Feeding the Ducks

We have this really huge, cool pond in our community that is full of ducks, swans, fish, turtles, etc. Josh loves to feed the ducks and look for anything moving in the water. He gets so excited when we go. It's the highlight of his day!

Moving to Dallas

Around Thanksgiving time Jeremy decided he wanted to do oral surgery and had a friend who was in a program who told him to try and do an externship. So he went to Dallas for 2 weeks on an externship to work with the famous Dr. Edward Ellis at Parkland hospital. About a week later after the externship, Dr. Ellis called and offered him the internship position which would begin July 1st and last for 1 year. So now here we are saying our goodbyes to our good friends and dry heat, packing up our things, loading them into a huge moving truck that we are sharing with 2 other dental school graduates moving to the Dallas area, and are on our way to the great state of Texas! We are so excited for this next phase in our life and I'm excited to have a plan of where we'll be at least for a year! Life is much easier to handle, for me at least, when I have a plan to work with.
It took us a solid 23 hours plus or minus some minutes to drive to Dallas which should have taken us only 18 hours 23 minutes. I don't think the people of mapquest factor in children when driving long distance trips. But I will admit it went fairly smoothly, minus both Jeremy and I each driving separately in our cars. My genious husband thought to get walkie talkies for us to communicate without having to use our cell phones which was fun. Lots of movies and children's music later and the classic "Are we there yet?" questions we arrived! I have never been east of Utah so the landscape was a definite change for me. Once we reached Amarillo, TX one could see miles and miles either direction without a single hill or mountain in sight. This continued for a long time. Not much to look at, but in a way, very peaceful. I wasn't exactly sure what to expect once we got here, but so far, so good! People are very friendly, the drivers will kill you with their inability to drive the speed limit (meaning they drive slow and it drives us crazy!!), lots of fun, family activites, tons of humidity, and churches on every street corner. I do prefer dry heat to humidity, as I'm sure many of you would agree, however nothing I can do about that now. I'm here!

Long Awaited Graduation-Yeah!

Graduation has finally arrived!! We are so excited for this day because that means Jeremy is finally done.....with this part, anyway. All I have to say is that I am so proud of my husband for accomplishing his educational goals and finding something that he will enjoy as a career. I do realize this isn't the end of the student life road for us since Jer has developed a insatiable fascination with oral surgery, but we are definitely on our way. I just have to remember to take one day at a time and that everything will work out just great!
Jeremy's mom was able to join us for the festivities, and I think it's safe to say she is one proud mama! And I know our 2 boys are young, but I think it was good for Josh to see his daddy graduate as well. Nothing more inspiring to a young child than for them to see their hero do something honorable and great. Now you may call my honey.......Doctor Jeremy Hixson! :)

Graduation Gala

The dental school held a gala which was basically like a college prom night except there were awards given out. It was held at the Black Mountain Country Club in Green Valley the night before the first graduation with just the 2009 dental class. It was fun to have a catered dinner and enjoy good company before everyone headed out their separate ways. Although it was a VERY, VERY warm evening. You could say there wasn't a lot of air conditioning going on, but we had a good time nonetheless!

The Beautiful Dominican Republic

Jeremy and I really wanted to go on a trip to celebrate his upcoming graduation from UNLV's School of Dental Medicine. We were having a hard time figuring out where a good place would be to go and that also wouldn't break the bank. We ended up looking online at Costco.com at their travel section and found a 9 nights/10 day deal to the Dominican Republic. That sounded pretty exotic to me....the breathtaking Caribbean sea, white sandy beaches, not far from the U.S., a nicely secluded all-inclusive resort and......no children. Let me rephrase, other people had children, we did not. The resort was called The Majestic Colonial located in Punta Cana which is on the easternmost side of the country. It was so nice to be just the two of us and to relax before we were thrown back into a frenzy with graduation and our move to Dallas. Some fun things we were able to do besides admire all the topless beachcombers, JUST KIDDING!, were to go deep sea fishing which Jeremy had an absolute blast doing because he was lucky enough to catch a 30lb. yellow-fin tuna while I was puking over the side of the boat. We also went para-sailing which I was kind of silently freaking out about. I'm not a huge heights fan. As soon as we were all the way up, I was holding on for dear life and wondering what would happen to our boys when we didn't come home. :) On the other hand, Jeremy was right behind me having all sorts of fun, of course, and filming the resort and landscape with our camera which we had to sneak up there. Now I know why they don't want you to take cameras/video recorders with you. THEY GET RUINED! Luckily we brought 2 cameras with us. Last, but not least, I convinced Jer to get a pedicure with me and a couples massage. The rest of the time we soaked up the sun, read books, ate great food, played ping-pong, slept in, etc. I can't wait to go on another trip with my honey! And with the kids, of course!

Easter Eggs & Hunts

I think every year Josh gets a little bit more excited for Easter. I wish it was because of the spiritual importance, but we all know it's obviously not. Yet. His excitement involves decorating eggs, finding candy, and possibly meeting the easter bunny. He doesn't know how the easter bunny manages to get into our back yard to hide the eggs and how he can have enough time to do it for every house. That is the joy of having children and witnessing their innocence at special times like these. Believe it or not, I do thank Heavenly Father for blessing our family with these 2 crazy boys! They have added so much meaning and happiness to my life and I pray that they can come to know their Savior and the impact His life has meant to the world.

Birthday pictures

I wasn't sure what to do for the boys' annual birthday pictures and then finally decided on having them done at the park across the street from our house. Very convenient, huh?! And then I found out that this really sweet girl/lady (she's older than me, but lady sounds too old) from my church is a photographer on the side and made a date. All I have to say is, I have been very blessed with cute kids! I know all mothers feel that way, but you'll see for yourself. And you can't ask for better weather in Vegas than when it's March. Luckily both my boys are March babies. Even more convenient, wouldn't you agree?? :) Although who knows what we'll get next year when we're not here anymore, but in Dallas, TX! Your guess is as good as mine. So enjoy the pictures! And she was nice enough to let me in on some of the action, as well. Thanks Cari! You did a great job!