Taunya, Ian, Grant & Lewis

2012-01-24T14:44:00.000-08:00

Grant's First Christmas

Christmas has always had a special place in my heart. Ever since I was little it was the holiday that I looked forward to the most. Naturally I was so excited for the presents, candy, food, no school, you know all the good stuff! Santa would come to my Grandparents house every Christmas Eve & I would sit on his lap and tell him what I wanted for Christmas: Barbies, Cabbage Patch Doll, Guitar, Snowboard, .... Christmas began changing for me once I got married, and again once when we moved to Ohio. For several years when I would sit on Santa's lap I would ask for more realistic things like getting into a good school, good job, etc which were all things I wanted but what I really wanted to ask him for was a chance to be a mother. I wished that by asking that it was as easy as going to the store to buy a new Barbie or a new bike and have it magically be there for me Christmas morning. Well, after all these years of asking (praying) and feeling like was sitting on my Heavenly Father's lap, he finally gave me the best gift of all. To be a mother. I looked forward to Christmas for a different reason this year. When I sat on Santa's lap this year and when he asked what I wanted for Christmas, I smiled and began crying and said 'I got what I wanted this year and I don't need anything else' (and for every year from here on out!) Everything seems to mean so much more to me now that we have Grant to share it. Once again I a reminded of how blessed I am to have him and how much he has already changed my life for the better.

Grant couldn't get enough of the Christmas Tree Lights.

Christmas Eve with my family. My goodness my family has grown!

Christmas morning, waiting to go see what Santa brought us

I put a bow around Grant and said 'Grant, you are my present this year!'

I love these girls! These are the girls I grew up with and we have made it a tradition to get together every Christmas

Poor Ian got the flu Christmas morning and stayed in bed all day.

Our little family, couldn't have asked for anything better this year.

Happy 30th Ian!!

2011-11-30T06:43:00.001-08:00

Ok, so Ian is obsessed with Taco stands and always wants real Mexican Tacos for dinner. For his 30th B-day party he wanted nothing but Real Tacos!! So he got the ingredients by hanging out in the Mexican Food isle in the grocery store and watched what all the Hispanics were picking out, then he would follow behind them and pick up the same thing! I made him his own Taco Stand to get the full Taco Stand Experience!!

And of course what would a Taco Fiesta be without a Pinata??

Our new friends were such good sports with playing kid games!

And we had to play Pin the Tail on the Donkey Right???!!

We learned just the night before that there is a group in Idaho Falls that dresses in legit medieval costumes and go to a park and sword fight! Our friends gave him his own costume for his birthday so he can join the crazies at the park this summer!


Ian's first birthday as Daddy, what more could one ask for for a birthday present!!

Another birthday present was going to the ISU vs USU game in Pocatello. It was located in a large barn!! It was a funny experience & it brought me back to college days! Grant stayed home with Ian's parents (they were here for Thanksgiving). Our little Aggie Family!!

Go Aggies! We Won!

Grant's Baby Blessing

2011-11-27T17:56:00.001-08:00

Grant was blessed on November 6, 2011 and the whole day was so memorable and special. Ian gave the most touching and beautiful blessing, one that made me cry through the whole thing. He said that he had been thinking about what to say for a long time and I couldn't have ask for a more perfect blessing for my little miracle. We had so many family members who traveled far to be there for this special day. The day was Perfect and I am once again reminded how blessed and grateful I am to have Grant.

Grant's Blessing Outfit!! He is so stinkin cute and handsome. I couldn't find a dress shirt anywhere in his size so I attempted to make one and it turned out pretty good! I also made his hat and his tie (we used one of Ian's ties).

Ian's family

Taunya's family

Getting Grant dressed for the big day!!

So sweet!

Updates

2011-10-28T10:59:00.000-07:00

Before

After. I cut a total of 13 inches off! I love my new short hair and wonder why I didn't do this way before! I did end up donating it to locks of love, but I must admit I tried selling it for $ first. A few years ago my friend sold her hair for $1500 on ebay! Looking on ebay I sadly found out that the China women have found out that you can sell hair for money so the market is horrible. I probably couldn't have gotten more than $25 for my hair. Typical China!

Grant's one month mark! I can't believe it has been over a month since our little miracle has been in our family! I love every second of being a mom and thank the Lord every day for Grant.

Since Halloween is my favorite Holiday, I couldn't pass up making Grant a costume. He is the cutest owl ever! I think I put him in this outfit 6 times in two days, I just want to eat him up!

Witches Night Out. I have been waiting 4 years to go to this event again with my sisters and my mom (my Aunt also came). It was way fun even though I spent half the night feeding Grant! Oh well, still worth the wait!

Love this picture! I can't believe I got them both looking and holding still at the same time!

My mom, my sister and her two girls came up to our place for their UEA break. We went to a U Pick pumpkin patch. Can I just say I love everything about fall!

My sister took our family pictures and love how they turned out!

My mom and her 3 grandkids!

2011-10-05T10:38:00.000-07:00

Grant Logan Whipple

Born September 5, 2011 Weight: 5 lbs 11 oz Length: 19.5 in
Not only was Grant a week early, he came fast too. I had contractions starting at 7:30p Sunday night (which I thought were constipation cramps at first! :)), went to hospital at 11:30p, epidural at 2:00a (heaven), dilated to a 10 at 4:00, he arrived at 4:55a. At 4:00 the nurse checked me and she said, 'oh man he is coming don't push or else I won't be ready & the dr won't be here in time'. I pushed officially for about 10 min! Thank you Grant! So happy to have him in our family.....we've waited so long for him and he was definitely worth the wait!

In Labor on Labor Day!! Ironic??

Ian helped deliver Grant, cut his umbilical cord & put on his first diaper

Proud Daddy

I couldn't help but let the tears flow when I got to hold Grant for the first time. I have waited for this moment for far to long and I will never forget it! I am so lucky and grateful to having this blessing to finally be a mother. Grant is our little miracle and I thank the Lord every day for him.

His first bath, not too happy!

His first visitors: Grandpa & Grandma Martin, Uncle Thomas & Kevin

Our little Buckeye

Story time with daddy

Stork Dinner. The hospital gave us our first dinner date to celebrate being parents

Going home outfit. Every outfit we had was huge on him!! One of the nurses made him his little beanie.

That car seat makes him look even more tiny!

Other Visitors

Ian's Parents

Sharon & Brian (Taunya's sister & Brother-in-law)

Jen (Taunya's sister) & Kate & Karley


First bath at home, which he didn't love. We have found out that he likes it more, or tolerates it more, right after he has just eaten! Sneak peek at the nursery, I haven't put up the wall decor stuff still working on that. I will post pictures of the nursery once it is all done. I did make the crib bedding, I just wasn't ok with the boy bedding in the stores (jungle animals, sport stuff, etc) so I decided to take on the big project of making my own & I love it!!

2011-07-17T19:23:00.000-07:00

Our New Place!

We just moved to Ammon, ID for Ian's first job as an Optometrist! I still can't believe that it is actually happening! This is our home that we are renting and we love it! Everything is so big compared to every place that we have lived in before! The neighborhood is really nice and it is so close to everything, including Ian's work. Our first time going to church they already had our records and gave Ian a calling! What the...!??! The ward members are really nice and welcoming and it seems to be a well balanced ward as far as age ranges. So....so far so good, I'll try and do good in keeping my blog updated with our new adventure here in Ammon!

The office. We haven't hung anything up in here yet. Our desk broke during the move, so some day we'll get a real desk with real drawers/storage space!

The guest bath. I don't like the maroon paint :(

Master bedroom. It has a bathroom in it (I have never had that before and I love it) and a walk in closet (which I love also)!

The baby's room. Obviously not completed yet, pictures will come once done!

Living Room. Have you noticed that Lewis is trying to get in almost every picture!

The kitchen and dining area. It has a huge pantry that I love!

The Gianormous backyard. Lewis loves it and we play frisbee with him every day! The garden area is huge too. Ian's mom was so nice and planted some crops, hopefully they'll make it! We can't wait for next year to plant!

Entertainment room. It is huge! The windows have those weird colored fence posts on it as the shutters, oh well!!

Music Room

And my favorite room: My Craft Room!

Ian's first day of work!! Just like in Elementary, you get your picture taken on your first day of school! I am so proud of Ian for all his hard work and finding such a great practice in a great place!

2011-06-26T09:32:00.000-07:00

Ian's Optometry Graduation from
Ohio State University

The Harry Potter Gown!! The stripes are green because it is the brightest color the eye can see in daylight. After all the tuition that we paid or will pay they should've at least let him keep it.

Ian's mom came out to support him. Thanks for coming Kathy!
The hooding ceremony. It is official: he is a doctor!! That day had been a long time coming!

So proud of all the hard work you did and the patience you had Ian. I couldn't be more happy for you (and for me!!)

Ian had a rough last month, anxiously waiting to be done with school and no more reporting to attendings, so I made him a count down chain and wrote him a funny poem to help lift his spirits:

The Boy and His Stinky Dog and His Pregnant Wife

The first night was rough as the wife couldn’t sleep

His patience I assure you was hard to keep

Working and slaving at the Salt Lake VA

He decided he was not having a good day

Upon making it home, two dinners he had

Then turned to NiQuill, it was that bad

The second night came and never went

Smelling & Caring for his sick dog was how it was spent

Calling off sick was not an option today

This was his life needless to say

Just three wishes is all he is asking for

One to be done with school forever more

Two isn’t bad, just a good night’s rest

And three no more basement, that would be best

Yet here he is again, as patient as can be

Dinner awaits him as does some ZZZZ’s

His wife loves him dearly she wants him to know

She and the dog will be kept on the down low

The End

2011-04-26T08:55:00.000-07:00

A difficult trial ending in an Amazing Miracle

Warning long story....I have tried many times writing about my infertility trial and I can't ever seem to put what I have gone through down into words. Even now I have no idea where to start. For those of you who have gone through this trial you can easily relate and truly understand.

Ian and I struggled with infertility for 5 1/2 years. Four of those years were spent doing treatment in Ohio. Treatment included: 4 months of clomid, 3 months of clomid + ultrasound + HCG shots, HSG dye test (found out I had a blocked tube), 3 months of artificial insemination, and surgery to try and fix my tube and remove endometriosis.

Up until the surgery neither of our families knew about our infertility and our treatment. When we first started trying we wanted it to be a surprise and we kept thinking that it would happen, so we were so used to keeping it a secret and kept hoping that we would be able to surprise them that we did not tell them until the surgery. We decided that we needed our families prayers and faith to help us in the this trial as ours may have not been enough.

We then tried our first round of IVF. IVF....where to begin...it first is emotionally, physically, mentally, and for me spiritually draining. Overall it is a 6-8 week process. In my own words and experience:
1. For two weeks you take birth control, then for 10 day you take a shot every day to 'shut down' your brain so you don't ovulate or start a period.
2. Then you add another shot which makes your follicles grow, doing this twice a day for roughly 2 weeks. These shots are intramuscular which means the needle is gianormous!
3. During this time you go into to have blood work and ultrasounds so they can monitor the size and quantity of the follicles so they know when they are ready.
4. Once the follicles are big enough you then take an HCG shot to trigger ovualtion 36 hours later
5. You then go in for the 'retrieval' of the follicles. They stick a gianormous needle suction thing up you-know-where and suck the follicles out. It is actually pretty cool to watch but very uncomfortable! They then put the follicles in the dish with the sperm and you wait to see how many will fertilize over the next 3-5 days.
6. The transfer then takes place and they usually place 2 embryos back into the womb (which is what we did our first time) and then you are on bed rest for at least three days hoping that at least one of the embryos attach.
7. Then you have to WAIT (this is the worse part) 2 weeks to find out if you are pregnant. There is a 50% chance of IVF working

Our first IVF was successful and we got pregnant, however our first ultrasound appointment there was no heartbeat and we lost the baby. I had a D & C surgery to remove the invalid fetus. Although extremely devastated, we still had hope and faith that it would work again because we got pregnant.

A few months later we tried IVF again, changing the brand of shots and the amount. The second round was unsuccessful and at this point I was loosing myself. I can't quit explain what I was feeling except for anger, hopelessness, lonely, forgotten, worthless, hurt. My testimony and my self worth was next to nothing in the simplest of words. I had officially reached my all time low spiritually, emotionally, and mentally. Church and life would trigger these feeling to resurface seeing all the pregnant women, children, comments, talks/lessons, it was a constant reminder that I would never become a mother. Ian was my strength and testimony during this time and I am so grateful to him to have stayed strong during this difficult time or who knows what would have happened. He definitely saw me at my worse on all levels and I know he was truly worried about me and I will be forever grateful for him for sticking by me and loving me no matter what.

Somehow time made things more bearable and as we were deciding what to do next either adoption or IVF again. I found a new infertility doctor and he said my tube needed to be removed because it was letting toxic fluid back into my uterus and killing anything trying to grow and he said that is probably why the last two IVFs didn't work. So we were hopeful again. I had the tube removed and more endometriosis removed and we tried IVF one last time. Again, it was unsuccessful. I handled this one a little better, even though it was still difficult, just by knowing that I was officially done with treatment and really trying to get pregnant and I wouldn't have to put myself through the anguish and heartache every month with disappointing news.

Something that I cherish deeply throughout this time is that mine and Ian's relationship grew so much even though there were some very rough spots. We came out on top in our marriage and I will be forever grateful for this trial and how it brought Ian and I even more closer to each other and to the Lord.

3 months after our last round of IVF and we were done with treatment a miracle happened. We got pregnant! Tears of joy (even as I am typing now) come to me every time I think about what we have been through and where we are today. Our prayers were heard and they were answered, which I never thought that would be possible. I thank the Lord every day for this beautiful blessing and can't wait to meet our baby BOYaround September 13, 2011 and finally become parents.

Thank you to all of our friends and family for the many prayers, temple attendance, fasting, hope, and support you gave in our behalf, we couldn't have made it through our trial and gotten our miracle without you.

We surprised my mom and brother at the airport, when they were coming to help us move, by wearing these shirts. My mom held me and cried and cried. I will never forget that moment!
We also made a video of our time in Ohio and we ended the video with the surprise of our good news for Ian's dad and the rest of my family.

To celebrate our baby boy we got our first clothes for him. They are so tiny and cute and can't wait to see him in them!

2011-01-09T17:44:00.000-08:00

Christmas in Ohio

We went to a non-denominational church's Christmas Eve Mass. The name of the church is 'The church next door' and our church is next door to The Church Next Door'! They had a live band and the congregation would stand up and sing Christmas songs with the band. The last song they gave everyone candles and lit them. It was pretty cool.

We spoiled our selves by making the BEST Christmas Eve and Christmas Day dinners.

Steak, snow crab, green beans, rye bread

Pan fried chicken, tomatoes and onions in the middle, with homemade humus around it and the best pitas that came from a Lebanese store.

I got a BERNINA sewing machine from Santa! I was so surprised and very excited. I have already put it to good use!

Ian got a sweater vest ("Is there some sort of vest that I could wear?"...name the movie!), a new drill, an Italian jacket, and NBA jam for the Wii. Lewis got a plethora of new frisbees. I got an apron, a game, my own sprout growing kit, cute broaches, and the Bernina!
We had a great Christmas with just the two of us and Lewis. It was our first Christmas not with family, it was sad, but it was fun to do our own little thing.

2010-12-19T13:41:00.000-08:00

Vacation Part I: San Francisco
Ian got some time off around Thanksgiving so we went on our first real vacation, just the two of us, since our honeymoon (over 6 years ago)! That is pretty sad, but it is very expensive to fly, get a hotel, and entertain yourself for just a few days! Some day we won't be on a student salary and trips won't be as far in between! This trip, however, was well worth it and we had so much fun & beyond needed! We spent three days in San Francisco then we flew to Utah for Thanksgiving.

We couldn't go to San Francisco and not partake of the sour dough bread and fresh clam chowder! Delicious!

We took a boat to Alcatraz and did a self-guided audio tour. By far the coolest thing ever! It is expensive but well worth the money. That is downtown behind us. Everwhere we went was a great view!

Alcatraz is behind me!

We learned a lot about the prisoners of Alcatraz and about some pretty cool escape attemps

This picture doesn't even do justice to show how steep the roads/sidewalks are! We walked up way too many! No wonder San Francisco is one of the most fit Cities...I don't think they have a choice!

We rented a tandem bike and biked across the Golden Gate Bridge! It was scary but very cool! This city is so unique!

The crooked road. We had our tandem bike with us and in order to get here we had to walk up a million hills so we were happy to just look at the street from the bottom!

We went to the Oakland temple. This temple site has the best view I have ever seen. It is up on a hill and the view is overlooking the bay and you can see all the famous bridges of San Francisco.

Vacation Part II: Thanksgiving

Our traditional bowling tournament. My team lost :(

My brother Kevin spent his hard earned money and had a plethora of Nerf guns. We went to the church gym and set up tables, chairs, and chalk boards and had a Nerf War Still the Flag game. It was AWESOME!
We did an early Christmas party since Ian and I won't be there for the real thing. We had a yummy ham dinner, exchanged gifts, my dad dressed as santa, and we exchanged sibling gifts! I

2010-12-19T13:31:00.000-08:00

A Quick/Fun Visit

My dad always talks about Buckeye Football so we invited him to a game OSU vs Penn State. OSU won of course! We went to a fun Italian restaurant 'La Scala', North Short Market, and played lots of games. Short but sweet!

2010-11-07T11:49:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween

We couldn't come up with anything new and creative so we pulled some old costumes out. We need to step it up next year as Halloween is MY FAVORITE holiday. The games were just as good this year though!

The Boys: Scott (wrecked biker), Todd (Cop), Ian (Aqua Bats), Rob (Joe Dirt), Brandon (Yellow Brick Road)

The Girls (left to right): Aly (Wrecked Biker), Me (witch), Ashley (Ms. Ohio), Lindsey (nerd), Sarah (Dorothy).

This is the first time in our 6 years of marriage that we carved pumpkins! I forgot how much fun it is! I forgot to take a picture of our final carvings, but it was just a bunch of holes carved out that looked lame in the day time but awesome at night!

Ian rarely wears a hat, but I think he looks adorable in them!

2010-10-18T16:28:00.000-07:00

Updates

Our third summer growing our plumeria! It is doing pretty good! I have no idea how we are going to move it to Utah in March though...any ideas???

Poor Ian got his appendix out about a month ago. We went to the ER at 11:00pm, he went into surgery at 5:30a, that is when I finally went home got 1 hour of sleep then went to work! Ian is doing well other than they shaved his belly & he is still a little itchy!

We took Lewis camping to Kiser Lake. Well if you can call it camping...it's more like a bunch of grass, throw as many people in together as you can, and have a 'John' just down the way and you get Ohio camping! They did have this cool place where you could rent boats and row on the lake.

Dress like a cow, get free Chick-fil-a meal!

2010-08-21T15:53:00.000-07:00

We MADE our own BED!!!
I came across a blog (knock-offwood.com) that has written out materials you need, cuts to make, and how to assemble. When I saw this bed plan I wanted it! This was our very first thing we ever built & I think we did pretty good. We had a few hiccups & a few frustrating moments, but now that it is all done-I am so HAPPY we did it & I LOVE by new bed. Now we just need to get rid of our ghetto dressers & build or buy the rest of our bedroom furniture to go with our AWESOME bed!
Here are some pics of us during the process of building & then the finale

Lewis wanted to be in a picture since he got ditched for many hours while we were out in the garage building. We haven't put the side rails up yet but I got so excited to show this off I had to blog

2010-07-11T18:10:00.000-07:00

4th of July Frisbee Contest

Lewis did much better compared to last year. He actually stayed mostly focused and caught three frisbees! Last year he didn't catch any (he was too distracted by all the other dogs) so he definitely improved. Good job Lewis! I am SO proud of you!

Thanks to our friends for coming out and cheering Lewis on!

2010-06-22T19:55:00.000-07:00

For the first time here in Ohio, The WHOLE family came to visit!!
Thanks to Brandon McFadden for taking our family portrait. This was the first time in 3 years we were all together

We did the Palmyra, NY & Niagara Falls & Kirtland Trip

Our favorite lawn game: KUBE
Who: Boys vs Girls (boys won...barely)
Point of game: Knock each others blocks down
Where it come from: White Trash Trailer Park

The girls had a craft night & made flowers, while the boys went golfing. I don't have any golfing pictures but story goes that my brother Thomas hit a bird with his ball and killed it! Nice 'birdie' Thomas!

The famous 'Foos' table at the Optometry School. Ian was so excited to show my family where he spends most of his time!

The gates to the 'Horseshoe' were open, which never happens, so we got to show the fam the gianormous stadium!

Thanks family for coming out! I had so much fun & was SO depressed when it was over and had to go back to work :(

2010-05-12T09:37:00.000-07:00

My Dearest Insurance Company,

I wanted to start off by saying thank you for taking my hard earned money, denying coverage for no reason, and for sending me those wonderful bills in the mail.

I recently had a most pleasant experience that I wanted to share, and please send on the gratitude and appreciation to those people involved, as they should definately be acknowledged.

I had some blood labs done 3 different times in the same month. I then received a bill for $583 for one of the blood labs. In the past I have never had any problems with you covering 100% for blood work, so I was SO EXCITED when I got this bill!

I called you and you stated that it was because of the diagnosis code that the doctor used for one of the blood labs. So I called my doctors office and they said they used a code that should be covered 100% for that particular lab. I then called you back you said the other 2 blood labs were coded differently so you just clumped them all together under the '70%' coverage instead of 100% since you just decided to assume it was all for the same reason. I then questioned if you could do that even though it was done for different reasons and had a different diagnosis code. In reply you said I would have to write an appeal if I want to try and fight it. Fight what? Oh, the fact that you should cover this and you don't want to for no reason, sure no problem!

I wanted to ask you, do you make rules up as you go?

Not only do I believe/know this should be covered, but also the billing office at my doctors office stated that you can't do this. You will not get away with this very easily, even though it seems you can say and do whatever you want and we have to bow down to you and say 'We aren't worthy, I will pay you my whole salary because you are so wonderful.'

I will fight! And I will win!

I look forward to working with you in the future.

Your Biggest Fan,
Taunya Whipple

2010-04-12T15:43:00.000-07:00

A much-needed Trip
My sisters and my two nieces
I went home to Utah for two days, then we all (minus 2) flew to Oregon for a week.

My Jr High and High School job. My dad is a vet and I had the job of walking, feeding and cleaning the dogs every day. We all helped out walking the dogs, man it brought back memories! I haven't done this in over 6 years, sorry dad but I don't miss it! However I would rather deal with dogs than deal with the patients/job that I work with now, so maybe I'll come back to work for you!

OREGON

My Family (minus my brother Thomas and my dad) went to Oregon this last week. My Sister Sharon recently returned from an LDS church mission from there and we went back to go visit her stomping grounds. I left 80 degree Ohio weather to 45 degree and rain, hence the bright red rain jacket you see me wearing in every picture (yes I did change my clothes).

Oregon had these creepy but cool trees everywhere. They had moss growing all over them. They look like trees that would come out of a Tim Burton movie.

Ohio State Spirit behind the waterfall. O-H-I-O

Me and my sisters

Tilamook cheese factory. The BEST cheese and ice cream EVER!!

The Tulip Festival. They had over 45 acres of tulips. I felt like I was in The Wizard of Oz

The BEACH

Freezing weather (which is what we had) or warm weather, there is something about the beach that makes everything ok.

This is my uncle's house that we stayed at. Right along the coast. Aaaahh! His house was amazing inside also!

This is the view that I got to wake up to every morning. Okay I didn't wake up to seeing me, but the ocean view! Gorgeous and soothing to fall asleep and wake up to the sound of the ocean!

Oregon Temple

I think this trip was just what I ordered, and I think Ian was afraid I would never come back!

2010-02-24T16:05:00.000-08:00

Project Complete

We bought this 'buffet table' at a used-stuff store. I forgot to take a before picture, but trust me it looks a lot better. It was a light wood color with nasty hardware. This was our first piece of furniture that we painted and we definitely learned the hard way with some things, but at least it is done!

This is another purchase at that same used-stuff store (New-Uses). We kept the color as it came, but I reupholstered the seat with a new cushion and new fabric. I think the old cushion was from when it was originally made, which I think it was in the 1950's or so....yuck!

There is a small chip in the chair that we still need to fix. And we put new knobs on the drawer.

2010-01-16T15:50:00.000-08:00

Polish Sheepdog Turns Poodle

Here is the story: Lewis ate about 8 pieces of gum that had the xylitol ingredient. Which causes hypoglycemia with eating 2 pieces & complete liver failure with eating 8 pieces!! Thanks to my dad, (who is a vet in Utah & told us what we needed to do) we ended up having to take him to the emergency clinic, they induced vomiting and he had to stay overnight with an IV (hence the shaved legs), then taken to our regular vet the next morning to be monitored and continue the IV all day and testing his liver enzymes. So far he has been doing fine, but our credit card bill has had better days. That was an expensive pack of gum! Poor Lewis & us!

Beware of GUM that has Xylitol in it=EVIL

Lewis's New Nicknames: Puff in Boots, Stick boy, Ridiculous, Poodle Boy, and Mittens!

2010-01-01T16:52:00.000-08:00

Christmas

Taunya's Christmas work party was held at COSI (a child's science museum). We got to ride on a unicycle while on a hi-wire & stick our heads over extremely-high-blowing air just for fun!

Christmas was spent with Taunya's family this year. This year, from Santa, I wanted to get Salt Lake City as one of our externship sites for Ian's 4th year of Optometry & we got it! We will get to live in Utah for 3 months in the spring of 2011-thanks Santa!

I got to go toKate's (my niece) dance recital. Plus, her & I got to play barbies, ponies, and with her new American doll during my visit- I love being a girl!

Our Tradition of going Bowling still holds strong.

The boys vs girls. Unfortunatly the boys won. But, I got my highest score ever of 148! I almost beat my dad, an ex-professional bowler! Maybe next year dad!

My mom somehow bowled this very unlucky bowl. How are you supposed to pull that one off??

My girlfriends & I were able to meet up for lunch again this holiday season. It was fun to eat, laugh, and catch up. I hope we can keep up this tradition.

Then to end our wonderful trip, we got to go to a Utah Jazz game! Jazz won!

Oh Yeah...We got to talk to my sister who is on a mission in Oregon. We couldn't help ourselves and we told her we wanted her home-sorry Sharon...I mean Sister Martin.

Thanks mom & dad for such a memorable trip & for all your love & support.

Adventures in Manhatten

2009-12-05T17:55:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my first foray into the world of blogging. I am hijacking Taunya's blog in part to satisfy a whim but mostly to defer my studies for a few more minutes. (Yes, finals start in two days and I should really be looking at retinal photos.) I had a few days off of clinic and decided last minute to visit Dane in NYC. Here are a few photos from my trip.

Times square with T minus 40 something days until the 2009 ball will drop.

Australopithecus afarensis - Lucy and Me. She's part of a traveling exhibit and happened to be in NYC when I arrived. I'm such a nerd, I also got my picture taken with Turkana Boy (Homo ergaster.) I once committed to memory all of the dates and locations of early hominid finds, but it seems that those neuronal synapses have been rewired as I struggled to place these missing links into our "family tree."

NYSE - open for business M-F 9:30 to 4:00 all federal holidays off. Good place to work, lousy place to visit. (They don't let you get any closer to the trading floor than this.)

I know that this is only the most famous painting in the world, but I was still thinking about Lucy and how I really understand science more than I appreciate the arts. (Sorry Mom!)

Dane and Me in front of an Egyptian temple which was transported here brick by brick just before the building of the Aswan Dam. How many other artifacts didn't make it?

My only mistake on this trip was that I drove all the way there. I was honked at several hundred times, forgot where I parked my car (was it 112th or 114th street?), and was charged a total of $43.25 in tolls just to get there. I did get to see a broadway show and all of the touristy things (Statue of Liberty, etc.) But, by far my favorite visit was to the U.N. We took a tour while the General Assembly was meeting. Check out this video to get an idea of what the U.N. is about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaxA0zZQV2U

Now doesn't that rile you up? It was a great experience. I had a blast in New York! Thanks to Dane for letting me crash his apartment. (I understand he had to displace the bunnies to make room for me.)

All right, I need to get back to non-arteritic anterior ischemic neuropathies now. Thanks for listening.

2009-12-03T15:37:00.000-08:00

Young Women's Night in Excellence
Theme: 'Color Me Beautiful'Being the Personal Progress leader in the Young Womens, I was in charge of putting together this night. Although it was very overwhelming to plan & there were a few bumps in the evening, the night turned out to be successful. Thanks to all the leaders who helped out! On the tables each Young Women displayed one of their projects that they had completed.

These are the handouts that I made for the girls. They each took a color personality test to find out which color they were. So they each got a paint can that matched what color they were and they were filled with chocolate gems of that color.

These are my Beautiful Young Women that I get to work with.

2009-11-13T19:15:00.000-08:00

Our Plumeria finally Flowered after 2 and a 1/2 years!!!

We went to Hawaii over two years ago & got a plumeria start. It basically looked like a stick. After two years it produced some leaves and grew about a foot. We had a family over for dinner this past winter & one of the children plucked off every single leaf! We were pretty upset. But, surprisingly it grew TREMENDOUSLY this summer! The leaves were gianormous & it grew a good foot or more & it started growing branches & it grew flowers! We just recently researched how to care for your plumeria during the winter & it said to......PLUCK OFF ALL THE LEAVES! So here we were thinking this little boy destroyed our 'tree' but little did we know he made it flourish!

2009-11-11T19:10:00.000-08:00

Italian Festival

We went to the Italian festival about a month ago with our friends Brandon & Sarah. We ate some delectable Italian dishes & listened to Italian Opra. And some day we will own matching Vespas!

This is one of the areas that Ian served in his Church Mission, Treviso

2009-10-07T18:00:00.000-07:00

My mother came out last week & took these wonderful pictures of us. I have been wanting updated pictures for awhile. And we got a new computer that does all these cool things to your pictures. The first picture below is my favorite of the three of us. Thanks mom!

2009-09-20T16:29:00.000-07:00

Our trip to Palmyra, NY

Our first stop was Hill Cumorah

On Sunday we went to a Protestant church & the people there were so NICE! They soon found out that Ian played the organ & they let him play as long as he wanted! It was SO cool & Ian sounded awesome!

We went with our GOOD friends Brandon & Sarah McFadden. This is us in the Smith's home

We had the wonderful opportunity to attend an Endowment session at the temple. We learned that this is the only temple that has a 'see through' window inside the temple, so you can look out & see the Sacred Grove.

The Sacred Grove, had such a different feeling than any other forrest. We went one night just to walk on the path & it was so peaceful.

This is our CUTE house that we stayed in. It was fully furnished with towells, dishes, tv, blankets, etc. It was perfect!

A Quick Trip to Niagara Falls on the Way Home

2009-08-30T16:12:00.000-07:00

Welcome HOME Elder Martin!

My Brother Thomas came home from his mission from Oklahoma City! He got home on a Thursday & had to start college on a Monday! Talk about culture shock!

My Parents got a new toilet while I was home. Low & behold the company just happened to be named 'Whipple'! So while the guy was in the house putting in the toilet, I snuck outside to get a picture with the truck & rug! So funny all the time!

2009-07-26T16:38:00.000-07:00

4th of July Weekend

A Little BBQ, Games, Sparklers, & Watching the City Fireworks

with the Christensen's & McFadden's

Frisbee Catching Contest
So Lewis is really good at frisbee & so we entered him into a contest as part of the 4th of July festivities. The only problem was that he was more interested in greeting ALL the dogs rather than catching the frisbee. Needless to say he came in last place! Oh, well it was fun & better luck next year!

Lewis just wanted some crackers!

Lewis is known for getting in the garbage. One day I heard him rummaging through the garbage so I came in the office & he had stuck his head in an empty box of crackers & couldn't get it off! We had a good laugh over that one!

2009-07-06T16:47:00.000-07:00

Kings Island Amusement Park

Read the Sign.......it is so funny!!!

I do have an unusually disproportioned left pinky toe....does that count?!!!

Our friends Brandon & Sarah McFadden came with us

Before the Ride

After the Ride

'The Diamond Back' Ride
I screamed my guts out!

2009-06-15T17:24:00.000-07:00

My First Eye Exam by Dr. Whipple!

It turns out that I was his most difficult patient! Oops! I could't keep still when he kept trying to probe something in my eye-silly me!
Dr. Whipple

It's nice that he now knows how to work all the expensive equipment he bought!

I came out with a few unusual & unexpected diagnoses, but I passed!

2009-06-15T17:13:00.000-07:00

Sara's Baby Shower!

The decorations!

Thanks everyone for coming & celebrating Sara!

Congratulations Sara! I am so happy for you & Brandon & can't wait to meet your beautiful new girl!

2009-05-31T18:19:00.000-07:00

My Trip home to UTAH!

My neice, Kate, made me this Welcome sign! Thanks Kate!

This is me my new neice Karley & her big sister Kate!

Kate's Dance Recital

Me, my Mom, my sister Jen & Kate Being Silly!

I am still waiting for my mother & Sister to send me pictures of the rest of the trip, so to be continued......

Baby Karley's Gifts

The apron I made for my mother

Our First bunch of Home-Grown Strawberries!

My First 1/2 Marathon!

2009-05-03T09:10:00.000-07:00

That's right! I did my first 1/2 marathon and survived!

May 2, 2009

Time 2:11:58

O-H-I-O

Girls from my ward, Allyson, Ashley, Me & Sherri, all ran the 1/2 marathon-go us!

Look at me MOM-I did it!

My Cheerleader

Ian rode his bike around, meeting me at different spots around the race, cheering me on & taking pictures! What a good husband I have!

It is true! That is the finish line behind me!

Congrats to us-We did it!

2009-03-12T15:29:00.000-07:00

Lewis's Tricks

Lewis will do pretty much anything for a treat!

2009-03-01T17:47:00.000-08:00

Ian's New Line of Eye Glasses!

Want better vision & drink your water at the same time? Look no further the one and only - Whipple Water Eye Wear!

2009-03-01T17:40:00.000-08:00

Ball-O-Mud!

Bad Idea Taunya! I took Lewis to a Dog Park thinking that there would be dry grass, yet as you can see there was nothing but mud! The only white thing left on him was his face! Lets just say that it was a VERY LONG bath!

2009-02-15T14:17:00.001-08:00

Happy Valentines!

Optometry 'Eye Ball'

We spent our Valentine's night
Eating, Dancing, & Drinking (pop & water that is)!

Valentine Cookies

Me, Ashley & Sarah made sugar cookies for Valentine's

We of course helped
ourselves to some
of the delectable cookies!

2009-01-18T13:48:00.000-08:00

Bundling Up for -10 Degree Weather!

This same week Utah was 50 Degrees! No Fair!

Aaaah! The joys of having a dog & NO backyard! We have the wonderful privilege of walking Lewis in this lovely Record-Breaking-Ohio-Weather!

2009-01-04T13:42:00.000-08:00

"Less of a Man"

Lewis was a good boy this Christmas & in return got neutered!

Poor guy!

Many Thanks to Dr. Martin (Taunya's Dad).

Day of Surgery

2008-12-04T16:08:00.000-08:00

An Old Welcome to Our New Dog

LEWIS

Before & After Shots of Lewis's Hair cut.

It turns out that Taunya is allergic to Lewis &

has recently been diagnosed with Asthma, so his hair had to go!

Since Lewis is A Sheepdog, we thought it would be

appropriate to buy him a toy Sheep to herd!

Yes, he is the same breed as our last dog, we are weird we know!

We got Lewis when he was 11 months old, and his previous owner let him up on couches....well that's not going to happen at our house! Needless to say we don't sit on our couches much since it is too much effort to move our 'fort', but at least our couches will stay brand new for a long time!

2008-11-09T12:52:00.000-08:00

YUCK!

Ian Made a Spilt Pea Soup & the Left Overs Stayed

in the Fridge Too Long & it Turned into a Slimy Split Pea Slab-Sick!

2008-11-03T16:18:00.000-08:00

My First Hand Sewn Quilt

Finally Finished (and Probably my Last)!!

Ian bought me the quilt top & I put the back on & hand stitched everything! A project that my mother-in-law can do in 1 month took me 9 months! Oh, well at least it is done!

2008-11-02T16:08:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween!

We made our very own Raggedy Ann & Andy Costumes!
We even cut the yarn & sewed it into a red beanie!

I am so lucky to have a husband that will dress up as a doll with me!

2008-10-03T17:15:00.000-07:00

Trip to Canada-Eh!

Stop # 1. Kirtland

N.K. Whitney Store

"May We Service You"

I asked someone to take a picture of us with the temple in the background. Um...Well I guess they did-NOT!

Stop #2: Niagra Falls

Hi-Ho Silver Away!

Ian's Dad Loves Totem Poles

It was 'raining' around the falls

Maid Of The Mist

So Windy!
The Boat Ride Was Great! When we were near the Falls it was so wet, windy, & misty it was hard to see anything but it was amazing!

After Taunya Gained Lots and Lots of Weight......

Ian Found a Quick Replacement!!

Stop # 3: Britsh Fort From The War of 1812

We Are Ready For Battle
Ready...Aim...Fire!

Stop # 4: Downtown Toronto

Ian's Dad works for a sugar company so we stopped at the Redpath Sugar Museum in Toronto-this was a first for me!

China Town

My Face Says It All-Yucky!

Little Italy

Official Vespa Scooter & Gelato (Ice Cream) Stores-Ian's Favorite

Night At the Museum

A Real Mummy!

I think we had more fun possing in front of the statues, than actually learning

The End
Thanks Brian & Kathy for a FUN Trip-Eh!
September 10th-13th 2008

2008-08-31T13:53:00.000-07:00

August Card Club

I was in charge of the 'project' this month. These are fabric made fortune cookies.

My Yummy Dessert! Angel Food Cake, Chocolate Pudding, Whip Cream, Snickers! Yeah I know HEAVEN!

In Loving Memory Of Our Sweet Winston

2008-08-01T15:52:00.001-07:00

March 3, 2004-June 9, 2008

Winston passed away unexpectedly on June 9th. This has been a very difficult thing to deal with & we miss him greatly. Some of our favorite things about him:

His smiles
His Obsession with tennis balls
His morning face sniffs
Playing catch
Taking walks & Car Rides
He loved taking his Agility classes

Funnel Head!

He Unravelled his Rope!

Agility Buddies

We Love & Miss You Winston

Optometry Eye Ball

2008-04-19T18:20:00.000-07:00

OSU Optometry Eye Ball

A night full of dinner, prizes, & dancing. There was also an

open bar & we helped our selves to Sprite & Water!

Showing Off Our

WICKED

Dance Moves!

Optometry Friends From Our Ward