Kendal almost walking

Kendal is close to walking on her own. She will push this walker around the house, but doesn't have the confidence to walk independently yet. It is fun to watch her though! Here she is answering the phone. It's a short one but it gives you a blurb on our blog of the Dusek life. She loves to do this and and say, "hello Daddy." She is such a ham.

Our day at the Beach!

We had a sunny day and a friend and I headed to the seaside for a couple of hours. It was beautiful and just a nice time to get away.

Kendal playing in the sand. We improvised the sand toys. As you can see it is a Tupperware container. She didn't mind.

Kendal and Lucas playing together.

Kendal waving at Mommy (finally). She was so engrossed in the sand and crawling around that she didn't even know I was there.

Mommy and Kendal pose

Here is a short film of Kendal enjoying herself on the beach.

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! We celebrated Thanksgiving on Friday . Thanksgiving isn't a recognized holiday here in England therefore Bryan didn't have the days off. We invited some good friends of ours to join us . We introduced them to some different "American" dishes, which they loved. Hope you all had a time of thanks and reflection on what God has blessed you with. We sure have.

Kendal helping mommy with the Turkey.

All of us at dinner. Me, Jess, Rhian, Luke, Denna, Bryan and Kendal. Thanks for joining us!

Quick shot of Kendal that day. "Grandma Dusek, here is the outfit you bought me for my birthday." Love Kendal

Kendal Discovered this box in the den. Daddy couldn't resist a picture.

Out in the Garden

Here is a Quick video of Kendal in the garden last weekend feeding the chickens some corn. This chicken is our over friendly one. We call her skinny.

Ciao! Our Visit to Rome

Well we finally made it! Some of you know the Christina broke her ankle back in June. It just so happens that it was the day before we were to go to Rome. So this is our postponed trip. It was a well needed family trip. It was a great time to get away and be together as a family. We stayed right next to the Coliseum. The food was great and Kendal never tired of pizza and pasta. Check out the video at the end of Kendal enjoying the Italian night life.

Here we are the first night just outside of our apartment. We went out and scouted around. The weather was beautiful.

This is a great shot of the Coliseum that Bryan took. He is really handy with the camera.

Here is a shot from inside the Coliseum. The floor has been put on to show what it was like when it was completed. The below caverns and such were where the gladiators, animals, and equipment were. They actually had trap doors on the floor where the gladiators and others would come up to the crowds. Just like you saw in the movie "Gladiator."

Here we are in front of a wonderful Trevi fountain. Nice family shot.

Here is the inside of St. Peter's Basilica. If you look ahead in the picture and see a tall wooden altar like structure, that is where they claim Peter's bones reside. Don't know if that is true or not. Very ornate.

Here also in the Basilica is a painting representing Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:4). The woman on the ground is Sapphira and she has just lie to Peter. If you look in the back to the right you can see the men carrying off Ananias as he is already dead.

Kendal and her new found love, gelato!

Here's Kendal doing a little ditty to the Accordion.

Kendal Starting to Walk

Here is a short video of Kendal starting to walk on her own. We are very excited. Some people say not to be so excited because of things to come. But we are just having a blast watching her change so much. Enjoy.

Well Here we go with video. Still trying to figure this out. This one is of Kendal at a birthday party late September. Let me know any of you professional blogger moms, if there is a good way of doing this.

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=ukduseks

Autumn Time

It's that beautiful time of the year when the leaves start to change and the air is more crisp and cold. You can begin to feel that changes are taking place. Autumn is starting here in England and it is really nice. The beautiful reds and oranges are starting to appear and the weather is more chilly. We are enjoying the blackberries, apples and sloes that are being harvested right now. We are learning all new recipes for apple/blackberry crumble, sloe gin, apple spiced chutney and plumb jam. The great thing is we have all those right here in our doorstep. We are overwhelmed with the apples and blackberries. Kendal absolutely loves the blackberries right off the bush. Don't make the mistake of handing her the bowl as there will be none in there when you turn around again. Here are a few pictures of us this last month.

Kendal enjoying her blackberry/apple crumble. She wasn't so sure at first.

Kendal and Daddy at East Lambrook Gardens that we visited late Sept. Look at the beautiful red leaves.

Kendal at a dress up 4th birthday party of one of her friends. She went as a frog. We snapped this quick as she didn't like the hood part.

Here is the family at the Gardens.

Kenda's First Birthday

Kendal on the Morning of her Birthday. She loves balloons and she was so thrilled. We celebrated her birthday with some good friends and had a nice time.

Here she is opening a gift. She is not into ripping the paper yet. Mom still gets to help, which she is not complaining about.



Kendal in her birthday hat not looking too happy. Daddy accidentally snapped her with the elastic when putting it on her.

Oh forgot to mention Kendal is now crawling. I left the frig door open and turned around to find her eating a tomato that she had grabbed out of the crisper drawer. She ended up taking a few bites and seemed to like it. ( This was a day before her birthday)

Train trip to London to Celebrate!

Here is our usual train trip to London for Kendal's 6 month check-ups. She loves the train and thought it so cool that she had her own seat. This is our last one for at least a year . On Thursday Sept. 13, we had Kendal's 6 month check -up with fantastic news. She has no more gall stones! YIPEE. I didn't believe it at first. I kept questioning the Dr. I think he thought I was a strange woman. But a big thank you to all of you that partnered with us in praying for healing. She doesn't go back for a year. Praise God.

Daddy and daughter reading the paper on the way home from our wonderful trip.

This was our view out our hotel room window. The London eye and the Thames river. It was beautiful at night.

AZ Visit and New Cousin

We had a great surprise on our visit to AZ. Kendal was able to meet two of her aunts and uncles for the first time. They came all the way from New York. It was so nice to see them again as it had been a long time. Love you Aunt Trish, Aunt Rhonda, Uncle John and Uncle Terry!

Here is the new arrival and addition to the Foster Family. This is Tyler Nicole born August 7, 2007, Kendal's new cousin and our new niece. It was so nice to be able to meet her and hold her. We had a great time with her. (When she was awake!)

Proud Grandpa with his two Granddaughters. And Kendal being a ham.

In our visit we were able to visit Christina's good friends Kim with Lily and Kelly with Hershey. Hershey was standing in for Kelly's son Payson. He was helping dad take the picture. Though the time was short it was a blessing to us both.

Here is a proud grandma with her grandaughter. Took Kendal for sushi for the first time. See the sushi chef in the background. She was too tired to enjoy it though she did like the California rolls. She is a child of exquisite taste.

Dusek Update

Bet you all have been wondering what on earth have the Dusek's been up to! Where do we begin? I just looked at the calendar and realized that it has been just about 2 months since we posted. Lets not let that happen again.



Bryan celebrated his first Fathers day. He received 2 steamer chairs which Kendal loves.We also had Bryan's niece out for a visit and had an absolute great time. Hope she did! We also took Kendal to the beach for the first time. The water is absolutely freezing, but that didn't seem to bother her. Unfortunately we couldn't let her sit on the beach because all she wanted to do was eat the pebbles.



We have been a bit side tracked with me(Christina)breaking my ankle and being put in a cast for six weeks.(See below) Of course I planned this and planned it to happen the weekend before we were to go to Rome for a holiday! Go figure.


It has been a challenge. We have been blessed tremendously by our church family with helping us out here at home. Bryan has been working from home 1/2 days then a lovely lady from our church comes and stays with Kendal and I. Basically babysitting me and Kendal. It has been a pleasure getting to know these women more. Bryan's Mom is coming to the rescue and is joining us on the 24th to look after us. I am so thrilled! Yeah

Kendal is starting to be more adventurous and actually making motions like she is beginning to be interested in crawling. Hopefully she will wait to get moving until I get this stinky cast off. She is very curious about things and points to everything and wants you to tell her what it is. She loves flowers and lights. Infatuated with feet and shoes right now. All girl! She is talking up a storm and says dad, dada, mum, mummy, hi, yeah. I think she is going to talk before she walks. We are trying to teacher her basic sign language but as fast as she is developing her verbal skills I think she will be asking us, "Mom, what is the sign for milk again?" Won't that be funny.

About Time!

Well it is about time we published a new post. It has been nearly two months since we have returned home and got back to life as we know it. Kendal sure has been the spice of our lives and we are learning a thing or two about determination and independance! Feeding times have become a bit of a challenge as Kendal has taken to throwing her food on the floor no matter if she likes it or not and being pretty fussy about what she will eat. The only thing she will eat off a spoon is yogurt. She loves fruit though, as you can see below (good old raspberries) and she would probably turn into a blueberry if we let her. She is such a ham and is cutting more teeth! Ouch. We have been busy with swimming, which I am not sure she enjoys yet, and just getting out into the beautiful English countryside. Summer is starting and we are excited for the sunshine and the warmer weather. Sorry for those in AZ who have been experiencing it since April this Year. Enjoy.

Me and my Raspberries. I hope it comes out of her clothes!

Where's Kendal? She is under the water! Look closely you can see her.

Kickin it with mommy after a good swim.

Here she is while on our hike along the Bath Skyline. She loved being in the backpack.
We miss you all.

Our Visit to AZ

It has been one eventful trip to AZ. It all began with a visit from Kendal's Great Grandma. She really enjoyed it but was a bit jet lagged! Then she contracted a tummy virus which she got over in a few days. Shortly after that we found four blisters on her body and we checked online and sure enough, she had the chicken pox! Yep the chicken pox. She was so beautiful with her spots. ( See below) This followed by her first hair cut and Daddy coming down with the tummy virus also. Thank goodness mommy didn't get it too. She had to take care of us. Needless to say we didn't get to do all of the things we had planned but we learned how to be flexible. Finally we were all healthy by Easter and we had a wonderful day with all of our family. We miss you guys already.

Kendal with the pox sitting on Grandma Dusek's lap.

Bryan not feeling so well. Poor Daddy!

Our family all together. L-R (Christina's Mom and Dad, Bryan's Mom and Dad, Christina's sister and Ronnie, Christina, Kendal, Bryan and Bryan's sister and our niece.

Four generations together. (Christina, Great Grandma, Grandma and Kendal)

Kendal Making her silly camera face while eating a carrot. She now makes these faces when she sees the camera. She learns too quick!

Time Flies

Time sure does fly with a little one. Kendal has been busy learning about her feet and food. She has taken to purees and is enjoying fingerfoods and giving mommy a scare when she takes huge bites and then gags on them. I think she does it on purpose to watch mommy freak out! She has two teeth on the bottom and likes to close her mouth and stare a the camera when we try and take a picture.

"Little Angel" One of the closed mouth moments.

We put her in this to teach her that she has legs and she can push with them. So far she loves to stare at her feet. (Look at those squishy legs!)

This is Kendal's boyfriend Joshua. They were born one day apart. They are so sweet together.

New Experiences

Kendal has started getting curious about food. Mostly mommy's food. She has shown her dislike for pureed food and would rather have it whole. She is still as smiley as ever, and I have nicknamed her "smiles." She is trying to at least attempt to roll but she is so laid back that she really doesn't have the desire to roll yet. Enjoy the pictures.

Meet "Smiles"

Kendal in her new high chair with broccoli on her face.
(Mom why do you have to take a picture of me with broccoli on my face!)

Kendal received this toy from Grandma and Grandpa Foster and she just loves it.