Tis' the Season

The Christmas Spirit

I really liked this YouTube Video about Christ and Christmas. Hope you enjoy it as well.
Merry Christmas!

**Prego Update**
Everything is going GREAT! We will post pics soon, but our camera decided to punk out on us so Santa is bringing us a new one in his sleigh, I just know it:) Pics to come--I've definately got a belly bump and we find out the sex of our little angels in just a few weeks!

Seeing Double!!

(This ultrasound was at about 7 1/2 weeks. I'm now 12 weeks:) I love that they call our babies

Baby A and Baby B. So cute!

WE TRULY COULD NOT BE HAPPIER!!

TWINS!!

DOUBLE THE FUN!

COMING SOON......MAY 2010!!

Lately...

I've neglected our blog but I have a good excuse!
Being a student again has definately gotten the best of my free time!
We are doing well though and just enjoying the Michigan fall weather. It's been about 50 degrees and rainy around here and the leaves are starting to change colors. It's really a beautiful time of year!
Some of my girl friends and I ran a 5K a few weeks ago. It was called 'The Red Carpet Run: Glitz, Glamour, and Glisten' and you were supposed to dress up. We found a cute way to make these no-sew tutu's and made an afternoon out of it. When I was running a little girl on the side of the road was cheering me on saying, "Run fairy, RUN!" It was so cute--and I tried my hardest to go a little bit faster for her. From Left to Right: Jonelle, Lindsey, Natalie, Rochelle, Andrea, Marti.
Matt is changing airplanes.......he goes to training on the jet in a few weeks! He is excited for that because that means he gets to stay in nicer hotels and get the free breakfasts that go along with it. This airplane is about twice the size of the one he has been flying and holds about 70 people. He is so handsome in his pilot's uniform, I just love it!

That's about all for now! Even though I don't post very often, I check all of yours, so thanks for updating us on your lives. We love to see what's been going on!

Critter Cove

A few weeks ago Matt went fishing in Critter Cove, British Columbia with my dad, grandpa Oates, uncle Rodger and his boys Kevin, Nathan, and Brian and the White's. From all the pictures and stories, it seems like they had a ton of fun. I kept begging Matt to take pictures before he left, and, like a good husband, it looks like he busted out the camera at all the right times! I thought about going with them, but 'critter' cove was a little too ambiguous of a name for me.Rodger and his boys in the 'other' boat. There is a competition every year of who can catch the biggest fish and who can catch the most fish. There is even a trophy! This year my dad took home the gold.In between the adrenalin of the salmon biting and trash-talking the other boat, they took in the beautiful scenery of the great outdoors.Then, right when you least expect it, the reel starts bending, hands start sweating and heart is a thumping, and lo and behold......you've caught yourself a 30 pound fish!It's a team effort.Surprisingly, for a week of fishing, the limit you can catch is only 4 fish per person!! I couldn't believe it! If I went shopping for a week, I'd surly come back with more than 4 articles of clothing! Somehow, they assure me, it's not the same.As fun as fishing sounded, I opted for land and went to Seattle and enjoyed seeing my pumpkin of a nephew, Gavin. I cannot get enough of him! Is he not the cutest little boy you've ever seen??We had fun at the park and McDonald's play pen. Dev and April are such good parents. I miss these guys so much! Wish we lived closer! Love you to pieces!Gav going in for the kill.Matt had to leave Friday night to get back for work, so I took his place at the fishy slaughter house. The scraps are used for catching crab.
Those fish caught turned into a freezer full of salmon--we've got enough fish for a year! If you have any good salmon recipes--send them our way! And if you come over for dinner, you know what we're having!
Thanks to everyone for letting us stay with you! We had a great time in Seattle! Can't wait to see you all again soon!

Summer Readin'

I've been semi-in-charge of book club in my ward the past few months and let me tell you--it's been so much fun! I've always wanted to be in a Book Club and this ward is perfect for it since the women are amazing and I adore my ward. I feel like I read the books more deeply so that I can add somthing to the discussions.

Here's the skinny on the reads we've discussed so far:

January- "The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands" by Dr. Laura

(this book made for a VERY interesting conversation, highly reccomend it for a book club discussion)

February- "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho
March- "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen

April- "Rebecca" by Daphne DuMauir

May- "My Antonia" by Willa Cather

June- "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith

And this month's book:

July- "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" by Mary Ann Shaffer

I haven't read July's book yet, but I'm sure it's not going to dissappoint.

We need fresh ideas! What books do you read in your book clubs?

Marrow.org

Hey friends and family,

As you know I work on the Adult Bone Marrow Transplant unit...a sad floor but happy in many ways, especially when our patients find a great match that they can receive a vital transplant from. This post is to inform you that YOU may make a huge difference in someone's life. There is a promotion going on now through June 22nd and you can get HLA tested FOR FREE and possibly be a match for someone who needs a transplant!! How awesome would that be!!!!

I know you're wondering......how does it all work? Well, go to marrow.org and find out. All the info is there. Basically, to get started you fill out a questionnaire and if you qualify, they will send you the kit in the mail, which you need to follow the instructions (naturally:) and swab your cheek. They do the rest and determine if you're a match for some very deserving patient.

Now, if you are a match (which statistically is about 1/200 people) then the process is much like donating blood or plasma; they pharese the cells they need from you and then YOU, my friends, have helped to save a life.

What a miracle modern medicine is! I'm so grateful for it! So please, help out if you can! Now's the time--after all it's free (normally about fifty dollars) so try it out!!

Thanks for reading! I know all of my patients appreciate it, too!

Marrow.org

Europe '09

We just got back from a 2 week stint in Europe about 4 hours ago! Before the jet-lag sets in I thought I'd blog about it. WE HAD A BLAST!!!!! Here's a few things I don't want to forget about our

"trip to the fatherland".

#1. Matt's wonderful Aunt Kathy and Uncle Freddy live in Veitschochheim, Germany. They were awesome to take us around their area and show us some of the sights. I love this picture because it is a typical little German town street: Cobblestone sidewalk and a woman hanging outside of a second story window just watching what's been going on. In the neighboring window sill is a box of flowers, and ivy coming up the house walls. It was so welcoming and homey and so classic European--LOVED it:)

#2. The FOOD!! Oh my goodness, the food. This was a typical bakery dangerously close to one of our hotels. I loved the pretzel breads made into a sandwich with salami, cheese, cucumber, and LOTS of mustard. We had a fair share of Bratwurst and Schnitzel, which were dang good. We also went to town with the ice cream. Pretty much we had dessert after every meal....and pretty much we don't regret it at all!Enjoying various desserts at Demmels....mmm,mmm good. #3. The countryside and views of the city. I could never quite capture it on camera. I just kept looking at it and thinking 'How beautiful. I'm never going to forget this.' Below we are overlooking the city of Wurzburg, Germany right outside the walls of a fortress.
The Alps from a window in Neuschwanstein.#4. The CASTLES and castle grounds!!! We visited 6 in total but in Europe, they are a dime a dozen and there were plenty we didn't get to! I couldn't believe it! One of our favorites was the Residenz at Wurzburg. One of the rooms was all white and reminded me of the temple. This is overlooking Eisenoch, Germany from a tower off of the Wartburg where Martin Luther translated the Bible into German. Here we are on the medieval draw-bridge at the Wartburg. This place was built in the 11th-13th century! And it's still standing! Below was an awesome mosaic room--each ceramic tile was so small and detailed!Inside most of the places we were not allowed to take photographs, but I 'forgot' a few times and snapped a quick one. Below is a tapestry in the Wartburg that Matt was impressed with. This was another great castle in the heart of Vienna, Austria called the Schonbrunn. This castle had a lot of history with it....and a lotta BLING!! Here's another 'oops' picture:)For me, the outside gardens were as impressive as the insides were. Matt found this shot of the Gloriette at Schonbrunn.This is the Disneyland castle, or Neuschwanstein. The guy who built it was crazy and basically took ideas from all the old castles and tried to copy them on the inside. It was only built in the 18oo's. It's way up the in Alps and had a great view. When you look at Neuschwanstein, it always seems like it's off centered and leaning a bit.... #5. The Cathedrals of the Catholic and Lutheran churches. The cathedral below is in St. Stephens in Vienna. We took a tour of the catacombs and saw thousands of human bones from when they were burying people in masses from the black plague. It freaked me out.The Catholic cathedrals classically have more gold in them and are more flashy, like the one below. It was built around 1650.
#6. The AUTOBAHN! Or at least I thought it was exciting diriving 100 mph:)
#7. Hearing Matt speak German!!!! Matt served his mission in Germany and wow, the man can speak! I was so impressed. He hasn't spoke it for years but he picked it right back up! Good job sweetie! Thanks for being our translator!

#8. The company of these wonderful people:
This is Phil. He kept us all laughing. Phil knows the lyrics to just about every 90's and probably 80's song and loves to belt it out in the car. Even though he's white. We often heard Phil's imitation of a local vendor "Kebab, Kebab bitter shurn?" Phil, you rock. And so does the lady in red, Lisha! Even though she's prego and probably very uncomfortable, she NEVER complained. Lisha puts the 'awe' in awesome.Laura, oh Laura. It never seemed to bother her when we endlessly teased her about only packing SKIRTS (really, what were you thinking?) or her oh-so-suttle laugh. We love you Lars. I'm so glad you came!! (And I hope you don't hate me for not sharing my food with your strep-infected throat:) She is a walking, talking historian and when she's around......THE HILLS ARE ALIVE!!
Well, that's the end of our "love affair" with Europe, as Laura would say. I'll never forget Europe '09!

Auf Wiedersehen!