Mile Marker 0

 This winter I finally convinced Bill to go on a real vacation - he picked the Florida Keys so off we went to Cudjoe Key which is @ Mile Marker 22.  

The Keys have iguana's everywhere - this is a Key Deer - they are super small and they are not very shy as you can see.  

 We rented a house complete with pool and fishing right off the sea wall

Just a few of our many fish friends...

 Mallory square was great at night - during the days we fished right here were Blue is juggling fire on top of a huge unicycle - crazy... even crazier we met this guy at our house and talked with him.... 

 There are old bridges and roads everywhere that people fish from... the scenery is beautiful

 Tarpon were in season...

 For some odd reason there are chickens everywhere - this is a parking lot at a grocery store - no kidding...

It was an awesome time - can't wait to go back!

Winter @ FLW

Hey blog readers - I know once again I've been delinquent on keeping the blog up to date - let me try to catch you up... Our first winter at FLW was great

 This is big bird - a pileated woodpecker who decided to come live in our woods

In addition to big bird we also had many other visitors including a unidentified creature who we tried to capture on film all winter but were never able to.  Whatever it is Bill has never seen its tracks and it seems to be camera shy :-)

 Winter is the best view 

 Trinity/White dog is a fan of FLW - this photo isn't staged - I found her this way one day sleeping on the wreath

 The Griswolds finally got the tree up - after it falling down at least 10 times

 Of course there was fishing - sorry Bill I know the fish in that pic is small 

On March 4th we had a new addition to the family - Kim and Phil's son Oliver was born - since it is their 3rd son Kim didn't send any pictures so here's a picture of the mobile Jess and I made him (yes we tried to be crafty) Kim I need a picture of Oliver (I know I know check facebook)

Oliver Douglas Amsterburg

9.7lbs

22 inches long

12:28 a 3/4/13

Holiday Baking

Hey Holiday friends,

It's that time of year - here's some pics of all the holiday festivities going on - 

first shot is some yummy treats Jodie and I whipped up...

 Here's just a few of the ingredients for baking day with Christine and mom...

 The output of baking day with Christine and mom....

Pickled cranberries?  Why not?

 Lexi making Uncle Bill's Thanksgiving Gravy

 Thanksgiving Turkeys?

FLW

as you might have noticed the blog has been very quiet lately - that's because Bill & I have been really busy working on the house (aka FLW)

Before picture of the driveway ... it was like deliverance the trees were so grown in you couldn't fit down the driveway with a full sized truck without scraping the sides with branches

 After picture of the driveway - post lots of trimming and cutting

Before picture of the front of the house - notice the beautiful landscaping

Post some landscaping - still more to do

 Picture of the family room and dining room before we bought the house (with their stuff still in it) that would be my dining room table that I bought and they didn't leave me (but I'm not bitter)

Family room/dining room after (yes we know the cushion covers are getting ordered and will be changed soon)

 Kitchen before we bought it

 another "before" kitchen shot

A little cabinet removal at your service 

After....

 Bill's Den - post new paint job - unfortunately no before picture of this one

Bill's den after

Fireplace - after ;-)

Of course this is only the beginning - follow along I'm sure there's more to come 

Birthday Bonanza

hey blog readers,
I'm a little late with the post but on September 8th Kim, Jess and I celebrated Kim's 30th birthday which then rounded out our year of being 30....  actually we started on September 7th when we visited the Paw Paw wine and harvest festival to see the air dogs - it turns out air dogs is only moderately cool (think blow up pool not a lake) however it was a still a good time and we had fun people watching :-) Jess even saw some of her facebook friends but we didn't know their names... we busted out of there just in time to miss the rain and headed off to Olgas to pick up some dinner and over to see Mare for some serious euchre... then back to FLW for the night (we tried to watch Dirty Dancing but we are getting old and instead all went to bed)...
the next day - Kim's actual b-day started out with breakfast in Scotts then a trip to the spa for spa treatments and lunch and then finally off to the Maltby's house for a party with the Maltby family...
It was a great weekend overall but Jess and I did decide that Kim is clearly the creative one of the 3 of us :-)
Here's some pics of the fun...

 Does this picture look familiar?

 Little Mermaid Cake :-)

 a little arts and crafts and foot painting

the end of birthdays - good thing we will always stay 30