Day at the Park

Yesterday we ventured out with Kevin, Lori and Hattie for an afternoon at the park that's only a block from our house. Madelyn expended enough calories for all of us combined and Hattie had so much fun that all she could say was "Wow wow wow wow..."

We're enjoying the mild weather while we can. I love spring!

Long time, no blog

3/7/09

Hi y'all. Sorry about my lack of posts. Mostly that's because there's been a whole lotta nothin' going on around here lately. But here I am anyway!

Exciting this week:

U2 has a new album out--No Line on the Horizon--their first since 2004. I was going to go buy it, but I guess Mark already got it for my birthday, which is in 3 weeks. So I have to wait. I hate waiting. I need a Bono fix right now!!!

Here's who I found peering in through my bedroom window the other day. My window well seems to be a western fence lizard magnet. Madelyn likes to help release them back into the wild.

That's Nathan, my giant 3-year old nephew who was here visiting this week. He and Madelyn spent most of their time together running around with toy guns, after their lizard mission was accomplished.

Happy birthday, Mom! Madelyn thought it must be her birthday too, so she helped blow out the candles. She does this at pretty much everyone's party.

My brother Tyler and his pretty little girl Ava. Gotta love those big round eyes!

And last but not least,


MySpace Countdowns

Well, "done with school" as in done with rotations and exams for the University of St. Francis (good riddance!) but will still have to slog back over to Albuquerque two weeks afterwards for graduation ceremonies, and then all those lucky students will have to go take their boards and hope they pass so they can finally start working. Hurray!

Now I must go change a stinky Pull-Up, because Madelyn is on a potty training strike. Have a good weekend!

Jewelry connossieur

2/26/09

A couple weeks ago, Mark, Madelyn and I went to "our" jewelers (JK Jewelers) in St. George to drop off our rings for the free re-plating and polishing they do for us once a year. Madelyn was quite enamored with the place, going around looking at all the gems with a definite sparkle in her eye. She instantly fell in love with a starfish pendant (click for a picture), but it happens to be made entirely of white and yellow diamonds (Drool. I've decided that I need to get a yellow diamond piece for myself one of these days), and we didn't have an extra $1,600 on us, so she made a squalling fuss when we didn't buy it for her. Although we did buy her a 14K gold, blue topaz (her birthstone) and diamond pendant that they were clearing out for $29.

So the other day when we went back to pick up our rings, Madelyn came in through the door and exclaimed, "Diamonds!!!" and was so giddy it was making the two girls working there laugh. Apparently most 4-year olds do not react like this. We were going to get her a chain for her blue topaz pendant, but they didn't have any short enough for her. But they appreciated a good customer in the making and presented her with a little cultured pearl necklace with a sterling silver clasp that is just her size and let her take it home for free!

You are looking at one very happy little lady.

At least someone had fun...

2/23/09

Well, we're back from our trip to New Mexico. It was epically boring for Mark and I. Our days consisted of driving, lying sick on the couch (me), and sitting through lectures and undergoing several harrowing exams at school (Mark). But Madelyn had a blast:

...Using the couch at Grandma's as a balance beam

...Checking out the spring wares at Hobby Lobby

...Playing on the Smart Cycle at Toys 'R Us

...Making cookies with Beckham and Ravi and lighting sparkler candles for Beckham's birthday. There are three of the cutest little shaggy-haired children you'll ever see.

Mark is happy to say that he survived "Capstone Week" and that his Master's thesis presentation (on poster board) went well. Whew! That is one project that neither of us are sad to see at an end. They had been making him work on it for over a year. His thesis, not just his poster board. You know what I mean.

Today Mark started his 8th and last rotation, which is up in Cedar City doing pediatrics. 6 more weeks and he'll be DONE! Well, mostly. But we're still excited. Now can someone help me be excited about tackling the laundry, dishes and unpacking that I have to do? Anyone?? Sigh.

Maria is engaged!!

2/14/09

My sister Maria got engaged yesterday!!! The lucky guy is Shay Nielson, who has been dating her for over a year. We have been waiting for this for months and months. Maria had, ahem, grown tired of waiting and so had already bought herself a wedding dress, reserved her reception site and temple date and started buying decorations for her reception. But now we can move forward to June 5th unimpeded.

Here's the cute couple:

This was taken a few months ago. Eventually I'll wrangle some photos of the engagement moment from Shay.

When we got the happy news yesterday, I decided to surprise her and decorate her room with hearts, roses, crepe paper, balloons, lights, chocolates, confetti, a card, a sign on the door and three fat wedding magazines.

(5-08-09 was the original date...Pretend that it says 6-05-09.)

Maria found this ring at a jewelry store that was going out of business and threatened Shay within an inch of his life if he didn't hurry and go buy it for her. He pretended that someone else had come in and bought it before him, though. Well, it's a funny story now, but she did not find it amusing at the time.

Madelyn going in for a closer look.

So congratulations, little sis! You found yourself a good guy. Thanks for giving me the chance to plan your wedding, because you know how much I enjoy it.

I'll be in Albuquerque all next week, so you'll have to do without a new post for a while. I know, it will be nearly tragic for me also. So I'm off to go pack and clean the house.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Seven Down, One to go!!!

Dennis Mitchell, PA-C and Mark Yoder, PA-S

2/11/09

I can't believe it either. Mark only has one more rotation left! Of course, since we have to spend all next week in Albuquerque so he can present his thesis and take five nasty exams, and since the school is delaying graduation for two weeks after the students finish their work, he won't technically be done for another two months. Groan. But we're going to take advantage of those two weeks and hopefully take a trip to Disneyland. Yay! Mark probably won't have any vacation time for another year, so ya' know. Gotta do it now, even when we have no money.

Rotation #7 was Mark's elective, and he chose to work with a PA that we knew from our college ward before we moved to Albuquerque, Dennis Mitchell. He helped Mark get into school and we were hoping that he'd have good connections in town to help Mark find a job. He works in...wait for it...urology! So Mark has spent the last 5 weeks or so doing prostate exams and getting very up close and personal with people's private regions. Sounds fun, doesn't it. He got to observe a lot of surgeries too and would come home with the most grotesque stories to tell around the dinner table. He's had two other rotations that were heavy on the surgery, but they weren't quite so involved with certain body parts.

On Tuesdays they would go out to Diamond Ranch, a troubled teens home/rehab facility where Dennis is Director of Medicine to do general check-ups and stuff. There seems to be an unusual concentration of such youth facilities here in southern Utah. Hmmm. Well most of the kids are from out of state and their parents arrange for them to be captured (in some cases) and taken away.

Anyway, Dennis was able to introduce Mark to a lot of doctors and PAs that he knows, and one of them told Mark about a job opening right there in St. George with an orthopedic clinic (I've mentioned it before). So Mark has applied for it and is over there right now job shadowing because the doctors wanted to make sure he knows what he'd be getting himself into. But so far it sounds promising, and we should know soon whether he gets the job! We are nervous/excited because it would be a steep learning curve and very long hours.

Now here's a few of the latest pics:

More of my dancing princess. It should be noted that it was past midnight when I took these photos. Madelyn had taken a long nap that day (which I try not to let happen anymore) and so was still quite full of energy.

Mark, who has been having a lot of fun lately (rappelling, 4-wheeling, gaming) was getting his stuff ready for a snowboard trip last weekend. I think this picture is so cute.

This is what happens when one uses a giant serving spoon to eat chocolate ice cream.

And now to venture into the realm of You Probably Don't Care But I Think It's Cool, regarding the Grammys last Sunday:

Robert Plant, self-described "golden god" of Led Zeppelin, has still got it!

His collaboration with bluegrass queen Alison Kraus won six Grammys! It shows a very mellow side of Robert, who ironically never won any Grammys before this. Alison has 26 of them now.

COOL, huh? The things you find on the internet...but as I also love King Theoden, I had to post this. Mark has seen Robert Plant in concert and old man or no, he is awesome.

And...... Blink-182 are reuniting for a record and a tour!! (The picture above was them presenting at the Grammys.) After four years of estrangement, I guess Travis Barker's plane crash brought them back together. I'm fine with this as long as Tom doesn't give up Angels and Airwaves. I've heard they'll both be putting out albums this year, so wow. I'm excited.

Is there a rule somewhere that one should be dressed before noon? Because I'm breaking that rule if so. I guess I'd better go take care of that and see what Madelyn is up to. Ta ta for now.

Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera...

2/4/09

Thanks for all your helpful comments from my last post! They will be very useful for our talks on Sunday.

Well, we had an interesting Monday. Madelyn had to get some dental work done, and since she was far from the model patient when they were taking her x-rays last week, they decided that conscious sedation was the way to go. So I had to bring her into the office in St. George at 6:45 am, and there was even a patient there before us, poor thing. At around 7:20 the dentist came and gave Madelyn a shot in the leg, and after five minutes she was like a limp noodle and cross-eyed, so he took her back, hooked her up to nitrous oxide, and I had to stay in the waiting room (probably a good thing). They were done pretty quickly and even though she was awake for the whole procedure, she didn't make a single peep! Miracle drugs, I tell you.

Anyway, I had to go into a little room to hold her while she came around afterwards, and it took a while but gradually she noticed that I was there and gave me a very drunken smile and "Mommmmyyy" greeting. It was hard to see her all glazed over with her eyes twitching and everything, but then it was kind of comical because she was so loopy. She kept saying "Twoooo" to me and holding up two fingers, then telling me I should only have two eyes (she was apparently seeing double), and then Mark came in to see her before work and when he picked her up she kept saying , "We're going for a ride!" I guess the room was spinning around her. She was also swatting at an invisible bug in the air and managed to "catch" it between her hands... Mark thought it was so hilarious. She slept on the way home and then for another couple hours, and then she was fine. Of course then everyone had to tell us their stories about coming out of anesthesia and acting like a loon.

In other news, Mark is meeting with Dr. Prince today, who is looking for a PA to work with him in the orthopedic clinic he works at in St. George, which also involves a lot of surgery. Mark was so excited to find out about that opening. That is exactly the job that he had been dreaming about, and we are so fortunate that he has met people with connections during this past rotation. So I'm very anxious to see if Dr. Prince is willing to wait for Mark to graduate and be licenced, which won't be until the end of April. Just imagine---a real, paying job!!

It's been a while since I've posted some random pictures:

Madelyn the iPhone addict. She knows her way around that thing and is always playing games on it or watching videos. "I want daddy's iPhone!!" is an often-heard whine.

Her first (professional) hair cut. Her hair has finally thickened to the point where I can't cut it very well anymore, and Amanda (who works with Maria) was able to blend in the still-choppy locks that Madelyn cut off herself last August. Look at the tears running down her face, though! Poor girl was scared, but she held very still.

Mark was gearing up for a rappelling trip, and Madelyn desperately wanted to come. We didn't think Madelyn + a cliff edge was a very good mix, though.

She can't quite handle standing up on a skateboard (neither can I), so she zooms around on her knees or her tummy. Watch out for that door coming straight at your head, Miss...

This is our neighbor, Jacelyn Jones, who is Madelyn's best little playmate around here. Apparently they are on their way to somewhere very important.

A female western fence lizard that we rescued from our window well. She was too cold to run away, so they were able to just pick her up. They are very hard to catch when they're warm.

Madelyn got tired of waiting for me to set up her "narble race" (that's 'marble,' to you and I) and fell asleep like this. Looks comfy, huh.

Hattie is learning a few new tricks from Madelyn. (Actually I think the pull-all-the tissues-out-of -a-box trick, akin to the unroll-all-the-toilet-paper trick, is just encoded in kid's DNA.)

Cute cousins!! It's funny how different they look from each other. And yes, Hattie's arms are as delicious as they look.

This is what my sister Maria and I bought yesterday for her wedding reception. Her boyfriend Shay has not technically proposed yet, but we think he has a ring... They have been dating for over a year and the wedding is imminent. There's just that tiny detail of the proposal to worry about. Hurry up, Shay! Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up!!!!!!

Now it's off to see to the laundry and all the other things I should be doing right now. Catch ya later.