11 Years

Life here in Pitt has been one crazy rollercoaster for me. One day I am so happy to be here and the next I want to leave. That is how the first three months were. But now as I sit and reflect, I am content on being here. It is starting to feel like home. My kids are happy, they love school and have made losts of friends. That was the hardest part about leaving Utah, how were my kids going to do. They are doing awesome. Doug is happy. We have been wanting his for so long and now that we have achieved it, I think Doug feels he has accomplished his main goal, to get to dental school and now his goal is to finish. I don't know how he does what he does. He gets up early to catch the bus and right now it is in the single digits outside when he leaves. He spends 8 hours learning so many things and stays til 8:00 at night coming home eating dinner, going to bed to wake up and do it all over again. He never complains never says anything bad, just does it. He is so greatful to be here. He is so amazing and I am so proud to be his wife. He is a great example to me. I wish I could be more like him finding the joy and blessings in everything. This week has been the roughest part for him and us. FINALS WEEK!!! 6 tests in 5 days. I can't imagine the stress he is dealing with and yet he is so content. Not to mention that one of the guys in his class that he became friends with died this week. Everything being thrown at him all at once and he deals with it like a rock star. One day at a time. He knows he is blessed and is so thankful to be here. We will be married 11 years tomorrow and I am thankful every day for Doug. He is the most amazing person I know. The lord new I needed him in my life. He is strong mentally physically and spiritually. Helping me in every way he can. I love him with all my heart and I am so thankful that I get to be with him forever. Our family will be together forever. Thank you Doug for everything you do for us and the sacrifices you make. I love you more than words can say!!!!! YBEG

Dcember 16, 1999-December 16,2010

"Twins"

My boys have been making me laugh all week. First J with his axe and now T with this story. Yesterday was my birthday and after I picked the kids up from school I had to run some errands. Well on our way I told the kids we needed to call Aimee to wish her a Happy Birthday! T looks at me and says " It is Aimee's birthday too?" "Yes", I told him. "Aimee and I are twins so her birthday is the same day as mine." " You are?" T asked. All these years and he never knew that I had a twin sister. You made my day T. Love Ya!

"AXE"

J is a stinky kid. I don't mean to be rude but he has B.O. so bad that I can't have him sit by me because it makes me sick. I tell him to put deoderant on everyday but being a nine year old boy, he doesn't listen. Well the other day before school I told J to put deoderant on so he proceeded to use T's. It is "Axe" deoderant. Anyway when I went to pick them up from school he told me that one of K's friends likes him. Cool J! He told me it was because he was wearing "AXE" and now all the girls like him. I was laughing so hard. I had to go to Walmart and I told J to pick out some deoderant. He did and guess what he picked. You guessed it "AXE". Now he says more girls will like him. I love you J!!!!!!!

Pennsylvania VS Utah

Pennsylvania and Utah could not be more different. Here is a list of differences

Pennsylvania- Actual men ride on the garbage truck and pick up the garbage.
Utah- A truck picks up the garbage.

PA- Traditional school
Utah- Year round

PA-You can go as fast or as slow as you want, even in front of a police officer and they don't notice. Hey, you don't even have to completely stop at a stop sign! ( of course I always completely stop)
Utah- You get pulled over for looking at a police officer wrong!

PA- Trick or treating is done only for an hour and a half. An alarm sounds at 6:00 and every one starts trick or treating. At exactly 7:30 the alarm sounds again and trick or treating is done.
Utah- You get trick or treaters until at least 10:00 pm

PA- A very loud alarm sounds for every emergency. And it stays on for at least 5 minutes. Not lowering in sound at all. (annoying)
Utah- Sometimes you don't even know there is an emergency until you are practically on top of it. No annoying alarm.

PA- There is a park on almost every corner
Utah- One or two parks for a huge neighborhood

PA- Normally not alot of snow. Last year doesn't count because that was not normal.
Utah- Lots of snow, which I am going to miss cause I love it so so so much!

PA- Only about 100 peoplwin my branch
Utah- Way more than 100 in the ward

PA- Aimee, Alex, Cori, Amber, Cybill, Jamie, Nicole, Helena, Robyn, Jeannie.
Utah- My family ( in laws too!) Rachel, Marie, Marina, Melanie, Toni, Kristi, Rhiannon, Brenda, Kimberly, Jeri.

PA- No mountains
Utah- Mountains, Mountains, Mountains, Oh how I love Thee!!!!

PA- Hills, Hills, and more hills, and the roads go every which way. Your on one street and you go around a bend and poof you are on another street. So confusing
Utah- The grid! Give me an address and I can find it. North to South roads and East to West roads.

PA- Rental house
Utah- My house! (that I loved)

PA- My husband and kids
Utah- No husband and kids

PA- Dental school
Utah- No dental school

There are pros and cons in each place. I love Utah and miss it so much but you know what I am starting to like Pittsburgh. A couple of weeks ago I would have never said that but I am saying it now. This is home for the next four years!!!

"S"

I don't know if it is because we are in a new place or what but S can not let me leave her sight. Every five minutes if she can't find me she yells for me. I answer her and she says " I love You." I think she is just trying to see if I am still here. So I get told I love you every five minutes. Don't get me wrong I love to hear it but it makes me wonder why she is so scared that I am going to leaver her. A little story, The other day I was down in the basement doing laundry, I could hear her yelling for me at least five times. I answered her at least five times, I guess she didn't hear me. I went back upstairs and couldn't find her. I went outside and there she was going to our landlords house crying. I yelled for her and she came back. She thought I had left her all alone. I would never do that. She asked where I was and I told her I was down stairs. I asked her if she checked downstairs. No! I told her next time she can't find me to look downstairs. Sure enough if she can't find me she goes down stairs. I am not always down stairs but she makes sure she looks there before she freaks out. Oh how I love my Siciboo!!!!!!

Curious George and The Children's Museum

S and I went to The Children's museum with a group of Dental families. It was really really fun. They have a Mr. Rogers neighborhood ehibit and a Curious George exhibit. We only payed 2 dollars to get in because of our Pennsylvania Access card. What A fun day!!!!

I love you S!





First time driving a car!!


S and George


Love Love Love slides

The house in Pitt!!!!

We are so blessed to have found this house here in Pittsburgh. I believe we were meant to live here. The way that we found out about this house was truly amazing. When we came out to Pitt in June for orientation I literally had 3 days to find a house to live in. Talk about pressure and stress. I looked at alot of homes and was really discouraged. Nothing seemed to jump out at me. There was one night that I broke down and cried, I didn't want to be there, I was never going to find a house. We first were looking to buy a house but it just didn't feel right. Doug and I prayed and decided we needed to rent instead of buy a house, A little stress off but now we had to find a house to rent and there really weren't any in the area we wanted to be in.
The day before we were supposed to leave Amber's neighbor told us of a lady who just moved from her home to a home across the street and didn't know what she was going to do with the house she just moved from. Doug went to talk with her. She wasn't home, but he was able to talk with her brother who told us she would be home the next day, the day we were leaving. Before we went to the airport we went to talk to Jeannie(our landlord). She was amazed, she had been wondering what to do with her house and poof here we were. SHe was more than willing to rent to us, so here we are.
The house is so perfect for us. Lots of room, especially since we have four kids. The only thing that was wrong with it was the PINK walls. Yes you read it right, pink walls with green trim. I hated it, and I didn't think that I could change it since we were renting so for the first couple of weeks I just dealt with it.

The pink Walls





I decided that I would ask my landlady if she would mind if I painted the pink walls to something more neutral. I was a little scared to ask her but what the heck the worst she could say is no. I asked and guess what? She said yes. So it took me two weeks to tape and paint the walls and the trim. I absolutely love the color and it totally transformed the house. It is starting to feel like home. Thak You Jeannie for everything!

The NOT pink walls!!!

Chris

Last Monday my older brother Chris was diagnosed with colon cancer. He went to the emergency room on October 16, with pain in his abdomen. The er couldn't find anything so they sent him home, He went back to the er the next day and after doing some tests they assumed that he had appendicitis. After an MRI they realized he had a mass near his colon and when they went in for surgery found cancer. It has been an emotional week. I have never been far away from my family when something happens. It is hard for me not to be able to go and be there with Chris. This has made me miss my family so much. I know this is where we are suppsoed to be but it doesn't make it any easier. I love my family so much and I am so grateful for all of them. I am so thankful that he has so many people there with him.

S's 1st day of Preschool

I can not believe it. My baby has started school. Well she isn't a baby but you know what I mean. S goes to school Mon, Wed, and Fri from 9:00-11:30 and she loves it. Her cousin P is in her class. She started Sept 10and boy was that a hard day. I was so sick and I was sending my baby to school. What a day. I love you so much S!!!!!

Labor Day weekend!!!

Labor Day weekend was so much fun because Aimee and her kids came up for the weekend to be with us. I have missed living close to Aimee and her family and now we are about 8 hours from each other. It has made this move that much easier knowing she is so close. That weekend was so fun. She got in on Friday night. My kids and her kids were crazy excited to see each other. It took us quite awhile to get them settled down and ready for bed. Saturday we got up and went to Schenley Park. We all had a blast. The kids favorite thing at this park is the Merry go round. It made me sick just to watch them. But they loved it.







A And S have become the best of friends. They follow each other everywhere. I love it.




All my kids are monkeys!!! T, J , And K love the monkey bars.





But this is the real MONKEY!!! Love Ya Aimee



We had so much fun at the park. It was a cold day but we had a blast. Even Aimee and I were able to play a bit!!!







The boys even got in a little Guitar Hero. They rocked it! Over all Labor Day weekend was a blast.



Thanks Aimee for driving up here and making this weekend Awesome!!! Love You!!!

1st Day of School in Pitt!!!!

T, J, and K started school on August 26. I think they were a little nervous but I was alot more nervous. Their school is an old three story building with no air conditioning. I had a little anxiety because this was so so different then what we were used to. I dropped them off, yes I drive them to school. I don't have the luxury of the school being across the street anymore. I was anxious for them to get home to see how their first day went. Did they like it? Did they hate it? When they came out they all were excited and said they loved it. Thank goodness. It helps me to know that they have made friends and are enjoying school. That was one of my main worries when we decided to move.

Pittsburgh!

I am hoping to be better at keeping up my blog now that we are in Pitt. We shall see. We left Utah on Thursday August 12 and drove to Des Moines Iowa. We arrived there at 4 in the morning. We found a hotel and decided to stop so we could sleep comfortably for at least 4 hours. We left Des Moines at about 11 on Friday and drove to Toledo Ohio to stay with my Aunt. We stayed in Toledo until Monday morning. While we were in Toledo we had the opportunity to spend Saturday evening with my sister Pam. Pam lives with her dad in Toledo. At the age of 6 she had a stroke that left her mentally handicapped. She is such a smart and beautiful person. We took her shopping and went to dinner at Tony Packos, a delicious hot dog place. Pam has a big crush on Doug. She wanted a picture with just him.





We left Toledo on Monday at about 11. We drove to kirtland and toured the LDS sights there. We weren't able to visit the temple because the last tour is at 4:30 and we arrived at 4:45. We are going to go back someday to see the temple. We arrived in Pittsburgh at 10:00 that night. We were able to tour the house we are renting and it made feel better about being here. Finally everything is unpacked and it is starting to feel like home. I haven't had a chance to sit and take a breather. So when that opportunity finally comes I will be able to deal with the emotions that I know will be rearing their ugly head. I still have my days or part of the day that is hard but I am hoping they will start to become less and less as I get involved with the kids school and the other Awesome dental wives that I have met. I know that they will be a great strength to me these next four years! I am so thankful that we have this opportunity to be here and that Doug has the opportunity to go to Dental school. It has been a long time coming. We are so blessed