I have never seen so much snow in my entire life

We went up to Tahoe last weekend when Aaron's mom was in town. I have never seen so much snow in my entire life. Squaw Valley had received over 670 inches of snow so far this season and they received over 167 inches the week we were there! Poor Peggy, she leaves Minnesota hoping for some California sunshine and we drag her up to a winter wonderland. We ended up driving up a night early as the weather forcast ensured road closures. Aaron went skiing for part of the day at Heavenly in South Lake Tahoe. This is a picture Aaron took, you can faintly see Lake Tahoe.

Then, Peggy watched Elsa for us one day so Aaron and I could hit the slopes. I gave up after 4 runs and will NEVER ski in a winter storm again! Most of the mountain (including the summitt)was closed with only 4 lifts open. We had to wait over 20 minutes to get on and then it was white out conditions on top. Not my kind of skiing!

At this point the winds were so crazy, I was practically skiing sideways. This is when I gave up.

Aaron went out the next day skiing when the weather was perfect. Peggy, Elsa, and I walked around Squaw Village and had fun shopping and enjoying coffee.

We stayed at this great Ski-in/Ski-out condo at the base of the hill. Thank goodness we were on the second floor because the snow came up to our window! This is out the living room window.

And, this is the roof line next to us!

Here are some other fun photos of how deep the snow is. I am glad we don't have a house up there....I can't imagine how difficult it would be to shovel/plow all the snow!

Overall, it was a fantastic trip! But, I think Peggy was thankful for a little California sunshine before she left!

Elsa 22 months

Our precious girl is 22 months old! It reminds me that I need to start planning this girl's 2 year birthday party!

She loves to help me cook

She loves to help me clean (although the way she swings the broom around, I know it is just a matter of time before she knocks something off the shelves/counter)

Favorite foods: broccoli, french fries, anything that she can dip in any sauce (french fries dipped in apple sauce), popsicles, ice cream, grapes, strawberries, mickey mouse chicken nuggets, anything covered with Nutella

Favorite games: puzzles, the tupperware shape ball, ring around the rosie (which she calls "ashes, ashes")-- She is quite funny with ring around the rosie because if anyone is in the house, she wants them to play. One day she came up to me saying "ashes, ashes" and when I went to play with her, she started screaming for Brittany and dad to join in. So, we all did several rounds of ashes, ashes in our living room. She also loves stacking blocks, coloring, blowing/chasing bubbles, and climbing on ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING!

Favorite Books: Clifford Animal Noises, Bible Stories for Little Girls, You are Special, Goodnight Moon

She loves saying "cheers" and clanging her cup to our cups. Although once she knocked my glass of milk over and made quite the mess.

Bathtime is a lot of fun. She loves to kick and splash and blow bubbles. She will not get out of the tub until every last drop of water is down the drain...even then, she still wants to play.

And, thanks to Brittany, she is a huge fan of Beyonce. Brittany introduced her to the You Tube video of "all the single ladies". Now Elsa goes around the house shaking her hands in the air singing "oh, oh, oh...oh oh oh".

She LOVES cows! The neighborhood we live on is bordered by these huge pastures owned by a rancher. He lets the cattle roam and we often here the cows even inside our house. Anytime Elsa sees or hears the cows she starts mooing. The other day she was walking down the street with Grandma Anderson and kept mooing. I think we may need to buy a cow in Wisconsin. She also does moew, roof, and roars for anything else (lamb, dinosaur, you name it)

Hasn't gotten too big for cuddling! Her kisses have gotten alot more interesting. She will face us and grab on to our cheeks with her hand and then press her face hard into ours. It sometimes hurts, but it is so cute!

When she fluffs (our name for fart) she will giggle and then put her fingers over her nose and say pee-eww.

Still very much a momma's girl. I think a lot of it is that when I am home after being gone all day all she wants is to be with me. But, if Aaron leaves the room, she will call out "Daddy" then turn her hands over in disbelief and say "Where'd he go?"

Is quite the comedian and will so all kinds of silly things to get us to laugh! Like put two nuks in her mouth at the same time.....

or, pull her zipper down on her PJ's and and show us her belly button.

Ok, looking back at all the pictures, I am sure you are all wondering if she owns any real clothes, or we just dress her in pajamas... Here is one from Lake Tahoe with dad after he went skiing. And, she is sporting her new haircut (by mom....note her crooked bangs, the girl would not sit still!)

Wedding Bells!!

My cousin Rachel is engaged! They came up to Napa while they were in San Francisco on business and Phillip proposed. Her ring is gorgeous and they are so much in love!

She arranged a private tasting at an estate vineyard, Sodaro. It was a unique experience as they only bottle around 1300 cases. We enjoyed cheese and wine in the cellar after hearing about how the vineyard was started.

Monterrey

We barely unpacked from our week in Green Bay and headed to Monterrey with our friends Ann and Mike and their little boy Jacob (Elsa's first kiss...LOL). The weather was beautiful and we spent time strolling the beach, driving through Carmel and admiring million dollar homes (only $3800/square foot...geez, where do some of these people get that money?), and going to the aquarium.

Elsa is so funny with Jacob. The Alexander's gave us a photo Christmas card and ever since it arrived in the mail, Elsa walks all over the house just carrying it, pointing to Jacob, and then hugging the card. I told Ann that we need to have another one so I can put it on the fridge as the one Elsa has been loving on is all crumpled up!

Big Changes Happening

Just when we thought we were all settled....

As many of you know last year at this time, I was busy interviewing with many practices and after not finding "that perfect one" decided to stay in the military. They moved us to California, we bought a house, and were getting settled in our lives. Unfortunately, we started to second guess our decision. My position at this base is completely different than what I did in England. I went from treating patients to teaching residents how to do the procedures and watching them have all the fun. Even though teaching is rewarding in its own way, I really started to miss operating! And, lots of promises that were made by the military started to fizzle (no bonus that would make up for the pay disparity of private practice, increased risk of deployment to Afghanistan, frustrations with the military way, etc). In addition, one of the big reasons for us staying in was to have a family. But, after several rounds of fertility treatments and no luck, we really started to weigh why we were staying in.

I started casually looking for a practice and came across this incredible opportunity in Green Bay. They flew all three of us out to Green Bay and made me an offer the next week. We are thrilled! Although it was funny as we were driving around and exploring the city, Aaron kept chuckling and saying "I can't believe we might move to Green Bay!" But, it truely offerred everything we were looking for: mid-size city, great Catholic school options, Catholic university, outdoor recreation, great practice. And, no, we will not be wearing Cheeseheads quite yet (babysteps!)

We enjoyed my interview week. Both of our families drove into town to see us. Elsa got to meet her new cousin, Evie. It was funny watching her with the baby! Anytime Evie cried, Elsa was right there. She loved to help wipe her face and to hold the bottle. It will be so nice to be close to family! Andi's parents live in nearby Stevens Point, so we will definitely be seeing a lot of them! Aaron's Godparents, Tom and Pam also live in Green Bay so we spent some time with them too!

The practice put us up in a hotel with an indoor water park. Elsa loves the pool! They had a great area for little kids and she had a blast playing with Dad and the grandparents while I was off interviewing!

My contract with a bottle of wine from a local vineyard that we were saving for a special occasion. My separation paperwork was submitted the next day and I begin at BayCare on Sept 15th!!