Clint's Graduation

After 4 years of undergrad and 4 years of medical school, Clint is graduating.  I could not be more proud of him.  He has spent countless hours studying, reading, working, dissecting and thinking medicine!  Medical school is not for the faint of heart and Clint handled it so well.  We have had 4 years of happiness, sadness, stress and growth.  Through all of it, Clint has been my rock and I hope I've been his.

We are so proud of you!

 

 The graduation was held on TCU's campus.

 Clint's dad hooded him.  What a special time for both of them.

 Colby, Daniel, Clint and Brad.  We are so happy for all of you!

 It's not official until it's iced onto a cake!

All the guys with their "trust me I'm a doctor" shirts on.

Finn at 11 months

 What a big boy my little man is getting to be.

 Taking a much needed nap after playing so hard.  He needs a binky, cup and blanket for sleep.

And we have a walker!  He still crawls some but he sure is working on it.

He loves:  eating, drinking out of his cup and going for walks

He's learning: to walk!  He wasted no time in trying this new skill!

Christmas with the Families

We were so blessed this year to spend lots of time with both sides of our family.  This translated into  time laughing, catching up and just enjoying being together.  And for Finn this meant lots of gifts, time spent with cousins and spoiling from grandparents.

 Finn at Grams and Papa Bill's opening gifts. He didn't get into the unwrapping as much as the new toy!

 Not a great picture but here are some of the cousins as they unwrap.

Finn at G's house.  All the toys in the front are Finns.  He was in heaven.

Uncle Justin and Finn wrestling on the floor.

And one more from Gram's house.  All the boy cousins (except JR) playing video games.  William (3) laying on the mattress, Finn (18 mos) looking away, Connor (12) and Watson (5).  Finn loved being with the older boys.  We would usually find him watching the big boys playing and trying to join in when he could.

Out of Order Posts

Sorry guys!  I am trying to catch up on some of the things we had going on this year.  I'm putting all my posts into a book that covers this past year.  Sorry for the weirdness! :)

Secrets Maroma Beach

To celebrate Clint's graduation from medical school, we planned a trip to Cancun Mexico along with 4 other couples who were also in Clint's class.  We had so much fun but the best part was the beautiful resort we stayed on.  Our room was spacious and the backdoor led to a semi private pool.  Some of our friends were staying in rooms close to ours so at the end of a long day, we would meet there to swim and wind down from our day.  A short walk away were the main pools complete with a swim up bar, floating mats and even waiters who you could ask for food or beverage, even while swimming.  Surrounding each pool were lounge chairs with umbrellas and soothing music.  The beach was a short walk from there with white, clean beaches and the ocean was crystal clear.  We spent most of our time at the beach.  Between sand volleyball, comfy lounge chairs and playing frisbee in the ocean, we had lots of play and down time.  The restaurants at night served amazing food while in the morning and at lunch you could pick between a buffet or poolside fair.  Each night there was different entertainment and food so we never got bored with staying on the resort.  We paid a little extra and were able to use parts of the relaxing spa: the sauna, jetted pools, bath robes, and a relaxing atmosphere.  Everything was set for complete relaxation.  We also had free room service.  One of our friends ordered a pizza late one night, no problem!  With a personal butler and a kitchen that was always open, we wanted for nothing.  The weather was gorgeous the entire time we were there, usually hovering around 85 or so.  We had a few people in our group get sick with a stomach bug and I got a little bug from Finn before we left so I wasn't feeling great.  But besides that, the trip was amazing.  It was great to be with all of our friends one last time and to see more of God's beautiful creation was awesome!

 

When we got there, we were sent to the "preferred club lounge" for a cold glass of champagne.  What a start to a lovely vacation!

 Our room.  It was spacious and so romantic.

 The semi private pool right outside of our room.  So relaxing and beautiful.

 Clint and I the first night on our way to dinner.  We sat in an open air restaurant and ate seafood.  Quite a fun experience.

 This is the view from the main lobby area.  Here, you can see down to the casitas and pools.

 

 All the ladies on the trip.  We were all fairly unscathed by the stomach bug, the boys were not.  This was our last night.  We went to a super yummy Mexican food resaurant.  I was told the margaritas were delicious there!

Finn at 10 months

He loves: playing on the floor with daddy, reading books and being outside.
He's learning: to pull up on things and even took a few steps.

Finn at 9 months

He loves: eating, playing, bath time and walks.
He's learning: to catch a ball and eat with his hands. 

Match Day

 The wait is finally over!  Clint found out he was accepted into the Waco residency program.  We are so excited as it was our first choice.  We know residency will be very challenging on our family so ultimately we decided it would be best to stay in Texas and be close to family. 

 All smiles after finding out where we were headed!

Our very good friends Brad Barham and Daniel Townsend.  They also got their first choices.  

The school had a small celebration for everyone.  (L to R) Joanna and Colby Brownlee, Daniel and Claire Townsend, me and Clint, Stephanie and Brad Barham.

Finn's First Vacation

In February, Clint had an entire month for vacation.  This is because the school tries to give students time to visit residency programs and this can be a very time consuming activity.  Since he only looked at programs in Texas, it didn't take quite as long. We decided to go visit Beth, Nick and the kids who are living in Cloudcroft, New Mexico.  Finn is seven months old and is starting to get around.  He is crawling, eating pureed food that I make at home and loving life!

Lillie (5) and Finn.  Lillie loves playing with Finn and making him laugh.  

 Finn and William (2) 

 Lillie and Connor (10) playing a game at the carnival.

 Finn fell asleep in the baby carrier after the parade downtown.

 At the Cloudcroft parade!

Clint, Nick, Connor and I were able to go skiing at Apache, near Red River one day.

We had so much fun getting to spend time with Clint's family.  It was that much more special because it was Finn's first vacation.  He did so well and we look forward to many more vacations.

Santa Came!

Santa came to see Finn and boy did he have fun playing with his toys!  He got a basketball goal and a racetrack.  He immediately started throwing the ball in the basket. (The wooden horse in front of the tree was made by someone from our church in Fort Worth before Finn was born.)

 From mom and dad he got a golf club set.  

Hitting the golf ball with his club!

This Christmas was our favorite by far.  It is so much fun watching Finn play and get excited about all of his gifts.  It was also special to spend Christmas Eve together.  We just hung around the house all day and then went to a Christmas Eve service at a local church.  Finn loved listening to the band play Christmas songs and the lesson was very uplifting.  It's always refreshing to hear why we celebrate Christmas.  I hope as our children grow, we can remind them always of who we are and why we do the things we do.  It's not about giving presents, but about celebrating the birth of our Savior.

My Two Favorite Guys

I took this picture the day Clint was going on nights.  Finn loves his dad and asks him to play as soon as he walks through the door.  It is so sweet and as the mom, it sure warms my heart.  Clint's schedule can be long and takes him away so much.  We all treasure these peaceful nights spent together as a family. Residency just makes us that much more thankful.