Melissa's Nursing Article!!!

This is Melissa's Nursing Magazine article that I discussed in a previous post. I took a photo of it today when I realized that my scanner wasn't working, so it may not be very clear. I will scan it in the near future and replace these photos but I just wanted to post it here as soon as I could. We are very proud of her and she has settled into her new life as a nurse very well. She has so many interesting stories to tell us when she finishes her days at work, I think that she is in a career that is very rewarding and that will fit her personality perfectly. We will keep you posted on her future plans.

Todd's Recent Wardrobe Selections For Aiden And Max!!!

As you can see Grandpa Todd has been at the Harley store AGAIN! He came home yesterday with some new attire for Aiden and Max. I could tell that he was very proud of his selections. Although I am not a fan of Harley clothing, I have to admit that it was pretty cute. Aiden has been subjected to this since birth and now Max will be joining him (before birth). Todd indicated that he is in the market for a black leather vest for Max already and I'm sure that I will be asked to sew a patch on it in the near future. I think that the t-shirt that he got for Max is very cute and we are all confident that he will be "destined for greatness" in the very near future. As for Aiden, he is used to Todd giving him this clothing and tonight when he tried his hat on he smiled at Grandpa Todd and loved it!!!

Our New Office!!!

Here we are in our new office. We just moved in and have a lot of work to do, but it is pretty fun since we can all participate. The sign in this photo was our first sign so we are going to keep it and hang it up on the wall in our break room. The phone number had to be changed, so we had to order a new sign.

We just leased a new office that has more room and is very close to our home. For those of you who saw our first location, this is a much nicer space. Today Todd spent some time assembling a desk that I got yesterday at Staples. It took much more time than expected, but looked great when it was complete.Melissa spent some time there with us today and posed for some pictures. She thought that it was a big improvement and enjoyed seeing some of her furniture again since we borrowed it from our other house that is still vacant. I'm not sure if she will ever move into it again, so we thought that we might as well make use of her furniture.
As you can see Todd had to work pretty hard today on the desk and is really tired tonight.

Melissa thought that she would pose at Todd's desk and act like Todd! She mainly lounged around today, but in her defense she worked twelve hours yesterday, so we'll forgive her.
Here she is attempting to look like Todd on the phone during one of many heated business conversations. I think she did a pretty good job in this one. I'll try to get one of Todd in action next time.
We had this little space and decided to put some children's toys here so that when Aiden is with us he has something to do. I think he liked it and was able to play with some of the toys that have been stored at our other house for quite awhile. I promised Madi and Seth that I would add some activities for older children when we get settled.
And finally, this is in Todd's office on the couch. Madilyn was definitely not in a happy mood this afternoon, so she didn't want to smile. She was a little bit tired of being there and wanted to go home. I posted a video of the rest of the office that will show up in our video section soon. I will add more photos when we get all moved in and I have decorated, but these should give you an idea of what the new office is like. Check back for updated photos soon.

Aiden's New Chair!!!

Aiden recently got a new lounge chair. It has the Patriots logo, name and colors on it and he loves it. He likes to sit in it when he watches a DVD and it even reclines! I think he looks so cute and he seems to know that it is his chair because he now goes right to it when he is ready to kick back and relax for awhile.

Melissa PASSED Her Boards And Is Now Officially An RN!!!

Melissa PASSED her exam last week!!!! She only had to answer 75 of the 250+ possible questions and was finished in less than 2 hours. I couldn't believe it when she called me before 10 AM, I thought something had happened to her. It only took a day to get her results and I think she was really happy and relieved to be finished with that stressful event. Now on top of humiliating her by taking photos of her at work, I insisted that she hold up her badge so that I could take a picture and post it here!!! She loves it I'm sure and we are all very proud of her accomplishments. She was featured in the ASU nursing magazine this month as one of the two Fuld Nursing Innovations Scholars. I will scan the article and post it here as soon as I can. Overall, we think she is doing great and are all very proud of her, way to go Melissa!!!

Wissa Q's Scuba Lesson!!!

Today was Melissa's Scuba lesson and I met her in Tempe so that I could observe her progress. She had so much fun last week during her first experience and really hit it off with her instructor Bryan.

Since it was her day off she planned to go to the Tempe location so that they could dive in the outdoor pool. We are so lucky to be in a climate that enables you to swim outdoors in February! Melissa will probably finish her instruction before the rest of us since she is spending more time at each lesson.

I gave my camera to Bryan so that he could take some photos of her during the dive. They had so much fun under the water after they completed the skills needed for each unit. I could tell they were laughing because every once in awhile a large area of bubbles would come to the surface all at once.
As you can see, Melissa is feeling quite comfortable in the underwater environment already and seems to be catching on very quickly.
After Bryan took several photos of Melissa, she took the camera and took a few photos of him. He is a very nice young man and it seems like they have a great time together during the lessons.
This is Melissa striking a pose toward the end of her lesson. I think it's official, she loves it!!!
Bryan is planning a dive trip in a couple of weeks to Catalina Island in California. He wants Melissa and I to go and said that it would be a great opportunity to finish our open water dives. He was an instructor at a dive shop there for a year and is very familiar with the underwater landscape there, so we are going to try to go.
Well, that is a little synopsis of Melissa's interesting afternoon. She's doing a great job and having a lot of fun. We'll let you know when she has officially completed her PADI Open Water Diver certification. More pictures will be posted of Seth and Madi's experiences soon, I didn't put the camera near the side of the pool last night at our lesson and once your gear is on it is very difficult to get out of the pool. I'll post pics of them here after their Monday night dive so check back for those soon.

The Celtics Game!!!

Todd and Seth went to the Boston Celtics game on February 10th during our trip. I got Todd club seats for his birthday and he was so excited to attend this game. They played the San Antonio Spurs.
Before the game Seth, Chris and Todd went back to the IMAX theatre to see another movie that Seth really wanted to see the day before. Following the movie, Chris had to come back to Medford to meet us for the Baby Shower. Todd and Chris said that Seth was upset that he had to go to the game with his dad, he wanted to go with us to the shower. Seth had never been to a Pro Basketball game before and was not excited to say the least. His dad told him he was going despite his objections and they headed to the game.
The club level of the stadium in Boston has a sports museum that has various memorabilia from the local Pro teams including the Celtics, Patriots and Bruins.

Todd said that when they arrived at the stadium Seth's attitude completely changed and he really loved the whole experience. He saw some other fans with jersey's on, so he took his souvenir money to the pro shop and bought a jersey. He thought that the game rocked and as you can see was really into it once he was there.

Seth also really got into the Celtics gear while at the game, check out that hat! This is in front of a locker in the museum that had a variety of uniforms that players have worn over the years.
This is a photo of Steve Grogan's uniform. He was a New England Patriot Quarter Back for 16 years and still holds many passing records. He was acquired by the Patriots from Kansas State University in 1975.
Here is the Buddy in his seat at the game. He loved it can't you tell, he really wants to go to another game soon and he had a great time with his dad. We had season tickets to the Arizona Cardinals, our local NFL team, and he liked attending those games but I think he now likes basketball more than football.
This is one of Tom Brady's uniforms, as you know he is the current Quarterback for the Patriots and although they didn't win the Super Bowl this year, we still love him.

This is a photo of Todd's personal favorite Patriots Quarter Back. Drew Bledsoe spent ten years with the Pats and was a first round draft pick from Washington State who. Todd, Melissa, Chris and I saw him in action, defeating the Vikings in a very close game at Foxboro. Todd wanted to leave early, he was upset that they were losing with less than two minutes on the clock. We turned the radio on in the car and were all irritated with Todd's decision because they came back to win after we left. We were fans long before they were the winning team they are today, go Pats!!!

And finally, this is a photo of my all time favorite Celtics player, Larry Bird. It is a life like statue of him shooting a free throw. Bird spent 13 years with the Celtics and attended Indiana State University. I remember watching him play as a child, I thought he rocked.

Well, that is a synopsis of the Celtics experience for Todd and Seth during our trip. They are playing the Suns on February 22nd here in Phoenix, so we may try to get tickets. I love the Suns too, so may have to wear both my Celtics and Suns gear to the game. We'll keep you posted!!!

Boston!!!

We went to Boston for a long weekend to attend Christopher and Julie's baby shower. We had a wonderful trip and enjoyed meeting Julie's family and seeing some familiar sights around the city. We arrived on Friday evening and met Julie and Chris at our hotel. We ordered take out food at a great little restaurant and neighborhood shop called Bob's. Since moving from the Boston area to Phoenix we have really missed the pizza and subs in that area of the country, so we had steak and cheese subs, pizza and several other tasty dishes that we have had to do without since moving to Arizona. The following day Julie had to work so Chris, Melissa, Seth, Madi, Aiden, Todd and I all went into the city.

On the way to the childrens museum we stopped at Dunkin Donuts for coffee and hot chocolate. Seth was very happy to have some time with his big brother and wanted to spend every minute with him.

When we lived near Boston, Seth and Madilyn went to the Childrens Museum frequently and had a great time there. They have almost outgrown the activities, but I think they enjoyed seeing it again. They helped Aiden climb in this big apparatus and I think he liked it and felt like a very big boy.

They have a lot of water related exhibits and everyone seemed to enjoy those the most. Aiden had a great time getting soaked and didn't want to leave that area of the museum.

Following the museum we drove to the New England Aquarium and from there walked to Fanuel Hall to have lunch. We then went to the Aquarium IMAX Theatre to watch a deep sea movie that everyone enjoyed. Aiden was enthralled with the movie during the beginning and fell asleep about halfway through without making any noise to disrupt the film, I was very proud of his behavior.

We all had a great day and later in the evening went to Kowloon's, a great Chinese restaurant on Route 1. Following our meal Aiden and Madi got on the dance floor when the band began to play and danced the night away. Madi was a terrific leader and Aiden was so funny dancing with all of the young adults, I think he was very impressed with himself. It was a very nice evening.

The next day Todd and Seth went to the Celtics/Spurs Basketball game and Madi, Melissa, Chris, Julie, Aiden and I attended the baby shower. It was a great time and Julie's family was so welcoming and friendly. We really enjoyed meeting them and loved seeing Julie and Chris celebrate the impending birth of little Max. We are all so excited and will let you all know when there is any news.