Finally a beach day!

We finally got to go to the beach!! It was such a glorious day! We headed out to Anna Maria island with the Rubisch's. The boys are participating in a fly fishing tournament in March and have filled our weekends with fishing which is great....but Jenny and I were really needing a beach day and we got one finally! We all packed up some dinner and headed to the beach for the afternoon. It was so nice! The weather was beautiful and couldn't of been more perfect! The kids had so much fun playing in the sand. The water is a little cold so Madeline was not a fan and neither was I. 

Madeline and Lily 

I spy someone eating sand

These three....

BFF!!!

We had such a great time at the beach! I can't wait to do it again! 

Hunsader Farms with Friends!

Today we had a great day with our friends! We went to Hunsader Farms with some of our friends. This is the cutest place ever. They have different kinds of animals like bunnies and goats that they kids can pet and feed. They also have a giant sandbox with toys, they have swings and playground. They also have strawberry fields where you can go pick your own strawberries. They also have fresh produce! Madeline loved playing on the playground and feeding the bunnies. She was a little scared of them at first and would just point at them but then she got a little more curious. She also tried to eat the food we were feeding them!

She went down this slide all by herself! I was so proud!

Later we went over to the Rubisch's for dinner. We had a delicious dinner that Jenny made. Then we went to the pool and just hung out!

These three play so good together! Lily is so great with the babies!

It was a great day with great friends! We love Florida and all the new friendships we have made!

Thanksgiving 2013

Thanksgiving this year was so much fun! I admit it was a very hard day to be away from home. It was our first major holiday away from our families. It is a good thing that we have such amazing friends out here that feel basically like family. Alan and I decided that we would host Thanksgiving this year for all of our friends. He thought it would be a good distraction for me and boy was he right. Alan and I made the Turkey, stuffing, and gravy. When I say Alan and I, I really just mean me. He did do an excellent job carving the Turkey and he also helped with all of the preparations. All of our friends chipped in and brought a side dish and dessert. All of us girls made sure we had everything so everyone felt right at home. I must say that we did a great job! It was a wonderful day. The food was great and the company was even better! Thank you to the Rubisch's, Balle's, and the Brown's! We love you guys and are so very Thankful to have you in our lives!

I am proud to say at age 25 I can successfully cook a Turkey! Thanks Mom!

This girl is enjoying her first Thanksgiving!

The whole crew!

The girls!! We were being silly!

Cookie Time!

Every Halloween my Mom makes the most delicious sugar cookies. It is always a tradition that we carve pumpkins, frost cookies, and my sister and I do our annual thriller dance. I was feeling a little homesick and wishing I could do all these things with my family back home. I decided to be a grown up and make the cookies myself. They were sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo hard. haha. I am no professional like my Mom but I am sure in the years to come I will perfect them like she has. I thought it would be fun to have some of my dental wife buddies over with their kids and we could all frost them together. It was so fun and the kiddos had a blast! It was so worth staying up way too late baking just to see how much fun they had. It was also fun to chat with my friends! Poor Madi wanted so badly to get in on the action and feeling guilty I let her eat a cookie, don't worry baby girl maybe next year!

Lily frosting cookies, she was so patient and didn't even eat a cookie until she was done!

Madi eating her first cookie!

The Cookies!

The frosting Crew
Jenny, Lily, Brittany, and Ansley

Lily enjoying her cookie!

I feel so lucky to have made such amazing friends while we have been out here in Florida! They are so wonderful and I am glad that we are friends!

A little bit of Fall

Fall has always been one of my favorite times of year! I love everything about fall. I am so incredibly homesick right now. Everyone is talking about the leaves changing into the beautiful orange, red, and yellows, Breaking out their sweaters and boots, Delicious pumpkin dishes and the cold crisp air. It is still 90 plus degrees and still unbelievably hot so it is hard to get into the fall spirit. 

This weekend we decided to go to a Pumpkin Patch with our friends the Rubisch's. We drove about 45 minutes and found a cute little Pumpkin patch that was just the right size for the kiddos. Madeline loved the pumpkins and kept trying to pick them up and drop them on the ground. She also liked to eat the stems. She of course enjoyed the company of Lily and Levi. 

I am pretty sure this pumpkin is bigger than Madi

Poor Levi, he takes a lot of abuse from this girl

She loves Pumpkins!

Photo Cred: To the amazing Jenny!

Thanks to our amazing friends for a fantastic time and helping us get into the Fall Spirit!

Last week I also decided to make Pumpkin Chocolate cookies. These cookies are so easy and only have three ingredients. One of my friends brought them to my baby shower last year and they were amazing!

Ingredients: 

1 package Spice Cake Mix

1 15 oz can of Pumpkin

1 bag of Chocolate Chips (I used the mini Chocolate Chips)

Directions:

Mix together spice cake mix and pumpkin until well blended. Add Chocolate Chips. Drop cookies onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes. 

They are so easy and so delicious! 

Life Lately...

We have been living it up here in Florida the last couple weeks. We have been swimming, playing at the beach, going to baseball games, and enjoying the company of our new friends. I feel like pictures can say it better than I can...

We live a hard life...;)

Home Sweet New Home

When we booked our moving company for our move we knew it would be possible that we wouldn't have our stuff for a couple of weeks. We were prepared and brought an air mattress and some bedding with us. We lived for 10 days with no furniture, cooking utensils, dishes, and T.V. It was kind of fun at first, our life was so simple. I was happy about not cooking, not having to clean, or do any of my "domestic"responsibilities. After a week or so it got old. Alan would go off to school and Madi and I would lay on the floor with nothing to do for hours. Thank goodness for the ipad and Netflix. Lets just say when the movers pulled up I wanted to give them a great big hug but I restrained myself. Luckily I didn't because when I started unpacking and found one broken dish after another I wanted to chuck them at their faces! 

 (Don't mind me and Madi sleeping)

Before we moved I had been in contact with another wife of a dental student who was also from Utah and had kids (bonus!). Thank goodness she found me! After we arrived in Florida they quickly took us under their wings and had us over for dinner. After we hung out I instantly felt better about everything! We quickly all became great friends! What a huge blessing it has been! The Rubisch's are amazing! They have the two cutest kids. Their little boy Levi is a month and half older than Madi and Jenny and I are already planning their wedding! They are great parents and so much fun to hang out with! This is going to sound so cheesy but Jenny is my rock! Seriously I don't know what I would do without her. She has made this move so much easier and it is so nice to have a friend who understand what I am going through! Josh and Alan have become great friends too and good study partners! We have had some fun times just hanging out and going to the beach!

We have met several great couples and families out here! Everyone has been so nice to us and welcoming. There are several other couples from LECOM medical that are awesome! We have loved getting to know everyone and hanging out. We are looking forward to all the fun memories we are going to make with our new friends!

We have spent a few days at the beach. It has been so much fun and Madi loves it! She is definitely going to be a beach bum! (some of these photos I stole from Jenny)

So far we love Florida! We sure do miss our family and friends back home. We feel so lucky to have this wonderful opportunity and for all the new friends we have made!