What's In a Year?

Happy Birthday Alaina!

And So It Begins. . .

Brad now has one week of medical school behind him, and he's feeling pretty good. He came home from his first day of class Monday a little overwhelmed. He said they'd covered enough material in one day that would have taken weeks to cover in under-grad. Fortunately most of it is review right now, but Brad still had to settle into a pretty rigorous study routine. We're lucky that our neighbor is Brad's study partner, so they can go in the clubhouse and study instead of back to campus. It makes it feel like he's sort of home.

Brad also found out this week who his preceptor is. (A preceptor is assigned to each first-year medical student. The student spends at least four hours a week working with the doctor in his clinic, so it gives them some really great exposure and hands-on experience early on in their education). Brad has been assigned to Dr. Pennington, an Orthopedic Surgeon (and also our stake president). He's really excited to start working with him.


Among the things Brad did this week was learn how to "scrub in" for surgery. One of his peers took these pictures. I think they're really great!

Lainy and I have been keeping busy too. We love our apartment complex because there is almost always someone outside to talk and play with. We've spent a lot of time with our neighbors the Millers (they're the other WWAMI family, Juliann and her two boys Reese and Benson). We also got together and met the other WWAMI wives, and they are really fun too.

So we're all doing great! One week down, four years (at least) to go. We're glad to be started!

The Last Hurrah

It's Saturday morning and Brad is off at his orientation. We'll update you on how it went later, for now we want to share what we've been doing for the past week.

We're so glad we came up here a couple weeks early because we've had a lot of time to do some fun things together before all the studying begins. The past week particularly has been jam-packed with fun. We called it our last hurrah. Check it out!

Cour d'Alene

We made the hour and a half drive to Cour d'Alene last Saturday, and felt like we'd flown to some resort city. We hung out downtown on the boardwalk and the beach, then hit some of the cool shops along the lake. What a fun city!

By the way, Lainy is not naked. We forgot her swimsuit so she's just in her diaper

Elk Creek Falls

Monday we went on a beautiful hike with our new friends the Todd's. There were three falls, each one bigger than the last, culminating in a one hundred foot waterfall. It was gorgeous!

You know your baby is hard-core when she won't drink out of a bottle, but loves the Camel-Bak

Last Night Campfire

The last night before orientation, we went to Spring Creek Reservoir and had hot-dogs and banana boats.

Adventures in Moscow

We have been very busy putting our house together and exploring this town of Moscow. We've found some really fun stuff! For all those interested, we're all doing great. Lainy has been cutting a couple of teeth so she has been a little feverish and fussy, but overall very good. She loves crawling around our apartment (it's much bigger than our other one).

Here are some pictures of our adventures in Moscow.

Lainy's new toy from Grandma and Grandpa Hansen

The University of Idaho Botanical Gardens

A bunny at the gardens

Playing in Boxes

A broken dishwasher led to this

The sweet aquatic center in Moscow. Why can't Rexburg get one of these?!

A floating obstacle course. (Yes, Brad had to have a go on it. He stood in line with a bunch of ten-year-olds to get his turn.)

Mountains, Moose, and More in Montana

We need to do a little updating. This post takes us back a few weeks when we visited Livingston, Montana with my side of the family.

My parents have been to Livingston a few times. This was my second trip there. We love it! Livingston features some of the best fly fishing in the world, a fun eclectic small town, a beautiful drive, and some really great restaurants.

As my Mom looked for a place for all 11 of us (including the baby girls) she came across a beautiful but cheap property only 7 miles from Livingston. It looked perfect. It had a big main cabin plus a smaller duplex cabin a short distance away. We were excited to get there after seeing the beautiful pictures they had online.

The Main Cabin

The Duplex Cabin

Well, apparently not all things can be quite as perfect as they seem. The 7 miles from Livingston to the cabin were on a very rough and bumpy Forest Service Road that took about 45 minutes to drive on. Our first trip up there had us all wondering where in the world are we going?!

What was lost on the horrible road was totally made up for in the beautiful cabins and the spectacular views! We were staying on top of a mountain with Livingston valley below us and the Absaroka Beartooth mountains behind. Both cabins had hot tubs: The big cabin had one on the deck facing the Beartooth's, and the little cabin had one looking over the valley.

View of the Beartooth Mountains

Scott and Kayt in the hot tub

The scenery was breathtaking. There were fields of all kinds of wildflowers surrounding the cabin and dense forest outlined the property. In the mornings we saw deer, a moose, and quail. One evening we saw a black bear foraging in a clearing not too far away.

For our activities we went hiking, relaxed at the cabin, went into Bozeman and Livingston, and went rock-climbing. Brad asked some guys in an outdoor shop for a place to climb and we found a really fun place. Everyone made it to the top. I was extremely impressed! We had a lot of fun until a crazy windstorm came in from nowhere. Dad was climbing and he was getting blown away from the rock face! It started to rain and we heard thunder rolling, so we decided to get out of there FAST. We sent Scott and Jeff back for the cars while the rest of us struggled to gather our things, and take care of the little girls. Brad had to climb the rock again to get some gear from the top. Right when he got to the top of the cliff lightning started to flash. It was a little scary for a minute, but we all made it down safely. Everything has to be an adventure with us, I guess.

Lainy loves baby Ella

The storm was so bad that it knocked out a lot of the power in the area, including our cabin. So we got home to a dark place. It was sure fun.

We had such a great time. The little girls were so, so good on the bumpy road and while we dragged them around on our different adventures. We were a little sad to say goodbye. Thanks Mom and Dad, the Little Smith's, Jeff and Cassi! We had so much fun with you!

We're Here

Well, after two weeks of packing, one day of loading, one day of traveling and unloading, and way too many tearful good-bye's we are finally here in Moscow, Idaho. We love our apartment. (We'll love it more without the boxes). Lainy has been an angel and Brad and I are adjusting. What an adventure we've had and are going to be having for the next few years!

We just wanted to say to you, our family and friends: We love you and miss you already! You all better keep in touch!

That's all for now. We just wanted to let you know we made it here safely. I'll post some pictures once our house is halfway organized. Love to all!