The Start of Something Wonderful

Today was Brad's white coat ceremony at the University of Kentucky's College of Medicine. This is a special ceremony they do for the new entering medical students where they receive their white student doctor coats and they recite an oath of professionalism. First the Dean of Medicine spoke and I really enjoyed his speech. He talked about how learning should be a lifelong process and that if you really are trying to strive for perfection and to be the best doctor you can be for your patients then you should always be striving to learn more. He also talked about gaining the respect of your colleagues and of your patients. He said that respect takes a lifetime to build and just one moment to lose. Anyways, he said a lot more but those were a few of my favorite points that he made.
Then the Dean of Admissions spoke and she talked about the entering class and their academic excellence and also the different talents and skills they took note of during the admissions process. She started by reminding the class that they were the 113 people chosen out of over 2,000 applicants and out of over the 400 who were interviewed. It always makes me so thankful, humble, and amazed to hear those numbers because I know that Brad was meant to be here at this school right now and it was through the Lord's blessing that we are here and I am so grateful.
This year was the 50th Anniversary of the College of Medicine at the University of Kentucky so they had an alumni come from each graduating class since 1960 come to participate in the ceremony. The alumni were the ones who presented the new students with their white coats. Here is the video of Brad receiving his white coat--

After receiving their white coats they then all stood and said their oath of professionalism. And then there was a reception with food and stuff afterwords. It was all really nice and I am so happy for Brad to have this opportunity. Brad--I am so proud of you!

Together after the ceremony. (Aiden looks like he is sneering. haha)

Brad shaking hands with the Dean of Medicine after receiving his white coat. (Sorry for the bad pic quality I didn't realize that Aiden had smudged the lens.)

My two handsome boys. I love you both so much!

Happy Birthday, Love!

So Jessie's birthday was just a couple of days ago on July 28th. She officially turned 22. We were able to celebrate with Brent and Meagan and their family. They came over that night for cake and ice cream and the kids played for a little while. We went out for her birthday dinner to a seafood place close to our house. Jessie had been there before with her mom and sister and loved it, so we decided to head out there again. The food was great. We had a fun evening as a family. I am such an incredibly blessed man to have such an amazing woman as my wife and mother to our son! I love you, Jessie! Thank you for marrying me.

Kentucky

Ok, so our first week in Kentucky has been full of unpacking, fixing, buying, moving, replacing items, making trips to Wal-Mart, running errands, making more trips to Wally World, heading to campus, hanging out with the Zastrow family, and more unpacking. After all the running around, though, I think we are finally all moved in and settled down. I had to run down to campus yesterday to take care of some financial aid issues and to pick up my new student ID, so we took advantage of the time and went as a family and looked around part of campus for a little bit. It is a beautiful campus and it only made us more excited to be here in Lexington. School starts on August 2, so it's only a short week and a half away. I never really thought it would actually come, especially during all the hassles of applying for schools. Jessie and I really feel that this is where we are supposed to be. The school and the College of Medicine especially have such a great atmosphere.
Our little townhouse if perfect for the three of us. It's big enough to fit us and all of our stuff, and it's in a great part of the city. Lucky for us, a good amount of the members in our ward live within just a few blocks of where we're at. Apparently so many members live around here that the missionaries call it Little Utah. Oh, and we love our ward. The members that we met on Sunday were amazing, and a lot of them are students or residents. Dental students, medical students, medical residents, oral surgery residents...and a LOT of them are actually from Idaho. Who would've thought! Anyway, we'll post up some pictures and write more later. Go Wildcats!...and GO COUGARS!

The part of campus where I'll be spending a LOT of my time.

Memorial Hall

Aiden and Mommy in the living room.

Aiden doing what he does so well as of late...walking!

Aiden and the car.

Aiden Turned 1!

About a week or so before we left we got to celebrate our little boy's first birthday. He is growing up so fast. He is now running around everywhere and only crawls if he trips and is in a real hurry to get somewhere. He is so smart and curious about everything. Jessie and I are so blessed to have such a happy, healthy, and smart young boy. We love you, Aiden!

One of the rare occasions where I was able to get Aiden to fall asleep.

We found out that corn on the cob is literally one of Aiden's new favorite foods...but it has to be on the cob.

Aiden also loves his new car! We have already spent hours pushing him around in circles.

Aiden and his birthday cake. He didn't eat too much. He was more tired than hungry.

We Miss North Idaho

The whole Alan Griffitts Family, grandchildren and all

Well, the time has finally come. We have now been in Kentucky for a little over a week. We are very excited to be here and to move on with medical school and life down here, but we are definitely going to miss the time we were able to spend in North Idaho. We had a lot of fun and made a lot of good memories. Here are a couple of pictures that were taken over the last couple months with everyone home. Thank you to everyone that helped us out during our stay there and for all of your support. We love and miss you all.

Aiden playing with his cousins Coen and Atlas, loving the bubbles.

Sitting at the kiddy table with Emmy.

Playing Scum with the Family and Mike D. Goody joined us for a while, too.

The girls all waiting out for the midnight showing of the new Twilight movie.

The Ladies!

The boys...

Panic Plunge at Silverwood. It was actually pretty crazy!

Aiden and Daddy on the Silverwood train. Aiden got to see a real life train robbery...sort of.

Daddy and Aiden going down the slide at Silverwood.

Aiden at Boulder Beach waterpark...love his camo hat. It says 'Young Buck'.

We're HERE!

Ok, quick post. No pictures this time around. We haven't really been able to take any yet...but they will come. We made it to Lexington all safe and sound and are now unpacked and moved into our new place. It has been great to get here and start making Lexington our new home, and having Brent, Meagan, and their family here has made the transition so much easier. We are definitely happy and excited for things to started going. We love you all and miss you more than you could know. Thank you for your support and love.

Summertime

It has once again been a while since we have posted...But summer is finally here in Coeur d'Alene! It has been cold and rainy for sooo long, but it is finally in the 70's and 80's almost everyday. And with summertime has come vacation time and family time.

Brad and I went to Seattle about a month ago to see his best friend Chris Goodwin get married. Brad has been friends with Chris his whole life and then we also became really good friends with his fiance and now wife-Tiffany. Chris had been attending West Point in NY and so they have had to wait to get married for quite a while until he graduated. So, it was so wonderful and happy to see them get married in the Seattle temple and get the chance to go to their reception. It was also fun for Brad and I to have a little family trip together and to just get out of the house for a while and go somewhere new. I had never been to Seattle and Brad hadn't been in a long time. So, the day after the wedding we went to Pike's Market and had lunch on the pier before we headed back home. We wanted to explore Seattle a little longer but it was pretty cold and rainy outside so we decided to just head home.

And now we have a full house here at the Griffitts home. Brad's sister Meagan along with her husband and three kids got here about a week ago and we are having fun spending time with them. Brad's other sister Tawni and her husband and little baby boy are also arriving here this week so it is going to be busy here, but tons of fun! This weekend is the Iron Man in Coeur d'Alene and then the next weekend is the Fourth of July! So, there is going to be a lot of playing outside, grilling, and family time. We are so happy we get to have this time before we leave for Kentucky.

We are leaving for Kentucky on July 10th! So, we only have about 2 weeks until we leave! I am so excited to get to our new home and to be back in the South. I have decided that when we get there I am going to take horseback riding lessons. I have always loved horses and I have always wanted to take lessons and well, there is no better place than Kentucky to get the opportunity to be around horses.

And for an Aiden update...

His new talent is making animal noises. He knows how to make the sound for a cow and a duck. We are working on other animals, but at the moment when we ask him what a kitty says (or any other animal) he replies with a quack! So, we are working on that.
He is almost walking. He walks to me and Brad and to Gigi and Poppi and he attempts to walk to get to toys sometimes, but he is not cruising around everywhere. But I am in no rush to try to get him to walk because first of all I found out that the crawling phase for babies is super important and that if they don't crawl for very long they can have developmental issues later. I found out that since when they crawl they are switching between using the right and left sides of their body it is important in developing connections between the left and right side of the brain. And second of all, it will mean he is more mobile and independent and more into things :) So I am in no rush for him to walk even though I know it will be soon.

He also loves his baths. He always has, but lately every day he will just sit there and excitedly say ba, ba, ba, which means bath. This happens especially after dinner times because he knows that is usually bath time. It is so darn cute that I have found myself giving him a bath every night this week! Usually we give him one just every other day or every two days, but I can't resist his cuteness and how much fun he has in the bath.

That is all for now! Here are some recent pictures...

Perfect weather for a family bike ride around the lake.

The girls playing cards.

All the grandkids in their new pajamas from Gigi.

Aiden and Brad playing outside. Note his excited face above that has become famous in the Griffitts house.

Aiden eating bark off the tree.

Being a goober.

Aiden's favorite hobby--taking all of the DVDs off the shelf.

Hangin outside on a beautiful day.

We walked around downtown Coeur d'Alene and Aiden wanted to jump in the water.

Aiden having deep thoughts in his high chair...

Aiden being Aiden :)

I love his big beautiful eyes.