D Day, January 21st
Riley in his 2nd grade Patriotic Performance.
Spring bluebonnets and Tyler's 5th birthday!
The St. Louis Arch and Fourth of July!
Daddy with his girl!
Tyler starts Kinder, our new kitten Milo and our pink Halloween kitty, Kendall!
Merry Christmas! Love Tyler, Riley, Kendall, Mark and Shelley Kendall
Well, our year started off with a bang, and now we’re swimming in pink! Kendall Joy McDaid was born January 21, 2010 at 4:16pm, weighing 7 pounds 13 ounces. All went smoothly, and she has grown like a weed over the last 10 months. At 10 months old, she is scooting, playing and happy. Her favorite things are “reading” and being outside, especially in the swing. She’s very talkative; she is starting to use some real words like uh-oh and cat.
Mark
Mark is still with ARC, working hard. He stays busy keeping all of their systems running smoothly so the doctors can work productively. He got to be home for 3 weeks when Kendall was born, which was such a blessing! At church, he works with the boys’ group, RAs. They just completed their annual Pinewood Derby car build and race. He also works out avidly, and he and I completed our first half marathon in October. I was really proud of his dedication to the training and the race. He did a great job!
Shelley
I continue to help lead the MOPS (Moms of Preschoolers) group at Hays Hills Baptist Church. We had a great year last year and have started another great year this fall. Currently, we have 62 moms in our group with more inquiring daily. We will be launching a 2nd group in January to have more room for more moms. I love the ministry of MOPS; it reaches stay at home moms in the community so they do not feel like they are mothering alone. I also have enjoyed being more active at the boys’ school. And, amazingly, I trained and completed my first half marathon in October! It was really challenging; I am so thankful to have done it, but I don’t know that I’ll be doing another one anytime soon. I think 5Ks and 10Ks will be fine from here on.
Riley
Riley has really grown and matured over the last year. I have really come to rely on his help, and he has risen to the occasion. He is an awesome big brother; Kendall adores him. He is in third grade this year and thriving in school. He loves to build with Legos and has built many creative designs. He also is loving reading chapter books and is an excellent speller. Riley is passionate about storms and tornadoes. We are curious to see if it will develop into a career in meteorology.
Tyler
Tyler has had a big year! Not only did he lose his position as the baby of the family, he also started Kindergarten this fall. I am so thankful that I got to spend so much time with him at home because I feel like I hardly see him anymore. He is loving school, learning and making new friends. We found out his peanut allergy is not severe, but he still enjoys eating at the “peanut free” table in the school cafeteria. He also is a Lego fanatic, and really enjoys minifigures (the people) and accessories.
Family
I am so thankful for our family time. We’ve really made some memories this year that I will always treasure. We went to Sea World in December, one last hurrah before Kendall arrived. We enjoyed a rare snow in February. In June, we took our first big road trip to Saint Louis, Missouri. It was the boys’ first trip outside of Texas. We visited family, went to my cousin’s wedding, saw the Arch, rode on a riverboat and went to the zoo. But the highlight had to be stopping in Dallas on the way home to go to the Lego store! While we were there, we found out that Austin was getting a Lego store. (It opened in August, and we have been there many times already.) We also did fun things around town, like going to Gattitown, Austin Park, swimming at pools and seeing movies. This fall, we got to spend time with the Beamans for the first time in a long time, which was also really fun.
We still have our sweet Siamese cat Juno, and added another kitten, Milo, last month. Teddy went out a week ago and hasn’t returned. We are still searching for him, hoping he’ll come home and be okay. We’ve had him for 9 years and really love him. But Milo is a silly boy, and he fascinates Kendall.
This year, God has really blessed us. It is so fun to see the world through a new baby’s eyes. Thinking about how much she’s grown in such a short time is amazing. And now, we get to enjoy this holiday season with her. It will be a special time.
We wish you many blessings this holiday, and may you remember the true joy of Christ’s birth! Love, the McDaids
