Peace, Love and Joy

This Christmas we are especially grateful for our Savior, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who we honor.

And celebrate His birth, His life and the example He gave and the teachings He taught.

We are also very grateful for His atonement for us and for the Plan of Happiness.

It is through that plan, that we are an Eternal family.

We treasure the Peace, Love and Joy we feel everyday in our Home.
Merry Christmas

HOCKEY!

We got Bridger a pair of hockey skates in June. Since then he has been asking on a daily or at least on a weekly basis if we could go "hockey skating." I kept telling him that as soon as it snowed, we could go. As the first snowflake fell on our yard, Bridger yelled,"Mom!! It's snowing! Can we go hockey skating!" The rink is finally ready, and on his real birthday, we went to the park to go skating. One benefit to the winter with ice packed roads: I can pull the kids on a sled to the park to skating. Yes, our park, right down the street has 2 rinks to skate on, whenever you want (as long as it is frozen).

First time on the ice



This is the hockey rink, Bridger loved watching the players. Are there alot of good players here in Madison. While we were skating around, a man asked Bridger how old he was. We told him that he was 3 today. The man then gave Bridger a hockey stick that his daughter had grown out of. Bridger couldn't believe it. A real hockey stick! (Yes, apparently he has decided that there are real hockey sticks and toy hockey sticks and his is a toy hockey stick. And since that realization he has said, "Mom, I need a real hockey stick, not a toy one!") So, needless to say, he was excited. And kept saying, "Mom, is this a real hockey stick? Mom, is that man nice and kind? Mom, do I get to take this home?" He loved it. And now that hockey stick has been assigned the name of the "real, outside hockey stick" and his birthday one is the "inside wisconsin hockey stick" I'm telling you, hockey has become a real serious deal over here.


Carter's preferred way of enjoying the winter sports

When we aren't at the park on the rink, Bridger has claimed our driveway as his personal hockey space. Last Sunday we were getting ready to leave for church and Bridger had snuck out and was playing hockey here in only pants, shirt and tie and snowboots. Hockey at all times over here, people, at all times.

Can you guess? Yep. A hockey game. SO entranced.

A Wisconsin Big 3 for Bridger Man

To celebrate B-Man's birthday we had a Pizza Wisconsin party. This kid definitely loves the winter sports here and now that he is the big 3, feels like he should have the priviledge of playing them. All of them. Constantly.

Happy Birthday!

Hockey stick cake

Blow! (Yes, he is wearing his hockey shirt)

Bucky Badger Christmas ornaments

Bucky the badger hockey dude

Open it, open it, what is it, what is it, what is it, what. is. it???

(yes. he sticks out his tongue when he gets really excited)

And, it's a winner! That smile says it all.

What is "Wisconsin" Anyway? A conversation in the car on our way home with me and B-Man:

B-man: Mommy, where do we live?

Mona: Well, our house is close. Remember our address?

B-man: Yes, 646 Antony Yane, madison, Wisconsin

Mona: great job!

B-Man: But we don't live in Wisconsin!

Mona: Yes we do.

B-man: NO! Wisconsin is at the hockey rink! Member?! On Bucky the Badger's shirt, it says W. And that means Wisconsin. And we don't live there! And, and member, the peoples, those hockey guys had W on their shirts, and THAT means Wisconsin. And we don't live there! We don't live at Wisconsin, with the hockey guys! or Bucky the Badger!........

So, mom, where do we live?

Mona: Well....

Snow Day!

We finally got snow, A LOT of snow last week. After this storm was over, we were left with 17 inches of this fluffy, cold stuff that Bridger just finds completely fascinating and can't get enough of. Enjoy, my little one, for it is our last winter here and Boise doesn't get dumped on like this. Basically the entire city shut down, even the hospital, so everyone could dig themselves out of their driveway. Translation: Snow day with Daddy!! It was a great day to sled in the street, have snowball fights, chat with neighbors then come inside to warm up, drink hot chocolate and be lazy. Oh... then repeat everything 3 hours later. Gotta love winter in Madison, right?

Lots of tree limbs fell throughout the city. We were safe with this tree.

I love trees with snow on them

Snow berries

Thanksgiving 2009

For Thanksgiving we went to Columbus, Ohio to see my cousin, Marisa, and her family. It was only an 8 hour drive and who knows when we are going to see them again after we move out West, so we jumped on the opportunity. We had a delicious Thanksgiving dinner with Marisa and Alan, their five children and my Aunt Alona (Marisa's mom). Then we spent the next few days catching up, sight seeing, making cookies and we can't forget about singing along with their favorite album on repeat mode, "Rose Petal Place." Just now- 3 weeks later have the songs finally got out of my head. :) We loved visiting everyone and seeing their newest addition, Baby Ruth. Carter absolutely loves babies and was thrilled to be around a new little one for 3 days.

Making gingerbread cookies

At a waterfall

Little Ruth

The beautiful Columbus, Ohio LDS Temple

Doctor, Am I going to make it???

All right, all you budding doctors. Look at this x-ray and tell me what is the diagnosis.

Do you see anything wrong with this film?

If you don't look at the lateral view.

Now do you see it?

Yes, you are correct, that is a pin in the young childs stomach.

Yes, this was Carter a few weeks ago. Apparently this is how it happened. Mona was in her workroom when the two ruffians broke down the gate and rushed the fort grabbing anything that they could find. Mona took away everything that she thought was dangerous and herded them out of the sewing room. A minute later Bridger yells out "Mommy, Carter has a pin in his mouth" and then proceeds to tackle him to try and take it out. Mona arrives on the scene to not find anything, but Bridger swears that he saw it. So after several discussions with her loving husband (who took a poll in the pulmonology clinic on what to do) it was decided to at least get an x-ray. And low and behold, Bridger was right, Carter had swallowed a pin.

The medical literature says that about 90% of sharp, short objects will pass within a day or two without problems. So Mona made Ben search all poopy diapers until it passed. Which it did without any problems. Remember the song from few postings ago "Everything comes down to poo?" Well, apparently it does. Moral of the story: don't let your 2 year old tackle your 1 year old who has a pin in his mouth, he might just swallow it.

One more thing to add (this is Mona now) On the way to the hospital, Bridger kept saying,"Carter, why did you gobble that pin?" It was really funny. But Bridger was also very concerned about him too. The next day I was just worried everytime they wrestled that he was going to perforate his bowels!

Drum Roll: Our Decision is Made!

It has happened. And we are sure. We will be moving (Not until next July) to Boise, Idaho! Yes, we are excited even though for whatever reason when we think of Idaho, we think of

Napoleon Dynamite.

(Before you go any further.....please, please watch that clip!)

You may remember us from Halloween 4 years ago, or at least got our Christmas card with the pictures from it. In case you missed it or forgot, here are the photos:

(Oh, how I have been wishing and hoping and waiting for the perfect moment to add this prized picture to our blog :))

Don't you love, absolutely LOVE my pink fanny pack!!

Now, you are saying. "Yes, you should fit in just fine there."

Really, despite our Napoleon stereotypes, and, in case you have never been to Boise, it actually is a cool place and I think we will love it there.

In all seriousness, we are excited and most importantly, feel like this is the best choice for us to go. We have fasted and prayed and done a lot of thinking and discussing about our option to go here. It was confirmed to me when I was reading this article

I believe in a loving God who will give you personal revelation and help you make the right decisions. This article is talking about receiving spiritual guidance in our lives. It states that in regard to making decisions "...your confidence in the impressions you feel can become more certain than your dependence on what you see or hear "

We feel great about Boise. Everywhere we interviewed offered us a great option and had several good things to offer. Everyone told us how wonderful "their city" was, but Boise just felt right. All my nervousness about Ben being the only Peds pulmonologist in Boise, (well, really, in the state of Idaho) and everything that that would entail, is gone. I feel good. I feel at peace and I know that it is not the easiest place for us to go, but it is the right place. Ben is excited to start something new and make a big difference in childrens health care .

And, if we could live next to Napoleon, it'd be even better.

Second Interviews

Bridger kept saying, "I wanna go to second ninnerviews too!" But this was our chance to be alone together to decide on our future. It was a great trip. It non-stop action and a little stressful. (We are making a big decision, you know!) By the end of everyday we were exhausted from meeting wonderful new people, driving or flying, looking at houses and being spoiled. We ate delicious food at many classy restaurants and despite our 4000 calorie per day consumption, the only thing that gained weight was our luggage. (Someday we will be thankful for this curse)

Here is the recap:


Sioux Falls, South Dakota


We got off the airplane and walked to the baggage claim surrounded by men in camouflage and saw this:

It did not take us long to learn that it was the opening day of pheasant hunting. And, obviously, it is a BIG deal in South Dakota. I had to laugh. I have seen a lot of signs in airports, but nothing like this.

The first night we had dinner at the home of Chief of Staff with many doctors and their spouses. It was delicious food, we met lots of really down-to-earth, friendly people. It was probably my favorite dinner of the trip; very classy, yet casual and in a very social atmosphere where we could move around and talk to everyone. The next day was interview day, I met with lots of people and toured the womens' center. It was just remodeled and very, very beautiful. It would be a great place for me to work, and with a requirement of only 18 shifts a year, who wouldn't do it? Oh, and Ben's job? Yes, it would be fantastic here as well. They just finished the "Castle of Care" children's hospital. Great staff, great partner, great benefits. I also went to lunch with Ben's potential partners wife, Dawn. What a wonderful lady! She told me and showed me all the great things that Sioux Falls has to offer. She took me to the Sioux falls and it was just beautiful!

It was a cold day (yes, the weather of Sioux Falls still makes me nervous, but at least it was sunny!) That night we went to dinner with potential partner and family at a delicious local restaurant. They were great company for the evening. And I had coconut chicken salad--so, so yummy! The next day we went on a real estate tour and saw some great houses, we found several that we liked. Then we went to lunch with some friends of our friends and they also took us on a tour and showed us their favorite things of Sioux Falls. We went to the movie Amelia that night. I think the first movie we have gone to in the theature since we had Bridger. The next morning we met several of the hunters with coolers full of freshly killed pheasant and 14 hours later were in our hotel room in:

Spokane, Washington.

The morning started with Ben giving a grand rounds lecture. I went for moral support and to meet other doctors there. He did a great job on the lecture, I then drove around Spokane for a few hours in the pouring rain to see some houses that I had looked up on-line and surprisingly knew Spokane really, really well. I never got lost and went without a map. We had lunch with the office staff and potential partner here. It was really informative and they were really friendly people. That afternoon I went shopping and took some pictures of the falls and Riverfront Park.

That night we went to dinner at an old flour mill in a restaurant called the Clinkerdagger. It overlooked these falls and the city. I had a wonderful steak... I left wondering why I had ever spent time in my life being a vegetarian. This potential partner is so nice and too would be a great guy to work with. It was a good night. The next day we went on a real estate tour and saw lots of great houses and saw so many amazing views. (the rain had stopped) We felt like we were at a high mountain resort. It amazed me how many pine trees there were and the mountains and beautiful trees. This would be the most scenic place to live and we would love it here too. That night we met with another doctor, his wife, and some friends and they told us about all the great things about Spokane including that in the summer he water skis 5 times a week. (Ok, that may have just sold me on Spokane :)) I was trying to be a little more daring at this dinner and ordered Rosemary gnocchi with oxtail rague. This was my least favorite food of the trip. I guess that's why I usually stick to chicken, steak or salmon. They are safe, I know that I like them. The next morning we flew to :

Boise, Idaho

on this plane. Ben's dream for whatever reason is to fly on a plane like this. He was very excited. It kind of made me nervous, especially after just watching Amelia.

Boise was great. We went on a real estate tour and saw several houses that would be awesome. For good or bad, the real estate here has taken more of a hit, so it is definitely a buyer's market. We met up with our dearly missed friends, the Hills, that night and it was just so relaxing to play with their little people and eat at home. This was my favorite night of the trip. True good friends to relax with share stories. The next day, yep. More interviews. I met with all the women's service people here, they were all so very, very nice and I have used the computer charting program before. We had lunch with an ICU doctor and his wife and they told us all the cool things about Boise and why it is a great place. In the afternoon, we went for a walk around the green belt the is along Boise River. We realized that every where we have chosen has water running through its downtown.

That night, guess what? Yes, we went to dinner at Berryhill and I had the most delicious salmon with jasmine rice and grilled veggies. Delicious. And we met with two other doctors and their wives and they too told us the great things about Boise. They are all outdoorsy people and Ben would love to go fly fishing and biking with them.

The next day we were ready to go home to our kiddoes. It had been a whirlwind of a trip. Like I said, we met the nicest people everywhere we went. It was great to see each place and so now you may be asking, "So where are you going?" Ahh, yeah,,,well, we don't know. We are still debating and weighing all the pros and cons of each place. The good thing is that they are all wonderful places that all have more pros than cons. We will let you know.

How did the kiddoes do with Aunt Val? They did well, I think, here is her side of the story:

val's blog post

Ba-bye Crazy hair!

Carter's hair was getting long, a little too long. Everyday Bridger would announce: "Mom, Carter has crazy hair!" It was really fun to play with and I could even put little pony tails in it. Then someone said, "Looks like he has a mini-mullet." So, there we go. No son of mine will have a mullet or a tail or anything close to it. Ba-bye crazy hair.

It made a great mohawk!

He must have thought that it was too long as well. After the haircut he kept laughing and lookng in the mirror and was very excited.

Fall, Leaves Fall!

Fall is my favorite season. I love the wonderful, bright colors and the crisp chill in the air. I really miss the mountains in the fall and there is really no comparison to the beauty there but being in a place where there are plenty of deciduous trees is beautiful too. Here are some of my favorite pictures from this season. I know there are a lot but when you are as cute as we are can you ever have too many? :)

Family

Aunt Val! We miss you!

I love this one of my sweet Carter

This one cracks me up.... not quite sure if he is posing or what