sweet home

Louisville House Tour Part 1

2016-01-11T15:24:00.000-06:00

Please excuse my super annoying voice! :) Here's our house, we love it! And we love visitors!

Lousiville House Tour 2

2016-01-11T14:34:00.000-06:00

Louisville House Tour Part 3

2016-01-11T14:23:00.001-06:00

Louisville House Tour Part 4

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Lots more fall pictures

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We had a fun trip to Chattanooga and the aquarium.

Watched the Madison parade.

Had a fun fall break in St. Louis with our pals the Melbys.

Met the Mormons.

And had fun with Cate on her field trip to the botanical gardens.

Aiden had one soccer game in Mobile

2015-01-25T17:51:00.000-06:00

We drove 6 hours for Aiden's soccer game in Mobile. On the way we drove over something sharp and got 2 flat tires. After a crazy night we were able to get tires on first thing in the morning and were even able to spend a couple of hours at the beach before the game.

Lewis gets called to be in the bishopric

2015-01-25T17:45:00.000-06:00

Clint came from Austin for the day so he could be the one to ordain Lewis to be a high priest. Just when I thought he would be helping me at church! Or would be home on weeknights to help with the kids! Ah! They called him on our 5th Sunday here. It's been pretty crazy but it's good for him. :)

First Day of School

2015-01-25T17:44:00.002-06:00

August 9, 2014 Rainbow Elementary

Cate, 1-- Mrs. Aston who is so nice! Hooray!
Brooks, 4-- Mrs. Hoang and Mrs. Orr
Aiden. 6-- Mrs. Seifert, Mrs. Fredrickson, Mrs. Haseldon, Mrs. Joseph

End of summer in Huntsville

2015-01-25T17:42:00.000-06:00

Utah Trip Summer 2014

2015-01-25T17:40:00.000-06:00

We wanted to add a little adventure to our move, so we decided to take a side trip to Utah/Yellowstone before Lewis started his job. We drove down to Alabama to drop off Lewis' car and then went the southern route that we hadn't ever used before. Oh man was it ugly and desolate! I about lost my mind somewhere in the middle of New Mexico. But after a while it seemed beautiful again. We met Brian, Jackie, and co. the second day and did Arches National Park with them which the kids loved. It was too hot to do too much hiking, but we did have a great time anyway. From there it was up to Utah then Yellowstone. We got to spend a couple of days with Ryan, Katie and their kids which is always so much fun. Then we got to meet Kathy's girls which was nice. We love Yellowstone! Lewis had to leave to get back to work, but Jackie and I stayed with the kids a few more days. I flew to Huntsville for less than 24 hours to attend Lewis' big work party and when I got back we hopped in the car for the long drive home.

Wrong Roads

2015-01-25T16:50:00.002-06:00

Have you ever had this experience before? We have recently, I'm grateful for this talk and this video and how they have touched me.

I guess I won't need to change my blog name

2014-05-02T10:34:00.003-05:00

This is an old post that I wrote last month. I thought it had published but I guess not. So here it is! Better late than never I guess!!

This has been a big week for us, and for Lewis specifically. He found out that he passed his oral board exam (he will just have one more big test, oral boards, which will happen in about one year), and he signed a contract for work starting July 7!

This is us at a Doctor's Day dinner last night for the Kanawha medical association. We attended as guests of dr. Horswell and his wife Barb. Drs. Horswell and Jaskolka have been amazing mentors to Lewis, unlike the experience he had with residency.

Anyway, we are headed back to Alabama!! Not to Birmingham where we were for residency, but to Huntsville which is about an hour and a half north of the ham. We are excited now, but it's taken me a while to get there. About 7 months a while. But, my kids love Alabama and I do too. There is just something really great about the south. The food is amazing, the people are wonderful, and the spring time is unbeatable.

It's crazy sometimes how things work out in life. For so long I just thought we could go wherever we want with Lewis being an oral surgeon. But, he wants to operate and he wants to do pediatric cases. So we had to find a place with a children's hospital. And it had to have a pediatric anesthesiologist and they had to have a cleft team with an opening or at least a willingness to let OMFS work as part of the cleft team. So, our options shrunk. But, we presumed many options. We mostly wanted to be out west, but we considered jobs in North Carolina, Massachusetts (east and west), Nevada, Oregon, Arizona, Washington, Montana, Idaho, New Mexico, etc. and nothing was working out. It was crazy. Either they wouldn't call back or Lewis just didn't get a good vibe. It was frustrating and exhausting. Then Lewis talked to a former co-resident of his who is practicing in Madison and looking for a partner and it has just come together so easily. Even though it wasn't my ideal dream place of residence, I know that it is a great opportunity for Lewis and that Huntsville is a terrific place to raise kids. Another plus is that there are a lot of lds people there which is great for our kids. We are excited to move into a new phase of life! Actually making money for all the hard work, ha! I'm sure it will be an adventure and that we will love our new home.

Marathon recap

2014-05-02T10:34:00.001-05:00

Monday morning Lewis and I got up early and I dropped him off at Boston common where he would board the bus out to the start line.

The kids and I packed up the car and drove to the nearest T station. After one near miss we got on the correct train. One connection later we were headed out of town along the race route. I met a really nice woman on the train who is from Burlington, CT. It turns out that she works and works out at the tennis club where I taught swim lessons and preschool! Small world! She knows peoe who I worked with and promised to tell them hi from me. It was so great. I love it when those things happen. She was so kind and gave me great advice about marathon watching. So we followed her out to Newton. It was actually the closest stop to the race route so it saved me miles of walking with the kids. What a blessing it was to run into her! After a couple of hours of waiting we finally got to see Lewis!

After giving everyone a quick kiss he was off again

The first half of his race was super fast and even though he went a little hard he was able to hang on for a great finish. As soon as he passed we hopped back on the T and hurried to try and see him finish. We got off at the convention center and ran right into Kip's friend Carol Anne who was hoping to meet us. It was another huge blessing because she knows the city well and we ended up needing her expertise to find Lewis. In years past you have been able to walk right along the race route up to the finish line. After last years bombings, they majorly tightened security. We were able to watch as Lewis run out of the tunnel at Massachussets Ave. They wouldn't let us walk any further along the race route though, they only let a certain number of people in and then that was it. We probably had to walk a mile or two to get to where we finally met up with Lewis.

Stonyfied farms was giving out yogurt to sample and Abby wanted a picture with the cow.

As soon as he was ready, we took the T to Kip's house for Lewis to take a shower. When we was done we loaded up and headed down to Westerly, RI to spend the night with our friends the Capalbos. They are the greatest friends and had pizza and oysters ready for dinner. Lewis loved learning how to shuck oysters and the kids loved playing with Luca and Leo.

Tuesday morning we packed up and headed home with a quick stop at the Book Barn in Niantic, CT. It's such a great little stop.

It was a quick and fast paced trip, but we had such a great time. We are a road tripping family! We love to be on the road exploring this great country. I'm so grateful that my kids our happy travelers. Even though it was a fun trip we were all happy to be home and in our own beds after 5 nights in 5 different places.

Shipping up to Boston

2014-05-02T10:15:00.001-05:00

Lewis ran the Boston marathon again! He did an amazing job. As late as a week before the marathon he wasn't sure he would be able to run. He was having some significant pain in his foot and was nervous it was possibly a stress fracture in his fifth metatarsal. After a trip to the foot doc and an X-ray to make sure it was ok, he was cleared to go and we were on our way!

We drove to New Jersey on Thursday and got there just in time to meet Lindsi and Rich for dinner

We spent the night there in New Brunswick and swam Friday morning while Lewis had a surgical virtual planning meeting.

When he was done we drove into NYC and spent the day (quickly) seeing some sights and exporing the city.

The craziest part was right as we arrived in the city, we pulled into our awesome, cheap parking lot and saw that a friend of ours from our Connecticut days had pulled in right in front of us! It was the weirdest coincidence!

After a few hours of walking in the dreary, cold weather we were ready to head up to West Hartford. We got there in time to climb into bed.

Saturday we got up and saw some of our favorite places. We drove by our apartments and got a good laugh remembering our awful first place. The best part of the day was eating delicious Harry's pizza and hanging out with our friends the Miettinens.

They had three cats and my kids were loving them so much:

As we drove out of town we stopped by Hartford hospital so Brooks could see where he was oven and snapped a few pics of the Capitol building.

We have so many great memories of our four years in Connecticut, it was great to think back on them. It's always a little strange going back to visit places I've lived in the past, but it always feels like going home.

Soon we were on our way to Boston, with a quick stop at Costco along the way. We dropped Lewis off at the marathon expo and drove over to Cambridge to meet kip at his house.

After the expo, we met up with Lewis and set out to find a record store (it was record day) and some dinner. We found several record stores bu none were participating in record day! Bummer! But we did find some yummy pho for dinner. Then mochi and bubble tea for dessert.

Sunday we had a little bit of trouble finding church, but we did eventually. We actually ended up at Kip's ward and it was stake conference which we enjoyed from the foyer. It was a lovely Easter service. After church we went back to Kip's for an egg hunt and feast.

After eating we headed over to check out the Boston Tea Party Museum and ships. The kids really enjoyed learning more about early US history and Boston's role in the revolutionary war.

After the museum (and kips meeting) we met up worth kip again for dinner at our hotel.

Change is coming again soon

2014-05-02T09:44:00.001-05:00

I am terrible about change. I don't like change or transitions. I don't like being out of my comfort zone. In fact, I think I would rather be stuck somewhere I don't even like than have to move. But, here we are with under two months left in Charleston and it's time to start thinking about picking up and moving again. Ugh.

Springtime is West Virginia has been lovely. We have a Japanese Kwanzan cherry tree in our front yard as well as azaleas, daffodils, and an assortment of other perennials. Our neighbors have dogwoods, even one pink dogwood which happens to be my very favorite type of flowering tree. My favorite flowering bush is hydrangea and my favorite perennial is a tulip, in case you were wondering. Here are a few photos I have snapped this spring:

Sometimes when the weather is nice we go spend the afternoon in our awesome friends' backyard:

There is trampolining, bike riding, sandbox ing, and general running around like kids should.

Also, we have enjoyed roasting hot dogs and marshmallows (and starburst) over our little fire pit in the backyard or up in the mountains with our friends.

Clothes are optional, especially after you've jumped into the river and soaked them:

Right now at our house

2014-02-26T16:57:00.001-06:00

A and b are wrestling:

C is saying: "guards! Seize him!" :

And Abs is sitting on my lap in a pink poodle costume refusing to eat dinner or climb off me:

SOS! Please send reinforcements!

Snow days

2014-02-20T12:12:00.001-06:00

We have had so many snow and poison water days off school so I thought I would share some of what we've been doing to stay busy.

Just a little rant

2014-02-19T13:06:00.001-06:00

I have been wanting to write this for a while but kept putting it off, blogging seems like such an effort with Instagram being so easy to use and share photos. I have just been getting so bigger by people bashing doctors, the healthcare system, drug companies, etc. while talking up their oils and supplements. First, let me say that natural health is important to me. My family is deeply involved in the culture of natural health. And I agree whole heartedly that it is important for us to take control of our health and do what we can to cate for our bodies. This includes exercise, eating right, and taking supplements as needed. What I don't understand is the doctor bashing. Yes, healthcare is expensive! Lewis has gone to school or done training for 11 years after college! Not only has he gone way into debt for this, but he has made very little money along the way. When you come to see him as a patient you are paying for his expertise. He hasn't gone this far in his training for selfish reasons. He isn't trying to take all your money. He genuinely wants to help you.

There are more than one kind of doctor. If you get in a car accident and smash your face I would like to see you use your oils or supplements to repair it. Seriously, I am fed up! Enough!

Also, I have many friends who are scientists. They do medical research and they are funded by drug companies or other organizations like Komen. Quit bashing them too! They make very little money and work very hard because they want to find a cure! These are good people. Good, honest, hard working people who want to make a positive difference in the world. They are not motivated by money but by a desire to do something meaningful.

Yes, they do want to earn a living. So do doctors and it know there are some who abuse the system but I am confident that they are in the minority. Did you ever stop to think about what motivates the head of the company that makes your oils? Or your supplements? What do you think drives them? I would be willing to bet that they are much more interested in making money than any doctor or scientist doing medical research. They want you to make money because it makes them money. Plain and simple.

So, that's terrific that you got rid of all the medicine in your house. Good for you. I'm glad that you are "eating clean" and working on your beach body. Just please keep all of your complaints about doctors and "healthcare today" away from me.

Life these days

2014-02-06T15:02:00.003-06:00

Saturday was such a beautiful day! It has been really cold and icy and snowy since before thanksgiving so we were grateful to be outside!

And today it is snowing again, so I'm glad we took advantage of the nice weather while it was here. I am ready for spring to come already!

Award assembly

2014-02-06T15:02:00.001-06:00

A received student if the month, AR award for getting her AR goals, and Principal's Pride which is all A's and S's.

B also got student of the month, Principal's Pride, and AR award.

C got Star Student (all S's) and student of the month.

All three received every possible award for their class. I am so proud of them for working hard at school and for showing good behavior. Since no one really reads this blog any more I don't mind a little bragging! Ha! But really, I have been blessed with the greatest kids. This school year hasn't been easy but they have stuck together and have tried to make the best of the situation. Cate is doing better in her class. Her anxiety seems to be better,but maybe that's because she didn't have school for a month! Aiden being the safety patrol in cate's classroom really helped ease the morning stress, but they just moved her to the special needs classroom. She has still been walking cate to class every morning and that seems to work wonders.

A and B finally finished he process of being placed in the gifted program. Because it isn't federally funded at all there is a very small gifted program in our school system. In wv you have to test in at least the 97th percentile to be eligible. After weeks of testing then waiting for it to be analyzed then a meeting to discuss their eligibility then an IEP meeting--breath-- they finally started when they went back to school. A goes all day Monday and b goes all day Wednesday. They bus kids in from a bunch of other schools, but they are still very small groups. I love the teacher they are with, she is amazing and has a son who is a general surgery resident. :) the good news is that they are both on an IEP so they can get gifted services anywhere we go!

Another bright spot has been a's viola class. There is a strings teacher who goes around to a few schools and teaches classes. I love that she is getting that training. She is also doing all county chorus and her school choir which has been really fun for her.

B loves his class and he has a great teacher. I'm really grateful he was put in that class. She pushes her students and moves them along as they are ready.

Poor cate has had a rough time but I so have to say she is reading and writing very clearly! She has yet to bring home any cutesy artsy projects (all year-- seriously) and has yet to had any free play time in KINDERGARTEN but seems to be doing ok.. I'm telling you, you have never ever seen a class of ks sit like these kids do. They sit silently, on their spot on the rug or in their assigned seat and don't make a peep. They walk down the hall silently in a perfect line! It's totally insane. One more gem: A has had several kids from her class who have received in school suspension which they do in Cate's kindy classroom! Because her teacher is possibly the scariest woman to ever teach elementary. (Although she did give me a huge, awkwardly long hug right before Christmas break. I guess she liked the jewelry we made her. ) (Also, I had a really mean and scary 3 rd grade teacher named Mrs. Williams. We had 5 projects per month and she had black frizzy witch hair and elaborately painted long long nails.)

Even though the school experience has been a change (children being disrespectful to teachers for example) and a challenge, I am grateful that my children have proven to be resilient and are thriving in spite of it all!

See, they are pretty amazing.

My little Aiden is 11!

2014-02-05T20:48:00.001-06:00

How can it be possible that aiden is already11?!?! It seems like just yesterday she was toddling around our grubby Hartford apartment, licking the salt off the floor under our shoes, and pulling all of our clothes out of the drawers. Now she's all grown up and is so helpful, kind, smart, caring, thoughtful, beautiful 11 year old I've ever known! Right before her birthday she decided to cut her hair and donate it.

She gets such bad knots and has a super tender head. Bad combo. Her haircut is adorable!

Her actual birthday ended up being another snow day (shocking!!!), but when they finally went back they had a birthday lunch that Abby and I joined her for.

For her real birthday dinner we ate at an Asian restaurant called Su Tei. We had sushi and Thai food. I'm not sure if our standards have changed since moving here, but we really enjoyed all the food we had. Lewis even got to have some Som Tum which is a really spicy Thai dish made with green papaya.

We sure love our Aiden girl! Happy birthday!!

FHE fun

2014-02-05T20:38:00.001-06:00

Last night cate was in charge of treats for family home evening and she wanted to make cupcakes. She did a great job.

Brooks was in charge of the lesson and he talked about ways we can show love to each other. We took some time to write notes to each other and put them in our little mailboxes. Then Aid was in charge of the activity so she had us do some minute to win it games. Here is Lewis stacking candy hearts, I think he got over 20!

Photo Card

2013-11-23T19:17:00.001-06:00

Photo Card

View the entire collection of cards.

Accident

2013-11-08T16:46:00.001-06:00

The kids and I were involved in a car accident in Wednesday afternoon. We are all ok and my car is still drivable so we are feeling very lucky and grateful for our safety. We got home from DC on Tuesday night and on Wednesday morning I got a phone call from the aide in Cate's class letting me know that Cate's name had been drawn as the winner of a lunchbox. A local health food store had a coloring contest for all the local schools and cate was the big winner!! After school we headed over there to pick up the lunchbox and a few other things that I was excited to find for the first time in Charleston. On the way home we hit a red light. We were on Mackorkle Ave. driving east (from south charleston to kanawha city where we live) where it intersects with 119, aka corridor G. I was second or third in line and slowly started back up when the light turned green. As we were just about through the intersection I heard the truck hit us. If you've ever been in a car accident or heard one you know the sound. It is so loud! I don't remember really anything else until I was pulled over on the side of the road and out of my car trying to get the cars behind me to stop and be witnesses. I couldn't believe no one would stop! I also watched the truck that had run a very red light and hit us as it went across four lanes of traffic and a grass median. It hit the guardrail next to the river then crossed the entire highway and hit a sign before zooming down the median and finally stopping about a quarter of a mile down the road. I saw a bumper fly off and other pieces of the truck. It was like I was watching a Movie! Very surreal. I texted Lewis and then called 911. When Lewis didn't text back I called and he answered. He was able to leave work (luckily we weren't far from him, unluckily he was on call and spent the whole time he was with us on the phone answering stinkin calls). Firemen showed up and then a police officer. I never saw the woman who hit us. There was a man on a bike who saw the whole thing who rode up to check on the other woman. He asked her if she was ok or if she blacked out or something and she said she just leaned down to roll her window down. He said she seemed off. He then rode back over to us to see if we were ok and said he would ride back and get a photo with his phone of the truck's license plate in case she drove off. I guess a man in green scrubs had pulled over to see if she needed help and had ended up keeping her from driving off a couple of times. The police officer took my information and my story and then a e drove to a safer place. I waited for the officer for a few minutes while he went to talk to the woman in the truck. I forgot to mention that there were a fire truck, ambulance, and several police cars around her car but I had no idea what was going on over there until the very end. When our nice officer returned he told us that she had been arrested for DUI and that she couldn't even hold up her head she was so wasted. This was her third offense and she was driving illegally with a suspended license. At this point my shaking and crying hit a new level. I felt a mixture of gratitude, anger, relief, and shock. It was crazy and I was so grateful for our safety. We hurried home and Lewis made us a delicious meal of frozen meal noodle bowls and edemame. Then he went back to the hospital to see the four consults he got while with us at the accident scene, I took brooks to get a ride to scouts and we headed off to activity days where we made gratitude jars to fill in the month of November. And I did feel grateful. So very grateful. For my family and my children for our safety and for guardian angels watching over us. We have to wait for the police report and then we will know her name and know if she or the car were insured. I took the car to a body shop and the nice guy there told me the car was totally safe to drive. He hammered the bumper back in place and told me to go buy some red tape at advance auto parts to cover the lights and keep them from the elements and breaking. I am having some back pain but since I don't have an established primary care doctor yet, no one would see me. So, I went to the ER at the women's and children's hospital where I knew a Dr who was working and I was hoping Lewis would come to say hi. They did X-rays which showed nothing and gave me some prescriptions for pain and muscle relaxants. Now we just wait and see. Does she have insurance? Will my pain get worse? Will the kids have any lasting effects? Will we always feel a little nervous every time we get in the car? But mostly we are feeling lucky and blessed and grateful.

Halloween 2013

2013-11-07T21:30:00.001-06:00