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)