Clown Noses and Texas Rain Storms

We've been staying busy here at the Kinateder house apartment. Kyle is working hard and learning a lot. This month he went to a week long Economic Development conference up in Austin and had a great time staying up late at the hotel bar talking with friends about the church.  I guess you really can share the gospel anywhere! Especially when you are Elder's Quorum President! WHAT?! Yeah...that's right. I said it and it's true. He's not only busy during the week now he's even busier on the weekends! He is good at it though. He is probably the most friendly, sincere person I know and he is going to make a huge impact on a lot of people as he fulfills this calling.  Please, pray for him. But... the most exciting news for Kyle, this month, is that he is now the proud owner of a bike.  He rides his bike to work (which is less than a mile away) and since we only have one car and I'm usually gone with it, he now rides his bike home for lunch too. Wahoo!

So far he has only had one incident... This weekend is was raining, no more like pouring outside and I was at home ready to go pick him up so he wouldn't have to ride his bike in the rain. As 5:00pm arrived, the clouds were dark and heavy but there was no rain and hadn't been much rain for the past few hours. So Kyle decided it would be fine to take the quick 10 minute ride home and right as he was leaving a guy from work stopped to talk with him. After a nice chat, Kyle jumped on his bike and started home and just as he was about to enter the gate to our apartment buildings, he looked up at the dark, heavy clouds and realized he was out of luck. He started peddling faster but it didn't help. The rain trickled at first and then it just started pouring down heavy Texas sheet rain. Luckily he wasn't too far from home but he definitely had a fun start to his weekend.

I'm enjoying Interior Design school at University of St. Mary's. I go twice a week in the mornings which is perfect for me. During the rest of the week I work at a Nutrition Club about 30 minutes up in the Hill Country. It is a beautiful drive in the mornings. I feel really blessed to have found this work and school schedule. It gives me plenty of extra time to keep up on hair appointments and watch my favorite shows and of course all the other more important things in life.

We met up with Brooke and Josh at a really fun restaurant called OASIS. This place sits on the edge of Lake Travis and over looks the lake and it is gorgeous! We listened to loud music, received poor service, got free plastic dinner cups that say "Happy 30th Anniversary" and had a great time.

Oh yeah and last month we went to the Circus. Very entertaining! 

And yesterday we were tasting judges for the Schertz' Fest "BBQ Cook Off!" We judged the pork ribs. There were 15 different kinds and we had to judge them on smell, appearance and taste. There were a bout 4 that were amazing and 1 that made me almost throw up but all in all they were pretty tasty.  Like I said earlier, it's been raining like crazy this weekend so the "Cook Off" was pretty muddy, so I wore my cowboy boots and felt right at home! We walked around and said "HI" to the contestants and one guy let us try his brisket. I smelled like BBQ for the rest of ... I still smell like BBQ!

~We love us some TEXAS BBQ~

Alligators and the American Flag

We had a great 4th of July.  Kyle and I took a nice walk before the morning parade down to the Schertz Fair Grounds and checked out the SAWEET BBQ pits for the Rib Cook-off, which sadly you have to sign up for to participate in. And when I say BBQ Pits,  the Texans go all out with these special smokers! We I decided then and there to sign up for the next Rib Cook-off in September.

We met up with Kyle's coworker, Josh, who was participating in the Baked Beans Cook-off. Somehow we also got wrangled in and enjoyed a little taster of like 12 different kinds of baked beans. Good times. We finished up with some BBQ from the fair and then went swimming. Schertz put on a great lil firework show that we were able to enjoy from our balcony.

Now for the Alligators. Friday, after work,  Kyle and I drove down to Houston, where Brandon and Amy live, to see Adam, who also came into town, and the Alligators at Brazos Bend National Park. 

We brought plenty of water bottles and 10 minutes into our little alligator hunt, they were all the temperature of bath water so when we came across the "FREE" snow cone cups and ice cold water, I praised Brazos Bend. It went something like this: "Now that makes it worth $7 to get into the park." Oh the simple joys in life!





Apparently July isn't the most sought after time to go to Brazos but HEY we are all from Utah so we just thought "What the heck? Let's do it anyway!" We later learned that July really isn't the best time because the Alligators like to stay cool and they hide away in the water and far away from the trails. Luckily we had Kyle's amazing EAGLE EYES.... He spotted 3!

 The alligator above was just the first one we saw and we were all so excited!! We saw it eat a bug and swim around. Mesmerizing I tell ya!

 This is the "Observation Tower" A rickety wood staircase that you can look off of and see the alligators lakes. This is where Kyle spotted the 2nd alligator. Apparently it was a larger alligator but it was so far away in the lake so we couldn't really see it. Unless you had Kyle's EAGLE EYES.

 But for the 3rd and last lil guy, well he was wide out in the open. And photo ready! Later we learned from some native Texans that early spring is the best time to go because there are about 20 or more so alligators out and about. And I thought we were so cool for seeing 3... Ha!

Not gonna lie, I seriously thought the Alligator might jump up and bite my finger while I was smiling for the camera. Good thing that didn't actually happen!

 Kyle is such a great uncle! He  thought it would be funny to put Kennedy up in the tree and she did it for him but she really wasn't too happy about it so I had to hurry and capture the pic before she started crying. She is so adorable!

Happy Birthday on the Lake

I love to celebrate. I love parties. So therefore, I get so excited when the Summer comes because that means it is Birthday Time for the Kinateder's. As we get older, it's gets harder and harder for me to plan something special for birthday's, besides just doing the regular going out to dinner.  I wish every birthday could be like my "Sweet 16". Thanks mom. So For Kyle's 28th Birthday, I wanted to take him and do something outdoors and "kinateder-like". I thought it would be perfect to go kayaking downtown on the Colorado River in downtown Austin. Kyle thought so too. But... Our friends, Brooke and Josh had something even more amazing in mind. We were invited by Josh's coworker, Paul, to join him at his lake house and have a BBQ on Lake Austin. To add to it, we rented a kayak and a paddle board. Birthday Perfection! YAY!

We brought steaks, a football and a 5 lbs container of potato salad. I made chocolate cupcakes with blue frosting.  And everyone sang Happy Birthday.

           "...Happy Birthday to yoooooou....." It was windy and the candle kept blowing out.

 

The "boys" (Max, Josh and Kyle)

 Happy 28th Birthday Kyle! We love you!

Schertz Speeding Tickets

Kyle and I have been slowly melting away as the days get hotter and hotter. Now I know why cars have AC and MAX AC. It's like stepping out into a blow dryer on high heat. I don't know how anyone gets used to it. It's kind of like the police officers here in Schertz. They are everywhere and really like pulling drivers over who go over the speed limit by 10% and when no one is on the road. Not from personal experience though, well that is until yesterday. Ever since we moved here, Kyle has been very attentive and makes sure to drive the speed limit well actually he likes to drive UNDER the limit and if I'm driving... well lets just say he worries a lot that we will get a ticket, because the Schertz police are ticket happy!

So yesterday I was heading down a residential street just truckin along on my way to pick up Kyle from work and  as I passed the navy blue sedan on my left I quickly realized it was the POPO and that I was going a tad bit faster than 20MPH.  So I did what my "soon-to-be lawyer" brother taught me to do! I immediately pulled over, rolled down the windows (hoping that the "blow dryer" air would help keep me cool), turned off the car and got my license, registration and insurance. 

Of course I was nervous and embarrassed but mostly because I always tell Kyle that  I wasn't looking forward to Kyle saying "I told ya so!" (Which by the way he rarely ever does) So with that hanging over head Officer What'sHisName approached, told me He pulled me over for speeding and took my information.  Then after what seemed to have been enough time for me to sweat in areas I never thought I could, I looked in my side mirror, saw Officer RedSpikeyHair start walking back and I saw it. The ticket.  My heart sunk. But the next words He spoke were as good as if he were holding one of those cooling mister fans in my face.

"I'm going to let you off with a warning. Please sign here to confirm that I did pull you over" or something to that effect! YIPEE!!! A WARNING!! Lucky for me now I don't have to spend my birthday moneys on a speeding ticket! What a great feeling. I concluded our conversation with a "Thank you so much Sir, I really appreciate it" and He kindly responded "Have a safe day. " You know these Schertz police aren't so bad after all! And then I remembered His name. Officer Flowers.

650 mi. of Memorial Day Memories

For this Memorial Day weekend, Kyle and I decided to take a lil vacay to DFW. He's been wanting to go to a Rangers Game and I've been meaning to go back to my birthplace.  We started out the weekend with a nice brunch in Downtown Dallas at a very quaint restaurant nestled in the Historic District. The food was delish and they even have their own vegetable garden.

 

And then it was time for the game... Kyle was so excited to see the Rangers and Cowboys stadium. We enjoyed, well actually baseball is not really as exciting for me, so Kyle enjoyed the 5 hr, 13 inning baseball game. I enjoyed the peanuts and frozen lemonade.

 Game Winning Home Run!!

Onward to my birthplace... Welcome to Fortworth, Texas.

Home of the Fortworth Stockyards, twice a day they gather the cattle and round em up and walk them down the street.  We really wanted to experience all of what Fortworth had to offer so we made sure we were on time for this event.

We were "this" close to buying this for Kyle. It's his new life motto

We weren't disappointed, the Stockyards were very entertaining and there were a lot of fun shops to look at. Kyle even thought it was better than Jackson Hole. I'm not so sure 'bout that, but it's definitely a Texas must see.

For the FINALE, I decided it would be good to go back to where I was born and take a pic almost 25 years later. Here's a quick summary of when I was born. It was a hot July day in Fortworth, TX on Carswell AFB.  

 

My mom was so excited to finally be a mother to a little girl and my brother's had no clue how truly spoiled I really would be!  A few months after I was born, we moved away and I've always wondered what Fortworth was like. Well now I know. It is very HOT. Carswell AFB is now known as the Naval Air Station. It really wasn't as exciting as I was hoping. We were hoping to take a tour of the base but it was Sunday and they are closed to Visitors. Bummer. We also were planning on going to downtown Fortworth but instead we just decided to drive back home. Well, at least I can cross that off my bucket list!  I'll tell you though, it's nice living in Texas knowing that I'm a native here. Texan's really like other native Texans. 

We ended our trip with a stop off in Downtown Austin. I am so glad we live so close to Austin! What a beautiful place. Kyle and I have a small crush for Austin.  I see now why so many people love it here.