Uncle Dale came to visit, cute pictures, and 2 year old moments

Uncle Dale came with his fiancé Deborah last Friday. They had Shepard and Romalo with them as well as Deborah’s 2 kids Savannah and Hayden. It was a lot of fun to see them all and meet Deborah and her kids. She is great and we are excited to have her in our family. Alana was dressed as Minnie Mouse and had a great time smiling at new people. Dale and Deborah went to the Temple with Mom and Dad P so Sean and I got to take the teenagers mini golfing. We all had a great time, especially Brett! Well Alana didn’t like the windy outdoor course, but she fell asleep on Sean all snuggled under a blanket after awhile. We took some great pictures on Sean’s phone, but they are on Sean’s phone so I don’t have them yet, oh well.

Cute pictures:

Two-year old moments: This picture was taken the other day when he was trying so hard to smile =) I am excited to leave the terrible two’s behind. We spent the morning sobbing and throwing fits because someone sat in our chair at the library, I gave him a fig bar instead of fruit snacks, I insisted on changing his sopping diaper, he couldn’t roam at his leisure at Walmart, and Alana dropped her toy in the car. Oh the joys! I love him to pieces but he is kinda driving me crazy! I have found that I have a whole new tolerance for crying and screaming though. Like on Sunday when Sean didn’t cut Brett’s apple slices thin enough, Brett walked around sobbing for 45 minutes and Sean and I were able to pretty much ignore the tantrum.

I wouldn’t let him ride in the single stroller because Alana was sitting in it. He didn’t want to get the double stroller, he just wanted to sit and be sad:

We got some fun pinwheels at the dollar store and Brett loves them!

We got a package from Aunt Sam with Daniel Tiger sunglasses, Daniel Tiger Figurines, and a cars coloring book. Brett is in heaven! Moments like these make the twos totally worth it!

We borrowed a Bumbo from a friend and Alana seems to be enjoying it:

One of the requirements for graduating medical school is to complete a research project, present it, and submit it for publication. Sean has been working on his for a long time. Many students piggyback on a professors research, but Sean really wanted to do something with his concern for the lack of medical spanish education at UNM. He spent countless hours during his first and second years researching the problem, asking questions, finding a mentor who is passionate about medical spanish education, writing a proposal, and recruiting 2 fellow students to work with him. He decided to narrow his research to the questions: What is the interest of the medical students in bilingual care and improving their proficiency. How do students self-rate their proficiency (to interpret in a patient encounter or converse with patients)? And how does a formal assessment compare with their self-rated proficiency and does it (the formal assessment) impact their self-rating? I probably didn’t explain that very well, but its really neat research and he has had some really great response from the students and faculty. He presented his research on Wednesday and did an amazing job! Way to go Sean, I am so amazed at his ability to excel in the professional realm, while still finding so much time to be with us!