Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Mall of America



A quick trip to the Mall of America was our last hurrah before Dad had to go back to school. We headed out at 8am and spent all day; we didn't get home until 2am!!! The kids were great and we all had a blast!

Landon loved to ride the rides and couldn't get enough.

Brooklyn lives for the thrill of the roller coaster and was laughing so hard sometimes her face was red and she was out breath!!!
The kids got their face painted and our little tiger was the hit of the night! He was growling at everyone and they would growel back, it was so cute!










Thursday, December 25, 2008

Christmas Day

Merry Christmas to US!!!

Santa came last night and it seems like the Tolboe kids were extra good this year!!!

Landon got a train table with the works, and was in pure bliss all day! He didn't even want to come eat, just play trains.

Brooklyn got a vanity from Santa... just what she needs, more things to help her be more vain. Well, she loved it and was primping all day. She also got more dress up clothes and lots of pink girly stuff!!!
Brooklyn also got a really cool doll house from Nanna that makes even Mom a little jealous. Thanks Nanna, we love you !!!


After every present Brooklyn would run to us and give us the biggest hug to say thank you!
It was so cute, what a sweetheart.

Christian got his Garmin, shirts for clinic and some memory cards. And I got a memory card for my camera, some very nice Tupperware (YES) and a MP3 player...to use when I workout
(I think I get the hint honey)
We all had a great Christmas and loved being together! Thanks to all the presents we got in the mail from family, we appreciate every one!

Much Love,
Us



Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Christmas Cards

Our Christmas Cards are coming to all of you after Christmas this year, so here is a preview of what you will get.
I hope you are enjoying time off from school and or work and making memories with your loved ones. We wish we could see some of you this year but hope to see you soon!

Much love and joy,
The Tolboe Family
Christian, Jennilyn, Brooklyn and Landon




Gingerbread houses

Our Gingerbread houses are really gram cracker houses but who really eats their gingerbread house anyway???

Landon had to taste everything to make sure it was good enough to put on his house.


This is serious house making going on here...


Many fun Christmas memories.

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Super Christmas Saturday!

Santa was a great way to start off our Super Christmas Saturday, well at least for Brooklyn it was. Like any other normal child Landon was scared out of his mind to sit on some man's lap just to get a toy. We will sure miss "this" Santa when we leave Iowa... isn't he so cute! He watches us from the the stand every Sunday. (he is a member of our bishopric)

After breakfast with Santa we headed home for some naps until we had to be at Brooklyn's preschool Christmas concert.


After Brooklyn sang Landon had to get his 15 min of fame as well.
What a stud muffin



Then after a nice meal at our ward party we left a little early to decorate our Christmas tree.
I would hand Landon an ornament and he would literally throw it on the tree...such a boy.
Brooklyn on the other hand was very particular to decide where each one would go.

Nice cheese face dude.


Just a couple of crazy kids




Sunday, November 30, 2008

Giving Thanks

Well, the last post was about my sick family, and right after that I got SICK! Man was that a nasty flu bug but we are all glad to be over that.

Thanksgiving was a little different this year, with no family, but it was OK. We went to DMU for a free Thanksgiving dinner put on by the school which was nice but no that yummy. It was fun to be with friends but wished the food tasted better, nothing beats Mom's/Grandmas cooking.

Well at least Landon thought it was good.

Friday morning we all slept in and then later that day I took Brooklyn on a Mommy daughter date. She had no idea where we were going and when we got there she was overwhelmed with joy she couldn't even speak!!! We got tickets to Disney On Ice!!! I remember going when I was a kid and I wanted her to have the same fun experience. Nanna helped with the cost so we had Great seats. A fun day that I hope Brooklyn and I will remember for a while!

Saturday was a pretty uneventful day filled with cleaning and napping my two favorite things!!!

Sunday we woke up to SNOW and the kids were thrilled so they went outside with Dad while I made deep fried french toast (yes, the only kind to eat). Church was great as usual and then after dinner we all went out for some more snow fun!!!

Of course Brooklyn and her silly face
"It's too cold to smile Mom"

As I reflect back on a great weekend I have much to be thankful for. First off I am very thankful that Christian could be home with us, to spend some time together. Those days are far and few between. I am also thankful to have a healthy family and to be healthy myself. I have had a heck of a time with my health lately and I am glad to be feeling well and not have to be worried about going to the hospital every time I have some bad heartburn. Another thing I am thankful for is the great gift of being a Mother! There is no other job I would rather have than giving birth to and raising my children. I hope that I can get another "project" soon, we keep praying for another one. But I think I might need a raise too... I am thankful for the friends that we have made here in Iowa that make life so sweet when family is so far away. We are all thankful for our family that has helped us with so much while we have been in Iowa/school. We literally couldn't have made it without you. I could go on and on about all the things that I am thankful for but I will end with the most significant and influential thing in my life and that is the gospel of Jesus Christ. I would not be who I am today without the Church and the strength it gives me. The truths I know give me the strength to endure and handle the trials I am given.

How can you not be thankful for this???

Friday, November 14, 2008

Sick at our house

Well, there is a NASTY flu bug going around and WE (well Christian and Landon) got it!!!
I hope that Brooklyn and I don't get it... There is nothing worse than a SICK MOM.

What do you do when your poor baby looks like this?

And you need a lot of this...And he won't let you leave his side not even to go to the bathroom. I love how cuddly he is but sometimes you need a break. Well, Christian was headed home early today to give me a break when he started feeling SICK.
So, Yes both of my boys are sick and I hope that us girls do not get it!!!
Brooklyn prayed tonight that I would be able to help everyone get better and that anyone who is sick in the whole world would get better. So if you are sick you have been prayed for, and I have a lot of work to do.
Maybe you should pray for me...

When you are stuck inside to quarantine yourself nothing makes the time go by like some CRAFTS. I actually love doing crafts and I have to hold myself back from doing all the work and not let Brooklyn be a creative 4 year old. So here is what we made while little Landon was sleeping.

You can learn how to make them HERE













Brooklyn has been learning about the Pilgrims and the Indians in preschool. She has told me all about the Mayflower and that the Pilgrims didn't have anything...
No, T.V.
No, Houses
No, Beds,
No, Sinks or Doors even...wow poor Pilgrims.
She also told me today that some of the pilgrim children didn't come on the Mayflower with their parents. When I asked her why they didn't come with their parent's she told me that they forgot their kids.
Wow, what nice parent's.

Anyway, in Brooklyn's words "bless the whole wide world that they will not be sick anymore, and that Mommy will take care of us."


Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Christian's Clerkship Schedule

For those of you who do not know Christian has applied and has been accepted to all his Clerkship programs. A clerkship is when you go visit different hospitals/residency programs to gain experience and see what they have to offer for a possible residency program.

Christian will start this whole process in June of 2009 and end with Graduation in May 2010!!! I have made a map to help explain where he will be each month.(Click to enlarge)

1. We will ALL leave Iowa the end of May after Brooklyn's Dance recital which is May 23rd, and head to California.
2. The kids and I will stay in Modesto with family while Christian heads to the Kaiser Santa Clara program for the month of June.
3. Christian will then move just a little north to the Kaiser San Fransisco/Oakland program for the month of July.
4. Next is a long trip to the east coast to St. Lukes Hospital in Allentown, Pennsylvania for the month of August.
5. For this next part of the year the kids and I will join Christian in Michigan from September-January. Christian will attend two programs in Michigan; first at Henry Ford Macomb Hospital in Clinton Township, for September. And then at St. John North Shores in Harrison Township, Michigan, from October-January.
6. After our adventure in Michigan we will head back to Modesto, California to spend the rest of the time there until graduation in May!!!

We are all so proud of Christian and know he will do a great job, being a great
Foot Doctor.





Sunday, November 2, 2008

Halloween

Another year with all the fun Halloween festivities here in Iowa.

We started it all off with a trip to Night Eyes at the Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines. They put up Halloween decorations and dress in costumes to hand out candy to all the kids. It will be another great memory of our time here in Iowa.
































Next, we carved our pumpkins and we were lucky enough to have Nanna here with us!!!
We finally got Brooklyn to get her hands dirty and get the pumpkin "guts" out, but Landon NO WAY. He would have nothing to do with those things, it was too weird for him. All he wanted to do was sit on them.

Here in Iowa we have what is called Beggars Night. Is it the night before Halloween and it is specifically designated for kids to do their Trick-or-Treating, so that the older people and parents can go out on Halloween to party. I still don't know exactly why they do it that way, but they do. So, we took the kids around on the 30th to knock on doors and then on the 31st we had our ward Halloween party and a Trunk-or-Treat.
When we got to the ward party no one recognized Christian, especially with his killer tattoos!!!
Even the bishop had to take a double take to figure out who he was.




We had a blast dressing up as a family and look forward to dressing up again next year...
any ideas?



Friday, October 31, 2008

18 months and no slowing down


I am 18 months old and I am ALL BOY!

Some words I can say are:Mamma, Dad, Ba (brooklyn), Ball, Bubble, NO ( mom loves that one).
I can also say Hi and Bye and Dog. I make a weird sound for blanket and the same for candy, but Mom and Dad know what I mean???
I call every girl or friend of Brooklyn's LaLa and any other "girly" object.

I love: Trucks or anything Big and moving, and Balls and animals (especially monkey's when Mom makes her monkey sound)
I love to take a bath and sometimes climb in the tub when there is no water just to play in there while Mom does sister's hair.
I love broccoli and would eat it every day if Mom let me.
I love my Dad and get so excited every time he walks through the door.

I can: Eat with a spoon and fork and will refuse to eat with my hands, unless it is chicken nuggets.
I can throw a mean fast ball (with my left hand just like Grandpa Burnham!)
I can drive Brooklyn's viper, well just push the pedal and Dad helps me steer.
I can fold my arms when it is prayer time and I am learning how to keep my eyes closed.
I can dance and booggie in the car when Mom pumps up the music!

I know where my belly is and like to show it to the girls!!!
I know that when Mom's cell phone rings it is usually Dad and I try to run and get the phone before Mom does...HAHA




I am a little short and round but that is OK, hopefully I will grow a little taller so Dad won't worry so much.

I love to cuddle and get lots of loves from my family, but most of all I love to be ME!

Saturday, October 25, 2008

So You Think You Can Dance Tour 2008

For those of you who do not watch the Fox Show,
"So You Think You Can Dance", you are missing OUT.
I love this show and Christian wont admit it but he loves it too!!!
When we heard that they were coming to Minnesota we jumped on those tickets so fast!they wouldn't allow me to take my big camera in so our pictures aren't as great as they could be...

We had a great time. My Mom was here to watch the kids so we could make a weekend out of it and spend some time away from the kids. The show was amazing. They performed some of the most popular dances from the show and also some new ones. It was so fun to see each dancer so close, I just wanted to jump up on the stage with them. The guys were even sexier in person and I have to say even the girls too.
Especially Kherington (right Honey...wink..wink)













The show was great and I am glad we got to go, Thanks MOM!