The Farm

This past weekend we went to my Nanny & Grandaddy's for a visit. In the car on the way there I think pointed out every cow and horse that was visible from the road. He would point and look every time. It kept him occupied. Thank goodness we live in Texas!!

Kyler was busy, busy, busy the whole time. He loved it! The best part for him was the farm. Since he was prepped on horses, he thought all my Grandaddy's donkeys were horse, but I didn't see a need in correcting him. The goats were just his size. He was walking around like he owned the place. I'm pretty sure the dogs at their house warmed him up for the farm. He had to point at everything. If he got really excited he would point and say "Oooo." It was really cute. I think Nanny and Grandaddy had just as much fun watching Kyler as Kyler had running around with the animals.

Getting up close and personal with the goats.

Throwing bread to the goats. I'm surprised he wasn't more scared. Most of the goats were bigger than him.

Here's Kyler feeding the animals. You can sort of tell how happy he was out there.

Surprisingly Nanny let him walk!

He looks so little on the big tractor

I need Jason to Photoshop a cowboy hat on him now.

I should have brought his Wranglers!

The goats had fun climbing and scratching the Buick! Nanny said, "Oh yeah, they will just climb right on your car." Thanks for the warning Nanny!

Getting ready to ride a donkey

Kyler was much more cooperative than the donkeys. He was ready for a ride!

Kyler is very loved by his Nanny!

All the fun things at Nanny's wore him out!

I didn't have to point out nearly as many cows and horses on the way home,

but of course now I notice them anyways!

ENGLAND!!

Kenney and I were able to go visit England at the end of March. He has always talked about taking me there and wanting me to see so many things he experienced while he was on his mission. We were able to spend 3 days touring London by ourselves, and then Kenney's parents and my sister Shandi met us there to see some city and the countryside. It was amazing how many things we saw and how many things we did not see! We had a great time, met with some new/old faces, tried some interesting food, saw amazing things, and enjoyed spending time together! We definitely realized how slow paced our lives are, once we returned home!

LONDON

Busy Busy, Busy!! That pretty much sums up London! I have been to the biggest cities in the US, but they are nothing like London. There were tons of people and hardly anyone speaking English! Who knew going to England we would hardly hear English? We had amazing weather except when we had to pull our luggage for a 30 minute walk across the city, and it rained the whole time! We saw a lot and took many more pictures, but here are some highlights.

Buckingham Palace

(Most of these places are probably familiar with all the Royal Wedding coverage)

Beautiful flowers in one of the many parks

Big Ben

(which is actually the name of the bell inside the tower, not the clock or the tower itself)

Kenney next to the old Texas Embassy. Who knew that Texas has its own embassy in London? A nice man at the British Museum told us about it and exactly where to find it. Even the British can't get away from Texans!!

Me on the steps of St. Paul's Cathedral. I think I look much better than the bird lady on Mary Poppins, but that's just my opinion! And remember I am pregnant, not just fat!

Kenney & I with Kenney's Parents at the Tower Bridge

Shandi and I acutally went inside the Tower of London which is close by. We had so much fun. I didn't realize so much history happened right there! We also saw the Crown Jewels. WOW! We may have gone through a couple times to see those!

Going to see Wicked was one of the highlights of the trip. It was nice just sitting there and being entertained rather than having to catch a subway, walk a mile and stand there looking at something. Yes, I sound like a spoiled American, but the play was AWESOME!

THE FOOD

I definitely had a love/hate relationship with the food in England. I was actually pretty excited about it because Kenney mentioned a few things that sounded really good and that he enjoyed while he was on his mission (fish-n-chips, kebabs, roast dinner, some Chinese place that was everywhere). He was also the first to admit that most of the food is not that great. We had some of both!!

This is a typical English breakfast. It doesn't look too bad, but trust me, it's gross! The hotel we were at the first 3 days served this every morning with toast. The first morning I was excited; the next 2 mornings I ate toast! The eggs were poached (aka soggy), the sausage was not sausage or what I call sausage, beans & tomato for breakfast?? where did that come from?? I'm glad we lost some of the English traditions in this country and now have flavor to our food!!

I neglected to take any pictures of the good food, but we found some in South London. Kenney's friends in the country also made a traditional Sunday Roast Dinner. It was amazing!! We had roast beef, roast potatoes, roast parsnips, swede and carrots, broccoli, Yorkshire pudding and gravy to pour over everything. And to top it all off apple crumble with custard!! AMAZING!!

COUNTRYSIDE

Windsor Castle

We took a tour inside and learned a lot about English Royalty

Some of the gardens at Windsor Castle

Stonehenge


My Favorite Place
Bath, England


Some of the Roman architecture in the background.
I love pillars, especially authentic Roman ones!!

We had a great time in the countryside. It was fun to see the beautiful rolling green hills and Kenney driving on the wrong side of the car and on tiny country roads and roundabouts. The best part was getting to meet some of the people Kenney taught on his mission and find out that they are doing great! They are from Bristol, England and talk like pirates!! Seriously. The words they use and the way they talk was hilarious, much like our Texas drawls to them I'm sure. It was great to embrace the English culture and talk with the people.

We had a blast in England, but we sure missed our Kyler!! Oma and Papa Dude (with some Auntie help) took great care of him while we were gone. Thanks for the help!!

Happy Easter

Kyler actually got to enjoy Easter this year. Last year he was only a few weeks old. It's amazing what one year can do! We dyed Easter Eggs on Friday with his cousins Brek and Tyce (I forgot the camera). Kyler seemed to think that all the eggs were balls and thought he should throw them across the table. Good things eggs aren't breakable, NOT, at least they were boiled; he cracked at least 6 or 7 during the process. We gave him the yellow dye because it was the lightest color, smart move on our part. He had a good time banging and throwing the eggs around.

On Saturday we headed out to Nana and Papa's house to eat some food, visit with family and hunt Easter Eggs! Kyler grasped the concept of Easter Egg hunting very quickly. He practiced earlier in the week picking up pine cones with Dad and putting them in a bucket. We didn't think he would have a hard time. He still seemed to think they were balls in the beginning because the first egg he picked up he threw, but once I showed him how to put them in the basket he caught on.

Getting the hang of things. The entire city of Childress was sold out of Easter Baskets by the time I went to go get Kyler's so we had to borrow one Dad used when he was little!

He couldn't waste time taking eggs back to the basket he had to pick them up 3 at a time!

This is how Kyler picks up 3 things at once. He grabs one in each hand and then uses those 2 to hold the 3rd one in the middle. He taught himself that!

The hunting was over once he realized there was candy inside! Now the stealing began!

He tried to open all the eggs, even the boiled ones. He would squeeze them trying to find candy and then throw them on the ground disappointed! He learned the difference between plastic and boiled very quickly.

This is Kyler hunting his eggs. It was a very serious matter. He was extremely focused!

On Easter Sunday we decied to open the envelope!!!

We are excited to have another little boy on the way this summer. I think Kyler will enjoy having a little brother around!

Baby #2

I'm sure most people are aware, but I have not officially posted anything about our family expecting member #4. So yes, a surprising baby will make his/her presence known mid-August (I'm still hoping for July)!! I am 5 1/2 months along, so we are a little more than halfway! We are excited to see and meet this new baby and find out how much different he/she will be from Kyler.

I had an ultrasound about 3 or 4 weeks ago to see how things were progressing and to find out if the baby is a boy or girl. Like we did the first go-around, we had the ultrasound tech put a picture in an envelope for us to open later. (If we want) My family, especially my sisters, are going crazy! My younger sisters want a girl really bad. They seem to think it is much more fun to shop for a girl. I must admit that I agree. We would like a little girl, but I'm really thinking it's a boy. Only the envelope can tell, if we will just decided to open it!!

The ultrasound tech had never been asked to put the gender in an envelope and thought it was funny, so this is the stamp he put on both sides! He seriously thought he was hilarious.

The Great Outdoors

Kyler's absolute favorite place to be is outside. He could stay out there all day and be completely happy, so when we went camping with Kenney's family, Kyler was in Heaven!! He hardly ever cried, even when going to sleep. He even woke up laughing, he was so happy! He couldn't believe he was still in the tent! The next morning he went for a ride on the boat with Daddy and loved every second. Kenney and I were both amazed at how well he did. We really thought we would be headed home before going to bed, but he fell asleep so fast and didn't wake up all night. He even slept til 9! Camping is definitely Kyler's new favorite!!

Enjoying the fire with Dad

Kyler had half the tent on a blanket pallet. He was everywhere! I think he is going to have to have bars on his bed until he is 10! I always knew he moved around a lot at night, but not that much! Everything was such a new experience and amazing in his eyes!

Helping Daddy row the boat! I love this picture!

He started out with one hand in the water. It didn't take long before they were both in there splashing. That water was freezing too!

I couldn't get over how happy he was camping. This little clip shows his pure joy!

It's kind of hard to see, but this is Kyler's hair after he took a nap when we got home. He played so hard his hair was CRAZY, just like him!!