Thursday, April 24, 2014

Happy Birthday, Y'all

Believe it or not, Zach, Allie, Sara, and Matt all celebrated birthdays this past year!  I'm sort of playing catch up here and thought I would post all of the kids' birthday photos in one place.  

First, Zach turned 12 in October!


And Allie turned 7 in March!


Then Sara turned 4 in April!


And finally, Matt turned 11 also in April!


HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO Y'ALL

Friday, February 28, 2014

It's the most wonderful time of year!

Well, it's that time of year again.  Yes, it's the most wonderful time of year!  It's our annual Utah ski trip with Grandpa Dave and crew.  The crew seems to be growing every year, but I certainly agree with the sentiment of "the more the merrier".  This is a time I love spending with my Dad and kids.  It's so exciting to see them get better every year.  It's great to see the boys cheer their sister and cousins on.  It's a challenge to keep up with the boys. (But I do and they better not forget it!)  

I was reminded this year of the song "Best Day Of My Life" by American Authors:

I had a dream so big and loud
I jumped so high I touched the clouds
I stretched my hands out to the sky
We danced with monsters through the night

I'm never gonna look back
Whoa, I'm never gonna give it up
No, just don't wake me now
This is gonna be the best day of my life

I'm NEVER gonna give THIS up!  And yes, these are some of the BEST days of my life! 


Me and my Crew!



Allie didn't skip a beat.  She put on those skis and went for it! 


These 3 girls sure loved riding the Gondola together.


I had to document what $8 Mac 'n Cheese looks like!



There's really nothing better than watching your little girl ski these mountains!

The following pictures were taken by Tim, one of the boys' ski instructors.  Obviously he has a better camera and is a way better photographer than I.  Best days of my life, I tell you.
















Thanks Grandpa Dave for another incredible ski trip!  We all had so much fun and can't wait for next year!



A few days in the life of a Joachim


 

There have been A LOT of things happening around here that I regretfully have failed to capture with photos.  I think this may have one of the busiest few months so I'm glad I have a few photos to prove we haven't been just sitting around.  We finished up in late fall/early winter with soccer.  And of course the girls were their brothers' biggest fans!  Grandma Michelle did a great job keeping Sara warm on this freezing DAY of soccer. 

 
 During both indoor and outdoor soccer seasons this year, Matt suffered a few injuries.  The first was a knee injury in which the tissue behind his knee cap became so inflamed he couldn't bend it a full 90 degrees.  The second injury landed us here at the endodontist.  I didn't even know what an endodontist was until this injury.  Well, an endodontist is a dentist who specializes in root canals.  Yes, root canals.  Matt chipped his tooth so bad that he required a root canal to fix it!  Yikes! 



The third injury was a torn tendon in his hand!  We tried to manage it with a regular brace but that wasn't enough.  The HAND SPECIALIST casted it for a few weeks and then he was as good as new.  

 

We joined the YMCA here and really enjoyed having something to do in this ridiculously cold winter.  The boys love they are old enough to work out in the cardio room.

 

Zach had his first  ward Temple trip to the Washington, D.C. Temple and participated in baptisms for the dead.  I honestly cannot believe he is old enough for this.  I so clearly remember doing baptisms for the dead in the Seoul, South Korea Temple so it's hard for to think I have a son old enough to do this.  He had a great time and it was especially cool that his dad was able to the baptizing and his Grandpa Dave did the confirmations.     


We experienced a combination of Snowmageddon and Snowpocolypse this year.  There was always snow to shovel and ice to clear away.  Tom and Zach went over to a friend's house and helped them dig their way out of the inches of snow.  Hard work but a lot of fun too! 


It's always fun when Lorie comes over and hangs out with us.  I think it surprised us ALL when these boys stood beside their aunt and realized it won't be too long before they are towering over her.  


Just another night  at the indoor soccer arena for Winter soccer.  Like I said, Zach and Matt have 2 of the best sister fans!  


I worked as an adjunct faculty this semester for Temple University.  I was the clinical instructor for the freshman nursing students who were in their Community Health rotation.  It was a little outside my box but I really enjoyed working with the students.  I'm sort of glad I enjoyed it seeing how that is why I'm back in graduate school!  My clinical site was Woodstock Family Center, a homeless shelter in Philadelphia for women and children.   While it was clean, I wasn't too surprised when I received this email from one of my students:


The best part of this email, however, was how she addressed me.  I think I kind of like how "Professor Joachim" sounds.  (By the way, that really isn't my title, but I'll take it anyways!)

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Merry Christmas!

This post isn't so much a post about our wonderful Christmas as much as it is about watching Zach and Matt in their AMAZING RACE to find their Christmas presents.  We told the kids that we had asked Santa to give some of their toys to other children who didn't have as much as them.  And they were ok with this. 
 
Obviously Zach seemed a little disappointed to see his sisters opening up more presents than he thought were going to be delivered by Santa.  In his stocking were socks.  Now he needed new socks, but that didn't stop him from acting a bit down as he watched his sisters wildly opening up presents.  Then the boys found this AMAZING RACE ticket and the game began.  The boys are familiar with the game, but Matt seemed a bit more excited to play than Zach.
 
 
The first clue stated they had to clean up all the wrapping paper before they could receive the next clue.  Zach wasn't too pleased cleaning up the wrapping paper from all the gifts everyone else had opened.

 


 
Grandpa Dave had to inspect their work before they could get the next clue.
 
 
The next clue sent them into the kitchen, searching the freezer.  
 
 
 
 
Zach and Matt had to break the pound of ice to retrieve the next clue.  (By this point, Zach is getting less and less thrilled about the whole thing while Matt is enjoying himself!)
 




The clue from the block of ice leads them to the hot tub where they have to fish out the next clue. 



After locating the clue in the hot tub, they were directed to the mailboxes. (Again, you can tell who is thrilled about this and who is NOT!)




They finally arrive back at their stockings where they finally find their presents.  Matt was pretty stoked about this soccer jersey.


Meanwhile, Zach suddenly heard a phone ring.  The ring was coming from inside his stocking!  A light finally went off and he started digging.  And this picture captures his true shock, bewilderment, and sheer joy all in one.  That's right, Zach got an iPhone 5C for Christmas!



MERRY CHRISTMAS!