Westward Ho!

At 3:00 p.m. on Friday, May 23rd, we pulled out of our driveway at 3686 Lytle Road and said goodbye to Shaker Heights, Ohio. We had a deadline to meet as we needed to be in Utah by Sunday morning to hear my brother speak in church. We were therefore determined to drive straight through with only making necessary stops. With a family of six we expected these stops would be frequent, but we didn't expect one just five minutes into our trip. It seems that a nail had embedded itself in our tire which halted our journey just five minutes from home at our local Sears. Thirty minutes later, with our first obstacle overcome, we headed toward sunnier skies (literally).

It wasn't until after dinner that our second obstacle presented itself. With the babies already filthy, I went looking for their pajamas in the back of the van. It was then we discovered that their suitcase, full of all their clothes and shoes, had been left at home on their changing table.

Obstacle three came along when Braden decided to pull out the new video game system we purchased for the trip. Unfortunately, we had left two very vital pieces of the system at home in the box. Up until then I had been in denial, but it was at that moment that I thought that this was going to be a very long trip. Thankfully though Walmart happened along, and we quickly remedied obstacle three.

With the kids asleep, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska passed much quicker. Ryan and I switched off driving through the night and by morning were closing in on Wyoming. Our last leg was fairly uneventful. We had a bit of snow, hail and wind in Wyoming, and only one stomach emptied into a carseat. By early evening we drove into Green River, Wyoming to visit my sister's family.

It was quite surreal driving down Parley's Canyon on our way into the Salt Lake Valley. Ryan and I made that journey nearly eight years ago, just in the other direction. We were leaving for medical school, loaded up with our belongings and Braden who was just 18-months-old, moving to Virginia. We were excited and a bit nervous about living on the east coast, going to medical school, and buying our first home. Now, as we now journeyed back with a few more belongings, four children, another move, medical school and residency behind us, we commented on how different we were. I don't know if our past selves would have believed what we had accomplished or who we had become had the past and present selves passed in the canyon. What a ride it's been... and we are very grateful for it!

Moving West

Ryan graduates from his residency at the Cleveland Clinic next month. It has been a long and wonderful journey, and we've loved living in the eastern part of the country for the past eight years. Last fall when considering job opportunities, it became apparent that we would be moving west... closer to home. Though not first a consideration, Valley Anesthesia in Phoenix, Arizona became one of our top options. After a bit of praying, the heat, lack of seasons, and desert landscape seemed insignificant obstacles. Ryan accepted a position in the North Scottsdale area and is excited to be joining such a wonderful, well-established group.

Never having visited Arizona, you can imagine I was a bit tentative to see where I would finally be settling down. So we held our breath as we boarded a plane in March to go take a look. Our journey started out a bit rocky. Due to mechanical problems, we sat on the runway in Cleveland for two hours. You can imagine our frustration, especially when we found out that our mechanical problem was a broken arm rest in first class. To make matters worse, the babies were traveling with us and Chloe threw up multiple times on the flight. What a blessing that one of our flight attendants just happened to be carrying along a bag of baby clothes to give to a friend in Phoenix! In the end, the trip ended up fruitful. We found a great area to live in with wonderful schools, a great ward, and plenty of kids. The trip home was thankfully much less eventful.

Packing up the house was a challenge with two 21-month-olds. In the past week they have dipped in the toilet a polly pocket, play phone, doll, pair of pants, toothbrush, Gameboy, and their blankets. I was not aware the blankets had taken the plung until they had been dragged all over our second floor carpet. It was very wet! They have also enjoyed climbing into the kitchen sink and I have seriously considered if we really need kitchen chairs. Their new facination is drawing on themselves. Luckily for them permanent markers seem to be everywhere around the house as we have been labeling boxes. Luckily for me, the facination has been contained to their bodies only. Lastly, Hadley and Chloe have thwarted nearly every last idea we have had to keep them dressed and diapered. We tried putting underwear over the diapers, making them wear onsies, and putting their diapers on backwards. We tried safety pinning their pajamas and jacket zippers. Yet, I continually find them half or completely naked every day. A favorite time seems to be when putting them down for a nap or down to bed. I think it is revenge. They know that by going to the bathroom in their beds, mom will come back and get them up. We think we have them this time though. Our new idea seems to be holding strong... ducktape!

Braden and Emme seem to be holding up well, though they will both miss their friends. Today at Emmry's school they had a "goodbye Emmry" day and Braden will spend the afternoon tomorrow launching water rockets with his class before we go. One of the most difficult things for Braden to leave behind is his beloved Perry the parakeet. Perry passed away, beak down in his empty water dish when Braden was six. He is buried in our backyard. Braden and Ryan went out tonight to exhume him for reburial in Arizona. Unfortuately, the marker was lost over time and they were unable to find him. May he rest in peace.

As we pull out tomorrow we leave behind wonderful friends and memories in Ohio, but we look forward to a new adventure. The kids and I will spend some time in Utah with family and friends before Ryan joins us and we begin this long awaited chapter of our lives in Arizona.

Black Belt

Braden reached a pivotal point in his Taekwondo training tonight. After nearly three years of training, Braden was invited to test for his black belt. He was visibly worried, but physically and mentally prepared. He performed 11 forms and four knife defences, sparred a third degree black belt, and broke boards with five different kicks and punches. He is the youngest at his training facility to receive the rank of First Dan (black belt) and we are very proud of him.

Braden is a bit in denial and continues to reiterate that he cannot believe he is a black belt. His belt is proof though and when we got home he pulled it out just to be sure. He has carefully cut the extra threads from where his name was embroidered on the belt, wrapped it in a sack, and plans to take it to school tomorrow to show his class.

One of Braden's requirements for his black belt was to write an essay on how Taekwondo has affected his life. We have included the essay. Way to go Braden!

I think taekwondo is a great martial art. When I was six I watched the movie “Karate Kid” and decided that I wanted to do a martial art. When I first started at Asian Sun, I went every day that I could. I loved class, especially when I was by myself because the teachers would teach me more advanced kicks. My favorite part about class was forms. I liked how they taught me to move like a martial artist. As I got better, I liked making up my own forms. My favorite part about class now is breaking. I think it’s fun to break the boards.

I was excited when Beachwood started a team. I liked going to the tournaments and wanted to work harder to get better. When I went to my first tournaments, I was so out of breath after sparring. They were very hard. But after joining team and training twice a week, it became much easier. In team we learned to work hard and listen to our coaches. I learned that I could do anything I wanted, even if it was very, very hard. A great example was when we would do “burn-outs” at the end of team. Running back and forth was very tiring and sometimes I wanted to stop. But, I didn’t and I know I can do it now. I noticed the difference at this last tournament I competed in. Because of my hard work, I was not so out of breath and I won the match.

When I move to Arizona, I will be on my way to becoming a great martial artist and I will have my black belt. I feel like I have accomplished a lot. I have become more flexible, stronger, smarter and confident. I have learned discipline, respect, and how to listen to others. I know these are things that will help me throughout my life. I will continue working hard in Arizona to reach my goal of competing in the Junior Olympics. I am grateful for my teachers and Asian Sun for helping me develop such wonderful skills and starting me on my way to become a great martial artist.

Monday

Emmry asked all weekend when it would be Monday. Monday at preschool, Jungle Terry would be visiting. He would be bringing a skunk, a snake, a crocodile, and some other animals. Emmry was so frightened she was in tears. Her friend Amelia had also told her that she better wear something with pockets, otherwise the crocodile would bite her hands off. So I promised my little girl I would go see Jungle Terry with her, we would sit in the back, and she could be on my lap the whole time if she liked.

When Monday came it just so happened that Emmry didn't have a thing clean with pockets. She was very concerned until I promised her I would wear pockets for both of us.

It turned out that Jungle Terry's visit was "not so bad." Emmry touched a chinchilla, a skunk, a snake, a crocodile, a turtle, and a pigeon. She counted the legs of a tarantula and cheered the racing turtles. She sat on my lap for only a minute and didn't put her hands in my pockets once. I took her word that the chinchilla and skunk were her favorites because they were soft and fuzzy, because I didn't touch any of the animals.

Monday evening brought its own excitement. Hadley and Chloe sleep in cribs that are placed on opposite walls in their room. Emmry decided they would have much more fun if the cribs were pushed together. So the babies went to bed with cribs side by side. After 1 1/2 hours of giggling, I went in to settle the girls down. I was surprised to find both girls sitting in Hadley's crib. Chloe had scaled the side of her crib and dropped into Hadley's. Oh how I wish I'd had a camera on them for the last hour and a half!

Mother's Day

Mother's Day... the one day a mother feels entitled to sit back and watch the chaos of her home without lifting a finger. Today I was served breakfast in bed. The menu: cereal and strawberries. Emmry must have felt that was not even close to special enough because next came a plate of blue cotton candy with a fork sticking out the top of it. She was anxious to hand out presents, as she and Dad went out on a date the other night "to the ice cream shop and we didn't go anywhere else at all." So four flowers rounded the corner in the hands of four cute kids accompanied by a pint of black raspberry chip ice cream. Cotton candy on a fork and ice cream, that's quite the breakfast!
When we pulled up at church later that afternoon we found we had two sleeping babies. That is not something you mess with. So we tag teamed sacrament meeting, both hearing bits and pieces until Ryan showed up later with two babes in hand. We're always feeling loved at church as the girls scream uncontrollably when they have to part with us at nursery. Today they sat on my lap for a full 15 minutes to be sure I would not escape while they weren't looking.

Later that night Ryan held his own in the balancing act of preparing dinner and managing kids. By the end of dinner though we were desperate to keep the babies happy in their high chairs, so out came the chocolate chips. It was no surprise that soon the girls were quiet. Maybe a bit too quiet. You know the kind of quiet when you're afraid to look because you don't want to mess up a good thing, but you're a bit worried about what they're doing. Hadley had decided it would be more fun to drop the chocolate chips down the front of her beautiful white church dress and attempt to fish them out the other end. Needless to say there were many that didn't find their way out. Thank goodness it's Mother's Day today!

The Last Big Ohio Adventure

Saturday, Ryan took Braden and his friend Brendan to Cedar Point, an amusement park that boasts they are the largest amusement ride park in the world. With 17 roller coasters, including three of the top ten in the world, that rock, roll and rotate, turn upside down, drop suddenly, and thrust upward at 50 mph, it provided quite an adventure for two 9-year-olds and one 30-something-year-old.

With our move right around the corner, we thought we'd do this adventure right and begin it with a sleep over. How much sleeping was actually done is questionable, as there was a Wii, Gamecube, and movie involved, but the boys must have done fine because they were up ready to go before anyone else had rolled out of bed. With a bit of breakfast in their stomachs, they left just in time to arrive at the 10:00 a.m. opening.
While Ryan and Braden were novices, Brendan was a veteran visitor and was happy to lead the way. We were a bit worried to have Braden visit the coaster capital of the world since his previous coaster experiences consisted of kiddy coasters. But a bit of positive peer pressure is a good thing, and of the 17 coasters, there was only one the two boys flat out refused to try and another Braden got to the front of the line of and backed out. Of them all, the boys' favorite was the Magnum XL-200. Apparently, when the Magnum coaster opened in 1989, it broke world records. Standing 205 feet above the ground and reaching a top speed of 72 mph, it was the tallest and fastest roller coaster ever created. In 2006 it was voted No. 3 in the world. The boys voted it No. 1.

Ryan was a trooper and only left the boys to fend for themselves on one ride... Snake River Falls. It's a traditional water flume ride that soaks its passengers and those unlucky enough to be standing nearby the 1600-square-foot wave. When questioned about his loyalty to the adventure, Ryan produced a picture he took in order to pacify his critics.

The boys begged to stay till closing, but the multiple burgers and fries, soda and cotton candy, and days worth of walking and standing in line, proved to be enough for one 30-something-year-old and two nine-year-olds in serious denial. Plus, Ryan's wallet was empty, though Braden informed me he came out ahead because of the 16 cents he found on the ground. At 9:00, one hour before closing, they bid goodbye to the coaster capital. The boys did not last long on the 1 1/2 hour ride home. Ryan pulled in at 10:30 beat, sunburned and chauffeuring two happy, sleeping boys. With the adventure over, Braden sleepily climbed in bed with me telling me all about his day. His last words were, "Roller coasters are fun."

This morning Braden didn't roll out of bed till after 9:00, amazing since he's always up before 7:00. All he could talk about was how great it was and continued with a constant nagging of when he could go back. He has this advice to share with anyone a bit fearful of riding: "You just have to sit down. Then they lock you in and you don't have a choice."

We truly realized the adventure was a success when Braden told us he wished yesterday could have lasted forever!

OBX

In April we packed up the van and headed for one of our favorite vacation spots, the Outerbanks, North Carolina. We thought we'd enjoy one last hurrah before heading west after eight years in the eastern part of the country. As we neared Washington D.C., nostalgia took over and I had a great desire to stop for dinner at a park we had been to while living in Virginia. After several U-turns, the babies gave up... literally. They gave up every cracker and fruit snack we had been bribing them with for the last six hours. We therefore put nostalgia aside, stopped at a Burger King, and continued on our way.

The weather, though a bit cool, did not deter us from some of our favorite spots. Braden, Emme, and I made the ritual climb to the top of the Currituck lighthouse which is always a challenge for Braden's fear of heights. We also visited the Wright Memorial where the first airplane was flown.

Thankfully, the weather turned warm the last few days and we hit the beach. Those brave enough to go in the water claimed after 20 minutes or so the water felt great... at that point you were numb! Ryan went boogy boarding, the kids played in the waves and the sand, and I tried to get some R&R, which proved difficult as the babies enjoyed climbing the stairs more than playing in the sand.

At the end of the week, we packed up the van again for the drive home. I was once again struck by nostalgia and hoped for a stop in D.C. and Virginia. The diversion was quickly thrown out though after Chloe threw up, we sat in an extra hour of traffic, and the smell from the eel skeleton Braden found seemed to be seeping out of its Ziploc. We pulled into our driveway in Ohio at 10:00 p.m., twelve hours after we had begun. I think we would all agree, it was worth it!

Twin 21-month-olds

We thought once we were through the first year with twins it was going to get easier. We've since learned, that was the easy part. Since the girls have hit 18 months, things have been very exciting around our house. They refuse to let anyone else dress them. They push chairs around the kitchen and carry stools around to get into things we would obviously not let them into. They refuse to keep their diapers on and are constantly pulling down their pants.
The girls are already good at entertaining each other. Like when the bathroom door is left open and they climb into the sink, turn on the water, and scream for someone to come save them. Or when they splash in or throw things into the toilet. The best toilet moment has to be when Hadley found a spoon and helped herself.
Since the weather has warmed, we thought there would be less chaos as we could spend more time outside. Unfortunately, the girls figured out how to get out of the fenced backyard and enjoy running, head over shoulder, and laughing as we chase them. To be sure we're appropriately frazzled, they run in different directions.
We do hear from other twin parents that it gets easier... you just have to make it to age five!