Park Playgroup and Bike Rodeo

Wednesday is playgroup and it was finally nice enough to have it at a park on the 23rd. I haven't gone much this year, but I am going to miss it. We met at a great park. We went a little early so we'd have enough time to play before heading home for lunch and Amy's nap. About 15 minutes after we arrived Some friends from school and baseball team showed up. The boys were going to play baseball on a nearby field while the moms ran around the field. I guess you can do that with boys that are 5 to 8 years old. David ran off to play with them while Timothy and Amy stayed on the playground.

We stayed for a while and had fun.

Then we went home for lunch.

That afternoon David went to a food fight birthday party (have you ever heard of that?!!!) for his best friend Chet. He got really messy, and had a lot of fun.

That night was the bike rodeo for cub scouts. The whole family went, and I spent most of it chasing Amy around, and going back to the house to get a crescent wrench to fix Timothy's training wheels.

Last Day of School, Finally!

Tuesday was the last day of school for the boys. I was trying to get a picture of them before we left the house, but didn't have time. So I snapped a few as they got out of the van.

I love this one!!

It seems that spring has finally arrived as well, yes it is summer, but we have spring weather here. It's finally sunny and 70! The sun came out for the last day of school. Amy and I ran a few errands and then went home for an early lunch and early nap. I had to pick the kids up an hour early, so I put Amy down early hoping she would get up early, but she had a long nap, and I had to get her up after 2 hours. I didn't feel bad, since she'd slept for a good amount.


I was sad to hear that Timothy's teacher couldn't make it to school for the last day because she was in the hospital. Her husband was there to relay that she would be just fine, but needed a few days to recuperate. We played on the playground for about an hour afterward. It was then I realized how close moving day was. I knew we weren't moving until after the kids got out of school, so have it be the last day of school reality kind of set in. Timothy wanted to take pictures with some of his friends.

Timothy and Fiona

Timothy and Nevena

Amy eating a "nack"

David and friends

Timothy, Justin, David, Michael and Matthew (and Benjamin, Michael's brother, hiding)

Michael, Timothy and David

Timothy, Andrew M. and Quinn W.
(yes there were two Andrews and two Quinns in Timothy's class)

We had fun playing on talking on the playground. I said goodbye to a lot of great friends. I don't know if I will see them again, but I hope we will able to keep in touch.

Kickball with the interns

Monday night was the annual kickball game and BBQ to welcome the new interns. I wasn't sure we would be involved in that since we are leaving, however we were invited. It was at a park that has fun things to climb on. The kids were having fun, and David actually posed for the camera instead of telling me to stop taking pictures, so I took a ton of them. This is where we had hoped to do our family pictures, but it was sunny that day, so we needed a place with a lot of shade. However Monday was a little overcast and perfect for taking pictures at this park. I think they turned out pretty good.

Oh, whoops what does that say? "Stay off structures"? Oh well.

Amy didn't climb much but crawled around a lot.

I didn't get any pictures of them playing kickball because I was busy keeping Amy away from the BBQ. We only had one small grill for a lot of people, so eventually started another grill on the other side of the pavilion. We hadn't started over there because it kind of separated the group and it was encroaching on the territory of the group of homeless men hanging out eating their dinner. So the dinner took a while to finish, and we filled up on chips, soda, and brownie bites in the mean time. They also brought graham crackers and Hershey chocolate bars for s'mores, but forgot the marshmallows oops! They were fun to snack on as well. The kids played soccer with the people at the table next to us, when they weren't eating. Amy charmed everyone as usual. There was one new intern that had a 14 month old, but no other kids were there. It was a fun, but late evening.

Happy Birthday Timothy

Today Timothy turns 6!!! It's still hard to believe that my little guy just finished Kindergarten. Timothy is amazing! He loves to make people laugh. He is my silly little man. He is pretty smart, and does well at school. If only he could focus better :) He is really kind to most everyone. He loves to share, and lets things roll off his back - most of the time. Like when Aaron had to leave for work early this morning Timothy was just fine with waiting until tonight to open presents. He is also sensitive when he thinks someone is trying to hurt him. He just LOVES people. He will talk to anyone and everyone, and he loves to give hugs! He is a great reader, loves math and science, and of course PE is great too. He is very imaginative and comes up with crazy situations. I love you Timothy and hope you have a fabulous birthday!

A Happy Father's Day

I hope everyone had a great Father's Day this year. I feel so blessed to have two wonderful father figures in my life. My own father has taught me so much about love and life, and gospel living. My father-in-law has taught me about dedication and

Of course I also have a wonderful husband who is a wonderful father. I was a little disappointed that I didn't get to serve him breakfast in bed since he was still at the hospital. I had to remind myself that he chose to work that shift. He bought the call and would therefore get to buy some books that otherwise would have come out of our budget. When he did get home, before he took a short nap, we had him open some presents.

I printed a couple of homemade gift certificates, because I forgot to buy one present, and the other one I needed him to come with me to find the right one.

Aaron then took a nap while we played, ate lunch and got ready for church. I woke Aaron up 45 minutes before church started so he could get ready. Amy normally takes a morning nap before church, but since she woke up at 7:15 I didn't think she would nap at all. She didn't even fall asleep on the way to church this time. We tried to get her to sleep during sacrament meeting, but that didn't work either. Luckily she went to nursery fine. I stayed with her for about 5 minutes until she was playing happily on her own, and then left. Aaron and I need to get our temple recommends renewed before we move, so instead of going to Sunday School I met up with the Bishop for a few minutes. So Aaron and I were a little late to Sunday School. Amy didn't even cry when I went to pick her up! Too bad the next few weeks will mess it all up. Oh, and the only nap she got was the last 5 minutes on the way home from church.

After church there was a linger longer. Pie and ice cream for Father's Day. So I didn't need to make a dessert. Also we were invited over for dinner by Mesfun and Alganish, so I didn't need to fix a special dinner for Aaron either. It was a little odd, but relaxing! We arrived at our dinner appointment at about 5:45. They had some typical Ethiopian food (injera, spicy stew etc.) as well as some pasta for the boys. The stew was very spicy, but delicious. We enjoyed some time with them. They are very generous people even though they have very little. We also discovered that Amy gets very hyper when she is tired. With only a 5 minute nap to sustain her she was bouncing off the walls, jumping around, singing, dancing and giggling.

We got home in time to get the kids to bed. It was a fun and fabulous Father's Day.

Teddy Bear

I've taught this rhyme to all my kids, and it was fun to capture Amy's performance on camera. Enjoy!

Field Day and RCP

Wednesday was field day at the boys' school. The last two years we've had beautiful weather. It is June after all. However, not that day. It was raining. It eventually was just misting and stopped raining, but by then they'd already changed plans and stayed at the school. I was supposed to be in charge of the bubbles, but that didn't happen. Perhaps it was good, because Amy wasn't cooperating very well, and only wanted to jump in the puddles outside. I got a few pictures before the camera batteries died. I will never buy Toys 'R Us brand batteries again!!!

In the gym they had circus games

Timothy trying to spins plate on his finger

Amy looking for a puddle ;)

Quinn (Timothy's friend) demonstrating how to use the sticks I thought were batons.

Chet (David's friend) on the stilts

David playing basketball

It was fun to wander around watching all the kids play. Soccer, giant beach ball, ball tag, etc. Amy and I stayed a while and then we went home for a bit to gather a few things, change clothes and head over to the hospital. Aaron was giving his final Resident Case Presentation (RCP), and invited me to come and watch. I got there 5 minutes early, only to discover it didn't start until 12:15. So Amy and I were very early. She and Aaron wandered around for a bit and then brought in a sandwich for lunch. Amy was pretty good for most of it - thank goodness I had brought more than a sandwich i.e. crackers and then cookies. After a while she wanted to walk around. back and forth int he row was fine, but then she wanted to go down the stairs. I didn't think that would go over well, and she was over tired, and loud by this point, so I had to take her out. It was right at the end when Aaron was thanking me for coming to listen - great timing Amy!

It was great to hear him talk about the project he's been doing over the last two years. I got to hear some of the questions, but Amy kept me out in the hall most of the time. When Aaron was done we went home - Amy fell asleep on the way as expected. Aaron arrived soon after I did to change clothes and go work at the cannery for a few hours. I made another batch of cinnamon rolls, and had to wake up Amy to pick up the boys. We went to library quickly after school, and then came home for homework, and to make dinner. Aaron got home in time to grab dinner and run out the door with David for scouts. What a busy day.

Oh, and after the kids were in bed and dishes were done Aaron and went through old college papers, and tossed (in the recycle bin) a bunch of paper and books. Were are slowly packing!

Sunday fun

Sunday was a great day - despite the fact that Amy refused to take a morning nap before church. I let her have her binky on the way to church and she fell asleep as I was hoping she would. She stayed asleep until about half-way through sacrament meeting. She didn't give up the binky willingly at this point, and was pretty cranky. Aaron tried to get her to go to nursery, but she wouldn't stay. So we spent most of the time out in the hall. When Aaron left for High Priests Amy called out for him. "Do you want to come with Daddy?" Aaron asked. She said "yes" and scrambled off the chair and followed Aaron to his meeting. She was pretty well behaved until the last five minutes, so he took her out in the hall and she promptly ran into the wall next to the stairs.

We had a nice afternoon, and Aaron and David went to visit someone in the hospital - in case you haven't noticed it Aaron has been seeing someone in the hospital for the last few weeks. A lady he home teaches lives in an assisted living facility, but was admitted to the hospital a few weeks ago, and he goes to check on her every week. In fact she transferred hospitals and he had to track her down. She hopes to be back "home" by the time we move.

That evening we were playing before bedtime and Amy wanted to "fly". It was pretty cute! I just looked at the time stamp - this was actually in the morning, Amy just wasn't dressed yet.

All floppy before

There she goes!

Saturday - celebrations continued

Saturday was another fun day. We bought a photo session from an auction (the same one we donated cinnamon rolls to). We had to schedule it before we left. It's been beautiful weather for pictures, except for Saturday - bright and sunny and not a cloud in the sky. Oh well. I am horrible at coordinating colors and clothing, so I hope it turned out OK. We got there couple minutes early and the photographer was a couple minutes late - which wouldn't have been a problem, except that the boys decided to have a race - which I protested, because I knew how it would end - someone falling and scraping something. I was right, but thankfully Timothy only skinned his elbow and hand, the faces were still clean. I think it went pretty well. I can't wait to see them. Amy was not cooperating at all in the end, but I hope we got some good ones. We had to rush back to drop David off at a birthday party.

We got home in time to watch the USA vs. England World Cup game - only to realize there was an hour of pregame stuff. So Aaron went to work on his final presentation, and I got something for Amy and Timothy to eat. Aaron and I snacked on leftovers from a dinner he went to Thursday. Amy went down for a nap just after the game started and was very sad that she only saw a few minutes of the soccer game. When we turned the TV off she kept saying, "soccer game on". Timothy on the other hand was perfectly happy to watch a DVD downstairs.

After we picked up David, we went outside to enjoy the sun. We kicked around a soccer ball, and the boys put on their swim suits for the first time this year. I took some pictures of the flowers we planted in the garden. We knew we wouldn't be here long enough to enjoy a vegetable garden so we planted some flowers.



We did plant some radishes, and we might get to enjoy them before we leave - in two weeks!!!

The bushes in our yard

I got a bee landing on one of the flowers.

Aaron went to spend the gift card he had received the night before, and then we headed to the beach! We met up with a few of the residents for a continued graduation celebration. It was perfect weather, as evidenced by the hoards of people at the beach. When we have a beautiful weekend day here, everyone wants to take advantage of it.

David burying Timothy in the sand

Amy enjoying a Caprisun

We had hamburgers and hot dogs for dinner, and stayed until almost 8:00. Even though we got home late we had the kids take showers and baths - there was sand everywhere. I think they were in bed by 9:00, and asleep soon after. Another fabulous day.

Friday - graduation celebration

Last Friday Aaron had "graduation rounds". It started at 8:00 am, so I had to find somewhere for the kids to go. The boys went to a friends' house that is close to the school so they could all walk to school together. Aaron dropped the boys off and I took Amy over to another friend's home - she was very flexible with co-op. It was nice to be able to sit and enjoy the program without having to entertain the kids, or be stuck out in the hall with Amy, or chase anyone around.

Each resident was highlighted by a faculty member, and then they received a certificate. Aaron chose his adviser Ron K*. I got most of it on video, but the picture didn't turn out very well, and my camera isn't very fast, so I wasn't able to get another picture before Aaron came to sit down.

I really enjoyed listening to all of the presenters. I have come to know many of the residents through numerous events, some have become my friends. I only know them socially, and from what Aaron tells me about how he interacts with them at work. It was great to hear how many amazing and exciting things they have done in their career so far. I was blown away with how much they have done in their residencies. Aaron is blessed to work with such wonderful people. They also recognized a former resident who was visiting. Jamie started here, but transferred to another program to be with his wife. Some tender moments were also shared as we remembered one resident who wasn't there because last week she found out her mother is very ill. We laughed a lot as stories were recounted, and pictures, submitted by family members, were shown. I was also amazed at how many babies were born during residency. 3 years ago only 4 residents had kids, now 6 more of them have kids. And 5 of them got married, and one announced that she was expecting during her presentation. It's nice to see that many people don't put their life on hold just because they are "busy".

At 10:30 "rounds" were over and it was time for the brunch. Aaron really want Amy to be there. So I left to get Amy and returned about 30 minutes later. The blintzes were gone, but there was still plenty of OJ, scones, muffins, strawberries etc.

Jake

Amy enjoying a "stawbayee"

Lucie and Molly

Lucie, Carl, Me and Ben with the kids

Amy fell asleep on the way home from the brunch. It was 12:15 and she'd been up since 5:40. So she napped, and I did a million things I'm sure. It wasn't too cold, and a little overcast so we stayed after school to play. The sky cleared up and it was warm enough that I sought shade with my black shirt on. After we got home we enjoyed a snack and I got ready to go out. I made pizza for the kids and the babysitter. I put the pizza in the oven when she arrived. They were getting ready to eat when we left.

We only hit a little bit of traffic, and got there in plenty of time to enjoy appetizers and water (one had lemons and limes in it and the other had cucumbers - yum!) and for Aaron to make sure the slide show would work on the computer that was there. We didn't jump in line when dinner was ready, but instead took our time and talked with people. We were a little hungry so we got in line, and ended up eating about 7:30 or 7:45. We had a fabulous salad, roasted vegetables, artisan bread, baked salmon, spinach and ricotta ravioli, and chicken marsala. Delicious! There was sparking water and mineral water on the table. There was a cash bar as well, but we obviously didn't buy anything.

The program started just before 8:00. First there were some recognitions for the head of the department, and the program director and the behind the scenes office staff. Three residents were given awards. One for excellent medical student teaching - based on student evaluations, one for their work at the public hospital, and one for family centered care. I was not surprised to hear Danny (one of the new chiefs) and Peter won the first two. However, they awarded two residents with the family centered care recognition, and Marah and Aaron earned those! I was pleasantly surprised. Unfortunately, Aaron had the camera in his pocket, so I didn't get a picture.

There were some faculty awards after that presented by the residents. And the incoming chiefs presented gifts from the R3s (3rd year residents) to the outgoing chiefs. Then a skit from the department chair, and then the R1 (first year residents) skit - which was phenomenal, then the R3 skit and then the slide show Aaron put together. It was a great evening.

At least I got someone to take a picture of Aaron and I.

And some of the people at our table.

We did a spur of the moment R3 photo at the end.

We were missing a few people that weren't there, and one that had already left.
but here are 27 of them (+ Jamie)

Congrats to the residents!