A Kindergarten picture

I think Jase's first official school pictures turned out quite well. He doesn't like to give his true smile most of the time, just a grin. He was happy with the background color of choice too - blue is his favorite.

Blog updating...

Blog updating is in progress and will be getting worked on for the next week or so as I find some time.

Enjoy the new format...

Family Pictures

On October 9 we went to Squires Castle to get our family pictures taken. We had the wonderful Katie Blacker Photography take our pictures and we had a splendid shoot and perfect fall weather.

Here are some of our favorites:









I really like these pictures of Jase - he has a great personality that can really shine when he is the center of attention. But he is also a little shy when in the spotlight... He is smart too and is loving chess club after school once a week.



And I love this picture of Meghan as she is so carefree and nothing mattered more in that moment than her balloons.

Jase's First day of Kindergarten

Jase was not too excited to start kindergarten before we made our move from Indiana to Ohio. But once we moved and he realized that our house is right across the street from the baseball fields, soccer fields, and the playground, he was all set to go right then! The first week was transitioning, since it is full day K. This week has been the first days of all day and he can't be happier! He has made some great friends and is excited for each day. Here are some pics that Joe took before Jase went to school on the first day.





Jase you are growing up so fast! We are very happy that you are loving school and transitioning so well! We love you!

We're moving!

The job interview went really well and I was offered the position before I even left to return to the airport to fly home. We are all quite excited for this next step in our lives. I'm ecstatic about the position Electron Microscopy Manager and the research that Case Western Reserve University is doing. The EM lab is newly being set-up so I will getting in at the beginning and working with some amazing people. I the last 5 years the Department of Pharmacology in the College of Medicine has doubled the size of the faculty, from 10 to 20. And 4 of these faculty do EM/cryo-EM research. And 3 of them are newly hired from post-docs, so that means they are my age (and some of them even have families and kids - bonus).

So now we are on to the getting the house ready to sell and packing things to unclutter it. And that means sorting through items and getting ready for a yard sale to purge unused and rarely used items that I'm not going to move (again). At least we have a house to stay in when we first get to Cleveland for 1-2 months, so we can experience first hand the area and then work on finding some more permanent living arrangements.

I'm really going to miss all the great friends I have (and the whole family has) here. This is the first place Joe and I have lived since getting married 6.5 year ago (and 4 moves) where we both have great friends (and great family friends where everyone in the whole family gets along). And I love our ward family, even with all the turn around of the students and grad students. Meghan and her BFF at daycare, Anna, are going to have some rough times ahead. And Jase will greatly miss Cameran (his girlfriend) and Bennett (his best bud), both of whom are at daycare as well.

At least Columbus is in-between the 2 places... there are outlet malls and a Temple...

Busy Month of May

This May has so far (and will continue to be) the busiest month we have had since being married.

Jase's birthday was May 3rd and the week before the kids went to Michigan to spend the week with Heather's parents. The kids loved it and the parents were quite busy with meetings and errands, that we didn't get to do any of the house things we had planned. but did get to have 2 dinners out which was quite heavenly since we didn't have the kids (and we never get a sitter, so we never do things just the two of us).

Then the weekend of Jase's birthday, Joe and I went up to Michigan to spend the weekend with Heather's parents and the kids and have a small party for Jase with the kid's Great-Gramma and 2 of their second cousins. The kids had a blast and the weather was nice, so we spent time outside with water guns and the garden hose. We saw goslings and the parent geese in the river, along with an albino mallard duck. Lots of squirrels and rabbits and the kids got to see the deer too. I even found some morel mushrooms by the wood piles. the only down fall of living in the woods and by a river is the mosquitoes - they are horrible, even in the sun and on the hot days. The big present from Heather's parents was for both the kid's birthdays this year and is a 13ft trampoline and enclosure...now to figure out were to put it. I guess it is a good thing we finally got all the concrete from the foundation tore up. Now we just need some fill dirt and to plant grass...or maybe we will get sod - haven't thought that far ahead yet.

Joe graduates from Purdue on May 15 and we will be having some family come into town on Friday and stay for the weekend. We are quite excited about his graduation!

We have things planned for the last half of the month as well (more to come on that in a future post w/ pictures).

And to make the month just slightly more hectic, I received a call on Tuesday for an interview in Cleveland for Monday, as in this coming Monday, not even a full week away. I'm guessing they are very interested in me, which makes me feel great and nervous and crazy out of mind trying to get a presentation together before then on the research I do here at Purdue and why I would be a good fit there. Oh and in case you were wondering where there is, it is Case Western Reserve University. They are looking for a person to be the Director of their Cryo-EM facility that they are building. This is a position that I think I would greatly enjoy, so here goes! Wish me luck!

And I need to be at the airport Sunday by noon and come back Monday night at 11p. Anybody wanna come and hang out at my house Monday night while the kids sleep and Joe comes and gets me. Or anybody wanna pick me up at the airport?

Bond

Aren't these two just adorable - now if only they always acted that way! They have a love-hate relationship, which I guess most siblings have (I wonldn't know since I'm a one and only).

 

It's been a long week so far and I think I'm glad it's almost over. But then again, who knows if the weekend will be any better...

Boots

Here is one from a couple months ago...

Meghan loves my new pair of snow boots. It is so funny to see her try to walk in them because they go all the way up her hips.

 

 

She also loves her cowboy boots, and shoes, and Jase's shoes, and my shoes, and daddy's shoes - she is a girl through and through.

Coming soon...

lots of cute pictures and stories, including a bunny...


Sorry for the long hiatus - hopefully I'll try and be better at posting more often.

Riding a tiger

 

There is an almost constant fight between the kids for the tiger and doggy backpacks. This time I found Meghan using the tiger backpack with her legs through the straps instead of her arms. It looked she was riding the tiger. She was so happy, she was bouncing all over the house. Maybe it was Tigger instead...

 

Sledding

We got some snow overnight, around 5 inches, so we decided to get bundled up and go sledding this morning. Meghan cried the whole way there. We got to the city sledding hill early, so there were only 2 other families there. It was fun, but really cold with the wind.

Meghan has a great little sled that we got at a garage sale when Jase was a baby, but he out grew it quickly. Meghan would cruise down the hill and go all the way to the end, and not move much from side to side.

Jase on the other hand had a newer type of sled that would steer crazy and he would spin around and then stop half way down (because he would pull on the rope). But, if he went down backwards, then he would go all the way down. So, most of the sledding was done backwards and if Jase did it backwards, then Meghan had to do it backwards as well.





And here is the work horse, Joe. I pulled them up part way sometimes and them he would take them the rest of the way up and send them back down.



And these are my new pink insulated Wellies that I got for 60% off! I love them...

Kids grow up so fast

I finally got around to getting Picasa back on the laptop after upgrading to Windows 7. As I was scrolling through the few hundred folders of pictures, I realized that I'm getting sad at how fast my kids are growing up. In some ways it is nice to have them older and mostly potty trained, as outings are easier and require less baggage. But then again I really miss the days of endless snuggling and baby smells. And my kids when they were like this:

8 good years

8 years ago yesterday marked the beginning of a new journey in my life. On January 13, 2002 I was baptized and confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It is crazy to think that 8 years have already passed by, but at the same time it feels as though I've been a member my whole life.

I have my conversion story written out and I hope to post it here in the next days to share with all my friends and family and anyone else who stumbles across here.

If you were a part of my conversion, please know how extremely grateful I am for you and for your willingness to follow the Spirit. My life and the life of my family will never be the same, and all for the better!

Does anybody still read this?

I'm trying to decide what to do with the blog. I don't, in reality, have the time I want to spend on it, so I'm wondering if anyone would actually miss it if it wasn't there anymore.

Let me know if you still read this and want periodic updates...