Anniversary date

Jon and I had a wonderful time celebrating our anniversary this week. My wonderful mother and sister watched the kids for us and we were able to go out for several hours.

We had tickets to see a group called Voice Male. It's a group of six men that sing accapella and it was spectacular! The music was amazing, it was funny and really a great thing see! This picture is us at Abravanal Hall in front of a blown glass sculpture.

Anyway, we loved the show and I think it will be an annual tradition from now on.

Then we went to the fine dining establishment of Crown Burger! Hmmmm.....delicious! It was such a treat to sit and visit. For part of our Christmas gift, Kirsten gave us a list of things to ask each other and talk about. It was so much fun and one of the papers was - Top Ten Memories of the Past 10 Years. I don't know if we came up with 10 yet, but here are some of them:

1. Our wedding day - such a beautiful, incredible day!

2. The birth of our 5 kids! We are so grateful for the safe arrivals of all of our babies. All were accomplished with the help of epidurals and monitors (which I think saved each of their lives by warning us of heart rate drops, etc.)!

3. One morning Jon and I woke up on each other's side of the bed. Neither of us have any idea how, when and why we changed places! (It's never happened again).

4. I've yelled at Jon twice in our marriage. One time during a church basketball game. He was the ref and I yelled at him for not calling a reach in foul on my opponent. The second time was while on a trip to the Oregon coast with his entire family. I got tired of waiting for everyone to make up their minds, so I finally lost it, yelled at Jon and marched in the wax museum. Oops!

5. More top 10 to come....

10 Years!

Today is our 10 year anniversary! I can't believe how quickly time goes and that it's already been a decade! Along with every day being amazed that I have a blond daughter, I am even more amazed every day that I was lucky enough to find and marry Jon.


We first met in June 2008. My mission companion, Julianne Gentry Heaps was at BYU and invited me and another missionary companion, to come to Provo to go to the Manti Pageant. Jon was finishing up his degree that summer and happened to be walking to the grocery store when Julianne's roommate saw him and told him about a group going to the Pageant that night. He wasn't doing much else that night, so he did. Jon and Julianne were in the same ward, so when we got down there, she introduced us. We visited for a few minutes and then went on with the evening. He did end up coming home in my car.


Then a few days later, it was the 4th of July weekend and Julianne invited me back down to Provo (I was living in Salt Lake). Somehow we saw Jon again and he convinced me to run the 5K in the morning. He helped me borrow Beth's shoes (again - thank you Beth!) and then after the race we ended up spending the whole day together. I met his other sister Anne and some of her kids, we had a BBQ for lunch, we swam, we went and saw "The Truman Show" and watched the fireworks that evening. It was so easy to talk with Jon and I knew there was something great about him.

The next day, I called Julianne and asked her to find out what he thought of our day and me. What a great friend! She did and then we started calling one another and going out. He had already accepted a teaching position in Nampa, Idaho and was moving in August. We dated for those several weeks and then he moved. We talked on the phone and took turns visiting each other about every other weekend. We were engaged in October and then married in December! It was great!

I married a high school math teacher and I was a secretary for the Idaho Attorney General's office. We began our lives together and never imagined the adventures the next 10 years would bring. Within the first few months of marriage, we got pregnant with Emily and decided to take the path of medical school. Jon had considered medical school before and knew that even though he liked teaching, it wasn't what he wanted to do forever. We finished the school year in Nampa and then moved to Utah so that Jon could take classes to get ready to take the MCAT and apply to medical school. He taught at Murray High School for three years and then accepted an offer from Ohio State to attend medical school. Now, 10 years later, we have 5 amazing children and are finishing up residency - yeah!

We have LOVED our lives together. I love Jon more and more every day and I know that tomorrow, I'll love him even more. He has made all of my dreams come true! Every coin thrown into a fountain, every birthday candle blown out and every turkey wishbone broken, was that I would meet and marry a wonderful man and be able to be a mom! He made both of those things come true! I love you Jon - thank you for these 10 years and here's to the next 10!!

Jon and I on Christmas Eve 1998

We had just gotten back from our honeymoon

10 years later

Christmas with friends

We have had a great December so far (with more yet to come as we go visit family!). We got to celebrate Christmas with two of our great friends this last week. We celebrated Christmas with our friends the Larson's. (And stupidly, I didn't take any pictures). The kids had a great time playing together and eating dinner together. For part of my gift, my friend Becky gave me 3 whole hours all to myself! Wow! It was great! I took the kids to her house on Saturday morning. Doug took Lindsey to basketball practice and the kids all had a great time. They played, made cookies and tried to keep Hannah happy! (Again Becky, I'm sorry she wasn't very good for some of it - she got a stern lecture when she got home). But me? I had an even GREATER time!!!! I had my sewing machine out and sewed and sewed. I had forgotten how much I can get done in a 3 hour block of time with no interruptions! It was wonderful - thank you so much again!

Then we also celebrated Christmas with the Rasmussens! Another WOW! We went over to their house, we visited, the kids played, we ate dessert and exchanged gifts. We seriously have the greatest friends! Kirsten also had my kids earlier that day while I had a root canal re-done (and it's still not finished). She managed to dip pretzels while holding Hannah and then kept Jack and Kate for extra hours - this time I got packing done! Thank you guys so much for having us over, for the amazing gifts and for EVERYTHING!

Happy, excited kids (all 9 of them)!

Kate (with a new haircut) excited about a Charlie Brown book (she had just told me the other day that her favorite people were Dora, Diego and Charlie Brown)

Best Buddies

Poor Ammon - he always ends up with lame Disney on Ice tickets

Best Buddies

New Glasses

It's happening! Our kids are growing up! To prove that to us, Emily got glasses today! She had been coming home from school complaining of headaches and when the school nurse tested her eyes, they weren't perfect, so we took her in. The optometrist said that her eyes are just a little bit off, but not too bad. She was pretty excited to get glasses, so we went ahead and ordered them for her. She is supposed to wear them at school, but not during recess, lunch, gym, etc.

She's a little worried about what the kids at school will say tomorrow, but it was sweet to hear Lindsey & Jack tell her how cute she looked. Lindsey even wrote a little message on Emily's chalkboard about how cute she is.

Great job big girl! We love you!

Jack's Christmas program

Jack had his little preschool Christmas program yesterday and it was so cute! They have 18 kids in their class and 2 great teachers. We've been at Covenant Preschool for the last 5 years with our preschoolers and we've loved it. It's a Presbyterian Church and they do a great job. About 1/2 the class are LDS kids, which is amazing out here! They sang songs, did little finger poems and the teacher read the kids a book.

I'm almost embarrassed to post a picture because our camera is not working great - again! Rest assured that not all the children in Ohio have blazing red eyes! Great job Jack - you sure are cute!

Job Offer!

We've known for a little while and some of you already know, but Jon got an offer from an ER group in Utah and he has accepted the offer. We feel so blessed to have a job, especially in today's economy and feel very grateful for the particular group that he'll be working for. It is very bittersweet to know of our move back to Utah! We are so thrilled to be moving back home and back to our wonderful families! Oh, how we have missed them these last 6 1/2 years! Our kids will be able to be near cousins and have grandparents cheering them on at games, events, and activities. BUT, it is with heavy hearts that we think about moving away from the wonderful land of Ohio!

For those who don't know, I served my mission for our church in Columbus, Ohio and came to love this great land and people many years ago. Coming back and living here again has been greater than I ever could have imagined. It is a wonderful place to raise a family and we have been so happy here. We have met some of our dearest friends, who we'll just always consider family from now on! We have seen our children turn down going to birthday parties because they were on Sundays. We've welcomed three of our five babies while we've been here. We love this place and will enjoy every moment we have left. I hope that we are leaving Ohio a little bit better of a place!

Anyway, we're excited and sad! Excited to be moving on to the next phase of our lives - which has taken us nearly 10 years to get to - and sad to be closing another chapter in our lives.

Hannah - 4 months old

Yeah - I'm back! Between Jon using the computer most of the day for the past week in order to put a presentation together and then having to completely blank out our computer and start over, I've not had much computer time! (I don't have any good pictures on the computer yet).

Back at the end of November, Hannah turned 4 months! Boy - where is the time going? She is still such an amazing baby! She loves, loves, loves watching her older siblings. It's cute when she finishes nursing, I sit her up to burp and she looks around to see what is going on. Her little life is never boring!

She had her appointment last week and she weighed 14 lbs. 12 ounces (70th percentile for her age), she's in the 70th percentile for height and 60th percentile for head size. She's also about 10th percentile for hair growth!! (Okay - that I'm not sure on, but she's pretty bald!). Her other new trick is sucking her thumb!! If she is laying on her back on the floor, she'll turn to her left hand and get her thumb in her mouth. She sucks on a pacifier, so we're hoping to just keep it at that (much easier to throw away than a thumb).

We love you Hannah! Thank you for being such a sweet girl - although very much a mama's girl!

Christmas Tree & Lego Display

One of our favorite Christmas traditions in Ohio is to go cut down our Christmas tree over Thanksgiving weekend. We had found a really nice old man who grew them on his property and then let's you come and cut them down. His wife also makes wreaths, so for the past 5 years, we've gone to his place to get our tree. Beth & Jeff have also come with us and so we get 2 trees, tie them to the top of the van and drive home like the Clampetts.

The kids love picking the tree and I must say, we've gotten quicker. The second Christmas that Jon and I were married, we went to get our tree. He dragged me to 3 or 4 lots in search of the best tree at the best price. I swore I would never Christmas tree shop with him again! But, he's gotten quicker & less picky! We found one we like and the kids helped Jon saw it down.

After we got our tree, we went to McDonald's and then the Rasmussens were able to meet us to go on yet another adventure - to a Lego display! On the freeway though, our Christmas trees were getting more and more air under them, so we did have to pull over once to tighten them down.

There is a town about 25 minutes away called Groveport and they had a free Lego exhibit at their art gallery. I love Lego exhibits, and secretly would love to be one of the people to assemble them, so we decided to go. It was really cute! They had a huge table that was full of houses, stores (including McDonald's and Pizza Hut), farms with animals, buildings, a boat area and train that was going around it. It was great!

I loved the details (including a little Lego man of Karl Malone in a Jazz jersey)!

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving this year! I always miss being at home with family, but we have our wonderful Ohio family that make holidays wonderful! Jon had the day off on Wednesday and we (or rather he) spent the whole day making pies. He made apple, pumpkin, chocolate cream and cherry pie. I love that he is so good at making them and that they taste so good! (pies and bread are the two things that I just am scared to make). We were completely exhausted by the end of the day, so we went and got Sonic for dinner. Our area finally just opened a Sonic and it was fun to eat some yummy food that I didn't have to cook!

Thanksgiving Day was great too! Jon didn't have to work until that night, so he got up and played football with members of our ward. He loves playing in the Turkey Bowel and always complains of soreness for 3 days afterwards. He got home and we got everything finished up. We had Beth & Kyle, the Rasmussen family and the Arrey family over! (Our friend Heather came over later that day too, after she got off work). I love squishing everyone in our kitchen and eating Thanksgiving dinner. Kirsten & Beth made so much of the meal that it was easy to put it together. Everything tasted great! We had two turkeys, mashed potatoes & gravy, stuffing, rolls, creamed corn, green bean casserole, rainbow Jell-O, and strawberry Jell-O salad. I think as the years go by, Jon eats less and less for Thanksgiving dinner (he calls himself a "lightweight") and I eat more and more. Wow!

We then just got to enjoy each other's company. The kids played and watched "Babes in Toyland" and the girls chatted and worked on projects and the men...well, the men slept. Jon HAD to sleep because of his overnight shift and Ammon crashed in the living room too. It was a great day and always makes me stop and think about ALL that I have to be grateful for. Thank you to our dear family and friends for making another Thanksgiving so fun!

Ammon & Kirsten with their famous rainbow Jell-O (which takes hours and hours to make!)

Hailey, Brynlee & Kate at their table

Ethan, Emily, Lindsey (and Jack) at the "medium table"

Ahhhh, the sign of a good meal!