Vrolijk Kerstfeest

Last night/this morning we celebrated "Dutch Christmas". Well, part of it anyway...

The part where the children fill their wooden shoes with hay and carrots for Sinterklaas' (St. Nick) horses and place them by the door. Only to find in the morning (if they've been good girl's and boy's) that the hay and carrots were replaced with treats, gifts and chocolate gold coins.

Don't worry bad girl's and boy's get a treat too - a lump of coal from Zwarte Piet (Black - as in evil or sinister Peter).

We've decided to carry on this tradition (American-style), in hopes of teaching our children a bit of their Dutch heritage.

Remembering Tanya...

It'll be a year tomorrow that my very first, oldest and best friend was called to Heaven.

Not a day goes by that I don't look at her picture on my dresser and just wish that I could talk to her or even see her for 1 more minute - to give her one last hug (without a pregnant belly getting in the way).

A year has passed, but it hasn't gotten any easier. For any of us.

Joe and the boys are living in Rockford with his parents. The boys have transitioned well to their new school and home environment.

We had Joe and the boys over for dinner this week. It was so great to be able to spend time with them. But so different with out Tan. On the outside; Jacob & Preston are your "normal", typical, loud, active boys - something I'll have to get used to. Since they are young, so you never can tell just how they are doing inside. One can only hope that they've found a (healthy) way to deal with the loss of their Mother.

Please pray for Tanya's Parent's, Sister, Nieces, Joe and the boys (and me too) that healing would continue and that the family would be strengthened thru all of this.

Snow, snow go away...

Where's the beach? Anyone...? Multi-purpose sand toys, gotta love it.

I may complain about the cold and snow, but today I was able to enjoy one of the most precious childhood moments - SNOW! To see Addi seeing and playing in the snow for the first time and showing her how to build a snowman, it was truly special. So special that I couldn't even feel the cold, wind, or snow. It must have been special for Addi too b/c she couldn't even feel the long bugger slime running down her face!

Many reasons to give thanks...

Thanksgiving 2008 was quite a long day for The Pitzer's.

It started at 9:30am with a pancake breakfast at my parents' church (before the service), a yummy! dinner was eaten at 1ish, then at 5pm some of my aunts, uncles and cousins came over for dessert. And finally, around 6:30pm (with Colin in his pj's) we headed home. Where Sarah came over and we shared our traditional Thanksgiving glass of wine (or two) together.

What a fun-filled, tiring day.

** I do have to say that it wasn't the same without Beth, Kristi, John or Kristian there.

And I also have to say that it wasn't as exciting as last year's Mojito's with Bill and Grace and Addi climbing on top of the dinner table (while no one was looking) eating dinner. **

Welkom!

Only in west Michigan can you take a trip to a place called Dutch Village. Resembling "the Old Country", this mini village has many shops (such as; cookie, candle, wooden shoe-making), restaurants, a play park and even has water (or ice) filled canals that line the streets.

Although he was a good sport - Matt isn't much for these (Dutch) types of things, but Dutch Christmas is coming (the kid's needed their wooden shoes) and I guess that's what he gets for marrying a Dykstra!

Girl's Weekend!

And what a weekend it was! With 3 of my girlfriends, no kids and having the ability to do whatever we wanted - priceless.

I got into Florida on Thursday night and we didn't leave for Savannah til Saturday am. So, I was able to see the kids, husbands, neighbors, in-laws and church friends. It was wonderful!

The Guys (Drew, Dave & Greg) My Boys (Quinn & Nick)

Ashley and Baby Sammy

Robert & Will

They look harmless don't they?

Happy Halloween!

Bright and early Friday morning Colin and Addi were dressed in their Halloween costumes and ready to go!
I had been talking to Addi about Halloween, trick-or-treat, costumes, kids, candy, etc. and didn't think we was quite "getting it". But, thanks to Dora, Calliou and Kai-Lan she knew full well what she was in for and how to do it well by 3pm.
We went to The Sterk's for dinner, then went to two church "Trunk-or-Treat"'s and stopped by a few houses along the way. Aunt's Tammy and TiTi & Nathan joined us in the fun too!
The kids were so cute! Kaya was a monkey, Addi was a ballerina and Colin was a pumpkin.
Addi (the "professional" trick-or-treater) marched right up to the front door, yelled "trick-or-treat", put her candy in her basket, said "gamp you" (otherwise knows as thank you) and ran off to the next house. Kaya (the "mature" and "seasoned" trick-or-treater was a bit more laid back) and Colin had a great time being held the whole time.
All in all, it was a very fun night for every one of us.