Full Term...Well, Technically Speaking :)

As per my sister-in-laws request...this post is for her :)

It's hard for several reasons living far away from all of my sisters...one of them is not being able to see one another like we use to at least once a week.  And...with me living in the middle of nowhere, 2,000 miles from everything...I've grown a belly and haven't said much about it.  In fact, this is my third pregnancy, and my very first official pregnancy update post.  Like I said, Kari...this is just for you!!

I am officially 37 weeks, three days along.  But it sounds sooo much better to say I only have two weeks, four days left.  We're running to home base.  I can actually see the finish line.  I just have to hang in there 18 more days, and I can call a touchdown for the team :)

Of course, this baby could technically come at any time now...but knowing how things went with my previous babies...she'll be hanging on for dear life until forced to make an appearance.  Which will officially be April 15th.  One day before my due date.  

Here's my belly.  My ever growing belly.  This picture makes me look a heck of a lot smaller than I really am.  In fact...I'm huge.  I'm probably bigger than I was with either Emmy or Jack.  I'm retaining water like a freaking reservoir.  My doctor keeps telling me that I'm measuring right on...but I think he's lying.  Smart man.  He does work with a whole bunch of crazy pregnant women after all :)

I haven't had any of the out of ordinary cravings...but I can't get through my day without a bowl of frozen raspberries with Yoplait strawberry banana yogurt and granola.  It is one thing that sounds good to me all of the time.  I could probably eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner...which I believe I have done a couple times.  Other than that, you can find me snacking on celery and cheese.  

This has, by far, been my roughest pregnancy.  Being pregnant at 27 compared to pregnant at 31 is a heck of a lot different.  I also have two little ones that I chase around and a first year medical student for a husband...oh...and living super far away from family...I think those all contribute to a harder pregnancy.  But, just like my other two pregnancies, I never experienced morning sickness.  Just horrible heartburn. And by horrible I mean waking up three times a night with reflux attacks that make me cough and cough until I curl up into a ball and cry while Tim tries to calm me down.  I'm married to a rock star friends.  Seriously.  

This past week, we worked really hard at getting her room all set up.  Tim's spring break has been nothing but honey-do-list items that he checks off everyday.  I love him.  Emmy and Jack helped me get the crib all ready...and Emmy loved going through all of her old baby clothes as I pulled them out to wash them and fold them.  She even picked out the outfit for Ruby to come home from the hospital in.  To say Emmy is excited is a complete understatment.  She's been praying for baby Ruby for the last six months, as well as reminding us to pray for baby Ruby.  Emmy informed me the other day that we won't need to put the baby swing up because she'll just hold Ruby for me all the time.  I can't wait to see my little helper in action :)

The thing I'm most terrified about is the fact that we're jumping from two to three kids.  I've heard from several different sources that that by far was the hardest jump....four is easy...but three?  Three is hard.  I'm out numbered.  Tim is gone.  And I don't have a Target to go to as my happy place.  Luckily, it will only be about a month an a half before we head to Utah for two glorious months.  I know I can make it.  Heavenly Father obviously thinks I can...so I will.  

As far as everything else goes...we're ready for this baby to come!  

I know I'm certainly excited to hold her for the very first time, count all of her fingers and toes over and over, and be mesmerized by the very miracle of birth.  

Two weeks, four days...and counting.  

I can make it...I can make it...I can make it... :)  

Snow Day

Do you remember being little, and it would start to snow...and you would pray that it would keep snowing so that the next day school would be cancelled?  

Or maybe that's just a Utah thing.

I remember exactly one official snow day in my 13 years of education growing up in Utah.

Just. One.

The snow was deep enough that it covered our trampoline. 

And then to make up for the one day of school that we missed...we had to go to school an extra day in June. 

Since we've lived in Kentucky, and just since January 1st of this year, there have already been 15 snow days.  FIFTEEN!!! 

And when it snows here...everything, and I mean EVERYTHING shuts down.  Just two weeks ago, we had a very small, very insignificant storm roll through.  I think we maybe got a 1/4 of an inch.  The roads were lightly dusted.  Nothing terrible.  I needed to go to the Dollar Store to pick up one or two things for a baby shower that I was throwing.  It was 6:30 pm.  No one was on the roads.  It was like a ghost town.

Our Dollar Tree is inside our "mall".  Yes...we have a "mall".  You should come and visit just so you can go inside of our "mall".  Reason enough right there.  Book your flight right now.  

Anyway, I pulled up, into an empty parking lot...hopped out of my car...walked into the mall...and every single store was closed.  Except for JCPenney.  However, they were counting down their machines getting ready to close their doors.  All because of a light dusting of snow.

They'll even call off school if they think it's going to snow.  There doesn't even have to be a cloud in the sky.  In fact, most of those 15 days have amounted to no snow at all...and if there is snow...it's only an inch.  Maybe two.

However...we got a storm in last night that made me smile.  It made me happy.  It made me think of my beloved Utah.  Tim came home early yesterday because they cancelled the rest of his classes for the day even though it hadn't started snowing yet.  Then he found out they were going to cancel all of the classes for today as well, and he could stream them at home.  It started to flurry last night around seven.  By the time we went to bed several hours later, we had an inch. 

This morning, when I woke up...there was 7 inches.  

Seven!!

That's unheard of around here.

In fact, this winter has been one of the worst winters they've ever had in these parts.  

I love it :)

Right now, the sun is shining, the snow is melting quickly...and by tomorrow...we probably won't have anything significant to show for our grand snow storm last night.  

But...I'll bet you a batch of chocolate chip cookies that school will be cancelled tomorrow as well.

Make it snow day number 16. 

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way To Church...

This is Emmy's first family portrait. 

I LOVE it.  It's now by far one of my most prized possessions.

The story that goes along with it is pretty good too...

Let me share that with you :)

On Saturday night, like clockwork...Jack threw up.  

He does this almost every Saturday night since the beginning of the year.

It's almost like he's trying to get out of going to church...

So, because I've been the one staying home with him on Sundays, Tim volunteered for this past week so that I could finally go and get some spiritual nourishment.  Relief Society, by the way, was just what I needed.

Anyway, Emmy and I got ready for church, kissed Daddy and Jack goodbye and hopped in the car for the 30 minute drive to our temporary strip mall location until our building is finally finished in just a couple weeks.  On the way to church, we usually listen to a church music CD in the car.  Emmy usually loves it, and sings along with the songs...but on Sunday, she was such a chatterbox that I turned the music off and we talked the whole way to church.  One of the conversations we had was about the rain in Kentucky.  It was raining Sunday morning, and my inquisitive three year old asked why it rains so much here and not very much in Utah.  I then began to explain that Utah is a desert, and deserts don't get as much rain.

Remember that part...I told my child that Utah, our beloved home where Grammy and Papa live, is a desert.

That part is important.

Sacrament meeting was wonderful.  Emmy colored, I was able to listen.  Jack was at home throwing up on Daddy for once, and not me.   

Life was good.

After Sacrament, I dropped Emmy off in Primary so she could be with the rest of the Sunbeams.

I headed to my classes.

After the remaining two hours of church had timed out, I left Relief Society and headed to the primary room to pick Emmy up.  As she and I headed into the hall together, she informed me with a horrified expression on her face that we could NOT go to Utah.  Because scorpions live in the desert.

What in the world?

She then began to tell me all about scorpions.  How they have pinchers on their hands, how they can sting you, how they're black, how they can't crawl up on rocks very well...and on and on.

And in between all the scorpion talk was her telling me, quite decidedly, that we could NOT go to Utah.

When we got in the car, I turned around and asked her to tell me what her lesson had been about in her Sunbeam class.

Scorpions. 

So, I asked what they did to learn about scorpions.

She then told me that there was a little boy who went to the desert with his Daddy.  He wore flip flops, and he didn't listen to his Daddy.  A scorpion crawled on his foot and stung him.  He and his Daddy had to hurry and get in the car away from the scorpions and go to the hospital.

She also included parts about scorpions not being able to climb on the rocks in the desert, and scorpions chasing after the car as the little boy and his Daddy drove away...although I'm not so sure that last part actually happened. My three year old has quite the active imagination :).

So, our conversation on the way home consisted of me trying to convince my child that Grammy and Papa don't have scorpions in their backyard.  

When we got home, she told Daddy all about her lesson.  He, just like myself, wondered "what the heck?"

She even prayed for the scorpions in her lunch prayer.

Emmy had also drawn a picture in her class.  

Here is her explanation of the picture...

(from left to right)

Jack, and Daddy.  Ruby is standing on a rock so the scorpions don't get her.  Emmy, and Mommy.  Mommy has her arm around Emmy.

Daddy is wearing flip flops (those are the squiggly lines on Daddy's legs)

The other squiggly lines are sand from the desert.

During naptime, I got a call.

It was Emmy's teacher.

She wanted to explain to me what their class had been about.

She and her husband had been asked, during Sunday School, to fill in for Emmy's Sunbeam teacher.  So...not having much time to prepare, they found video about listening to our earthly fathers, as well as our Heavenly Father, and how it can keep us safe.  

The little boy in the video did not listen to his Daddy.  He wore flip flops to the desert when his Daddy had asked him to wear better shoes.  Because he didn't listen, he got stung by a scorpion on his foot.  

After the video, they asked the kids to draw a picture of their Daddy, or a memory that they have of something they have done with their Daddy.

Instead, Emmy started to cry uncontrollably...sobbing about how she didn't want to go to the desert.

Her teacher had to inform her that they weren't going to the desert.

It took several minutes to calm her down.

After which, she drew her picture...while all the boys drew pictures of scorpions :)

My favorite part...she put her baby sister, who is still growing in my tummy, on a rock so the scorpions couldn't get her...while the rest of us were left to fend for ourselves on the scorpion covered ground.

Ha!

Although, Emmy did say that all of us are wearing shoes...except Daddy.  He's wearing flip flops. 

Try explaining that one.

Best. Picture. Ever.

Love my girl.

Memory Moment of the Week

A week ago, we were without water.

Being without water sucks. 

Big time.

I never realized exactly how often I rely on running water until we had our water turned off due to a break in our water line.  There were countless times I went to the sink and turned on the faucet, or used the bathroom and desperately wanted to flush the toilet because I'm one of those people who has to flush every. single. time. 

Do you have any idea how disgusting a toilet is after it's been used all day...and not been flushed?

Too much info?  Just know this...it was rough.

I'm extremely grateful that we were only without water for 36 hours, and not days, or weeks.  

I seriously NEVER could have been a pioneer.  

Anyway, when the water company first turned off our water Sunday afternoon, we called our landlord and let him know the situation.  Luckily, he was at our house and had a guy with him to check things out all within a couple hours.  When they restored our 125 year old house, they didn't replace one old pipe.  So, they were pretty sure, right off the bat, that they knew where the leak was, and they found it really quickly.  But, it was dark by the time they dug down far enough to find it, and needed to hold off until the next day when there was enough light to begin replacing it.  During this whole process, our landlord had said that he would turn on the water so I could bathe Jack and Emmy...only seconds after I had placed my two naked children in the tub...they had to hurry and turn it off again because the hole they were digging filled up with water way too quickly.  So, here they were...naked and in about 1/2 an inch of water...if that.  But try as I might, I could not get them out of the tub.  So, they played...quite happily...for close to an hour, until the water had completely drained from the tub because our plug is faulty and water slowly seeped into the drain. Might I add that 1/2 an inch of water in a cold porcelain tub doesn't stay warm for very long either?  So, within a matter of minutes, the water was freezing.  I'm such a good mom.

I got some really cute pictures though :) 

I'm pretty sure Jack had hypothermia by the time he let me drag his shivering body out of the tub, kicking and screaming.  Not that there was even any water left...but the kid was having a blast. 

After ripping our deck apart, and going on 2 days without water, we finally were able to turn the faucet on and delight in the glorious, cold, refreshing liquid that came pouring out.

Did I mention that I could NEVER have been a pioneer.

I would have died.

Just. Like. That.

Tender Mercies

Last year, at this time, I was going through one of the darkest moments of my life.  I had lost myself in the anger that I had allowed to consume me, and my faith was all but gone.

The worst part of everything was how I felt about my Heavenly Father.

I felt alone...as though He had forgotten me.

Because of a priesthood blessing, given to me by my husband...I was finally able to feel the smallest amount of hope that was just enough to help dig me out of the dark pit I had placed myself in.  

As I think of that period in my life, my heart hurts.  I cannot believe I allowed myself to let Satan into my life enough to convince me that I was not of worth. That my Heavenly Father did not care about me...and worse, that I was not worthy to feel of that love.

I know that I am a daughter of God.  I know that He knows me, and He loves me...and that He is very aware of my struggles.  Over the last year, I have tried hard to recognize moments that occur during my day that are tender mercies from my Heavenly Father.  Those moments, even though some may seem small and insignificant, have strengthened my testimony.  To me, it in further confirmation of my Heavenly Fathers love for me, and for my family.

There was a talk given by Elder Bednar in the April 2005 General Conference for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints titled The Tender Mercies of The Lord.

It is a beautiful talk.  If you'd like to read it, you can find it here.

I'm going to start writing about moments in my life where I have experienced a tender mercy.  I feel that almost on a daily basis, I will look at Tim and tell him something that happened during my day that I know was a tender mercy from Heavenly Father.  I want to remember those moments, however small they may seem.

Earlier this week, I got together with a bunch of the student wives I have been privileged to meet since we moved here.  There are so many amazing women that I have been able to add to my list of friends, and I am so grateful for them.  Living almost 2,000 away from my family is hard.  But these ladies, and their husbands and children have become our family.  

Anyway, we got together to watch The Bachelor.  Silly, I know...but so much fun :).  We were meeting at a house that I had not been to yet, so I plugged the address into the navigation on my phone, kissed Tim and the kids goodbye and headed out for an evening of laughter and fun.  It was dark, and it was raining.  They don't use street lamps in most of the areas where we live, so driving on some of the roads can be difficult due to how dark it is.  The rain only made it worse.  As I reached my destination, I noticed that the house was placed a bit further back from the road, and there was a long narrow driveway leading up to the front porch.  I slowed down and made my turn, not taking into account the narrowness of the driveway, and drove the front of my car right off the edge of the road.  No problem right?  By when I put my car into reverse, and not being successful at my attempts to back up, I realized that the edge of the road where my car had driven off was extremely steep, and I wouldn't be able to get my car back up and onto the road without help.  Panicking, I got back into my car, and tried to think of a way to get myself and my car back to safety.  While steep, I figured that I could slowly drive the rest of the way off the side of the road, and then maneuver my car just enough to reach the neighbors driveway and head back up to the road.  So slowly, I let go of the brake, only to hear terrible crunching coming from underneath my car, and then panicked again as my car would not stop sliding due to the rain and mud, and almost went right into a retention ditch directly in front of me.  

In tears and shaking, I didn't know what to do.  I was worried if I attempted anything else, I would surely drive right into the ditch or do more damage to my car.  Literally, seconds later, I heard a small knock on my window and looked up to see one of the members of our ward, who is also a student and studies in a group with Tim at school, standing outside.  He asked me if I was okay, and then he asked me if I would let him drive my car safely back onto the road.  He and his wife just happened to be driving by at the exact moment I needed help.  I know Heavenly Father timed it that way.  I know that it was another tender mercy from Him confirming in my heart that I matter.  That He knows.  That He hears.  That He loves me.

I know that everyone experiences those tender mercies, and I am grateful that I have become more aware of the ones given to me in my life over the last year.  It has only made things easier, and more meaningful, even on difficult days when I'm not sure I can handle anymore.  It's those days that He sends the small ones...quietly reminding me that I can do hard things. Especially when I put my trust and faith in Him.

Memory of the Week

I'm terrible at taking/posting pictures.  

I always have been.

So, I thought I'd try something new, and start a post each week of a picture that I've taken. 

I'm also not the best picture taker...but sometimes, it' the memory that goes along with the picture that makes it special.  At least for me anyway :)

I took these yesterday  morning as I laid in bed watching my kids laugh and play with one another.

Emmy had crawled in bed with me at 8:30, snuggled right up and started watching Magic School Bus on the iPad.  I dozed off for about a half hour and then heard Jack jumping up and down in his crib upstairs.  It's been cold in our house in the mornings, and our wood floors are freezing, so I had to work up the courage to head up to his room and get him.  He wasn't crying or anything, just jumping. 

As usual, he greeted me with his cheesy "Good Morning Mommy" grin, held his arms out to me, and then ran into the playroom to begin his ritual of tearing everything organized apart.  I headed back downstairs, climbed back in bed with my Emmy, only to hear Jack a few minutes later heading down the stairs followed by thud, thud, thud as he went.

Moments later, he ran into the room carrying the bucket of dinosaurs that he loves to play with, followed by a "peese, peese, peese" to have me open them...after which he promptly dumped them all on the floor next to my bed.  Emmy joined him shortly after, and they played like that for about twenty minutes.  Jack lining up the dinosaurs next to my body, Emmy making dinosaur sounds and asking me what dinosaurs were what.  

It's moments like these that make me grateful I'm a Mommy.

Even on the worst of days, I can't imagine my life any other way. 

Farewell 2013!!

As I look back on this past year, I think we had more happen in our little family than we were ever expecting.  This Tappana family is alive and well...and thriving...looking forward to another, hopefully, fantastic year.

Here's a look back on a few of the things that occurred during our 2013.

{January}

Jack became mobile and started crawling...
Honestly, I can't remember much from this month.  Which means it probably wasn't too eventful.  However, we discovered a a man sized hole in my parents backyard, and after much prompting from me, Tim agreed to go exploring.  After several miles, we discovered a civilization of people living below the ground.  They called themselves the people of Akhenet, and spoke perfect english. Strangely, their skin had a scaly appearance, making them look almost like reptiles.  We invited them to dinner, and since then, they have become very cordial neighbors.  A couple of them have even taken the missionary discussions and been baptized.

{February}

I. Turned. 30. Although I feel like I'm 20...until I hang out with 20 year olds, and then I'm like "Nah, I'm 30".
Yet another pretty uneventful month...other than the strange Valentines I started receiving.  Turns out, one of my hygiene patients had fallen madly in love with me after cleaning his teeth one day...so to show me his undying devotion...he sent me teeth that he had randomly collected from various different animals, such as molars from a polar bear, canines from a wolverine, bicuspids from a buffalo, laterals from a kangaroo, and centrals from a great white shark...just to name a few.  Creepy right?

{March)

Tim interviewed at a school in Washington, and we decided to make a family trip out of it and spent a few days in Seattle exploring and enjoying being together.
Jack tuned one...and spent the day on the beach to celebrate!
We also celebrated Easter in Washington, and the Easter Bunny sent Emmy on an Easter egg hunt around our hotel.
Hungry one night, and craving the smell of fresh bacon in the morning...Tim plugged in our George Forman Grill right next to his side of the bed. Sadly however, he slept so soundly that night that he forgot about it in the morning and stepped out of bed right onto the hot metal plates.  To make a long story short...he grilled his foot.  Luckily, I had some bubble wrap laying around...so I wrapped his foot up nice and tight.  He just wanted to be treated normal people.  Normal!!

{April}

The weather started warming up, which led to many wagon rides to the park.
Tim interviewed at a school in Tennessee, and left our family for a few days to
survive without him.  It was hard.
A few days later, we found out he had received an acceptance at Lincoln Memorial University in Tennessee...and thus began a whirl wind of change for our family.
While in Tennessee for his interview, Tim became a local hero.  The few days he visited Harrogate, the small town had record rainfall which led to a flash flood that destroyed most of the homes the wildlife had been inhabiting.  While waiting for the waters to subside...Tim saw a family of five squirrels floating down the rush of white water most certainly to their death.  Without hestitation, he jumped in the water, swam to their rescue and then did CPR on three of the squirrels.  All five survived the ordeal.  Once the squirrel family found out we were moving to Kentucky, they moved into the trees in our backyard.  They watch over our family and protect us from all dangers that lurk in the night.  Occasionally they leave us a pile of nuts on our porch.  Squirrels are awesome!

{May}

We packed the first of many boxes for our big move almost 2,000 miles across the country.
Tim and I flew out to Tennessee for a few days to explore, and check out the school as well as the town and house where we would be living.
Emmy turned three...and we celebrated with having a princess party
as well as lots of friends
and family over to spend the evening with us.
Tim's work party was at Lagoon on Emmy's birthday!  We ended up being there for 6 hours longer than we expected because our little three year old kept wanting to go on rides.  It was a lot of fun.
My Pops retired from Cummins Rocky Mountain after 42 years of employment with them.
While at Lagoon, Tim was able to win a ginormous stuffed animal for Emmy.  It was twice her size!!  Weirdly enough though, once we got it home, we noticed that it would move places during the night.  One morning, I woke up to find the stuffed animal staring right at me.  Eventually, we discovered that there was a little man person living inside.  He had taken up residence the previous summer while visiting Lagoon and lived inside the stuffed animal quite comfortably until Tim ruined his existence by winning it, and then taking it/him home with us.  He begged us to take him back to Lagoon where he would say his goodbyes and then we'd never have to see him again.  Instead, we called the police, had him arrested...and gave Emmy back the stuffed animal that was rightfully hers.  I did sew up the little man person sized hole at the bottom of it first though. :)

{June}

Tim and I celebrated 8 years of marriage by spending the weekend in Logan, Utah.  One of our most favorite places on earth.
We were able to visit the temple every week, in preparation for our move to Tennessee, where the Nashville temple is almost 4 hours away.  It is such a blessing to live so close to so many temples!  Take advantage of that my Utah friends!!!
We went to the mountains several times with friends and family and enjoyed roasting hotdogs and marshmallows.
After having three weeks worth of horrible migraines, my doctor had me go in for an MRI.  Upon close examination, they discovered a little probe that had been implanted into my brain...by aliens of course.  After a quick out-patient brain surgery, I was back to normal.  That's the only reason they could find to explain my sudden onset of migraines...although, they couldn't explain how I had been abducted by aliens.  Still trying to work that one out...

{July}

We spent the fourth of July with my mom and dad, and then ended the evening with a blanket spread out on our front lawn and enjoyed the firework shows put on by our neighbors.
My brother and his wife came to visit with their kids for a few days and we were able to spend time with them doing fun things around Salt Lake.
We had a huge yard sale in preparation for our big move.
We packed up our 27 foot truck, our Mazda 3, and our Mazda 9 to complete capacity...there was seriously not room for anything else even if we wanted to take it.
Tim worked his last day at ARUP, and a week later, I worked my last day at Dr. Lewis's office.
We threw our own going away party.  Why?  Because we think we're awesome enough to do so :)
Tim, his friend Ty, my Pops, and my brother left at midnight the 17th, and
 began their 48 hour drive across country.
The rest of us, including my Mom, flew out on the 19th to our new home...Middlesboro, Kentucky.
In order to save money on our airplane tickets, I bribed Jack with goldfish crackers into the inside of my carry-on suitcase...where he stayed quite successfully until I had to send my carry-on through the the x-ray scanner during our security check.  Luckily for me, it wasn't the first time a mother had tried to save money and I was told they have that same thing happen at least three times a week.  The security officer kindly informed me that because Jack was still under the age of two, he could ride for free on my lap.  After we arrived in Tennessee though, I secretly wished I had been able to keep him zipped up in my luggage.  The little stinker.

{August}

We went with some new friends to Lexington, Kentucky and spent our last few days relaxing and enjoying freedom, as well as visiting the temple in Frankfurt.
Tim started his first official day of medical school.
The kids and I tried to come up with a new routine in a very new, very different place.
We began to make a lot of new friends.
Tim and I had a huge surprise when we found out that we were expecting another baby.
I was called as second counselor in the Relief Society Presidency in our new ward.
To save money on our electric bill...Tim and I captured thousands of fireflies and let them go in our house.  While it saved on electricity...I'm still finding dead bugs.  Gross.

{September}

Emmy started Joy School.
Tim received his white coat at the White Coat Ceremony they have for all the first year med students.
We were able to visit the zoo in Knoxville a few times with some new friends.
Emmy started a tumbling class.
We kept busy with play groups and story time at our library every week.
  While working in the anatomy lab late one night studying, Tim had the scare of his life when one of the cadavers suddenly sat straight up from the table it was laying on.  Luckily, it was just some sort of after death body shock that can sometimes happen causing dead bodies to move on their own and not a zombie wanting to eat Tim's flesh.  He may or may not have started crying like a little girl, and then begged the corpse not to eat his brains before realizing that the cadaver was indeed...dead.

{October}

Our town, Middlesboro, had their annual fall festival just two blocks down the street from where we live.
With the help of one of my good friends, I was able to follow a tutorial online and make a Rainbow Dash costume for Emmy.
My Mom came to visit!!!
The Super Saturday activity that I was put in charge of was a complete success due to the hard work and sacrifice put in by my committee of incredible women!
We dressed up in our costumes and went to a Halloween party at the library, where Emmy and Jack were able to go on their first scavenger hunt looking for goodies around the library.
Tim participated in a service project called "Build a Better Block, Downtown Middlesboro"
We visited an awesome farm with lots of fun fall activities for Emmy and Jack...and then went on a wagon ride to go and pick a pumpkin out of a pumpkin patch!
Our ward had their Halloween Party
The SAA at the medical school had a fall festival and Emmy and Jack were able to dress up again, and go and participate in lots of fun activities.  I also entered the Chili Cook-off competition, where my white chicken chili came in second place.
We carved pumpkins!
Tim took Emmy and Jack trick-or-treating.
Tim and I decided on the whim to take a cruise to the Caribbean for a week and left Emmy in charge of the house, and Jack.  To say she did fantastic is an understatement.  Not only was the house clean and organized when we got home...but she had also prepared 50 freezer meals for our family, taught Jack how to read, write, and multiply, as well as kept up on all the laundry :)

{November}

We spent our Thanksgiving with awesome friends right here in Tennessee...marking the my first Thanksgiving not spent with my Mom and Dad in 30 years.
Middlesboro/Harrogate got the first snowfall of the year...closing everything down and canceling school.  How much snow you ask?  I think we may have had 1 inch at our house :).  The kids still had fun playing in it though.
We found out our little surprise baby is a girl!
Tim and I went on a much needed date night as well as our first one away from our couch and Netflix since he started school and saw Catching Fire.  The movie theater here is only $3.50 a ticket!!
Tim entered a local lumberjack competition one weekend just to get his mind off studying, and was doing surprisingly well considering he'd never held an axe before.  The scary moment occurred when the axe flew out of Tim's hands and chopped of his leg.  Instead of panicking though, Tim took charge.  He yanked off his flannel shirt he was wearing for the lumberjack competition, tied a tourniquet around his stump, grabbed hold of his unattached limb, and put me in charge of driving to the hospital since the leg he chopped off was his right leg and he wouldn't be able to push the gas pedal.  Once at the hospital, the staff went to work quickly, and we were able to witness modern day medicine as they used leeches to reattach his leg.  He was good as new in a couple hours.  You'd never even know it happened if I hadn't just told you.

{December}

Tim was gone a lot more than usual studying for the finals of his first semester.
The kids and I tried to be creative with things to do as Christmas Break was all we could think about :)
I went to a cookie exchange/ornament exchange/ugly sweater party put on by one of the student wives.
I baked lots of goodies to take to various parties that we went to.
Emmy and Jack went to a breakfast with Santa, put on by our local library.  Our library is the best!!
We took Emmy and Jack to see their first movie in an actual movie theater and saw Frozen.
Tim took his finals...and seriously rocked this semester!!  So proud of him!!
We packed up, drove to the airport, and hopped on a plane to go home to Utah.  Even if it was just for two weeks...it was quite possibly two of the best weeks ever!!
Tim and I didn't give each other presents wrapped under the tree this year...instead we budgeted our money all semester so that when we got to Salt Lake, we'd be able to eat out at all of our favorite restaurants.
Best. Gift. Ever.
We went to the temple!!!
Tim turned 31!!
We rang in the new year, celebrating with my family and playing our annual game of New Year's Eve Bingo and eating take out Chinese Food.  Emmy even played Bingo this year!
While in Salt Lake, we had the unfortunate event of being downtown when not one, but three tornadoes ripped through our city.  Tim and I noticed that there seemed to be strange things flying through the air...being pulled into the tornadoes...it wasn't until we witnessed a tiger shark falling out of the sky that we realized the strange things in the tornadoes were indeed sharks.  Instead of running for our lives as sharks rained down upon us, Tim and I located an abandoned helicopter.  So, we hurried and made up a couple bombs, flew the helicopter super close to the tornadoes and threw the bombs inside the twisters, causing an effect that ultimately destroyed two of the three.  Our third attempt resulted in my falling out of the helicopter, upon which I was swallowed whole by a great white shark.  Luckily, Tim was able to drive a car full of bombs into the other tornado destroying it, and then was also randomly swallowed by a great white shark.  To find out how the rest of our shark adventure turned out, watch Sharknado on Netflix.  You won't be disappointed.  It's the best, worst movie you will ever see.

We hope your 2013 was as fantastic and eventful as ours was...as well as wish your 2014 will be filled with just as many good memories as our previous year.

Happy 2014 everyone!!