Oh Spring and Popcorn!

We have been having such a good time lately with the Cleveland's amazing Spring weather!  I keep meaning to post certain things, and then I remember that I don't even have time to brush through my hair or unload the dishwasher!! We also celebrated Tim finishing his first year of Medical School!!!!!  I am so proud of him, he worked soooo hard!!  Good job dude, you rock!  One down, three to go :)  Here's what we've been up to lately:

We got a new I-bert bike seat and use it probably 5 times a week!  Max LOVES it,
and calls it "Bye-bye."  

Feeding the ducks at the duck pond.

So everybody has there favorite things to do.  Max's top 2 are, #1 Popcorn, and #2
Listening to the BYU Football fight song.  Tim is responsible for #1, and I guess I should
take the blame for #2...!

Playing at parkdays with my friends!

Like Father, like son...need I say more?

Max hardly ever looks into the camera and smiles...oh well, he is still stinking cute :)
I am shocked he has no bruise on his forehead for this picture...he sure does now!

Swimming with Pepper, Story, and Elliot!  Max actually was in the pool for about 2 seconds
to take this picture, and then freaked out from all the splashing.  My goal this summer is to
make this Max Obsession #3!

Me and Kailee's primary class pool party!  We team taught the 4 year-olds in our
super small primary and loved it!  These kids rocked :)  You can see Max being a swimming whimp
in the very back...sweet little buddy!

I mentioned we go on bike rides all the time, and now, thanks to my awesome  husband
surprising me with this bike rack for Mother's Day, we can bike anywhere we want!!  Seriously,
I don't know how I lived before we started going on bike rides.  It is easy, free, convenient, and SO fun! 

Pepper, Elliot, and Max!  We had a party for our awesome first year  med school hubby's ! Good job boys!

Ladies and Gentlemen, introducing the future Doctors of America...haha!
(Tim and Taylor using Taylor's tire swing in back yard...all the guys took a turn!)

Why wouldn't you trust these men with your life?  

Love this picture :)

My first popsicle experience... 

Not quite sure what to think about the freezing sugar to my teeth...

This picture could go on a popcicle box...oh Max, we sure love you buddy!

3 Years of Happy Times!

Timmy and I celebrated our 3-year anniversary last Saturday, April 28th!!  Thanks to our amazing, and I mean AMAZING friends the Bullards who watched Max ALL day (and even letting him sleep over the night before so Tim and I could leave early enough to make it to our Temple session...) with their busy schedule, we were able to enjoy a day-date in Columbus.  We had soooo much fun, and loved spending so much time together.
We woke up bright and early on Saturday and headed to our first stop...The Columbus Temple.  In order to make it on time, we need about 3 hours to get there.  Tim studied up a storm on the way there while I drove, trying to stay awake listening to a book.  We barely made it...!
After a wonderful temple session, we booked it over to a movie theater that I found about 2 miles from the Temple to see the long- awaited-viewing of The Hunger Games.  We were not disappointed with this book turned into a movie!!! After way too much dollar store candy and movie theater popcorn, we headed back to Cleveland.
Before arriving home though, we stopped and stuffed our faces at The Olive Garden (thanks mom and dad!!!).  We had such a good time there, and our waiter probably thought we were in high school with all the laughing going on at our table.  Tim tried soooo hard to get me to eat the fried Calamari (sp? aka squid), but I wouldn't budge.  Never in a million years.
Stop number 2 on the way back to the Cleve was the Lodi Outlet Malls.  It was a little nippy outside, so we didn't stay too long, but loved how delightful the place was.  The outlets have a cute train that gives rides around all the stores, and we immediately knew a certain little boy would flip out if he could get a choo-choo-train ride :)  That made me miss Max even more (even though we had only been gone from him less than 20 hours...I had to promise Tim to stop worrying about him being any trouble for our friends...)
It ended up being a perfect day, despite the fact that we knew heart-attacks were in store for what our diets consisted of that day...  We are still alive right now, phew!
I love Tim so much, and can't believe it has been 3 years since we got hitched.  He makes me be better everyday, and is SO patient with my short-comings, hormones, falling asleep in every movie or tv show we watch, days I don't make it to the shower, mac and cheese with hot dog dinners for the 3rd-night-in-a-row-weeks, complaints, worries, fears, crying sessions, etc...  He makes me so happy and I can't imagine where I'd be if I wasn't lucky enough to have met him. I love you Tim!

Me and my handsome husband outside the movie theater... No, that isn't our car.  I wish.

Give it up for 3 years baby!!  Whoot, whoot!

Easter and other stuff!

     1 more month, and then Dr. Ashworth is officially done with his FIRST year of Med School!!!!  Way to go Tim!  He recently had a poster presentation of some research he has been doing since last November with an orthopedic resident and a bio-engineering professor at Case.  I was able to drop into the presentation while my friend watched Max and was so impressed with Timmy's work! (Even though I still don't understand most of his research...haha!) 

We just found out that we are going to stay in Ohio this summer and Tim will do another research project with the same bio-engineering professor.  We are thrilled to know what our plans are, and are looking forward to a somewhat relaxing summer!!

We had a wonderful Easter full of Easter-eggs, goose-eggs, a wonderful church block honoring our Savior and His resurrection, and food galore!  This year, we decided to do our own Easter just as a family and it turned out to be the stress-free day we wanted it to be :)  It was great weather, but a little windy which was perfect to go and fly the kite Max got from the Easter Bunny.  I thought he would love the kite flying, but no, he was more interested in the loose gravel in the parking lot of the field we went to.  To be honest, it was me  who flew the kite with delight.  I can't remember the last time I flew one and I had a blast!  Tim sometimes gets to put up with two toddler-like personalities in our family, bless his heart, he's a good sport!

Tim at his poster presentation.  I took some closeups of the poster, but was dumb enough
not to take the flash off so there is a glare on all the pictures I took :(  

I mentioned goose-egg...here it is!  We had a ward BBQ the Saturday before Easter,
and somehow, Max managed to get this awesome shiner.  I really don't want to know
how many bruises, bumps, scratches, and bloody-wounds this boy has received.  I know
the number can only go up...!

"My boo-boo!" (one of Max's new words, which you can imagine, is used often in
his vocabulary considering he gets about 5 of them a day!)

Our humble Easter Bunny loot!  I have to admit, I had a lot of fun playing Easter Bunny, mainly
because I could hand pick the candy...!  Although, the peeps were all Tim.  I can't stand them!

"Cheese!"  A little blurry, but I had to put it in :)  Max on Easter morning before church.

Attempted family picture...Max was transfixed by the timer on our camera, hence his lack-of-smile-face!

What a cute little guy!

The Easter dinner!  Don't you love all of the matching china and fancy serving utensils?
I made half of the dinner on Saturday so I wouldn't have to bake/cook all Easter.
 Tim mastered making the potatoes, as usual!  I made this, this, this (the second recipe down), and this which all turned out pretty good, despite some major mistakes...!  

So today, Max and I took a walk.  It has been pretty nasty weather this past week,
and today is gorgeous, finally! I couldn't help but capture the
moment.  He always says, "Cheese!" and then hurries and turns away, so I hardly ever catch  the
good smile.  Smile or not, I think this little guy is pretty cute :)

Well hey there!

Here is a video of him on our little walk.  I did manage to capture the "Cheese!"

TaKe Me FoR a RiDe On My BIg GreEn TrAcTor...our adventures!

 It is March 19th today, and the high was around 75 degrees in Cleveland...wonderful :)  One of my dreads of moving here was how we were going to handle and survive the nasty Ohio winter that everyone dreads.  So I waited...and waited...and waited, and here we are in Spring!  Yes, we had a couple of snow storms here and there, but Mother Nature has been kind to us this year.  I know she will hit us hard next year...really hard :(  

Along with the great weather, we have had some good times.  We have really enjoyed our time in Cleveland so far, and are starting to think of it as home.  Tim has an 11 week research block this summer, and there is a chance we could go do an internship in New Mexico.  It would be awesome, but I have kind of have surprised myself of how much I want to stay in Cleveland :)  Although if we went to New Mexico, we'd be closer to family!! We will probably know by the beginning of April, and we'll keep you posted. 

I am still working my nanny job.  Some days are better than others and some days I hope will never be repeated.  I am really lucky to have the job...I need to keep telling that to myself on the bad days :)  Tim and Max put up with me beautifully, more than I deserve!

Tim is working super hard with school, soccer intramurals, and most importantly primary pianist...haha!  He has had that calling since we moved here, which ROCKS!  We know it isn't going to last for much longer, which is fine, but it has been nice to have our Sundays a little more carefree than they have been in the past :)

Max's latest thing is climbing.  Climbing everywhere!  He also loves to read books.  Until recently, he wouldn't sit with me when I would try to read to him, but he is getting better.  I love to catch him sitting on the couch or in his room looking at a book all by himself :)  He is kind of a stinker too.  Sharing is not his forte right now, which isn't helping him in the friend department.  Hopefully the older he gets, he'll understand that pushing kids, and taking away their toys isn't the best way to earn brownie points :)  We love our little Max, he is growing to look like such a mini-Tim...I love it! 

I made my first successful loaf of wheat bread.  Let me clarify: I made my ONLY successful loaf of wheat bread...
Since that epic loaf, I have failed every time.  Talk about getting excited about something really quick, then just as
fast hating and cursing it.  Someday I will be able to whip up a batch of perfect bread...yes, in my dreams :)

This little man is now 19 months...

...Let's hope he has a functioning body when he hits 20 months, eh?  No,
Max does not have a disease.  This is called running into walls-tripping on everything-falling off chairs-you name it syndrome...also known as being a little boy. Oh how we love you Max!

We got to see this big guy when he dropped by Cleveland State University.  It was kind of discouraging when about 1/4 of the crowd was made up of LDS Med, Law, and Dental students from Utah (or somewhere out west)...not really true Ohio residents...haha!  Oh well, he won Ohio by 1%!!!  Whoot Whoot for Mitt :)

Oh, and we went to Washington D.C.!!!!!

It was Tim's Spring Break last week, and we decided to do something crazy like wake up at 4:00am and drive 7 hours with a 19 month old.  We loved it!  I'm not the biggest fan of long car trips, so I wasn't to excited about getting to D.C.  This one though had to be the best car trip I have ever been on!  Starting early in the morning is rough, but the only way to go-especially since Max slept a lot of it, and we didn't have to turn the A.C. on until the last hour :)  I reserved the Magicians Nephew book on cd from the library and we listened to that on the way which made the time FLY by!  I was also blessed with the task of reading Dr. Ashworth his flashcards from various subjects he's studying in Med School.  I won't mention that I slaughtered about 3/4 of the vocab, and the last 1/4 didn't even attempt to pronounce...!  We got to D.C. around 12:30pm, checked into our hotel, bought metro passes, and booked it to see the sights.  We had such a good time! 3 nights and 3 1/2 days allowed us to see a lot, but we could have spent 5 weeks there!

Max and Tim at the entrance of the Air and Space Museum.  Max flipped with all the airplanes and rocket ships.  He really didn't know what they were before the trip, but now he is obsessed to put it lightly :)

The shocked, tired, and hungry Max.  He was a champ for the most of the trip.  Poor little guy was put into the stroller way too many times.  The first day we tried with no nap...needless to say, the second day we had no choice but to lay him down for a couple of hours.  Way to go buddy, you were a great traveler :)

The Metro!  Max LOVED the "Ooo ooo."  We were super close to a Metro stop right by our hotel which made things great! Thanks for the tips Dallin :)

The White House.  I wish we could have been close to it.  About a week before we left, I was looking online how to reserve a tour, and sadly found out that we needed to reserve it 21 days in advance.  I'm sure President Obama was let down to miss the chance of meeting his biggest fans...hahaha!  It is a beautiful building  with a gorgeous front yard, I loved it!

The Washington Monument was closed because of an earth quake that moved it a couple of feet.  It was kind of a bummer to find that out, as well as the reflection pool being under construction.  Oh well...Max sure was not upset to see all of the trucks at the construction sites.  That was probably the highlight of his trip :)

This was a super cool water works in front of the Lincoln Memorial.  So Pretty!

You can't see it, but the pillar on the left is Utah!  The two best states!!!

Honest Abe and the Ashworths!

At the bottom of the Washington Monument.  Oh, I forgot to mention how awesome the weather was!!  It was sooo nice, we really lucked out!

The Capitol is HUGE!  That was probably my favorite building we saw.  It was kind of a let down to find out that the tour we scheduled didn't allow water bottles or food.  The security guards wouldn't let us bring our back pack in, so we weren't able to go inside.  I'm so glad we were able to see the outside from up close though, it is amazing.  

Yes, it is huge!

Our second day there, we found a park right by our house and brought some pizza and some very tired tourists to check it out.  Max could care less about being tired and LOVED the park.  It was in a darling neighborhood, and was perfect for our evening.  

Max taking a break from the stroller.  It was always so nice to have all of D.C. able to hear our child having to get back into his stroller.  It was not pretty. Ever.  

Outside the National Archives.  Sooo neat to see all the important documents from our Country's history.  It was pretty crowded, but it mad it kind of exciting with all the people being in awe like we were!

I know I said the Capitol was my favorite building, but that was from the outside!  The National Museum of American History was the highlight of my trip!  I loved it!  We spent our last morning there and were so impressed.  I could have spent all day in there, but my aching legs from 3 days of walking everywhere were telling me differently :)  

This was a display inside that showed Brian Boitano's ice skates from the Olympics. Tim's mom is an amazing ice skater.  So good, that she skated with Brian Boitano (I'm not sure as his partner, but I know they at least knew each of other during their skating days)!  

Tim saw a display from Watsenville, CA where he was born!  He was very proud :)

"Ooooo ooooo!"  Max loved the "traveling across America display!"  It was really neat!

...And out for the count!  We got in the car to go see the Arlington National Cemetery, and Max was out within seconds.  Sweet little guy, he was such a trooper!

On our last day we got Cafe Rio (the only one back East...I think) and found this park.  I don't even have to tell you what Max's highlight was.  He didn't eat one thing, and thought this big green tractor was the best thing he'd ever seen.  Seeing him running to the tractor and yelling, "Duhh, duhhh," was by far the best thing I've ever witnessed :)

Love this :)

Our last stop of D.C. was the Temple.  The drive there was beautiful.  It is at the top of a big hill, and seeing it from the drive below was awesome.  We're so glad we got to see it!  So pretty!

WE MADE IT!  Yes, we tried the early bird car drive again, except this time we woke up at 3:00am and were gone by 4:00!  Yes, we're insane, but what's new?!!?  We loved the time we were able to spend together as a family and the break we got!  So many fun times and memories...hopefully we can go and see another cool place soon!  Although, I think I am a little traveled out for now...!