The end of Summer

Catherine with her cousin Shayne and the puppy Presley in the pool!

She has grown up so fast!!

Time for catch up again I guess. I'm really bad at updating this. Last time I wrote on here was right after we moved to Ketchum. This summer has been fairly eventful, mostly just hanging out with family. We were able to see both of Scott's brothers that live out of state (and the rest of the family of course). Also our little girl has turned 18 months old. She is growing so fast! She weighs 24 lbs and is 33 inches tall. Which puts her in the 50th percentile in weight and the 90th percentile in height. She is so smart and talks all the time. She can say so much. She is already stringing words together and can already catch a ball. We love her so much!

       We are trying to get used to living in a new place. We are enjoying it here. It is already getting cold here. Our heat has been on for about 2 weeks now. Its alrigth though, besides putting me in a Christmas mood way too early.

        I don't have much else to report. Scott is working hard and liking what he is doing. He is a little short handed but, we are working on getting that fixed. He isn't home much but, we are getting by. I am ready for the holidays to come. Scott isn't ready but, he didn't get much of the summer. We do love it here are are trying to get settled in. Thanks to everyone who has supported us. We love you all!

Campfire!

I know I look like a dork here but, I was singing to Catherine!

Scott decided he wanted to have some tinfoil dinner. So, we got everything ready and headed out to where Scott "thought" a camp ground was. W drove for forever on a winding road through a bunch of mountains until I finally told Scott that we had to find something soon or we were turning around. I was so car sick by the time he finally stopped. We never did find the camp ground. We finally just pulled off the road onto a dirt path and found somewhere to set up a fire. It went well and Catherine loved it. The dinner was really good. We sang songs, and played around the campfire. It was a lot of fun!

Moved in.

This is the view out the back door.

This is out the front door.

Slightly different view out the front door.

Well, we are all moved in and finally able to relax at home. We are renting a house in West Ketchum. It has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. It is a nice home and we are happy. Scott loves it here! He loves living in the mountains and the beautiful scenery. Scott always wants to go out fishing or to build a campfire. I think we are really going to like it here. I took some pictures of our views. I would have taken some pictures of the house except that we aren't done unpacking. So when we are, I will post them.

Alone at last!

As many of you may know we have been waiting, not so patiently ;-), for Scott’s school to end so we could move. Well, it has finally happened!!! We are finally moved into our new house. We were able to find a house in Ketchum on a quiet residential street. I picked out the house by myself! Scott didn’t even see the house until we moved in. Scott now has a 4 minute drive to work (he is pretty excited). The house is a stone’s throw away from the bike path in Ketchum; I honestly think everything is a stone’s throw away from the bike path.

The move went smoothly, we asked our friends to come over Friday night to help us load the fragile stuff into our cars. Then at 10 am on Saturday our friends Katie and Gabe Lawrence, my sister Heather and her family, and the Elders Quorum showed up and we loaded the truck up. It took us 2 hours to get everything loaded. We stopped for lunch then hit the road for a 2 ½ hour drive to Ketchum. I was driving my pilot, my sister Jennifer was driving Scott’s car, and Scott was driving the U-Haul truck. We made good time and made it to the house at about 10 after 3 p.m. Once we were at the house we didn’t have to wait long for the Elders Quorum, Scott’s parents (Wynn and Neta), Scott’s brother Curtis, and my sister Crystal to show up to help unload. We got the whole truck and our 2 cars unloaded in about 2 hours. Thanks to my brother-in-law Danny for unloading the cars, basically by himself. Everyone was a huge help and we were really grateful to the people who showed up to help. My sister Jennifer even came up to Boise on Thursday and helped us finish packing, she was great.

Also while we were finishing unloading the Bishop from our new ward here in Ketchum and his wife showed up and lent a hand. They helped me in the kitchen unpacking boxes and then taking down the boxes. They were great. Not only did they help unpack Sis. Evans (the bishop’s wife) even took some of my dirty laundry and cleaned it for us (we found out on our way to Ketchum with our stuff that there was no dryer…). I don’t know what I would have done! Then a little later the Relief Society presidency showed up with dinner. We had bought sandwich fixings for everyone who helped to eat but, it was great to have on Sunday. We got to the house and realized the gas had been turned off… So, we can’t heat our house and we have no hot water. The stove doesn’t work either. So, we were extremely grateful to the Relief Society presidency for dinner. It really helped out a lot. So far we are very happy with our new house and our new ward. I think we are really lucky to have moved into this ward. I am excited for the coming year! Even though I will miss our friends back in Boise! I am happy to be moving on to the next stage of our lives.

I want to thank everyone who helped out! We are so thankful you were able to take time to come and help us. We couldn’t have done it without you! Now all that is left to do for me is head back to Boise and clean the apartment, then head on to Blackfoot on Wednesday to spend the rest of the week with Scott, my sister Crystal, and her family. What is left for Scott to do is drive the U-Haul to Blackfoot then head to class in Pocatello on Monday and Tuesday, after that he gets to play the rest of the week until graduation on Saturday. Graduation is at ISU in Pocatello at 10 am on Saturday the 5^th (if anyone wants to go). I am so excited, and relieved, that Scott is graduating on Saturday. He has worked so hard for this day. Now he just needs to pass his tests and he will be a pharmacist, at last!

Easter!

Our Easter baskets

Catherine in her new Easter dress

Dyeing eggs

Can you guess what is going on here? Apparently it is a guy throwing a rugby ball

We didn't do much for Easter but, we still had a good day. The day before Easter we were in Ketchum looking for a house to rent. So, we didn't get to dye eggs before Easter so, we dyed them on Sunday. Catherine had a blast! She kept plunging her hand into the dye. He hand was dyed a greenish blue by the end and her body was speckled with several colors. She also ate way too much chocolate! She is so much fun!

Happy 1st Birthday!

It seems like I am always playing catch-up. My baby turned 1 year old on March 7th. I know I'm a little late blogging about this but, better late than never right? Anyway, we had a nice quiet day on the 7th then, she had a party on the 10th. It was nice and warm so we went to the park with her cousins. Most of her cousins on my side were able to come. Crystal, Danny, and their kids came up Friday night and spent that night with us. For Catherine's party we met at Julia Davis park and the kids played with the big boys (Scott, my brother-in-law Danny, and our friend Gabe) while they tried to play rugby and Frisbee. They had a blast. Then played pin the candle on the cupcake. Last the kids got to go play on the toys. Around 5 we all met at Sizzler for Catherine's birthday dinner. She loved it and she really loved her ladybug cake. We had soooo much fun.

Does anybody else see that light?

We are in the home stretch! Or at least that is what I keep trying to tell myself. Scott only has just over 3 months left!! I don't know if I can really call it the home stretch because he still has 2 full rotations left but, I am really trying to see the light at the end of the tunnel. So, if I squint real hard and blink a couple of times I can almost see a little dot of light in the distance. Now we just need to find Scott a job! I keep trying to get Scott to send in applications but, he wants to worry about one thing at a time. Ha, I wish I had that problem! Scott is currently working on his P4 seminar. I guess I will explain what that is, basically he has to write this big presentation. There are a lot of steps and a bunch of hoops to jump though to get it done. They sent out a list of topics the P4's (fourth-year pharmacy students) could choose to research. So Scott had to pick a topic and a College of Pharmacy faculty member to be his evaluator. Then he had to do a little bit of research on the topic and ask the professor to be his evaluator. Then, he had to wait and see if the professor he chose would accept him (the professors were only allowed to take on 2 students each), and also see if he was the first to request that topic. No student was allowed to do the same topic as another. So, if either the professor or the topic was unavailable he would have to do this over again until he was able to get both a professor and topic lined out. Fortunately he managed to get both a topic and evaluator on the first try (others were not so lucky). Next, is preparing the presentation. It has to have studies on the topics and have 2 main articles that the presentation focuses on. But, the articles have to be approved by his evaluator. Anyway, to finish this off he has to make the presentation and present it on the 17th of February, where he will have an audience of all the other P4's here in Boise and be graded by his evaluator and another professor. The 17th really isn't that close but, Scott also wants to go see some rugby in Las Vegas the weekend before his presentation. Needless to say, he needs to get this thing done early, and that has never been his strong suit.
So, Scott doesn't want to apply for jobs until he is done with his seminar, because then he can put that on his resume.
I have been able to talk him into applying for a couple jobs. One in Twin Falls and one in Ketchum. So I guess I just have to keep my fingers (and toes) crossed and hope we can find him a job soon. If we don't find one soon, I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I am so stressed over this job that I can't sleep much. If we don't find one soon, I am going to go crazy from being so sleep deprived! So, if i squint real hard maybe I can see the light and relax a little.
Here's to hoping!!

Birthday!

Well, my birthday was on the 5th of January. Luckily for me, right now Scott is working at the nuclear pharmacy here in Boise so, he works from 3 am to 9 am. So, we were able to spend the whole day together. We first went out to Johnny Carino's for lunch and had some awesome food. Then we went bowling. We had a lot of fun. Scott and Catherine also got me a piano keyboard for my birthday and my mom bought the stand and bench for it. It was a great birthday! My family spoils me. My parents were going to come to Boise to see us that weekend but, it wasn't that long after Dad and my little sister's surgeries and they weren't feeling that well so, we waited a week so, they came and saw us yesterday and we went to Tucanos here in Boise. It was awesome, so delicious. I think I would go back just for the brown sugar glazed grilled pineapple. Absolutely amazing! Also Catherine ate sooooo much. She ate like crazy. Papa (my dad) kept feeding her, and she loved it.
We are just trying to make it through January now. Scott is now halfway through his rotation at the nuclear pharmacy then, he will do 6 weeks at Custom Rx in Kuna, then on to Ambulatory at St. Lukes. Then finally after what seems like forever, Scott will graduate in May. We are so close!! Now we just need to find Scott a job and we will be all set!

Happy new year!!

Well, its a new year and I am really behind. I didn't even finish talking about our New Zealand trip. I'll try to summarize it. I guess the last thing I talked about was the Rugby game, which was awesome. We were then able to spend time in Hamilton and go to the temple, the rose gardens, catch up with some of Scott's friends, and do some shopping. We then drove all the way from north New Zealand (Hamilton) to the tip of the north island (Wellington) where we took a ferry to the south island. From there we drove down the west coast of the south island visiting Greymouth, Franz Josef, Queenstown, Milford Sound, Invercargil, Bluff (which is the very south tip of New Zealand), then back up the east coast starting at Dunedin, then on to Oamaru, Christchurch, then back up to Picton to catch the ferry back to Wellington. From Wellington we drove back up to Gisborne to spend the last days of our trip with our friends. During our last days in New Zealand we traveled up to Matamata to visit Hobbiton. It was absolutely awesome. Then before we flew out we took a bus from Gisborne up to Auckland then stayed with some friends who then took us to the airport at 5 am. We arrived in Brisbane, Australia around 9 am local time. Where we are picked up by Lachlan and we spent the 4 days we were in Australia with him and his wife. We were able to go to the temple in Brisbane, shop, visit the Australia zoo (Steve Erwin zoo), and visit the Gold Coast. It was amazing!! That was a very short summary of our adventures, if you want a full account just ask!
We finally got back to the USA on the 20th of November. We had an amazing trip but, it is so good to be home!! The trip was really long but extremely worth it. Because we were able to stay in Gisborne for 5 weeks we were able to get to know people and actually experience New Zealand. We made friends and memories we will never forget. There are people we met and made friends with that I will always miss. I am so glad we were able to get to know people and spend time with them. I hope to one day be able to see them all again.
We were able to spend Thanksgiving in Grace with Scott's family. They had Thanksgiving dinner at Scott's brother Curtis' new house out in Lago. It was a great holiday with Scott's family. Dinner was awesome and we had fun with family. We were able to meet up with some of Scott's friends while we were in Grace. It was good to catch up with Sterling and his new wife Kelly, and Colter.
Then we spent Christmas in Rupert with my family. We actually ended up in Rupert on the 20th. My mom asked us to come early and help her with the invalids who were in her house. My little sister had surgery on her knee on the 20th and my Dad was supposed to have a hip replacement on the 16th. Dad didn't actually have his surgery on the 16th, he ended up having it on the 27th. When they were doing the preliminary procedures for his surgery they realised he had some damage on his heart. So, he had to see a cardiologist before they could do the surgery. Luckily they cleared him for surgery and he was able to do it the 27th. So, we ended up in Rupert on the 20th. I was glad to have so much time with my family. It has been a long time since we were able to do that.
Christmas was good, we spent Christmas eve making treats then, around 6 or 7 we all sat around my Dad as he read the Christmas story from the Bible then we all sang Christmas carols. Afterward we all went downstairs to the tree to open one present. Usually the presents are some form of pajamas. This year was a little different for my little family. Catherine got pajamas like everyone else but, I got some nice long basketball shorts instead of the sweatpants I normally get, and Scott got a board game. Scott had a new idea he wanted to implement this year, he decided that instead of giving him pajamas or basketball shorts every year (he would never wear them, and he really doesn't even wear all the basketball shorts he already has) he wanted a board game so that he could play it with everyone on Christmas eve. He even made me a list of 20 or so board games that he wants (over the years of course). It was actually a good idea and it went over well. Catherine didn't actually have that good of night. She managed to fall asleep right before we started eating dinner and when she woke up she was very unhappy. She kept crying and rubbing her eye, which was bright red. So we finally decided to try and flush her eye out with water, at which point my sister Heather saw a very long eyelash in her eye. So then began the "fun". We tried every thing we could think of. Mostly it just made Catherine even more mad. She would squeeze her eyes shut really tight then open them a little tiny bit to see if we were going to try and put something else in her eye. Finally Scott and I decided to just run a stream of water into her eye and hope the eyelash came out. I held open her eye as best I could and Scott gently poured a little water in her eye. She threw a fit, as expected but, as I was drying her face I saw an eyelash on her cheek. Catherine also stopped being so mad (after we got her face dry of course). Luckily she was still able to have a good Christmas eve. We put her to bed at 9 like normal but, in about 30 minutes or so she was back awake and would not go back to sleep. So, we all took turns holding her and trying to get her back to sleep. At one point my sister Heather, who is 7 months pregnant was holding Catherine trying to rock her back to sleep. While Catherine was quiet when Heather was holding her, she was by no means going back to sleep. Heather was holding Catherine against her belly, like anyone would, but I guess that Heather's baby, Nathaniel, had something to say about it because, he kept kicking Catherine, which, I might add, she thought was hilarious!
Anyway, so we finally got Catherine to sleep (I forget when it actually was, I just know it was late) and we were able to play Scott's new game. We got up Christmas morning at 5 so that we could get everything done and get to church at 10 am. I know it seems like a long time to be opening presents, and believe me it is, but, that is how it works at my parents house. We all watch everyone else open their presents so, we take turns, and with 9 adults and 4 children it can take a long time. Luckily it actually didn't take as long as we thought it would, then we all went upstairs and shared our Christmas breakfast (which I look forward to all year). That is part of the tradition at my parents, we have an egg and sausage bake that cooks while we open presents, and it is amazing!!!
So after Christmas it is on to our anniversary. Scott and I got married 2 years ago on December 30th, 2009. It has been an amazing 2 years and I look forward to many more happy years with Scott. I love him so much!! For our anniversary we were able to go to Tucanos for lunch. Tucanos is a Brazilian grill in Boise. It was very good!! They had this grilled pineapple that was covered in a brown sugar glaze, I would go back just for that!! Then we were able to drive back to Rupert and my parents watched Catherine while Scott and I went to Sherlock Holmes. Amazing movie by the way!!
For New Years we spent the night with my parents, Heather and her family, and Jennifer. We mostly played games all night. It was a lot of fun!! Then I didn't actually get to see the ball drop because Catherine had woken up and I was trying to get her back to sleep. So I got my new years kiss at about 2 after we got ready for bed.

I think that pretty much sums up the last of 2011. It has been a good year! I don't really look forward to the next 5 months or so, because we are trying to finish up Scott's last year of Pharmacy School. As soon as we find him a job everything will be much better. I do look forward to Scott's graduation in May! I love watching Catherine grow and I can't believe how big she is getting. I love her so much! She learns something new every day. Half the time it is a way to get into something I don't want her to have but, oh well. She is cute doing it!I was trying to take some Christmas pictures of Catherine, this is they only good on I got mostly she just wanted to suck on the ornaments.Catherine playing with her cousin Marcy

Catherine on Christmas morning with her stockingSitting with Mommy
Reading her new book.Sitting with all her toys
Playing with her toys
This is one of my favorite pictures! It was a good thing we didn't wrap very many of her presents because she didn't last very long. She fell asleep in Scott's arms long before we were done with presents.