House Centipede

This morning as I was getting ready I heard a high pitched scream come from downstairs. I knew exactly what my hubby was screaming at because I've heard this scream before. I have never seen these bugs before until we moved to IL and I've since seen my fair share of them. After hearing Rob's scream of terror this morning and my uncontrolled laughter, I decided I should at least find out what the creepy thing is called.

I went to google and typed in "insect with lots of legs" the first sight I clicked on was an immediate winner. Apparently we're not the only ones who scream when we encounter this house centipede because there were a lot of people asking what the heck it was.

Now that I've identified our little friends I might not kill them immediately when they do show their ugly faces. They are actually not bad to have around the house. They eat other bugs that you don't want in your house like roaches, flies, spiders and other little critters. That doesn't mean we wont scream when we see them though, they can run so freakin fast it's hard not to be startled.

Memorial Day Weekend

This past weekend I went to Nauvoo with a bunch of friends while my poor hubby stayed home to study. That doesn’t sound very nice I know but I wasn’t the one who made him stay home, it was by his own choice. So while he was sitting in the library becoming smarter I was in Nauvoo having a good time. We stayed in the Nauvoo House, also known as the Mansion House and we had a ton of people with us which made it that much more fun.

Diana and I tried out our skills on the golf course with the guys early Saturday morning and we didn’t do too bad for it only being our second time on a course. The golf course was really beautiful and fun to play on. Some of the holes were really interesting and we definitely got a kick out of driving the golf carts down the crazy trails. We climbed back into our cart to drive down to the 10th hole when we noticed we were going to be driving down what looked like a drop off. Whew that was fun! We especially liked the signs they had posted as we approached another steep hill. One sign said “Slow down” then after a few feet the sign said “Slow Down Now.” I guess they didn’t want you to go flying down the hill and kill yourself.

The weather was beautiful all weekend and the bugs weren’t out in full force yet so it was very pleasant to be outside. We did get drizzled on a little bit throughout Saturday but that was about it. We made a stop at the land and records office to get all the information they had about our ancestors who lived in Nauvoo. While we were there we found out that my Great……. Grandpa Levi Ward Hancock lived just down the road from Joseph Smith. The foundation to his house is still there. Also his father had property just to the North of the temple. We couldn’t quite get to his land because the modern day roads didn’t go far enough but it was neat to go see where it was. Jason’s ancestors lived on a corner near Levi so we just know they had to have been friends. :-) We tried finding Diana’s ancestors property but they must have been farmers because their property was out of town a little bit and due to modern day roads again we couldn’t get to it. I thought that was really neat to drive around finding the properties of our Great Grandparents and knowing they lived there once.

I thought it would be really neat to go to the Nauvoo temple with the kids so Diana and I rounded up everyone the weekend before to find out who would be interested. We had a great turnout. All the teenagers who were with us came to the temple to do baptisms. What a neat experience that was. The whole room was full of our kids and their parents and the spirit. We had a total of eleven kids and nine adults all dressed in white. I think that might have been my favorite part about the whole trip.

Late night game time.

So after a long, fun, and exhausting weekend I was happy to return home to my hubby. Many of you know how we are; we don’t like being apart from each other so it was very nice to be with him again.

My three best things for the week are:
1. The temple trip in Nauvoo. The temple was absolutely beautiful and the spirit was so strong. I was so grateful that I was able to be in the temple and to be with so many wonderful people.

2. Nice weather. Sunday’s weather was absolutely the best. It was a little humid but not too hot or too cold and there was a light breeze that made the day very pleasant. I actually walked over to a bench and took a nap under a tree and it was so nice.

3. The Woodridge 1st Ward. This ward has been absolutely amazing. I am so glad we have been able to be a part of it and get to know so many wonderful people. The Nauvoo trip was basically a bunch of families from the ward and I think it is so neat that everyone gets along so well and they have so much fun together that they would want to go on vacation together. Last year when they invited us to go with them Rob and I felt like we were accepted into such an awesome family.

4. My hubby. I can’t tell you how much I love him and how grateful I am that he is who he is. Having his last semester be over has been so nice. It’s almost like I had lost my husband for a while and I just got him back. Yay for the last two years being over!

Love you all.

Let's play Doctor....

Before Jason went out of town he brought Diana over to our house to have Rob look at her toe. She had hurt her toe pretty bad and she wanted Rob to look at it and tell her if it was something she could take care of herself or if she should go to the doctors. Rob looked at it and told her she needed to go to the doctors because it was getting infected. After he looked at it he decided to show Jason how to suit up for surgery. It was pretty funny watching them play dress up. Rob couldn't get the gloves on Jason's fingers but then Jason took the glove and put it on his head. The glove wouldn't go on his fingers but it fit on his head, how does that work? It was so funny watching Jason put the glove on his head that it was all we could do to not pee our pants.

Doctor Jason

The boys pretending to kiss each other.

The glove on Jason's head.

Jason blowing up the glove.

Diana even got in on the fun.

Happy Birthday Mom

Happy Birthday Mom. We love you!

Babies

Congratulations Amber and Jared, Chris and Lindsey, and Lance and Sabra on the arrivals of your cute babies.

Lance and Sabra, our good friends from Utah, have just had their second daughter and we are very excited for them. After a long Hospital enforced bed-rest little Kaylee May Burrell finally made it here safe and sound on May 13th. She weighed in at 6lb 5oz and was 21.5 inches long.

We are so happy for you guys and we are very glad that Sabra and Kaylee May were both able to make it through safely. What a great birthday present this must be for you Sabra. You are finally able to get out of bed and go outside and you have another beautiful daughter. Happy Birthday a few days early.

Happy Dad

Happy Mom

We love you guys!

Camp photos

Two down, Two to go

Yes! We have made it through another year of medical school. Rob took his last final of his last semester of book work on Monday and boy are we glad. He hasn't given up his seat in the library just yet though. He's still been there working away at studying for boards. It's funny I know but I feel like I'm already celebrating the closing of this chapter and it hasn't even come yet. I have to be very careful doing that though because it definitely isn't party time yet. He has a lot of studying to do so I have to keep my excitement in check as to not disturb the studying abilities. So shhhh...... no talking in the library!

Last weekend turned out to be an adventure for me. We took the girls on a one night campout Friday night. I showed up a little later than the rest of them because I had work and I just couldn't make it right on time. Not to mention traffic at that time of night, Ugh. Anyway our campout was a success. We stayed in a campground that only allows groups to stay in, no personal camping allowed, and it was a rather nice campground. I supervised all the tinfoil/hobo dinners in the campfire then ate my ever so delicious Subway sandwich. I know what the heck right? The cook is eating a Subway instead of a hobo dinner? Well that's what happens when you're in a hurry and you run out of time to get everything ready. I had some very sweet girls say they would have made one for me if I had asked. I'll keep that in mind for next time because those dinners looked and smelled much better than my sandwich. Lucky for me Laraine shared some of hers so I was able to taste a little bit of that deliciousness.

Once we all ate dinner and had let it settle for just a brief moment we broke out the dessert. I had heard of these delicious treats from my mom a year or two ago and thought this would be the perfect time to try them out. We made banana boats. Bananas covered in chocolate, marshmallow, reeses pb cups, brownies, cookies, snickers, peanuts, caramel, chocolate chips and graham crackers in whatever combination you wanted then wrapped in tinfoil and warmed in the fire and topped with whipped cream. Oh..... they were so delightful! I think I was on a sugar high the rest of the night but it was well worth it and definitely worth being put on the list of "I'd do that again in a heart beat."

So we stayed up late playing games around the fire then we all headed to bed. We had to make sure we dressed warm and brought warm sleeping bags because it was a little chilly that night. I woke up to the yummy smell of pancakes. The bishopric had returned to make us breakfast. What a nice way to start the Mothers day weekend, breakfast by the guys. Technically I'm not a mother but I'll take a meal unmade by me any day. Once I finally returned home from the campout and my other duties of the day I was quite exhausted. I was supposed to go help set up at the stake center for a cultural arts event and I couldn't keep my eyes open so I thought I would lye down for a quick nap. Big mistake! Usually if I nap on the couch I don't sleep very long but this time I was so tired I was out like a light as soon as my head hit the pillow and I slept until the phone range two hours later. Oops, I guess I wasn't going to make it to the church in time to help set up.

So I stood up and drove to the church to at least lend my support by showing up to see the event but I wasn't fully awake. My head was in a fog the rest of the night and it was all I could do to keep from falling asleep watching the musical numbers. Ooops, sorry Diana. I sure was a lot of help wasn't I?

There you have it, my very busy weekend. I had a good time and was very ready for a lazy Sunday. Thank goodness for the day of rest. :-)

Three best things.
1. CAMP FIRE! I love the smell of camp fire and being outside. I must have loved it a little too much this weekend because my watch, my glasses and my clothes (even after multiple washings) still smell like it. Every time my hand is near my face I can smell camp fire from my watch, it had me a little puzzled at first because I couldn't figure out where the smell was coming from.

2. The young women. Even though it frustrates me sometimes that they don't all get along and they sometimes leave another girl out I still love them all. I have to remind myself that they are still young and of course they're not going to know how to include everyone all the time or handle being left out of a group because that's what learning is. Some adults don't even know how to handle that. So I just keep loving them the best I can and hope in some way I can show them that it's ok to be kind to everyone around us, and in return it's ok to not be a part of the "in" crowd all the time.

3. My wonderful mom. She really is an amazing lady and I am so lucky to have her as my mom. Everyday she still has something to teach me. She is a shining example of who I would love to be like. Someone who is always looking for the good in life, someone who is a friend to everyone, someone who can pick herself up after a rough road, someone who finds the positive things in life rather than the negative, someone who doesn't let life just pass her by, someone who loves to have a good time, someone who is always encouraging, someone who has unconditional love and someone I love so much. She wrote a poem about the B's of what it takes to be a mother and it just shows how awesome my mom really is. The poem has a lot to do with my sisters and I, which I was able to see once I started reading it but it also shows what a positive person my mom is. If you want to see what an amazing mom I have click on the link to her page at the side of my blog. I love you mom.

Have a great week everyone.

You Might Be A Redneck If......

My dad has been going to ID the past few weekends to go bear hunting and this last Sunday upon his return he had quite the story to tell. I laughed so hard when I heard this I just had to share it. I just wish I had a picture.

My dad and his cousin Bryan left the house in the truck, pulling a trailer carrying their four-wheeler. Apparently they weren't paying attention to the gas gauge and they ran out of gas. (mom I think this means you are off the hook for your running out of gas mishap on your way home from IL) So they pulled the truck to the side of the road and remembered there was a gas station about a mile back, or a mile ahead (I can't remember). So they pulled the four-wheeler off the trailer and filled it up with the gas they had. They were planning on riding the four-wheeler back to the gas station to grab some gas for the truck. Well not wanting to waste time, since it was already late at night, they came up with a brilliant idea. Not an idea any of us might think of, this takes the brains of a redneck! :-)

The four-wheeler was all gassed up and ready to go but it wasn't going anywhere. It was parked in front of the truck. My dad and Bryan proceeded to tie the truck to the four wheeler to see if the four wheeler had the guts to pull the beast of a truck and it's trailing friend, the trailer. They were back in business. Twenty miles an hour down the side of the freeway, to the off-ramp, and a left hand turn into the gas station. The four-wheeler pulled the truck and trailer. I can only imagine what that had to look like for those fortunate souls who drove past them. :-) And do you think they took a picture of their brilliance? NO! They were having too much fun pulling a truck with a four-wheeler.

Yes people, my dad is a redneck!

I love you dad! Thanks for the good laugh.

Looptopia aka Fruit-topia

Chicago held it's annual Looptopia on Friday. All night Friday and into the morning of Saturday the loop is full of entertainment. The entertainment varied with art exhibits indoors and on the side walks, dance performances, theater, comedy, ping pong, traveling bands down the side walks, and very interesting people.

Jason and Diana were going downtown to check out the Looptopia Friday night and since they knew my hubby would be studying all night they invited me to tag along. We had quite the adventure walking around the loop trying to interpret the weirdness of everything. We decided to call it Fruit-topia because everything we saw was very weird with some very fruity people. I also decided that I don't know anything about art. I didn't understand the meaning behind most, if not all of the artsy exhibits. Especially the ones with people dressed in white standing on platforms lining the streets. They had me very confused at what they were supposed to be representing.

Once we realized there wasn't anything of much interest for us to stick around to watch we decided it was a good thing we weren't going to stay until 6:00am. We jumped on the train and headed home to meet up with Rob and go to dinner. Our dinner was very delicious and it was so nice to have my hubby back. He's been very stressed and moody lately so when he was laughing and having a good time with us Friday night it was really relieving.

Rob is starting to wrap up his second year of medical school. He is taking his last set of finals this week then we can officially say "two down, two to go." Once this week is over he will have about one full month to study all day and night on only boards information. :-) One more month people then Rob is out of the Library!!!! I can't tell you how excited I am for that day. Rob is very excited too. He's ready to say good riddens to his designated study spot in the library and get into the hospitals. I'm sure some of the students are ready for him to be out of the library also. He doesn't tolerate horse play, talking, coughing, laughing, sneezing, bumping the desk, people sitting right next to him..... I think you get the picture, he doesn't tolerate too much in the library.

Right after Rob takes his boards exams he starts rotations so he doesn't get an official break for the summer. But don't worry your little hearts out too much. We've got a nice and busy summer planned for him. Diana and I have already booked our camp sites for a few different weekends. There is no way we're letting him go through the summer without a little celebration of being done with second year.

Besides our camping plans we are also looking forward to seeing the whole Johnson family (minus Rick probably) in Nauvoo in July and possibly Janet and the kids in August. How awesome is that! This summer is going to go by way too fast and it hasn't even started yet.

Ok, here are my three best things for this past week.
1. My husbands laugh. I sure have missed it and it is so nice to see him happy and relaxed again. This weekend while he was playing games with Jason and the Deem's kids, it was so fun to listen to him laugh and have fun. I love his laugh. I hope it doesn't go into hiding for that long again.

2. My best friends the Bowlers. They are the most amazing people and I feel so lucky to have them as our best friends. This last week they were my life savors. I don't know what I would have done without them. Thank you Jason and Diana for being the amazing people you are and for loving us.

3. E-mail and phones. I am so grateful for e-mail and phones so I can talk and talk and talk to the people I love. I love having an e-mail buddy and a phone buddy and unlimited weekend minutes.

That's a wrap for the week.

Congratulations dad on your bear hunt, you're awesome!