Happy 2nd Birthday Boys!!!

Cole Levi Kelly and Carson Michael Kelly - 2 months old

Laughing and playing with Daddy

Smiley boys!

Happy Cole

Sweet Carson

These boys love to swim!

A week before their first Christmas

Getting around...

Ready to play!

All on their best behaviors...

Hanging out

Sweet boys

Catching some ZZZZzzzzz's

Ready for their first day at church

Little men

Already loving being a Mommy of three

Precious moments

Marcus is pretty proud of his little brothers

Two years ago today you were born...Wow, I can't believe how fast time has gone by. You are both an amazing joy to our family, and we are so thankful to be your parents. God has truly blessed us with three sweet boys to love and call our sons.

Carson your smile just lights up our days, we love how you like to learn and have no fear of exploring new things. Cole you always know how to make us laugh, you are always in motion and keeping us on our toes, we love your joy for life and your sweet spirit. Even at this young age you both have such caring natures and like to take care of one another as well as big brother Marcus. I just love it when one of you brings a blankie to the other when he is either upset or hurting... Long before you were even born I was praying that God would give you tender hearts, to be loving, and compassionate little boys. God is so good! August 3, 2006 will forever be etched in our minds...we love you beyond words.  Happy 2nd Birthday!!!

Moving/Packing Progress...

House plan 1
House plan 2
House plan 3
Sleepy artist (but definitely not starving)

I'm just taking a quick break from packing to post a few cute pictures that I noticed Marcus has been busy working on in his room. Do you think someone is just a little bit excited to move? He's been drawing houses for weeks now.

Yes, the real packing frenzy begins!!! Just kidding, it's really going very smoothly and I'm getting a LOT done. Levi is going to move a ton of boxes (packed) out to the garage for me this afternoon, and we'll get a better idea of how much we have left to do. I started feeling a little nervous last night just about everything going smoothly and coming together ok, but I know everything will be fine. Maybe it's more of just the overwhelming feeling of all that will take place in the next 5 days. Oh yeah, and throw in 2 birthdays for our babies on Sunday! I can't believe Carson and Cole will be two years old already. Not that they care or understand, but I promised them that next year they would have their first birthday celebration that won't be scheduled around moving! Yeah! Daddy will be gone in Sioux City, IA doing hearts for 4 weeks over their birthday next year, but we'll schedule something fun...maybe we'll meet him in Omaha for the weekend and go to the zoo there.

Wow...my mind is kind of scatterbrained so I'm probably not making a much sense. I better stop writing and just post these cute pic's. If you notice the one where Marcus is sleeping there are no sheets or comforter? Yep, that's because I already packed it. He giggles every time I tell him to go get in bed. He says, " you mean my sleeping bag on my mattress?" The boys probably feel like the house is closing in around them, they've been living out of their duffle bags (since their clothes are already packed) for several days now...Mom and I were joking that I might have them in their car seats ready to go by tomorrow night! :) Ok, enough. Over and Out.

Last Day of Lab

Levi doing an intubation

Levi and his lab instructor/professor Linda
Carrie and Anne Marie (Levi's lab group)

Marcus and Daddy
Levi and his boys
This is Marty...the patient simulator
Cute isn't he?

The semester is winding down for Levi, but he has several tests between now and next Friday. I'm praying that it is a smooth week for him, and that he can focus as much as possible. I'm sure it's hard when I'm literally packing up the house all around him! :)Today happened to be his last day in lab...which means it was his last day working on a patient simulator. From here on out it is live patients! (Do we have any volunteers?)

Seriously though, having a patient simulator has been a HUGE benefit for Levi and his classmates.  There are a lot of CRNA schools who do not have one because they cost so much. His name is Marty, and basically he can do anything or show any responses that a human can. They run various anesthesia cases on him and have learned a lot from this plastic little man...that's my short version of what he is used for.

It will be great for Levi to have two weeks off before clinical rotations start. It will be a well deserved and much anticipated break for him, and us. We will just take that time to get moved into our new home and help the boys to get settled. There will be many new adjustments for all three boys, with all three sharing a room for the first time, the twins sleeping in big boy beds for the first time, Marcus getting used to a top bunk, and having lots of friends around to play with.

These are exciting times for our family, and it's amazing to see how quickly the last year has gone by. We had a CRNA class/family picnic last night, which was a lot of fun. It seems we are not the only ones who think this year just flew by. Everyone seemed a bit nervous for rotations to start, but at the same time they are ready for the change.

Weekend Fun and Packing

The Kelly boys with Grandma and Papa Kelly

Boys + Dirt = FUN!!
Papa and Carson
Getting help from Daddy
Marcus and Papa
Cole getting shown how it's done

Marcus
Carson
Cole

This weekend we've enjoyed having Grandma and Papa Kelly here to visit. We've had a mix of fun, and a mix of packing...you know, the beginning stages of packing where you are a little overwhelmed and aren't certain where to start. Well, we managed to wrap and pack away all of our pictures and decorations, which is a big job. We also have a few other items that Jim and Terri will be taking back with them on Tuesday. I can feel myself getting in the groove of getting things done...which is a good place to be when you are moving to another state in less than 2 weeks.

Tonight we went out to dinner and then took the kids to a park to play. Of course they had a good time and got completely dirty like all little boys should. I think they were pretty worn out after their baths, as no one argued when it was bedtime. :)

I found myself welling up with tears a bit this morning in church...thinking about what a blessing this place, this town, this time, has been for us in so many ways. It was good to live together as a family of 5 and see the twins grow from babies to toddlers, and to see all the new things Marcus is learning. It was also such a good year for our marriage, a time to draw closer to one another, and more importantly to God, more than ever before. All that being said, we are so ready to move to Kirksville to be close/closer to friends and family again. God continues to be opening doors and leading the way, and we praise Him for all the many good things He has done.

Good Times...and tons of pic's

The Kiddo's

Cade and Marcus

Cole
Fun in the sun

The boys

Checking out the flamingo's


The Zoo lady showing the kids some neat things
Feeding the animals

Sweet Payton
Cute Cade
Carson and Marcus...Cole is to BUSY to pose for a picture...so he's off doing his own thing.
Sweet Carson

Wow, we had a very busy and FUN past few days! Jen, Payton, and Cade came up on Sunday night and stayed until this morning. We sure packed in a lot of fun things in just two short days, considering the little guys still napped normally...when they were awake we were definitely on the go! Marcus was just on cloud nine that the kids were here and SO enjoyed every minute. On Monday we took the kids to the park for the morning, then in the afternoon we went to the waterpark for several hours. My boys have never been to a waterpark so they were just in awe of the place, and LOVED playing in the toddler pool area and going on waterslides. In fact, the twins did the same small waterslide for 3 hours straight...I think Carson could be voted least likely to be abducted and least likely to disobey the rules, as he lets out a very high pitched squeal and screams "NO" if someone even looks at him (who he doesn't know) or if a kid pushes him or cuts in front of him in line. It was pretty funny! He's definitely the most aggressive and adventureous of all the boys. Cole takes a little time to warm up to new things, but eventually jumps right in and joins the fun. Marcus did great and even ventured into the lazy river with Mommy, Jen, Payton, and Cade. He really liked it,but in one part he said he felt like he was in a car wash. Then later he went in an older kids area to play and ride waterslides with Jen, Payton, and Cade. Payton and Cade have been to several waterparks so they are pretty much naturals at it and nothing intimidates them! Payton even went down the steepest fastest waterslide they had, all by herself. I'm sure Cade would have been right there too if he had been two inches taller! By the time we got home around 8 pm we were pretty much wiped out...but we pressed on, showered, put the kids to bed, and Jen and I went to see a late movie while Levi stayed home with the kids and watched the Home Run derby and studied. It was a very late night...but when you don't get to see each other much, you make the most of your time! True friends are hard to find, but God has blessed us with friends like these...the kind who know you so well as to know all of your faults (and I have a laundry list of them), and they love you anyway.

Tuesday we all went to the zoo, miniature golfed, went out for Mexican dinner, and played at Falls Park. All the kids really enjoyed climbing on the rocks and running around.

It was a sad goodbye today as our friends left to go home. Payton and Cade are so sweet and so good with our boys, it was a joy to have them all here. Levi, Jen, and I enjoyed our time together catching up and visiting.