My Make-up

Kendal has found my make-up. Got out of the shower to find her with the mascara in hand going mommy look. She did a fairly good job and got some on her eyelashes even. Well hard not to with those eyelashes.

Kendal's first attempt at applying make-up.

Holiday in St. Lucia

My how time flies. We just returned from a holiday in St. Lucia in the Caribbean. It was a lovely time and nice to see the sun for a change. Kendal loved it. She is truly a fish. She had to be either at the beach or in the pool. It was a good family time and we are truly thankful for what God has blessed us with as a family. Not back to the cold and short days.

Helicopter ride. Kendal was not scared one bit. She is born to travel.

First day in the ocean and at the Beach. The Ocean was warmer than our pool! This was our favorite beach called Pigeon Island.

Family picture

Kendal having her feet buried by Mommy. She loved it.

Kendal getting swung by Mommy

Mommy and the fish!

Beautiful waterfall at the Botanical Gardens.

Kendal loved this chair. She sat in it most of the time we were having lunch. Brilliant

Little cuddle time in the hammock. Well we tried it lasted about 1 minute.

Beautiful shot of the Piton mountains that Bryan took. He is getting really good at his photography stuff. He has found his niche.

Itsy Bitsy Spider

Here is a quick video of Kendal singing itsy bitsy spider with me. So cute. She loves to sing and do actions to songs now. Enjoy

More Autumn

We ventured to a National Trust garden called Stourhead to see the changing of the leaves. We were 2 weeks too early but we enjoyed ourselves anyways. Bryan enjoyed using his new lenses and worked on perfecting his techniques and settings. (Sorry if I have it wrong I am ignorant when it comes to the fancy cameras). Kendal and I enjoyed running around feeding the ducks and geese. Which one accidentally mistook her cute chubby fingers for some bread. She wasn't too happy. Everyone else around knew that she wasn't so happy either! We climbed trees, picked moss off them, and just had fun people watching. Great day out.


Kendal and Daddy enjoying the view of the lake.

"Look I am climbing my first tree!"

Just a quick disclaimer. I took these photos. Bryan's, which are normally much better, are in his special files that take ages to shrink and upload. So you are stuck with my plain photos. Enjoy.

Quick video of Kendal picking moss of the tree and giving it to me. She wasn't too keen on putting it in her pocket.

Quick Update

Autumn is finally arriving. There is a crisp chill in the air and it is lovely. The leaves are just starting to turn color and the apples are in season. This is a great time of the year. One of my favorites. With September coming to a close and reflecting back on this month, I would say it has been one great month! Kendal turned 2. I turned 33, Bryan stayed the same age.(Which I believe he is thankful). And Bryan's Parents came for a visit. A short but sweet visit. We spent the first week with them here in Yeovil, then carted them off to Scotland for a quick tour. We visited Edinburgh for a few days then journeyed up to the Highlands for some beautiful country and wonderful weather. Bryan enjoyed taking loads of pictures on our journey. He even rose before sunrise to get the sunrise shots. I wished him well as I continued on with my beauty rest. We had such a great time admiring the scenery that we nearly missed our return plane home. We got there just in time. I think Bryan's parents were a bit unsure if we were going to make it. But by God's grace and Bryan's lead foot, we made it. Thanks Mom and Dad for such a lovely time together. Miss you already.

Mom and Dad Dusek enjoying some Scottish music in Edinburgh.

Kendal taking a stroll down the Royal Mile and posing for some shots.

Family shot a Glenfinnan Monument at Loch Shiel.

Loch Shiel - what a beautiful place!

Sunrise for North Bridge in Edinburgh.

Dad and his keeping abreast of the financial situation going on over the pond!

Nana with Kendal on the Slide. She loves the slide.

Quick family pic while visiting the Botanical Gardens in Edinburgh.

2nd Birthday Party!

Here is a few pictures of Kendal's Birthday Party we had for her on Saturday. Her birthday is on the 16th but we celebrated early. Enjoy

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Kendal and Daddy in the bouncy castle. I couldn't resist.

Happy Birthday Kendal!

Kendal turned 2 on the 16th. Here she is one year ago on her 1st birthday and below that on her second. Happy Birthday Kendal! Love Mom and Dad.

What a change in just a year!

Kendal Talking

Here is a quick video of Kendal chatting. She is a real chatterbox. Unfortunately we don't understand a thing she is saying. It is so cute though. She is very excited about her party this Saturday. We will keep you posted.

August Update

Well here we are in August already and we still haven't had a summer. We did however, get some sunshine when we visited AZ for two quick weeks. It was hot and sticky, but we did get some sunshine and a well needed visit with family and friends.

Kendal and Cousin Tyler getting along. They did do some battling on that trip!

Kendal and Daddy with their sunglasses. Kendal first time in sunglasses

Kendal doing what she does best. Reading. She loves to read anything. Especially the newspaper. Well pretend reading, really picture looking.

My sister and her little one. Hmm... wonder where she gets the blue eyes? Miss you.

Since being back, we have tended to the greenhouse and Kendal of course is the big helper and helped daddy with a few things. She even helped me with the vacuuming. But the biggest news is......She is now in her big girl bed! She has been a absolute angel and so loves her new bed. She sleeps really well in her bed. We have been blessed with very generous neighbors and they gave us a bunk bed that their kids have outgrown. Thanks you guys!

Kendal first night in her big girl bed. She is so excited. We are so proud of you sweetie.

A great shot Bryan got of Kendal when she was laying down on the bench out front.

Here she is helping me with the vacuuming.

Her and I in the green house picking some tomatoes. We have a great harvest and are learning how to do our own sun dried tomatoes. Yum Yum

Race for Life

Well I did it. I finished the Race for life on Sunday. We did it in 36min. It was a 5K. It was great to run with other women from church. Thanks you all who donated towards this great cause. I ended up raising $220. Now I am looking for my next race to run! Below are some pics from the race day.

Kendal and I before the race

Us girls before the race (Me, Naomi M., Naomi S., Aurelie)

Here we are post race and still smiling. (Aurelie, Alicia, Me, Naomi, Naomi)

Thanks for the great race girls!

Where is the summer?

Here we are in the beginning of July and haven't seen the sun in the past week and a half. I think we might need to take some vitamin D supplements! One of the benefits of all the rain is that we haven't needed to water our garden. Even without the sunshine we are doing well. Kendal is growing like the weeds in the garden. Maybe it's all the rain. She grew three inches in the past 3 months. Now I know why she can't fit into any of her shoes. (Good thing for Crocs) She is really getting steady on her feet now and loves to run down hills and is trying to jump. She is such a character. I don't have to do my abdominal exercises anymore because she has me laughing all day long. Benefits of having children besides doing the dishes when they are older. Looking forward to that day. She is trying to talk in sentences, which is great, but I don't understand what she is saying most of the time. The great thing is she says and signs the words she needs to get what she wants. Praise the Lord we are all healthy and are enjoying spending our time together with friends and family.

In June we had two sets of visitors to stay with us. It was so nice. First we had my childhood best friend and her husband to visit. It was so nice to see them and so hard to let them go. Hope you guys are well. Miss you. Next we had Bryan's sister and her partner Rob here. It was such a great time to see them and get to know Rob more. Here is a picture the two of them.

Here we all are enjoying some fantastic homemade pizza at a little restaurant in Lyme Regis (on the coast) We ate there twice in one day it was so good. Never done that before.

Here is Dawn, Kendal and I.

When Dawn and Brian were here we ventured to our local bowling alley. Brian being an avid bowler had to try it out in another country. Some how Kendal found my sunglasses put them on properly and wanted to use them while she bowled. She thinks she is so cute. Just watch her after she bowls it is so cute.

June Activities

Some quick pictures of what we have been up to so far this month.

Kendal and daddy in the hammock just relaxing.

A great visit from Dawn and Brian our good friends. We found this great little bakery on the coast (Lyme Regis) that we ended up eating both lunch and dinner there. Never done that one before!

Kendal's battle wounds from her first major fall. This one took us to the emergency room. It almost put mommy in the ER for a heart attack! She is fine and now has discovered her ouchies.

Here is our crazy child eating an onion like it was an apple. I felt sick just watching her.

Kendal

Here are a couple of shots of Kendal a few weeks ago. Notice the long sleeves and long trousers. Still quite chilly here. Miss the heat.

Here she is after our bike ride. She absolutely loves riding on the bicycle.

Look at those cute pigtails. They were uneven so I had to get a shot.
In this video below, she had just woke up and I was trying to get her to talk.

Wow Where did May Go?????

Ok, I guess I need to get a post in before May is over. Things have been good. Doing few things here and there. We have been gardening and planting vegetables and enjoying the sunny days when we get them. Bryan bought a green house off of eBay and it was one of those pick up and take down yourself. Well, I don't think he knew what he was getting himself into. Needless to say only a few cut fingers and a few panes of glass missing. It is up and running. He has tomatoes, egg plant, cucumbers and red peppers going. He planted lettuce, cabbage, salad lettuce leaves, carrots, green onions, sunflowers, runner beans, zucchini, cilantro, basil and parsley. He has definitely turned in an avid gardener. He has found it a great enjoyment. I never see him though. Just kidding. I did plant some flowers in pots and in the border so I guess I like it too. Just not as much.

Kendal is growing leaps and bounds. She is talking up a storm and really enjoying other children. She has such a gentle spirit and shares and gives all of her toys and food to other children. She even gives her food to the neighbors dogs too! How kind. Now I know why they love her so much. She is at a fun age now and learning new things everyday. She loves to collect the chicken eggs and tell them to get down when they are up on the fence. She loves to be outside in the garden like her father, when the weather is good, and she loves to give kisses and hugs and receive cuddles. She is such a blessing from God and we have been so blessed with her in our lives so far. Can't imagine our lives before she came. They are so full of joy and laughter and of course challenges. Can't leave out those.

Kendal with her friend Elliot who was trying to hold her hand but she wasn't interested. Dad says, "Good Girl."

Kendal helping Daddy erect the green house. She is a good helper. Hey it was one of our 3 hot days so far this year. I think it was in the low 70's.

During the beginning of May you will see these blankets of yellow over the fields. It is called Rape and it is used for making rape seed vegetable oil. They are so beautiful. You can see them all over. This is a Bryan shot of course!

Rape up close and personal.

We visited the Lake District at the beginning of May. It is North of London about 4 hours. We couldn't miss the opportunity for this picture. Kendal in the town of Kendal.

It was absolutely gorgeous. Another wonderful Bryan shot. Most all of these are.

Kendal enjoying a swing we found at a park on our Lake district trip. We spent a week up there and it rained most of the time. Welcome to England.

The Lake District is such a beautiful place and this is a picture of the stone boundary walls that you see through all the countryside. They have been there since the 1700s. There was a law past at that time, that people had to designate their land boundaries and so, by hand, these walls were put up. No mortar was used, just the stones stacked on one another. Amazing! Also the sheep and lambs were everywhere grazing and you would just come across them as you were hiking. Feb/April is lambing season.