I am a loser

It is always fun to hang out with friends and those that are enduring to the end...the end of dental school that is! What a unique lifestyle we all live, trying hard to keep it all together when the guys are so busy and stressed to the max for the first two years, trying to be supportive when all we want is a wife of our own to help us out. So any excuse to hang out and be there for each other is a life saver! Rachelle had a few fellow students over for a chili cook off and I have to say...I was by far the loser!
I knew my chili was mediocre at best but I didn't even get in the top five! I guess we can't all be good at everything. In my defense chili is not my thing. If we had a dessert category I would have won the blue ribbon for sure! (At least that is what I tell myself)


It is fun to watch my friends have babies and prepare for babies on the way...and it makes me so incredibly happy that I have older kids for sure! Those little people are so much work...it is amazing that anyone has more than one! I love smooshing those sweet babies and handing them back to mommy or daddy when they are less than happy. The best of both worlds...all the hugs and smiles...none of the work!
I am truly grateful that the girls love the little ones as much as I do and play with the babies so well. They will be rich by the time they are 16 and no longer want to spend Friday night babysitting.

I have dealt with the fact that I am a chili cook off loser but vow to have a cook off that is more up my alley...hey how about a Texas Sheet Cake cook off?
That is all for now my friends and family...till later I remain...
One loser L

Another Funeral

Two days after my Uncle Brian's funeral my dad called to tell me my Uncle Aidan passed away early that morning. He was kicking cancer's butt but his heart couldn't take all the chemotherapy medicine and gave out Saturday morning. I will miss him.
Let me just share a few things about my Uncle Aidan. He was an extraordinary man in so many ways. Most of my father's brothers were a little on the hairy side but my Uncle Aidan had a hair sweater and I grew up thinking that this was normal. It wasn't until I was a teenager that I realized that having a hair sweater was not so cool. I still prefer a hairy chest to a bare chest but hairy shoulders... not so much. But my Uncle was always cool to me, and he was by far the funniest uncle in my entire family. He had the patience of Job and in all the years I have known him I never once saw him mad. He had the best laugh. Even when I talked to him from his hospital bed last year right after he had brain surgery he was cracking jokes and made me laugh. The world is a sadder place without him. But I am better for knowing him and loving him. With tears running down my face I ask myself why am I so sad? I know that this life isn't all there is and he is free of pain. I know he lived a life that was full of love and kindness therefore his reward in Heaven will be great. I cry because he won't be able to love and play with his grandchildren the way he was there for me when I was little and later for my boys. I cry because my girls never got to know him. My father has lost 2 of his baby brothers in a 2 week span...he is the eldest and not prepared for all of this. All in all he has lost 4 of his siblings, three brothers and a sister. I can't imagine losing one of my sisters.
This week has been very busy even in my world it would be considered crazy busy and I became a little like Scarlet O'Hara with pushing off those things I didn't want to deal with by saying I will deal with that tomorrow...tomorrow is another day. You know those days when you want to crawl back in bed and just curl up but your life won't let you do it, kids need to be fed and there are things that have to get done so you can't fall apart today, maybe tomorrow. Tomorrow has arrived and I will miss my uncles. My heart breaks for the families left behind trying to deal with the grief without the gospel. I have peace knowing Heavenly Father's plan and know that I will see them again and we will laugh again. Still I think I will crawl back in bed and cry for awhile.
One L

Feeling Medieval

We went to the Renaisance Festival today and the girls had so much fun ...the rides were man powered but just as fun as a rollercoaster! The weather looked like it would rain but it stayed dry and cool!
This barrel was way fun! the guy would swing them way up and then start spinning them. At only 3 bucks a ride it was a steal...NOT! I was sitting there adding up how much money that ride raked in on the average day...at 12 to 15 dollars every 3-5 mins...it made me want to make this contraption in my back yard and charge a buck and I could make 50 bucks an hour!

This ride was less spectacular but the girls loved it...they spin the crow's nest up then let it go and they wind and unwind down the pole.
The girls enjoyed trying archery, and Cory was a patient teacher! Then we watched a few shows...some were inappropriate for the girls but most of that humor went right over their heads! We watched a hypnotist show that was too funny! The fire eater was cool and the jousting was just OK.
We went with the Murdocks but they are in none of my pictures! I think Cory and
Tyson's favorite thing was the turkey leg!
We came home and I put the last few finishing touches to Keri's baby shower invitations...then I got a sad call from my sister...my Uncle had passed away alone in his apartment and it took over a week before anyone found him. It is a sad story, a sad life, and a sad death.
I loved my Uncle Brian very much...when my dad told me I couldn't marry him when I grew up I consoled myself by saying that I would have to marry my Uncle Brian then...they didn't have the heart to tell me I couldn't marry him either! His life has been tragic for the last 5 or 6 years...and his death was not a surprise...just very sad.
If you have a moment say a prayer for my cousin Charlene and my dad...they are left with all the work and heartache. My sister and I are hopeful that my Uncle will find the gospel in the spirit world and plan to do his work in a year.
Hug for families...call those far away and let them know how much you love them.
Sorry to end on a sad note.
One L

Life Happens

Cory's brother Scott came for a visit and he is an expert at concrete so they redid the driveway and sidewalk and all I can say is...it is beautiful!
We have been so busy these last few weeks trying to do all the things we wanted to do before school started for the girls...no such luck but we have been busy! We still have ticket to Kennywood but haven't gone yet...we haven't taken the girls on the Clipper and we didn't make it up to Canada this summer. Not to worry though, we can do all those things before September is over.
We spent a lot less time at the pool than I thought we would but still worth the 125.00 we paid for the summer pass. I think we had an unseasonably cool August because that pool was downright freezing half the time and I don't know how the girls even got in let alone stayed in until there lips were blue. They are little water bugs and they get that from me...I remember being so sad every time my parents made me get out of the water to eat or sleep.
The girls started back to school this week (Aug. 25th) and let me say we were all happy for school to resume. Jonece and Dene get along so well but by the end of the summer they were so not! They love their new teachers and classrooms and this year promises to be different but fun in its own right. Last year Dene had the sweetest teacher in the school and they really clicked. They shared a love of animals and this years teacher loves Micky Mouse. Jonece had a male teacher last year and this year her teacher is the wife of the superintendent of the Keystone Oaks school district and I am told she is tough but fair. She loves 4th grade already!


I have been busy with Enrichment and getting to know some of the new people that have moved into the ward this last month. We have 6 new dental students in our ward and Cory says there is a ton more in the other wards. One of Cory's brother's friends is here in our ward, he is going to medical school here at Pitt.
I have had a few over for lunch and they all seem so fun and I am sort of sad that I will have only 20 months and 3 weeks to get to know them better...OK my joy at heading home way overshadows my sadness but they all seem like super cool ladies and it would have been nice had they moved here 2 years ago!
That is all for now my friends!
Stay cool!
One L