Becky's Art Work!!

Becky is too modest to post these, but I LOVE THEM...she painted them for our kids' room.  The "Monkey" is my favorite!

You are sooo talented baby! 

Thank you so much for making our home heaven on earth.

I love you, Becky.  I love you.

-Dave

Carbondale, IL - 2011

Nothing Like a Trip to Nauvoo

(Check out those toes...)

This picture cracks me up every time I look at it. Yes, 'tis true, we are poor students. Holes in the socks...EVERY pair we own. Of course, we got some new ones, but those are now getting holes in them too. We can not figure out how in the world this is happening. Must be another twilight zone medical school occurrance, or something.

So in June, my parents + two of my sisters + 3 of my nephews came up to these parts to see some Church history points of interest. My parents thought it would be a nice idea to take the next 3 grandsons that are preparing for missions to see some very important places that shaped the beginning of the church. I thought it was awesome that we live close by...and that they swung by to let me and the kids tag along for a little bit of it!

(Nauvoo Temple at Dusk)

We ended up staying right across the street from the temple, which was perfect for sitting out on the balcony at night looking at the illuminated temple listening to my mom tell us stories about early church history. This was the first time I'd been to Nauvoo as an adult (and since the temple has been rebuilt), so it was a very meaningful trip for me!

(Mimi's favorite part=the HORSE RIDE!)

There isn't a ton to do in Nauvoo for little-little ones...and the 110 degree humid heat didn't help with trying to coerce them into believing that everything we were doing was for little-little ones. Luckily she was in heaven on the horse-drawn tour of Old Nauvoo!

(Kainoa, Papa, and Nana liked it too)

(The grandsons practicing stilt-walking)

(Mia working at mastering a game at the pioneer games station)

(After lots of prodding and FORCE, here is Mia in a make-shift Pioneer outfit)

(The FOUR grandsons on the trip! Don't be scared, Bear!!!)

(The fam (minus Janet taking the picture) outside our hotel)

Great way to spend a few days of the summer, and I even got to get away from the cares of our "holey-sock" student life!

You talk to Daddy...I'll talk to Bear

The weather here in the last week has been awesome. Amazing. Totally redeeming, considering we lived in a sauna of 110 degree weather for the last two months. The extreme heat welcomed both of our families visiting throughout the summer with nothing to do but sit in our teeny house looking at each other because it was too hot outside to even step out the door.

Last night we went for a walk around the lake/golf course to take advantage of Illinois' sudden change of weather-heart, then decided to enjoy more of the weather by taking a drive to a near by lake with the windows DOWN [in August!]. gasp.

Dave and I were trying to have a lovely conversation...but kept finding ourselves being constantly interrupted by Mia. I finally told her that I was talking to Daddy and to patiently wait while we finish our conversation. She replied by ordering me to "talk to Daddy and I'll talk to Bear" [a.k.a. Kainoa]. She then turns to Kainoa and says, "Hi Bear!" Then a milli-second later she interrupts/says..."Mommy? Isn't Kainoa Bear sooooo cute?!"

So much for having a fluent conversation with an adult ever again for me. Good thing she's just as cute herself. Here are a few of her latest and greatest...

Made herself sick all day (fever included) from playing too hard when her cousins came to visit...

Playing with sidewalk chalk in the pool = turning into "paint" = getting it all over herself (without realizing it)...only to know what she looked like after she looked at the pics I was taking...

Modeling Daddy's hair-styling skills for me after bath time...

Staying true to her one-and-only love...CHOCOLATE!!!!

Life gets better and better, doesn't it? (Especially with fuzzy purple slippers, man.)

It's an Illinois Thing

Since moving to Southern Illinois, we've been a different kind of busy. Not busy like we were on the island, where Dave was at school most of the day, studying most of the night, and I was running around the island trying to find decent food, stay safe, and avoid running over a donkey in the road...or a monkey...or a goat for that matter.

Now, busy-ness is Dave prepping for his big-ole' board exam in the fall while we (mostly the kids and I...and the rare occasion Dave included when we successfully steal him away from his love affair with medical books) explore this new habitat we've found ourselves in...another place that we're living that we only ever heard of once we've moved here...Southern Illinois.

Southern Illinois is a strange place...surprisingly much like the island (in a "twilight-zone" kind of way at times), yet with added bonuses like Walmart less than a mile away, and the most awesome local produce from the neighboring farming communities. It is an interesting place with lots of varying/opinionated/vocalized political views, small-town ideals and traditions, and plenty of unique sights waiting to be visited. I guess we are figuring out that our gypsy-medical school existence equates to being stuck in a vortex of sorts while we bounce from place to place on our journey. We are quickly realizing that just because we are back in the U.S., our lives will still not be any kind of "normal" until we are settled for good in _ _ years. Maybe.

On this occasion, we headed out to Cobden (about 30 minutes from us) to see a Bison round-up. Another experience I've never heard of in a town I didn't know existed. We joined the other 20 people that attended to watch the cattlemen round up hundreds of Bison all morning to administer vaccinations. It was a strange, yet interesting experience. Not sure if it's "bucket-list worthy," but it was a nice...free way to get out of the house and spend some time together.