Graduation! & a little Arizona Love.

So Mark graduating from Medical School deserves a bit more documentation than I allotted during our homeless state. :)  We were so excited to go back to AZ for graduation.  We have so many good memories of our lives there:  sweet baby Sam, friends, swimming, HEAT, beautiful winters etc.  If it were up to Mark we would settle in AZ for sure when we are someday ready to settle anywhere... :)

Our Vacation rental was right down the street from our friends Nate and Tina Herrington (Nate and Mark were MTC companions together - and now Nate is attending Midwestern also.  Plus they are both Canadian which makes us love them even more. :)).  Anyways we had them over for a BBQ our first night there and then Mark and Nate woke up early to hike Camelback.  

Later that day Mark took the kids to Cabelas while my mother-in-law and I went shopping for some graduation accessories.

We did a lot of swimming that weekend. :)

Tina who is an amazing makeup artist offered to do my hair and makeup for the graduation banquet. I spent all afternoon at her house getting pampered.  It was really fun!

Did I mention we did a lot of swimming?

The actual graduation was a bit of a......nightmare?

During the first speaker Mark turned to one of his classmates and said,
"Do you hear that kids screaming?"

"He's mine."

Ha Ha.  I was hauling (or trying to haul - he's super heavy!) a bawling 4yr old up the stairs and out the door as he's screaming, "I want my cars!!!"

I missed pretty much the entire graduation.  I'm sure it was lovely.

Congratulations honey?!!

We did make it back in to see Mark get is graduation certificate. :)

(this is BEFORE the ceremony started)

The Family Crew that made the trip.

Mark and some of his Med School Friends.

Some of the fantastic wives that still lived in the area put on this great potluck get-together afterwords which was super nice.  It was so great to be able to go and eat and visit with people we haven't seen all year.  Mark especially enjoyed catching up with all his friends.

The Husbands.

The Wives!

When I stop and think about it it is so strange to me that Medical School is actually over.

How did that happen so fast?

And now we are living in Michigan - expecting our 4th child?  

I swear it was just yesterday when we were in Rexburg ID deciding whether or not Mark actually wanted to go to Medical School!!

What a crazy happy life this is!

Ah, Utah

A few things we did and loved before leaving Utah.

 Zina reading with our neighbor Darryl Nield in his front yard before the neighborhood social.

We loved having Darryl as our neighbor.  You could not find a sweeter, kinder neighbor anywhere.  We loved to visit with him and he was always giving the kids candy and homemade fudge and bringing us his freshly bottled goods like strawberry jam, pickles, and salsa.  He also shared his garden with us the summer we moved in.  He just adored the kids and the kids loved him.  

 Mark slept outside on the tramp with Zina and Wilson before we left.  They LOVED it.

 Moving Day!

This day was actually a huge bummer.  Mark didn't ask anyone but our Elder's Quorum to come and help us move (thinking that would be enough) and then only the EQ president showed up for 1hr.   An inactive neighbor ended up seeing Mark, his pregnant wife, and his 65yr old mother hauling everything into our moving truck and came over to see if he could help. He and Mark ended up hauling ALL of our heavy stuff out (despite his asthma and artificial knee).  We were so grateful he came to offer his help.  We took him cookies and visited with him that weekend.  Sad to us that no one showed up to help and that the first time we had ever met this neighbor was the day we were moving out. 

Lessons learned by all I think. 

And lets just say that if Mark is available I don't think he will ever miss out on helping people move. Ever.

 I was grateful I had my mother-in-law and sister-in-law Marilyn around to help clean and scrub and Angela watched my kids I think every single day that week.  

I don't even want to think about our impending move in 1yr.

Sharing a bed at Grandma's for the weekend. So sweet. 

 Mark found time to take the 2 older kids up to Timpanogas caves and they loved it.  The whole time they were hiking there they were drinking water like crazy so before they went into the caves he made them pee (except Zina refused saying she didn't need to).  Unfortunately Wilson has the smallest bladder on the planet (as we've found out many times on our road trips) and about 7 minutes into the cave tour Mark could see that Wilson was dancing again so he interrupted the tour guide and told him.  The tour guide said "oh no problem we have little bags for emergency's just like this" and then proceeded with the tour.  Poor Wilson started dancing faster and faster and kept looking up at Mark with his big eyes. Mark was waiting for the guy to finish his speech when Wilson looked up with the saddest face and said, "Papa, papa I can't...." and then the pee went running everywhere.  Poor Wilson.  He tried so hard and it really wasn't his fault. And he was really very sorry.  Mark just gave him a hug and said it was ok and then they filled up the pee bag part way with what was left in his bladder and walked away from that little puddle and continued the tour....

Wilson forgot about it and had a great time regardless.

 By the time they got out of the caves Zina was really dancing.  But the way the entrance is set up there is no bathroom when you come out so she took off down the trail as fast as she could.  Mark said all of a sudden he and Wilson see Zina barreling back up the trail towards them all out of breath, jumping up and down saying, "Papa I can't hold it any longer!"  So Zina they pulled out the trusty pee bag and she got to pee in the baggy that Wilson peed in (boy was it full) and they all had a great laugh about their "pee" adventures of the day.

And for the record, I heard all of this from a little birdy because it was all supposed to be hush hush (according to the kids)

 Mark also organized a little hiking trip to the top of Timpanogas with his nephews Ryan Lane, and Addison Marlor.

Apparently May is a little early for that kind of a venture though. 

They got rained on, hailed on and snowed on and never did make it to the top because of the snow pack but they still had a fun adventure.

 We celeberated Memorial day at Grandma Judy's and said goodbye to Uncle Travis who was on his way to training before he leaves for Afganistan.  

This is the only picture I have of the day's festivities.

We are praying for you Uncle Travis!

Zina Elizabeth way back in May....

Way back on May 18th Zina graduated from Kindergarten!

She had a great year and loved her teacher Mrs. Leifson who happened to be born and raised in Kokomo Indiana and was SO excited that Zina was moving (eventually) to Indiana.  

She made Zina promise to write her and let her know our address in IN so that every summer when she  comes to visit her family she could take Zina out for lunch.

It made Zina feel pretty special.

 I don't know what happened to this picture. :(

Zina and her buddy from church - Aidan Fairbanks.

Sammy, Piper, Wilson, Zina and Wade after Z's graduation.

Goodbye Park Elementary!!

Congrats to my Zina Zee! I love you!

Zina also finished up her 1st yr of soccer in May.  Even though she missed 5 games while we were gallavanting around the countryside she really enjoyed the season and her team.  2 of the girls on her team, Kaitlyn & Josie, were also in her Kindergarten class which she loved.

Sammy chill'n at a game.

She has now declared soccer to be her favorite sport. :)

Wilson playing a little pickup game with Aunty Liz and Uncle Johnny.

Love the mountains in the back!

 Zina's Kindergarten Soccer Team 

The "Angels"

Spanish Fork 2012

And just because this post is all about Zina here is a picture she drew for Uncle Adam way back in January.  

I am so grateful for this sweet spunky girl.  She is opinionated, bossy, obedient, smart, and kind.  She helps me around the house and with her brothers SO much. Probably more than any six yr old should, but the more this pregnancy moves forward the more and more grateful I am for my little 6yr old.

Love you Zina Zee!

Saturday with no packing?

Our first Saturday after unloading the moving van and we were all unpacked, cleaned, with pictures up and e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. done!! (have I mentioned my angel mother yet?) We headed straight for Lake Michigan and the beach.  South Haven is about an hour from our house and boy was it packed.  Mark kept commenting on how he felt like we were in California except that Lake Michigan is definitely a chilly fresh water lake - a BIG one!  Besides all the people it was beautiful and sandy, hot and humid and everything a beach should be.  The kids loved it and since Mark has tomorrow off we plan on heading to another beach and enjoying it without the Saturday crowds.