Knott's Berry Farm

Thanks to Uncle Angel who got us in for free to Knott's. I hadn't been since my senior yr of high school (Oct. 98 I think) so it was fun to go with the hubby and kids.

Sometime back in the summer I let Azure ride the carousel in the mall. Since then, she has been obsessed with them. She also loves the part in Charlotte's Web where Fern rides the ferris wheel. So, those were the 2 rides she was anticipating the most.

You have to get funnel cake at Knott's!

Snoopy on ice

Charles and I even got to escape for a bit to go on a ride by ourselves! Thanks Tally. We wanted to go on a rollercoaster but, the line was too long so we went on Supreme Scream. We had never been to an amusement park together in our 5.5 yrs of togetherness so it was fun to go and hold hands on a ride by ourselves :)

Thanksgiving

This was the first Thanksgiving we spent with my family in 5 yrs. In Nov. 2005, I brought Charles home with me to meet them. We had been dating for 4 months. It was fun to think that we were here 5 yrs later with our 2 children. I'd say 'who'd a thought?' but, we were pretty sure we were going to be married back then, so I guess we did know :)

Before partaking of our feast we all went around and said what we were most grateful for that year. Of course, they are so many things to be grateful for, but one of the miraculous events that stands out in my mind is Vince's birth and my VBAC. Thank you again friends for the power of your prayers and faith in our behalf.

I also made rolls. Not sure I am going to attempt them again until I have a mixer. It is just too difficult to knead by hand and come out with good rolls in my opinion. I realize these pics are not good. It's so that when I finally make an amazing batch, I can look back at these pics and say, "Wow, I've come such a long way."

And, I just really like this pic of Talls and Angel.

Fall Recap Part 3: Cross-country Road Trip

For those of you who don't know, we are currently at my parent's house in CA for Charles' 3rd rotation in City of Industry (30 miles from their house). Since he needed a car to commute everyday we drove across the country...again.

I packed up the car with all our belongings for 7 wks BY MYSELF since Charles was in Baxley. I was pretty stressed out about this, but I did it and I felt pretty proud of myself for doing so.

We did the trip in 5 days and 4 nights. The first night we spent in Birmingham, AL. Second night in Oklahoma City, OK. Third night in Albuerque, NM. The last night in Yucca, AZ with Miah and Monica. It was remarkable to watch the terrain change gradually from the tree dense low country to desert mountain plains. Even though we wanted to pull our hair out multiple times and asked ourselves why we didn't fly, it was beautiful to see such diverse topography of our beautiful country.

Worst moment: Vince's blow out in his carseat and trying to clean up the mess in a bathroom with a single light bulb hanging from the ceiling, on the floor.

Best moments: Driving at sunset EVERY night for 4 nights and seeing amazing sunsets as we drove west.

Sunset in Miah and Monica's backyard

Unexpected happy moments: Seeing snow at the TX/OK border and walking through it in Amarillo. AND seeing Charlie's face light up when we came upon the first western mountain range and say "We belong in the west!"

We loved the sunset in Arkansas as we drove through the Ozarks. Hopefully we can take another trip back there someday to explore further.

We are gearing up for our trip back to Savannah on Sunday.

Los Abuelos

My Lamadrid grandparents came for a visit. Azure couldn't say "abuela" or "abuelo" and kept referring to them as "her" and "him". I tried to have her repeat me but, she thought I was saying the same thing over and over, not realizing the difference between the "o" and the "a". Then she would get frustrated and say she doesn't like Spanish. So, here's hoping that she starts warming up to the idea of attending a Spanish Immersion kindergarten class in less than 2 yrs.

Despite the language barrier she had a blast with them at the park. They spent about 30 mins pushing her in the swing and chasing her around the park. And they are her GREAT grandparents. Being healthy is such an apparent blessing when you get older.

When they got back from the park I asked her if she learned any Spanish words and she said, "No, they didn't speak Spanish." Hmmm.

Fall Recap Part 2: Dr. Graham's

We are behind on the blog. So, here's to backtracking yet again.

Charles' last rotation was in Baxley, GA. We had the pleasure of looking around Dr. Graham's property (the preceptor who Charles stayed with Mon-Wed for 5 wks).

He had a donkey and a horse.

A really cute donkey. Which only confirms further that we absolutely NEED to own a donkey at some future date.

He also had a cotton field. Bless those southern folk who spent hours picking cotton in blazing humid heat.

There is something breathtaking about seeing an endless white cotton field all ready to harvest.

Of course, Vince wanted to eat it.

Thank you Graham's for taking such good care of Daddy for us!

Fall Recap Part 1: Exploring

A couple Fridays & Saturdays back in Oct we went on a few family runs to prepare for the 5K.

On Friday Oct. 22 Charles took us to a "secret lake" he had found on one of his solo runs that is just 1 mile from our house. It pays to explore in your own backyard.Take a look at the treasures we found:

We spotted Charlie's footprint from his barefoot run a couple days before.

Obviously it was beautiful and we pointed out how similar it looked to the Sacred Grove where Joseph Smith first prayed and saw Jesus and Heavenly Father. Azure decided she wanted to say a prayer too.

It is so refreshing to be outside in nature. Teaching opportunities are plentiful for inquisitive minds.

Boring Dad Post, please disregard

Howdy, y'all. It's me-the guy who never writes posts, but occasionally appears in pictures as the disoriented nerd w/ glasses. As a proverbial "heads-up" to any interested parties, I'm currently working on applications for 5 different pharmacy residency programs. Interviews begin next month, after which I will hopefully be matched to a program in March to begin work in June. The Match is akin to going to Vegas and betting your life & livelihood on several numbers at the Roulette table. Unfortunately, I will not see any German duo-trained white tigers or French circuses in the gamble which will unroll over the next few months. I'm applying to programs in:

Tampa, FL
Savannah, GA
Winston-Salem, NC
Albuquerque, NM
Tucson, AZ

After and if I interview, I will rank the programs, and they will in turn rank me, followed by super computers meddling with my life and hopefully a happy outcome for all, world peace, etc. So there is a good chance we will live in one of the above cities come June. This may be joyous news to some, bitter melons to others. At any rate we are giddy, so stay tuned for utter and complete insanity to be unveiled as our lives are soon to be "flip turned upside down" in the words of Sir William Smythe.