The Move, Amsterdam & Princess Katherine

 We’ve moved!  At the end of September we left our old flat and moved north to a cute little neighborhood called Maida Vale.  Our old flat was just a bit too small and very central (and noisy) so we thought we’d move to a neighborhood.  The area is mostly residential, consisting of many large late Victorian and Edwardian blocks of mansion flats.  We love it here, we have a backyard garden and much more space.  We still only have one bedroom but a very large kitchen and a great bathroom with a jacuzzi tub!

Just before the move, the French Connection invaded groovy London for a weekend full of markets and fish ‘n chips.

We had to say goodbye to the trusty butcher, he is missed!

Gina & Jean Claude finding London's finest fish 'n chips in Chelsea at Portobello Market

Right after our move Dave had a business trip in Amsterdam so Kelly came too.  Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands, the flight was only 45 minutes from London to get there.  We fell in love the minute we landed, the streets are lines with canals and bikes outnumber cars.  The people were so friendly and the pace of life seemed to be a bit more low key than busy London life.  Most of the shop owners would approach Kelly and speak Dutch, thinking she was a native.  Dutch is a crazy language and we loved listening to the people speak, the majority of the city did speak English lucky for us.  We explored a lot and ate the most delicious food!  

 

Once we returned home from Amsterdam we decided it was time to add a new family member to our household, Princess Katherine aka Katy.  Katy is a german shepherd and is the sweetest thing!  She is now 10 weeks old and is adjusting very well, she is a smart little thing and has even mastered a few tricks like sit and come.  She is also now crate-trained and even lets us know when she needs to go outside to relieve herself!  We start puppy kindergarten this coming week and were told that german shepherds learn so fast that she might only need 2 weeks of kindergarten before puppy school.  Most puppies are in kindergarten for 4 weeks, so we will see!  She is definitely a good little love and is helping us become parents!

Most of you know by now that Kelly and I are expecting a baby and we are very excited.  She is 16 weeks along now and is feeling great.  We have a second ultrasound on Wednesday and hopefully with some luck we can see if it’s a girl or a boy, we are anxious to know!  Kelly loves her doctor, Dr Eban, a German woman and the care she receives is wonderful.  A few weeks back we went for her first ultrasound and blood work and we were in and out with results in 30 minutes, crazy! 

Kelly is now working for Cavallino again, this time as a contractor for a few months and works remotely with a team in Denver.  Kelly’s contract is only 4-5 months and will finish near the end of her pregnancy, so it all works out!  

Our next trip is to Poitiers France for Christmas and we can’t wait!  It will be very nice spend our first holiday away from the states with family.  Also looking to celebrate cousin Pablo’s birthday while in France.