Mayo Clinic Anesthesia Class of 2012

Well, tomorrow Nick will officially finsh his medical training.  It has been eight long and often times painful years, taking us from St. Louis, Missouri to Whitehall, Pennsylvania to Rochester, Minnesota--but now, it is finally coming to a close.  Looking back, it will be for the next year or so to determine whether it was all worth it or not, but here we stand, more often looking forward than looking back.  Have we finally reached that light at the end of the tunnel?  Has Nick finally achieved what he's worked and sacrificed for all these years? It's unbelievable really, but somehow it's true.  So, here we go, off into the unknown future that we've been waiting so long to find!  Good-bye schooling, hello life!

 

 

(Nice of them to take the class picture when half the class was gone, huh?  Ah well.  Nothing a little photoshopping can't fix.)

Temple Night

Well, since we leave Arizona in a few days, Nick decided we had better take an evening drive down to the Mesa Temple so that he could get his obligatory "seen this temple" picture.  At first I wasn't thrilled to go, and refused to even get dressed or put on same make-up for the outing, but it ended up being a really nice evening.  We walked around the temple grounds, watched sappy Mormon commercials in the Visitor's Center, and then managed to sneak in a viewing of The Testaments in the Visitor's Center movie theater.  Afterwards we ran into Nick's old piano teacher, Mary Louise Beckstrand.  She and her husband were serving a mission there are were excited to see us.  When they learned that we had just accepted a job in Bismarck and would be moving there in a few months, they were also excited to pass on a little bit of Bismarck Temple folklore.  Brother Beckstrand said that he had heard President Hinckley comment during a mission president's training conference that the Bismarck Temple was quite remarkable indeed.  In fact, that it was built for the servicing of the Lost Ten Tribes in future years.  It was kind of a cool bit of information, and confirmed what the Bismarck Temple President had told us last fall as he basically commanded us to move to Bismarck.  It also lent credence to my joke about the tribes coming from "the North Country." Whether we'll live to see that day is yet to be seen, but it was an enjoyable evening at this temple nonetheless.

 

"Take Me Out To The Ballgame"

After our visit to the Art Museum, Nick decided he needed to redeem himself with a little more manly outing.  Consequently, he jumped on the chance to go to a Diamondback's Baseball Game with Grandma and Grandpa McArthur when they offered us some free tickets.  Although I'm not a huge fan of the all-American sport, it was quite enjoyable to hang out with Grandma and Grandpa, and the kids really liked watching the game.

 

Grandpa and the boys especially got into the experience,

and we even got to participate in the thrilling wave.  The kids laughed so hard every time it came around to us that I couldn't help but laugh right along with them.

 

It was another fun night on the town, and one of our last big outings as our days in Phoenix are coming to a close. 

A Little Arizona Culture

Well, after burning up at all of the Arizona parks and splash pads, and dying of humiliation at the Phoenix Zoo, we decided it was high time we took in some of Arizona's more refined indoor activities.  After some consideration, we decided a night at the Phoenix Art Museum would do the trick.  It was the kids' first visit to a grown up art museum, and they didn't pretty well if I don't say so myself.

 

They each liked their own exhibits, with interests ranging from the Near Eastern art exhibits to the giant doll house room.  The girls had a little of their mother's taste in them though.  They both seemed taken with the impressionistic art in the Monet room.  I just love this photo I got of them studying Les Arceaux Fleuris, Giverny.

 

I also loved this one of the kids trying their own hand at creating a masterpiece.

It was a great evening, and one that needed to be capped off with a visit to none other than Sprinkles, the famous original cupcake bakery. 

 

 

I much prefer the Golden Spoon frozen yogurt to any kind of cake, but I have to admit that the lemon coconut cupcake I sampled hit the spot.  Cheers to good taste in both art and cuisine!

Old Friends; New Friends

Though I have no idea why, it seems like about a third of all of the people I met during my years at Ricks College and BYU-Provo have located themselves in the megalopolis that exists in and around Phoenix, Arizona.  Consequently, I had the rare opportunity while we were in town of meeting up with some old friends who I hadn't seen for years and years.  Our first outing was a dinner date where we were able to talk and talk and catch up on the last ten years.

 

 

Then, a few days later,  "little" Debbie and I took our kids to one of the most popular splash pads around. 

While we chatted, our kids played, talked, and schemed.  They were determined to build a trap to catch some of the local pigeons.  It kept them pre-occupied for simply hours!

 

 

Before long; however, it was time to part with their new friends.  We were all bummed to have to head back to the condo, but it was a day I will not soon forget.  There was something kind of queer about hanging out with people I knew only in college.  Being with them made me feel like I was right back in those good old days with all of the excitement of young adulthood.  On the other hand, as we talked, our seven children ran around and played all around us.  Yikes!  When did that happen? 

Arizona Entertainment

Although our days in Phoenix have been somewhat trying for me, I never like to visit a place without making a genuine effort to experience and appreciate it.  Consequently, on our first weekend there, we decided to make a side trip to the neighboring tourist town of Sedona.  Sedona is famous for its beautiful red landscape, and heaven knows I needed a little silver lining to the scorching heat!  Before reaching Sedona; however, we came across a cute little town built up into the side of the mountain and decided we could afford a short stop-over.  Jerome, Arizona felt just like your typical tourist stop-over, only it is literally right on the side of the mountain.  It's a miracle everything in town doesn't just slide right down the mountain.  Actually, I think that happened here once upon a time, but supposedly things are more secure now.  Secure enough that we decided to take a few hours to walk around anyway.  And secure enough that we decided we could spare another hour to dine at the locally known Haunted Hamburger Bar and Grill. 

 

The kids appreciated the ghost stories we read them off of the menu, and Nick and I appreciated the excellent burgers and onion rings! 

Eventually it was time to hit the road again and make our way to our final destination.  We had an afternoon Jeep ride scheduled in Sedona, and with our stop-over we had to rush to arrive on time.  Luckily, we got there and the kids were ecstatic as we boarded the yellow "Day in the West" adventure-mobile.    The kids thought the Lil Rattler tour sounded good to them.  After just having surgery, however, a little rattling was the last thing on the planet I needed.  Still, I was a good sport and tagged along. 

 

 It actually turned out to be alright, with just the right amount of "rattling" to keep the kids giggling, and enough breathtaking scenic views to make Nick and I feel like it was worth our money. 

 Plus, we had the added benefit of having a rather talkative Native American guide who taught us all sorts of interesting facts as we journeyed along.  Yep, with the medicine man as our tour guide, the kids came away thinking they could cure just about any ailment with a few desert plants.  I hope that doesn't come back to bite us someday soon!

Afterwards we picked up some organic ice cream and took in some of the Sedona star-gazing before heading back to our condo.

It was a fun day, and even I have to admit that it was some of southern Arizona's entertainment at its best.

The Amazon River Exhibit

You know, every now and then you have experiences as a mother that are so outrageous you are not sure whether to share them or not.  Part of you wants to tell people just for the sheer shock of it, but the other part of you wants to just bury the cold, hard truth and never reveal the true adventures of real life motherhood.  Well, a few days ago I had just one of these experiences, and I guess you can tell which of the above options I decided to choose.

 

It all started with a harmless visit to the Phoenix Zoo.  I'm not sure what would possess me to take the kids anywhere in the triple digit heat, but being the accommodating mother that I am, I finally obliged the kids and we made the trip. 

 

The first twenty minutes were pretty uneventful, strolling past some tropical birds and a few large land tortoises. 

 

Then, at the Amazon River Exhibit, all the fun really began.  As part of their exhibit they have a big tank of Amazon River fish--aka man eating piranhas!  The two older kids and I were quite interested in the tank, and as I sat reading them the sign on the front of the tank, I was totally oblivious to the two younger kids who were scaling the rock wall on the side of the tank.  Totally oblivious, until Emma started screaming that two-year-old Mason had fallen into the tank!  At first I thought she was joking, but then I looked over and saw little Mason, slowly sinking into the murky water.  I screamed! Then I quickly scaled the rock wall myself and despite my lifting restrictions, somehow managed to safely fish Mason out of the tank!  For a good ten minutes we all sat there on the ground in shock.  Then, as I turned back to the Amazon River Exhibit sign, I suddenly burst out laughing.  What a disaster!  And what a misfortune that in all the shock I didn't think to pause and snap a once in a lifetime photo of Mason trying to take a swim in the treacherous zoo exhibit!  I did snap this photo of him looking rather filthy after I pulled him out though.

 Truthfully though, the moss and the zoo river slime on him were nothing compared to the smell he absorbed from his ten second dip!   It was almost sickening!  And embarrassing to say the least!  Still, we had driven for a half an hour and paid a fortune to get into the zoo. I wasn't about to turn around and go home.  So, I did the next best thing.  I had him climb into a little zoo fountain about a hundred yards from the tank.  Everyone stared at him, but he happily splashed around in the fountain and when nobody was looking, I took out the baby wash in my bag and soaped him down as well as I could.  Then we proceeded to visit the rest of the zoos many other exhibits. 

Before long, we came upon the zoo's splash pad, and after some initial hesitation, I simply decided to let the kids have a go at it in their clothes.  Mason was already soaked, and to be honest, another good washing wouldn't hurt his grime imbedded clothes.

It was another moment when I had to ignore the stares of other self righteous parents, but hey, it's like I said, sometimes real life motherhood isn't as glamorous as good old Leave it to Beaver and Donna Reed made it out to be.  Oh well, what would life be without a little adventure.  And how many kids, after all, can claim that they took a swim in the Amazon River Exhibit! Now that's worth a few dirty looks and a little parenting persecution!

"Death" Valley

After taking a week or so to recover, I decided it was time to give my mom a break and haul the kids down to the valley to see their Dad.  He had arrived back in Arizona the day before my surgery, and had driven down to Phoenix for his rotation there shortly after.  I had originally planned to go down with him right away, but chickened out at the last minute at the prospect of being on my own with the kids so soon.  Within a week; however, I was ready to go, and excited to visit one of America's largest cities that had somehow evaded me up until this point in my life.  Excited, until that is, I actually arrived.  As we descended the mountain I was greeted by lots of this,

 

 

and even more so, lots of this!

Now for anyone who knows me well, you know that I would just as soon be thrown into a tank full of hungry sharks as have to survive in any triple digit temperatures.  I simply have zero heat tolerance!  And despite our best efforts to stay cool...

 

It was all I could do to survive our month in death valley!

Post Partum Reconstruction

Another of the great adventures we had while we were in Show Low was my spur of the moment, last minute decision to get a little elective surgery performed while I was in town.  About a month earlier I had been having a conversation with my Dad about a young new doctor he had hired that all of the Show Low women were in love with.  In a purely teasing comment, I asked him if there was a family discount if I had this talented new doctor do a little work on me!  The very next day, much to my surprise, I got an e-mail from the doctor himself saying he would love to see me and would give me a killer deal if I wanted any work done while I was in town.  I was a bit taken aback, but Nick was ecstatic.  Apparently he felt like this was his chance to get his "trophy wife" back and he wasn't about to pass up the chance to get it done for half price.  He scheduled me for a free consultation, without even telling me!  Then, the day of the appointment, he called to give me the good news!  I couldn't believe it, but the consultation didn't commit me to anything, and I felt guilty canceling on such short notice, so I decided to go ahead and go. Plus, I couldn't deny being a little curious what the doctor would have to say. 

 

Little did I know what would transpire as a result of that visit!  In the first place, all of the staff teased me to death about my husband scheduling the appointment.  And in the second place, the young new doctor my dad had hired turned out to be not only quite talented, but also quite attractive.  As he commenced the consultation I became quite flustered, more so than I ever would have been with my typical FEMALE doctors back at home.  And then when it was time for the initial exam, I thought I would die of humiliation.  My only thought was getting out of that office as fast as I could and making every effort not to ever see this man again! 

 

As I prepared to leave, however, he handed me the pre-op paperwork and told me to make another appointment for my before pictures.  Then he proceeded to ask me if I had any other questions regarding the surgery.  I was a little confused since this was just a consultation, but soon everything started to make sense.  You see, as it would turn out, not only had Nick scheduled me a free consultation, but he had also had them pencil me into the surgery schedule for exactly one week later.  This news set me into a state of shock, and I left with the quite sudden sensation of fear and trembling coursing through me from head to toe.  I hadn't really ever intended to go through with this, but now it seemed all lined up and quite plausible if I really wanted it done.  But did I really want it done?  And honestly, could I live through having a male doctor after all of the scenes I caused during my children's deliveries if any man even came within ten feet of my door? 

 

These were questions that I had to answer, and had to answer quite quickly.  The only problem was, I didn't know what I wanted to do.  I didn't even know if this surgery would be considered "wrong" in a moral sense.  After all, aren't good Christian women, good Mormon women supposed to be unconcerned with physical beauty?  What if I died or something during surgery and my children had to live forever with the knowledge that there mother died getting elective surgery!  I was a mess! It was a stressful week, to say the least, but at the end of the day, Nick, and a few close friends convinced me to quit stressing and just go for it!  So go for it I did!  And although I about backed out when I arrived in the doctor's office for the before pictures, and then again as they started to wheel me toward the operating room, somehow I managed to survive it all and I'm recovering far better than I could have ever imagined.  In fact, I've been very pleasantly surprised with how smoothly everything went, and how, being the CEO's daughter, I got top notch care and extra special treatment from all of the hospital staff.  My Dad hovered over the nurses while I was in the hospital, and my mom cared for my children back at her home as only a mother can.  Here are a few pictures of the kids from when I was gone.

 

And here are the kids surprising me with their homemade cards and treats when I arrived home from the hospital.

 

 

They were all so sweet and concerned for mommy.  Even baby Mason seemed to get that mommy needed some extra special care.  In fact, a few days later, as we took a family stroll around the Snow Flake Temple and mom made her first big attempts at being up and around, little Mason was right there to be sure I was okay. 

 

He wouldn't let go of my hand the whole time we were there. 

 

He also insisted on sleeping in the living room chair with me until I was able to lay back down in bed.  Here is a cute little shot I snapped one morning when I woke up.  His little blue toes were so sweet next to mine that I just couldn't resist taking a picture.

 

He did have a few melt downs a few days after my surgery when the reality that mommy couldn't hold him for a few weeks really sank in, but other than those heart wrenching moments, all went well with the procedure and so far, I don't regret my post partum reconstruction one bit!

Show Low, Arizona

While we were all sad to leave our Rochester home, the sting of the move was somewhat lost in the fun of visiting family and exploring new places.  For the first three weeks we lived it up in Grandma and Grandpa McArthur's White Mountain home located in Show Low, Arizona.  The kids enjoyed all sorts of activities while we were here, including:

 

*Madison's creative adventures in cooking.  Grandma gave her free reign in the kitchen and she invented her very first recipe--Cinnamon and Sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies. 

 

*Spencer's male bonding time with his favorite Grandpa.  Grandpa took him on the father and sons outing and gave Spencer an extra special thrill by taking him out to shoot Grandpa's BB-gun.

 

*Many, many trips to the Torreon swimming pool.

 

*Many, many trips to the Torreon Kid's Club House, including the annual Kid's Club House Cook-Out and Fun Day.

 

 

*A trip to the annual Show Low Days Festival where Grandpa was decked out as a cowboy and working at the Chamber of Commerce Booth.

 

*And a family fishing outing where I was reminded of the fishing trips I took as a kid and all of my kiddos fell in love with the sport.

  

 

*And here is round two of fishing and "hunting," this time with just the boys.