Normally It's Not This Hot Here

Leave it to Kenzie to find some pink cowboy boots in Texas.
McKenzie took a giant leap of faith and left her child overnight with a babysitters for the first time since she became a mom. Luckily the babysitters in this case were Jarom and Lix and later Sara Anderson (former nanny turned missionary in my parents mission turned returned missionary turned nanny) so Kenna was in luck!

She did really well while we were gone and only cried once. She was a little fussy sometimes but mostly when she was hungry or tired. When she got fussy I calmed her down and got her something to eat. I even took her to walk around IKEA. She missed her nap one day, but managed to get a good nap in on Saturday. We did a lot of driving, and she did very well in the car. I kept her up late one night going over house payments and how much things would cost and I am not sure she understood it all, but I think she got the gist of it.

Kenna did great too.

The whole time people told us that "it isn't normally this hot here" and "this is really unusual". I don't believe them. It felt like we were on the surface of the sun. It was 108 the first day, 107 the second day, and by the third day we couldn't feel how hot it was because our skin had fried away. I suddenly felt bad for not doing a salary comparison that factored in temperature increases.

On top of being hot, it was REALLY brown. Texas is in the midst of its worst drought on record so it was a bit browner than I remembered it from my trip there 4 years ago. I guess there is one positive to all of this. We visited Texas while it was at its worst and so now we will have lower expectations. If we get there and the temperature is 99, we will both think it is really nice outside.

Ok, job first. I drove downtown to where I will be working and got a bunch of Human Resources stuff taken care of. Everyone was very nice and I think I will really enjoy working at Parkland. They seemed to be excited for me to come aboard and I am excited to start on something new. There will be a bit of a learning curve for me since this is all going to be new to me, but I am sure that I will pick it up. My official start date is September 26^th.

We had a good time driving around Texas looking for a home. We decided to look around Frisco and were really digging the planned community thing that they have going on up there. There are great parks and trails and ponds around every development and the schools are integrated into the neighborhoods. We looked at about 32 houses on the first day and I felt like I never wanted to walk in another house ever again. It was also 108 outside so that didn’t help. We managed to get a feel for the community, neighborhoods, malls, schools, and houses.

The hurricane decided to come on our weekend out there so we got our flight cancelled and Jarom and Lixi had to come out early. That allowed us to have 1 day of overlap and so we got to hang out with Jarom and Lixi in Texas for a day. We had a good time with them. It is pretty nerve racking to be moving to a new state and starting a new job but far less so when you are bringing along some pre-made friends. Also, Sara was nice enough to have flexible plans so that she could take care of Kenna during the hurricane. We were also nice enough to have power throughout the entire hurricane so that she didn’t have to sleep without air conditioning.

Jarom and Lixi moved very quickly and put an offer on a house and we decided to put an offer on one as well. We really liked it and we are hoping they don’t laugh at our offer and tell us to go away. We will be about 5 blocks from each other and go to the same schools and church so it should work out.

I will keep you posted on how it all goes.

Life with Kenna the pre-teen

Life with Kenna is never dull. She knows exactly what she wants and is not afraid to demand it. For example the other night we were putting her to bed when she spilled some water on her silky. She threw it at me and said, "Mommy dry it for you." I laughed but it made me realize that maybe I needed to start enforcing the use of 'the magic word' a little more often.

He latest catch phrase is, "Can I ____ mommy?"--
--"Oh can I see Jason and Annie when we go to Delaware?"
--"Can I get this necklace mommy?"
--"Can I ride on the blue choo choo mommy?"
--"Can I go somewhere?"
--"Can I eat this chicken nugget mommy?"
--"Can I run now mommy?"
--"Can I got to chick-a-way (chick-fil-a) and get some fry-fries mommy?"

Can I, Can I, Can I, Can I, Can I... a thousand times a day. In her defense one day she started to cry about something and I told her she didn't need to cry she just needed to ask, "Can I ...". Apparently she took this to heart.

She has also taken to calling me McKenzie. At least 25 times a day I hear, “What’s that McKenzie?” Sometimes she slips up and calls Nate McKenzie.

Kentuckexas

That word that I just coined, Kentuckexas, summarizes our life over the past three weeks. It has been a combination of Texas preparation and Kentucky living. It has been pretty crazy lately. I will provide some highlights.

The Offer

I got the offer from the hospital in Texas that I will be working for while playing golf with Jarom. We were playing team style against the Bleyls, a father and son combo from here in Richmond, and we were doing pretty poorly after the first three holes. We got the job offer on the third hole and from then on our game really stepped up. There is nothing like suddenly finding out that your fair market value is over that which you are currently compensated. Jarom was so elated, that he managed to get a hole in 2. This is more impressive with some context. It was a 100 yard hole and I was the first to tee off. I grabbed a club and had a great hit, nice and straight, but it was about 30 yards too far. It went off into the trees and was gone. Jarom stepped up to hit and he was a bit nervous knowing that he had to get a good hit or we would lose. He took a bit doing his practice butt shakes that all legit golfers do, and proceeded to hit it about 3 feet off the tee. I went off looking for my ball and looked up to see Jarom screaming his head off and jumping around. He decided to just hit the ball again after his 3 foot shot and it plopped right in the hole. Amazing. Getting job offers make your golf game much better.

Kentucky

The hospital where I work had a go-live in Ashland Kentucky, which meant that I got to spend two weeks in Ashland Kentucky working with the locals as we implemented the electronic medical record at their hospital. Ashland is a happening place for those of you who have never visited. I got there just in time for the county fair and got to witness my first demolition derby. The derby was almost as fascinating as the locals. I decided that I love demolition derby’s and I might actually be a little bit of a hick at heart. I missed my girls while I worked for a week, but managed to keep busy enough without them.

Staging

While I was enjoying demolition derby’s and working, I left Kenzie at home with instructions that she should sell our house. Luckily Gramma Dawnie flew in and provided on-site child care so that Kenzie could stage the house so that we could trick someone in to buying our house. Every time that I spoke with Kenzie over the week she was cleaning this or that or moving things out to the shed. She did a fabulous job and the house looked immaculate. Gramma Dawnie is also the best for flying out to help. There is no way that we could have done it without her. Thanks Gramma! Grandma, Kenna, and Kenzie all piled in the car after a week of staging and journeyed out to Ashland to pick me up for a 4 day adventure in Kentucky.

Florence, Kentucky

I had 4 days off work and so we all traveled to Florence Kentucky where Kenzie lived for a few years growing up. Lucky for us, Sommer’s mom and dad still live there and let us crash at their place anytime we are in town. Grandpa Young heard that we would be out there, so he decided to fly in for the weekend to see Kenna. Matt and Sierra heard that the grandparents would be around, so they drove up for the weekend. It was like a mini family reunion. We had the best time at Sommer’s house and Kenna loved it. There were chickens and four wheelers and M&M’s and the fair and a pond with fish in it and bikes and a cat and all sorts of things to keep her busy. We did a lot of swimming and eating and had a fantastic time with the Andersons (Maw-maw and Paw-paw). Sommer’s sister also lives in the area and she brought her hoard of children around so that Kenna always had buddies to play with. Her kids are adorable and Kenna had a blast hanging with them.

Kenzie here. I thought I would give a few more details about our Kentucky trip. Kenna I is very expressive. The child almost never stops talking. Nate and I are used to it but mamaw and papaw were pretty impressed so I thought we should share a few ‘kennaisms’ from this trip…

As Nate pointed out there was lots to do in “uhtucky”. There were lots of kids to play with but Kenna was closest in age with “Jofuss”. They rode lots of rides together at the fair and even though I couldn’t hear what they were saying it looks like they were having little conversations while they rode. Kenna would look at Joseph and say something then smile and laugh. Kenna had a great time on all the rides. She especially loved the spinning cups. She kept putting both arms on the side of the cup and leaning her head back. At one point I looked away and when I looked back she was kneeing up looking over the edge. She got “the look” from mom and sat right back down.

Kenna got to ride on the miniature ponies. They were so tame that they didn't move when Nate put her on there and Kenna patted his neck and said, "Iss not real daddy." He assured her it was and I think she was convinced when it started moving...I think.

The first night at the fair was interrupted by a torrential thunder storm. For the rest of the week when we went to the fair Kenna kept assuring us and herself, “Iss okay. It won’t rain.”

Kenna does a lot of self-assuring. She liked the chickens but had to tell me “oh chickens not scary” every time we went to feed them.

Papaw also had a cat! Kenna loves cats and probably loved hotdog (the cat) a little too much. She asked, “Where hotdog go?” about 20 times a day. When he came to the windows she would knock at him and say, “Hotdog smile at you!” (meaning her, Kenna). At one point something happened and Hotdog hissed at her. Kenna burst into tears and after telling her what she’d done to make him hiss she calmed down and apologized to him and then said, “I scare hotdog is why he make uh noise.”

Grandma great gave her a little teddy bear magnet which she carried around the whole week. Even now that we are home she asks, “Where uh little bear Grandma Great give you?”

Mamaw took her shopping while I got my hair cut one day and apparently the whole time Kenna would say things then laugh and say, “Ine (I’m) joking you mamaw!” She also gave mamaw lots of compliments, spontaneously telling her one day, “Iss a nice house” and “iss a nice wheel” (referring to her car) another day.

She also got a four-wheeler ride from papaw after a little persuasion. She didn’t like the loud noise it made and when he first started it up she said, “Uh-oh steam come out of uh four-wheeler.”

Then there was to pool which she just jumped right into whether you were ready or not.

Granola bar break

Finally, we went to the ‘quarium’ one day. Kenna was not a fan. It was dark and the music was eerie so we had to rush though it a little. She didn’t care for the rainforest exhibit even though there were birds flying free but ironically she really liked the sharks. I think it was because there were two divers (a male and female) in the tank with them. The guy had a stick to keep the sharks away while the girl talked about something. We were just watching not listening. Kenna was fascinated. She kept asking, “wassat” (what’s that) and wanted to know about everything from the flippers on their feet to the stick held by the guy to the bubbles they were making and the masks they were wearing. She talked about it the entire way home! She called the divers the mommy and the daddy. She kept saying that ‘uh mommy and uh daddy driving (diving) and uh daddy have a big stick so uh shark doesn’t bite me and uh goggles and uh bubbles to breathe (talking about their masks)’. She also got to see some penguins which she LOVED. She giggled every time the wiggled in the water or made a splash. Luckily the sharks and the penguins were last so the aquarium was a success!

Tractor Pull

I went to my first tractor pull at the Boyd County Fair while we were staying there and it turns out they are really boring. Seriously, don’t go. Just pull up a clip on Youtube if you are curious what one is like. If you want the full experience of a tractor pull, replay the clip of the tractor pull on Youtube 40 times and you will have the equivalent.

Back to Work

I had to leave after four days and go back to work, but Kenzie got to stay in Florence with the Andersons for the week. She continued the shopping, swimming, and chatting while I slaved away to feed the family.

Back to Richmond

After the second week of work, I drove back up to get Kenzie and we made the journey back to Richmond. We were supposed to be in Kentucky another full week, but luckily we got to go home early.

Under Contract

Due to Kenzie’s excellent staging, somebody decided to make an offer on our house. And even better, it was a good offer! We accepted it and our house is currently under contract and the lovely people are buying it on September 21^st. We can’t count the chickens before they hatch, but it all looks good and we feel very blessed. Thanks God. J

House Hunters

The Mrs and I are going out to Dallas at the end of next week to do some house shopping. It will officially be the first night that Kenzie has spent away from her child. Impressive eh? Jarom and Lixie are watching Kenna for a day or two and then Sara (our former babysitter turned missionary who went to my parents mission) will take over for a day. It should be a fun time without the kiddo and what better activity is there than house hunting? Hopefully we can decide on an area that we like and have a few houses that we like.

New Job

The new job in Texas will probably start around September 19^th. I say probably because I have to pass a drug test first and the results still have not come through. Keep your fingers crossed…

Those are the highlights. The next few weeks will likely be pretty action packed so there is probably more coming soon.

Texas!

We are in Kentucky exploring McKenzie's roots and will continue to be here for a couple more weeks, but I wanted to let everyone know that our life is about to change in a very big way. Kenzie is not pregnant, but we are moving to Texas next month. Our house is on the market and we have a tentative start date of mid September. It is scary and exciting at the same time. I am starting a new job down there. I am sure that we will post a blog with more detail, but I just wanted to let the cat out of the bag.