All the fun we had with Grandma!!

OK, so in my last entry I told you all to look back later for pictures of all the fun we had while Grandma was here. Well guess what? I forgot to take the camera everywhere we went except the zoo, so sorry, that's all you get pictures from. I will however be happy to tell you about all our adventures.

Kerrie or Grandma or Mamma, who ever you are talking to in our family arrived on Thursday morning and despite her tiredness Caden and I whisked her off to meet Dave at school and go to lunch.

On Friday Kerrie, Caden and I took the 35 minute drive to the outlets just south of Indianapolis. We had a nice time, however I had forgotten my cell phone and was preoccupied with the fact that today was going to be the day that the boys school was going to need to get in touch with me. Well they didn't but I didn't know that until we got home.

Saturday was a fun day that I really regret not having my camera, if I had, you might get to see me climbing a tree! We went to an apple festival at a local orchard. The boys had a great time being hoisted up to pick apples, searching under branches for raspberries, and stomping thorough the pumpkin patch to find just the right pumpkin! After all that hard work we had a yummy hot dog and an even better apple cider slushy! YUM! Dave had a test that next Wednesday so he was unable to come with us, but we had a great time!

Saturday evening was the Relief Society General broadcast, and our stake did a huge service project that consisted of 500 Hygiene kits, cards for the Ronald McDonald House, quilts and nightgowns for humanitarian aid, 500 puppy pillows for the Riley Children's Hospital and fleece blankets for the local Fire and Police departments to give to kids when they needed to be taken out of their homes for any reason. It was an amazing sight to see so many great women giving of their time and talents to help someone they would never know! The broadcast was as always an uplifting time to listen to those called to lead and direct us.

Sunday...Well, Sunday was Sunday!

Monday was going to be a great day, the boys were pumped up as they got on the bus to go see the "dinosaur bones" (the Children's museum). I even made special arrangements to pick them up from school a little early so we could have plenty of time to explore! We arrived at the museum and guess what? IT WAS CLOSED! How do you explain to 3 little boys after talking it up so much that they couldn't go in. Let me tell you, it wasn't easy and I spent the next few days hearing about how the "dinosaurs were locked".

Tuesday morning grandma went to Austin and Taylor's classroom and spent some time observing and helping. I joined her at lunch time and we had lunch with them.

If I remember correctly, Wednesday was pretty uneventful, a nice day but nothing really to share!

Thursday was a fun day, Dave was finished with his test and had the day off. We all went to the zoo, I know I have talked about it before but the zoo here is incredible. We packed a little lunch and spent just over 5 hours there. We got to pet sharks, but the highlight was probably the fountain that shoots up out of the ground. Here are some pictures from our trip to the zoo:

Austin touching a shark!

Caden on a shark on the carousel and Mom, Caden, Austin , Taylor and Grandma on the train. Dad came along for the ride but he took the picture!

Austin, completely enjoying the fact that he was getting wet, and nobody was stopping him!

Caden deciding if this was OK... Guess what he decided?

Taylor taking a break from running around getting wet!

Taylor and grandma! Fun grandma, hua?

Well, that pretty much wraps up the adventure with grandma. We were all sad to see her go, up until a couple days ago Caden was still saying that he "lost grandma." Cute!

What we have been up to since moving to Indianapolis...besides studying!

So, for this entry I thought I would let you know what we have been able to do in the little spare time Dave actually has.
One of our first outings was to an Indiana Indians baseball game, unfortunately the popcorn was more fun than the game.

Next the Dental School held a White Coat Ceremony for all the first years, it was really nice. They had a few speakers who all had great things to say to the students, then they presented them with their "white coats." That was neat, each student told who they were and where they were from. After they had a nice reception in their honor.

On the 24th of July our stake had a HUGE party. Some of the highlights were the yummy watermelon, face painting, fishing ponds, wagon rides, home made pies & jams, corn hull (a Indiana game that I am told we will learn to love, maybe it's a mid-west game, I'm not really sure), square dancing, pioneer pictures, a really nice program, and the boys favorite...potato sack racing!

The boys have also enjoyed just hanging out in our little back yard and playing in the pool. It gets very hot a humid here, some days it is to hot to even go swimming!

We also like to go to the zoo whenever possible, it is great! A big hit with the boys is the Children's Museum, they have a really great dinosaur section. The boys often ask to drive by and see the "dinosaur breaking the building." Lots of fun!

You know what is amazing? Downtown Indianapolis, there are so many wonderful museums and buildings to explore. On one of our family drives we stopped and took in a few of the sights of downtown, Caden was asleep in the car so Austin, Taylor and Dave did the exploring and reported back to me!

Lastly, but certainly not least, Dave and I were able to go to a pre-season Colts game against the Bears. That was great fun, although the batteries in the camera were dead so I don't have anything to show you of that event. We were able however to go downtown for the big opening game party that the NFL holds for the Superbowl winners. Faith Hill, Kelly Clarkson, and Hinder came and did a free concert. I have never seen so many people crammed into one place before! Great times!

Well, I think that covers it for the next little while. We are so excited because Grandma is coming to visit in a few days and we have a lot of fun activities planned. I will make sure to take pictures and next month there will be something new to read and look at.

Thanks for looking!

Here goes nothin'

Well, I have decided after talking to my very smart sister-in-law that I would try and put together a blog of our family. This is a huge step for me and hopefully I can figure it all out! I hope those of you that read this will enjoy!

Our family recently moved to Indianapolis so Dave could attend Indiana University School of Dentistry. We have been here since the first of June and are really feeling comfortable and settled. It is extremely hot and humid which is taking longer than I expected to get used to. My aunt Maria who lived in New York for many years told me I never will!! Also the fact that there seems to be a lack of Mountains (there are none) has been quite an adjustment. All in all, WE LOVE IT and feel very blessed to be here!!

Dave is really enjoying school, especially the hands on parts of the anatomy lab and building teeth out of wax. The school gives the students bi-weekly exams which are a combination of everything they have learned over the previous two weeks, those are turning out to be quite a time consuming process with studying and everything. I just try to remember that's why we are here and it isn't going to last forever! On top of school Dave has just been called to be the ward clerk, again. Dave has quite a way of dealing with the stress and pressure of it all and continues to be the happy, upbeat guy he always has been.

Austin and Taylor just started Kindergarten here and seem to love it. They have been placed into a general ed class in the morning and a special ed class that focuses on their individual needs in the afternoon. Both teachers are great. Academically they are probably a little ahead of a lot of the kids in their class but developmentally and behaviorally they have room to grow. We have great hope that this will be a fabulous school year for them. When the boys are not in school they love to go swimming at the YMCA and visit the zoo. They also love playing dinosaurs and make believe saying things like "when I grow up I want to be a octopus." They are learning so much and are so fun to talk to.

Caden is getting ready to start pre-school, I can't believe my baby is 3 years old! He continues to be a sweet, affectionate little boy who truly loves his mommy, which I am thrilled about! He loves to read books, play with cars and dinosaurs, and follow his brothers around. He is very talkative and lively. A real joy to have as part of our family.

I keep busy with being a mom. My calling in the ward is Home, Family, Personal, Enrichment Leader, which is panning out to be a lot of work. It is fun though, I work with great ladies who have wonderful ideas and are all willing to help.

Well, that is probably long enough for my first post. I am going to try and add some pictures, so we'll see how that goes. Thanks for reading!!