The Suite Life of Kai and Makena

                                                       My new Surf Board-Kowabunga

                                                        Makena's new Skate Board

                                                        Real snow at church- from a machine

                                                       Kyle working from the hotel room

                                                      Christmas Eve morning

                                                        Doing homework at Starbucks

Love that treadmill

               Life is good

                                       STAR WARS battle with Logan and Kaelyn

Sleeping Beauties

                                               Parade of Lights at Ventura Harbor

                                                Ice skating at The Lakes

                                               Snow at Dos Vientos Shopping Center

                                               Snow (bubbles) at Ventura Harbor

Well, we moved out of our temporary rental before Christmas and will move into our new digs on Jan. 4th. We've stayed with our friends the Shurtz family and spent Christmas at the Westlake Village Inn. I've always wanted to stay there, the rooms are gorgeous and the lush grounds are a photographer's dream. We got upgraded to the Luxury Suite, hence the "Suite Life". "Aunt" Lylene is watching our kitties, we hope she'll give them back to us :). We've enjoyed going to the Parade of Lights at Ventura Harbor, going Christmas Caroling with friends from church at an assisted living home, spending time with friends, Kyle and Makena went Ice skating, going to the movies ( I loved B Movie), going to the beach and going on hikes.

Hello California!

In-N-Out in Arizona (couldn't wait)

"Our" tree in front of Sea Casa

Hike at Satwiwa across from Dos Vientos

Danny and Jeannie

Yep, that's Kai and Makena up on top

"The steep hill" at Sycamore Canyon

"Moving sand" at Sycamore Cove

We made it to California, thanks to some angels who helped us in Texas (Laura, Renee, Rick, Reagan and Jennie, you were awesome!)! We've been busy getting settled. We've had In-N-Out 4 times, we've been to the beach 3 times and rode/hiked Sycamore Canyon twice. It's been great to reconnect with old friends, and we had a wonderful Thanksgiving with the Cameranesi Family. Our surfboard is on order.

Good Bye Austin !

Makena took this picture

Kai and Makena

Where it all began...

What a fun family!

This will be our last entry from Texas. The house is full of boxes and we are fixin' to leave. Sunday I had one last shoot at the Capitol. Our Yoga instructor and her family. It was fun to meet her family and to capture their happiness. Kyle and the kids joined us at the end and Kai took a picture of us at the front entrance, the very place I first saw Kyle when we were both 17.

All 8 of us hit it off and it felt like the last day at camp. I know we'll see each other again.
Well, Saturday we'll load 2 kids, 2 cats and lots of stuff and it's Wagons West. In-N-Out, here we come! Good bye, Texas, thanks for everything!

Farewell Cul-De-Sac Party

All tied up
Buddies

Getting Aquainted

Kyle and Cooper

Miss V and a new friend

YUM!

Party at the Dutys

Sunset

Saturday evening our cul-de-sac had a block party to say good bye to us and hello to Ramy and Tiffany, who bought our house. Everyone brought incredible dishes, yum. We feel sad to leave these incredible neighbors when we move, but look forward to coming back to visit our friends. The weather could not have been more perfect and the day ended with another incredible Hill Country sunset.

HALLOWEEN 2007

Halloween is always an exciting time at the Duty's. The kids decorated the house with spiderwebs and pumpkins. Makena dressed as a Kitty Cat (Meow) and Kai, for the first time, wanted to be something scary: Scream. We attended a very fun block party at a neighbor's house and then set out for trick-or-treating. Kai stayed home for a while, posing as decoration, in the hope of jumping and frightening older trick-or-treaters: it worked!!! We ended the night by trick-or-treating at the kids' teachers' houses, eating homemade witch's fingers cookies.