This last week my grandparents have been in town to spend time with us. It has been a lot of fun! Madi has been having so much fun with them and is loving the attention! We have gone out to eat, shopping, cards, site seeing, Olympic watching, church, catching up and just enjoyed each others company.

 Madi and Daddy at the World War II Memorial.

 Me and Grandpa

 Our DC native

 Madison enjoying her time with Grandma and Grandpa. She is going to miss them!

As most parents do, I can;t help but wonder where the time is going with little Madi. She has is growing into a little girl, and is so much fun! Her contagious smile, high energy, kisses, and her sweet little voice melt my heart every day. She is able to communicate a lot now, she tries to sing, she plays hide and go seek, she tries to be funny (and succeeds!) and laughs all the time. She's just our little sweetheart!

 Here is Madi and Daddy dancing the night away!

I also had to share Madi's first real attempt to pull a fast one on me. I had given her a plate with crackers on it for a little snack, and she took them off the plate, put them in her hand, and then handed me the empty plate and said  "mo cackee" (more crackers) I said well Madi, whats in your hand while pointing to the hand with the crackers in it. She took the crackers, switched them to the other hand and showed me that her hand was empty, so I said pointing to the other hand,  whats in that hand? She switched the  crackers back to the other hand and showed me her hand was empty, then grabbed the plate and said again "mo cackee" I couldn't believe my eyes! If she is doing this at 18 months, who knows what we have in store for us!!!

Madi goes to nursery

Our little girl started nursery today. She finally made it. The fact that after church she ran up and gave the nursery leader a big bear hug around the knees means she must have had a good time.

goes

Lately it has been a little crazy around here. First lets start with all the storms. Last weekend was the first one. On Friday night we had a thunder storm that put us out of power from Friday night to Saturday evening, and with no a/c until Monday. When this storm had just started, no rain or anything yet, Bryan was going to our apartment gym and said that he had heard a crack. He just ran, and then when he looked behind him a tree had fallen in his path. A security guard was there, and said, man you are one lucky guy. I am so grateful he didn't get hit, because the next storm I am going to talk about 5 people died and most because of falling trees. Then came next Friday with another storm. This storm was huge. It had the force of a level one hurricane but just a different weather pattern. It took this area out! Well over a million people without power, 5 deaths, and damage everywhere. Cars, houses, power lines, and much more crushed by trees. Our house was out of power from Friday night until tues. night. To make it more exciting, we were having a heat wave and temperatures were in the 100's with high humidity. Sunday madi woke up sick but seemed to get better that evening, then monday she woke up again with a high fever, shaking, diarrhea. the works. I had to give her a bath, and all there was was cold water so of course she was screaming and crying. It was no fun. Bryan was on call Monday-Tuesday, and thankfully me and Madi were able to stay at a friends house Monday night. Madi woke up feeling healthy the next day which I was so grateful for. I was amazed at all the support and help people were offering us. I probably got offered 5 different houses to stay at. We are so blessed to be surrounded by such great people. Tuesday evening the power finally came on. Electricity is amazing, and I am so grateful for it!!!

One of the trees in the complex.

On a fun note, my parents were in town. Not one picture was taken, but they got to experience the fun storms. My poor mom only had about 3 full days of A/C. She is a good sport! It was  so fun to have them here. We went to dinner, did a lot of fun outings, went kayaking, and played games.


For the 4th Bryan had to work. The good news was that it was a short day. The bad news is that a short day was 9 hours. He got home tired so we just went out to eat and took Madi to a splash pad for a  few hours. It was fun to be together as a family for a few hours in country we love!

Bryan turns the big 3-0 and graduation

Last week, this guy stepped into a new decade. To celebrate this day, we got a babysitter and went down to Georgetown. We went kayaking on the Potomac river which was so beautiful and fun, we went to lunch, and then walked around a little. The weather was perfect, and the day was so perfect! That night some friends had us over for dinner and birthday cake. Happy Birthday Bryan! You really are amazing!

 This weekend was the yearly graduation. I can't believe another year has come and gone and another set of residents are getting ready to enter the real world. We can't wait for our turn next year!

Some of the ladies

 Here are the new and upcoming chiefs. Let the storm begin!

The whole crew

Madisona goes to Arizona

Last week we had a much needed vacation to Arizona. It couldn't have come at a better time. We started out by going straight to the Barneys cabin, which is always fun. It included dodge ball, speed, games, food, friends and fun.

 We also got our fair share of swimming in.

 We got to see Grandma Rawlins

 We got to see and play with cousins. Madi was in heaven with all the friends to play with.

 All the kids at the cabin

 And this one has nothing to do with AZ, but I thought it was cute so here it is. Madi and I went to a fun park where they give train rides. Madi officially knows how to say CHOO CHOO now because of it!

(Bryan's mini-me!)

Over all, Arizona was a blast. We can't believe that now we are heading into the last year of residency. Oh how time flies!

Good Bye Friends!

This weekend we had a going away party for one of my really close friends out here. Her husband did Med school out here, and now they are off to residency. We have been doing play dates almost every week for over a year now, and has become such a great friend. I will be sad to see her go!

The party was a lot of fun, we did a scavenger hunt around DC and then ended by having a picnic on the National Mall

 Here was our team... The WINNING team! We were called Kyles angels.

 My dear friend Corie! You will be missed in DC!

Madi makes it to the Big Apple

Last weekend my parents came into town, and we went to New York for the weekend. Sadly, Bryan had to work, so we had to go without him. We packed a lot in for only being there a few days. We did a beautiful night tour of New York, we went to china town, little Italy, time square, central park, we saw the temple, and drove by a lot of fun stuff! 

Below is a park pit stop in Chinatown

 

 We were amazed at how close they park. They front of the smart car is under the big wheel on that car. How do they get out???

 When we were at central park, Madi just laid herself down on the floor like this, I guess she was tired!

 Time Square

 The New York Temple. It is just another part of the city, connected to all the other buildings. This was actually the whole reason for the trip too, my parents are on a goal to visit and take a picture of all the temples in the US.

 Central park

 Time Square... These characters go around and hop in every ones picture and then ask for a tip. This one managed to jump in right in front of my mom, ruined the pic, and then wanted a tip. Not a tip we were happy to pay!

At the train station, heading over to New York.

Dunkin cookies

Tonight Bryan taught Madi a life lesson... how to dunk a cookie in milk. She caught on quickly and was very thorough with her dunk. It was more of a cookie, hand and wrist dunk. She was pleased with the results. (Which makes me out numbered because I don't particularly like cookies dunked in milk)

 And thats how its done... no wonder she wasn't too hungry for dinner.