Still alive -- now in Kaysville UT

This blog has been completely inactive for nearly three years.  Kind of pathetic, but here's a brief update -- if nothing else for recordkeeping sake. 

We are renting a house in east Kaysville.  Neither of us has ever lived in Utah--unless you count Brenda's childbirth and very early years in Orem and my two-month stint in the Provo Missionary Training Center.  We seem to be blending in with the culture reasonably well since we both primarily originate from southeast Idaho -- considered as a cultural extension of Utah. 

Ty (12) has started seventh grade at Diamond Fork Junior High School in Spanish Fork.  Drew (7) and Matt (6) entered 2nd and 1st grade, respectively, at Columbia Elementary School in Kaysville.  Brady will turn four tomorrow, and he attends preschool twice weekly at Columbia Elementary. 

Brenda is in her final semester to earn her credentials as a certified medical coder.  She studies online with Montana State University.  For the past two years she has carried loads of 16-20 credits/semester.  While quantitatively heavy, she has also performed with superior quality making the dean's list each semester. 

I finished my Ob/Gyn residency and the written boards in June 2012 after spending four years at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in El Paso, TX. I am employed by Tanner Clinic, and my office is west of Layton in Syracuse. I began work on September 4 after a delayed credentialing process.  If you have any friends in the Syracuse and surrounding areas, please encourage conception -- in the most tactful manner possible, of course. 

Halloween is around the corner, and we look forward to it each year.  We are anticipating a Harry Potter family theme.  We will try to post pictures of the festivities -- hopefully before the next triannual blog post.   

Early Christmas

We usually travel each Christmas to see our respective families, but before that we celebrate and have our own quiet Christmas with just the kids. This year was no exception. The kids are a year older and it shows. Their comprehension of the event and ability to express themselves increases our enjoyment as well.

The Night Before Christmas. We made hot chocolate together and then the kids picked a candy cane from the tree to stir it with...
We also made gingerbread cookies together for Santa, but Drew & Matt thought it was important that we leave the reindeer some carrots...

Christmas Morning! I was up an hour before the kids (not by choice), and was ready and waiting with the camera to get a shot of them sprinting toward the tree. Ryan still had a small window of time before he had to leave for work, so this was one morning I didn't want them to sleep in anyway. I left the room for two minutes to use the bathroom, and wouldn't you know, it was the exact time they bounded down the stairs screaming and hollering! As I heard, "Mom, Mom! It's Christmas!", I closed my eyes and tried not to be too disappointed that I was trapped in isolation during a climatic moment. This is Drew opening his stocking. He usually selects and examines each item one at a time and asks questions about everything...

Our baby Brady with his favorite food...

Ah, the first present! Drew opened Iron Man with Matt's help...

Next came Matt with his Daredevil. They were so excited to see what the other got...

Finally the gift coveted most of all... the Spiderman web shooter. Drew told me a few nights before at the ward Christmas party, "Mom, I talked to Santa and he said he was going to bring me the Spiderman Webs! I know he's bringing it to me!" I didn't know Santa was bringing it either, until the night before Christmas at the 11th hour. It was like Ralphie and his gun. They thought there wasn't any more to open until I said, "What's that behind the tree?" After the gift was spotted they didn't even come out from behind the tree to open it. It was like the scene in Jurassic Park where the raptors are fed, because it was a frenzy of paper flying everywhere, and in a nanosecond it was over...After it was over and we said our goodbyes to Daddy, we lounged and talked about how much fun we had and how fortunate we were to have a Christmas. We talked about the shepherds and how their staffs were shaped like a candy cane. We talked about the star on top of the tree and how it helps us remember the Star of Bethlehem that rose in the sky when Christ was born. We talked about how excited we are to see our families and celebrate with them as well. We watched Christmas movies, listened to music, ate lots of chocolates and oranges, cracked nuts with the nutcracker (the kids participated and the shells were flying), and played, played, played. It was a blast.

Christmas On The Pecos

This year we attended a totally fun event called Christmas On The Pecos. Every year during the holiday season in Carlsbad, NM, the city welcomes people from all around to view the gorgeous Christmas lights along the Pecos River by floating down the river in large boats. These boats seat around 80 people and take big groups down the river for a trip that lasts about 50 minutes. As we prepared to board, we walked around and enjoyed the lights and shops, admired the pretty river and warmed up with hot cocoa. Then they announced our departure and as we moved down the walkway, workers handed us thick wool blankets and life vests for the kids. We took our seats (all forward-facing) and started the serene tour. The sky and water were as black as night, and it created a nice contrast with all the lights and animated spectacles lining the waterfront. Our kids were just thrilled to be on a boat, bundled up in hats & warm coats & sipping hot chocolate, but the visual appeal made it that much more fun. As we drove home and the kids were sleeping peacefully in the back, I felt grateful we could spend time together as a family and create another fun memory at Christmas time.

What? Snow!

This year we received snowfall that actually stuck around for more than a few hours. The kids were SCREAMING with excitement. They rushed to get on hats, coats, mittens, and had the best time. They had snowball fights, drew patterns on the drift collected on our stone wall, and shoveled snow into their buckets normally used for shoveling sand.