Family Fun on the Fourth

Me, Cambell, Morgan and Matthew.  Mammaw can never get a normal picture of her kids and grandkids!

Corey and I were able to take a much needed break from moving and studying to spend some time with our families on the fourth of July.  Corey's parents had their annual 4th of July tent sale at William's General Store.  This is the first year in quite some time that Corey and I were able to spend the holiday together.  He was even able to work for his parents at the store.  He really enjoyed getting to do that and I think his parents enjoyed it as well.  We had a good time hanging out and having a break.  We even got to visit, although briefly, with our good friends Katie and Josh and their son Brayden.  The biggest surprise of the weekend was the arrival of my brother from Pheonix.  It has been about 6 months since we've seen Morgan and he called Thursday to tell me he was going to fly down for the weekend.  He wanted to keep it a surprise to my mom so we all worked very hard to change our plans and have good reasons to tell my mom.  It all worked out and my mom was shocked when she walked into her living room at 11pm to see her baby boy standing there.  It was so great to see my brother.  He is awesome.

Granny Dawn got Cambell this adorable outfit and this picture makes me laugh everytime with that funny look on her face and her panties falling down!  

We kept Matthew up late to watch the fireworks and it ended up being really late after a rain delay.  He had a great time watching and was not at all afraid of the noise.  This is Corey and Matthew watching the show.  He spent much of the show sitting with his Grandad Roger.

Cambell and Pappaw after the parade

Matthew watching the parade and loading his pockets full of candy.  He was fun to watch.  He would collect candy from one float and then throw it back to the next. 

Here we are swimming with Katie and Brayden.  The kids had a blast in the pool.

Sweet water babies!

2 Months....2 Many Changes.

I think I've started several posts saying something like "life is crazy," or "we've been so busy lately."  Well this one tops them all!  It has been two months since I've posted.  My life has changed and my family has made some major transitions in the past two months.  

1.  Moved out of our house

2.  Moved in with our Grandpa

3.  Moved our stuff to Plainview

4.  Graduated residency

5.  Took board exam

6.  Corey retired from his job

7.  Moved to Plainview

8.  Went on vacation

Where do I begin?  

In June I completed my last month of residency!  Yeah!  That is a huge deal for me.  No more school.  I am 29 and finally done with school.  I have been in school for 11 years past high school and I am finally done.  We had a graduation ceremony for my residency class the end of June.  

These are the residents in my class (from left to right) Travis, Jon (I am going into practice with the first two), Malik, Cynthia, Marbella and Me.  What a group!  We have spent a long 3 years working together!

Corey and I rarely get to dress up and go out together, we had a good time.

During the month of June we also moved out of our house.  We moved in with our grandad (PapaT, Tommy) to live until I finished up residency.  We had a wonderful time living with our PapaT, especially Matthew.  Everyday when we would get home he would go straight to Tommy's room to rock and eat a snack.  I sure enjoyed not being home alone in the evenings while Corey was working and we are all going to miss seeing our PapaT everyday, he is very special to us.

Matthew playing outside with PapaT

Since we moved out of our house obviously that mean we moved into a new house.  We found and bought a house that we love in Plainview.  My mom has worked so hard helping us out with the house...from painting to cleaning windows and putting in new contact paper and moving.  She has been amazing.  We don't know how to thank her.  Grandad Roger and Granny Dawn have been down helping us with the kids and unpacking.  We have worked them so hard also and we still wouldn't be unpacked without everyone's help.  I will post some pics of the house when I get them!  Moving is not fun.  We are still living out of boxes!  

Next on the agenda was to spend some time in Muleshoe for July 4th. We had a great time and I will post a blog with our pictures.  After that I had the task of taking my board exam and finished the grueling 7 hour, $1200 test on July 8th.  Results are still pending.  

Boards finished, residency completed..sounds like time for a vacation, so that is just what we did.  We went to the Keys with our good friends Jon and Page and Haley and my mom.  Yet another post for that one.   

Another huge transition for us was a very difficult decision for Corey to make.  He decided to temporarily retire from his job with LPD.  This was a very difficult thing for him to do because he loves his job.  It is a huge sacrifice he has made for our family.  Corey was very sad when his last day on patrol was completed, but he is looking forward to being here for me and the kids as we get the clinic up and running, and will be anxious to return to work in the winter.  I am so lucky to have such a supportive husband.  I couldn't do it without him.  He is amazing.  

We are so ready to be settled and get into a routine.  This all has been very hard on Matthew and he is happier the past two days since we have been home and he is in his own bed.  We have been living out of suitcases for the past 6 weeks and are so thankful to be home.  I am leaving on Monday for a week to go work, but Corey and the kids are going to stay home and try to relax.

Matthew playing with the coconuts in the backyard at my parents.  He is growing up so fast.  His vocabulary is amazing and he is saying up to five word sentences.  He has finally gotten all those stubborn teeth in for now.  He is becoming more and more adventurous and climbing and running more and more.  He loves his dogs and will tell them, "Harley, hold my hand!"  He loves to talk about airplanes, boats, buses, trains, and cars.  What a sweet boy.  He is 22 months old.

She will hate me for this someday.  I just couldn't resist.  Cambell is on the move.  She is army crawling and getting up on all fours and rocking back and forth. She can definitely get where she wants to go.  She is eating some cereal now and can sit up for a few seconds on her own.  She is almost 7 months old.  She weighs about 14 pounds and is 24 inches long.

Mammaw, Pappaw and the kids.

Who needs a ball when you have coconuts!!