Cousins

Last week we were in St. George and Jacob got to hang out with his cousins from Virginia. This was quite a special occasion since its not very often we are in the same place at the same time.

He followed them around for 4 days wanting to do EVERYTHING that they did.

They didn't seem to mind.

It was the cutest thing ever.

We miss you Eva, Joel, and Baby Sam!

You Can't Always Get What You Want

This song was in my head ALL DAY yesterday. And for good reason.

We set our alarms for 6:30am, for that was when the email was to arrive. The email that told Stephen whether he was matched for a residency or not.

(Now, keep in mind this residency is totally optional. And I think Stephen is more than competent and could get a job somewhere out there. But when he interviewed at two different clinics in Salt Lake City, he was super impressed with the programs and loved the idea of getting some more practice under his belt before going out into the big real world. Of course I fell in LOVE with the idea of going back home- if only for 12 months. Oh, to live by family again. Sigh.)

Anyway, to make a long story short. He didn't get matched. So we are on to plan B. Stephen went on a research frenzie yesterday to try to find the perfect new hometown for us. We need to come up with some choices and then apply, apply, and apply I guess. We narrowed it down to a few favorites.

Monterey, Palo Alto, St. George, or Denver.

Alaska is one of those "easier said than done" things. But it is still technically on the board, I guess.

It's so fun and exciting to get to choose where to live in this next chapter of our lives! But it's also a lot of pressure. We don't want to make the wrong decision. We have been praying a lot and hope that we will be inspired to take the next step in the right direction.

Sometimes what we originally wanted, isn't what we needed. I think there are some really neat opportunities out there. We just need to find them.

So, in other words.....

to be continued.

Have You Heard About This Yet?

You know we are huge Disney fans...

But have YOU heard about

THIS

yet?

Give a Day of Volunteer Service in 2010,

Get a Day of Disney Theme Park Fun – Free

Awwwwwwwesome. What a great way to find service opportunities- and who doesn't want a free visit to Disneyland? Your whole fam can get in for free on the same day! This is even cooler than the birthday visit......

Blog Makeover?

My blog needs some makeovering. It was alright for a while, then I got started making changes, but then got busy doing other things, and now its back to blah. Any advice on how to make it cuter? Websites to check out? Ways to change my HTML to get rid of weird lines, etc.? I want a clean cute look. And does anyone want to design a fabulous header for me or for my future photog blog? Some of you readers are oh so talented! Someday I will learn..... someday...... but Let me in on your secrets guys!

Pedialyte Mmmmmm

The Doc told me to give the boy 40 oz of Pedialyte a day.

Yeah Right.

Home Again

Happy New Year!

We are officially Home From the Holidays....

Heres our 3 week Holiday recap:

(Of course most pics are of Jake since we are living the holidays like a kid again.)

We spent Christmas with Stephens fam in lovely St. George. Santa Came early and brought Jacob a car! He was ecstatic to say the least.

He was obsessed with chasing the cat and maybe ate a few cat crunchies along the way.

Speaking of eating- We ate lots of Nielsons Concretes and Bajios Salads. Two places I miss the most.

We spent a lot of time just warming up by the fire and talking.

I took off for a couple days to go do Wedding Photography for my cousin Dana (see samples at www.truly-you-photography.com/index2.php#/gallery/1/3/ )

Came back and saw lights at the St. George temple.

And what would a family trip be without some competitive game playing. "Would you Rather" was pretty hilarious with this family.

Love these guys!

Of course, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were pretty Magical. For many reasons.

We spent New years with my family in Provo.

I did Lots of work on the business with Rach and Becca.

We went to Savior of the World- incredible.

Visited with some old friends.

Did lots of shopping at all the modest and modestly priced stores such as Shade and DownEast. We continued eating DELISH food in my mom's fancy new kitchen.

Of course we went Bowling- its tradition.

Jake played in the snow for the first time and didn't love it so much. Speaking of snow, this trip made me rethink our Alaska option. I could barely adjust to the 30 degree weather. I am a baby.

Santa left another car in Provo for Jacob- a fire truck!

We had a New Years party with the best food EVER! and Jacob pulled an all nighter- ok just a 11pm-4am all nighter. And that was After the two hours trying to get him back to sleep. He is such a partier. Here he is trying to get cousin Noah to wake up for the countdown.

Stephen and I had our first Date night in a long time- and I must say Avatar greatly exceeded my expectations. Its a lot more than a bunch of blue people flying around. I also must say that the Princess and the Frog was really cute. Going out was a Win Win. Gave my mom and dad some real quality time with the little guy.

And to end the trip, Stephen did a little shmoozin at the U in hopes he gets a residency there for next year. We'll find out January 28th if we will yet again be Utahns.

Jacob sure does love all of his grandparents (and his grandparents houses- SO much to explore!) Of course he has a blast with the aunts and uncles, too. Thanks everybody for all your help in giving me some breaks and making our stay so much fun! We love and miss you all.