Multi-Tasking at its Finest

I was cooking dinner.

Dave was keeping Landon occupied with the infamous air-somersaults.

I was quizzing Dave on muscles.

Dave was flipping the study cards over as my hands were busy/dirty....

I finished dinner.

Dave learned 20 new muscles.

We all ate. And enjoyed. 

And that is how Dave will become a doctor without our family starving.

Ho, Ho, Ho

We're back from Oregon. We had a great time visiting with our family. All 10 of us kids were there, first time in a long time. It was really great. It was so fun to see everyone! Here are a few random pictures from our trip...


Landon LOVED sledding.


Dave didn't mind it too much either


This may be animal cruelty, but I dare you to take a kitty away from an otherwise screaming child. Now THAT is cruelty.


Ever since Ariana was in a car accident, she's always done this weird squatting thing, seriously, every time you turn around this is how she's standing/crouching, I had to catch it on camera.


There's something wrong when your child makes those boots look better than you do.

White Coat Ceremony

Sorry it's been a little while since I last posted. My computer broke and that darn Dave for some reason needs his at school, so I'm computerless. Needless to say, this post is a little overdue....

Dave recently had his white coat ceremony. And it's just as it sounds. He got a white coat. At a ceremony. Who knew that getting a white coat was such a big deal? Well now you and I do. It's apparently your official induction into the health care profession. It was a really nice ceremony. But for Dave, it was extra special. I'll let the pictures portray the transformation for themselves....

Presenting the Old, Boring David Martell....


Notice the darkness that surrounded the old David Martell

And the light that encompasses the New & Improved David MITCHELL




In honor of the new & improved student doctor David Mitchell, I thought it only appropriate to articulate what this change has brought into David's life and the new skills he has acquired...


A dancer


A musician


A beautician


Amazing super-human strength (what, you think just anyone can hang from a tree like that?)


And last, but DEFINITELY not least, he can now slip in and out of Hook character at the drop of a hat

Friendships

Lately I've been hearing a lot of people talk about how it's difficult to make friends when you move to new places. I just don't get that. We moved to Arizona about 6 months ago and it really hasn't been hard at all. I guess I just don't understand why people have that hard of a time making friends. It seems pretty simple to me. So, since it apparently seems to be harder for others than for me, I'll share my good fortune and pass along my infinite wisdom on the subject (free of charge):

Step 1: Have a Baby
Step 2: Make sure the Baby you have is really cute
Step 3: Direct that Baby in the direction of those with whom you would like to become BFFs
Step 4: Allow your Baby a few minutes to work his magic on your soon-to-be BFFs
Step 5: Casually walk over to your Baby and unsuspecting victim and nonchalantly begin to lure them into conversation with you.
Step 6: If they appear to be bored with the topic of conversation, offer to allow them to hold said Baby and talk about the Baby until you have their full attention once more
Step 7: Repeat steps 3-6 as often as needed to gain the friendships of your new BFFs


If by chance you are unable/unwilling to properly execute Steps 1&2 I will allow you to borrow this Baby (for a nominal fee) as he has proven himself very capable of the task at hand.

Amazing House Guests

So our thanksgiving was fabulous. We had a lot of great family here who understood my incapacity to properly cook a tasteful Thanksgiving dinner, so they did what any good-hoping-to-eat-some-edible-food people would do-they cooked it themselves. They were wonderful!!! It was great and I'm hoping to lure them all back here again next year because it was SO much fun and they were such great cooks (not to mention the amazing cleaner-uppers).

The downfall was the HUGE messes to clean up....

I mean, seriously, was it too much to ask just one of our guests to be responsible to watch our child (and clothe him)?

And really, how did it go unnoticed that our children weren't really sleeping at all?

So, if our lovely guests could please watch our children a little more attentively next time, that would be just great...

How was your Thanksgiving?

Super Heroes

Just a few short thoughts for tonight...

Super heroes are great, aren't they? There have been a few super heroes in my life...

My dad has always been a super hero of mine. He always saw the good in me, and made sure to remind me of it.

During my teenage years, there was an older man in our ward. Every time he saw me he would call me "Beautiful" and give me a hug. He made me feel beautiful.

My husband who makes me feel beautiful now.

My mission companions who loved me despite my shortcomings, my many, many shortcomings.

My siblings who always accept and love me the way I am.

Speaking of super heroes, check out these bad boys....

(Pay no attention to the clothe-less child, this was in between changing of the clothes-for the millioneth time that day)

Today my friend Shelly was kind enough to patiently help me make some "super hero" capes for my boys. Izak insisted his be red like Superman and Landon's be black like Batman. I'm excited to make them their masks to go with it...

I love Super Heroes!

My Heart was Broken...

...for the little six year old boy that was being verbally abused in the store. Who was told that his parents' hoped his leg was broken. Who was berated over and over for a wrong doing.
My Heart was Angered...
...for the little boy when he was physically harmed and had a mark on his face five minutes later to show for it.
My Heart was Sad...
....when I saw the person standing right next to him turn around and face the other direction until the scene was over.

My Heart was Pounding...
...when I confronted the man and woman and while trying to empathize with the frustrations that sometimes come with children, also explaining to them at the same time that it is never okay to abuse your child. That abuse is against the law.
My Heart was Outraged...
...when the man replied by telling me that the boy got what he deserved. And then the man expounded on that by saying he would've killed him if they hadn't have been in the store.
My Heart was Racing...
...when the couple started verbally attacking me with profanity, screaming, and very close proximity to my face.

And then my heart was shocked...
...when a lady came up and told me that I wasn't setting a good example for my children by causing the scene. And then the man that helped me out with my groceries informed me that I shouldn't have handled it in such a way.

And I pondered this in my heart all the way home and all afternoon...how it was that I was treated as if I had caused a scene. How the employees quickly rushed me out of the store so as to not cause anymore disturbance. How I was told that I had done wrong. How I was made to feel embarassed for my actions.

But I am not embarassed. And as long as the safety of me or my children are not in jeopardy, I will continue to give voice to those children that don't have a voice. I will not allow the fear of others' actions to dictate my actions.