Andee and I were fortunate enough to be able to attend the 'World's Largest Garage Sale' during one of the weekends this Fall. Who would have thought that the World's Largest Garage Sale would occur right here in Waterloo, Iowa! Boy are we lucky! Okay so the title may have been a tad bit misleading, but there was a bunch of stuff to look at! Amongst all the standard garage sale items that are somehow at every garage sale ever, it's always fun to spot the one or two gems that are hiding somewhere within! And gems we did find! We came out with a heart shaped wreath made of sticks for $2, and a beautiful rustic wooden crate for $10! Garage Sale win!
Andee and I were seriously taking advantage of the warm Fall weather and made sure to visit a pumpkin patch and little Fall Festival for some festive Fall photos and promises of pumpkin carving and Fall squash! And it was a success! Pumpkins, spooky corn maze, hay rides, and cute little farm animals including cows, pigs, and goats made for a great afternoon!
This Fall we were also able to celebrate the delicious and wonderful holiday of Canadian Thanksgiving, or as we like to call it....Thanksgiving. We invited a couple friends over for a delicious feast that included Mary Holt's famous potatoes, maple sweet potatoes, roasted acorn squash, stuffing, rolls, gravy, and of course, turkey! But who needs all that when you have a turkey-shaped cat on your table! Look at those turkey legs! Better be careful Aloe Kitty, it's Thanksgiving!!
Going along with our Fall themed blog, we were able to enjoy a super fun Fall Party with our wonderful Small Group! The festivities included a potluck dinner of deliciousness, pumpkin carving, a bonfire, and an outdoor viewing of 'Back to the Future' by the fire! An eventful and fun evening with some of our favourite Iowans! Check out our creative array of carved pumpkins!
This Fall has also been quite fun since Andee is now on the Recruiting Committee for his Residency Program! Andee now has a larger role in helping with the interview process of incoming applicants, and was able to travel to Kansas City this summer with a few coworkers to be a part of the Northeast Iowa Family Medicine Residency Booth for Medical Students to learn more about the program. And of course, a huge perk to being on the recruiting committee is hosting a few extra applicant dinners! Being on the other side of an interview is a heck of a lot more fun than being the interviewee, and being able to enjoy delicious dinners at the same time is a huge added bonus! And for me, it is essentially a free dinner where I just get to talk about Iowa and not cook for two nights. Win-Win! One of the restaurants we visited this year called Galleria De Paco boasts a recreation of the Sistine Chapel ceiling, and the food was amazing too!
Surprised I haven't mentioned this yet? Saving the best for last! Our Toronto Blue Jays made it into the Playoffs for the first time in 22 years! And of course, we are living in America when it happens...but that doesn't mean we can't join in the festivities! As a birthday (and many many more birthday) present for Andee this year, we purchased a big screen TV for our living room - just in time to watch the Blue Jays clinch the AL East! We had been talking about a TV for a while now, and the timing just seemed right! We had a little viewing celebration for the A.L. East Division Champion Pennant, complete with champagne, Jays gear, and a fellow Canadian Jays Fan, which is tough to come by here in Iowa! And although our Blue Jays may not make it into the World Series after tonight, watching 'The Inning' with Jose Bautista's Home Run and Bat Flip for their advancement into the ALCS is legend enough to keep Toronto Sports fans excited for a while to come! Let's Go Blue Jays!!
To end off this blog, I have to write about a very sad but important update in our lives. Mom and Dad's cat, who is also My and Cassie's cat, Mr. Purr, passed away just a couple weeks ago. I know I know, the passing of a cat is small potatoes compared to so much of the hurt and pain of the world, but Mr. Purr was a member of our family, and we love Him and want to honour his life and how much he meant to us. I truly believe that God places animals in our lives to serve His purposes of loving us and giving us a friend to love back. And Mr. Purr was an amazing 'brother' to Cassie and I and a wonderful 'son' to Mom and Dad. Such funny memories of his crazy 'bare legs' trances, his hatred of the tiger stuffed animal at the cottage, and trying to fit into his tent at Christmas. And such sweet memories of him cuddling up to Mom and Dad in the front room at the cottage, always coming when we sang 'God I look to You', and his 'swim' when getting belly rubs. I love that fat and furry Kitty, and the fact that Mom and Dad were singing to him as he was being put down and he was being loved by the Aldridge Family right up until the end is such a comforting thought to me. God will reconcile his creation back to Himself, and we will see the beauty of His creation in his living creatures up in heaven when we get there. A place where '...the wolf and the lamb will live together; the leopard will lie down with the baby goat. The calf and the yearling will be safe with the lion...' - Isaiah 11:6. And it will be beautiful! Here are a few photos of my sweet Mr. Purr just doing his Kitty thing - and that was enough. We love you Purr!!
