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?