will the real Kyle please stand up?

It's hard to believe a year ago at Easter that Kyle, Josh, Grace

and I were HERE...In New York City.  A place that we love (and thanks to the fabulous Wilcox family for putting us up!) and have been able to visit a number of times over the past five years.

We ate a lot of this....(they never smile for pictures, don't worry, this is normal!)

We got on and off of the subway here A LOT

We saw this amazing sunset at the Top of the Rock

We ate some more of this (what can I say? we love NYC pizza)

We saw spring in the City...and it was GLORIOUS!

We went to the Easter Parade

where those New Yorkers put on QUITE the show.  It was

SERIOUSLY fabulous and the "costumes" took our 

breath away.  Creative, talented human beings!

We walked the Brooklyn Bridge on Easter Sunday

in the sun and soft breeze.

We saw these.

And we had THE BEST Diet Coke I've ever tasted in my life...

You're curious now, right?  How can ONE diet coke be better than all the others you've had to drink in your life?... you ask!

Well, I will tell you how.  The walk over the Brooklyn Bridge was hot, and long and crowded (Easter Sunday in New York brings lots of tourists).  We got to the other side looking for food and drink.

We were hungry and thirsty.

Have I mentioned that it was EASTER SUNDAY?

Well apparently businesses like to close on Easter Sunday so that families can spend time together.

How rude! Am I right?

NOTHING in Brooklyn was open.

NOTHING!

We were weak with hunger.

Kyle sat us all down, wilted, upon the stoop of a store (which was closed) and told us to "STAY PUT!"

He headed out in search of anything, anywhere, that was open.

We sat in the sun, miserable and hot and thirsty and hungry.

And waited.

About 10 minutes later Kyle called our cell phones and told us to RUN--he found the last restaurant open in Brooklyn.

(They were actually closing and he begged the owner to let "one last family" in.)

We found him with some luck and Josh, who also has built in GPS like his father.  (Grace and I?  Not so much--don't ever "get lost" with us, or you will be in big trouble!)

The pizza place was crowded to over-flowing.  We got the very last table.

Thanks to Kyle, who is ALWAYS looking out for everyone else.

He never complained about how thirty or tired or hungry HE was, even when he is.  It's still always about helping everyone else, first.

He ordered me up a Diet Coke (it was a teeny tiny bottle), but it quenched my thirst and gave me new energy.

We ate and laughed and the owners of the restaurant made sure EVERYONE was taken care of, even passing out free Italian Easter Cookies and hoping we had a super great day, before THEY finished up work and went home to THEIR families and Easter dinners.

After dinner and a diet coke, we went and sat down by the waterfront and reflected on a great day.

Now as I reflect back a whole year later, I think how lucky we've been all these years to have a dad, and husband, who puts us first.

He's always taking care of us, in sickness or health.

That's the REAL Kyle.

And he's STILL standing up!

That's what I've got for today....