Happy Birthday Becky!

My cute wonderful older sister had a birthday today! Happy birthday! I won't mention the age because it's a sensitive subject:) But don't worry Beck, I am not too far behind ya. Becky and I are just 17 months apart which has been so much fun. She is seriously one of my very best friends. Growing up we always shared a room and I can think of so many fun memories that we have together as a result. One night, when we were little of course, she dared me to pee on the floor in between our beds. I did of course and then she told on me. Luckily she got in the most trouble since I was the younger sister who was tempted to do wrong;) I did have to sit on the toilet for a little while as my punishment. Most of the time however I was the one thinking of mischievous tricks to play on our younger siblings. Anytime we did have arguments my mom made sure that we made up so we would always be close.
Becky was such a great example to me growing up and I always tried to follow in her footsteps. We had many of the same friends and she always let me tag along with anything fun she was doing. Becky and I were roommates my first year at Ricks college and we worked many of the same summer jobs. The picture on the left is us at Oakcrest LDS girls camp where we both had counselor jobs under the code names of Pepper and Sketch. We both ended up at BYU and then later ended up living close to each other in SLC. It is hard to live so far away but thank goodness for phone and email! She is so smart, creative, and an amazing mom! She still is such a great example to me and I just hope I can be as great of a teacher as she is with her girls and little Tanner. I am so grateful to have such a great older sister. Beck I hope you had a wonderful day!

Still a BYU fan!

For all those concerned friends and family who see me in all those pictures dressed in red I am still a BYU fan! I do feel however that I am mature enough to cheer for the Utes when they are not playing my team:) Unlike my husband however who went to a BYU game out here in the Michigan stadium but had to wear the only long sleeve red ute shirt he had to the BYU game. I guess when it comes down to it, I am pretty neutral when it comes to most sports:)

One for mobility, two for captivity.

After nine exciting weeks on the road Jenny, Madison and I have finally returned to our home in Toledo. All in all we drove 3500 miles, spent 4.6 million on gas and discovered that the finest Quizno's in all the world is in Beloit, Wisconsin of all places.
For the first month I was doing a Pediatrics internship at Primary Children's Med. Center in Salt Lake City. It was a great place for a rotation and I had a great time. We stayed with family and had many good times. Next up we drove to Milwaukee where I did an otolaryngology (ENT) internship at Medical College of Wisconsin. I loved it! So all the months of deliberation on what to do with my life came to resolution in Milwaukee and ENT is it. I have submitted my applications and now we watch and wait for interview offers.
During all this travel Madison had many firsts which Jenny has documented for you. I will add just one that she picked up during our last week in Milwaukee. Crawling! There was no army crawl or scooter stage for Madison. She went straight from tummy time to perfect technique, all fours crawling. She has not looked back since. As excited as we are for her it did not take long to realize that her mobility would lead to our captivity. Within two minutes of arriving home from our long journey she had crawled to the fan and tried to put her fingers in it, crawled to the power cord and tried to bite it and crawled to the radiator to suck on it. A whole new world of freedom for her... perhaps more captivity for us. We wouldn't trade it for the world!

So Much to See!

Milwaukee is a fun city. Tracy has taken us to so many cool places. I should clarify who Tracy is for those of you who don't know. Tracy was one of my college roommates for like three years! We were first roommates at a summer camp I worked at in Utah called Aspen Grove, then at BYU and we both lived in SLC for a little while when we were working women:) She went with me on travels to Egypt, Peru, and many other adventures. Now her husband is doing a fellowship here in Wisconsin so we get to take our kids on the many adventures in Milwaukee! We are so lucky to be staying at a home just two doors down so I can just walk over and visit while Jake is busy working at the hospital.
In the pictures we are in downtown Milwaukee on the river walk. There are some fun sculpture along the river that the kids loved playing with. We also made a stop at the famous sausage factory and cheese factory in the city. The cheese hats are so funny! Madison loved the cow. At the end of the day both girls fell asleep in the same position in their car seat. It was a cute picture.

Family Picture Fun!

The little kids had a hard time holding still in the family pictures but who knew my little brother (who is a senior in high school) would pull so many funny faces. He will just have to live with a goofy picture. You are so funny Jeffrey:) In the family picture are my four sisters, one little brother, my brother in law, two nieces and one nephew, parents, and my grandparents. Oh, and can you see who is sporting their new haircut? I gave in and got the mommy cut. It was just taking too much time to have it long. It is a fun change.

In the Mountains

Once we got to Utah we did a little bit of relaxing at Jake's family cabin but it wasn't long before Jake was busy doing some "man work". Here is a picture of Jake and his dad cutting down a tree. Madison and I are watching from a safe distance. On a little side note, I have been given the name of "Safety Patrol" in our family because I am the anxious concerned mom who is always checking all situations out for safety. Jake seemed to know how to handle a chain saw but I did remind him that his future career was on the line if anything should happen:) I have also come to accept that Madison is just going to get a few more bumps and bruises hanging out with dad since he is a little more daring and forgets the things she hasn't learned how to do yet (like balance on her feet). She will definitely learn fast with dad!

Trip To Utah

At the end of June we headed across the country in our little Mazda 3 so Jake could do a rotation at Primary Childrens hospital. It was a tight fit in our compact car but we survived! Jake and I took turns sitting in the back with Madison and being her source of entertainment. After she lost interest in most of her toys she discovered her love for paper! She spent some good time tearing out pages in magazines and laughing in delight at the sound. She also learned not to put paper in her mouth:) Our first stop in the trip was in Des Monies Iowa. We were very lucky to have friends and family so stay with along the way. The second picture is of our friends Aup and Mark who were so great to let us spent our first night in their home. We are glad they didn't get any of the terrible flooding. The next day we drove through Nebraska and stopped in Omaha at one of our church sites called Winter Quarters. It is a place were pioneers took refuge form the cold winter months on their trip out west. They were an amazing group of people who suffered so many hardships. They buried so many loved ones in this area who weren't able to survive the cold and sickness. My heart just ached at all the stories they told, especially the ones of mothers who lost their children. I could not have been a pioneer. Our next destination was Denver Colorado. Madison loved the room she slept in that night because there was a giant Pooh Bear stuffed animal. She kept giggling and laughing in delight every time she looked at him:) The next day was definitely the longest leg of the trip. I think because it was the last. We headed to Jake's family cabin to spend the night with his parents and the road we took seemed so slow. There were many big trucks the slowed down traffic. We passed through Vernal and took a break to get on one of their dinosaur attractions. Finally we arrived in Utah with only a few diaper blowouts on the way. The funniest diaper blowout was when we were on our way to go inside and eat at a restaurant (this was actually on our way to Milwaukee). Jake was holding Madison out in front of him as he passed through a crowded waiting area past the tables and into the bathroom. I searched for a new outfit and had a bus boy take Madison's clothes into the men's bathroom. We made quite the seen as Madison screamed in the bathroom. Babies give you so many new experiences that make you the center of attention:) I also think it should be required that all bathrooms no matter how small the town is... should have changing tables. We had to get creative a few times.

Oakcrest Reunion!

I have a lot of catching up to do for the month of July so many of my entries will be scattered. Jake and I missed both of our 10 year reunion parties while in Utah (one was in June and one in August). I did however get the chance to drag Jake up to a girls camp I worked at for a summer called Oakcrest Girls camp. My sister worked at the camp the year before so at least both of our husbands were able to stay close amidst the squealing and singing that went on among all the ladies:) They were having their 5oth reunion and counselors for the past 50 years camp up to reunite and celebrate. It is a camp run by the LDS church near Kamas Utah. I worked with about 50 camp counselors and our job was to watch over 10-15 girls ages 12-14 for a week. The girls came from stakes all over the Utah valley and we did all sorts of activities with the girls. Here are some of the fun memories: cookouts, archery, bum sliding down a river, going down the zipline(as seen in the last picture), mud slides, carrying dutch ovens up a hill, overnighters on sleeping bags and tarps, building latrines, food/water fights, ash fights, pranks, cooking pancakes over a fire, singing, lots of singing, devotionals, skits, testimonies by the campfire, ash cakes, bears, no sleep, pranks, building fires in the rain, and having lots of fun!!! It was one of the hardest jobs I have ever worked because you put all your heart and soul in to everything you do (and of course you don't sleep because you are working with teenage girls who are up all night:) but it was one of the most rewarding. It has been wonderful to hear the experiences of girls who lives have been blessed and hearts changed by one week at a girls camp. What a fun job! Thanks Jake for coming up to experince part of my past:)

More of Milwaukee

After playing in the waves and drinking her bottle Madison fell asleep under her sun hat in the stroller, very cute. What a busy day:)

First Day in the Sand

Madison had her first experience playing in the sand today. I went with my friend Tracy to the beaches of Milwaukee and we had lots of fun enjoying the warm sun, cool breeze and blue sky of the great lakes. I was so proud of Madison for not eating the sand. She didn't even care to taste it, what a surprise.

Flying Baby!

Here is a picture of Madison trying to crawl. She puts her arms and her legs back off the ground so the only thing touching is her belly. She then proceeds to grunt in frustration when she doesn't move. It would be great for flying or diving, very aerodynamic!

Silly Daddy!

8 Months!

Happy belated 8 months old! Madison turned 8 months on July 21st and has been learning so many new things. She makes all sorts of new sounds and her favorite new thing is giving big cheesy grins and squishing up her nose. It is the cutest smile! She loves to hold our hands from a sitting position and pull herself up so she can stand. She is very stubborn and once she is in this position she will not let you sit her back down and straightens her legs as stiff as a board. She is a very strong girl. Her new desire is to hold our hands and walk all over the place. My back is getting quite the workout. It makes me wonder if she will skip crawling??? When she is on her belly she wants to move so much that she will fling her arms back in a very aerodynamic position, which would be perfect for flying or swimming, but only gets her frustrated because she doesn't move. She will just cry and fuss until she is in a standing position. She must be watching us and realize that we aren't crawling all over the floor so why should she:)
She also loves to dance to music and clap. Last Sunday when the choir sang she clapped when it was over. It was very cute because no one else was clapping but she just was so excited about their performance. She even sang along. She has a cute little singing voice and trys out many different pitches. I love her high pitches, it sounds so sweet:)
For the month of July we were with family in Utah and she just loves to play with other kids. She is fascinated by them and all that they can do. She is very observant and loves to check everything out. We also learned that she loves cats. We are staying at a home in Milwaukee that has a big beautiful cat named Poe. She screams in laughter and wants to be close to it and pet it. I just have to make sure she doesn't grab too much of the kitty's hair:)
We just love our little Miss Madison! Happy eight month birthday!

First Swim!

We haven't disappeared! I haven't posted for a long time. We have been very busy in Utah but I hope to do some catching up soon! Here is Madison's first swim. She loved it!