Residency Done!

Todd is officially done with residency. He left Rochester on Friday & arrived here Saturday. Poor guy, having to do the drive twice. We were happy to have him home. He was #1 for the night, both Sarah & Mason demanded that he read their bedtime stories.
Todd's "real" job starts this week. Today he learned how to bill (always a good thing to know!). Tomorrow he'll get oriented to the hospital & hopefully start in the OR's soon after! It's kind of a weird feeling, knowing that he's no longer in training. We've come back to basically where we started from. I was working as an RN at UVRMC 8 years ago, then we left for medical school. Now Todd will work there as an anesthesiologist. Pretty exciting!

We really feel like home

Today we really feel like we are home. It's because we've got Mary Jane over playing, just like in Minnesota. She's staying in Bountiful with her Grammy & Grandad, so we are borrowing her for a couple of days.

We planned to meet at Ikea today, but had not nailed down any times. As I picked my kids up from their 1 hour in the play place, there was Mary Jane & Katelynn waiting to go in. They quickly got out of line & waited for my kids to come out. Sarah & Mary Jane were on cloud nine the rest of our time in the store. It was a bit nuts!

Since we've been home I've seen them breeze past several times, each time in different clothes playing something new. Mary Jane will sleep over tonight & be here part of tomorrow. Sarah had a huge list of things todo. I think they are only on about #2 of 9 items, & that was just for today. It could be a long night! Maybe we'll have to borrow her again next week.

My big kids

My kids are growing up so fast! Sarah is 6 1/2 & a great big sister. Mason is 3 1/2 & rarely wants to take off his bike helmet. Emma is not standing or walking, or even crawling, but the big kids want her too. She does have her first tooth though, so she's growing up fast!

Pool time

My two beauties. I think their sunglasses are more in style than mine!
We need a bigger pool to handle all the toys! This picture shows our huge backyard.

We brought our pool with us from Minnesota. The kids were happy to have it, I think it made them feel a little more at home.

Cousin time!

Morgan mowing the lawn. It's HUGE! Grandpa came & mowed it last night for me since Todd is away & I don't dare try the riding mower.
Adeline having fun.
Breton, Sarah, Emma, Jonah, & Mason in a cousin parade. After this we went for an adventure in the "wilderness" behind our backyard. The kids thought it was great & can't wait to do it again.

The kids are having a great time playing with cousins. Sarah would do it every day if she could.

Bikes

We promised Sarah & Mason new bikes as soon as we got to our new house. We arrived Saturday night. Monday morning we purchased these new beauties. The kids are having a great time on them. Mason has not even mentioned his big wheel.

The drive

This is our over loaded car. We saved out stuff for our week in the hotel. I think (know) we kept too much! Todd's car was loaded too.
The Badlands of South Dakota. Mason probably does not have fond memories of this place since he was a bit sick!
Mount Rushmore at the end of a VERY LONG day of driving!

I'm finally adding pictures to my long drive narration. I don't plan on driving that far again for a long time!!!! Poor Todd will be doing it again next week.

7 months today!

Emma is 7 months old today! I cannot believe how quickly the time has gone by. She's such a cutie! Her grandmas & grandpas & aunts & uncles & cousins are all enjoying her. They say she's like a Cabbage Patch doll. She's so chubby & smiley.

Swimming with Mary Jane & Allyson

Mary Jane & Sarah. The lens was all fogged up that's why this is all steamy looking.
Allyson, Sarah, & Mary Janes.
Sarah & Mary Jane ready to jump in.
After the jump (I love Mary Jane's face here!).

We had Mary Jane & Allyson swim on the morning of the last day of school. We decided we'd better get good use out of our fun hotel pool! The girls had fun putting towels on their shoulders, then falling into the pool, kind of like Sharpay on High School Musical. Very amusing!

We went to lunch & then Rosemary rushed the kids off to school for their last day of kindergarten. Sarah got off the bus with Mary Jane, played for the afternoon, then we picked her up with tears all around.

You guys are great friends! Come visit anytime & good luck with the job hunt (we are rooting for somewhere around here!).

Swimming party with Sam & Emily

Emily & Sarah in the hot tub. The pool was a little chilly so it was nice to warm up in here. They also thought it was pretty cool to sit in a hot tub since usually just adults do.
Sam paddling around the big pool.
Mason getting in the big pool.
Ben & Jenni.
Mason & Sarah & the cool lion slide.

We had Emily, Sam, & Ben come swim in our hotel pool. We all had a great time! Then we went back to our room & had pizza (thanks Jenni!). The kids watched movies & Ben scurried around the room eating everyone's leftover pizza. What a kid.

We miss you guys! You are great friends. Good luck with your move. We can't wait to see you sometime this summer!

The big dance recital

Sarah on the stage after the recital. Miss Tonya gave all the girls medals for their performance.
Allyson, Katelynn, Mary Jane, & Sarah, so pretty!

Sarah had her dance recital May 31. The poor kid was sick with a high fever & sore throat (it did not end up being strep, good thing!). We almost did not make it to the recital. We loaded Sarah up with tylenol & motrin & she did great! She danced to "lavendar blue" & "purple people eater". Can't wait for the DVD!

Move complete, kind of!

We have arrived. Good thing! I don't plan to do the cross country move ever again!
I need to post some swimming pictures from the hotel, but not tonight. I just was reading my friend's blogs & decided to finally post about our final stage of moving.
Sarah was sick from Friday the 30th until Monday the 2nd with a high fever. We thought it was strept, but the test on Monday came back negative. We were grateful to send her back to school on Tuesday, so was she!
Monday our kids spent the evening being babysat by Rosemary while Todd & I went to the anesthesia dinner for the senior class at the Foundation House. It was fun to be there & see various people I've met over our years here.
Tuesday Jenni & I attempted a cool park day. The kids had fun & we got to visit a bit. I thne took Sarah to her bus stop at the end of our street. It was weird to look at our house & know someone else was living there! That afternoon Sam & Emily came to swim in the fun pool (I'll post the pictures some other time). It was great!
Wednesday evening we went to Sam & Emily's to take them a little gift. I of course was very sad to say bye to Jenni. I really don't like doing that!!!!!
Thursday morning Mary Jane, Allyson, & Rosemary came to swim. We had a fun time! Then we got the kids off to the last day of kindergarten, I can hardly believe it. Sarah got off at Mary Jane's stop for a final playdate (okay, I'm starting to be all sad again just writing about this). We picked her up later & with lots of tears all around said bye. Good thing Mary Jane will be in Utah soon to come visit, wish the whole family was!
Well, we went to dinner, or tried to after saying our good-byes. Mason threw up (gross) all over the floor before our food came, so we got it to go & headed back to the hotel. He was sick again later that night. Great.
Friday morning we were ready to head out. We did not let Mason eat anything, poor kid. We had both cars over loaded (really overloaded). We took the civic up to Jenni's for Todd to come back to tomorrow. We said good-bye again & I cried as we drove away from Rochester. Who knows when we'll ever be back! Sarah said good-bye to everything as we drove down 52 to 63 & onto 90. I really don't like moving!!!! It's so hard.
Our drive was pretty uneventful, other than Mason getting sick two more times that day, poor kid! Luckily we were prepared for it!
We drove through the Badlands of South Dakota & even made it to Mount Rushmore at 8pm. It was 50 degrees & windy & drizzly, so we saw the monument for a few minutes & that was it.
Saturday Mason was better & nobody else was sick, good thing! Our drive was uneventful but VERY LONG! We left Rapid City, SD, at 8am & arrived at my sister's house in Lehi at 8pm to get the key to our house.
Lori & Becky & been receiving our belongings all day on Saturday. Thank you!!!!!! They had unpacked most of the kitchen, made all our beds, & even bought us breakfast for Sunday.
When we got to the house Mason said "this is not our house, this is the little boy's house". He had been with us when we looked at it & the 5 year old who lived here had given Mason an otter pop. We are just renting for a year while a BYU professor & his family are teaching in Indiana. Mason was very confused, even when he saw all our things in the house.
I'll write more later, I've got to get to bed!