Adding 2 To Our Family

for those of you who have seen our place...it is lovingly small :)

i have a desire for a pet of some sort but we aren't allowed to have any pets.

is a fish or a hermit crab a pet? (because, outside of having a dog, this is what I wanted)

i thought i would have to convince jonathan as to why i 'needed' a fish or hermit crab.

nope.

we went to petsmart and came home with 2 fish!

male and female

betta fish

betta are known as 'chinese fighting fish'

they can't be kept in the same container

so here is what we came up with 

she is in the middle, he is on the outside.

there are no names yet...

any suggestions!?

Jonathan is Flying!

He has waited so long to be up in the sky in command of an airplane and finally on July 12th he started flight school! We have made it through the first week; 2-3-4 hours of reading a day, 5am mornings and early to bed. Jonathan is doing really well adjusting to his new schedule and the excitement just beams off his faces when he tells me all about his days. Jonathan is soaking up all the new information and has already flown 3 flights...today he will add a flight to that count!

On my day off I went out to the hangar and watched him prepare for his flight, taxi and take off. I felt so proud sitting there watching him. So proud in fact that an instructor came up to me and was asking me some questions and all I could do was smile and blabber something that didn't make much sense out of my mouth :) Seeing Jonathan's excitement and success makes me so happy!

Jonathan is going through his pre-flight with his instructor.

It was hard to time this picture because I wasn't really sure when he would be coming out from behind the buildings but...above he is the small plane on the right taxing down the runway!

Just taking off. His wheels are off the ground :)

Flying overhead

Heading out to his "practice playground"

So I decided to follow his as far as I could so I could maybe get a picture of him up in the sky. The sun was so bright that I could see it well with my eye but couldn't capture him on the camera. All you can see is a bright speck pretty much in the middle of the picture near the power lines...thats him!

4th of July

We went to the early service, gasp, yes we did get up early to go to church :) I must say that a little change up in the time you go to church can be refreshing! We met Elizabeth & Alyssa there and headed to Coeur d Alene Idaho. It was windy and a bit overcast, we weren't really sure if it would rain or warm up. We sat on the curb and ate our picnic lunch then headed on down to find us a place in the grass. My experience of 4th of Julys is that the park is packed in the early afternoon because everyone sets their blankets down to ensure a good spot. This was not the case as we were one of the only ones that had our blankets out! It was well worth it though as we had an amazing view!

We hit up some of the cute little shops, spent a lot of time exploring the giant antique store and had dinner at a chinese restaurant off the beaten path.

After our long adventurous day we retired to our blanket and chatted, witnessed an Irish type wedding in the park (right next to us...interesting timing) and ate yummy cheesecake from the Dockside restaurant.

It seemed to take forever for the darkness to fall but when it did the firework show was great!

~*WISCONSIN*~

We traveled to Wisconsin June 7th-June 21st. It was really a great relaxing vacation! We flew into Milwaukee and spent the night in a nice hotel...we even had a jacuzzi in our room :)

The next day Mom, Dad and Katherine Grover came to pick us up...here they are upon their arrival...

We spent some time with Grandpa & Grandma Grover. We went bowling with them too, Grandpa beat all of us 2 out of 3 games! There is nothing like a good game of cribbage with grandpa and some delicious home cooking from grandma! We really cherished the time that we had due to us living so very far away. Grandma made her yummy apple crisp...yummy yummy! (Grandma doesn't like her picture taken but hopefully you can see how beautiful she was by this side shot :)

While we were in Wisconsin there was a family reunion for my Grandma Grovers side of the family. It was great that Jonathan was able to meet my extended family as now it is his family too! It was quite the adventure; a long drive there, really really hot temperatures, and not a whole lot to do. Everyone is aging like crazy, i guess that is what happens when i haven't seen them in almost 5 years.

We went and spent an afternoon/evening with friends of ours. Holly & Michael, and their wee little ones.  We had a really great time of fellowship and of sharing in delicious food together. Oh how we wish that distance didn't separate us!

Jonathan tried his hand at water skiing at the Sawyers lake cabin. He got up for a few seconds before getting an extreme amount of water up his nose. I tried, and on the second try did the splits. There is nothing like the feeling of your legs ripping off your body!  OUCH!!!

We took an afternoon to head up to my Grandma Nanas. There we got to visit and hang out with Grandma Nana, Great Grandpa and Grandma Stenerson, my aunts and uncles and cousins. We ended our time there with a friendly game of volleyball.

We made a couple visits to Grandma Betty. She lives in an assisted living type facility. She was very happy to see us. unfortunately our visits are never very long. There is not much to do except sit there and talk and Grandma would get distracted by the television leaving us sitting there wondering what to say next. We did get to go out on the patio though and feed her birds and feel the warm sun rays on our faces.

It was really great getting to be in Wisconsin for the summer because there were so many fun things to fill our time with. We found some amazing passes online that would get us in to many of the big attractions in Wisconsin Dells for free...or for a very very low price...so we got to do all the touristy things we wouldn't have normally done. We went mini golfing, to a comedy hypnosis show (in which i attempted to be hypnotized. it worked for a short time until i was disrupted by the awake man next me. quite the experience), Mt. Olympus water and theme park, went to Devils Lake State Park, saw the Tommy Bartlet Water and Ski Show...and rode the Original Wisconsin Ducks! (pictured below)

We rode the ducks on Father's Day and then took my parents out to the Del Bar. ( A really nice restaurant in Wisconsin Dells) We had some really delicious food and good conversation. It was special to be able to share Father's Day with my dad being that we live far far away. We had steak and shrimp...we all tried snail for the first time, including my mom!

Our visit like I said was really wonderful. It was a much different trip than any of our other trips to Wisconsin. We let everyone know that we were coming home and made our plans once we arrived. This was OUR family vacation, a time of relaxation. We didn't have to run around and see everyone like a bunch of crazy people. We missed out on seeing some people, but relationships really change over time and distance. We got to catch up with family and get some quality time in.

World Cup Finals!!!

GO 

NETHERLANDS

Holland plays Spain today in the World Cup Finals! For some this may be no big deal but my husband is from Belgium...a Dutch citizen. We are going to paint the town orange :)

Memorial Day 2010

I know that we have fallen a bit behind on updating everyone about the happenings in our lives. We just got back from a 2 week vacation to Wisconsin...in which I will post about soon. So if you will hang in there with us and go back to Memorial Day weekend...

We decided to take a trip to Seattle to visit Auntie Kathleen & Uncle Richard. Since Jonathan will be starting flight on July 12th, we saw this as an opportunity to have one last trip over there before things get really crazy around here.

On our way to Seattle Delilah, our little blue Ford Escort, hit 150,000 miles. I wanted to have a large celebration, smear cake all over her and such...but unfortunately we hit this mile marker when we were going through the mountains so this type of celebration would have been frowned upon!

Auntie Kathleen & Uncle Richard took us both to the Flying Heritage Collection Museum. The main emphasis of this museum includes combat aircraft from World War II. This collection is owned by Paul G Allen. It was really an amazing thing to see. I almost wish Jonathan was writing this blog as he could say a whole lot more about the airplanes and such. 

The amazing gentleman that gave us the tour of this collection. He was in WWII and some really great stories to tell.

Another day we decided to venture down to Folklife Festival. We have managed to go the last 2 years this has been going on so we thought that it would be fun, while Auntie Kathleen & Uncle Richard were dancing tango, to walk around. We took in lots of the local musical talent, some are great while others we really wished we had earplugs. For those of you who like to people watch this is a great place to do that. It seems that, for this festival, all the people who hide in their dark closets the entire year...come out to enjoy company with others quite like them. When we saw these two peoples "shows" I couldn't help but to stop and take a picture.

Save the Unicorns came first...

I just have to let you know that this guy was SERIOUS about saving the unicorns...all he did was sway back and forth saying "save the unicorns. save the unicorns".

Next came our ribbon friend. As you can see he handed these colorful scarves to people standing near and wanted them to dance with him. Once he had a crowd his face just burst with happiness. Everyone else was having a good time too, until he started licking other guys necks. yup.

We went to the Crab Pot for dinner. It was really yummy! You pick a feast for 2. They boil it all up with seasonings and then just bring it to your table and dump it in the middle. We were then handed bibs, wooden mallets and a wood block. It was a really great experience! We took the leftovers home and made some delicious clam chowder :)

One of the other nights Jonathan & I made a meal at home for Auntie Kathleen & Uncle Richard. Pear, Candied Walnut, Blue Cheese Salad with Basalmic Vinegar Dressing.  Lobster Tail, Grilled Shrimp, Asparagus and Mashed Potatoes for the Main Course.

It was a great weekend. We really love going over to Seattle to spend time with family. We also went to see Grandma Southwick and had lunch with her. She is a bit forgetful but our visit was very pleasant. Auntie Kathleen & Uncle Richard are always very hospitable and for that we are thankful. It is like a home away from home :)

Things I Miss

People I Miss...

Amanda & Alora 

... first and closest friends in college. We did a lot together. Explored a lot, laughed alot, did "homework" alot. Visited the Rocket Market, Huckleberry's, the Empyrean & the Satellite. They both moved back home and I have missed them dearly ever since.

Holly. 

(not the bestest picture, and for that I am sorry) We met many many years ago. I don't really remember how...prob at church youth group. We were pretty much friends right off the bat. We gave our lives to Christ the same exact night and share an amazing passion for creating in the kitchen. Ever since high school we have lived pretty far apart...now that we are living in Washington the distance is even further. The crazy thing about our friendship is that no matter what has gone on in life...or how much time has passed between conversations we can just pick up like time never even passed. 

My sister Katherine

...she is growing up so fast and I can't believe I only get to see it all through pictures and hear about it over the telephone. She is a junior in high school...went to prom...plays sports...sings in choir...loves photography...has a soft heart...totally beautiful.

My parents. 

They did a lot for me growing up. Although I have married and have started a family of my own...being so far away is difficult...holidays pass, birthdays pass, doctors appointments pass and just days pass. I can't even imagine what it will be like when we have children. I think our family needs to own an island...one big enough that we can all have our own space...but so that we can hop in the car and visit them when we want.

Grandpa & Grandma Grover. 

Such precious kind hearted people. Grandpa taught me to drive and worked me to sweat many many times doing basketball drills in his driveway. He also makes the most delicious cookies! It doesn't matter what kind they are, they always turn out fluffy and yummy. Grandma works so hard and really has an amazing servant heart. She cooks meals from scratch and always has a homemade dessert in the house. I miss her angel food cake and pies. 

Papa & Mama de Jongh. 

Although I don't know them super well I have gotten to know through my visits to Belgium and through my wonderful husband, their son. I desire to know them better, for them to know me better...to be closer to spend holidays with, to just be able to give them a hug or call them on the phone at normal times of the day.

Stephanie. 

When everyone else's lives got in the way of caring, Steph was there for me. We worked together, went to church together and hung out. She was real and has a huge heart for the Lord.

Leah. 

We were slow to open up to each other but once we did we were great friends. We spent a lot of time together, took many adventures and ate lots of tasty food. Now we don't see each other. Different jobs, different places in life. 

FAMILY. 

All of them...even the ones not pictured here. Aunts, uncles cousins, great aunts, great uncles, great great grandparents, second cousins...etc. Family is so great. And looking at my countdown on igoogle I am reminded that we will see a lot of family in 12 days :) 

Ellie.

 Ok, so I know that she is not a person but she is a wonderful family dog. We got her as a pup and Katherine trained her well. She is the best, I mean BEST dog I have ever encountered. In our apartment we aren't allowed to have any pets...I really want one...cat, dog, gerbil, fish turtle...really I would settle for anything right now. There is just something about having a pet that is special.