel. If you haven't already figured it out from my previous posts, Skyler Fulton and Samantha Steele are in the picture to the left with Jared and I.

We got back to the hotel around 8:30 pm and decided to go out in Utrecht. We decided to try out a place in town that Gibran had heard of but none of us had ever been to. It was fun because there was a DJ that played American music and it wasn't very crowded. Fewer people usually equates to less smoke.


We aren't a very wild crowd, so as you can see to the left, the time we spent out pretty much consisted of us making conversation with each other. However, I must say the conversations are always interesting and without a doubt humerous...i.e. see the last photo of Jared, Skyler, Gibran, and Reggie.

Admirals BEAT Rhein Fire!

The Amsterdam Admirals beat the Rhein Fire 35-31 Saturday afternoon in Amsterdam. It was undoubtedly the most exciting game of the season so far. Rhein came into the game with a 4-0 record, ranked #1 in the league. The Admirals were ranked 2nd with a 3-1 record. The victory moved the Admirals into 1st place. Amsterdam jumped into the game with a 14-0 lead in the first quarter and the game was back and forth from then on. The score was 24-21 Rhein at half time. It was anyone's game down to the last drive and the Admirals came out with the win. The picture to the right is of Pasha Jackson #52, Jared #12, and Sandino Octobre "Dino" (from France) #22. Pasha Jackson played at OU while I worked there and this was his first game of the season. He was picked up after a player went back due to an injury.

The next picture is of the players after the game huddled in prayer. It is important to them to thank God for the talent, ability, and opportunity to be able to play football. We are so very blessed to be here in Europe and we thank God daily for our experiences. It is routine for Jared to lead the prayer before the game and for Claude Harriott #90 to lead it after the game. The guys are also taking turns leading chapel and Jared will be leading next Saturday morning before their next game against Rhein in Dusseldorf.

Jared's 1st (and 2nd) Pro Touchdown Pass

On Saturday April 8th the Amsterdam Admirals had a rematch versus the Berlin Thunder. The Admirals lost their first game to Berlin in Amsterdam to open the season. They very much needed to get a win in Berlin. This game was Jared's turn to play the second quarter. To the left you can see him leading the quarterbacks in a prayer before the game; a weekly ritual for them. Gibran is to Jared's left and Reggie to his right.

For those of you who were unable to watch his game on the NFL Network, Jared had an awesome game. He had 2 touchdown passes, was 5-8 on his completions for 68 yards, and had 1 interception. To see the highlights of his 2 touchdown passes you can go to www.nfleurope.com, then click on week 4 highlights. You may have to download real player if you don't already have it, however, you can do it for free. You can also see an article on Jared on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers website which is: www.buccaneers.com. The article was written on April 11th.

Since I was back in Oklahoma for the weekend we don't have any pictures of our own to post. The picture to the left (as well as the one of the QB's praying) were taken by Bob de Calonne aka www.bodeca.nl. Here you can see Jared handing the ball off to Larry Croom.




Although the team had very little time to experience the historical city of Berlin, they were given the opportunity to view and sign the Berlin wall. Ryan Killeen took a picture of Jared signing the wall. He was also able to take a piece of the wall with him. It sounded like it was a very memorable experience for him.

Brynn's Trip Back to Edmond

I want to first apologize to those of you who have been checking our blog for the last week only to find that I haven't posting anything since the last game. As many of you know I flew home last Wednesday to attend the wedding of Tim McMiller and Julie Fisher in Springdale, Arkansas.

My flight home was almost 11 hours from Amsterdam to Houston. Unfortunately I was unable to sleep because it was bright outside the whole way. I spent most of the time watching 3 movies and 2 sitcoms, reading and writing thank you notes.


It was very nice not only being back in America, but especially being back in Edmond. I spent Thursday running errands and preparing for the weekend in Arkansas. I drove to Arkansas Friday with my parents, Traci, and the kids. I've never been so excited to spend time with my family. Our whole family stayed on the 2nd floor of the hotel together. Tim and Julie learned from this occasion that when you invite the Eliot Family, you better be prepared for the whole tribe to show up! To the left is a picture of Dawson (DJ and Miekel's son). He is growing up so fast and isn't he precious!!

On Saturday Traci, Josh, Abby, and I went to Jared's brother's (Jason) house for lunch. Jason and Michelle's kids, Olivia and Grant, got to know Josh and Abby during the wedding weekend and we thought it would be nice for them to get to see each other again. To the left is a picture of the 4 kids: Olivia Allen, Josh Eliot, Abby Eliot, Grant Allen, and Cowgirl. Although we didn't have as much time as we would have liked, I felt so fortunate to see the Allen's and the kids had a blast playing together.


Saturday night at 6:00 was the wedding. Everything was perfect! The chapel was breathtaking and the ceremony was very touching. As you can see Julie looked beautiful. This is a picture of me with the best sisters-in-law in the world: Miekel, Me, Julie, Traci, and Katie.
Here you see a picture of my Nana and Papa dancing the night away. The music and dance floor gave them the opportunity to experience a flash back to their days of competitive jitterbug dancing. All of the Eliot clan had a wonderful time dancing at the very beautiful reception. Although I got to dance with my brothers and my Papa, I sure missed Jared's unique and quite humorous dance moves!

The weekend in Arkansas was definately worth the long trip home from Amsterdam. We drove back to Edmond early Sunday morning to watch Jared's game on TV with the Allen's. Lyndon, Sharon, and Josh came over to my parents house to watch the game and enjoy some hamburgers. We all had so much fun together watching a fantastic football game(which I will post about in the near future).

Sunday night my family met up at my parents house for dinner. What I thought was all about a me going away for another 6 weeks or so, was actually not about me at all. Jason, Traci, and the kids showed up with extra grand smiles on their faces. It took a few minutes for us to figure it out, but Traci's T-Shirt says it all! Through the work of God she is pregant! Her pregnancy comes as a surprise to everyone... including Jason and Traci. Their story is amazing and a true intervention from our great savior. Please congratulate them if you see them, and keep both Traci and the baby in your prayers.

After a wonderful week back in Oklahoma and a long flight back to Amsterdam, I am now back in our "home". I arrived yesterday while Jared was at practice. My precious husband had left me a very nice note with a nice present. He bought me some very cute Lacoste flip flops as a welcome home gift. I am very blessed!