Our neighbors in Emst, Holland

This is a typical Dutch house. Brick with a perfectly manacured lawn and beautiful flower gardens.

Most of the houses have huge windows that are kept open with no screens when the weather is nice.

No cars up on blocks, no weeds......Toto, we're not in the South anymore!

Where's Santa? This guy lives in a local park with his other buddies. They loved peppermints.

There seems to be a park in every neighborhood with all types of animals for the kids to feed and pet. Big kids too!


Springtime in Holland means lambs. They are everywhere you turn. I think there are more sheep than people in Emst. These guys are only a day or two old...still a bit wobbly.

HUGE! Dutch draft horse. They still use horses to pull many farm wagons and carts in this area.

The cows in Holland stay in the barn during most of the winter months and when the ground is very wet, as not to disturb the grass. The pastures here look like most people's yard in the USA.

This cow seemed as interested in me as I was her. Lovely girl.

A walk through Epe, Holland

The Church right in the heart of town.
Need some real estate? That is what that says....or at least that is what they tell me!

This is the Cafe' dePosthoorn

The Dutch enjoy the outdoors. If the weather is nice, that is where they will be.

Notice the trees in front of this building. They look like power lines in the picture, but are tree branches connected together. These trees line the downtown streets in Epe.

Everyone is so friendly and they all ride their bikes whenever possible.

Random Images from Holland

Old farm building at Hulsebos house.
The people of Holland ride bicycles everywhere. There are more bycicles than cars.

Angry Aiden after Tilsa took a stick away from him....he was poking passersby at the Palace. See photo below. (the blog and I had different ideas about what order the photos should be in.)

Emma helping with the dishes.

God Save The Queen, or at least her Sister!!

A visit to one of Holland's royal Palaces. Today I went to visit the Palace Het Loo. It is in the city of Appledoorn and is the home of Queen Beatrix' sister, Margaret. These folks know how to live, but I am a little worried about their choice of cars. The cars of the Royal fleet that were on display were a 1972 Ford LTD, and some generic Ford that we don't even have in the states! What kind of Royalty is this?

The Royal Chicken Coop!


The path between the stables and the Palace.

The Royal horses are Friesians.

The stables.

The Palace Het Loo


The Royal Crest.

Check back often for more pictures from my adventures in Holland.

Eventers are like family.

I spent this past weekend at Pine Top Farm in Thomson, GA. Jake and I had gone there for him to compete his two horses in their Spring Horse Trial. It was a time of mixed emotions for us. It was the first horse trial of the year for Jake, but also the first one without Cleve. We had been to this farm so many times as a family in the past and there are so many memories there. I dreaded having to tell the story of what had happened to Cleve, and God bless Jake, as he tried to head off as much of that as possible. Everyone was so great, they came up to me, gave me a hug and some never said a word. A simple hug and a smile was enough. This was without a doubt the best weekend I have had since Cleve's death. The horses all ran great, with Jake and Mr. Bryteside finishing in 3rd, and Aspurr Luck having clear rounds in Stadium and Cross Country. I had a wonderful time with some of my closest friends; Caren, Marty, Sarah, Tilsa, and Jan. Without these people in my life I don't know how I would have made it through the last few months. Thanks!

Website update

Exciting news here at Beth Mitchell Photography. My friend Karen G. is giving my website a face lift! She is such a whiz with the computer and she's a great cook too! What a great friend to have!! Please stay tuned for updates and new photos soon.

To Blog or Not to Blog......

Well.......

Here I go. I have no idea what I am doing, but I do know that I love reading other people's blogs so I thought it would be fun to have one too. It may be fun for me, but you will be the one to suffer through my "brilliant" stories! This also gives me another place to post my pictures.......just what you wanted to hear!

Here is one of my latest.....and greatest!

The cutest 3 year old ever!