A Very Merry Christmas and a Super Duper Happy New Year!!!

This year, Dan and I decided to give his family the best surprise poor medical students possibly could! For about 2 months we told Dan's family there was no way we would be able to make it out for Christmas. Everyone thought there was no way we would be coming for the holidays. But secretly Dan and I had made arrangements to drive out to Utah with one of Dan's med school friends and surprise the Millers on their doorstep a few days before Christmas.
The surprise was one of a life time! I don't think we'll ever be able to duplicate it for as long as we live. We're just so glad the beans weren't spilt and the surprise had the impact we had expected.
We're grateful we never ran into bad weather on our way here. We're just hoping and praying for good weather on the way back!
We've been really bummed Idaho didn't have much snow to cross country ski or ice skate. But we are really happy we got to spend time eating delicious food, play plenty of Wii games to last us through next semester, and rest from all our schooling cares!
We also got to visit Kolton!!! He's now staying with Trent in Idaho Falls. He's a little unsure what his future looks like. He just knows he's pretty much done with construction for a while. Construction just takes a lot out of you physically and he's thinking of maybe going to college to get a better job! He's just unsure what he wants to do for the rest of his life. He's been having too much fun playing around! But we really had fun playing video games with him and Trent's kids. They got guitar hero for Christmas and so we all rocked out! It was fun! We also went out to dinner with Kolton tonight and had a good time hanging out and just talking! It's nice to see family!
Tomorrow we head down to Utah for New Years Eve with Sharon and Cyndi (my mom's sisters). We can't wait!!!! But we sure will miss our adorable nephews and niece!

Yet again Dan and I have had car trouble! It all started with our great idea to finally get the tires on our car changed. We were a little bummed about having to spend a few hundred dollars on tires, but we knew the time was coming so we kinda-sorta prepared ourselves... I mean we'd done our homework. We called around trying to make sure that we were getting the best deal on these "bad boys". To Dan's frustration once again, Wal Mart had the best price.
So finally the day comes to actaully get the new tires put on. An hour after we drop the car off, we get a call from Wal Mart. We're thinking the tires are already hooked up and we can come by to pick up our car anytime...YEAH RIGHT...that would have been too convenient!...So Dan picks up the phone and his face completely transforms in a matter of seconds. Of course, I'm thinking the young kid who was working on our car accidently ran it into a wall or something. Thank heavens I was wrong! So Dan gets off the phone and proceeds to tell me one of our tires won't come off. They can't change it for us and say that we'll have to take it somewhere else, its Saturday by the way so everywhere is closed of course! I don't know the first thing about cars, so I'm having a panic attack thinking our car is broken. Dan's worried we'll have to both go down and donate our kidneys so we can get our car back and fixed before the day is over. Once again, thankfully that was not the case!
The entire next week, we kept worrying about our car troubles and getting the other tire fixed before it got worse. So on Friday, we drove to the west side of Omaha....like 30 minutes away to find out our worries were for nothing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We got the problem solved for under $20! Sure it was a hastle calling all over town again to find out who would give us the cheapest deal on our broken tire, but it was so worth it! We're so grateful for blessings like these. They happen everyday and they really help put life in perspective!
This year, the Thanksgiving season is bringing a renewed spirit with it. This blessing, however small, really openned our eyes to what we have been blessed with. Although we love the turkey, the mashed potatoes, and especially the freshly baked pies, we feel so grateful for each other! I think we've both really felt the holiday spirit already! We just can't wait for the holidays to begin!

This weekend Dan and I went to a local pumpkin patch. It was such a blast! We went with a few of our friends from Dan's medical school class who had kids and it turned out to be one of the funnest things we've done since moving to Omaha! We watched pigs race in circles for an oreo cookie, we picked out our own pumpkins to carve later this week, we jumped on these huge inflatable trampolines, and we raced each other in pedal carts! Dan and I challenged our friends, Dave and Dahlia to a double pedal cart race and.....lost! We're blaming it on the fact that Dan took the wrong trail, but really we're just out of shape!
-Dan trying to launch me like the cannon pumpkins we watched just minutes before-

-Me trying SuPeR hard to launch Dan, but failing miserably. -

-This picture isn't a very good depiction of the REAL race...I actually beat Dan!...I also had a head start!-

Our Summer Swim

A few weeks back Dan's sister, Jen, came down to Pocatello with her little family and we all went swimming at Ross park. Dan and I had a BLAST! It was so much fun laying out in the sun relaxing and playing with our little nephews! Ever since then, Dan and I have been on a "swim quest." We've been checking out all the pools and water parks we possibly can!
For our anniversary...(yes, we have been married an entire year! It flew by so fast that we hope medical school flies by just as fast and just as PAINLESS!) lol...so for our anniversary

The Beginning!

I'm finally opening a blog! I've been really hesitant about opening one because I'm such a bad "facebooker." I've heard blogging is great for people who don't stay constant with their journaling...sounds great for me! I always start a journal and find myself getting burnt out. It seems once I start an entry, I can't stop because I have so much to say. Dan thinks this whole blog idea is a joke, but I bet he'll get hooked!