Four years ago today...

Four years ago today, an American family of four arrived at Midi train station with a lot of luggage and a cat.  In hindsight, the train idea was not very smart, but we got here eventually.  A few weeks later, our dog arrived (jet lag and all) and we settled into our home in La Hulpe.

Now, four years later, we've had to say goodbye to the dog and cat (Monkey's allergies - and his head full of hair for that matter), but we have an extra kid.  And while she may not be Belgian by nationality, she is Belgian by heart.  Miss B's first words were chocolate (ca-ca) and baguette (ba-bette) and they remain her favorite foods to this day (along with frites).  I refuse to let her try a sip of her daddy's beer, because I'm sure, by deduction, that would be a favorite too.

While we might have to work a little harder than we thought to keep them American, our children have embraced life here.  They love their soccer teams (their own, of course) but they also cheer for Barcelona and Man-U (Manchester United) and know all of the players in between.  They speak french much better than their parents (even Miss B) and often serve as translators for said parents whenever the need arrises.  Last year, we even had AJ sit in on his little brother's parent-teacher conference to help us out.

And despite challenges like cultural differences, language barriers and homesickness, we will be forever grateful for the amazing opportunity and life lessons we've learned in our short time here.  We will be especially thankful for the life-long friends we've made along the way.