first father-sons

brody and daddy went on their first father sons together last weekend. brody loved loved loved camping. he is just the cutest kid ever. i of course missed them so much but me and brooklyn had our own girls night but we still missed our boys a lot! brody ran with the boys and just loved every minute josh said. the whole ride there he didnt want any music on, he made josh turn it off and he said "dad lets just talk" this is normal for brody. he would talk all day long. he loves to have time with just mom and dad and just "talk." the ride was a long time and i guess in some part of it he said "dad lets listen to rock n roll" where he learned that? i have no clue. so josh turned on the radio and all of josh's stations he said no dad thats not rock n roll. so finally he said "its okay dad, just turn it off and we can just talk". the boys came back dirty and with smiles. they sure had a great time together.

second year done.

well josh has finished his second year and is well into studying for the boards. these are most of his books from second year and the sad thing is "i read them probably four or five times through cover to cover" quoting him. i wanted to get a picture of all the books so you can see why he has no life besides us and med school. he is just a tad busy. our plans right now are to let dad study as much as we can with out going insane. the boards are june 15th, so please keep us in your prayers. he is working so hard so we can hopefully have the future we want. once the boards are over we leave for florida for our first family vacation ever. we are thrilled and cant wait to spend time together with each other and with our best friends. brody asks me everyday when are we going to disney world. i dont know if he quite knows what disney world is but boy is he going to LOVE it!

our family getaway.

we decided to take a little break after second year finished and board study started. it was just a quick overnighter but we enjoyed every second of it as a family. we left friday morning and drove a very senic route to the jamestown-scotland ferry. the ferry was free and our friends told us to bring bread to feed the birds, i am so glad we did. the kids laughed and threw bread like crazy. our entire loaf of bread was gone in a matter of minutes. i think everyone had a bite of it as well. it was so fun to travel on the ferry and watch the kids faces. once across we headed to our hotel to check in and get settled than we went to grab a bite to eat at our favorite place in williamsburg...the cheese shop! oh their food is heavenly. we walked around town a bit and then headed back to give brooklyn a nap which she didnt take so we went swimming instead. that night we went mini golfing at pirates cove, which i have to say was the best mini golf course i had ever been too. josh won, as always! we then went to a bbq pit for dinner. the food was also very good. we stayed up late playing shuffle board in the hotel and finally fell asleep only to be woken up a lot during the night by crying brookie. that girl does not sleep well anywhere but her crib. the next morning we had breakfast compliments of our hotel and then we headed to yorktown for a quick senic tour and then back to the cheese shop for another lunch stop (i know we are obsessed). on our way home we stopped at the virginia living museum. the kids loved seeing the animals but i think their favorite part was playing at mcdonalds afterwards. we got home late but the getaway was so worth it and much needed.

peek a boo

the only decent picture where they are both looking at the camera

oh how I LOVE this man. he makes my heart flutter.

cinco de mayo party and farewell

this year we had a cinco de mayo party at our house combined with a farewell party for the fourth year med students and their families that will be leaving us. josh did everything and he was absolutely amazing. i just shopped and cleaned up, so i cant take much credit for this party but everyone had a great time and the food was scrumptious. i am dreaming of more right now.

the menu
brazilian lemonade
carne asadas
fresh salsa
fresh guacamole
and everyone else brought amazing mexican dishes to share as well

josh made his own marinade for the meat and he made his amazing salsa and guacamole and this time he even made his own tortillas which cant be beat. i think some guys went back for four or five helpings. plus heather made this amazing dessert with cinnamon sugar tortilla chips and a fruit salsa. i want more. we made a pinata for the kids which didnt work too well but oh well the kids had fun eating the candy. this was probably the best party we have had at our house. it was just plain ol fun. we will miss our fourth year friends terribly. heather has been like my big sister/best friend since i have been here and i am having a really hard time saying goodbye to her and her beautiful family.

summer heat.

a hot spell hit us late in the spring one week and then it got cold again but that week it was really hot. according to the weather man it was hotter in virginia beach than in phoenix. so what else could we do but play in the swimming pool and in the sandbox, have a picnic outside on our nice new grass that daddy worked so hard on, and eat popsicles. the kids had fun in the sun and got very dirty. mommy ended up spraying them both off with the cold hose which they thought was so funny....silly kids.

fudgesicles.

brody and mommy made a little treat that i read on melissa's blog, and we loved it. brody loved making these all by himself and we all enjoyed eating them once they were done. to make them you just get a box of chocolate fudge instant jello pudding and mix according to package instructions and then freeze them in popsicle molds or in an ice cube tray like we did.

tides baseball game.

i know i said i would post pictures of this forever and a year ago but i have been kind of busy. but here are the pictures of the tides baseball game we went to with the larsons. brody has become best buds with beckham and i think that brooklyn has a crush on beckham too. it was a late game and the kids had fun eating cotton candy and licorice, by the end though the kids were all tired and ready for bed. thanks larson fam for inviting us to join you. we had a blast with you guys as always.

happy mothers day.

i find it interesting that on days such as today, mothers oftentimes feel underserving of a day to celebrate them. the talks in church are all about how wonderful mothers are and yet i know i myself am thinking in my head, "i am such a bad mom, i need to be better" i come away feeling sad and not wanting people to celebrate me because in my eyes, i could be so much better. but i wonder why do we beat ourselves up so much? maybe it is because in my eyes i see so many wonderful women that have influenced my life so much and made me who i am and i think to myself, "i am never going to be like them" i need to come to the understanding that to be me is enough, and i can keep striving to be more like all of you. so on this mothers day, i am going to say thank you to all my mothers that make my life so much easier and happier. thank you to my grandmas who have taught me how to love family and the Lord. my grandmas have taught me to bake bread, sew, quilt, make family meals out of food storage, to show love through letters. thank you to my mom, who without you in my life, i would not have learned how to be the mother i am. you taught me how to be a woman of the gospel, a friend, a loving wife, a patient mother, and so much more. to my mother in law, thank you for your kindness and patience. you have such a listening ear and whenever you come to town i feel like i burden you with my troubles but you always listen and are there for me. thank you for teaching me more about family and service, for helping me get through this time in medical school, for loving me and my children like we are your own. it means so much to me that my children have such a close relationship with you and love to spend time with you and learn from the wonderful woman you are. brody cant wait to come see you soon. he asks almost everyday how much longer. to my sisters and sisters in laws, you all have so many strengths and so much wisdom that i just learn from watching you and how you are mothers to your own children. i like to observe how you handle different situations and i love to ask you questions. your examples help me to be a better mom. to my friends, near and far, there have been so many times where i have called and needed a shoulder to cry on a listening ear. thank you for not judging me in my weaknesses and for being there for me when i needed you most. thank you for your encouragement and your compliments that i feel are all to often undeserving. i feel like you have lifted me up in the gospel and have born my burdens with me. i love you all so very much. happy mothers day.

my new life.

This video really touched my heart. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. More than anything it helped me remember that with the Lord we can get through anything.

My New Life

groupon.

so when i find something that i love i have to share it with everyone else. if you haven't heard of groupon yet, you need to go read about it. i love the daily coupons i receive in my email inbox about the days deal. today i bought a cooking class for brody for $15. the class normally costs $30. now i know that is only 50% off but most of the other deals i have received have been for 70% off the normal price. i have received deals for massages, yoga classes, ice cream, restaurants, etc. i have been wanting brody to take a class at this place since we moved here. the cooking classes are for 3 and 4 year old kids. so needless to say i am excited for him to finally get to try it out. if you want to learn more about it you can go to this website www.groupon.com/r/uu2254964 the thing that is the best from this place is that all the coupons are for just the area in which you live. i hope you enjoy it as much as i do.