{ Blazers 35 Wolves 13 } --

We are the champions, my friend
And we'll keep on fighting to the end
We are the champions, we are the champions
No time for LOSERS, cause

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS, OF THE WORLD!!!
-Queen

Ok, maybe not the world, but at least the TCYFL MJV division. Today was championship Sunday for Ayden's football league. The Blazers were battling the Black Hills Wolves. We played and beat the wolves 21-7 back in week 3.

Things didn't start out all that great. The wolves scored quickly on their opening drive to go up 6-0. The Blazers, though showed their true heart and scored 35 unanswered points. The wolves scored with 7 seconds left in the game to make the final score 35-13. Ayden and the rest of the team were pretty excited to be champions. 7-1 is a great finish (too bad they lost by 1-point in OT in week 4).

All their hard work for the past 3 months paid off. Ayden has been on cloud 9 for the day so far. This season was successful for more than just a championship. Ayden learned how to play a game he had never played before, learned responsibility and discipline, didn't quit (or shy away from getting tackeled or giving a hit), learned how to be a TEAM and most of all had FUN.

CONGRATS AYDEN AND THE REST OF THE TIMBERLINE BLAZERS GREEN MJV TEAM!!! You all deserve it!!!

{Warning--Toe Pictures}

I apologize for the graphic picture but this actually looks good compared to what it looked like before. Of course the dressing that the Dr. wanted left on 72 hrs didn't make it 24 hrs. Right as the kids were going to bed last night it popped off her toe. Thank goodness Dr. Daddy was around and could redress it. Ryan said her nail bed was torn into three parts and the Dr. had to put it back like a jigsaw puzzle. It doesn't look like there is any infection and Ryan was pleased with how it looked. We have a followup appointment on Tuesday with Podiatry, hopefully they are pleased too!!

{Trauma}

I was meaning to post about our wonderful Family Home Evening of pumpkin carving but then yesterday happened and that idea went out the window. It started yesterday at lunch. I had fixed the two little ones a PB&J sandwich with some chips and some capri susn and set them at the table. I headed upstairs to check on the update for my blurb books on my computer (I am frantically trying to get those done before next year). No sooner than I hit the office and I hear a bang. A chair had been turned over and I turn to head back downstairs to interrupt whatever mayhem is happening and I hear another chair being turned over but this one was followed by a scream. So I race down the stairs to find Lauryn on the floor with her toenail dangling off of her toe. Literally. Wyatt had pushed the chair over and it had landed just right on Lauryn's toe and ripped her toenail and nail bed off her toe. There was blood everywhere and Lauryn was crying. I frantically got the first aid kit and with our meager supplies set to wrapping the toe so it would stop bleeding so much (hence the reason there is no graphic picture, although I wish I had a before picture now). I called the peds clinic at Madigan and got an appointment, sure that they would tell me it would be ok. I stop to pick up the older kids from school and head up to Ryan's office to drop the other kids off. Thankfully he was done in the OR and could watch them in his office. Lauryn and I head up to the peds clinic and wait to be seen. Finally we get to go back and the new civilian Dr. doesn't know what to do so she pages several people, all of which want nothing to do with Lauryn's toe and send her to someone else. Finally after over an hour she tells me I need to take Lauryn to the ER to be seen. I head back to Ryan's office and let him know what needs to be done and he decides that he will take her so I can get Ayden to football. He calls ahead and talks to the senior ER resident and lets them know he is on his way. I head home and wait impatiently for news of how things are going and how bad things are. Ryan finally calls to let me know that her toenail broke off at the bone (not the best scenario) and her nail bed was ripped out. Yeah it sounds really nice. So they tried to suture the nail bed back onto her toe and we now get to wait and see if her nail will ever grow back. She is also on an antibiotic so she doesn't get a bone infection. She has been such a trooper through this whole thing. Not really crying-except initially and then when they numbed her foot so they could work on it, she did not like that!! She is staying home from school today for a couple of reasons, one, I don't have a shoe to cover that big pink toe and two, I am so afraid some child will step on her toe damaging it worse before it even has time to heal. We get to take the dressing off on Friday to check to see it's progress and to check for infection. Let's pray things heal well and that she will eventually have a toe nail growing back.

{Pumpkin Patch}

We made our somewhat annual trek to the nearby pumpkin patch again this year. It was a beautiful day and the kids got out of school early and so we headed out ready to meet some friends. The kids were all over the place and having a really good time. This was basically one of the only times I was able to get them all to be still for a second. We sure hope there are places like this where we are headed next year. My kids love going each year!!

I think we are offically in the nerd stage with this kid. I think it hits about pretween years and last for heaven knows how long!!

{ Blazers 26 - Cougars 0 }

Well, this weeks playoff game was easier than last weeks. The Capital Cougars were no match for the Blazers, who are now 6-1 on the year. You knew who was going to win the game after the first quarter and the game was essentially over at halftime (19-0). The boys did great job of dominating in all three aspects of the game. They were pretty fired up at the end of the game knowing that next week they will play for the championship!!! We will face either the Wolves or the other Blazers team. Should be a good game. One more hard week of practice then hopefully some celebration next Sunday with a championship. Let's go boys!!!

{TROUBLE}

Have I ever stated before how much trouble we are in as parents? If not let me state for the record that Ryan and I are in BIG TROUBLE!! Not because we have done anything wrong. Well I guess you could get technical and tell us that it is our fault because we procreated, but we were just following a commandment you see. Our oldest daughter is going to put us in an early grave if she continues to grow-up at the rate in which she dearly wants too. She wants so badly to be older and she wants all that goes with that entitlement of age. She has on more than one occasion stated she can't wait until she gets to wear a bra and just today she begged me to wear REAL high heel shoes, because other 1st graders were wearing them. While I was getting ready this morning she oohed and ahhhed over the makeup and how fun it is. Then she proceeded to put just a "little sparkle" on her lips (thankfully just lipgloss). Heaven help me!!!
This morning while cleaning the bookshelves, which by the way don't look like I touched them at all, I found this treasure. Written and illustrated by my dear girl it chronicles her oh so special nuptials. I am hoping because she doesn't yet know how to spell "married" that she won't be allowed to get an actual "marriage" license. EVER.
I really don't know whether to be frightened as I look at my future son-in-law or not. I mean does he really have only one eye or is that the only one we can see? His hair cut would lead me to believe that perhaps he is military, so she must be impressed with a guy in uniform. My dearest daughter does look beautiful in her bridal gown and her veil and thankfully the dress is modest. Her other job besides growing up too fast is the Modesty Marshall of our home.

What a love story that is I am sure. I should have her translate so I can actually know how this shindig goes down. If I know who to look out for then maybe, just maybe I can cause a diversion and none of this would ever happen. I am NOT ready for my sweet girl to be growing up just yet. She makes me laugh and cry over my grey hair everyday. Thankfully in stark contrast to "I can't wait to grow up" Meysa, Lauryn has officially decided that she doesn't want to grow up at all so maybe they will balance each other out. Please pray for us!!

Blazers 13 - Hawks 7}

Week 1 of the playoffs. Ayden and his team learned the playoffs, whether in football or other sports, are much tougher than the regular season. The River Ridge Hawks were a pretty good team. Some of their kids were huge. I don't remember being that big until I was 14 or 15. The defense played well, ( two interceptions and two turnovers on downs), while the offense did just enough to win. Defense will win you championships. I guess the football season continues at the Heitmann House. Here's to another week of practice to prepare for the semi-finals. Keep up the hard work boys!!!

{Retreat}

This last weekend Ryan and I got to get away for a night, just us. Well actually there were a few other people there I guess. It was the first annual resident retreat for Ryan's residency. So technically we were not alone but for just one night I didn't have to put kids to bed and I didn't have to make dinner or stop eating my dinner to clean up a spill or get ketchup for anyone. And best of all I got to sleep IN the next day. It didn't hurt that we were in a beautiful place and with fun people. We headed up to Hood Canal to a little retreat place called St. Andrew's House which was this quaint 1920's log cabin. We got to sleep in bunk beds and had really delicious food made for us by a really nice guy.
This is the resident spider that had made his/her little home right outside the front door. I don't know what kind of spider he/she is but he/she is BIG.
The director of St. Andrew's house mentioned that we had waterfront access and a really nice beach across the street. Well we went in search of the beach access shortly after arriving. This is what we found. I am not sure I would call this waterfront access.
The next morning before heading back home the group drove over to Doosewillips State Park to do a little hike. It ended up being really nice with some pretty scenery to look at. Fall is my favorite season and seeing all the fall foliage made my heart very happy!!

I have to thank my niece Abby for watching the kids so we could go off for the night. I really enjoyed getting away with my hubby too for some kid free time. Not that I don't love my kids, I do but it is nice to be just him and I, if only for 24 hrs.

{mmmmm, Chocolate}

I firmly believe that Chocolate was put on this earth to enjoy to the fullest. Apparently, so does Wyatt. After making chocolate peanut butter cookies the other day Wyatt demanded the privilege of licking the beater clean. And when I say clean, I mean clean. His sister wanted in on the action too, but only got little crumbs instead.

Oh, wait he missed some on his arm.

He'll take care of that lickity-split. He doesn't want any chocolate wasted just because it landed somewhere other than in his mouth.

I think this is what contentment looks like. A belly full of chocolate and a sugar induced nap/coma in his near future. What more can one ask for? I would argue not much!!

And the match results are ......

Well the long awaited match for REI fellowship is now over and we know where we are headed. To take out all the suspense....I matched!!

Now let the game begin (for the rest of you) of figuring out where we matched.

Again here are the choices: Rochester, MN; Washington DC (Bethesda - NIH); Louisville, KY; Baltimore, MD; Pittsburgh, PA.




Let's back track a little here and recap our journey so far. After graduating from LC State we went to Des Moines University for medical school. As you all know Des Moines is the capital of Iowa.



We really loved Iowa and always stated that we would move back to the Midwest in a heartbeat if given the chance. Is Minnesota close enough? The kids would love having 4 distinct seasons again.



For residency we were able to move to Olympia, Washington. Again a state capital. Is there a theme? Any state capitals in the list???

Keep scrolling!!!

We are headed to Washington DC for the next three years. I matched at the National Institute of Health program in Bethesda, MD!!! The move will be an exciting one and there should be no shortage of opportunities of things to do and see. No more being home bodies!!!

I'm sure Aimee's photography skills (and the camera - poor battery) will definitely get a work out. We may have to get 2 or 3 more external hard drives for all the pics.

The two older ones are more than excited to move (and as of right now - 0930) they don't even know yet. They asked Aimee this morning at breakfast where we were going. They didn't know the list wasn't released until 9AM they just knew today was the day. They must have had an insight because they each told me Monday night we were moving to DC. Hmmmm.

We'll that's the news from here. We are definitely excited and can't wait for this new adventure and challenge. Now all I have to do is graduate from residency!!!

{Another Year}

Another year gone means another round of family pictures. Ryan's mom Margaret was kind enough again this year to help us with family pictures. We have both her camera and mine going (except family shots) hoping to have enough shots to work with. We decided to do them this year at the Capitol building which ended up being really neat. There are a ton of cool locations around the grounds that work for backdrops. Other than having a two year old that didn't want to be in a good mood, things went pretty smoothly. These are only some of the ones that turned out. Thanks again Margaret for your help, we couldn't have done them without you!!

{ Blazers - 28 Rams - 6}

Ahhh, back to the victory column. The last week of the regular season brought a old familiar feeling back -- victory. The boys looked real good yesterday. The defense, offense and special teams were all clicking together. I guess that hard week of practice did something. Ayden said they had to win this game or they wouldn't have made the playoffs. Hopefully a 4-1 regular season will be good enough to garner a pretty high playoff seed. Now we just wait and see who and when we play next. Let the real fun begin...playoffs. Keep up the hard work Ayden.

{ Bears 13 - Blazers 12 OT }

Oh, the agony of defeat. Ayden and his team got to experience a valuable lesson this week. They lost their first game of the year. They now sit at 3-1. It was a very good game. Both teams were battling hard, but we were ultimatley outplayed by a better team. It came down to the extra point attempt in the first OT. Unfortunately we were stopped at the 1/2 yard line and lost the game. Ayden now gets to learn how to deal with losing, which will be good for him. He also got to deal with adversity during the game. He missed a blocking assingment on offense which led to a 5 yard loss for the running back. His coach chewed his behind pretty good. He got benched for the rest of the first half. Then he got a chance to run the same play in the 3rd quarter and blocked his guy to help spring the running back for a 13 yard gain. It is nice to see him learing life lessons by playing organized sports. Here's to an upcoming HARD week of practice and making a statement next week againg North Thurston. Keep working hard Ayden and KEEP YOUR HEAD UP.

{Sporadic}

It is the first of October and I have been walking around in a daze. Where has the year gone? It feels like we just had Christmas. I know I have been sporadic in my blogging and really how many football posts can there be? To tell the truth there hasn't been much going on except school, callings, kids, fellowship stress, just to name a few. I feel sometimes that in order to blog I need to have pictures to go along with it and when I haven't taken many pictures then there isn't much blogging. I need to be better about just writing, this is my family journal after all.

So the kids started school and they are loving it. Lauryn LOVES her preschool and has a hard time grasping the fact that she only goes MWF instead of everyday. She is quiet but confident. She doesn't hesitate to go into school like some of the other kids do but she is not loud like some of them either. Lauryn is also our scripture sheriff each morning and makes sure we read before going off to school. Meysa is relishing the all day schedule she gets to have this year. She has lost another tooth and can't wait for more to fall out. Meysa's hair is more than long enough to cut and donate to Locks of Love, which was the plan but now that it is long she doesn't want to cut it. I don't blame her, it is really beautiful. We'll see if she ever does it. Ayden, well you all know he is loving football and their team is undefeated. He is also learning life's hard lessons about not telling Mom where he is going and so on. It is going to be a long week of grounding for him, for a second time. Hopefully it will click in his little brain and he won't do it again. Wyatt is a little jabber box and there are seriously some times when I want to put a muzzle on the kid. He is putting 2-3 words together and then repeats them over and over, even if you acknowledge the garbage truck that he saw 3 or four times. He is growing up and becoming a little man. He loves his train set and is finally sitting still long enough for me to read a book to him.

Ryan is busy at work and just finished his first of four- three month rotations. He only has 9 months left of residency and then it is off to fellowship. Speaking of fellowship, this last Wednesday was the deadline to submit our rank lists for the national match for Ryan's REI fellowship. On the 13th of this month we find out where we will be headed to next June. My gut is telling me we will be on the opposite side of the country. What an adventure that will be!!

As for me, I am busy with kids, kids and more kids. I feel like I am finally getting the hang of my calling, but really can't wait until the end of October to be here and gone (the primary program is the 24th). There are little things here and there that I am doing for myself such as taking free classes online to getting better acquainted with my photoshop, finishing up my blog book for Hawaii (it was almost a year ago), taking pictures here and there and learning what I like and don't like, finding my own style. I have realized I really need to do little things for just me so that I don't go crazy and feel like I am getting lost in everyone else's life. Life is busy, life is good.