Vester Family

School's in session!

2011-09-06T22:00:00.000-07:00

The boys have been so excited to start school, especially Drew he has been counting down for awhile. I took the boys shopping and they had tons of fun picking out their new shirts and getting ready for the big day. Here they are in front of our house.

Drew all ready with his sling.

Here's a close up. Oh he has glasses now too, can't remember if I ever posted about them (which probably means I didn't)

Here's Jerrod, he wanted to stand in front of the tree for his picture.

Gideon wanted his picture taken too. Do you like his shirt? I think it's hideous but he picked it out and it has become his favorite. He also has his "snack bag" because he was getting ready to go play at a friends house for a bit.

Here's another one of Jerrod, I had a hard time getting a smile out of the boy.

broken arm

2011-09-06T21:39:00.000-07:00

So the previous post I posted about Jerrod and some of the new developments with him. Well one day when Adam was taking Jerrod to the dr for a follow-up our great friends the Babcocks were gracious enough to watch the kids for us. The boys were having tons of fun jumping on the trampoline and the story has it that they were playing tag and poor Drew was the unfortuante boy who when he got tagged fell backwards through the net, that ripped and landed on the ground on his elbow.

Adam got him and took him into the peds office who asked us to bring him in and they would send him off for films. They saw the Dr on call who thought he may have broken both his humerus as well as his ulna or radius. The good news is that he only broke his humerus but the bad news is that he broke is through his elbow joint. The even worse news is that the ped first of all did not even read the report until lunch break the next day, and then mis read it and thought he broke the shaft of the bone rather than the joint. If this was the case he would have been fine waiting a few days to see the dr, but with a joint he needed to be seen right away. So after arguing with the ped, and then calling the ortho on my own, getting them the report, and then the films they wanted to see him immediately. He has a pretty serious break and surgery was a possibility for awhile and would have most likely been a necessity if we had waited like the ped wanted. He wears the cast for another 1-3 weeks and he'll be as good as new.

Because it's a pain to get shirts over the cast we have been letting him sleep without a shirt, now it's fun because all of the boys think it's awesome to sleep shirtless. Another new adventure in a house full of boys.

adjustments

2011-08-12T18:24:00.000-07:00

So we are trying out best to get into the swing of things with my school starting and getting the boys ready to start school. In addition to this we also have some changes with Jerrod. From the time Jerrod was little we knew he struggled to stay on task and follow directions, he also seemed to overreact to stimuli and seek out stimuli when it was calm and quiet.

We have talked to our pediatricians about this multiple times and they always wanted to wait and see. When he had his yearly check-up for school we brought it up again and the doc said he in no way had ADHD, but he may have a sensory integration disorder. This means that he perceives input differently than you and I.

While I don't know what this entails I do have access to wonderful drs at school. I sent an email off to a Psychologist at our school and she gave me some things to read and some recommendations to have him seen by a Psychiatrist. Jerrod had one visit before our summer trip, and then had some testing done when we got back.

We got the results on Wednesday and Jerrod was diagnosed with ADHD (what I have always thought he had) along with a sensory integration disorder. We just started him on some medications to help him keep his anxiety under control while we start with a 40 session treatment plan for him to learn how to control his body and emotions better.

I'm excited to have things to do to help him, but I also worry about labeling him. Adam and I get the task of figuring how to to fight for what he needs while still treating him like he is the same. I know we are up to the task and I am so glad we are working on this now before it has become an issue at school and with friends. Jerrod is such an awesome kid and I can't wait to learn how to help him learn better.

long time!

2011-08-09T15:06:00.000-07:00

Wow it has been awhile since I have blogged. I am going to try and do more small posts more frequently. I always felt like I had to post about all of our activities, and well I just don't have time for it.

So here is the rest of the things we have done to get you all caught up and then I'll start blogging from here.

I missed posting about Sammie's first birthday, and well she turned 1 last March, the 22nd to be exact. She is walking, jabbering up a storm, and causing problems as much as possible. The beginning of the summer she also got her first real haircut after Gideon gave her a trim on the top. I was so sad.

Gideon is as funny as ever and loves playing with his brothers. He has a love of hiking and riding his bike. He has also now ridden all of the rollar coasters at disneyland, including Splash Mountain.

Jerrod got a hair cut, shaved it all off for summer. He has lost 2 teeth and is a huge help around the house. He asked to ride the tower of terror at california adventures if you ever ask him what he wants to do.

Drew, well Drew is our reading machine. He's pretty cute and will read anything he can get his hands on. He loves just about any genre and always wants to go to the library.

Our summer was fun, but short. We had the opportunity to move into a little house in the nearby neighborhood with, wait for it, an awesome pool! We love it and use it almost every day. I had to remediate a course from first year and passed it, yay for moving on! Then we went on a long vacation, first to seattle for a week to see my dad and go to a friend's wedding from school, and then to Utah. Adam had his work conference, and then we stayed in a cabin in Eden for a week and relaxed. We then made the trek home and tried to get the house in order and then I started school again yesterday.

So there is our summer in a nut shell.

Goal=post more! See you soon!

Academic Decathlon

2011-04-04T11:14:00.000-07:00

So the boy's school does an academic decathlon where the students all compete in different subjects in their classrooms to see who is the best and then those students get to complete with the students in different classrooms to get the school champions. Both Jerrod and Drew got to compete and we are so proud of both of them.

Jerrod had the opportunity to show his mad math skills with story problems. Here he is with his competitors.

For one problem Jerrod wrote an answer, then erased it to write a "fancy 2" that looked more like a 3 and got the answer wrong. Bummer. Then he dropped his pen and got flustered and had a hard time remembering the problem.

He did a great job, and even though he wasn't the school "champion" he is the smartest 6 year old I know.

The next day Drew got to compete for reading. This kid is a reading machine. He flies through books and thoroughly enjoys them. Here is a picture with the classroom champions.

Here he is cutie Drew, he is seriously the sweetest boy I know, look at that smile! Drew got down to the final 2 and then they asked a question about antonyms. Well since he has never learned that that word means opposites he got it
wrong which stunk.

On the bright side I'm glad that both Drew and Jerrod had the same result though, because it would have been hard to have one win and one not. Good job boys, and next year we get the chance to do it again!

Jerrod's 6!!!!!!!

2011-04-04T11:03:00.000-07:00

Ok I'm super late I know, but Jerrod turned 6 back on February 22nd and he totally deserves a post of his own. :) The lucky kid got the celebrate 3 times, I know how awesome is that? So we started the celebration with a sunday dinner of his choosing,which was bbq salmon, salad, and cheesecake. It was delicious!

Blowing out his candles.

Such a handsome kiddo!

Our friends the Babcock's came over for the cheesecake and presents. They have 3 kids, Karli who is 8, Kloe is 5/6 9not sure which but same age as Jerrod) and a son Zyan who is 18 months. They are so cute and get along with my kids great.

Nothing like finishing the night out with some Glee Karaoke.

On Jerrod's actual birthday we had some brownies for dessert complete with candles. I had to be at school all day so not much of a party.

When my class had finished and I had a free afternoon we picked the kids up from school and went to Disneyland. It was fantastic, the place was empty and we got to ride all the rides we wanted to plus some in the time we had. Silly boys waiting for Midway Mania.

Here is Jerrod on his favorite ride, Screamin'. It's so much fun to watch him get excited. This ride was extra special because he kept his hands up the whole way! Impressive I know!

Here's the proof of the hand raising.

Hold on, Gideon is one crazy driver!

Have to show our muscles and pull the sword from the stone.

I didn't get any pictures at dinner, which stinks, but the Babcocks came and joined us for dinner at the Cafe Orleans. It is one of our favorites places to eat in the park because they have fabulous Monte Cristos. You should try some next time you go!

Hereare all of the boys spinning the big ball.

And yes Sammie and I were there too.

Happy Birthday Jerrod, we love you and are so grateful that you are part of our family!

Struggling

2011-02-04T21:29:00.000-08:00

Tonight Adam and I were able to go on a date, which was wonderful and much needed. I miss having time with him so much. After we got home, put the kids to bed I came back to look over some pharmocology material and thought I would do a quick check on facebook first. Well facebook was done so I went into my blog, not to post mind you, but to check the blogs of my friends and family. I saw that my cousin Lauralee had posted this video and while I usually choose to skip videos, especially church ones why? I'm not sure, but I do. Well I'm so glad I had.

Here is the video for any of you who actually read my blog and if you want to take a minute to watch it.

Well there it is and it's how I feel. I am having a hard time, life is so hard right now. Medical school is harder than I thought it would be. It is currently taking so much of my life and time that I am forgetting about some of the more important parts of life. Along with that I have let so many hurtful comments affect me more than I should have. Most of those have come from people at church and I have to admit I have grown harder and more calloused than I like to admit. While this message is powerful, what is more powerful is the spirit I felt while watching it. I been seeking the spirit and tonight it was a sweet reminder as well as an answer to prayers.

I do have a testimony of the gospel, I know the Savior lives and cares about me. He cares about how I feel as I try to memorize and learn an overwhelming amount of material. I know he wants me here, he wants me to be successful, and more than that he wants me to seek him out. I will continue to ask for his help and as I rely on him he won't let me down.

crafts

2011-01-03T18:56:00.000-08:00

Here are some of the projects I worked on for Christmas presents.

I made this throw quilt for my sister. I used an Arcadia honey bun and my favorite Kona Snow for the white. I really loved the way it turned out. I backed it with soft flannel, hopefully this quilt gets lots of great use, I hope you like it Carly!

For all of the nieces and nephews I made these little bags. The bottom pocket is used as a crayon holder and it's the perfect size for a coloring book and a few other toys for church or anywhere else they want to take them. I also made one for Gideon who likes to drag it around everywhere calling it his purse.

For Bethany and Hannah I felt that they needed something a little more mature, so I came up with these using a Giddy charm pack, some random pieces of Bliss and some scraps. I think they turned out pretty cute.

And the back

Here's Hannah's, I think they both turned out really cute. I was really overwhelmed with the thought of making these before I started. The bags are all completely lined as well as the pockets for the girls. Now I think I'm going to make me a new bag for my medical supplies and a couple of scripture bags for Drew and Jerrod.

The back of Hannah's bag.

I also made a bunch of table runners, but I didn't get any pictures of them :( Oh well, maybe next time. Now on to finish some more bags and a quilt for my mom.

Happy New Years!

2011-01-01T13:51:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it's 2011! I'm excited for the start of a new year and the time to reflect on the past year. Last year has brought a lot of changes to our family such as:

1. Having a suprise bonus baby=Sammie that has brought many blessings and smiles to our lives
2. Moving to California for med school
3. Adam starting with Western Govenor's University that allows him to work from home
4. Jerrod starting kindergarten
5. trying to find balance between school-family-church-exercise-and all of the other little activities that happen
6. Gideon getting potty trained=love only having 1 in diapers
7. Getting to buy girl things!
8. Watching the boys become better friends (I just asked them their favorite things and they said spending time together and playing with each other, how cute is that!)
9. Spending Christmas at home without family around.
10. Watching Drew grow and love scouts.

These are just a few and I'm sure I could continue this list all day. We have been very blessed this past year and are so grateful for all of our experiences.

With this reflection I have been trying to think of what I can do to help our next year be even better. I know one of the hardest things with our family, and I'm sure many others, is trying to fit so many things into so little time. Combining medical school with a family and 4 kids is definitely a challenge and now that I know a little bit more of what I need to do to be successful in my many roles I feel equipped to make some changes and goals for myself.

The goals I am going to make for this year are going to take constant balancing and stretching of myself, but that's what it's about right?

1. I really want to plan out my days better and make sure that I follow through with my plan the best as I can. I know things will always come up and I can be flexible with that, but when I set a goal to get up to get things done I really need to try and follow through with that.

2. Read my scriptures. I was thinking about when I felt I was the most spiritual and I believe it was when I was in high school and further pondering about why that would be I believe it is because I was very diligent in working on my testimony. I am going to try and fit in 5 pages every day, I think that will help me stay focused without taking as much time away from my school and family.

3. Lose 20lbs. I really want to get back into the rest of my clothes. Having 4 babies has been hard on my body but now is the time to get the rest of the weight off and be comfortable with myself.

4. Continue with keeping my evenings and Sundays study free family time. It is such a good break for me and lets me spend time and enjoy my sweet family.

That is all I am going to make for now, I may change/add/delete these but this is where I'm going to start.

Bring it on 2011, I'm ready!

Pigtails!

2010-12-27T16:36:00.000-08:00

Last night while Sammie was eating her yogurt I tried to get some pigtails in. I think they turned out pretty cute. They only lasted about 30 minutes until she had pulled them out, but it was fun while it lasted. She really hated me putting them in, I think we'll need to work on it so she can get used to having her hair done.

A little about Sammie, she is now 9 months old and quite the little mover. She has been crawling for about a month now and started pulling herself up on everything she can about a week ago. Since then she has figured out how to walk holding on to her little walker and has attempted to stand by letting go of whatever she is holding onto. She has been able to balance for about 10 seconds before she sits back down. She is such a smart little thing and we love having her around.

Gideon is her favorite person and she laughs more when he's around than anyone else. She is still a petite little thing and I just today packed up some of her 3-6 months clothes. She is still wearing most of her 6-12 months clothes, but with how much she loves food we'll see how long that lasts. She enjoys her freedom and moves all over the house. One of her favorite things is to sneak outside when one of her brothers leaves the sliding glass door on our patio open. We have to keep a close eye on her and Adam has some creative ways of blocking her into "safe" spaces so he can work and she can move around safely. I really can't believe how fast she is growing!

Christmas!

2010-12-27T16:28:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas! Ours was great, the kids slept in and didn't get us up until 8am. How awesome is that! Especially since Adam and I were up late making sure Santa got everything done on time. Here is Adam with kids getting ready to come look at the presents.

Here is me with the kids. It's kinda blurry, sorry about that.

Jerrod is showing the bell that Santa gave him in his stocking.

Drew checking out a car he got.

Another confused Sammie, she loved grabbing everything and banging it together, but didn't really catch on to the unwrapping part.

Sammie and Gideon got this kitchen from Santa. Gideon loves it, especially making all of the sounds on it.

Of course we had to explore all of the presents by putting them in our mouth!

Gideon being cool with his new Tony Hawk sweatshirt.

Jerrod loved his new skateboard, can't you tell?

Drew got an ipod, don't worry Santa found an incredible deal on it, and it even came with a Jack Skeleton skin on it. Pretty sweet!

Sammie loving, or banging things, with her new dolly. It was so much fun to get girl things this year.

Do you like Adam's new shirt? If you can't read it it says "Silent but deadly" very appropriate, well except for the silent part.

Mom these are for you, here is the remote control cars my mom got for the boys.

Jerrod got this Mario chess set and all of the boys love it, they spent quite a bit of the morning playing together. Drew needs some prompts but generally is a really good teacher to his little brothers.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and enjoyed spending it with your loved ones! I know we did!

Grandma & Grandpa visit

2010-12-27T16:12:00.000-08:00

Adam's parents came down to spend part of our Christmas break with them. It was so nice to have them visit, and the kids absolutely loved it. Unfortunately it rained every day they were here except for the day before they drove home. Because of the rain we did a lot of hanging out at our place and playing games.

A couple of days we ventured out to some museums with the kids. It was a lot of fun. Our first destination was the La Brea Tar Pits. We had fun looking at the ice age skeletons and hearing about how the tar pits could an animal, then other animals would come to feed on it and it would trap a whole food chain in the tar and preserve it so we can see all of the bones today.

Here's Grandma and Drew in front of a mammoth

Gideon was our little Tourist. He was wearing his backpack that had his change of clothes in case of an accident, then with his hat and the map. He was so cute!

Sammie was comfy in the pack.

Everyone watching the volunteers clean some bones.

Have to read the map to make sure you're going the right way ;)

There was some modern art work outside, so of course we had to take a picture in it. There were 5 of these blocks in a row. I wish I could make tons of $ by plopping down 5 concrete blocks.

Sammie thought it was so funny to watch me taking pictures of everyone. She is such a happy content little thing, we sure love her.

After the tar pits we went to the Griffth observatory. Unfortunately it was raining, we'll have to go back on a sunny day. It had a lot of neat exhibits, an awesome view of LA, and best of all it was free :)

The next day we went to the Discovery Cube, which is a children's science museum. We always have a lot of fun there. The day is not complete without laying on a bed of nails. Here is Joy.

Drewy taking his turn.

Jerrod, can you see his face he always gets a little nervous about what he is actually doing ;)

Santa comes and visits so the kids caught to tell them their Christmas wishes and get a picture. I was so impressed that Sammie didn't fuss at all.

Playing a virtual game of volleyball.

Jerrod loves playing this electric harp, can you see his little fingers all curled, he was really into it.

On Thursday, the 23rd we opened some presents. Here is Gideon, he was so excited to finally open a present.

Drew and Jerrod weren't too thrilled about me taking another picture.

Adam was mid sentence for this one, don't you love the way he didn't even pay attention to how he was holding up the videos? haha

Gideon with his cute dimples.

Sammie was so confused I'm sure her thought process was something like "wait I can open this one, but not those ones and you've been taking them all away from me for the last couple of weeks." It's hard to understand all of these rules we set up for them :)

Playing with her toy from Grant or Eli, can't remember which one had her.

Drew built this with all 334 octagon pieces, it was fun to build together.

Thanks so much for coming Grandma and Grandpa! Sorry the weather didn't cooperate, we'll totally make it to the beach next time!

Christmas decorating

2010-12-27T15:35:00.000-08:00

Ok this one isn't of us decorating, but isn't it sweet! The boys really enjoy their stories and we can get Drew to read to his brothers pretty regularly and the all love it.

Gideon found the stockings and thought he should wear them. He has such a funny little personality and it's so fun to see it come out.

Drew checking out an ornament. Can you see Sammie charging for the tree. She loved going over and playing with the lights, and unwrapping presents when we weren't looking.

Jerrod was showing Sammie the stocking she gets to use this year. I had made everyone stockings a few years ago but hadn't had time to make one for Sammie. Then all of those stockings made it to the trash this year so expect to see some super cute ones next year :)

Have to get a picture in of the cutest man ever. He was such a trooper and strung 4 more boxes of lights on our "pre-lit" tree. Thanks honey :)

Here is a new tree skirt I made this year. All of the circles are quilted with swirls and I did some tighter stipling between the circles. Also this was my first attempt at machine binding. Usually I hand sew the banding onto the back, but while it wasn't perfect it turned out pretty good.

Here's the whole picture. Notice the baby proof bottom of the tree :) I can't wait until we can have the entire tree holding ornaments.

Gideon's 3!

2010-12-26T22:42:00.000-08:00

We were able to go to Disneyland for Gideon's birthday. I think this may be a short lived tradition while we are in California. It was a lot of fun, and if you go on your birthday you can go get a pin that says happy birthday with your name on it, and get a happy birthday song form Goofy. It was pretty awesome and Gideon loved it!

Here we are riding the Carousel, unfortunately there weren't any good pictures, but this is the best one I could find of Gideon.

Here are the boys on the way to Mickey Mouse's garage.

Playing the crazy piano/horn thingy.

Here's the birthday boy!

Here we are the big man himself. Gideon was a little scared at first, but we had to pull him away at the end. I don't have a picture of this but Gideon also discovered the toonland roller coaster while we were there and loved it. It's his new favorite ride and so much fun to see him love it!

Here's our little princess enjoying the stroller ride.

On his birthday we had a cake and some friends over to celebrate with us. It's going to take awhile to get used to not having family there for the birthdays and we are glad to have some great friends to help fill the void.

Those brothers are always trying to get in on the action :)

Such a happy little boy!

Here are Jessica and Mark Graeber. They live right next to us and we are so glad to have gotten to know them. Mark is in the podiatry program so we share most of the same classes. Jessica watches Gideon a couple days a week to give Adam a break.

Here are Brandi and Bennett, with their little boy Bennett in the chair next to them. The other boy who is kinda facing the camera is William who is Jessica and Mark's little boy. Bennett is in the DO program with me which means I'm too busy to see his wife as much as I would like. We really enjoy hanging out with them.

Jerrod and Drew picked out this little doggie for Gideon with a first aid kit and a little kennel. It is fun to see them bandage the dog all up.

I can't believe my little guy is already 3, it seems like just yesterday he was born. I think he has had the hardest adjustment to being in California and me being gone so much. He loves to stay home and just hang out, and if mom's there you can bet he is climbing all over me. He is such an awesome big brother to Sammie, and loves to play rough with his brothers. Gideon we love to you so much and are so grateful you are part of our family!

BYU vs. UofU

2010-12-26T22:14:00.000-08:00

If you follow college football at all you know this is a major rivalry that our family loves to be a part of. Because the game fell over Thanksgiving we were in Utah for it and were able to spend the day with some of our favorite people, the Winnetts. We went over to their place to hang out and watch the game. One of the hardest things about us living is California is being away from our best friends so we soak up every minute that we can be with them. Here are some fun pictures of our time together.

The boys enjoying some playstation action while we watch the game.

Drew and Jaycob, Drew misses him so much and he kept telling me the best part of the trip was to see him.

Bella and Gideon didn't want their picture taken and were being silly.

Our two comedians, Jerrod and Logan. These two crack me up.

Erek and Lisa, such a fabulous couple!

Here are all of the kids together, then the kids with Adam and Erek, just Adam and Erek, and finally Lisa and I.

Thanks so much for letting us hang out guys, we love and miss you!

After the game we were able to go over to my mom's for a bit. They were in New Mexico visiting my sister over the holiday so we didn't get much time with them at all. Here are some pictures of our few hours there.

Thanksgiving in Utah

2010-12-26T21:45:00.000-08:00

Ok I'm terrible at keeping up, but here is my attempt anyways :)

We went up to Utah for our short Thanksgiving break. It was fun to see our family and friends and we wish we had more time to visit with everyone. Here are some of the highlights.

We met up with Adam's family the morning of Thanksgiving and took some family pictures in Trolley Square. The kids were especially excited to see all of their Aunts, Uncles, and counsins. It was especially exciting to see Angela's new baby Shayla, she is so cute!

Here are a couple of our little family.

Another one

Here's one of just the kids. They are so cute I can barely stand it!

I didn't get any other pictures of the day, which I am kinda bummed about. We had lots of fun talking, eating wonderful food and just being together.

Another high point was getting together with our dear friend Annie. We met at Paradise Bakery and enjoyed us some awesome cookies while we spent a little bit of time catching up. It's always fun because the boys get just as excited to see her as I do.

Here she is holding sweet Sammie. Look at Jerrod's face, I love seeing him light up like that!

Annie with the boys being silly.

And another one of Annie and Jerrod.

Thanks for taking some time to see us Annie, we love you!

busy and happy

2010-11-13T09:21:00.000-08:00

Ok so a real update will probably not happen until Thanksgiving, or maybe even Christmas. So far in school I have finished Gross Anatomy, Head & Neck, partway through MCBM (2nd test this coming Friday) and a bunch of our filler classes they give us to help prepare for the boards and get thinking about ethical issues we'll face. I have learned how to do a complete history and physical (I think I get to do it timed again on Tuesday) and how to diagnose and treat the spine with OMM techniques. My brain is on overload and there is so much to learn.

The kids are all doing well and Adam and does so well with them at home. He somehow finds time to work full time, work on his dissertation (not as much as he would like), care for the kids and keep the house clean. I could not do it without his support.

Drew continues to be our little book worm. He devours books so fast. He also helps out a ton. We have been giving the boys more chores to do and Drew has really stepped up. He helps keep the bathroom, his room and the living room clean. He also helps his brothers with breakfast in the morning and helps with making lunches.

Jerrod loves being in school. He is such a little character. He loves singing the songs they learn, usually with some made up words that make no sense whatsoever. He also is helping with the chores and loves to play with Sammie. He wants to read to bad and is starting to figure out how the letters work together.

Gideon is our little homebody. He loves staying home and if we are out running errands he usually asks to come back home. He has learned how to use the potty and loves picking out his underwear every morning. He also has started going over to our friends house a couple times a week so Adam has a little break to get his stuff done.

Sammie has grown so much. She is our little mover, she can army crawl all over the house, and so fast! She loves to explore and then taste everything. She smiles and giggles all the time. Her two bottom teeth have broken through and she loves to eat solids. She sleep better than the boys (usually about 12 hours straight) and rarely fusses. We generally wake her up in the morning and she starts the day with a smile.

Life is busy, but very good.

Update coming soon!

2010-08-25T21:53:00.000-07:00

I haven't forgotten, I have a bunch to post about and some pictures from the last few weeks. I am almost a month into medical school and have my first anatomy exam on Friday. Studying and trying to adjust to our new schedule has been busy. Look for an update sometime over the weekend, hopefully Friday :)

Fun Times

2010-08-18T14:51:00.000-07:00

So we decided we needed to live up as much as possible before school started. So far this has consisted of us possessing annual passes to the Discovery Science Museum, Universal Studios, and of course Disneyland. We have had a lot of fun, and very few pictures. Sorry.

Here are some pictures from our trip to Universal Studios when my dad and his family were visiting. Adam had to stay home and work which was a bummer but the kids and I had fun.

There is a section of the tram ride that has a 3D king kong segment. It's pretty awesome and Gideon and Jerrod love the glasses.

Drew, Austin, Dad and Jerrod

Gideon would not let go of Sammie's hand the whole time. Sammie was in a baby carrier and I packed her around all day.

Drew getting eaten by Jaws

Love this!

And Gideon getting friendly with the monster.

Jerrod and Gideon while everyone else was in the terminator show.

I was able to get more pictures of the little ones as Drew was busy riding rides. I unfortunately don't have any pictures from our two trips to disneyland but maybe next time :)

One thing that was awesome was when we went this past Saturday Jerrod went on his first roller coaster with a loop. We were pretty proud of him. It's been fun to explore new areas in California.

One thing, One week finished! Quilt Top

2010-07-27T23:24:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of the queen size quilt top I finished this week. It was a beast to put together, but I love the look of it. Sorry for the poor picture but we were playing at Universal Studios all day and I needed to get it up for Amy's one thing, one week challenge. I just laid it over our bed, hopefully I can get the back finished for it this week so I can get it quilted. I can't wait for it to be finished!

boys

2010-07-22T15:19:00.000-07:00

I took some cute pictures of the boys today so I could update my frames. Once I get the pictures hung I'll take pictures of our place so you all can see it. Here are some of the highlights including the fun ones.

Gideon wouldn't sit still. I got this picture went to take another one and got. . .

this: Our little crabwalker

biggest to smallest, check out those cheesers!

Shoulder rides!

Here's cutie Drew

Another example of how Gideon is incapable of stay still, I guess he is 2. He's such a happy boy!

This is taken just a few feet from our house, we are right next to the wall of the freeway. Carpool anybody?

Headstands!

And cuties Jerrod. This kid takes the best pictures, love his curls!

4 months!

2010-07-22T14:00:00.000-07:00

Sammie is growing up so fast I can't believe it. She is 4 months old today and at the moment utilizing her voice. She is super vocal, more than any of the boys. She coos and squeals all day long, at times it can be hard to hear others over her voice. She is smiling and likes to laugh at her brothers. I haven't been able to capture it on the camera yet, but when I do it'll be here :)

She had her doctor appointment last week and she weighed in at 12lbs even and was 23.75 inches long. She is the littlest kid we've had as the next lightest at 4 months was Gideon weighing in at a little over 15lbs. I am just packing away her 0-3 clothes and I'm a little sad about it. Here are some pictures

This is Sammie 1 month ago in the same outfit. She has changed in everything but size.

Here she is this morning in the same outfit, different bow :)

This is my favorite outfit for her and I'm so sad to know that next time I put it on it may not. I have been thinking that for a month so I guess you never know, haha.

She loves to stick out her tongue. The whole time I was trying to take pictures on this blanket she kept turning away from me to touch it. It's the backside of the quilt I made her with the soft minky fabric.

She does a good job holding her head up and she loves to make eye contact.

This isn't the best shot of her, but it had the best smile.

Sammie we are so glad you're in our family!

Waiting is almost over!

2010-07-20T14:21:00.000-07:00

When we got home from our jaunt to Utah this was waiting for me in the mail.

I really can't believe this is happening. If you have a hard time reading it it is the invitation to the convocation, white coat ceremony, and presidents lunch for next Saturday! It is crazy to think that after 5 years of pre-reqs, degrees, research, patient exposure, physician shadowing, leadership experiences, volunteer hours and many other things it is actually happening! Medical school starts in two weeks from tomorrow! Wow!

Thanks to all of those who have given their love, support, and encouragement to me and my family. It will be a challenging 4 years, and hopefully filled with many positive and rewarding experiences that outweigh the trials.

And just for all of your Y and U fans, check out the excellent shirt that Gideon is sporting! Makes the day just about perfect don't you think? ;)

Willie Wonka

2010-07-20T14:05:00.001-07:00

Out of the blue one day Drew started making this:

He made it for his teacher last year, Ms Kenna. He really loved having her as his teacher and wanted to make her something since we were able to see her while we were visiting in Utah. She really helped him develop a love of reading and writing. Currently he has his nose in another book :)

Here are some more pictures of his creation.

You have to have a golden ticket :)

Sign at the top

And the gates. I think he redid these 2 or 3 times until he was happy with the results.

Here is where is nose currently is, it's book 4 of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series.

Best Friends

2010-07-20T13:59:00.000-07:00

We had to have one more time playing with the Winnett kids before we left. Here are some pictures I got of the crew.

Gideon and Bella eating Popsicles and occasionally accidentally licking a piece of chalk as they forgot which was in which hand.

The boys on their bikes. These guys would live on their bikes if we would let them.

They were all wet from running through a sprinkler. Seriously aren't they the cutest?!?!?!?!

Here's one of Lisa holding sweet Sammie.

We love you guys and are so sad to be so far away again. We can't wait until we get to play together again!