Royal Wedding

Along with millions of others, I got up at 4:45am to watch Prince William marry Kate Middleton. I am so glad I did. It was so spectacular. I have found myself very intrigued with the history of the monarchy this past month. I can rattle off several facts about various members of the family. I even feel like I was at Prince Charles and Diana's wedding; I have seen footage of their wedding all week and watched some pop-up video like show on their wedding. I wasn't there. Not even close.

I was negative 6 when you two married.

I absolutely loved the Bishop of London's sermon at this royal wedding.

“Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.” So said St Catherine of Siena whose festival day it is today. Marriage is intended to be a way in which man and woman help each other to become what God meant each one to be, their deepest and truest selves.
Many are full of fear for the future of the prospects of our world but the message of the celebrations in this country and far beyond its shores is the right one – this is a joyful day! It is good that people in every continent are able to share in these celebrations because this is, as every wedding day should be, a day of hope. 
In a sense every wedding is a royal wedding with the bride and the groom as king and queen of creation, making a new life together so that life can flow through them into the future.

If you missed the sermon - you can read it here

I feel like the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are my friends. Does anyone else feel that way, or is it just me? Probably just me.

I'll mail you two a Christmas card!

All of this has made me want to visit England and buy a fancy hat.

Beautiful day. I'm still partial to mine:

-Jack and Kayla

PS. I am re-watching the coverage again. I love DVR.

Happy Birthday, Jack!

Jack turned 24 this month and I had planned a surprise for him! Those that know me best know there's another Jack in both of our lives.

Jack Bauer.

I thought it would be only fitting since Jack turned 24 to make him the star of 24 the show. Those that know us really well knows the importance of 24 in the beginning of our relationship.

24 - Seasons 1-3

24 Season 4 - 6

24 Season 7 - 8

Jack woke up to seeing these work of arts and to some cinnamon rolls.

I had his birthday off, so I started a baking a cake for him. I was nervous the whole time since I wasn't sure it was going to turn out good. But it didn't turn out too horrible.

It looks like an oreo cake,but it's chocolate with chocolate buttercream filling.

With white buttercream all over.

Since I wasn't confident in this cake, I had a back up plan.

Oh, you delicious cookie cake.

Once Jack got off work, we headed to dinner! We definitely got our steak fix in; we were full!

Yup, that is Jack's 22 oz bone in ribeye.

My wonderful, filet. Perfectly cooked. Perfectly seasoned.

Hello, chocolate molten cake.

Happy Birthday Jack!

Make a wish!

He loved celebrating his birthday with his sister, brother in law, parents and grandparents. We had a great time!

The sunset was beautiful that night, even as storms were brewing.

Happy Birthday Jack! I can't wait to see what this year brings you! Duncan and I love you!
-J&K

Duncan and his awesome treat!

Preface: read this post first to get background information on Duncan's treat.

Duncan was introduced to USDA Prime!

We let him have some tastes of Jack's ribeye bone.

He loved pulling the leftover meat off the bone.

He loved this bone. Eyes closed, enjoying the tastes!

We watched him the entire time since we weren't 100% sure meat bones are okay for dogs. We watched him over the next few days and he seems to be fine! He got a real treat; he now knows USDA Prime Meat.

You lucky dog.
-Jack and Kayla

Updates from the Garden

The tomatoes, basil and cilantro are doing great. Growing a little bit and handling the wind ... well, the best little plants can.

The tomatoes.

Cilantro and Basil.

Fast forward three days. Disaster strikes.

Jack texted this picture to me while I was at work.

Where is the pot?!

Oh, there it is.

Turns out Duncan got the best of the basil pot. Hoping for the best, Jack replanted the basil. Dig deep roots - grow!

Grow basil, Grow basil! We need you!

Looks like nothing happened.. but we know better.

We aren't sure how the basil will turn out, but we will stay optimistic. Meanwhile, we are drafting up ideas to protect our plants from Duncan Dog. It will probably involve a small picket fence and a sign "stay away Duncan!".

He nailed the "who me?!" look.

-Jack & Kayla

Duncan loves the backyard

The backyard is Duncan's territory. We have no idea what he does during day while we are at work. We have some theories. On this day, he was a lounge puppy.

Watching our plants.

 

Just a great day to lay in the sun.

He is such a funny puppy.

He loves naps. He especially likes naps on the couch.

The corners are his spot.

You drive us nuts Duncan dog, but we love you!

-Jack & Kayla

A Day in the Garden

What a fun Saturday! The sun was out, the wind was a simple breeze (unlike the tornado like winds we had yesterday that blew over restaurant signs), and Jack and I got to work on the yard a little bit.

Lowe's was our first stop. We were in need of another hose (since we kindly left one back at the old rent house) and a sprinkler (again, kindly left at the old rent house). We also purchased some pots, potting soil, and tomatoes, basil and cilantro - We are going to try to grow food!  It's going to be trial and error, but we hope we have some beginners luck.

Prepared to garden!

Cilantro

Sweet Basil.

Tomatoes. Coming in 50 to 75 days.

The trio.

We really hope the tomatoes work out. We have a feeling we may get overwhelmed since we planted two plants... we will share if our tomatoes grow abundantly!

We also found an awesome sprinkler. It's awesome because we don't have to water by hand. It's also awesome to see how far the little guy can reach. We have been paying a little more attention to the front yard than the backyard; everyone sees the front. We purchased some fertilizer for the back, but realized it needed a 24 hour soaking before use. Good thing we watered - we have little cracks in the ground!

Result of not watering/hard oklahoma clay. Not a result of a earthquake.

 Jack and I treated ourselves to a date night  - dinner at Saturn Grill and ice cream at Braums. Perfect way to end a great day.

Hope your Saturday was great!
-Jack and Kayla

PS - We were a little worried how Duncan would treat the plants while we were at dinner. All are still in tact, but I can't say the same for the pot...

Could have been worse.

The real test will come once the tomaters get here.

Today is the....

119th Anniversary of the first documented ice cream sundae, per Google.



Happy Sunday!
-Jack and Kayla

Sprinkler System

Spring has sprung and our grass is trying to grow. Now that we have grass to actually care about, we are thinking about installing a sprinkler system.

If we do, Duncan will still have fun chasing the water, sprinkler head to sprinkler head. If we don't, we will have plenty more times of him thinking it's a game, when we really, we just want grass to grow.

Have a great weekend!
-Jack and Kayla