Sweet Home Arizona

Our family is having quite the adventure this fall! We left Nashville at the end of September (Alice was exactly 2 months old on the day we left), knowing we wouldn't be back until February! 

Brian is in his 4th year of medical school and doing "away rotations." He applied for several programs and was accepted to do visiting rotations. So he is kind of like an exchange student for a month at a time. The purpose is to build relationships in programs different from your "home" school and hopefully show programs that you are interested in them to get an upper hand when it comes to interview invitations. His away rotations are U of Arizona Orthopedics Sept-Oct, U of Utah Orthopedics Oct-Nov, and Primary Care at a private clinic in Arizona Nov-Dec. The month of January is his time "off" to use for interviewing, and we will spend that time in Portland.

Packing was hard-- 4 months, 3 people, 4 climates! We knew it would probably be around 90 degrees in Arizona , probably snowing in Utah, and cold & wet in Oregon. Somehow, we managed to pack it all, including a pack-and-play crib, without paying for extra checked baggage! I know, pretty amazing, right?

 Alice finally got to meet the Arizona family. My mom flew to Nashville when she was 2 weeks old, but the rest of my family had only seen her on Skype. I can't believe my dad is a grandpa!

 Alice loves all the attention from Grandma and Great-Grandma "Me-ma."

Aunt Lila and Alice have the same fashion sense: Skinny Jeans and Stripes!

Alice looks adorable the pink Tu-Tu that Uncle Michael got her.

And she is very good at cheering for him at his basketball games! Michael is Alice's self-appointed body guard. He is very protective and is always checking on her.

 Alice is a great sleeper and has slept 8+ hours every night since coming to Arizona!

 Brian has had a crazy schedule, so we savor the few minutes he's home (and awake) by relaxing and watching BYU football together. Although, how "relaxing" that is depends on how well the Cougars are playing...

 It is so fun spending time with 4 generations of family.

 My Grandpa calls Alice his "Girlfriend." Her shirt says "All Hail the Queen." That's about right.

  

 Alice added her name to Grandma's family tree.

 And Great Grandpa rocked Alice in the rocking char that belonged to his Grandmother.

 She is such a happy girl first thing in the morning and I am absolutely in love with these morning smiles.

 

 3 months has felt like eternity and no time at all, all at once.

2 Months of Alice

Alice is such a good baby! She is happy most of the time. When she was 4 weeks old she started sleeping through the night every other night, and I gained back some sanity.

 Alice watched her first BYU football game and unceremoniously blew out her BYU dress before the game even started. Good thing we took pictures first...

 Alice worked really hard helping Daddy study for Step 2 of the board exams.

 I can't get over that hair! Maybe we should do a caption contest for this one:

 She's starting to get chubby. Those lips! Those elbow dimples! I could just eat her up.

 Alice still loves to be swaddled, but usually manages to escape at least one arm by the time her nap is over.

 She is definitely a binky girl! This little lamb binky (wubanub) is the best because it stays propped in her mouth even when she forgets to suck on it.

  I think she has such beautiful hands. Posing in her sleep.

 When she was 8 weeks old, she started trying out new facial expressions.

It is so fun to see her personality shining out.

 She has changed so much between 1 month and 2 months! She is turning into a little person!

Sick Day Saturday

When my students get sick, then I get sick. When I get sick, then Brian gets sick.

Then we spend a whole Saturday snuggling in our sweatpants on the beanbag watching football.

Sweet Home Alabama

Brian and I spent 2 days down in Alabama helping clean up from the tornado. There is a video of the tornado and the damage in Cordova (where we were working), if you click HERE. There are also many other videos on youtube if you are interested.
We made the 3 hour drive down to middle Alabama.
Imagine Steven Haymore's voice "Oh my goodness. You can get an IL CHANGE here!"
We worked in a small town-- Cordova, Alabama. Cordova was hit by an F3 tornado at 5:00am and then 12 hours later was hit by an F4 tornado that split and became 2 tornadoes. So basically the town was hit by 3 tornadoes. The town was devastated. Most of the houses were not livable.

We spent most of the time clearing away debris and moving it close to the road so trucks can pick it up easier later on.

We spent a lot of time taking these:

(This tree is HUGE. The roots are probably 10 to 12 feet tall)

And sawing, cutting, dragging, carrying it to the road to look like this:
I didn't take very many before and after shots (I guess that's a good thing-- I was working, not photo-documenting). Here is the pile during my first water break:

And here it is at my second water break:

Here we can see the wild species of Bearded Brian in it's natural habitat:This yard was full of tree debris! As we chopped it all up and hauled it out, we uncovered a lamppost and a garden statue! I think all the yellow Mormon Helping Hands t-shirts make us look like Despicable Me's minions. No?
Lunch break:
This carport was totally mangled and the poor blue geo was crushed by the sheet metal and a tree.



The "Mormon Helping Hands" tent city where we stayed.
Random pic: We were driving behind this van... do you think they meant "Litter"?
We were guessing by the architecture that this brick house was built in the late 1800s. We heard that the people who lived there had just bought it and were renovating it. They didn't have home insurance yet.
You can see the path the tornadoes took. Trees are completely scattered but just past them the trees are untouched.

Can you see the sheet metal wrapped around the branch at the top of the tree?
It's hard to see, but that white house had been picked up and shifted off of it's foundation. It slid a good 10-15 feet off of it's foundation.
I loved the rainbow painted on the wall inside this bedroom.
Roll tide!

(Not only does everyone in the south have strong allegiances to college football, they display it grandiosely! No small window-cling stickers of their Alma Mater... every car (truck) had HUGE displays of collegiate football support. I was sad I didn't get any pictures of the trucks.)

Headed back to Tennessee.

There were a LOT of us and we worked SO hard, and still we barely made a dent. It was devastating to be uncovering toys, clothes, tax documents, etc from underneath piles of roof shingles, downed trees, and building materials.

The people in Cordova were so grateful, and so hospitable! All day long people were driving up giving us sack lunches, waters, gatorade, and other treats. I felt so blessed to meet the amazing people who live in Cordova, and even shower in the locker room of the 2007 state high school football champions (Go Cordova Blue Devils!).

In the South, many people say "Have a Blessed day" instead of "Have a good day". The cashier at walmart, the text at the bottom of receipts, and people passing in the street. It's one of the many sweet, quaint bits of southern culture that I just love!

So, have a blessed day, y'all! Especially those of you in Alabama!