O Little Town of Bethlehem

This is the post you have all been waiting for. The post to explain why all of you should come and visit us in our new little town of Bethlehem. Now most of you are probably breaking out your maps and saying, "Where the heck is Bethlehem?" A lot of people have cracked the joke, "Is it next to Jerusalem?" Well, actually that's not too far fetched. It's located in the Lehigh (pronounced Lehi) Valley, it's south of Nazareth and the Road to Emmaus is to the West. John-David will be working at St. Luke's hospital. Now that we have all the bad Bible humor out of the way, I'll tell you where it's located in reference to things you would know which actually brings me to the first point of why you would want to come visit us: location.
It's about 45 minutes north of Philadelphia and about 1 1/2 hours west of New York city. Hershey, PA is about 2 hours to the west and for all of you Office fans, Scranton, PA is about 1 1/2 hours to the north. For all of you who have never seen any of these places, here's your chance.

Now if those places weren't enticing enough we have some more local attractions. The neighboring town of Easton is home of the Crayola Factory. You could see how crayons are made just like you did on Reading Rainbow as a kid. The Poconos are just up the way for all of you who want to take a second honeymoon. If you like a good old fashion covered bridge, Bethlehem has a whole driving tour of them. What better time to see it but in the fall. Who doesn't love a nice Eastern fall.... never seen one? Here's your chance. Too busy in the Fall? Well this is
Bethlehem and Christmas is a big thing here, as you can imagine. They actually celebrate it not only in December but November as well. If any of those things didn't persuade you, you could always come to see our family! We are entertaining and we will be arriving to the area some time in June so let us know when you'll arrive.

T-Ball

We signed up Jackson for t-ball this Spring. Practices just started a week ago and it's pretty cute. He enjoys it a lot and has been practicing in the back yard too. He has the cutest coach. He has them running the bases, learning to catch grounders with alligator arms and practicing their "stance" when they bat. oh and I must say he's good looking. Ok so I am little biased because the coach is John-David but it's pretty cute seeing him out there with the kids. I think Jackson enjoys have his dad as coach. We'll keep you posted on how it goes. His first game is next week. 

Jackson getting ready to hit the ball. 

Jackson successfully hit the ball.

Jackson really got into this time and 

took out the tee as well as the ball. 

Jackson getting ready to catch a fly ball.

Jackson's really cute coach. 

The pasty white guy in the background. 

Match Day!!!

Today was match day!!! We have waited 4 long years for this and it's hard to believe it has really come. We started the residency application process last summer and it's been a long process that's finally over. Well we ended up matching today into Orthopedic Surgery at St. Luke's in Bethlehem, PA. It was our 1st choice so we couldn't be more pleased. It's a brand new program and John-David and the other guy that matched there will be the first residents for this program. We actually ended up applying to the program kind of on a whim last minute because his brother ended up taking a job in Philadelphia which is near there. The family connection definitely helped the decision to choose there. We are sad to leave Columbus because we have truly loved it here but we are excited to see what the next place will bring. Our camera has some major issues so sorry about the poor quality of pictures.

Waiting for the envelope

Fellow match day friends
waiting for their envelopes

John-David and his MD friends

Just about to open the envelope

John-David displaying joy
for his match outcome

Girls Night Out--The Final Sleep over

My friends and I have realized that our time together is coming to end due to the upcoming graduation. We have been trying to spend as much time together as our husbands will allow and this weekend was our big final hurrah. We started out the night by going to dinner at Texas Roadhouse and then headed to the hotel for a little girl time. We almost thought the night might end up being a disaster when the second car following behind me didn't exit when I did. After a minor 1/2 hour detour they finally got back on track and the pampering could begin. We did pedicures, facials, waxing eyebrows, satin lips and satin hands. We ate treats,jumped on the bed, played games and stayed up later. It was a regular sleep over. In the morning we enjoyed a lovely breakfast and everyone minus Camey and I headed down to the outlets. It was such a fun time and I am so glad we were able to do it. Thanks girls for such a fun night.

From left to right: Kaice, Camey, Me,
Barbara, Marianne, Kayce and Tabitha

Marianne enjoying her burger that
was about the size of her head.

Kaicie, Camey and I

Marianne and Camey waxing.

Nothing better than getting a little facial.

Kaicie showing off her former dance moves.
Doing exactly what we tell our children
not to do:Jump on the bed!!!

Getting pedicures

Proof that not everyone is
cheerleader material.Some people
would just scare the fans.

Pictures of Kids

I got the kids pictures taken recently for their 4th, 3rd and 1st birthdays.
This is how they turned out.

Jackson
Jackson loves getting his picture taken.
It's not hard to get some good shots out of this kid.

Our budding guitarist

#1 Buckeye Fan

Jocelyn

Jocelyn has a very beautiful smile....unfortunately
when it comes time for pictures she chooses not to share
it most of the time.

This is a personal favorite (read:
I asked for a big smile and got this).

Kelsey

I love Kelsey's smile because you can't help but
smile when you see it. The best part, too, is that she
smiles a lot. She is the funniest person she knows,
so she is constantly cracking herself up over who knows
what. But we love it.

Love the teeth!!!

Buckeye BabyThe two sisters

I really like this one. I actually like that Jocelyn
was just half smiling. It's a very angelic
looking photo for my two wild girls.

If you have ever tried to take pictures of children,
you know that the more children you add the more difficult
the shot becomes. Jocelyn was demonstrating one of her
lovely looks I like to refer to as "You want me to do what?".
Charming isn't it?

I think Kelsey was pointing to the goldfish
in her mouth that we were using to keep her in the picture.

February in Review

I haven't taken time to record some things that happened this past month so I am doing it now. For Valentine's Day, we had a party with our friends. We decorated cookies and made valentines for our dads. The kids all made valentine boxes like you do in elementary school and valentines for each other and the exchanged them with each other. They thought it was pretty cool getting something from everyone.

Decorating ValentinesSampling some sugar cookies

Jackson and Jocelyn's valentine's boxes.
(Jackson thinks that all parties require to be in costume.)

Kelsey enjoying the party.

All our little friends

The morning of the party, I found a letter on my bed that said not to open it until my friend Kaicie came over. When all my friends came over, everyone seemed to know what was in the envelope but Kaicie and I. Kaicie also had a mysterious envelope. We opened them up to find that for Valentine's Day that year we got a night on the town with just the girls. No kids and no husbands for an entire night. When John-David came home from work that night, the fun began. Kaicie and Camey came and picked me up where we headed to a hotel down town that Kaicei's husband lake had booked for us. After he checked in, we headed to Easton for a dinner and a movie. We ate at Mi Abuelo's and saw the movie "Confessions of Shopaholic". The movie was really funny and couldn't believe how alive Easton was at midnight. We stayed up until until almost 2:00 A.M. talking and didn't get out of bed until after 8:00 A.M.. It was nice to have night free of waking up to someone crying or announcing their need to use the potty. After a delicious breakfast at the hotel, we headed to the outlets for a little shopping. We got some killer deals since it was President's day weekend which made the trek well worth it. It was so much fun and a great present. Thanks dear for a break. I love you!!!

Camey testing out the bed.

Kaicie lounging in a chair.

After returning from my day off (everything and everyone was still intact)we prepared to go to a birthday party and then for some ice skating. We headed to the Gillette's for Cade and Ben's duo first birthday party with cupcakes and chocolate fountain. It was yummy. Marianne and Kaicie know how to throw a party. After the party we went to the OSU medical college's annual ice skating a the the chiller. The numbers were down a little bit this year but a fun time was still had by all. Jackson is pretty confident about ice skating and doesn't think he needs our help... until he gets on the ice. He's pretty good for a four year old but I don't think he is read for the Olympics yet. As long as Jocelyn can wrap her body around you and skate she loves the ice. We had a fun time and John-David and I just took turns taking the kids out. One adult, two kids and 3 pairs of ice skates, we found out quickly was not a good ratio.

For Christmas this year, Opa nad Euni gave swim lessons to Jackson and Jocelyn. They stated last Saturday and it's been a big hit. Their friends Ryan, Kennadee and Brooklyn are taking the class with them. Their teacher is Mr. Jake and he makes the class so fun for the kids. Jocelyn and Brooklyn are especially fond of Mr. Jake. The first day of class was pretty pathetic to watch the two girls act like damsels in distress around Mr. Jake. I think Jocelyn settled down a lit bit the second because she was quite as clinging to Mr. Jake. Jackson is just really enjoying the ability to splash everywhere and it's OK.Mr. Jake teaching Jocelyn to float.

Jackson enjoying play time. Lining up for class.

Amidst all our events, my sister Lisa had her little boy on the 26th. We have anxiously aawaited his arrival and glad it was a safe one. Little Colton Jace weighs in at 8lbs 4 oz and 21 1/2 inches long. Wish we could hold that little guy but a picture will do for now.

Colton Jace

We surprised our kids for Valentine's this year with tickets to Disney on Ice. They want to go to Disneyland pretty bad but this is as close as we are going to come for awhile. We left Kelsey with Gessell's, we didn't think her attention span would be that long, and headed down to Nationwide Arena on Friday night for the event. We went with Gillette's and the Bassett's. Kennadee was dressed as Minnie Mouse and Kyree was dressed as Princess Kyree. We brought Mr. Incredible and Jocelyn last minute switched form Cinderella to shirt and skirt she said was her Ariel costume. This Disney on Ice had the main Disney characters plus they had the Incredibles, Buzz Light Year, the Pirates of the Caribbean, Snow White and Cinderella. If anyone knows know Jackson, pirates, Incredibles and Buzz Light Year are right up his alley. He was in heaven. Jocelyn loved anytime Minnie or tho princesses were on the ice. We had a great time and Kelsey really enjoyed playing with Ryan and Ben. We have had a really fun February.

Our favorite mice friends

I loved watching Jackson's face.

Jocelyn looking for princesses.

Dad and Jackson enjoying the show.

Our fellow Disney on Ice friends.