Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Getting hungry just thinking about them!






We had a fun evening putting together our traditional candy houses. Each girl picked a side of the castle to decorate while Dad and Tanner "supervised" (meaning ate lots of candy that really wouldn't look all that good on the house) and we were all pleased with our finished delectable masterpiece.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

2009 Christmas Card Picture rejects






I don't know if it's really possible to get a good picture of 5 kids. We've tried. Really, we've tried. The best we can hope for is at least one where no one is actively crying or picking some body part. Anything better than that is pretty much a bonus...

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Lights Aglow






We love going to Temple Square to see the Christmas lights, and this year had Uncle Ray along with us! The lights are, of course, amazing, and we had a fun time wandering through the nativities and displays throughout the area.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Good Ol' Santa Claus






You bet we believe in Santa Claus!

Monday, December 7, 2009

Happy Birthday, Little Red!






Carter had a wonderful First Birthday Party! We celebrated with a firetruck birthday, complete with fireman games and activities and a firetruck birthday cake. Carter loved all the attention and had a fun time, showing off his walking skills and smiling for everyone that would look his way. Happy birthday, little Red!

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Turkey Day!






We had a great Thanksgiving! We had lots of family come over and had a great time eating good food, playing games and visiting. It turned out to be a fun day for everyone.

Sunday, November 29, 2009

What a polite boy!

Tanner chose Thanksgiving of all days to say "Thank you" for the first time. Way to go, little guy!

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

All 50!

I did it! I did it! I made it to my last state a couple weeks ago and can now claim to have visited all 50 states! For anyone really bored, here's a list of a highlight from each state, not necesarily the first time, but maybe the most memorable. I'll freely admit that my visits to Alabama, Rhode Island and South Carolina are pretty lame, but hey, 50 is 50.

Alabama - 10 minutes on I-10 on Oct 17, 2009, just so I could say I did all 50.
Alaska - 3 weeks working at a fish factory, 1996
Arizona - it's all a blur. Birth, first 18 years, med school, birth of first 2 kids...
Arkansas - visited Vernon and family while driving Mom home from Nauvoo mission, 2007
California - Disneyland seven times in 10 years of marriage, 1999-2009
Colorado - toured Air Force Academy with Russ before he and Margie were dating, 2002
Connecticut - hung out in Hartford several times while doing clerkship at hospital in nearby Springfield, MA, 2001
Delaware - paid ridiculous toll fees for the privilege of driving 20 minutes through state multiple times en route to Philly or NYC while living in Maryland, 2003-2006
Florida - Tami and I had a fun Miami/Orlando/Bahama cruise after med school graduation, 2002
Georgia - Coca Cola Museum in Atlanta with Margie, 1991
Hawaii - fun 7-day cruise to 4 islands to celebrate finishing residency, 2006
Idaho - backpacking with Ray through backside of Grand Tetons, 2008
Illinois - first AWA plane ride, to Chicago with 19 hours stuck in O'Hare on way home, 1990
Indiana - hitchhiked to watch Ken on BYU folk dancer tour, 1995
Iowa - watched Dallas and Carrie Beck for a week, losing Dallas at the mall, 1991
Kansas - took Tami to first family reunion while engaged. She passed the Richardson family test. 1999.
Kentucky - drive through horse country, 2006
Louisiana - Anesthesia Conference in New Orleans, eating at Commander's Palace, #1 restaurant in America, 2009
Maine - lighthouse tour, 2003
Maryland - Johns Hopkins Hospital resident, 2003-2006
Massachusetts - trip with just Dad and I to tour Harvard, 1991
Michigan - Henry Ford Museum, 1996
Minnesota - canoeing with Ray, 1992
Mississippi - drive through Jackson while at ASA, 2009
Missouri - took Tami on swaying Gateway Arch elevator - absolutely terrifying, 2002
Montana - attempt to visit Glacier National Park, 2002
Nebraska - Winter Quarters Temple Open House, 2001
Nevada - Las Vegas weekend, watching Blue Man Group and stay at Palazzo, 2008
New Hampshire - interview at Dartmouth, 2002
New Jersey - Ocean City beach vacation, 2005
New Mexico - Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta with Ken's family, 2009
New York - lived a month in Manhattan Upper East Side studio apartment, 2006
North Carolina - interview at UNC, 2002
North Dakota - locum tenems work in Why Not Minot, 2007
Ohio - summer internship at Wright-Patt and living with Hancocks, 1992
Oklahoma - drive through with Tami and Mom, with stop at Cowboy Museum, 1999
Oregon - Dean's wedding and drive along coastline, 2001
Pennsylvania - Thanksgiving with Evans, 2004-2005
Rhode Island - flew in and out en route to Tami's first East Coast trip, 2000
South Carolina - drove through en route to DisneyWorld, 2005
South Dakota - Mount Rushmore, 2002
Tennessee - Knoxville World's Fair, 1982
Texas - took (and passed!!!) anesthesia oral boards, 2007
Utah - married in Bountiful Temple, 1999
Vermont - fall foliage vacation, staying at B&Bs, 2003
Virginia - Appalachian vacation, 2004
Washington - Seattle vacation, including Space Needle, 2003
West Virginia - Blue Ridge Mountains trip, 2005
Wisconsin - drove Aunt Barbara's truck home from mission, 1996
Wyoming - trekked for a day with Pioneer Reenactment, 1997

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Boo to You






We had a great Halloween! The kids had great costumes. Kaitlyn was a witch, while the other kids did the Peter Pan theme: Tanner was Peter Pan, Lauren was Tinkerbell, Carter was a crocodile and Ashley was Tigerlilly. They all had a good time at a family Halloween Party with Grandma, Halloween activities at Discovery Gateway, a neighborhood pizza party and then lots and lots of trick-or-treating. We have more candy around this house than we know what to do with!

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Carving Away






We made our Jack-o-Lanterns last night and had a fun time. The girls loved playing in the "pumpkin goo" and made a little witch's brew out of it. We eventually came up with 4 pumpkins carved and are getting all ready for Halloween night!

Monday, October 26, 2009

Picking a Peck of Pumpkins






We had a fun time on a hayride out to the pumpkin patch to pick our pumpkins. The girls each found their perfect pumpkin, while Tanner tried to stay out of the mud. Carter just smiled the whole time--thrilled to be on a hayride without a carseat!