Zhu Ni Sheng Re Kuai Le, Daddy!

This little Chinese birthday greeting is especially for you, Hung Chow! I'm so proud of you and so glad to be your daughter. It was a fun time walking down the aisle with you not too long ago. Thank you for all the hard work you did to make that day happen. You were amazing! I love you, Daddy, and just know you have another adventure-packed year ahead of you.

Your little China Doll

Carly and I just watched a rough cut of a documentary called INVISIBLE CHILDREN. It was very moving, and we wanted to share it with you. Three college-aged guys from San Diego set out to shoot a documentary covering the war in Southern Sudan (2003). They didn't have any luck so they traveled to Northern Uganda where many of the Sudanese refugees had fled. What they found was a tragic subculture of thousands of children that fled their villages each evening to sleep in a nearby larger city, avoiding kidnapping by a rebel group, the LRA (Lord's Revolutionary Army). The LRA (named a terrorist organization by the USA Patriot Act) recruits new conscripts through kidnapping and violent initiation. The children are threatened with death if they ever attempt to leave. These three young filmmakers went looking for a story in Sudan, but found one in Uganda. And now they've started a movement of people wanting to put hands and feet to what they felt and realized after learning about these invisible children. Pretty cool if you ask us. So after we watched the documentary, Carly and I asked each other, what in the world are we supposed to do with that? Sadly, this is only one of a thousand tragic stories like it around the world. But should that keep us from asking God if he wants to connect us, in some way, to His children there? All that to say, we wanted to share the title of this documentary with you, and to give you the link to their website for more information. If you want to borrow the DVD, feel free to ask us. You can also purchase them on their website: www.invisiblechildren.com

with love,
Kyle & Carly

p.s. I've heard about this from Caleb and then from Cynthia...we're just a little slow to watch the DVD ourselves.

Happy Birthday Doc!

A friend of ours has used her blog to wish a "happy birthday" to some of her family members by posting pictures of them to celebrate. I wanted to do that today for my father-in-law, Doc. His birthday isn't until next week, but I wanted to go ahead and share some of these pictures. So here's to Doc, still a young man!

One thing I've learned about Doc is that he REALLY loves his family [Doc, Cynthia & Carly at a cousin's wedding in Montana].


Jeremy's birthday


In the backyard where Carly and I were married! [The whole family, pre-son-in-law #2]


If you know Doc, you know he loves to hunt! Here the hunter has bagged a big pig.


He also loves to fish...a tradition passed down from his dad. These are some stripers that Jeff, Doc & I caught in the Arkansas river.


The filet master at work.


Here is the AWESOME birthday gift that Doc got from Jeff & Emily. A much purer breed than Parker's little offspring! Say hi to Miss Peaches!






Happy Birthday Doc! I love you and am proud to be your son-in-law.

dad, here are your grandkids

It's taken us a little while to get a picture of Parker & Belle's puppies, but Carly was able to take the camera over there on a recent visit. They are already so much bigger than this, but still without their eyes opened. I must say that I'm a little confused as to their coloring. Parker, being totally blonde, and Belle having typical German Shepherd colors...I guess Parker's dad Rowdy was a black lab. He must have passed along that genetic code to all 8...or 7 (we lost the runt) of the puppies. They all have a tiny white star on their chests. Four boys and three girls now. Tell your friends that we have full blooded German Labradors that we're giving away (or more technically, half Labrador - half German Shepherd).

they're here!!!

They have arrived. The puppies. We went to visit our neighbor Tyrel to check on his German Shepherd Belle, and he said that all 6 puppies came between 11pm and 3am this morning. So I peeked my head into the kennel where they were staying, and counted 8! Two of them had slipped by without him noticing. But if he's anything like me, a lot of things can slip by me at 3am without my noticing. All 8 of the little ones are jet black, except for a tiny white star that they have on their chests. The umbilical cord is still dangling from each of them, and they have yet to open their eyes. I was surprised at how loud and un-puppy-like their shrill little yelps were. It's been fun to get to know our neighbor through this...more news to come, and pictures too...we promise!

father of the bride?

Many of you have heard the all-too-true rumor that Parker Renich Walters did indeed impregnate one Miss Belle-the-neighbor-dog. As proof, I wanted to share some top-secret surveilance photos taken stealthily out of our dining room window. The pictures can only confirm the sad truth. We'll let them speak for themselves.





You may be thinking, "This is simply preposterous! Could cute little Parker...



...do this?"



You bet your kibbles 'n bits he did. And speaking of kibbles 'n bits, if you want to contribute to the Parker-Child-Support-Fund we can help one more guy from becoming a dead beat dad.

that's my girl!

Your results:
You are Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman 85% Supergirl 70% Robin 65% Superman 60% Spider-Man 55% The Flash 50% Green Lantern 50% Hulk 35% Catwoman 20% Batman 15% Iron Man 15%

You are a beautiful princess with great strength of character.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Test

this old house

Our parents have been very patient, waiting for a "virtual update" from our home. After a few months of elbow grease and buying stock in Ibuprofin, it's all coming together! Here's a little virtual tour of the house.

Living Room








Back Patio


Breakfast Nook




Washer/Dryer


Kitchen


Hallway


Entryway


Office










Bathroom




Guest Bedroom: the only one we didn't have to paint! Come stay with us!


Master Bedroom








Garage: we can finally park one car in there!


Come visit us!

yes, i like to wear capes

Your results:
You are Superman

Superman 80% Green Lantern 65% Spider-Man 60% Robin 60% The Flash 50% Supergirl 45% Iron Man 45% Catwoman 40% Batman 35% Wonder Woman 35% Hulk 15%

You are mild-mannered, good, strong and you love to help others.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Test


For some reason the spacing on this deal didn't work out quite right. A clear flaw in my superhero abilities. Superman is not known for being technically savvy. Heck, he works at The Daily Planet where they still type on typewriters!

Saturday Night Fever!

Now the picture that you're about to see below really has nothing to do with the John Travolta movie Saturday Night Fever...other than the fact that SNF and this picture were both taken in 1977. And the all too-noticable resemblance between my dad and one of Travolta's disco cronies. Maybe it's mom who looks like a Stephanie (Karen Lynn Gorney) stand-in. I'm guessing this picture was taken before they got married because dad was not nearly that furry in the wedding pictures. And it was probably taken after their engagement in early 1977 because, well let's face it, they didn't know each other all that long before they were engaged, so odds are that this falls in that pre-nup period. Thanks to Cliff & Debbie Nancarrow sharing this picture via Caleb. Priceless baby! Their grandkids are gonna love it!

niece & nephew...and puppies

Did you know that Carly and I have a neice and a nephew? You may be wondering "how?" since Kyle is the first to be married of the children on the Loyd/Walters' side, and Carly's sister has no kids. And you may be quick to blame their existence on Caleb F Walters, but you would be wrong. Actually, they are of no relation to us other than that of love! And how wonderful they are. To Hud & Han, we are "Aunt Cawly" and "Uncah Kyuh". Really, there is no other reason for this little post than to show how wonderful their little mugs are! Just wanted you to enjoy them with us. These pics were taken at a recent excursion to the Oklahoma City Zoo with their parents, Papaw, and Grandma Doris. Don't you just feel like smiling now! They belong to our wonderful friends Rusty & Lesli. They bring us so much joy!





Oh, and if you didn't know, our son Parker is soon to be a dad (like any day now). While we were on our honeymoon, he had one of his own with the neighbor's German Shepherd "Belle". Oh brother. So I did a Google Image Search for "German Shepherd and Yellow Lab Mix"; some were cute and others were way ugly, but most of the pictures you get for dogs online are the ones that different animal shelters have found. So you can imagine most looked scared, dirty, and malnourished. We'll see what happens! If you want a puppy, call us! We'll share some pictures when they come. Makes me want to read the book MARLY AND ME about the so-called "worst dog (yellow lab) ever." Bad dog!

deutschland

Here's another couple of great pictures from Caleb & Cynthia in Germany. The first is at a stop on their way to Amsterdam, and the second is in front of the Saint Michael and Saint Gudula church in Brussels, Belgium.





I think this next picture might be one of my all-time favorites from the wedding so far because you can see so many faces of people who are all looking in the direction of the camera at the same time. And because Carly looks so darn cute. Our friend Kayle Greiman took this picture.



As I've said before, sometimes the pictures are better than the words.