RUSSIA

Guess where I am going?

It's the home town of Andrei Kirilenko


It's where the AK-47 was developed and produced by Kalishnekov. The K in AK stands for Kalishnekov, not Kirilenko.

It's official, I finally got my visa today, so I'm going to Russia. Stef and I thought this blog would be a good way for us to communicate and send pictures, so she's teaching me how. Pretty soon I'll be chatting with all you blog-moms.

Carson, checking out my passport. I asked him to guess where I'm going.

Here he is showing me my VISA to Russia (since he can't talk yet). Then he started crying. I thought it was cause he's sad that I'm leaving, but he seemed to be okay after nursing and a nap.

How did this happen? When I first started medical school, I went to a meeting for the international department. I asked one of the docs if he knew anyone that was working in Russia, that's how I met up with Dr. Magill, the department head for family medicine. I did a summer research project with him, trying to get to Russia, ended up studying teenage pregancy in Midvale, go figure. Last fall, he invited me to a meeting to meet with some representatives from Izhevsk, Russia, as it is Toole and West Jordan's sister city. I guess they have a nuclear destruction program too. I met a few people from the medical school and they invited me to come over on a unilateral exchange program. They say it's been around for 18 years and they've had people from all over Europe and South America, but never from America. I've kind of been working on going there since, but having Carson around has made it that much more difficult. A couple of weeks ago, I told Stef I finally decided I should go, and after getting slapped a few times, I'm packing my bags. I'll be gone from July 1 to July 31, now you understand why she slapped me.

To see more about the fascinating city Izhevsk, check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Izhevsk.

Just Trust Me!

Just Trust Me...Those were the three words I kept hearing over and over again as my sister Mindi cut my hair. On Friday night Chill was on call and spent the night at the hosptial so I decided I would head out to my parents for a night with Carson and the girls. We had so much fun. After Min got home from work we started talking about my hair and how bad I needed a cut and color. We were trying to decide when I could come to the salon and she said...Lets just do it right now. I was all for it. So we put Carson in the bouncy seat up on the table and Min started to work her magic. Carson was so cute. He watched me almost the entire time. I'm sure he was wondering what the heck happened to me when my head was full of pink foils. After the color, it was time for a TRIM...you hear me TRIM. Min and I had talked about taking a couple of inches off and I decided that was okay. Well as Min started to cut my hair, she said "I'm not going to tell you how many inches I cut off until I'm all done" I was like "WHAT?" She of course had turned me so that I couldn't see in the mirror. Well I turned around to see my hair on the floor and I almost freaked out. That was NOT 2 INCHES!!! I was like what the heck are you doing. Then it began..."Just trust me, Just trust me, it will be cute." So I said okay and let her do her thing. In the end it turned out GREAT and I love it. She cut off 4 inches. It is so nice to have a change and feel like my hair is healthy again. We had such a great time talking and eating and talking and eating and eating some more. Carson slept great that night and I'm sure it has a little to do with how long he was awake watching the girls. On Saturday morning we went to my parents ward breakfast in the park. Carson only lasted a few minutes. He was not happy about it at all. My dad carried him around and he was happy for a minute but then it was time to go home. We had a great weekend.

Carson wondering what the heck is wrong with my hair
Me looking so lovely
Carson just talking away to Nat

Me freaking out because of the amount of hair Mindi was cutting
The finished product!
The back!
My Mom, Nat, Min, and Me
Dad holding Carson at the park

Visiting Friends

So Andrea invited me over to her parents house to hang out. I decided it would be good for Carson and I to venture out. I worry about it because I never know how he is going to do in the carseat, but I decided I can't always just stay home because of that. Andrea and I spent most of teh day sitting inside and just catching up. It was a lot of fun and it was much needed girl time. I'm thinking Austin and Carson will be great buddies when they get older. Austin is such a cute little guy. It is so fun to see him and know that is where Carson is headed. Austin is 5 weeks older than Carson. Thanks for the fun afternoon. We need to do it again.!

First Trip To The Zoo!

Well I decided it was time to take Carson to the zoo. Okay well I knew that he would sleep the entire time so it was more for me to get out and walk around. We went with my mom, my sisters and my niece. It was a beautiful day and the weather was perfect. Carson took a 4 hour nap. We had a great time and after the zoo we had to go to Hires to get hamburgers (kind of a tradition). Thanks for the fun day girls!!!

Lexi chasing the peacock (she is a lot braver than I would be)
I finally got Lexi to smile for the camera. She spent most of the day running from the camera
Carson really enjoying all the animals at the zoo.
Lexi feeding Carson after he woke up at Hires

Blessing Day!

Carson was blessed Sunday at our ward. It was a wonderful day. The weather was beautiful and we were able to spend the day with family and friends. Chill gave Carson a beautiful blessing and as I suspected, Carson cried through the entire thing. He is such a sweet little boy and he looked so handsome in his blessing outfit. After the blessing we were able to have everyone over for some food. Thanks to Chill's mom and my mom and sisters, the food turned out wonderful. I couldn't have done it without all of them. I think all the people were too much for little Carson to handle. He just wouldn't eat most of the day and was a little fussy. As soon as everyone was gone, it was back to normal. He ate fine and slept great! Crowds just aren't his thing yet.

Carson relaxing in his swing
My favorite buddy Lexi
Chills cute Grandparents

Cute Little Family
The Grub
Some of the Gang
The Drink Crew