Sunday Dinner

After weeks of staring at our grill, sending good vibes to it's inner beings in hopes it would start working, we finally decided we would (and by "we" I really mean Jack) go get a part from Sears in hopes it would correct the issue.

It did. Thank goodness, because we were tried of pan grilling everything.

So, to welcome it back, we grilled chicken and potatoes!

delicious.

My wonderful mother in law bought Jack and I magazine cookbook all about chicken - my favorite meat ever. In there, was grilled potatoes - we thought it was a perfect night to try something new for potatoes - my favorite side dish.

yup, grilled potatoes. delicious.

We will definately be grilling more potatoes in the neat future.

What can I say, I love chicken and potatoes - everyday.
-jack and kayla.

Duncan Dog likes....

Lettuce. Who would have thought Duncan dog would eat lettuce? We never did, but he enjoys eating the crunchy romaine spines.

I suppose it's a healthy treat for him. He seems to like it!

I didn't eat lettuce until I was about 20.
-Jack and Kayla.

p.s. Duncan's birthday is tomorrow! He will be two!

Patio Furnitue!

After many months of planning and looking, we finally purchased patio furniture!

Dinner Table.

More seating by the fireplace.

When it's not 105 degrees, we will have you over!

The cushions are a golden/yellow color. The loveseats came with
coordinating red and gold/yellow pillows.

We are so happy to have somewhere to sit in the backyard now. We have already decided the cushions will remain in the garage until we are sitting on them. This will prevent Duncan from being tempted from A) chewing on the pillows/cushion, trying to find the stuffing and/or B) taking a nap on the love seats while we are gone, getting his doggie slobber and doggie sweats on it.

Come sit on the patio with us!
-Jack and Kayla

We got a pool!!

we have been waiting for this day for several weeks!

Nice blue, cool water.

Jack preparing Duncan for all sorts of fun.

 Don't even think about inviting yourself over to enjoy this pool with us....

It's just a dog pool for Duncan.

 With these ultra hot Oklahoma tempatures, we haven't been leaving Duncan outside all day. We try to use our lunch break to let him inside to cool off for the afternoon, but sometimes, our schedules don't allow us to leave work for an extended time. Next  best solution - a dog pool!

Duncan loves anything to do with water.

He jumps in and out of the pool, just like he does at the real pools.

We hope he will learn that it is really just to help cool him off during these hot hot days.

To relax, stay cool and have a some fun.

We hope this pool will last us more than a week. If not, we won't be horribly upset as it wasn't a pricey investment.

Stay cool!
-jack and kayla

Speakers: Installed

We got to check one thing off our our house to do list this weekend. We had Geek Squad come out and install our new speakers. They sound great, but my eyes aren't used to seeing the speakers in the corners of the room (I feel the need to scream "BAT" when I see them).

To break the speakers in, we watched Lord of the Rings. It was awesome.

I hope these speakers don't harm our hearing.
-Jack and Kayla

end of an era

Dear Harry, Ron, Hermione, Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape, Ginny, Fred, George, The Fat Lady, Hedwig, Buckbeak, The Order of the Phoenix, Dumbledore's Army, and He-who-must-not-be-named, and slew of others,

Thanks for an amazing 10 years of magic.
Thanks for showing us how to overcome dark forces.
Thanks for showing us the power of love and friendship.
Thanks for making us laugh and cry.

It seems we have all grown up together. Now that the end has come, we don't have to settle on being grown ups. We have books, movies, and soon pottermore.com to continue reliving this journey.

Thanks to the movie theatres for having midnight showings.
Thanks to those who went to midnight showings with me (my mom for Order of the Phoenix, a slew of kappas for Half Blood Prince, and Jack for Deathly Hallows, part 2).
Thanks to Jack, who saw this last one with me, who has been part of this journey.
Thanks to my in laws for letting us kids got to Hogwarts in Orlando to be a part of the magic.

While the books and movies may be over, Harry Potter and his friends will live on (as I am planning on seeing the last movie at least two more times and have a plan to re-read all the books).

"The scar had not pained Harry for nineteen years. All was well."

It's the end of era.
-Jack and Kayla

Julie is getting married!

I made a quick trip to Dallas this month to meet up with some friends to celebreate our friend Julie's last few days of being a Miss! While I wasn't away from home for more than 24 hours, it was so much fun to see my friends. Since college, we have gotten married and moved away. It takes special events these days to bring us back together. Let's face it, life was so simple we all lived at 700 College. 

Here are a few pictures from the night:

Bride to be Julie with Sheridan.

Laura and mom to be Mandy.

Cheers to Julie!

On my way out of town, I couldn't help but to stop at Spinkles - the best cupcakes ever. They were a sweet treat to enjoy that night with Jack.

Happy Wedding Season!
-Jack and Kayla

Happy 4th of July!

Happy Birthday America!

My super poor attempt at a firework picture. Ultimate fail of a picture.

We (Jack, Duncan and I) spent many hours poolside enjoying the sun and super hot tempatures. Duncan wore himself out. His typically swim day consists of something like this:

• Test the water out.
• Jump in.
• Fetch anything and everything thrown into the pool.
• Retrieve.
• If all toys have been fetched, jump towards people in the pool.
• Swim after people.
• Play lifegaurd.
• Practice diving for toys underwater.
• Rest, briefly.
• Start all over.

Once home, he may or may not eat dinner. Definately not breakfast the next morning. He will just lounge around and give you eyes "please, rub my ears, head, chin, back, tummy... all at the same time.. please."

note: the couch doesn't stand vertical. it's an illusion.

We hope you had a great 4th of July, three day weekend and we hope you have a great four day work week.

Happy Birthday USA.
-Jack and Kayla

Summer Vacation!

Jack and I had a blast on our summer vacation to Florida. We spent a week with his parents, sister, and brother-in-law having fun in Orlando riding roller coasters and eating great food, then more time with them in the lovely town of Seaside, beaching it up and eating great food.

Here are some pictures. Enjoy, because we definately did.

Dinner our first night in Orlando

Ready for Universal Studios!

Enjoying a butterbeer in Hogsmeade.

Jack, extremely wet, after his three water rides.

Round two of butterbeers.

We had lots of fun at Universal!

We did manage to clean up for dinner at Emerils.

Day 2 - Epcot!

We enjoyed walking around each country eating their food and drinking some beverages.

Our fun in Orlando was quick, but we enjoyed every minute of it. To unwind from it, we went to Seaside. We loved... we are already planning to go back next summer.

This was our view for about 4 days.

Perfect.

We can't wait to go back.

We made it home just in time for two short days at work, then had a day weekend. Great vacation, great timing.

We were so sad to leave Florida (we left a day earlier than the others), but someone was super happy to see us.

He stayed at the puppy spa, but I think he was hard at work ... stealing other dog's toys. Bad Duncan.

We are so blessed to have vacation time to spend with family. And we are thankful vacation days renew each year.

Waiting until the next vacation (which may very well be our favorite October weekend - OU/TX),
-Jack and Kayla