Last Few Weeks

We gave Allyson her baby shower before we all left for the summer/for good. It was a Nautical Theme and probably the cutest shower we've done to date. Abby got to come be with the big girls. I promised her that if there was a shower on a Saturday she would be able to come and the day finally arrived.

 

We went to the Zoo with the Adams and the Padillas. The weather was awesome and we all had a blast!

We went over to the Adams' house for Mother's Day. Sam and Abby made chocolate covered strawberries and the girls loved them!

We had our annual Goodbye Picnic. The boys had fun playing volleyball. The moms had fun chatting and the kiddos played the day away.

Sam's class.

Sam's row in the pre-clinic.

The girls makind silly faces. They were cracking us up.

Grant enjoyed sitting up in this stroller. Such a big boy.

Feeding the ducks one last time.

At the :Liberty Bell with cousins.

More Graduation

Sorry I've been MIA. We've been busy, busy getting settled in our new place. I'm waiting for some new photos to come in the mail to hang on my walls and then I'll take pictures of our new digs.

 

I thought I'd post some pictures of Sam's actual graduation day. Thanks to Ankit and Sarah since I didn't take any.

 

 

Us and the Ringers. We're so glad we got to spend our four years together. We're sure going to miss them.

Graduation

On May 17, 2013, we celebrated the culmination of four years of hard work. Sam graduated from dental school! I got emotional at least 34 different times during the ceremony. I'm just so dang proud of all of his hard work!

 

Abby and Clara got to walk on stage with him while he received his diploma. They were quite a hit!

 

We kind of ran out of time to take pictures after the ceremony so we did a reenactment.

 

A big thanks to my parents, my brother and Sam's brother Mike and family for coming out for the special day!

Our Philly Family

I have been wanting to get family pictures taken in front of the Philadelphia skyline for a while but I wanted to wait until we had our whole Philly family. My friend Heather offered to do a whirlwind photoshoot for a bunch of families so we jumped onboard.

 

It's so fun having the pictures. I know we'll treasure them.

 

 

 

 Abby was nine months old when we moved to Philly. Just look at her now!

 

 

It was a bit cold during the photoshoot and I obviously didn't make the best wardrobe choices for cold weather. Clara was starting to turn blue but she was a trooper!

Grant couldn't decide if his eyes should be open or shut. He went with somewhere in the middle.

I'm so glad Sam went to school here. It's been such an amazing experience.

And, just for fun...This is what our Philly family looked like when we started here!

5:1:18

My life is based on a constant series of numbers. This many years since I was born. This many weeks until a vacation. This many hours since I last ate. This many minutes until naptime. I like the tidiness and predictability of a good number but I think sometimes these numbers distract me from the present. It can be hard to focus on the present because there's no number to represent right now. Right now is always changing and that makes me nervous. I think looking back and looking forward are important. Sometimes, it's the only way we can get through the present. Today, 3 numbers are on my mind.

5: The number of years since Sam and I were married. When other people say they have the best husband, I laugh a little bit inside because I know they're wrong. I have the best one! However, I guess maybe anyone who is happily married has the best husband--the best husband for them. We've been through a lot in our five years but they have been the best five years. Anyone who knows Sam knows he is wonderful but only the people living in this house know how truly wonderful he is. He is such a blessing to our family and I would be totally lost without him.

1: The number of years Sam has left in dental school. I was going to make the number 525,600 (Did you sing the song in your head?) but graduation is actually a little bit over a year away so I didn't think it was an accurate representation. Plus, it's a lot more fun to look at that really small number than that really big number. Our time here has flown by and I know this next year will be over before we know it. I can't wait to see what the next chapter of our life will bring.

18: The number of weeks pregnant I am. Our third baby is due September 29. We are very excited! I'm sure there will be plenty of posts on this subject in the upcoming months.

Then and Now

And by now, I mean a month-and-a-half ago, but ya know, close enough.

Me and Clara. Megan and Josie. Tiffany and Abby. Sarah and Claire. Kimberly and James.

A Lot Can Happen In Four Months

As I have mentioned before, there are five guys from church in Sam's dental school class and all of us were expecting babies at the same time.

Four of us have had our babies and the last is due in about two months.

Megan and Sarah came to visit me.
Sarah and I went to visit Megan.
And today, Megan and I went to visit Sarah.

We each welcomed our second baby into the world--three beautiful girls.

It's crazy that they will be toddlers when we leave Philly.

White Coat Ceremony

I'd like you to meet Student-Doctor Peterson...



Sam received his white coat, which means he is now allowed to work on real patients in the clinic!

You can't really tell, but here is Sam being coated.



Sam and his classmates taking their dental oath.



Daddy's support system. Clara was by far the most popular person in the room.



Russ, Nate, Sam, Scott, Lance and Chris---the Mormon Boys



We are so proud of all of his hard work. He is going to be an amazing dentist.

Back in action...

We have survived our first week of the dreaded second year and are being rewarded with a three-day weekend. Hooray! Lucky for you, they decided to go ahead and make it a national holiday!

It's been a tough week for Abby and me. She has been going through vacation (especially cousin Bennett) withdrawal. She has a lot of whining to do, which has, thankfully, subsided a bit.

In an attempt to liven up our days and beat the horrendous heatwave, we took a trip to the beach (which I may post pictures of later, no promises) and spent some time at the pool. This week, I am so grateful for wonderful friends. It is so nice to have people to spend the days with doing fun things.

On a totally unrelated, yet very exciting note, we have a new nephew (I know, we have a lot of those!) We are so sad that we just missed meeting him and hugging his cute little guts out.