Snow Animals

Joseph's at it again --  I love seeing him play with our kids. :)

The Difference Between You and Me

When I play with the camera, I

When Joseph plays with the camera, he performs a

It takes all kinds, right? :)

(I hope he doesn't mind me posting his 5:00 shadow and pearly whites....)

Go Buckeyes!!

Joseph and I went to the SHOE!

We attended our first (and, honestly, probably last) OSU football game in October. It was really fun -- the stadium is GINORMOUS, the fans are infectious and the marching band is AMAZING. And the football team was pretty good, too. :) There were a few LONG passes for touchdowns that were pretty exciting. And we won by a landslide. It was a little on the chilly side, but my smart husband had a blanket handy and enough cash to buy us some hot chocolate.

The kids stayed home with Aunt Heather, though they wanted to come and cheer on the buckeyes! This is Baby A's Halloween costume - she and I had nasty colds so we stayed home from the trunk-or-treat, but I dressed her up to take a picture anyway. Don't mind the spaghetti sauce on her cheeks. Just keepin' it real.

Great Divide Mountain Bike Ride

Day One - Leaving Jasper, Colorado

So... there's a gaping hole in the narrative of our lives (aka the Lotsa Lovin' Blog). Just where did we go? Just what did we do? I know you've all be sitting on pins and needles waiting to find out about our awkward silence. :) Here's a peak into one of the adventures from the past two months.

First, just a wee bit of history.

In 2004, my dad, two brothers and a cousin began this adventure. They started out at the Port of Rooseville on the Canadian border and rode their mountain bikes, towing B.O.B. trailers down a route that stays within 50 miles of the Continental Divide. That year they ended in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. The next year, 2005, they picked up the trail in Steamboat Springs and rode for about a week to Del Norte, Colorado when things unraveled a little. Dad took a fall, and wasn't able to finish the ride. My brother took the Greyhound to Salt Lake to grab a car, and my dad drove the 'support vehicle' while my brothers and cousin finished the ride to the Mexican border.

Every summer since then Dad's been trying to figure out how to finish his ride. With Joseph's graduation and the 4 week break before residency began, it was the perfect opportunity to have a buddy on the trail.



Because they were riding so early in the season, the snow made it impossible to start in Del Norte. So they picked up the trail in Jasper. Joseph rode 565 miles in 11 days (add in 2 rest days for a total of 13 days on the trail), but he injured his leg and wasn't able to finish the last 3 days. So he hitchhiked to the nearest greyhound station and caught a bus back up to Colorado where my sweet aunt left Dad's truck for Joseph to pick up. Then Joseph drove the support vehicle for the last few days and 190 or so miles, following my dad to the border.

It sounds like it was an amazing trip. Joseph says it was absolutely worth the effort -- tough, but beautiful. I'm intrigued by the idea of such complete solitude - out in the middle of nowhere, propelled only by your own strength, alone with your thoughts and feelings. (I'm probably so intrigued because I have at least one child hanging off of some appendage most hours of most days). :)

Trip highlights:

Spending a beautiful rest day with Enoch and his family one week into the trip -- this was after riding hard (till midnight) to get to a hotel in Cuba, only to find all the hotels closed. Instead of the much anticipated clean bed, the boys camped behind the Conoco by the dumpsters and AC compressor. Not exactly restful.

Visiting with friends along the trail that Dad met 4 years ago -- they even let my stinky dad and husband sleep on their living room floor! And gave Joseph & Dad a history lesson on the Navajo nation. Thanks, Dennis!

Seeing lots of wildlife - including a black bear - and lots of beautiful wild flowers.

Finding pure beautiful springs just in the nick of time (Joseph REALLY didn't want to drink that brown stuff he tried to filter out of a cow field mud hole....)

Riding straight into horrific headwinds ALL DAY LONG on several occassions -- granny gears pumping and only going about 4 miles an hour.... that's when Joseph's knee started hurting (it's all better now!).

Riding through hail and rain, from burning heat to freezing cold.

Riding down hills.

Taking a shower.

Mailing home 25 pounds of stuff they didn't need (including dirty laundry!).

Getting excited for future adventures.......

Anyway, I'm proud of Joseph and my Dad - they are AWESOME!

HE DID IT!!!!

My fabulous Joseph graduated the beginning of May, and I am so proud of him! It's been a long road, and he's stayed the path so well. There were definitely times we wondered if this was the right path, if going back to school was the right choice. I'm grateful Joseph was able to take those steps into the dark, knowing that it was the best thing for his family. I'm so grateful for his hard work and perseverance. I'm grateful that for the most part he was able to leave the stress of school at school and come home and be a dad and a husband. I'm grateful for all his good friends at school that kept each other going - the 'Mormon Mafia.' :) I'm grateful I'll never have to pay for another filling again! I'm grateful that Joseph and Jacob chose the same career path, and they can keep each other excited about dentistry. I'm grateful for the awesome support of wonderful family, local and distant.


And I'm grateful I'm married to the hottest doctor I know. :) Love you!!


(Are any of you Anne of Green Gables fans? Remember when Anne was grown up and their housekeeper called her Mrs. Doctor Dear? I've just always liked the sound of that....) :)

Shameless Plug...

I'm way behind on blogging (as is my custom after a vacation or holiday...), but Joseph and I just did something that I had to share.  We made a website for a wonderful dentist in the area!!!  I did the photo and image editing and Joseph did the html code stuff, and we actually had something to do TOGETHER that didn't have to do with the children or the finances (or lack thereof).  Hurray!  We just might have a hobby in common!  Anyway, we just finished up the flash part last night, and I think it looks awesome.  So here's my shameless plug -- if you're in the area and need a good dentist, head on over to Summit Dental!  :)  

www.summitdentalonline.com

And I promise to do a proper post full of our exciting adventures soon -- I actually demoed a helmet camera while skiing in Vail -- I'll be sure to post the footage from when I ran into the tree...  :)

Poverty in Paradise

On August 2nd, Joseph left home for another world -- San Pedro Sula, Honduras.  For two weeks he worked with other dental students, dentists, hygenists and volunteers to provide oral care for anyone who wanted it.  The children would line up in the mornings, and the adults came in the afternoons.  They'd go through a quick triage to identify which problem was the worst -- many of them needed a whole mouthful of procedures, but they limited the work to one per patient in order to serve as many people as possible.  In just two weeks, they performed over 3,000 procedures -- mostly restorations (fillings), extractions, root canals/crowns, and floride treatments.  The need is so great -- some of Joseph's pictures are so sad.  He visited a few of the children in their homes -- 8 children and 2 parents living in a little one room cinderblock shack with a tin roof, laundry hanging to dry on a barbed wire fence.  But the children were beautiful and charming -- a few of them became self-assigned helpers.  Joseph LOVES the kids.  And he loved using his Spanish.  He even got to chat a bit with one of his old mission companions who lives in Honduras.  

The team worked really hard -- 12 hour days in a city-center-turned-clinic with no air conditioning during the hottest and most humid time of year.  They got to play a little, too -- they visited the Fortress of San Fernando, swam in the Carribean Sea, ziplined through the rainforest, and watched a soccer game @ the Olimpico Stadium. The soccer game was interesting -- the opposing teams' goalie kept faking injuries to run the clock down. The fans were a little rabid by the end -- Joseph brought home a video clip of the police with their riot gear out on the field at the end of the game, keeping the teams from tearing into each other!

Joseph came home tired, but also renewed -- I think these meaningful, service centered vacations are going to become more and more common for us as the years go on and the kids get older.  Maybe next year I'll get to take some of the pictures...  :)

By the way, side note:  My blog is a year old!  I'm really proud of myself that I've kept a 'journal' for the last year -- this is the most consistent I've been with this sort of thing since I got married!  So, happy birthday, blog!

Gone Fishin'

Joseph's been busy turning our kids into expert fishermen. He took J-boy last Friday night, and they came home with a catfish!! K and I spent that same evening at the pool. When we came home, we found a catfish head in the sink, a busy daddy trying to get the fish cleaned and a very happy J-boy, sawing away at some portion of catfish fillet with a blunt frosting knife. :) Then the next morning was K's turn -- this is the second year Joseph has taken her to the Farmstead Fishing Derby. Last year he learned his lesson well: he who stands near the feeder catches the most fish! So K came home with a lovely little trophy, having taken first place with 38 fish caught in 30 minutes! She graciously shared her shirt from the occassion with her brother (who appreciates fish shirts more than K does). I love the way Joseph plays with the kids and takes them on outings -- he is a great dad!!

Father's Day

K, J-boy and I made this book for Joseph for Father's Day (can you pick out which pages were colored by J-boy??). It was really fun to think about all the wonderful things he does as a dad -- he has a great example in his own dad, and it shows in the way he plays with and teaches our kids. I am so grateful for my fabulous husband!
We had a fun visit with some of my in-laws on Father's Day -- the weather was actually relatively cool, and we enjoyed a thunderstorm from the picnic shelter (in between rounds of badminton and lacrosse).
After the storm the kids enjoyed 'skating' at the skate park nearby. No, not on skate boards or roller blades - they used good old fashioned mud. :)


Our little nephew had a grand ol' time - I love his laugh in this clip.

Bringing home the silver

Here's the footage of the final race that brought us home the silver (figuratively - the Elders' like to keep things simple - no centerpieces, no planned program, no napkins/plates for the 7-layer dip, and no medals!) :)