OUTLAWS!

View of restaurant form the outside

Kind of blurry, but this is the dining room. :)

Ryan and Rebekah ~ Year 1901

On our most recent trip out to Colorado, Ryan took me back to a little ole restaurant called Casa Bonita. This is QUITE an experience I must admit. It is very hard to explain this place to other people, but all I can say is that if you ever travel out to Colorado, you REALLY should go there! :)
While there Ryan and I decided to have a western picture taken of ourselves, just like they do at amusement parks!

Homemade Tornado!

Ryan and I spent the Christmas holidays back in his hometown of Arvada, Colorado. Unfortunately Ryan got sick on his first day there and we spent most of the trip at the house. While I used this time to catch up on some reading, Ryan and his dad decided that this would be a great time to make there very own TORNADO! :)

RockBand Fun!

The Lock Christmas was held at our house this year, and the kids ( and some adults ) spent much of the time playing with Uncle Ryan's Rock Band! :)

Roscoe the Reindeer?

I have no child yet to dress up, so don't judge me!

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree!

I HAD to get this ornament, first of all it's a high heel shoe, second of all, it's gold! Christmas '06

I try to find cute little ornaments of dogs, you know, for Roscoe! Christmas '07

No words needed to explain this one! :) Christmas '05

Ah yes, in memory of our Honeymoon in Hawaii! Snorkeling was SO much fun! Christmas '08

I collect snowman ornaments, this cutie is one of many! Christmas '03

My mom bought me a nutcracker one year, I now have SIX, a collection starting perhaps!?

THE TREE! :)

It's that time of year again! Time to put up the Christmas tree! There is just something so magical about a tree decorated with lights and special ornaments that puts a huge smile on my face! I love turning all the other lights down low and just sitting by the tree with either hot cocoa or tea ( or maybe a little Baileys on ice! :D ), I think I could stare at it for hours if I didn't have a million others thing to this time of year! I enjoy that almost all of the ornaments have a memory attached to each one of them, and every time you pull it out the box, you are flooded with all those special moments.

thanks

Here's a pic of the yummy pumpkin pie I made for Thanksgiving. I would like to thank my mom for teaching me how to cook! Thanks mom! :)

Thanksgiving is tomorrow, so I thought I would take the time to write down what I am thankful for this year. Of course most of you know that this was an extra special year for myself and Ryan because we were married on August 30th. :) I am thankful that I get to spend everyday with him, someone who treats me the way that everyone should and deserves to be treated, with respect. He is the best husband you could ask for! I am thankful for my ever growing family, who supports me in all I do. I am thankful for all my beautiful and wonderful friends, who keep me feeling young and zangy! I am thankful for God for giving me this life that I am so happy to have. Oh yes, and we can't forget Roscoe, he puts a smile on my face everyday, and that's pretty cool. :)

So, Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Birthday Wishes

BOWLING BIRTHDAY FUN!

YUMMY! The cupcakes were SO good!

Can you tell which one is my foot and which ones is Ryan?! :)

I think the ball is a bit heavy for little Izzy!

What a fun time we had today! :)Today Ryan and I joined most of my family and met up with some of the Nienhuis clan to celebrate Henry and Willem's birthday! Henry just turned 5 on November 20 and Willem will be turning 8 on December the 6th. We decided to celebrate at Lakeview Lanes in Saugatuck, to test out our bowling skill's! ( I'm not gonna lie, I didn't do too well ).We all had a great time freshening up our bowling skills while dining on yummy pizza and snacks! PLUS, Myka even made a batch of her oh so yummy cupcakes! They were SUPER cute, she decorated them with cute little bowling balls!

A recent obsession

Ok, so I need to be honest with myself and agree with my friends and family that maybe I am a little obsessed right now, more than I should be with Twilight! :)
I recently just finished reading the Twilight Saga books by Stephanie Meyer, it includes these four books: Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn. The series is about forbidden love with a vampire no less and I love it! ( call me a dork i don't care! ). I DID however manage to get my good friend Karla hooked on them as well, YAY! We just went to see the movie Twilight, based on the first book of course, and we both LOVED it! We are both hoping that more of our friends will join in our obsession.

Roscoe aka: Space Puppy!

Roscoe recently had to make a trip to the vet because of a sore on his back. Let's just say he was NOT very pleased when he came home!

FUN @ ROBINETTE'S!

Ever since I was little our family has been going to Robinette's Apple Haus in the fall. This year we made it into a birthday outing for Karuna ( she turned 2 on Sept. 31, 2008 ). We LOVE to go to Robinette's mostly because they have the BEST cinnamon-sugar donuts and fresh apple cider. The kids love to slide on the wagon slide! The weather was beautiful that day and we all had a great time!

HONEYMOON IN HAWAII!

I can't think of a better place to spend your honeymoon than in BEAUTIFUL Hawaii! Ryan's parents ( aka: my NEW parents! ) treated us to a week long trip at The Sheraton Maui for our wedding present, SO great! :) We had such a great time there. The weather was perfect. We spent much of our time either lounging poolside or snorkeling in the ocean. The sunsets were gorgeous and the food was spectacular!

OUR WEDDING DAY!! 8-30-2008

What else can I say about this day, other than it was PERFECT! :) Together Ryan and I, with our nearest and dearest friends, pledged to spend the rest of our lives living happily ever after! We were married in a small chapel in the church across the street from where i grew up, later we celebrated our marriage at Mangiamo's Italian Restaurant, where everyone ate and danced the night away! We are SO blessed!