Slide Show from Alabama

Silly Sam

(Samara dancing in crab costume at the Children's Museum)

So, I thought I'd share in Samara's randomness today. After yesterday's Santa comment, I started thinking about other things she's said recently, and as I was pondering that, I looked outside to check on the kids playing in the snow, and Sam is out there sticking her tongue to the basketball hoop pole. Bless this child!

She is so friendly and unapologetic about everything. She'll wear pink cowboy boots with just about anything, and a fluffy dress to gym class, if she so feels inclined. Below is a picture of her and her best bud of first grade, Darius. She towers over all the other first graders, and Darius is smaller than most of the preschoolers in the school. But they both have spunk coming out there ears!!! Sam and Kiah call him "mini-man from the hood". Don't even ask, since we live in a middle class suburb..... Anyway, it's comical to watch them play, and what's even better is that they don't notice, and don't care.

I was remembering back to our trip to Nauvoo, Ill. this summer. On the last day of our trip, we drove to Carthage Jail, where Joseph Smith was murdered. It's a solemn place, and the Spirit is very strong. Missionaries are there to give tours around the facility, and they show a movie about Joseph Smith. Well, our family went in and watched the movie, then when we came out of the show, there were missionaries, and other "churchy" looking people surrounding our little family. The sister missionary asked my kids what they liked about the movie. Kiah mentioned that she loved the part when Joseph gave a black member of the church his horse to sell, so he could get his sons freedom papers. Then the sister missionary asked Samara if she liked that part too. My lovely 6 year old says, "I was like, DAMN IT!, when I saw that part". The sister and I (and all who were in ear shot) were open-mouthed in shock. I quickly said, "Sammi, that's a swear word. What do you mean?" I was thinking she meant that it was really cool, or she didn't know what damn it meant, etc. So, she clarifies for us, "I was mad because I wanted him to give me his horse, instead. I like horses." Yeah, she used the word in context. Of course, the reflection on me, as a parent, is pitiful at that point. She must hear that often to talk that kind of trash was most likely the consensus opinion in that room. I was mortified. Skip to the actual tour of the building where he was martyred...... The missionaries were talking about prayer, and asked if we pray. Sam pipes in, "We sometimes pray, when mom's not too tired or we aren't in a hurry." Thanks, turkey! Now, I pray, numerous times daily with my children, and every once in a while, at bedtime, when there's major fits going on, I opt out. But it's rare. But to this sister, I've now become in-active member number one. Ugh! Gotta love that girl!

Anyway, I could fill up pages and pages of random Samara stories, but my fingers are getting tired. So, I'm going to go cuddle up with my kids (we're snowed in today), and watch the polar express, while my honey takes a nap upstairs. It doesn't get any better than this.

Dad's little secret

So, did you see the new total???? So awesome!!!! We had a garage sale fundraiser this morning at our church. Unfortunately, we got a huge snowstorm dumped on us, so we didn't have a ton of people come, but enough that we earned $114. Not bad! People are so cool.

Some random funniness....Samara woke up this morning, and came into my bathroom with this dead serious face, and asked me, "Is dad's beard different?" I said no, then she asked, "Did the bottom part turn white?". Once again, the answer was no. (James is only 32) The she turns around and walks out, and I hear her tell herself, "Phew, I thought he was turning into Santa." She must have had one too many doses of Tim Allen this season. The fact that she was so serious about it cracked me up. I wish I could still question reality like that!

Anyway, just wanted to update the new total. You all ROCK!!!!!

I'm an Idiot!! (and cute boys)

So, I tried to get a cool new template from pyzam.com for my blog, and in the meantime, I not only couldn't get my links to switch over, in the process, I lost all of my links to the friends that I had on my old template. Poop! So, if you read my blog, please comment and leave your blog address in the comments, so I can get this updated again. The ones that I remember, that I need to get again, are Dana, Kelly, Lindsay, Kim, Suzanne, Kristy, Traci, Nicole, Cecily, and I'm sure there's more, but I'm tired and brain dead from staring at this lame computer.

I guess I'll make this a productive post by putting up Abe's lastes pics from his B-day, and a few with his big bro, Eli in them. Serious, I don't think boys come any cuter than these two. These may look gorgeous, and they are, but I put blood, sweat, and tears into them! Abe was not cooperating, and kept jumping down off of the table, and throwing the cowboy hat, and crying for his blanket. Yeah, just your average trip to the picture studio.... Enjoy!

Abe, studying the knot and the texture of the rope.

Hiding his face from the camera, seconds before chucking it at the photographer.
And a cute one of his face, without hat, but with his Grandma Shauna's boots.

Then we did the Colts pics. Our whole family has become obsessed with the Colts (as has the whole city of Indianapolis), and we had to have this.

Beautiful boy!!!

The pink, fuzzy, can't leave at home blanket. He wouldn't sit up, and when he grabbed his blanket, he started snuggling it. I practically yelled at the photographer to get this shot. Don't mess with mamma when there's scrapbooking to be done!

My boyz!

Classic pose for these two. :)

Abe was done, and Eli was giving him a hug, so we took advantage and posed them a bit for the picture. So sweet!

I'm Back!!!

Boy, it feels like forever since I've had a chance to post! I miss it. Did you see the Grandma Looney fund update??? We're doing good! I really hope to get up to $1000, but I'm ecstatic already. She'll be so surprised and pleased.

Well, I wanted to do a big thankful list for Thanksgiving, but haven't had the chance. I've been tagged by 4 different friends to do a random list about me, and haven't gotten to it, and now we've had events that I want to post pics of! How to keep up with all of the sharing. I love blogs, and I get mad if my favorite blogs aren't updated. :)

So, I'll go with the fun family traditions post today. James and I decided our first year of marriage that we would chop our own tree every year. So, for 10 years, we've done that. In Utah, we go to Heber at 6 in the morning to freeze our patooties off for 2 hours in the cold, waiting in line for a tree permit. We then get our permit, go home, and then drive back up there the weekend after Christmas with our friends and drag kids and dogs through deep snow on the hunt for the "perfect" tree. Now, perfect means semi-even branches on one side of the tree, since most of them are too close to other trees and grow skeewampy. It backs to the wall, anyway, right? Anyway, they usually end up looking not much better than the Charlie Brown original, but we love it, we chop it, we drag it and the kids back out of the trees, and then we celebrate with hot cocoa and Heidi's cinnamon rolls.

The year before we left for Indiana, Heidi and I got lazy and found a tree farm, justifying it because it was still in the mountains, and we still had to hike around for the best tree and we still got to chop it. We just didn't have to make 2 trips, and we didn't have to hike around as far. That worked great!! New tradition!! Then we left to Indiana, with no mountains. We thought our tradition was over. Oh, no. I typed in "Chop Christmas Tree Indiana" in google and found a pluthera of tree farms! Yeah! So, we found this incredible farm that is so picturesque. You drive about an hour outside of town, and you get a tractor ride out to the tree fields, tons of beautiful, full, incredible trees, and they provide the dolly for the tree you pick and the saw. Then they give you hay ride back to the barn where they shake the dead needles out of your tree, drill the hole, wrap your tree and help you get it on your car. All the while they give the kiddos free hot cocoa, and this year Santa was there with candy canes and some helpers making Christmas ornaments for the kids to make and take home. All for only $30 bucks!!! I'm going to miss Indiana Christmas trees!

The family portrait in front of an old barn. (It was a freeze-your-tail-off day, fo' sho'!)

Hauling the kids out to the best spot for trees. It made me glad (for the bizillionth time) that I was not called to be a pioneer mother.

The chosen tree has been conquered by the powerful forces!

Hauling out the booty!

Abe couldn't take anymore adventure. He fell asleep in the backpack and drooled and snored the whole way back. That's my boy!

So, once we got back to the barn, we had to go see Santa. Abe kept saying "Ho, ho, ho". But once he got in, we couldn't get him close to Santa. Finally Santa bribed him with a candy cane, that he took hesitantly, a full arms length away.

I just love the look on E's face! Priceless. It probably seems weird to little kids that we spend 364 days a year telling them to not talk to strangers, or sit on strangers lap, etc., but at Christmas we practically throw them on some man they don't know. Silly grownups! (Santa has a perplexed look on his face, too. Probably because Eli asked for "dollies") ;)

Cutie-patootie Sam got shy. She couldn't think of what to ask Santa for. I'm sure she's thought of many things since then!

Once we got home, it was time to set up and decorate the tree. We decided that the kids were old enough to string Cranberries and popcorn this year. What fun! Even Abe participated. And no lethal injuries. Woo Hoo!

You gotta peek up under the lights! And we can't help but peek at Sam's undies!

And our weary well-doers are finally done with the tree. Yeah!

What a wonderful tradition. We love it!

My Angel is the Devil!

(Disclaimer: I have tried putting in spaces and separating paragraphs and indenting the paragraphs, and everytime I hit "publish post" it goes back to one big long blob of a post. Harder to read, sorry!!)

Look at that face! Could he really be the devil, you may ask? Well, maybe not, but he sure likes to be naughty! My day today brought memories of a few months ago flooding back. The memorable day that has now become famous among friends and relatives alike, as well as strangers who've had my bad day emailed to them from my friends and relatives, for a good chuckle. I think I'll start with reminiscing about that day, which will make my day today seem much tamer in comparison: Poop smeared up and down the stairs to the basement, with poop smeared all over basement carpet and toys. Ashes from fire place all over him and the living room. Barbeque sauce all over him and the table and chairs (he snuck down at night and did this with the lights off). Syrup (Sam's club size) poured all over him, with a layer of hair sticking to that, and the kitchen and up and down the hallways and on the leather chair and ottoman.

I'm sure there was more, but I think I have blocked it, you know, PTSD?! This was all in one day! I was ready to go to the funny farm. After a few months of therapy and a lot of cleaning solution, he was doing so much better. I call this the Sunny period. He was fun and easy to take places, and listened pretty well.

Um....yeah, those days are gone. And, lately, he's been doing more sucking on his tongue and hiding his head under his blanket everywhere we go. He's been rubbing his face alot, and freaking completely out about germs. You can't kiss him, he has to kiss you on the cheek. He will melt down for an hour if you happen to take a drink out of his cup, or if he even suspects that you've touched something of his with saliva. Forget about the mom lick and swipe on his face!! So, I've been worried about him, as he seems to be regressing back into his sensory problems, and his speech is still significantly delayed, so that's another worry.

Anyway, because I've been worried about these things, I haven't been paying as much attention to sneaky behavior, until this week. Then I started taking note of how many poopy diapers have come off, how many things have been squeezed out (paint, toothpaste, medication, etc.), how many toilets have been clogged with various items, how much he's been sneaking out and hiding again. You get the picture. Well, today, I was on the phone for about a half hour. During that time, I was on the computer for this call, looking up maps, etc. I could hear him in the living room, so I wasn't worried about him sneaking out and wandering the neighborhood. Well, after I got off the phone, I walked into the kitchen and found every paper towel individually ripped off and strewn around the house in a distinct "choo choo" pattern. As I followed the "train tracks" I found that he had dumped a huge bag of rice all over the whole living room; in furniture, on the tv stand in every spot on the floor, all over the piles of laundry I just folded (and I mean in every crease). That was frustrating, but no big, since I can at least vacum that up, right? Then I saw the heater vent pulled up. Inside the heater were small books, a sandwhich, our whole jar of money that we pay the kids to do odd jobs was dumped in, dollars, and change alike. The jar itself and the lid were way back down in, as well as crayons, small McDonald's toys, etc. It was crammed full!!! This was after 4 diapers stripped off that I put back on him while I was on the phone in the other room.

Really, compared to other days, it's not too bad, but when there are 5 little naughty things going on in the span of 45 minutes, it makes me want to pull my hair out! His favorite new trick is to stick his fingers in his diaper and pull out a chocolate-like hand and chase me with it. Fun, no? You can't help but love the kid, even though strangling sounds pretty enticing at times, too. He's always really good, after some little devious trick of his, to tell me, "No, mommy, naughty!" Glad he knows that. That's the first step, right? (And knowing is half the battle...yo, Joe!)

Anyway, I love my boy! We saw our leaves falling off of our red maple, so we gave it a good shake and played in the fall "rain" of red leaves. So fun! They love to climb that tree (evidenced by al the broken branches at the bottom of it). This picture embodied his beautiful, fun-loving smile. He's a keeper.

In Memory of My Mommy

Yesterday was the 3rd anniversary of my mom's passing. I had a 1st grade field trip, and homework, piano lessons, dinner, spelling test review, etc. and didn't even think about it until yesterday evening. How do you forget the day your mom died? I remembered last week, but not yesterday. I really miss my mom. Our relationship was not a typical mom/daughter relationship, but there was genuine love there. She didn't know how to show it, and was very critical, but she was also very proud of me. She was the type of person that would give you the shirt off her back, and then crack jokes about how bad she looked without her shirt on! She was always making jokes and trying to make people feel at ease. She also really loved her grandkids, and gave up a lot to take care of my nephews. She got kind of a redemption through them, by having a second chance to raise kids in a better environment than she did with my sister and I.

I've attached some pics of my mom with all of my babies except Abraham. She had her stroke and got very sick when Abe was born. Abe's birthmom thinks she might have a picture of them together, and I really hope she does. I'm so sad to think Abe might not have even one momento of him and my mother. She was always quick to come as soon as we got our babies. She'd park it in a chair and hold them for hours (while barking out orders to the rest of us, so she didn't have to get up out of said chair). Ha, Ha! Good memories.

This is my mom with Elijah when he was born.

This is in the hospital room with Kiah, right after her birth. Muriel (Kiah's birthmom) told us to bring our family in. She was so amazing!

Here she is with our little tiny Sammi girl. These 2 has such a strong bond. Samara was a sick, anxiety ridden baby from day one. She was very refluxy and cried all the time. She wouldn't let us leave her with anyone after 4 months old. 4 months and she knew!! But she loved my mom. My mom was the only one who Sammy would let hold her for very long. They were quite a pair. My mom was loud, and sometimes odorous, and not very touchy-feely. Sammi was loud, very stinky, and cried all the time. But together, they were happy. Samara's middle name is Jacqueline, after her grandma Marsh. We had no idea how fitting that would be.

Ah, yes! I had to include this picture because it embodies who my mom was. She loved people who were bold and marched to their own drum. She also loved bad boys! She was in New Orleans (pre-Katrina) during Mardi Gras. She saw this group of punks hanging out. Any normal person would see the spikes and piercings and walk quickly down the sidewalk. My mom goes up to all of them, admires their piercings, flashes her 5 tatoos, and asks to take a photo with them! She rocks!!!! She was so in her element here.

Anyone who doesn't know my mom would think that I was kind of tough on her in this post. But, if there's one thing my mom didn't put up with, it was insincerity and fake praise. She liked to keep it real, and so do I. She would read this and know how much I loved her, for who she was. I miss having her around, and I get lonely for a mom sometimes, but I'm grateful for the gospel, that reassures me that there is a way to see her again. We are not sealed as a family, but I've done my mom's temple work, and I'm pretty confident that there will be a way to hug my mom again. And I'm happy to know that she is experiencing true, unconditional love from someplace much better than here. Her journey here was always a rough one. I'm glad she can rest from that, now.

Thanks for listening to me ramble. I just needed to talk about her to someone and you all got stuck on the reading end.

Celebrate National Adoption Month

The Following is an article that a friend sent me and I thought it was worth posting. Adoption changes lives and is so much a part of who I am. I thought that this statement from the leaders of my church was cool (the First Presidency is our prophet and his counselors):

FIRST PRESIDENCY ENDORSES NATIONAL ADOPTION MONTH
November is National Adoption Month, and members of the First Presidency have thrust their support behind the government’s efforts to raise awareness of the need for more parents to adopt.
“We endorse this proclamation [of November as National Adoption Month] and express our support of unwed parents who place their children for adoption in stable homes with a mother and a father,” the First Presidency stated. “We also express our support of the married mothers and fathers who adopt these children.”
The First Presidency’s statement follows years and years of the tradition of celebrating adoption, both inside and outside the Church.
National Adoption Month, which began in 1976, was originally only celebrated for a week. It was initiated on a state level by the governor of Massachusetts. But, when President Gerald Ford caught wind of the idea, he implemented it as a national celebration that same year. In 1990, it was changed from a week to a month-long celebration.
The goal of this month is to celebrate the family, raise awareness of the thousands of children waiting for adoption, and express gratitude to the many parents who have taken foster children into their homes.
“Families who adopt show the generous spirit of our Nation,” President George W. Bush stated in a proclamation announcing adoption month. “Every child desires a permanent home, and when parents adopt a child to love as their own, lives are changed forever.”
Within National Adoption Month, there is a specific, momentous day, National Adoption Day, which will be held this Saturday. On this day, special efforts are made by the courts, judges, attorneys, adoption professionals, and child welfare agencies in all 50 states to finalize adoptions for thousands of children.
The Church’s support derives from its stance on the sanctity of life, and it has done everything in its power to provide adoption services to solidify that belief. In 1919, the Church started LDS Family Services to do just that.
LDS Family Services offers help for both birth parents and adopting parents. It provides information about services, experiences of other birth parents, and agency commercials to offer courage and hope to those making the difficult decision of whether to place their child for adoption.
Regardless of who is promoting adoption, the Church is there to offer their support for the sanctity of life and the importance of the family.
“Children are entitled to the blessing of being reared in a stable family environment where father and mother honor marital vows,” the First Presidency stated. “Having a secure, nurturing, and consistent relationship with both a father and a mother is essential to a child’s well-being. When choosing adoption, unwed parents grant their children this most important blessing. Adoption is an unselfish, loving decision that blesses the child, birth parents, and adoptive parents in this life and throughout the eternities. We commend all those who strengthen children and families by promoting adoption.”

Goldilocks lost her locks!

Before (without straightening or anything)

The back view of before

After the CHOP!

The hair stand alone. (10 inches)

The final product! Woo Hoo!

I did it! I chopped off my hair that I've been growing out for 3 years. Wow! It feels great. We have a neighbor that we love who is going through the turmoil of breast cancer treatments right now, and she got me thinking of how I could help besides bringing flowers or offering to cook. I thought this might be a nice way to honor her and show my support to breast cancer patients. Oprah Winfrey did a big show about hair, and the group that she worked with that makes wigs for cancer patients is called Pantene Beautiful Lengths. So, that's who I'm sending my hair to. I admit I was a little nervous about cutting, but having a good cause behind it made the cut easier. I have documented my adventure for you to see.

*Note to all: I had not done my make-up, and my hair was just air-dried from the shower, since it had to be au-natual to donate, which meant no products or styling. I don't normally look like a hippy!

The Lover, The Dreamers.....

So, every once in a while you catch someone in a random act of squishy goodness, and you can't help but take a picture. I have a husband who is the envy of all my friends when it comes to his "Daddy Skillz". He comes home and plays with the kids, even when he's beat after a long shift at the hospital. He watches them and any spare kid who may come over anytime I have church or other functions to attend, and he does what they love to do. Wrestle, jump, shoot their swings to the moon, fingerpaint (this was a new one this week that he's not likely to repeat), scrapbook cards for mom, anything. I am so grateful for his love for our kids.

The other day I was doing the dishes and peaked out the window and saw him, Samara, Kiah and Elijah laying on the tramp with blankets, looking at the sky, picking out different cloud shapes. Now, he's in the middle of residency, with a to-do list longer than the Great Wall of China, and he was out there finding hippos on motorcycles in the sky. That is why I love him.

Grandma Whitear's Halloween Fun

Grandma Whitear (grandma by proxy) has always done AMAZING Halloween parties, ever since I was a kid. She goes all out, dresses in character, makes up things to do in her cooky lab, does a cake walk with scary cakes, etc. It's one of the highlights of the year. Since we've moved to Indiana, she has continued to bless our family with her fun Halloween cheer. She sends a package every year full of fun stuff. This year the kids got T-shirts, Funky glasses, playdough, lipgloss, and plenty of candy. She also sends packages at Easter. I don't know how she does it, but she's incredible. Thank you, Betty!!!! Here are some pics of the kids with their packaged goodies.

Elijah, Kiah, Samara, Abraham

Christmas in Alabama Part 2

So, I talked to Grandma Looney today!!! (see previous post) I have to share what she said. She wasn't home when I called to talk to her about us coming, and I didn't say anything on the message I left about bringing some "extra $$$ Cheer" with us. Well, I called her today, and she told me that things had been going very rough for their family, and they have a court date coming up that will hopefully give them full custody so that the Mother of the children cannot keep coming and going and messing with and lying to the children. Anyway, she was feeling down, but she woke up yesterday with a distinct happy feeling, specifically about Christmas. She couldn't imagine why this would be a good Christmas, but she felt something very strong. So much so that when she got to work, she shared that impression with her boss. Well, it was about a half-hour later that she listened to my message that we wanted to come there for Christmas. She said she ran to her boss's office to tell her about it and they were both in tears that we would come and let them meet Samara. She really felt like it was inspiration. She still doesn't even know that we will be bringing her donations. She said that after she found out we were coming, she was going to keep it a secret from the kids, and use it as a pick-me-up, after the court date. She knows how much they all want to meet Samara, and our whole family.

It's so fun to hear this! Because we have been feeling the same way. We were supposed to go to Pennsylvania, but once we got this idea in our head, there was such an exciting feeling associated with the journey. I really believe that this is God's plan for our family and for theirs this Christmas.

Anywhooo, thanks for your support. This will be the best surprise ever!

Christmas in Alabama

Below is a letter we sent out to friends and family hoping to get others to join in our Christmas fun. We are so full of gratitude at the response that we have gotten. Read below to see what us Hoffman's are doing for Christmas. I figured I'd better put this in here, so when I give updates, people will know what I'm talking about.

Dear Friends and Family-

Christmas will soon be upon us, and as every year, the Spirit of Christ’s love and light touches our hearts even deeper to help those in need. Our family has felt impressed to take on a fun project, and James and I would like to ask that as you are considering what charities, or families, etc. to choose as your family project, that you might consider helping the Killings Family.

This is the birth family of Samara (our 2nd daughter). There are 8 children, and they have all been placed with their single grandmother. Their mother has been responsible for neglect, abuse, drug use, abandonment, and many other saddening things in these children’s lives. The kids have been placed with their father’s mother. They have really been struggling, as has the grandmother, Delores Looney. This woman has such a strong sense of family and has never even questioned taking all of the children, because it would be unthinkable to her to split them up. She is in her 60’s and she works very long hours to try to make ends meet for these kids, and she does it all on her own, and in her small home. She is single, and could really use a morale boost. She is a proud, amazing woman that we have had the privilege to come to know by phone and letters, and she has even reached out to Samara and sent her little packages and cards to make sure that Sammi knows that she cares for her. All of my kids call her Grandma Looney, and she is fantastic.

This is our last Christmas here in the Midwest, and as of yet, we have not had the opportunity to meet Samara’s birth siblings and family. We are hoping to gather some donations for the family and drive to see them over James Christmas vacation time. Grandma Looney has expressed many times her desire to see Samara, and we think this is our chance to make that happen.

If you would like to be involved in this project, just send me an email. We will keep in touch as the time gets closer, and give a full report of our Christmas trip after. The kids range from 17 down to 7 ½. There is also a new baby, from the birthfather that comes to stay with them occasionally. I think realistically, money donations would be ideal, as the grandmother would know their needs much better than we would. We would get to Alabama a few days before Christmas, and that would give us time to shop with Delores.

Don’t feel guilty if you have other projects this year, it’s just an idea we had that we got excited about, but knew that 8 kids was out of our league financially. Thanks, and Merry Christmas.

Love,

The Hoffman Family

Happy Halloween!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

It was the night before Halloween and James had been out of town and on call for a week. My kids hadn't seen him for 7 days. So, after the Trunk-or-treat, we headed over to the hospital to visit dad (and elicit some giggles from the many hospitals workers and patrons there). It is so good to have him home again. Yes, that is my old wolf cosutme, still in working order. In fact, I've been to all 3 of their school classes in said get up to read and act our wolf stories. (eye roll) The things we do for our kids!

(L-R Abe as Hook, Kiah as James, Eli as a scurvy matey, and Sam as Belle)

Aarggg! As Abey likes to say, over and over again.... The kids were cute as ever as the week of Halloween (I swear it really lasts that long) came to a close last night. We had a Halloween party on Monday, a Trunk-or-Treat on Tuesday, and the actual event last night. You know it's bad when even mommy doesn't want any more chocolate! :)

OK, we all know that Kiah idolizes her dad (obvs). Apparently she's got her sights set high for her future, as well. There was no question that she would be a doctor this year, and yesterday at the breakfast table she asked if they make really small business suits. I asked her why and she replied, "Because next year I want to be a high-class business woman". Alrighty, then!

The Moons Have Landed!

(Little Dinos in a nest)

The Moons have landed! Our good friends that we met while experiencing luxurious living at the University Student Apartments during medical school came to Indy from Chicago. It was so much fun to have Kelly and her kids Elijah, Ali and new baby Isaac, stay at our house. They were here for 2 days and 2 nights. We had a great time. The kids played fantastically, and so did Kelly and I! J James was on-call all Saturday and Sunday, so Kelly and I had the kids on our own. Her husband had to stay and do a scout camp thing. So, once the kids were in bed we had grown-up sleepovers, i.e. staying up way too late talking and laughing. During the day, we went to the Indianapolis Children’s Museum, the biggest Children’s museum in the nation. We had a great time. I’ll attach some pics of the adventure. As an added bonus, my friend Heather, and another friend Nicole, both from the fore-mentioned apartments, were going to be at the museum that day and invited me, so all 4 of us were there in Indiana at the same time. So random, since we all met in SLC, and although Nicole and I live in Indianapolis, Heather lives in Cincinnati and Kelly lives in Chicago. Isn’t life funny? I love it.

You know you have a true friend when you can not see someone for 3 years, and then pick up right where you left off, like no time has passed. I miss my friend. It was a wonderful visit, and I hope we get to do it again before we move back to SLC for Cardiology Fellowship.

(we're using a remote controlled robot)

(cute little Isaac)

(The kids in the undersea exhibit)

(Little heads over a big railing)