4th of July

Okay- for the record- I HAVE been shopping at Walmart since I've been here. It is a good store to get all your big time shopping done! I just like having OPTIONS! :)

Ok-now that I've cleared the air on that-I'm finally posting some 4th of July pics!

They're a little out of order and it's not letting me change it.

It's tradition to go to the 4th of July parade! It was fun and Nate really loved it!

We then went to the Hillam Family BBQ where Nate had a fun day with all of his cousins!

They loved playing on the slip-and-slide!

Watching the parade!

All the sis-in-laws wore RED!

Hanging out w/Dad- Nate just loves his Dad. He often say "My DAD!" so everyone knows! lol

We had a great 4th! I just love celebrating America!

It WAS a typical scene...

Nate and I took Steve and "the guys" a treat one day at the end of their last quarter. This was a very typical scene for two years....

Now- Steve is very happy to be doing his clinical rotations in the hospitals and clinics! Right now he's doing his Pediatric rotation and really enjoys seeing patients.

At the end of June he took his Boards and we were really glad to have those over with! We'll find out his scores in six weeks or so.

We're really proud of you Steve!

Congrats on finishing your first two years!!

Nate was in heaven

Kirksville had a fun day where you could go see the firetrucks, helicopters, police cars, and ambulances! Nate was in heaven!

I'm really behind on posts- so I'll be playing catch up for a while! We sure miss some things our small town had to offer! Days like this were so fun for the kids!

However- I'm LOVING every store BUT Wal-mart! After that being the only store to shop at for two years- it's nice to have options!

A quick update

I wanted to write a quick update! Several people have asked why my blog has been neglected the past little while. Well- a few reasons. One- our computer wasn't working and two, we've moved to Utah! It's been a very busy month.

I was so lucky to have my two sisters, Mandy and Karalee, come to Missouri to help me pack and make the drive back to Utah. They were life savers! I never would have made it w/out them!

The day I picked them up from St. Louis we went to the zoo! I only had a few pics on my phone that I'm able to upload on the blog...

The above pic is Nate w/a Giant Ape!

We LOVED the Hippos!

And the elephants were pretty cool. There were two baby elephants that were fun to see too!



We had a end of the year lunch w/some of the Med School families. Nate and his little buddies found a big mud puddle. Believe me- Nate got a lot worse before I stripped him down,put a new diaper on him, and took him home to put him strait in the bath! But boys must be boys and I'm glad they had fun.
I loved Cohen- he was just so cute covered in all that mud.

Our move went well- 21 hours strait in the car just about did me in! But I can't complain- Nate did really well for being in the car that long! I'm just glad it was a one way trip and I don't have to make that drive anytime soon.

We really like our new home and we have really enjoyed being with our friends and family!

I'll update again soon!

Have a Happy 4th!

Tornado

Pic from Megan's blog- thanks Megs!

Click on Megan's blog to see more pics of some of the homes that were destroyed.

For friends and family back home, I wanted to post about the tornado that hit Kirksville Wednesday night about 6 p.m.

Here's a very rough video of it. Click HERE

There's also a few more on You Tube if you search "Kirksville Tornado." (I'm in a hurry so I can't post them now!)

As I understand it, the tornado made national coverage. Several neighborhoods and small towns outside of Kirksville were hit. There was one neighborhood (1-2 miles from our home) in particular that had many medical student families living in it. For Provo people, if you know Brian and Jenna Flanigen, they lost the 2nd story to their home along w/our friends who shared their duplex. Everyone on that street though was safe and unharmed. Thank goodness!!

We had a family over for dinner last night who lived on that street and survived the tornado in their closet because they didn't have a basement. There hasn't been a tornado in this town for 110 years and of course we get to experience it a month before we move and right during Steve's finals week.

When the tornado hit, Steve had just left school. He got home and said the weather outside was really eerie and weird. He said he ran to his car because he thought it should have been pouring rain w/the dark cloud in the sky, but it was just silent and really really humid. After he got home, the rain just dumped like I've never seen it before.

Steve left for scouts about 45 minutes later to find out that several families in our ward had severe damage to their homes. He went w/the scouts and several friends to help.

I have never been in severe weather like this and boy it is crazy! I feel so bad for all the families who were affected and we're trying to do as much as we can to help them. Please keep them in your prayers.

Isn't summer the best?!

Super Heros

Super Heros rocking out on the piano.

We trade date night babysitting with the Hendersons every other weekend. Jordie and Andrew look so cute in their super hero jammies. Nate has to join in the fun w/his superman/batman cape G'ma gave him for Christmas.
The boys are just so darn cute.