Now that we are approximately 1,800 miles away from most of our family and friends, I decided to share some pictures of our most recent happenings. The first 2 weeks of June included closing on selling our house (we rented it out through medical school), sold one of our cars, bought a new car (read: minivan), graduated from medical school, moved half way across the country, and bought a new home! I am actually starting to feel sane again.
Beginning with the highlight of our year.....
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| Jonathan is a doctor!!! |
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| We are so proud of him! |
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| We are here with the Earleys. Jonathan and Tyler studied together from day 1. Jessica and I |
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| We had to stop for some celebratory ice cream at the best ice cream stop along I-5. |
After the celebrations were over, the truck loading began. I am still amazed that Jonathan and Turner fit nearly all of our belongings in a 16 foot truck....during a heat wave. We are so grateful for our parents who helped us so much with the move.
The four day nightmare road trip began...
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| We were lucky enough to all sleep in the same room for 3 nights in a row. For the last night, we got a free upgrade to a 2 bedroom suite - it was heaven! |
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| A stop in Amarillo, TX was a must. I spent the beginning of my mission in Amarillo. Here we are on a very windy day at the Cadillac Ranch. I am sure Lincoln is wondering why we have driven 3 days in the desert just for this. |
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| Tasty Texas barbecue for the win! |
The kids love to snag my ipod and take pictures of each other and themselves. Here are a couple of shots that weren't closeups of their noses or feet.
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My mom, Turner, and grandma made the long haul through the desert to visit us! We enjoyed showing off our new area. We spent one evening in the city and rode in a boat down OKC's canal. Ignore the warping of my mom's face through a "pano" gone bad.
We have one the most amazing science museums in the country just a half hour away!
We have been twice and still have so much more to see there.
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| Hanging out in one of the many full sized planes that the museum holds. |
Splash pads are awesome on hot summer days!
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| Lincoln loves the volume that sunscreen gives his hair. |
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| Claire made a "best friend". Did she learn her name? Nope. Will she ever see her again? Probably not. |
Jacob's birthday celebrations began with a package from Grandma and Grandpa Jones:
We took advantage of living closer to Jordan and Allie, by making a quick trip to see them and their family. It was nice of them to let us visit just after they moved into their new home.
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| Benson and Lincoln rocking the same shirts. |
Jacob turned 9 years old!
He is such a great kid. He is a great older brother to his siblings. He has been taking tennis clinics this summer and has found a new favorite sport. He loves the Oregon State Beavers and now the Oklahoma Sooners. He loves to play with Lincoln and jump on the trampoline and swing on our tree swing. He is also great about helping out with household and outside chores. We are so thankful to have Jacob in our lives!
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| He is now a clear fan of both the Beavers and the Sooners. |
On Jacob's birthday, we visited the kid-friendly Natural History Museum that we have here in Norman. This place has become one of our favorite places to go here in Norman.
Jacob picked a local hot dog place for his birthday lunch.
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| Despite the fact that they claimed to have the best hot dogs in town, their dogs were an unappetizing shade of neon red. |
Claire and Jacob did a 2-week session of swimming lessons. They both improved quite a bit in that 2 weeks.
Lincoln turned 2!
We love and adore this boy so much. He is constantly either entertaining or making messes. He loves to sing, "Jingle Bells;" eat greek yogurt, watermelon, and chocolate; read "Steam Train, Dream Train;" and play with his cars and siblings. He also loves to dance and sing along to Mat Kearney's "Heartbeat". We love this cute boy!
Lincoln got a birthday haircut! These are the "before" pictures:
These kids love to eat popsicles outside.
And play with bubbles.
We finally got our Oklahoma license plates and celebrated becoming Okies with some cupcakes from Gigis.
Although we miss all of our West coast family and friends (and mountains, pine trees, dryer air, the ocean, redwoods, lack of extreme weather, etc...), we feel very grateful to be here where Jonathan can complete his emergency medicine training. There seems to be an endless amount of activities to enjoy here with a large university in town and a city close by. We are also part of a local congregation of our church that has been very kind and welcoming.
Here is to the beginning of the next four years!
