Wooden Shoes...

Wooden head...Wooden listen.

Sound like anyone you might know?

We were recently privileged to hear Army General David Petraeus speak at the Dutch American Heritage Day dinner. Who knew he's Dutch?!  He was a wonderful speaker; insightful and very genuine, laughing (kinda losing it even) at himself/his own Dutch jokes!

It was an honor for both Peter and me to meet him.

Thank you Kari and Jason for another great year!

Good Gatherings

Any time a giant trash bag of popcorn is brought to Youth Group you can almost guarantee it's going to be a good night, couple that with three boxes of Sandy's doughnuts and you can just get right out!

Friday night we bid a fond farewell to Peter's grandma for the winter. Her request for Christmas was only for pictures to be text throughout the winter. Anyone else willing to get on that gift train, please let me know!

Saturday brought a most lovely bridal shower for a truly wonderful friend. I still look back and marvel that God had good plans for the time we each spent with Cedarville Tennis...I know I had my doubts at times, I'm sure she did too :)

We rounded out Saturday with a 40th Super Hero birthday party for our friend Dan. His wife Tonya really went all out. You can see why they typically win trunk or treat :)

Gather 'round the good stuff, people.

It's the Keys!

If there's one thing I've learned since marrying Senor Pedro it's that I shall not offer unsolicited fashion advice. In this department he knows his mind and will not be swayed, not without a ridiculous argument anyway. So Peter packed nothing, assuring me that the 10 year old t-shirts he keeps squirreled away in his parent's condo would be just fine for all his needs. After all, 'It's the Keys!'

ok. Sounds good. whatever. Please pull my carry-on. :)

We got to FL on Thursday and met his cousin Julie and her husband Tommy at the Avis counter. Peter's parents were already there and we arrived just in time for a late afternoon walk on the beach and dinner.

Friday morning it was shopping for the girls and fishing off the dock for the boys. That was actually all day for the boys.

A little pool time too.

In the evening Peter fried the fruits of their labor. Yum! When's Lent?! I love fried fish!

We drove down to Deer Key to look for the tiny deer that live there. They're regular whitetails but because of the climate and terrain they dont get much bigger than a big dog and are very used to people. Turns out this little guy likes peppermints :)

Saturday we decided to visit Key West. That's an interesting place. :)

I felt like I was in good company though! 

Our first stop after lunch was Hemingway's house. There are 54 kitties on the grounds! Joy!

This one cracks me up, the first kitty Peter saw he petted and then tried to pick up, this is his face when the guide told him no picking up the cats! ha!

After visiting Hemingway we walked to the Southernmost Point in the US. I think it got hotter with every step we took!

We did a few more touristy things while we were there, including drinking from a coconut and taking our photo at Mile 0 on Hwy 1.

 Sunday morning brought more fishing off the dock, lunch at the Key's Fisheries where they have a Lobster Reuban! and a trip to Islamorada and the huge fishing store there.

Everyone gets a turn in the face board! Peter the Mermaid! hehehe

We bought these for our nursery, shopping with Peter is good training ground for shopping with kids, 'please can we get the duck too! Please!'

The last few hours of daylight we enjoyed the pool, it was a lovely way to round out the day. 

Until we meet again Florida Keys!

Momsie and Popsie

Even though this post will only serve to perpetuate the notion my siblings have that I spend about 90% of my time with my parents, dear ol' mom and dad have been very helpful to us lately and I'm very grateful.

What better way to say thank you than a blog post?! :)

Mother rabbit needed a cape so mother came to the rescue. It, of course, went from being a simple fleece cape to a deluxe, fully-lined, and perfectly sewn cape :)

The leaves all fell practically overnight, the yard man was out of town, and the 4 day rain was imminent. Good thing dad got a super blower for Christmas!

Thank ya pals.

Happy Halloween

We were up and at 'em and literally running around first thing Halloween! Doing it in great style too, even the judges agreed this year!

It was our 6th year running, a lot has changed since we started, many additions! and what a year! our gumball machines came in second place!

 Then it was off to trunk or treat which was moved indoor because of rain.

These two won in a landslide, coming in 1st and 2nd respectively!

 These girls were all just darling!

The Sound of Music was a singing sensation placing 3rd.

And even though we shamelessly campaigned for votes, Mother Rabbit and Peter Rabbit were off the stand in the 5th spot.

Hoppy Halloween!

Happy National Cat Day

I hope you had a purrfect day, we sure did!

Aside from getting many texts, memes, and funny cat videos we also celebrated at home with our girls: we had dinner out and the kittens got an extra scoop of food :)

We also carved kitty pumpkins!

She had to know it was her day, she allowed snuggling...it kind of looks like cat dad Peter is strangling baby kitty, but in reality he's scratching her chin and she's dying a thousand love deaths.

Yep, we're crazy cat people :)