Our New Neighborhood!!

Our new neighbors are fantastic. There are lots of kids, most of which are older, but they are so cute with my boys. There are quite a few younger kids but we haven't gotten to know them as well yet. It's so fun that the older kids (ages 9 - 15) will include Carter in their football, soccer, kickball, or whatever games they play and they even let him score goals and touchdowns. (There are a couple younger kids that play sometimes too.) There are some really great kids here and Carter has absolutely LoVeD it!!

Playing soccer in our front yard with some of the neighborhood boys.

We had a warm day a couple days ago (it was 82 degrees... but it was humid too) so the kids made the best of it and had a good time running through the sprinklers... the water was sooo COLD!!

My sister requested pictures of the neighborhood, so here is one taken in front of our house looking down the street... I wish you could see all of the fun houses around here, especially the red brick houses... my all time favorite!

We also had a chance to go to the Milwaukee County Zoo. It was a fun day together as a family before Jared starts his crazy schedule. We rode our bikes there, took a picnic lunch and spent a good portion of the day animal and people watching. It is a great zoo and we bought a membership so hopefully we will get back often. My favorite part was all of the different kinds of monkeys that they had, the spider monkeys were particularly entertaining. The boys loved everything that was new... hippos, polar bears, seals, gorillas, penguins, sharks, the reptiles - especially the large snakes and iguanas, and the alligators.

Our Pictures!!

I am finally getting around to posting the pictures that we had taken almost two months ago by Janelle Joy Photography. She did a great job and was really fun to work with, best part is that she was really inexpensive! I think Gage had had his picture taken by a photographer like once so I decided it was about time. She did a great job of capturing the boys personalities. She is in Gilbert so if you are in that area and looking for a great photographer at a great price her website is http://www.janellejoy.com/, check it out!!

Here are a few of our favorites:

I love the candid shots!! This one was taken at the end of the session when the kids were playing at the park. I love that you can see Gage laughing in this one!

Brothers and Best Friends!

He looks so sweet and innocent here!

This is such a Gager face!!!

Seriously, this one makes me laugh everytime I look at it, they really do think they are so Tough!! So Fun!

Carter was having a really hard time not making faces in the pictures, he really did NOT want to smile, so Janelle humored him and took some pictures of him making faces. Who says you always have to smile on picture day??

Now there's the sweet boy that I know and love!

And this was probably my all time favorite picture, we were laying on the grass while Janelle was taking care of her daughter and the boys started tickling us, she didn't miss a beat and caught it on camera. Like I said, candids are my favorite!

Whirlwind!

The last month has been a whirlwind for us! (Hence I haven't had time to blog about it.) Between Jared's graduation, packing, and getting ready to move Jared and I also took a trip back east where he presented a poster as a finalist at a national convention in Washington DC.

We also ventured up to NYC and saw some sights, hung out on Time Square, did some shopping, got up early one morning to go running in Central Park, did sealings in the Manhattan temple, enjoyed a Yankees game, and were able to score great tickets to see Wicked! We had a fabulous time and it was great to have a trip together without the little kiddos!


We came home, packed a few boxes, packed our suitcases again and were off with my family to San Diego where we stayed in a beach house for a week with all of my family. We had a wonderful time on the beach, at the Scripps Birch Aquarium, at the beach, at Sea World and more time on the beach. The boys were in heaven with lots of sand, mud and water. A little boy couldn't ask for more. The best part though was just being together as family. The boys particularly LoVEd spending time with all of their cousins!! We were also able to have a retirement party together for my dad as he retired just before the trip. It was nice to be able to pay tribute to him and all that he has done for our family over the years. As the week came to a close it was bittersweet as we had to say goodbye to my family and probably won't get home much to see them during our time in Wisconsin.



(My favorite part of Sea World was feeding and petting the dolphins, although I am sure that Carter would argue that the rides were the best part, even if he did get soaked from head to toe! Shamu's show was pretty impressive as well.)

When we got back to Tempe we put our rears into gear and finish getting the house packed as we had less than a week before the truck was to leave with our possessions. We spent the week packing, saying goodbye to family and friends and then venturing off on a 1900 mile journey across country. The boys did surprisingly well and I am forever indebted to my parents for making the trek with us and making it A LOT more bearable!! The highlight of the trip was stopping in Nauvoo where we were able to do a session at the new Nauvoo temple which is absolutely amazing!! We were able to do a few fun things with the boys in Nauvoo and we got to see my cousin perform in a play(he is in Nauvoo for the summer as a young performing missionary).

Rest stop entertainment... guns from the dollar store! Grandma's are brilliant. The last pic is of me and my dad in front of a sign for a "Mangum" exit (my maiden name)... we had to stop!

The things you come up with to entertain your kids while driving cross country! This bought at least 20 minutes of entertainment!!

Nauvoo was great, how do we look as a pioneer family? The boys got a kick out of riding in a wagon pulled by oxen and Gage particularly enjoyed it when they pooped (what a boy). The thought that went through my mind was "I cannot imagine riding in one of these right after giving birth"... and we weren't even going through rough terrain!

I thought these little stick horses were so cute, and don't the boys look adorable riding them in their little pioneer getup. Yeeehaw!

Well we arrived safely, as did our things, (whew - sigh of relief) and have since been unpacking and trying to get settled in our new place. The neighborhood we live in is very friendly, has lots of kids, lots of grass, and lots of big mature trees. I think it will be easy to make this place home for awhile!

Introducing...(drum roll please)...Dr. Jared Rex Robbins!

Believe it or not Jared finally graduated from medical school. I know it's not that hard to believe but I must admit there were moments during the last four years (a lot of moments) when I thought this day would never come, but looking back now it actually seemed to go by pretty fast (in retrospect). There were definitely tough moments, weeks and even months but we made it through!! And now onto internship and residency. Somehow I think that during the next year when Jared is living at the hospital I am going to look back on the last 4 years and laugh at how hard I thought they were!

Jared is an amazing man! He was extremely successful during medical school and I am extremely proud of him for the sacrifices that he made to make medical school and having a family work so well. He would get up at 5:00 in the morning if he had to in order to get his studying done so that he could come home at 6:00 for dinner at night and then spend the evening with his family. Additionally he excelled in his school work. At the awards banquet associated with the graduation festivities he was awarded the class of 2008 Outstanding Acheivement award. He was also inducted into the medical honor society during his Junior year, an honor that only 6 of his classmates received. I am so proud of him and all of his accomplishments! He is truly dedicated to his family, his school work, maximizing his learning, being the best doctor that he can be, and serving in the church. He is a wonderful man and I am so blessed to be married to him, he continues to amaze me more and more every day. Jared, you are my world!

Me and my Star!!

Jared with his folks.

Jared's fam, it was awesome that they could all be there (minus Brady who's on a mission)!

Jared and his siblings.

With his two biggest fans!!

Jared with a group of buddies from school.