Meet Kerstin

Kerstin finally arrived today around 1:30pm. From Germany, she had to fly to Atlanta and then to Chicago. Today she flew from Chicago to Baton Rouge. We told her that if she can navigate the airports in Atlanta and Chicago, she can do just about anything!
Here's Anna Claire waiting for Kerstin at the airport!
And here's Kerstin's first picture in the United States!

Flight Update

Well, silly Lufthansa Airlines decided to have a strike today in Germany, and 30 exchange students were affected by the decision. Kerstin will arrive in Chicago at some point this evening where she will meet with a coordinator of the exchange program who will get her in a hotel for the evening and take her back to the airport in the morning so that she can finish the rest of her trip here. We appreciate everyone's prayers! Updates to follow.

Another Exciting Adventure Awaits....

Things are hopping around the McKenzie house! Tomorrow, we welcome a young lady (16 years old) into our home from Germany. She is an exchange student who will live with us for the school year. We've been busily making preparations for her arrival, and I think we're ready! It's midnight as I write this post, and Germany is 6 hours ahead of us, so she just boarded the first plane of her journey. I can't even begin to imagine what she must be thinking/feeling. She will board 4 different planes to get here, so if you think about it tomorrow (Wednesday), say a little prayer for Kerstin and her luggage. :) Stay tuned....pictures will be posted soon.

Blog Header

So, for those of you have had trouble loading our blog over the past two days, I'm sorry. I've been trying to upload a cute header for the blog, and it just isn't working. For now, the blog is going to look boring until I can have a minute to figure it all out. Until then...here's a funny picture of AC from last night. We had friends in town and we took them to Coffee Call, a great local place for beignets. Simply delicious. The plates come with a ridiculous amount of powder sugar on them, so Brad showed Anna Claire how to dip her hand in the powder sugar and lick it off her hand. Nice.

All Things Yellow

Anna Claire's favorite color right now is yellow (or "yea-yo" as she says it), so while Brad was in NYC, he stopped in at M&M world and bought AC a yellow t-shirt! She was estatic! In the picture above, she is pointing out an airplane to our neighbor. This is a new favorite hobby for her.

Home Sweet Home

After being away from home for almost 3 weeks, we are all back under our roof in Baton Rouge. We had a wonderful vacation, but it does feel good to be back home. This post is going to be a little long...so get ready.
Last Thursday, while we were still in Pampa, my dad took Elizabeth and I to see "Texas" in the Palo Duro Canyon. This production has been running for 40+ seasons and is incredible! We had a great seats and enjoyed the show! Before going to our seats, I had Dad stop by this map to show the 6 counties that he covers as a Boy Scout District Executive.
This is a picture of the stage before the show began.
This is the opening scene:
Then on Friday, before leaving Pampa, we had to take a couple of pictures by the NEW "Welcome to Pampa" sign. The Rotary Club (of which my dad is a member) recently had these lovely signs put in at all the main "entrances" to Pampa. As is the case most days, it was ridiculously windy. My dad was taking the picture and he got rather tickled at us telling him to wait to take the picture until the wind stopped blowing. I'm pretty sure we'd still be standing there if we waited on the wind!

For those of you who know my mom, this next picture will come as no surprise (and especially if you knew her mom also)! My mom's shoes are all in boxes and labeled. This made me laugh when I saw the display in her closet. Mom, I love you!
On our way to Dallas last Friday, we stopped at the nicest rest area! I couldn't help but take a few pictures.
And nothing says, "Enjoy your stop" like the following sign. Eeeek!
What perfect rest stop wouldn't be complete without a tornado shelter? Oh dear.
Anna Claire has a new fascination with trains (or "choo choos" as she calls them) thanks to the 95 trains that go through Pampa in a day. When in Dallas, we ate at a restaurant next to the DART rail, so she was able to watch trains go by quickly. She was a fan.
Last Saturday night, Anna Claire had her first sleep over at my grandparents house. My parents were staying there, and Anna Claire spent the night while I stayed at my sister's house and was able to sleep in! Fabulous. When we went over on Sunday morning, this is how Anna Claire was dressed - wearing an undershirt of my grandpa's that was pinned in the back. Lovely. She also enjoyed sharing a bowl of Cheerios with Ma-Maw.

There was the cutest little park by my sister's house that we took Anna Claire to on a couple of occasions to let her run off some of her energy. The park had a section specifically for kids Anna Claire's age, so everything was just her size. She was fascinated by this little clubhouse. She also enjoyed climbing and swinging. Great park!



This past week, my sister started her job at paxUnited She was at a training for the first part of the week, so Thursday was her first day in the office. Anna Claire and I took her lunch.
She had a giraffe hat sitting on her desk, so she modeled it for me....and of course, monkey see, monkey do, Anna Claire had to copy.

And let's hear it for the last picture....cuteness.

Go Pampa Harvesters!

Anna Claire is the proud owner of a beautiful Pampa Harvesters t-shirt. Last night, we went on a walk around Mom and Dad's apartment building, and Anna Claire was happy to show off her new shirt. In the second picture, she is pointing to the horse (or hee-haw according to her) that we spotted behind the apartments. She was fascinated by the horse.

Biti Pies....Delicious

If ever your travels take you through Amarillo, you have to stop at Biti Pies. We had the chocolate meringue pie and the German chocolate cake. Simply delicious.

The Plaza

Last night, we had dinner at The Plaza, a Mexican restaurant here in Pampa. It was delicious. The best part - there is a fountain in the center of the restaurant, and we sat right next to it. Anna Claire thought that was fabulous. We knew there was a fountain, so we came prepared with a small fortune of pennies.

Borger and Canadian

Yesterday, we went to other towns near Pampa....Borger and Canadian. I'm telling you, we're hitting all the high spots! Ha! In Borger, we took Anna Claire to the park. When we arrived, there were school buses in the parking lot (her favorite), a play area with water (another favorite), kids, and the actual playground. It's safe to say she was in sensory overload! She didn't know what to say or look at first! She was just jumping up and down, squealing with excitement.




In that last picture, Anna Claire is singing "The Wheels on the Bus" with hand motions.
On our way over to Canadian, Anna Claire covered her head and took a nap. She was worn out. Canadian is a cute little town, and we met my dad there for dinner (he was coming in from Boy Scout day camp) at The Cattle Exchange. Delicious. We also stopped by a cute little soda shop where Anna Claire enjoyed sitting on the bar stool.

Fun in the Big City

On Sunday, we went "to the city" (Amarillo). We had a great time seeing our dear friends who have a granddaughter that is a month older than Anna Claire. They had a great time playing together. Elizabeth and I also went to paint the famous cadillacs at Cadillac Ranch.

The Big Texan

They say everything is bigger in Texas, and The Big Texan is no exception. This is the home of the 72 oz. steak. If you eat it in less than an hour, it's free (or $72 if you ae unable to finish).