Father's Day

This year for Father's Day, I decided to go all out for Scott and really try to make it a special day for him. He has been working so hard and has been so stressed out from  all the study he deserved a day fill with things that he would enjoy. We did a BBQ theme Father's Day. The kids made handmade cards.  I bought him a small BBQ, because I know he misses  being able to cook outside. I got together a basket full of BBQ items like: hot dogs, seasonings & sauces,  BBQ flavored snack foods, and Cooking magazines. I Even found these really awesome BBQ decorated cupcakes on pintrest to make. They turned out really awesome. Scott was very impressed with the cupcakes.  He doesn't impress easily either, so  I deserve a pat on the back  for sure.  It was a very nice day and it was a good break for Scott to spend some time with us to celebrate him. We love you Scott!!

Dinosaur Discovery

One of the last things the kids and I did before moving to Ohio, was to see the Dinosaurs exhibit called Discover Dinosaurs. These tickets were very expensive!  The  local TV, News, and radio Ads all made it sound  like a huge event with amazing activities and sights.  It sounded awesome. I was really excited to take the kids and planned on spending  about half the day. 

  We got their when the doors opened and waited in line with  lots of others. When we finally got inside we found out that we didn't even have to wait in line because we bought tickets on line.   The first part of the exhibit is where we walked through 8 different scenes featuring lots of different dino's in their natural habitat. Lots of fun facts and really loud sounds. I enjoyed this part, but it only took us about 20 minutes.

 We took lots of pictures, but there are only a few of them posted. 

All of the Dinosaurs are life size.  The kids knew many of the different types of dinos. I was impressed with how much they have learned by watching PBS'  Dinosaur Train. They made all sorts of sounds and many of them moved their heads, tails, and or arms.  It was  awesome.

 I think this dinosaur might eat us, and  Ethen needs a hair cut.

There were also fossil tables where the kids could brush away sand to reveal the dino bones and other sea creature fossils.

Hey mom, can I have a stegosaurus, this one likes me?

 We really liked the T-rex, triceratops, and my favorite the brontosaurus which is now called the Apotosaurus)

 The second part of the  event was a huge merchandise store, where my kids begged me to buy just about every little thing they saw.  They got nothing. The tickets were so much there was no way I could afford to buy any souvenir . Beyond that there  were large inflatable bounce houses, a coloring station,  miniature golf, and dinosaur rides. I felt like I was at  an amusement park. We stood in lines for 30 minutes or more for the inflatable bounce houses and for the dino rides. I bought the tickets that aloud kids to ride, bounce, and play as much as they want. But with so many people there it was not  worth waiting in line 30-40 minutes for a 2 minute experience. So for that reason it was not really worth the money. We did go on everything once and that was all they were able to tolerate.

 Elizabeth tried miniature golf and not all that impressed with their course.

 These riding Dinosaurs were really cool, they moved up and down and back and forth.

 Me and Joce by the Bronto's

 Ethen loved this dinosaur character! They played, danced, and pretend fought for a good 5 minutes.  

He probably had the most fun doing this than anything else that was there.

Look at these two nerds  climbing on the statue. So silly!

All and all I'm glad that we got to go, but it was way over priced! We were able to see and do a few fun things, but wished we could have done more stuff.  Just too many people on Opening day.

Jocelyn's Kindergarten Gradution

Jocelyn Graduated from Kindergarten on  Wednesday, June 11. Scott  and I were able to attend her ceremony. She was so happy to have us there, especially her dad! 

There are 3 Kindergarten classes at Chesnut Hill and Jocelyn's  teacher was Mrs. Dimmer.  She was a a wonderful lady, who really enjoyed having Jocelyn in her class.

Here is Joce walking in with her class.

We sat through a little program. The teachers read a proem to the parents about the kids, the children sang a few songs and then they presented the graduates. The principal  announced each student while a teacher presented each of their students with a Kindergarten certificate and a handshake to congratulate them. After there was a neat slideshow showing pictures of all the kids throughout the school year. Jocelyn was in several of them. After the program, the families were invited to have a picnic lunch with their student.

Each teacher also choose one student from their class who demonstrated good citizenship through out the year. Jocelyn was chosen from Mrs. Dimmers Class.   Mrs. Dimmer said she was the most kind and considerate of all her child. Awesome!

Joce and Mrs. Dimmer

 We took lots of pictures of her friends, but there were too many to put on here.

Joce took us back to her classroom  so Scott could see  it. This is such a cute pictures of  Joce and her dad. And of course Ethen is in the background looking at toys.

 Had to get one of me and her too.

Good job Joce! You're off to1st grade. You are so stinkin Cute!

Pool Fun

The pool at our complex opened on the last day of May and my kids have been begging me to go. I have been resisting for as long as I could, but I gave in last Saturday and we went for  about 2 hours. I'm not sure what it is about public pools, but I really don't like them.

 We went to Wal-Mart and bought googles. Not that they really need them because non of my kids know how to swim. We pulled out the swimmies for Joce and Ethen and took our pink tube. 

The water is heated so that was a plus for me. Wasn't too busy or crowed with other tenants, another plus. Maybe it wouldn't be too bad of an afternoon.

 I got in with them and hung out with Ethen in the 3 foot area. He could touch the bottom which made it nice for me. I didn't have to hold him and tow him around the whole time. The kids really enjoyed their time swimming, or whatever it was they were doing, and it went by very quickly. I think I enjoyed myself a lot more then I had anticipated. It's wasn't so bad after all, but I really don't plan on frequenting the public pool that many times.  I'll take the beach any day, please!

Presque Isle

I love going to the beach! 

I know I have said this before, but this is one of the places I will miss the most in Erie.

We have finally warmed up enough to go to the beach. The kids and I meet a few other friends from church and had lunch and played in the sand. The water was pretty cold, but that didn't stop them of getting in.

 I am not very artistic when it comes to using a camera.  Most of the time my pictures come out blurry. But these few pictures turned out pretty good.  We sat  by the life guards shack and the kids had a great time playing and running up and down the ramp before the life guards came on duty.

I hope we get a few more beach days in before we move. A few more times to hunt for beach glass, feel the sand in our toes and play in cold  Lake Erie.

Welcome to Ohio!

Welcome to OHIO!!!

Ohio will be our new home for the next two years while Scott completes his 3rd and 4th year clinical rotations of  medical school. We were scheduled for rotations at  LECOM's Millcreek Hospital and several other facilities in and around the Erie area.  My husband was presented with the opportunity to accomplish all 13 rotations  at a new opening  facility, he jumped at the chance. He and one other student will be an ambassador for the school as they start this new rotation hospital facility. 

We will be re-locating to the small quaint town of Chillicothe, Ohio. Population of about 22,000 people. And Ohio's first capital. The  town's name comes from the Shawnee, a chief settlement  where their ancestors inhabited the territory for thousands of years prior to European contact. Although, small in size it is a part of the Greater Columbus Metropolitan Area. -located about 50 minutes south of Columbus. It is surrounded by farming community and situated in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains.

Winter temps in the 30's and 40's with an average of 15 inches of snow. 

 Summer temperatures in the 80's with high humidity. 

We are all excited and looking forward to this new chapter of life. But as with all big changes, it's a little scary to do something new. We have gotten comfortable here in Erie with our routine of schools, friends, and church. But these  new experiences will help us to progress, learn, and grow as individuals and a family.  This moves makes it feel like we are making progress with medical school.  2 years down and 2 more go. I think these next two years will go just as quickly as the first. My husband will be done with medical school before we know it and ready for the next adventure of residency, which could possibly be at the same hospital.

We have 5 weeks till the big move. We've packed a few things, but will wait for another two weeks before really getting things together. We  are all very excited for my parents to fly into town to help us move. This will be the 3rd time they have helped us to moved. They are awesome for all their support and sacrifice to relocate us. But I think they enjoy the perks of getting to see and explore new areas of the country.   And there will be a lot of fun things to do and see with the 4th of July celebrations coming up.

It will be hard to say goodbye to many wonderful families we have meet here. These medical school wives and  moms  have  been  life savers.  I am so thankful to have been here and have had the support and love of so many different awesome gals going through the same things we were. They kept me busy. They kept me going.  They made our experience fun and bearable. The Lord knew I would need them in my life and I am truly grateful for each one of them!

I have really enjoyed being  in the Erie. Even with the 130 something inches of snow. I have loved being in a place with 4 seasons and getting to experience snow. We will really miss the beach most of all. It's been one of those comfort places we love going and spending hours on end. It's kind of therapeutic!   We will miss going to the zoo and all the parks. We have some rally great hiking trails, but it sounds like there are some pretty amazing hiking outdoor adventures in Chillicothe too. We will be looking forward to that. 

In the next few weeks, I will drag the kids around town to  get as many pictures of Erie as I can and post them before we go. 

Here's to  OHIO and the next two years.

CHEERS!!

Palmyra New York Temple Trip

On May 3rd, I had the  opportunity to take my kids to Palmyra New York to see the Temple and a few LDS church history sites.  We left at 6:45 in the morning and met up with another family for the 3 hour drive. I have never driven this far  by myself and was a little nervous, but the drive was easy and very quick. We arrived at the LDS stake center at 10:30am. Just in time to drop off all the kids for another couple, from church, to watch  them while I and my friend went to the temple to do some temple work. 

My friend and I sat and chatted while we waited for the session to start. I was very excited to be there and to do the work for those who have pasted on. 5 minutes into the presentation, my friend  was not feeling well and quickly passed out. We had to stop the presentation and carry her out. She came to soon after. She had not eaten much and had a lot of anxiety about the whole trip. Not have her husband  along and 3 children all younger than mine to deal with. It overcame her. They brought us to the Brides room where we gave her stuff to eat and drink. She felt a lot better after that.  Once you leave a session you can not go back. They offered to let us do either sealings or initiatories. We chose sealing. We joined a couple who  had brought their own family names to seal. Wives and husbands were sealed  together and children to  their parents. I was able to do 3 daughters to their parents. It was a wonderful experience. This was the first time I have done children to parents.  My dear friend  began to do sealings for a husband  and wive, but  got sick again and pasted out before finishing. Poor girl, she tried. So we were finished and needed to leave. 

After she felt better again, we drove back to the church and stuffed her full of food. The other couple took their turn at the temple while we sat and watched kids run around on  the church lawn. The weather was perfect and it was just pleasant sitting outside doing nothing.

My friend felt so bad that we were not able to go and do the work we wanted. I'm sure things like this happen all the time. She's not the first and won't be the last. Even though we didn't get to do much, it was still such a wonderful trip. Just having the chance to go in and be there was enough for me. No disappointments at all. I'm just glad I was there for her and to serve any way I could. 

While we were in the temple, the children took a walk up to the temple to look around. I am glad  my kids were able to stand on holy ground and see the temple. Walk around this sacred building and look forward to the day they too will go inside to worship, make covenants, and the work for those who have gone before.

The kids (10 of them) were eager to go and see the Sacred Grove, Joseph smith farm, and log house. (Note: my camera was dead so I was not able to take any pictures. All pictures where taken from The Church of Jesus Christ Web sites)  We were able to go in Joseph Smith's Log house. The kids were so inquisitive about how can people live in a house so small? We were not able to stay too long in any one place because the little guys wanted to touch everything and sneak under ropes and into rooms where they should not be.
They loved the Barn and playing in the open area. Their barns were bigger than their houses. Looked at their tool shed and wagon. Pretty cool stuff.

Here is the kitchen in the log house and the up stairs bedroom.

This lovely white house is Lucy Mack Smith and Joseph Sr. home.  this is the home Joseph Smith Jr. grew up in. 

I love all the furniture and simpleness of life. Yet I am so thankful for my dishwasher, stove and refrigerator. It's pretty cool to be there and try to imagine  there young family sitting around this small table reading scriptures and discussing the gospel.

The Sacred Grove was nice to walk through. I wish it had looked like this pictures, but because of our hard winter this year, spring has not really yet come. The  trees were bare, the ground was swampy, and the over all appearance was pretty grey.  But the realization of the First vision, God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ appearing here masks the bleakness with  reverence, awe, and love.

Our next stop was the Hill Cumorha where Joseph Smith received revelation to find an ancient record, (writings) on golden plates. The kids and I went into the visitor center where we were meet by some sister missionaries and a missionary couple. Sister Day  gathered us in and gave a wonderful presentation of Christ and the role of Joseph Smith Jr. The kids loved seeing the huge Christus. It reminded them of being back home in St. George and going to the visitor center there. She gave us a challenge to invite another family over for family home evening. The kids are looking forward to taking it on. And as a good missionary does, she will be following up with us by facebook to see if we have done the challenge. No pressure right?!

It's a huge hill!! There is path that winds back and forth to the top. It takes about 8 or 9 minutes to walk up the path. But my kids decided we would just hike straight up the hill.  The hill was so steep, but we made it.We looked at the monument and all the engraving at the base. We sat and looked out over the  hills. The weather was wonderful all day and the rain held off just long enough to us to climb the hill and wonder where the plates actually had been hidden. Then the rains began to fall. It was finally time for us to head home.

We left for home about 5:00pm and made a few stops along the way. We stopped for dinner at McDonlads like I promised and got home just after 9pm. It was a wonderful trip and probably the only chance to ever see these sites while here in Pennsylvania.   It was a long day and such an great experience. I just hope my kids  remember this trip  throughout their life.

I am so looking forward to moving closer to a temple. It will be such a blessing to be closer and have more opportunities to attend. I can now check off one more temple, bucket list,  and look forward to Going to the Columbus Ohio Temple next.