Alabama

After 3 weeks in Florida, we then headed off to Alabama for 1 week. Awhile back, Colten got involved in some medical history research and has been heavily involved in a project relating to The Civil War. The University of Alabama Birmingham has the largest collection of Civil War books and journals. He applied for a grant to attend the library and continue doing more research, which he got.

We drove from Jacksonville to Birmingham, but not without stopping in Enterprise, Alabama! We spent the  night there and had dinner at a delicious restaurant very similar to Texas Roadhouse called, Santa Fe Cattle Co. The next morning we attended church and was pleasantly surprised how large the ward was. Later that day we made the short drive up to Montgomery and stopped at the state capitol building. It was beautiful and since it was Sunday, the whole downtown was empty and that made it nice. We arrived in Birmingham that evening.

Colten planned to spend Monday-Thursday from 9-5 at the library doing research. Monday went according to plan and the kids and I headed to the mall. Tuesday, however, was a completely different story. I guess the south doesn't experience much bad weather but this day in particular, an ice storm hit the city unexpectedly and caused the WHOLE city to panic. People went to work and school just fine that morning and around 11 am it started to rain/snow and then freeze. Everyone panicked and decided to leave all at once causing the whole city to gridlock. The university shut down and Colten and the librarians attempted to leave but after 2 hours they hadn't even left the parking lot. They ended up spending the night at the library and slept on the floor. There were people sleeping at work and kids spending the night in their schools. Others were abandoning their cars everywhere, especially on the streets and freeways. The worst part for me was being stuck in a hotel room for 2 solid days, but at least we were safe, warm, and had plenty of food.

It took most of Wednesday for conditions to finally improve enough that I felt safe enough to drive the 4 miles to pick up Colten. We made it there and back just fine, but as we were in need of diapers, we stopped at Walmart to learn it was closed for customers and only open as a shelter for all those people abandoning their cars. We made do with what we had left and got some the next morning. There were even people staying in the lobby of our hotel both nights. It was an eventful couple of days. The university was still closed on Thursday so Colten couldn't go back and do more research. We headed out earlier than expected and drove to Atlanta to catch our flight to Vegas for the following day. We stayed in a run down Days Inn directly by the airport and heard planes flying by all night.

We eventually made it to St. George, Utah on Friday evening to celebrated Grandma Bracken's 60th Birthday party with all of the family.      

(I can't find the folder of our Alabama pictures. Maybe soon.)

The Happiest Place on Earth

... Dreams really do come true ...

Boy do they ever! We sure have one lucky little 3 year old. During our rotation in Jacksonville, we made the 2 hour drive south to Orlando and spent the weekend at Disney World's Magic Kingdom. It was worth every penny (and lots and lots of pennies were spent) to see the excitement on Natalya's face. She loved every minute of this trip. 

Talya and Daddy riding the ferry across the lake on our way to Magic Kingdom.

Shhhhh... the baby is sleeping!

"I want to go inside Cinderella's Castle."

We got to go inside Cinderella's castle and have lunch with the Princesses. All Natalya wanted for Christmas this past year was a Cinderella dress so you can imagine how excited this little princess was to actually meet the real Cinderella. Her absolute favorite part!

Natalya's fancy dessert at  lunch.

Mom's fancy dessert at lunch.

We met lots of  Characters... and the only Character Natalya didn't like was Aladdin. I think this was her favorite part of the weekend (maybe except for the time she put her hands in the air while riding the Barn Stormer Rollercoaster). She was so happy to give all of them big hugs and smile for a picture. The funny part was after we left DW to head home she was so sad that she didn't get to see Ariel. Out of two fun days and seeing lots of different characters, she remembered that she didn't get to "smile with Ariel".  

Belle

Jasmine

Cinderella, her most favorite princess!

Sleeping Beauty

Jasmine

Rapuzel

Snow White

Woody and Jessie from Toy Story

Daisy

Minnie

Mickey

Alice in Wonderland & White Rabbit

Florida

Being at Mayo for medical school definitely has its perks. In addition to their main medical facilities that they have here in Rochester, Minnesota, Mayo Clinic also has two additional campus', one in Jacksonville, Florida and the other in Scottsdale, Arizona. We were fortunate enough to get approved for "away rotations" during the bitter cold months of January and February to both of these places. He completed his 3 week family medicine rotation in Florida.  This was a great thing for him because he finally realized how much he really does like Family Medicine. Going back and forth for the past year between Orthopedic Surgery, Anesthesia, and Family Medicine, with Ortho usually on top, he now has committed to Family Med as what he wants to do. 

Anyhow, Mayo provided us (Colten) with a furnished 2 bedroom apartment and a black Dodge Charger for a rental car. We had some great friends from the ward how were also at the same apartment complex doing a 3 month Ortho rotation. Colten was able to ride in to the clinic every morning with him. That was awesome because then the kids and I didn't have to wake up early to take him to school. We picked him up each evening though. We spent our days hanging out at the apartment, parks, the zoo, and the beach. Unfortunately we only made it to the beach a few times. As nice as it was not to be in the blizzard-like conditions of Minnesota, 60 degrees in Florida was sometimes just not quite warm enough to play in the ocean. We did however, see a few high 70 degree temps. One those days, you could find us at the beach. 

Ty and Cubby hanging out in the high chair while momma made dinner.

Spent the day at the Jacksonville Zoo with friends.

One of our Saturdays in the area, we headed down to the adorable and historic town of St. Augustine, FL. It is the oldest city in the country and filled with lots of touristy charm.

A Sunday evening stroll on the beach was beautiful but trying to keep a 3 year out of the water was impossible. She was soaked head to toe by the time we left.

We took a small drive up the coast to play at Amelia Island. The weather was great and beaches were beautiful. Talya, however would NOT keep her swimsuit on. Some battles with her and just not worth fighting for. The water was so cold, I'm not sure how the kids enjoyed it so much, but they did!

So after the last naked beach experience, Talya got a new swimming suit and was kindly threatened to keep it on. We didn't have any more problems with taking the swimsuit off!

So grateful for our fun experience in Florida. We made so many family memories and hope to someday return.