May 2010

Wow what a month. A lot happened, so of course it is again an overload of photos.

Joelle's Birthday

We asked Joelle what she wanted to do for her birthday, which she chose swimming. So here we are after our swim at the YMCA. We love our YMCA, especially the ladies in the child care!

At dinner, where she is diving into the ice cream sunday brought out by the server and crew.

Joelle in her birthday dress, about to go to church.

I made a homemade cherry chip cake, but for some odd reason, John was disappointed - though it was not his birthday. So what did he do......

He made a second cake, chocolate, which is what he likes! It made for a humorous debate later in our celebration when we ate the cake with Alvin. Yes there were 2 cakes for 3 adults and a 2 year old.

For the record, she finished her cherry chip cake first.

The month continues on with....

Joelle and I enjoying a bowl of ice cream

Our Mother's Day boxes, that were filled with our moms' favorite treats/snacks. It was a lot of work, but I thought it turned out, and best of all our mom's like them.

Alvin made his first cake at our house, and it was a fancy one at that. It really was a learning experience and I enjoyed being there to help. He was quite proud of himself.

Our last dinner with some friends from med school. (For my own benefit - from L to R; John, Phil, Rob & Courtney, Baby Malachi, Hannah & Scott, Courtney, Kate, Me & Joelle)

At the zoo again. Here we were watching the elephants take their bath.

The Grandparents start to arrive for graduation...

Joelle was quite excited to see them! We met at their hotel in Louisville, KY to check out a few sights before they went to "Wicked" that evening.

First stop was Churchill Downs, where the Kentucky Derby is held. Joelle loved the horses and was galloping around wherever we went.

Grandma & Grandpa "T"

Watching a race.

The 2 above, we were watching the horses right before their race. We learned about how the horses are suited up for the race, learned that the jockeys usually have never ridden the horse that they race on, etc. It was really cool to see and John & I were sad that we didn't visit before!

So many times on a Friday night, John and I find ourselves watching the Food Network's "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives". Guy, the host of the show, visited this restaurant in Louisville named Lynn's Paradise Cafe. It was wacky and fun, but I hate to say it, but I was truly sick the whole way home!

Here we are at the zoo again!

Joelle, like all kids, will just hang so you'll swing her. Fortunately Grandma & Grandpa enjoy it too.

GRADUATION!!!

We are ready!

Looking down on the reception prior to graduation.

John with his mom

John with his Dad and Helen

Joelle and I with Grandpa & Grandma "S". Poor Joelle was wiped out already and the event hadn't even begun!

We did our best trying to keep her occupied.

Here's John in the hooding ceremony.

There's our graduate

Here we are pictured with Andre and Tama.

Congratulations John!

Later that day we had some friends and family over for a celebration dinner. We lucked out having all our parents in town. Dinner was great and the company even better!

John's family, Andre, Tama, and Pierdae (Alvin's sister)

Grandma & Grandpa and Alvin's family - bringing our whole med school experience full circle. I met Alvin's parents at the White Coat ceremony in the very beginning of med school. They sat next to me and kept me company. But it started a life long friendship! I told Alvin's mom I would have Alvin over for dinner sometime, and it all began there. Boy did I luck out when they sat next to me. Alvin was (and is) the greatest. Our dinner a month later began a small dinner group with Alvin, Seth, Andre & Tama. We had a lot of good times!!! I'm feeling very reminiscent now.

Seth & Alvin

And here we are! John did the grilling, and it was fantastic. I think he was ready to sit and relax.

I had to add this picture because Joelle was all over the place, and kept going up and down Alvin's stairs. A few people voiced their concern if she was ok going up and down by herself. I wasn't worried, but of course what happens, she falls down the stairs getting a nice scrap on her forehead.

Visit with Grandma & Grandpa "H"

The next day, we took Grandma & Grandpa to our favorite place....the zoo! Later that night, they took us out for a celebration dinner, which was sooooo good. We should have taken a picture there.

The next day we drove up to Kirkland, OH - 4 hours, saw some church sites, and then drove home. It was a long day, especially for Joelle, but still very enjoyable for the rest of us. I know it is ridiculous to make note of this, but what I mostly remember about this day was Mike trying to find me a Sonic so I could get a strawberry limeade slush. He is funny. I don't know why I was on the Sonic kick.

Joelle's smiling because she has a lollipop

My cuties

Our farewell

At our library, there is a little pond with fish. We came here often and would not be able to leave the library without seeing the "fishies". When Joelle was a little over a year she would recognize the neighborhood when driving through and would say "fishies, fishies?" - wanting to go to the library. I thought she was the smartest kid around! Granted she's the only one we've raised so who knows.

Outside our library. I really am sad to leave. I would go once a week - back when I was working in the lead testing labs listening to books on CD non-stop, up to being a stay at home mom and reading a bunch of books - catching up on lost time of not reading! The library system here is the greatest!

Saying goodbye to our friends, Jan & Martha, who became our "family" away from home. They are wonderful! We stayed with them a few times before moving into our place near the university, but saw them often throughout the past 4 years. Many times it was just me, then me and Joelle visiting them, since John was usually busy. We have many great memories with them, including the raccoon in the garage incident when we first stayed with them - that was funny!

Joelle still talks about this car they have for their grandkids. I keep telling her that she can play with it when we go back to visit. She LOVES cars.

This is their mailbox. Jan is a fantastic artist and painted his mailbox, freehand. He has an awesome collection of toys/action figures which he created from his previous work - like the original Star Wars action figures! Now he does religious toys, his company is Latter Day Design

April 2010

Easter at the zoo (Saturday before)

We went to the zoo with some friends. There, the zoo was handing out candy of sorts for the kids, and toothbrushes.

We found out that Joelle loves Jelly Beans, from receiving some at the zoo.

Easter Morning

With a few hints, Joelle did alright in finding her hidden eggs.

We didn't put too much in each egg, but in each there were about 2 jelly beans. So she went through them all searching for the Jelly Beans.

Cincinnati has many pig sculptures around town. A home nearby has this sculpture in their front yard and it is always decorated for all holidays and seasons. I love driving by it.

Trip to Texas

Waiting to board the plane

We lucked out in our visit because my sister-in-law was in town with the kids for "Grandma's Camp," a thing her family does every year with all the grandkids. So one of the days they all were going on a Blue Bell ice cream tour and invited us to join. So above Joelle is enjoying her first bowl of ice cream - she hasn't really shown any interest in it before.

My fabulous sister with the kids

Joelle, Gigi and I

Here we are standing in front of a truck that they once would deliver ice cream in....I think it's just a model of one of course.

We continued our day with a picnic near where the Baylor Female College once was.

This is what is left of the college

There was a picture perfect tree there

Joelle and Indie playing in the wild flowers. The scenery was beautiful, filled with flowers.

Austin, their cousin, saw me taking pics, and he came and stood right in front of the camera, so I would take pictures of him. It was hilarious, because he kept striking a new pose.

More of the wild flowers

Here's my sister-in-law and her kids. It was great being with her whole family!

Captured in the act of crime. Joelle and Indie share the same love of playing in the water. But boy would they make a mess! A few times we found Indie sitting in the sink playing in the water.

John was able to come join us for the weekend.

We went to an Art Fair Saturday morning, but of course the time we went it was raining.

But we were ready and enjoyed walking around looking at people's art work.

Gigi and indie had their faces painted, but Joelle didn't want to - which was fine by me since I would be putting her down for a nap once we got back home.

We all got roped into listening to a storybook reading, a book titled, "Fletcher the Fly"....

Before John had to fly back home on Monday, Britta watched the kids so John and I could go kayaking on a nearby lake. It was a blast, there were some HUGE homes.

Back Home

We came home to find our trees in bloom.

Later that month we walked around Mt. Adams, a quaint area of Cincinnati.

Joelle was ready for the climb, and there are quite a few steps.

At the top of the steps is a church, the Holy Cross Immaculata, and in the background is downtown Cincinnati. It is a wonderful view and there's a lot of history here.

In front of the church

In the past people would be brought to the top of Mt. Adams by trolley.

At the base of the trolley

Walking around Mt. Adams, Joelle was distracted by the fountain and wanted to play in the water.

At home playing with the umbrella.