4 Birthdays... Really?? Overkill? Maybe...

Isaac on his First BirthdayIsaac on his 2nd Birthday Each year I am taking his picture on his birthday in our rocking chair... sniffle... he is growing so fast. What a fun little man!

We have just celebrated Ikie's Birthday for the past two weeks! I don't know if he remembers a time when it wasn't his "birthday season!" It all started when we were in Kansas visiting my grandma and she made Isaac his first birthday cake (angelfood-- a longstanding tradition of Pokorny birthdays-- yumm!) After that we hit a hiatus for a week until his real birthday on October 19th. We had birthday waffles for breakfast (an adopted tradition that we love!!) I let Isaac choose what kind of cake he wanted me to make too. He chose lemon, just like his daddy! So, we ate lemon cake that night and he opened a couple of presents with Grandma and Grandpa and us. Then our fourth birthday celebration came this past Friday when we had a little "Spook-tacular" 2nd Birthday Party with a couple little friends and our family. It was a crowded little event, but so fun! I actually made homemade donuts ("spudnuts") and put candles in that instead! So, all in all, Isaac insists he is four years old when you ask him, he is an excellent candle blower outer, and I am about to be in a diabetic coma from all the sugar!! It was sure fun though:)

just a few friends and family at the party... Not enough room for everyone we love, but it was certainly enough to feel some love:)

If you couldn't deduce from my shotty attempts at keeping a blog, or any contact at all, we have been "bouncing around" the country this month with interview season. We started off going to Nebraska and Kansas to interview and UNMC Dental School and then went to see my family in Kansas. We had a great little weekend that went all too fast, but we sure enjoyed everyone. Isaac still can list everyone we saw from "Grandma Ponininini" to "Grandma Leafy" and "Aunt Rita," etc. Sure was fun to catch up a little!

Ben then took a trip last week to Phoenix to interview for dental school. He has felt good about every interview and comforted in that he did his best effort, but he really enjoyed this visit and the people he met. We'll see... We really have turned this one over to the Lord and know that when the time is right, we will go. No worries on this end!

Now we are preparing this week for a trip to Indiana on Tuesday and Ben's 3rd interview this year, at IU in Indianapolis on Wednesday. Ikie and I are pretty excited to go along to see our good friends and adopted "families" and to spend Halloween somewhere warm with lots of leaves changing colors:) We'll have lots to report I'm sure!

Anyway, as we continue on through interview season and this interesting time of life, we want to thank all of you for your never failing support and faith in us and on our behalf. It makes all the difference and truly has blessed us in everyway! Here's to a great week!

Singing in the rain, Singing in the sun, singing, singing

A picture of Isaac post carrot cake episode:) He awoke early from his nap and snuck into the kitchen where he proceeded to eat his fill of carrot cake without me knowing. When he was done he was sure to tell me all about it!! So cute!

This week has been really wild around here... So wild, in fact, that my stress-induced zits are arising!! ahhh! If that doesn't make you want to de-stress, I don't know what will! Anyway, I know it'll all work out for the best. I find it so difficult to own what is mine, and not everyone elses'! After we take a step back, though, we realize how truly lucky we are and how much we love where we are in life. It's all worth it and we really are very happy here.

This weekend we were able to do just that. Ben did some community service with our stake this weekend planting over 160 awesome trees on 130. They look great! While he was out doing good, he happened to take all our sets of keys with him (on accident, I'm pretty sure!) So, in the meantime, I promised Ikie we were going for a walk in the "trolla" as he calls the stroller. In his mind, this is the epitome of everything wonderful, so to say the least, he was disappointed when all the keys were gone and the jeep was locked! So, thinking on my feet, like every good mommy, I decided we would just take the bike trailer, until I realized I left it at my parents' last week. So, again, thinking on my feet, I determined the only mode of transporation we had left was the framed baby backpack. I loaded Ikie up and away we went (finally)!

Just wait, it gets better... So, my sister had called to see if I was garage saling (as we both need some things). I couldn't let her down, so off we went. The first stop ended up being way farther north than I thought, so we essentially walked to the end of town on the north (about a mile from our house) and then didn't find anything (of course!) So, we turned around and I decided I was going to hit this one neighborhood sale and then go to my parents' to get the bike trailer (the very southern edge of town). It only took 2 hours! Luckily, Isaac loved every minute of it and I got a great workout! By the time we got to their house, I think we walked over 5 miles with all the garage sale detours. Crazy, I know! The best part is that Isaac really loved it, the worst part, I didn't find one single thing at a sale. 5 blocks doesn't seem too far until you've already walked 4 miles with a baby on your back! Oh, and then we biked back home (another 3 miles)! Whew, I'm exhausted just retelling it!

So, that was our Saturday morning. We spent the rest of the day running errands and getting things done around here, which was so so nice! I love days like this!! Then today was equally as lovely. I subbed for a Sunbeam class of 10 kiddos- a little crazy, but it was really great. Then we hung out around here and took a little time to splash in the puddles outside our house after a rainstorm passed through. A perfect end to a great weekend!

2 months!!

How in the world did two months go by without a post... I guess life really is as busy as I claim! We have seen a few ups and downs this past little bit, but mostly ups and lots of laughs from the downs! We spent the summer traveling all over visiting friends and family and hosting several family and friends here too! What a treat! In Wyoming it is really true that we have to take advantage of our precious summer months because they don't last long! We took many opportunities to go hiking in the mountains... These are pictures of a gold mine we found above Centennial, WY about 20 minutes from our house. It's pretty difficult to get up there, so we're glad my dad found it and told us about it! Ben's parents made the great trek over Wyoming to come visit us a couple of weeks ago. We had a great time at the first football game of the season with Hannah, Mary and Peter (or Petey as Ike insists on calling him). We also enjoyed some delicious meals together and even a deep conversation/fireside on the last days. Joni and Clay just happened to be back in town for that too, as was my friend, Jamie. It was a really neat experience.

Mary and Ikey watching the rain fall on our patio. Too cute to miss!

Last weekend we finally crossed another of our "must dos" of the list! We drove to Canon City, CO with my friend Jamie and rode the train down the Royal Gorge. It was awesome and Isaac was beyond words! He loves transporation and trains are the ultimate in his mind right now... It was great.

This was the night before our garage sale... Ike thought it was funny to sit in the mirror and make faces with "make offer" stickers on our noses!

I also have to tell you a few new things Isaac is doing... He is all of a sudden speaking in phrases. About 20 times a day he says "Where'd daddy go?" My favorite for the moment was this morning when he came in on his tigger rocking horse toy saying "I'm-a goin to da library!" It was way cute!

Backpacking to Mosquito Paradise

For our Fourth of July Celebrations, we did what any good Wyoming family would do... We headed straight for the mountains!! We went on a hefty backpacking excursion with our other brave relatives... Joni, Clay and Macy, as well as Ben's parents, Paul, Peter, Hannah and Mary, oh and Libby the dog. It was such a great time! None of us escaped without an injury of some sort, but we all are better because of it. What a great bonding experience. The boys and Mary caught some excellent trout and we all enjoyed some "gourmet backpacking meals!"

We found a spot in the Bridger Wilderness of the Wind River Mountains surrounded by mountains where there were no other people within miles and miles of us! In fact, we were the only people on this entire lake... some people, I won't mention names... took the opportunity to skinny dip in the 45 degree water too!

The babies loved every minute of it! You can see Macy loves to attack their new puppy, but mostly Ikey and Macy just love to love each other! Pretty cute, though, it can turn violent at times, but only one lasting bite mark, so not too bad! Isaac thought it was pretty funny to walk around with the kettle on his elbow and tell everyone bye bye and then ask for a kiss.



I'm really glad he had a chance to bond with his grandparents, b/c he doesn't see them often, but he sure loves them. He has affectionately nicknamed all his grandparents "Monga" for grandma and "Poppa" for grandpa, though he can say grandma and grandpa just fine! He is turning into a little comedian for sure!

This is a picture of Peter about to cross the river in my tevas... quite the fashion statement:)

One more quick story... Isaac has a story called Oh David! in which the little boy, David, has a stinky diaper on one page and it says P.U. David! Well, Ike took this page to heart, so now whenever he has a stinky diaper he says "PoooWeee Davey!" and then he laughs and says "ah funny!" He kept us all laughing this weekend, that's for sure:)

Hope all of you had a happy weekend. We found ourselves very grateful on Sunday as we sang our National Anthem in Sacrament meeting in Pinedale. It was really touching and reminded us just how awesome our country is. Here's to remembering more often what we really have...

Mines and Ghost Towns and Bus Rides OH MY!

I guess one posting a month is going to have to do for now! As you can tell, we are really willing to sleep anywhere at this point, we are so worn out!! We have certainly had a busy time of travels and crazy visits this month! We started with a Mother's Day weekend here in Laramie, and have since taken a trip almost every weekend from Salt Lake to meet up with all of Ben's family to Pinedale to check out Joni and Clay's new "digs." It has been quite the adventure and we are happy to say that little Ike is still a great traveler! Last weekend we also took some time to go up to Vedawoo and hike the Turtle Rock trail. It was great weather and just perfect! Thank goodness Ike takes after us and not some of his anti traveling aunts and uncles!


This weekend we went to Denver to hang out with our friend, Jamie (or as Isaac calls her, Aunt Damie-- he just came up with that one on his own-- probably because he has so many aunts!) Anyway, we headed out on Saturday morning to Idaho Springs, CO to tour a gold mine and mill. It was really awesome! Ike's favorite part had to be riding the bus though. He's a huge fan of transportation, especially involving wheels of any kind!
Do you remember when you thought buses were this cool? It was a highlight for Ikey!

After the totally awesome mine tour, we panned for gold and struck it rich!! We each found about 4 pieces of gold (worth a cumulative 25 cents-- a penny saved is a penny earned!) Then we took off on a road called "Oh My Goodness Road" (the edited version). It goes up a steep mountain from Idaho Springs to Central City, CO. We found a few ghosttowns and got to do a little exploring of the ruins... when we weren't afraid of being shot by locals! We are thinking about buying one of the towns to make a luxury getaway:)
Jamie, Jamie, Ike and Ben inside an old gold mine- hoping to "Strike it rich!"At the top of "Oh my Goodness Road" Right behind us is a huge dropoff... Pretty cool! Of course, Isaac slept through this part!

In one of our little ghost towns, we also found our new family vehicle! It is so awesome, only a picture could do it any justice!



Anyway, the adventure continues... In between weekends, I am trying to enjoy getting into better shape. I finally can jog about 5 days a week (the weather is finally good enough!) and Ikey loves to be pushed in the jogger with me! When I'm not swallowing mosquitos or being chased by crazy dogs, we have a good time and Ikey points to every old beater truck and says "Cleey!" He associates old trucks with Clay... He also loves to point out animals, trees, and most importantly, buses and trucks! He is definitely a boy!
This week promises to be just as busy as ever, but we promise to try and keep up! Hope you all are enjoying summer too!

Bye Bye "Mae Mae", "Dough-nee", and "Kay!"

This is Clay's german chocolate graduation cake... Isaac decided it'd be a good idea to climb on the table while we were in the other room and start eating it... That's my boy!!

Joni and Clay took one last trip to Fort Collins before they moved, so we got to have "twins" for the night:) We took Ikey and Macy out for dinner where one of the servers was vaccuuming (the kids' favorite thing in the world)! I thought we were going to have to get her autograph, they were cheering for her and Isaac was saying "Baa-cuuum! It was pretty cute! Then we came home, gave baths and while I was rocking Macy, Ikey decided he needed a piece of the action, so he climbed in my lap... They both fell asleep this way! It was pretty fun:)

Our family has a crazy couple of weeks since I last posted! We have been juggling many "acts" as the school year is coming to a close. We have had the privilege of having my sister, Joni with her husband, Clay, and their 15 month old daughter Macy living in Laramie with us. Joni, being the doll she is, has been watching Ike for me in the mornings while I work at the Open School. It has been a great experience all the way around! Clay graduated from college this past week, and with that came a great big move to Pinedale, Wyoming... sniffle... sniffle... So, Ikey is going through serious Mae Mae, Doughnee and Kay withdrawls. He keeps carrying a pair of Macy's socks around looking for her! He also has a couple of pictures of them that he carries around religously everyday. It's pretty cute, but still heartbreaking! Anyway, we sure miss them, but are so excited for them... wow, what's it like to purchase a home and have real jobs? We may never know!



Other than that, Ben and I are trying our best to keep our heads up and keep relying on the Lord to lead us down the right paths. We are going to be in Laramie this summer with Ben working in the Pharmacy and I will be working at the Open School in the mornings again, while Isaac goes to Grandma's. I love Laramie in the summer... the weather is typically great and it's a really neat, close-knit atmosphere that forms when the weather is good enough to go outside! I've already started jogging and am training for a couple of races this summer... Isaac will run with me (in the jogger) and we're trying to convince Ben to join us!

Rie-roe and Pahblo

We had Ben's sister, Rebecca (Rie-roe-- as Ikey puts it) and his brother Paul (Pahblo) cx come to visit us this week during a semester break from school. We had such a good time! They are so fun and we felt really lucky that they got to know Isaac so well! Isaac is now going through Pablo withdrawls going around the house looking for him:)

This week it seemed like we did lots of really great eating, playing, and staying up really late! It was so great, but I'm definitely ready for a nap! Beck and I had to continue our Jane Austen obsession too, and ended up educating Paul about Jane Austen and romance in general:) I don't think he was nearly excited about Jane as we were! We also played disc golf, taught Paul to rollerblade, and on and on...

Anyway, I have added some photos and videos from our weekend. We took Beck and Paul and went to Denver to the temple and the zoo. What a fun time! Ikey also had the opportunity to touch an python (what a brave one! certainly a trait from his daddy!) This is a little graphic, but worth the detail... We were watching these little monkey things up in the trees and I heard one of them tooting. It just so happened that the monkey had its toosh up in the air facing us. I saw the potential of the situation, so I told Paul to watch out and I moved back... Well, right then the monkey had some squirty tooting and Paul ended up with a little squirt of monkey poo on his forehead!! Eeewww (as Ikey put it!) You will notice in the elephant video, if you listen really closely, you can hear Isaac say elephant! Yep, he's a "smart cookie!" We really are enjoying everyday with him, as I'm sure Beck and Paul can attest!