Birthday Boy and White Coat Ceremony

Happy Birthday Koa Koa


What more could a two year old want than a scooter and a skate board? Koa is 100% all boy. Since I don't have a big enough house or yard for that matter we celebrated the big day at a near by park. It was great to have all of our friends come and hang out. My great friend Angie made Koa's sweet cake. He loved it! Seriously he just stared at it for hours. Thanks Ga Ga Googles for the scooter and helmet, he has not got off it since the day he opened it.

Grandma Smith gave Koa his matching Woody doll and PJ's . He wants to wear them every night. I was putting Koa to bed and he had Woody doll with him. Koa kept pulling the string so the doll would talk. I said Koa, you have to be quiet now. He look at Woody and said , Woody time out! He would pull the string again and say Woody shhh... time out no talking. I guess he gets the point. Its fun to see Koa grow up and develop his own little personality. He sure does have lots of it.

White Coat Ceremony @ Barry University

Congrats to all the third year "Student Doctors". Jimmie and the crew received their doctors "white coats" a few weeks ago. I promised my mother-in-law pictures of the fun day, sorry they took so long to get on the blog. Kathy, you should be more than proud of the wonderful son you have raised. He is such an amazing husband, Daddy, and soon to be podiatrist. Anyone who has done any type of graduate school knows the intensity of studying and dedicating their lives to becoming a doctor. I need to brag about my sweet man for a minute. He has worked his tail off. They have had school Saturdays and Sundays for the last two weeks. Jimmie has had test, quizzes and the joys of waiting to find out their board scores. I just watch him in awe as he puts the time into becoming the best doctor and person he can be. I could never study that much for that long. Now it's party time, Jimmie has the whole month of August off, we plan on doing some good exploring of Florida. I love you Jimmie, thanks for working day and night for our family.

Summer Travels

After all of the fun travels, Koa and I were happy to come back to our friends! (AND SEE JIMMIE OF COURSE) Four weeks was a long time to be away, but I knew after July 19 we would not be traveling, at least by airplane. Once Koa is two he now needs his own seat, which means another ticket. Thanks family for housing and feeding us, we loved every second with you guys.

The Swenson's are off to do their externships... bitter sweet, I am just glad they will be back in five months. Jimmie and I miss them tons already and it has only been like a week and a half.

There's no place like home. My sister Rhonda even got to spend a few kidless day with me in California. My brother Gary and his wife are living with my parents right now. It was nice having them right there. Koa had a little to much fun with the cousins, touching to much and loving baby Cali way to much. But luckily we left them with only a few minor injuries, scratches, bruised heads, and lots of laughs. Gary and Cara were probably more than happy to see us go... but they were very forgiving through Koa's learning process. Thanks guys.

I got to celebrate my 27 birthday with my parents and Rhonda down at Newport, Balboa, and ended up at Seal Beach. To bad Jimmie had to miss out on the fun party. It's just not the same without him around.

Koa and his cousins Tyler and Brendan catching some rays.

Spending time with family in St. George never gets old. Koa and I got to go see Grandma and Grandpa Cox in Cedar City. I know Jimmie was really jealous. Grandma even got a little crazy and hopped on the swing set with Koa. He was loving it! What amazing people they are. Jimmie and I are always talking about the love and kindness they show to each other. Thanks for being such an important part of our lives.

Aww the twins. Koa just could not believe that he got to have two friends around all the time. He spent some good time playing in their new sandbox which, handy man Clint built. Pezy, I must say I was impressed that you even attended a soccer game with me. That is true love. You probably got sick of me trying to hang out with you every second, but you are just one funny lady. Amber and her two girls got to come down and hang out with us. Of course we managed to fit shopping in when Amber's around!

Splash pad with Wendi and Jake's cute kids

When on vacation, time flies, especially when you want to see all your old buddies, I know I didn't get a chance to see everyone I would like to, time was quick especially in Salt Lake. But... it was great to see some of the old UVSC soccer friends.

The pink ladies, minus Teryn got to spend a few hours together in Salt Lake for Karrie Ray to go through the temple. It worked out perfect. I would not have missed it for the world. I love you Karrie and I am glad I have you all as my buddies. Good times, good times especially ended the day at Golden Coral. ha ha

Thanks to Andrea and Jeremy for getting married, it gave us a great excuse to come to the West! Their wedding was amazing, if I could redo my wedding, I would just copy everything they did. Her dress, colors, cake, reception and the great food they served. These two girls have been friends to me through thick and thin. We are always laughing due to the fact that Andrea (and yes you Juli) are so stinkin funny. Juli make sure you tell Nick I think you are funny. Hootie, I am so glad you did it and got married, Jeremy was totally worth the wait, I am glad you were so picky all these years! Juils thanks for carting Koa and I around. We just pretended like we were part of your family for the week. Thanks for the rides and letting us hang out with you!

Happy Birthday June 4, 1983 Miss you Tons!

Dear Coly, I wish I was with you on your Birthday. I hate not being with you on this SPECIAL day. It’s really no fun drinking a Jamba or watching a Lifetime movie by myself! You make everything so much better. Life just stinks without you by my side. You are truly my hero! Koa and I are very blessed to have you. That little boy absolutely adores his mama. If he grows up to be half the athlete his Mom is, he’ll do just fine.

I know you’ll have a blast with your family in California, I just wish I could be there to enjoy it with you! Come home soon and have the best Birthday ever, you deserve it! Happy 27^th. Love always and forever. JAA

Ps- How cool is that dress thing that you could hang your glasses on?

Ps- I didn’t know you were a ventriloquist!

Ps- I have a bunch of presents waiting for you’re here in the 305 when you get back.

Ps- Lets go back to Atlantis soon!

Two years down!

Jimmie has officially finished his second year of Podiatry school. It is amazing to me how fast time flies. With two weeks off from school we had to have some fun! Jimmie loves hamburgers more than life. This plate size burger was like a dream come true for him. I totally recommend this restaurant. It is called Nexxt and it's in South Beach. Go try it out if you are in Florida.

We have tried to do some exploring to different parts of Florida. We visited Naples and fell in love with it. It is a cute quiet town with amazing homes. It does not feel like you are in Florida. The beaches had tons of shells which Koa loved. To bad the humidity was crazy that day. We didn't realize you can park right by the beach so we had to walk a few miles, and my bum leg still doesn't move as quick as I want it to, but this gave us a chance to check out the cool homes, and see the neighborhoods. It would be fun to take bikes and ride all over the town.

Jimmie was excited to take Koa to his first major League Baseball Game, the Marlins. I was scared thinking about taking Koa, but he actually had a blast. He is now into baseball. We had to get him a little blue glove that he has not put down. He even sleeps with it.

Koa's little buddy Cooper is leaving us! We are sure going to miss him.

This was my first real time out after the knee surgery. It was nice to get out and see my friends and party at the park. Thanks to both my Mom and my Mother in law for all the wonderful help they gave me, along with these great girls.

It is nice to be able to spend some quality time as a family. I could really get use to having Jimmie around. He just makes life so much more fun. Koa is stuck to his side 24/7. Jimmie has a slight obsession with the beach (along with hamburgers) I think we have been ten times since his break. To bad it has to come to an end. We only have until Monday, but hey it was fun while it lasted.

The Time Has Come

+=

surgery plus Koa equals visits from Grandmas!

Monday Morning is coming all to fast. The time has come to get this old knee fixed. I am starting to get a little nervous now... YEEK, I have seen many friends and coached a few girls who have torn their ACL and MENISCUS and I have seen the pain they have been in after surgery and physical therapy. It's almost better not knowing what you will be facing after the surgery. I know it could be a lot worse. We had planned on waiting to have the surgery in November or December, but with the unfortunate turn of events, (I had a miscarriage) we decided to get it done while we can. I know it will all work out wonderful. Jimmie and I feel very blessed and know that everything happens for a reason. My knee has been giving out on my lately, especially while Jimmie and I went long boarding on the board walk yesterday. Anyone who knows me, realizes I kind of have a problem slowing down and just relaxing at home. I love to be on the go. This little surgery might put a damper on that. Especially on my running and working out. I was pleased to find out I could still roller blade with a few things torn in my knee. Jimmie makes fun of me and says that rollerblading isn't cool. I know on the West coast this is probably true, but out here in Florida its still holding strong. This last week I have tried to squeeze tons of outdoor events into my days, which worked out quiet well. I am so excited to see my Mom and my Mother in Law. They are coming a week apart to help take care of the crazy Koa man. Which I am more than thankful for. Some of you might be jealous because I have the best Mom in history and I have to say I got more than lucky in the mother-the -law area. I love her to pieces and can't wait to spend some good quality time with her too! I guess I will be returning to this...

Wicked Awesome

Last Saturday we got to see WICKED! I saw it like two years ago with my buddies and just loved it. Jimmie was jealous that it was a girls trip last time and wanted to see it since it was so close. Although I don't think we could have gotten our seats any higher up ,we were one row from the very top, but that did not take away from the happiness Wicked brought! Jimmie loved it and I should not admit this but I honestly could not remember major parts of the story line. I think I am losing my mind. He would lean over and ask, what happens next, I would just laugh and say I can't remember. If any of you have ever watched a movie with me at home or even in a theater knows, I have about a 90% chance of falling asleep. The fact is, I did not fall asleep which makes it even scarier. We had a great time and would recommend it to anyone who has not seen it, or maybe has seen it and can't remember!

My Twins!

Koa is such a fun kid, he has the coolest personality if you ask me. He keeps me laughing all day long. When I first found out I was pregnant with him, I found these keen shoes just like Jimmie wears to church. I was getting him ready on Sunday I found "the shoes." Which I am glad I did because they fit him perfect. I have a little shoe obsession. It has been put on hold for a few years in medical school but someday it will be unleashed again.

B-I-G 32

Jimmie is my “number one.” My best friend. He is my first priority. He’s the one I’d rather be with than anyone else in the world.

Jimmie celebrated the big 3-2 on Friday. What a great husband! I attempted cupcakes to honor his big day. They actually turned out better than I hoped for. It was fun decorating and exploring my new found skills. ha ha just kidding. It is amazing what you can do when you stay home with a torn ACL, life tends to slow down a bit with only one leg. Koa has discovered that he can escape much quicker from me know. He threw his ball into the pool and was trying really hard to resuce it when he fell in. Good thing Jimmie saw him start to sink into the deep in and got him before it was to late. He didn't seem one bit scared when he was rescued all he said was HI! Thank our lucky stars Jimmie was fast and on the ball.

I have to give a shout out to all my friends who have made dinners and watched Koa during this strange time in my life. Thanks for all the help girls. I honestly could not have done it without you. I also had fun with a visit from my parents a few weeks ago to help out with doctor appointments and Koa. They surely saved the day. This was there first trip out here to visit me, although they only saw the inside of two doctor offices, they still seemed to love the place.

My buddy Kelsie gave Koa this suit. Her little boy is to big for it now. He just reminded me of acute little missionary.