Sometimes in life, it's the simple things that are most enjoyable, like licking the beater...

Our first Christmas. We spent Christmas with my family in Hollywood, Florida. It stinks that our families live four hours away from each other because we can't see both of them on Christmas Day. But, they are both in Florida, so we can see them and the beach in the same trip!
Relaxing with the pets is our new favorite thing to do. Though we both miss Florida, the fall up here is very colorful and we're enjoying things changing as we go through this thing they call "seasons." Here, we're at Cherokee Park, a dog park in Louisville. This is Buddy and Lucy's first day out to a park.



So what do you do when your parents come into town and you live in Louisville, Kentucky? You go to Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby. A coworker hooked us up with tickets and we enjoyed a day at the races. Unlike NASCAR, this racing event is something to dress up for. It was fun. We got all dressed up, sat in a personal box, and enjoyed a conversational day at the races. We saw the paddock, the staging area, and the actual races. No, our horses did not win. I think picking the best looking horse isn't always the way to go. It was a lot of fun and now I can say I've been to Churchill Downs!
I'm a dog person. Two days ago we got Stephanie a cat. My brothers all took it upon themselves to make fun of me for having a cat. What they didn't know is that Stephanie and I had a deal. Since she is a cat person and I am a dog person, we'd have to get both. And she couldn't get a cat without me getting a dog. SO, we found the dog. This is Lucy. She's my new best friend. Right now, she's about 6-weeks old. She is a yellow lab mix. Her father was a pure bread show dog and her mother was a stray. The owners were quite upset that their show dog mated with a stray, and wanted to get rid of the mother and puppies. SO, Josh, our animal rescuer, took them all.
Stephanie is a cat person. Since she is home all the time during the day, we decided it is a good time to get some pets. Today, she brought home Buddy. He was the cuddliest of the masses of kittens she saw. I wasn't raised with cats in the house, but I can learn. For me, the jury is still out. He's not bad. But I'm not the biggest cat fan. We'll see.
So we had a little Halloween party with the locals. There were many costumes and "scary desserts." Also, there was a pumpkin-carving contest, in which I did win. I'll have to post that picture soon. I'm quite proud of my pumpkin-carving skills. This picture is the wives of the party attendees.
The wedding was great. The new life is even better. After our wedding, we moved to Louisville, Kentucky where we moved into our "House of Dreams." Since then, we have experienced the coldest weather we've ever lived in. Yes, it's been in the 30's at night. And the best part is this winter is expected to be colder than usual. Right. We're both from Florida, the SUNSHINE state.
It's fall everybody and that means PUMPKINS! Ok, we had this tradition in my family. Every year my mom would dress us up all nice and pretty and take us to a pumpkin patch and take pictures of the four kids. It was cute and all when we were little and wore shorts and bowties. But after a while, we all regreted it because it wasn't "cool" to be seen on the side of the road at a random pumpkin patch dressed nicely with your siblings getting your picture taken. How embarassed can one be? This year, however, Stephanie and I started our own tradition of pumpkin pictures. Boys hatch the pumpkin and girls welcome the pumpkin into our home. Isn't that so much better? My kids are going to be SO scared!





