Thanks to the Gordons...

Liz and I were able to see the show Stomp at the Planet Hollywood the other night, and it was SWEET! We sat front row of this huge theater and were blown away (literally and figuratively) with the performance. My Aunt Marcie and Uncle Darrin Gordon were up for a business thing and couldn't use the tickets that the company provided for them so they hooked us up, big time!!! Eli missed his mamma while we were gone and the babysitter had to earn her money! It was great to take a break from studying for Finals and do something out of the ordinary.

WARNING!!! Extreme Cuteness!

The 'adults' won these glasses at Peter Piper Pizza the night before (PARTY!!) and I had a vision of this exact picture as we redeemed our tickets for these pop bottle glasses that were in the glass case-o-prizes. We love our Eli boy! His age is so fun right now. He is doing his CHEESE face where he slides his jaw to one side. That white thing in the left (his left) of his mouth is a molar.

Future DMD

Elijah digging out back in Grandpa's flower bed (no flowers were harmed). He's such a ham.

I had to make up for that last Halloween picture. Here is a better representation of Elizabeth's heart-stopping beauty. And that is a freshly picked rose (take notes boys) in her ear from yours trully. HUBBA-HUBBA!

MOMMY SPOILS ME!!!




You can't go wrong w/ the 'ol HOT DOG AND MUSTARD number for Halloween!

Why we haven't been able to pull our troops out of Iraq

This was not staged. This was an actual video shot in Iraq, at a U.S.-led training facility. Pretty funny/ sad huh?

2nd annual Indio,CA Trip

I, and five other buddies, went to the rural Palm Springs area over this last weekend to 'get our hands wet' doing some dental work. We were all able to do some pretty interesting procedures and watch some really great dentists in action. It was well worth the drive and gas money. Here's a quick link to the write-up in the local paper if you're interested. I'm the one on the left, partially covered by the assistant.
http://www.mydesert.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071106/NEWS01/711060322/1006/news01

We also had Miriam and Spencer come up for the weekend. Catherine and Chloe came up as well, driving separate. Liz and Elijah really enjoyed their company over the weekend while I was gone. The Tackett girls will be here until tomorrow and Chloe is so dang cute. It's been great to have some family up in LV!


This was the line at 7 am when we showed up! If you look close, you can see the line snaking around the corner and into the parking lot.

Circus Time!!

Martha E. and Elijah D. went to a small, local circus the other weekend and had a great time. Liz said Elijah could not take his eyes off the animals when they were under the tent watching the show. Liz got Elijah's face painted, they ate popcorn, saw the animals... all while I'm stuck at school studying on a Saturday! Messed up huh? Just kidding, I'm glad they were able to have so much fun. Oh yeah,... Elijah hates clowns.

Mean mommy!!!!

Sunday afternoon B.R.

Nothing beats the Sunday afternoon Bike Ride. So we finally found a bike trailer on Craigs. for Elijah and... he pretty much hates it! I think is is related to how much he abhors his car seat right now. You know... the straps and what-not. On the return route, he wiggled his arms out of the straps and tried to stand up and then cried the rest of the way after we told him to sit down. He is so independent now.

On that note, we are dealing with pre-nursery Eli at church and it is no easy task! It's hard enough during SS and the class we teach, but Sac. is a whole different ball of wax! The kid is non-stop. Liz and I could only laugh because the last couple of weeks, he has been acting so crazy during that hour, I'm sure people think we hop him up on sugar or something. Anyone have any toddler-sacrament activities that we could give a go?

p.s. don't hate us because we have the coolest beach cruisers this side of the Mississippi.

post weight-loss challenge

Hallelujah, the challenge is over. For those of you who don't know, for the last two months I have been competing in a dental school weight loss challenge with 33 of my classmates. We were in groups of 3 and we put some $ in a pot for the winning team. We gave it our all, and came in 6th out of 11! Weak huh? I know. My concious is clear becuase I worked my tail off and lost 20 lbs. My body fat % went from 11.9 (I know this seems very low as a starting % for me, but our professor took my caliper measurements twice) to a 10.7. I will be returning to my Panda's Express mistress for lunches and late night "you deserve it" meals ASAP.

Sorry, you don't get to see any before and after pics. I didn't take any, and I wouldn't put them on here anyhow! That's about all that is going on in LV for now. Sorry we're a little dull latley!

nothin' going on

Liz took this rare picture of Elijah sleeping (outside his crib) using her phone when they came to visit the other day. He is so dang cute, and it was just what I needed to keep up the drudgery of my studies.

Not a whole lot else is going on out of the ordinary.

The other day I thought our pipes were busted behind our shower so I got my circular saw out and cut a huge hole in the fiberglass shower surround, only to find out the repair only required me to replace the valve... accessible from the front of the shower. So now we have some waterproof duct-tape holding part of our shower together, but our shower works great!

Year one DOWN!!!!

Dental School is easy. ha ha ha...



So we headed straight to Martha's grandparents cabin after my Friday final... final and we had a great time at the Markham family reunion. We Nevadans were reminded of what water falling out of the sky looks like, I think everyone callied it rAIn, or perhaps 'wrane', I'm not too sure. It was the craziest thing we had ever seen. Yeah, I know, it made everything on the ground wet, and not dusty and sun-scorched! A good time was had by all.

Goings on

Not a lot to report. I'm in the thick of finals, with the worst behind me/us.

That's right... it's a mohawk, and he's lovin' every minute of it! Sorry Grandma(s)!



A cool photo of my red hot smokin' wife (Talledega Nights) taken while Elijah was trying to round up some of his homeboys on the mobile.




This was my first offical, bonified, scheduled patient. It was an awesome experience and I was super-nervous. I did a cleaning. He was a cool first.

This is what yer face looks like w/o any skin and stuff on it!!

So I just did this waxing project and we don't really have anything else to post so I thought I would throw it up and hopefully freak some people out a little. It took me about 10 hours cumulatively. I waxed (using a flame and waxing instruments) the muscles in red and they are the 'muscles of mastication' (chewing) except for the ones associated w/ the eye, and then the extensive nerve networks in yellow (that don't show up very well) and then the arteries which are also in red. Oh yeah, I cut the mandible a little to show the inside nerves and stuff (where I will be sticking most of you with really sharp needles). ha ha.

Babysitter

Thanks to all friends and family that have helped out with Elijah but this was his first official babysitter! Katie is in our Sunday school class that we teach. After the movie and frozen yogurt and paying Katie, we realized why our dates are only annually... Yes I painted our house yellow, which the picture does not flatter, but it is actually very cute and cozy. I got ancy for a project one day which was to Steve's surprise when he got home from a long day at school.

Eli and friend Brooklyn playing in our fancy indoor pool.
chunky buns
Eli's got a mean wind up.
Dirt ball.
Elijah's long hair before the summer buzz.

... becuase you wouldn't get your hair cut by somebody with ugly hair... RIGHT?!!

So here it is.... I got my braces on today from a local Dr. here in Vegas. Palatal expander and all. I've already had braces, but that was done while I was in Joseph City/ Holbrook (enough said), so now I get to have it done again... when I'm an adult... and it will hurt twice as much since my bones have quit growing. I talk kind of funny and I am reminded of how sharp the dang brackets are on my cheeks, but oh well. Liz thinks I'm hot.

Elijah Walking!!!

I think we can make it offical and say that Eli is walking (walking > crawling). It's so awesome to see him walk, even though he still wipes out a lot.

Also, you will notice the table tennis racquet (ping pong paddle (for the novice)) in his hand. I'm not pressuring him at this point, but I'm just letting it become comfortable in his hand. As you can see he's already integrating it into his walking, so I think he's progressing well.

Elijah is also getting his molars in, and switching to the one-nap-per-day, so if anyone would like to come up and help Liz graft her hair back into her head (she's pulling her hair out... get it?) we would appreciate it.

Noah in Nevada!!

This past week we had Noah home with us and it was simply magical. Liz and Noah were able to spend a lot of time together and I spent as much time at home as possible when I didn't absolutely have to be at school. We got a babysitter one night and took Noah to the Strip where we rode the roller coaster at the New York, New York and saw the sights. It was such a fun outing for us all. The trip couldn't have gone any better. Now we miss him even more though. Funny how that works. WE LOVE YOU NOAH T.!!

Elijah gives sweet kisses.

Udall Flagstaff Family Reunion

Lee Kenyon Udall. THE LEGEND

So I was able to ditch school this last Friday and we went down to Flagstaff, AZ for a little Udall Family reunion. It was great. We had Noah meet us up there, and we rode the ski lift up Snowbowl, saw the Lowell observatory, rode mountain bikes, played games and stayed in some great cabins.

Noah actually came back with us to Vegas, yeah... you heard right... we are soaking up this time with him since we have been looking forward to it for so, so, so long. I will be slacking my study duties this week to spend as much time at home with mi familia as possible.

Ode to Steve

Happy Father's Day!!
So I know I'm a little early but I'm still in Mesa and trying to utilize my computer time before we take off. We don't have internet in our home. (you know how it is, living the student life) That's why Steve does all the blog entries while he's at school "studying". So, sorry about the blog update overload.

His good looks give me some handsome boys.

Steve is an amazing dad. He works hard for his family and we sincerely appreciate him. I love his enthusiasm for fatherhood. Our boys are so blessed to have you. They want to say thanks for all the love you show them. We love you dad!

I have some great pics of Steve teaching Noah to ride a bike and skateboard. I wish I could share them but they are from 35mm. Steven has taught Noah so much. To tie his shoes, to read, whistle,.. the list goes on. What would we do with out our dad. I know he loves every minute of it and I look forward to seeing it all again and again.

All the kids love him.

Catching up w/ some old friends

Sarah Skinner and Dominic Luzi wedding.
Sarah, you looked beautiful and everything was perfect.

Liz and Alexis in her cute house.

I had a fun trip to Lake Powell to see Sarah's wedding. I made a stop along the way to see Alexis in Wickenberg. Mom, thanks for watching Elijah. This was my first time away from him. I got emotional but overall, it was pretty nice I must admit. The wedding was a blast and it was fun to catch up with some old friends there.

Elijah, representing UNLV. Go Rebels. Dad is so proud.

Elijah and Cohen