Narrowboat Adventure

In mid June the Engels, Maloaee included (Suzy stayed home to watch the house), rented a Narrowboat here in England and cruised a canal in Wales with our dears friends/family the Briggs: Molly, Curtis and Bella.  The weather was not ideal but we did get a couple really nice days.  Brad was our captain and was incredible at driving.  The boat only went about 4mph and at some points the canal got very narrow.  As a boat crew we had to crank all the locks and all the bridges ourselves.  After a 5 minute video we were "certified" to operate the locks.  There were a lot of them!  This was a trip of a lifetime!  Briggs and Engel next adventure is an all inclusive cruise in the Mediterranean.  

 Maloaee peering over the aqueduct! 

The real captain!

 Captain Brad and Co-Captain Curtis

 Getting ready to shove off!

 The Briggs family!

 The first locks we came to.  Brad and Krisa..."what are we supposed to do?"

 Bella and Maloaee.  BFF's!

 Sexy captain!  

 SMILE!

 Aqueduct 

 Canal got very narrow!  It was one way.  Someone had to run ahead and be sure no one was coming!  

Please can I jump in and get the ducks mom and dad?

Captain and the "Real Captain"

Baby Shower

On May 31st Molly threw us the most incredible baby shower ever!  It was The Very Hungry Caterpillar theme.  If anyone knows how to plan and throw a themed party it is Molly.  It was phenomenal.  We feel so blessed to have so many friends that could join us to celebrate our special day!  Sorry there are not more pictures!  I got busy and stopped taking them.

 Just a small glimpse at the themed food display!

 Brad playing the boys game.  They were drinking apple juice from a bottle!

Everyone brought a book and wrote a dedication to Baby E!  We have so many incredible children's books now!  

Engel Update

I know it has been a long time since the Engels have shared their lives on the blog but we are back!  A lot has happened since out last blog so I hope to fill you in briefly before attempting to be consistent with updates, no promises!  :)

Over the last couple of years life has been great!  Krisa is now teaching 3rd grade at the Elementary School on base.  It is an incredible job and she loves it.  She walks to work and gets to spend her days with military children as well as her great friend Molly!  Brad continues to excel in his career and just returned from a deployment, he was gone for just over 4 months.  We have had lots of great travels with great friends and family.  We also just decided that we are going to stay in England for another 3 years, maybe 4.  We are so happy here and are not ready to start over yet.  I know there are lots of disappointed people but please know you are always welcome here and we are going to try and come back to the states at least once a year.  We miss everyone but right now being here is what is best for our growing family.

More exciting news!  2 days before Brad left for his deployment we found out we were going to have a baby.  We are so excited.  I am currently 34 weeks.  We look forward to this new journey!  We have waited a long time and could not be more ready!  The due date is August 31st and I will update as soon as we can!

 For Krisa's 30th Birthday Brad planned a trip to a high ropes course.  It was a blast.  After that he had all our friends meet us at a restaurant for a surprise birthday party!

 Brad's baby!  A 1984 Land Rover Defender.  

Maloaee and Suzy are great!  They bring us so much joy and we are so blessed to have such wonderful pets.  We are currently preparing them for our new addition.  I am sure they will both adjust just fine, as long as they still get the love they are used to!  :)