Easter Break and a Visitor!

Our Easter weekend was a good one. One of my very best friends came to visit. I have known Rochelle for most of my life---we met in Elementary school. She has always been and I know will continue to be one of  my greatest examples and closest friends. I am SO grateful for her friendship.

We also really lucked out to have Mike around for the weekend. We visited the Zoo (along with everyone else in St. Louis). We spent time at the park. Rochelle even sent Mike and I out for a night while she and the kids made movies at home :)

After almost a year of living in St. Louis we finally went to see the Arch.

I have to admit that I was a tad nervous for the ride to the top. You are enclosed in a little compartment (I get claustrophobic) Plus heights are not my favorite thing. It seems that I have passed along my wussiness to Samantha--she was pretty freaked out to begin with--- but we soon found out that there was nothing to worry about.

Waiting for our ride to the top

Looking out at the amazing view

Easter Morning

Looking for the eggs.....

Right before church

Each night while Rochelle was here, we spent the night on the couch surrounded by nothing that was healthy (licorice, junior mints...you get the idea) and we watched Downton Abby. It was the best.  Rochelle had not seen it yes--- so Mike helped us out by downloading the second season and then spent a lot of time burning them on to dvd's. It was awesome :)

For Easter dinner, we got together with our friends for a bbq and another Easter Egg hunt.

The night before Easter we sat the kids down and we talked about the Savior and how he is the reason we celebrate Easter. I made each of the boys a little case for their Book of Mormon, and then I made Samantha a new bag. I had to take this picture of Owee, he is so happy to have his own scripture-- he would just sit down and look through the pages.

Twinkle

Owee loves to sing Twinkle Twinkle Litttle Star--- especially with his ears plugged so that he can hear himself better. You can often hear him just singing as he walks around the house. 

Preschool.....FINALLY

This little boy has been wanting to go to preschool since Samantha's first day of Kindergarten. With finances the way they are-- it hasn't been something we could do. Lucky for us, our local high school offers a 6 week preschool for a fabulous deal. Collin gets to go to the highschool M-TH for a couple hours. On Mondays and Wednesdays his highschool "buddy" is Maddy and on Tuesday and Thursday is "buddy" is Chad- both really cute with Collin.

My biggest concern was what Owen was going to do without his "Colla"

We had been prepping Owen-- explaining that Collin was going to go to preschool and that he would be staying home with Mom. Of course, this never went over very well.

Example: The morning of Collin's first day he was dancing around saying how excited he was and all the sudden I hear "Colla, please don't leave me"

Talk about ripping your heart out.

I decided that I would try and do a little something fun for Owen after we took Collin. I told Owen that we could go to Target and get an ICEE and then look at  the toys. On the way to Target (only 3 min after we dropped off Collin) Owen asked if it was time to pick up Collin yet. He then proceeded to ask me atleast 6 times throughout our Target trip.

Now 2 weeks later-- not much has changed. Collin ABSOLUTELY LOVES preschool and Owen continues to cry when Collin leaves and asks me several times if it's time to pick him up. I'm sure that Owen will finally adjust by the time the 6 weeks is up!

A year ago.....

It was a year ago at this time that we found out that we matched to St. Louis University for Anesthesia.  For both of us there was a mixture of emotions. We knew without a doubt that matching to an MD program was a miracle for our little family and we were so grateful. But we both struggled with not matching to where WE wanted. Mike wanted Texas and I really wanted to stay in Ohio. It took me awhile to get excited. I knew that if we matched to St. Louis it was where we were suppose to be....but I just didn't know why yet. Now a year later, I have a much better idea as to WHY we are here-- and not in the other places that we both wanted to be. I am SO grateful for a wise, loving, patient Heavenly Father who has countless times shown me that I don't always know what it right for me. 

We are in a place where we are very happy. We are blessed with incredible friends. The type who very quickly become close friends, the type that really do feel like family. Mike is in a program that he really likes. He is so happy with the other residents in his group, they all get along great- which isn't always the case.

We really like our ward--- there are just enough other resident families who can be a support to each other--- but also a great mix of others who are at different stages of life.

I am continually humbled and grateful for where we ended up. This adventure of medical school and residency has been extremely challenging--- but also extremely wonderful.With each stage- Kirksville, Dublin and now St.Louis I have seen the hand of the Lord in our lives. I have seen that we were just where we needed to be, meeting friends and experiencing exactly what we needed most at that time and stage. 

Here's what we've been up to the past little while.....

Mike turned 33! We are so blessed to have such a loving, hardworking dad and husband.

 Our weather has been awesome. The boys have been on countless treasure hunts and expeditions

and a little  Kite Flying

We also had a visit from our Leprechaun on St. Patrick's Day who sent the kids on a little Shamrock hunt.

Kids

I just wanted to quickly write down a couple of things that have happened over the past few weeks. I don't want to forget them--

#1  Mike has currently been on a rotation which allows him to leave later than usual---(yay)--which means he leaves the same time I leave to take Samantha to school. Samantha all the sudden-- all on her own began making her dads lunches. Which consisted of a peanut butter sandwich, chips, smarties and a sweet little note telling him that she loved him. Doing kind and thoughtful things for others is pretty consistent action for Samantha.
#2 This past weekend, Samantha was supposed to clean her bedroom before she could do anything else-- this of course wasn't something that she was too happy about. As she is being her very dramatic little self-- Collin spoke up and said that he would help her. He then stood on a chair and Samantha would hand him her clothes and he would hang them up. As they finished I expressed to Collin that I was very proud of how he was willing to help Samantha. His response was "Thanks, Mom--- that's just what brothers are suppose to do"

"There's NoBuddy Like a Brother"

 One of the most fun things as a mom is to watch these 2 little guys become the best of friends. None of these pictures were staged---- this is how I find them all the time. Collin is so great at including Owen in just about everything...he always has his arm around him---always looking out for him and Owen ADORES Collin. I often hear Owen saying "and me too" after Collin says or does something--
We've made sure to explain to Collin about just how important it is that he is a good example to Owen-- because Owen wants to be just like him. There is going to be one lost little 2 year old when Collin starts preschool in March and Kindergarten in August!

Valentines

Our Pink Breakfast 

 Mike and I gave the kids each a book (Samantha is so excited to read chapter books on her own--she wants to start the Magic Treehouse series)

 Pictures for Grandparent Valentines Cards

 Our "Romantic" Family dinner