Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Dear Friends and Family,

Seasons Greetings! We hope this message finds you well. As you can see from the picture, we adopted a 'wild' cat in 2009. His name is Liam and he is a Maine Coon. Liam is Kate's first pet besides Freddy the goldfish back in '92. Josh grew up with more pets and is teaching Kate all the basics, from picking Liam up the right way to trimming his claws! Although his picture is deceiving, Liam is a very playful and loving cat (unless you forget to feed him).

It has been another busy year. Josh is still enjoying work in Key Bank's Portfolio Administration group and Kate is still an HR Representative at Bard Access Systems. This year's highlights for us were our trips. Some of the most memorable were a trip to Northern California in May with the Musgrove family and a trip to Holland in October with the van Rij family. From the enormity of the Redwoods to the reverence of Anne Frank's house, we experienced extraordinary places we will never forget and are grateful to have seen together. We love to travel and are ready for somewhere sunny and warm in 2010!

One of the least favorite parts of 2009 was when Kate had her tonsils removed. After many sore throats she is hopping the 'king daddy of all sore throats' will be the last for a long long time.

Josh has already been enjoying another season of shredd'n at various mountain resorts especially Solitude. He looks forward to snow all year.

Our wish to you and your families is a safe and Merry Christmas along with a wonderful New Year. To our out-of-state friends; you are always invited to crash at our house and we won't hesitate to do the same! To those close to home, we hope to see you more this year.

Lots of love,

Josh and Kate van Rij and Liam Lionheart

Portrait by Mike Kunde michaelkunkephoto.wordpress.com (Thanks again Sr. Mundy).

Normal Not Normal

I love those sections of gossip magazines that describe celebrity behavior as "normal not normal". I decided to play and let you be the judge.

Normal Not Normal...
1. Going to the grocery store an hour after my husband did to get what he missed (wheat bread instead of white bread, yogert, etc.)
2. Getting a panic feeling anytime a pedestrian comes into view during an ATM transaction.
3. Googling my neighbors
4. Googling myself
5. Paying a professional photographer to take a Christmas card portrait with me and my cat
6. Wearing an oversized Christmas cat sweatshirt to the company Christmas party when no mention of an ugly Christmas sweater theme was made.
7. Playing normal not normal on my blog

Julie y Julia

For awhile, Josh and I have been contemplating the type of blog we wanted to be. All the good ones have a theme, ya know? Some close contenders are:
Blog Tron: a robot style blog
Salty Blog: a blog about living in Salt Lake
The Blagger: a blog that just brags
100-dollar ideas: Not a million, not a thousand, possibly these ideas could make $100
Blat: A blog about our cat Liam

We are leaning most towards "Blogenity Crisis" a blog that copies famous blogs (e.g. in the spirit of Julie and Julia, Kate would cook all the recipes in her mother's Christmas cook book and blog about it. This could be good because she has categories like play dough).

The lines will be open for the next 48 hours. Comment your vote in the box below. Remember, your favorite blogs will not be here if you do not vote!

4th Annual Musgrove Pie and Friends Night

Four years ago, the Musgrove family decided that it was a shame that one of Thanksgiving's most delectible delights, pie, was getting lost in a bellie full of turkey, potatos and yams. Our family felt that Thanksgiving pie should be savored and celebrated, not crammed in as a glutenous afterthought. This is how pie night was born. On the eve of Thanksgiving 2006, Musgrove family and friends gathered together to eat a lot of pie.

Our family tradition continues, pie night will be held this Wednesday, November 25th at the Musgrove residance, 9837 S. Countrywood Dr. Sandy around 7 PM. Friends and family are welcome to join us in loose fitting clothing, for another round of rounds. Please bring your favorite kind of pie!

Perkle Haze

So today I bumbled outside (on Perkiset) to take down the fall wreath I made out of leaves. I locked myself out of the house! It is a way nice day thankfully. None of my neighbors were home and I decided against climbing a ladder to break in since the trees were spinning.

I tried to tap on the window and get Liam to call Josh. Cat's can't do anything. So finally I had to swallow my pride and go to the fancy shmancy hair salon across the street to borrow the phone. Let's just say, I looked homeless. I had on my hammered slippers and a fleece sweat suit, and my hair was all matted down. I couldn't even speak louder than the pumpin techno.

Josh saved the day and drove home from work, yeah! It was quite the adventure.

Tonsilectomy

I am pleased to inform you all that the tonsilectomy went just fine. I had them taken out yesterday morning and Josh has been tending to my every need! He goes back to work today so if you have nothing to do, please stop by and watch a movie! I am already bored, good thing I have a stinkin cute kitten to cuddle.

The pain killers are doing their job and I am not nearly as miserable as I anticipated. The Perkiset has weird side affects for example, my skin mildly itches and I get light fevers?! Not heavy fevers, just light ones...weird.

Seriously though, come visit me! I am gladly accepting pebble ice, otter pops, someone to do my dishes, someone to put my lights on my tree, someone to watch Giselle the ballet with (or any of the other movies I picked up at the library last night including "Cat On a Hot Tin Roof", "Shindlers List", "Sex and the City season 4", "Reality Bites".

Seriously, I am bored. Thank you in advance.
-Kate

The Netherlands National Anthem

Our Netherlands trip!

The van Rij family finally made it to HOLLAND! After a lot of saving and planning, we were able to visit the land of our ancestors (pictured below from left to right: Stephen, Matthew, Joshua, Daniel Sr. Nathan, Lindsey, Jessie, Kate, Patricia and Sarah in Hortus Botanicus, Leiden) We stayed in Leiden, a historic university city in South Holland circa 860. Every morning we would leave our apartment facing the houses below which were built in the 17th century, the Netherland's Golden Age. Canals, fog and rain were a significant part of our trip. Much of the Netherlands is accessible by boat via canals and rivers.

The streets were made of colorfull bricks.

Morning Routine

Every morning we would stop in at our favorite bakery around the corner, Jacobs, for breakfast.

We would pass thousands of bikes on our way to the train station (pictured below Nathan and Sarah van Rij)
Every bike had it's own flair

As we approached the Centraal Station, we would pass this harbor every morning

Kasteel De Haar & Utrecht

We went on many different adventures. (Kasteel de Haar 1391, restored 1890 by P.J.H. Cuypers)

The city of Utrecht est. 722 A.D., Dom Tower built 1382, 368 ft.
Utrecht's sunken canals

The Kroller-Muller Museum in Hoge Veluwe National Park

One of our favorite adventures was an excursion to Apeldoorn in the eastern Netherlands and seeing the forest during it's beautiful autumn transition.

Within the gates of the Hoge Veluwe National park are a thousand white bikes available to explore the forest's many paths. The whole family hopped on a bike
We rode to the heart of the forest and visited the Kroller Muller Museum. This world class museum included pieces by artists such as Picasso, Mondrian, Seurat, Gauguin and Vincent van Gogh (pictured below van Gogh's "Cafe Terrace")
We liked Marta Pan's "Ampitheater"

Kinderdijk

We also loved visiting Kinderdijk, a system of 19 windmills built in 1740 to control the water levels.

We loved all of it, from the hustle of modern Rotterdam,

to the little things

that Holland has to offer
Like goats in the road,

Or the Hydrangeas blossoming in every nook (Bloemenmarkt, Amsterdam)

Or the roof tops
Or the giant leaves (Hortus Botanicus, Leiden)
We will miss you Holland! (Klompen Museum in the Zaanse Schans district of Zeedam)

Pumpkin Pounce

Pumpkin Kitty

The unsuspecting victim...

Just enjoying his sunny Sunday afternoon...

Then wham! Pumpkin outfit, yes!!

You can tell he loves it, he he he

Lately I have been...

-Going to Yoga during lunch at work and making friends outside of HR
-Wishing I had our Yoga instructors body
-Accessorizing more which makes me feel like I have twice the wardrobe
-Not folding clothes but rather stuffing them into my drawers!
-Taking cat naps with Liam
-Thinking about starting a garden in the spring
-Sitting on the phone with my mom during entire episodes of "Dancing With The Stars" so we can critique and comment on every moment
-Procrastinating the final paper in "Language of Strategy"
-Feeling nice and busy, but not too busy at work
-Hating the Flu Shot
-Loving rainy Sunday afternoons with Joshua

A rare moment...

Wait for it, wait for it, there is a cute yawn at the end.

Liam Lionheart

We have our hands full with this little guy. When he is not pouncing, attacking, scratching, lurking, or biting, our hands, face, sofa, sheets, shower curtain, he can be pretty cute.

Snowbird Resort

Sometimes I forget what a beautiful place we live.

Through Time

Almost ten years ago I started a conversation with a girl wearing leather boots, frayed jeans, a black leather jacket, and a sun faded bandana. It was the eve of Halloween and as I talked with Kate for the first time all I could do to keep a straight face was look deeply into her blue eyes to distract myself from her Magic Marker scruff and “biker” persona.

That night would be the first of many unforgettable events as Kate became my unfailing best friend, supporter, partner-in-crime, adviser, travel buddy, debater, sound effects, constant companion, and eventually my other half. When I first met Kate I knew she was not like other girls, and now after a decade I can see that it is her uniqueness, intelligence, and inherent understanding of what matters in life that sets her apart and inspires me today.

Three years ago I again looked into Kate’s eyes and saw a beautiful future, only this time she was wearing an angelic white dress.

Gelukkig Voortrekker Dag!

To celebrate Pioneer Day I am officially not going anywhere. The parade route has blocked off all possible routes of escape for Salt Lake City. While sleeping on the curb and exposing one’s self to extreme heat and dehydration in order to get a glimpse at a caravan of odd vehicles and odder people may be a slightly more fitting way to commemorate the Pioneers grand entrance into our lovely valley, I'll stay put and post some pictures to illustrate how our summer has been going so far while Kate celebrates by working.

Visiting the Utah Arts Festival (earlier this summer) has become an annual tradition of ours.





Treasure Island at the Vegas with Pirates of the carribian mode Orlando Bloom and crew.





Mtn. Biking at Deer Valley with Stephen when Lindsey and him visited Utah





Ultimate frisbe with the family.







Practicing my famous one-arm-drive


Random shot of this incredibly gorgeous woman I spotted at "Utah's Beach."


Kayaking on the Yakima River




Here are a couple shots of fishing in The Sound with Stephen, Lindsey, Daniel, and Scott.