A VERY long post...Time to catch up :-) Feb-May

OK.....here we go. It's so hard to pick up where you left when SO much has happend. But in this post I'm going to play a quick catch up and then hopefully start doing this more regularly again. Now where to begin....

February

We enjoyed watching the olympics as a family...yes even Alex liked watching the ice skaters, skiers, and snow boarders.

At the end of the month, Alex under went another Auditory Brain Response test (ABR) and had multiple MRI images taken. Poor little guy has had so many tests and this was is especially not fun because he was heavily sedated for these procedures which is hard enough for an adult to feel good after. The rest of the day he spent lying on the couch by me. Poor little guy was so frustrated because he couldn't play by himself (too wobbly), but he enjoyed the attention from his parents.

The results revealed that Alex's spinal cord, brain, ears, and eyes are all structurally normal. The ears did show that there is still fluid in his mastoids and middle ears, which is puzzling since he had had his ear tubes for over 2 months. The ABR show that there is still significant conductive hearing loss, so we started the process to purchase Alex's own hearing aids.

March

With graduation quickly approaching on the horizon, Steve had begun job searching in January. With the troubled economy you can imagine how well this search was going. At the BYU job fair most of the recruiters were only looking for business, law, or medical students. We had decided to look only in Utah so that we would be able to continue Alex's medical care. We didn't see how it was possible to transfer all of his services and specialists to another place. Steve applied to every editing type job we could find and had a few interviews, a few we were really confident he would get, but they always ended up falling through.

One day my visiting teachers from church came by to visit me and their message was about personal revelation. As they were sharing their message the prompting came to me that we needed to apply outside of Utah and that the Lord knew our needs and would take care of them. The prompting was so strong I couldn't ignore it even though it seemed totally impossible at the time. When Steve came home from work I told him that we needed to look outside of Utah and that night we started scouring every listing we could find on any job site. We had no idea what to be looking for or how it was going to work out, but we were trying. Something I should mention is that the Bishop in our ward had given our ward a 6 month challenge to pray for 1-those struggling with the cycle of sin that they'd be able to overcome 2-missionary opportunities, and 3-those graduating and seeking employment that they'd find it. With the faith of the whole ward praying for these things, we were starting to see results.

Many of you know of Steve's enormous love for boardgames. :-) Well he was checking a game site one day and there was a job posting. The job was for an Associate Game Producer at Fantasy Flight Games (one of the biggest internationally known, board game companies in the US). There couldn't have been a more perfect dream job for Steve.

The company is based out of Roseville, Minnesota. Steve applied and had a phone interview and then we waited. They did call and ask Steve when he could come out for a face to face interview but due to scheduling problems it was going to have to wait until after graduation.

Meanwhile we were busy finishing up our last semester and Alex was discovering new things.

Studying with Daddy & standing up for the first time in the crib

Alex's hearing aids opened up a whole new world to him. It seemed like now that he could hear his other senses were developing rapidly. He started becoming a great crawler and was exploring new textures. The tile was a fun one. :-)

Admiring daddy's games & turning pages to a book by himself

Responding to his name

We enjoyed a few sunny days outside. Spring was just around the corner. At this point Alex liked grass...unfortunately it has become one of the textures he quite adverse to. :-(

Around this time, Alex became inseparable from "the pillow". This pillow case is the sham from my Freshman year bed spread. It has the roughest texture and the stitching is falling out; why he chose this one is beyond me. We've tried other ones since and he has no interest. He never attached to a stuffed animal, I guess this is his attachment toy. :-)

April

My little brother, Christopher, had a Volleyball tournament in Vegas around the beginning of April and they came to visit after. We enjoyed having them for General Conference and Easter dinner. We were their home base for their Southern Utah explorations. Alex had a great time investigating their camping equipment. Mom brought her sewing machine for me to use--I volunteered to sew my best friend Taryn's bride's maid dresses. Do I bite of more then I can chew or what...finals, 7 dresses, graduation, moving.... :-)

Playing with a lantern

Going to priesthood session

Easter Dinner

Growing up my family was really close friends with the Watkins family. We called ourselves the Gomkins and camped, celebrated holidays and much more together. Chris got married just before graduation and it was fun to attend their reception and see all the Gomkin clan. It brought back a lot of fun memories. Congratulations Chris and Kareena!

Steve's parents came to help us with Alex during finals. We are so grateful! It seemed like all of Steve and my finals landed on the same two days. Alex had fun spending time with his Grandma and Grandpa Kimball

Alex went through this terrible stage of HATING the stroller and backpack which meant that we had to carry our 25lb butterball around everywhere we went; quite the work out. :-) We think that it has to do with bad memories of waking up groggy after MRIs and such and then going into the stroller not feeling good. Whatever the cause, we are SO glad he likes it again.

The day finally came! We graduated on April 23, 2010. Alex deserved to graduate just as much as we did so I made him a cap and gown and he walked with us. He was so happy the whole time! Maybe he knew that this marked the end of busy, stressed, student parents. :-) We really appreciate all of the support from our family and friends over the years. It was great to see so many of our family at this event.

From Left to Right: Grandma & Grandpa Harmon, Mom Kimball, Landon Poppleton, Brogran Poppleton, Dad Kimball, Lyndsey Mica, Aubrie Poppleton & Delaina, Steve, Quin Kimball, Me & Alex, Mom Gomm, Christopher Gomm, Oma, Dad Gomm, & Opa

After Graduation, my mom stayed with us to help me finish Taryn's bride's maid dresses. We had quite the sewing marathon. Alex couldn't wait till we were done and Steve was such a patient and helpful husband as his home was turned upside down. :-)

The day of the wedding Steve was on full-time daddy duty. Alex was a sport especially considering that he was teething like crazy.

Congratulations Taryn & Mark!

May

After Taryn's reception, Alex and I headed out to California with my Mom. Alex did amazing on the trip. I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but Mickey Mouse Clubhouse has become his all time favorite thing in the world. It helped a ton on this trip as well. Along the way we would stop at McDonalds and warm his bottles and find a grassy patch somewhere for Alex to stretch out on. Across Nevada, grassy spots are not easy to find. At one stop we could only find grass at a bank. We kept waiting for someone to come out and tell us to leave.

In Cali we enjoyed spending time outside. My dad is notorious for taking "power naps" in random places. Alex loved being in the backyard as long as he had his pillow and a shinny bowl to put on his head. :-)

My oma came for a few days as well, she wanted to take advantage of spending time with us before we could potentially move to Minnesota.

Playing with Omama's hair

We got to go to one of my brother's volleyball games. Alex loved it! I was against my Alma Mater....we lost. :-(

While I was in California, Steve was flown out to have a face-to-face interview with Fantasy Flight Games. We were all praying that he'd get this job. Steve's portfolio was perfect for this job. Many of the items in there were projects he had completed for classes but were focused around games, and more ironically this company.

One of the main reasons I came to California was to help with Taryn's reception. We spent the day decorating the yard and setting things up. It turned out beautiful! When Taryn and Mark arrived, Taryn wanted to give him a tour of the property and show him all the places we had made so many memories. As we were walking down to the creek, Steve called and told me he got the job!! We were so excited. So it was official...Minnesota here we come!

At Taryn's reception, Alex got to meet Noel Young, the daughter of Terie (watkins) & Morgan Young. Terie and I were great friends growing up; maybe Alex and Noel will be friends too! Paul and Mom sure love spending time being grandparents.

Alex LOVED that Oma & Grandpa Gomm's house has stairs. He enjoyed mastering the little step into the living room and then went for the big challenge. He still hasn't quite figured out how to go down them.

Alex enjoyed spending some time with Grandpa. They make each other laugh. :-)

Playing with Oma's hair has always been a favorite activity of Alex's. Oma enjoys it too :-)

May

When Alex and I got home, project move was under way. Alex thought the moving materials were really fun. You never know just how much stuff you have until you are moving across the country. Aside from packing, we had a large yard sale which was pretty successful. By selling most of our large furnature we were able to rent an ABF moving trailer and loaded our whole house into it and they moved it for us! Great deal!

Our house became quite the maze

I don't remember where I had to go, but when I came back this is how I found my little packers. :-) They were supposed to be packing the clothes...maybe putting a TV in the room to keep us company wasn't a good idea. :-)

Alex loved camping out with us once the beds were taken down. He was sure glad to have his pillow since the rest of his house was in disarray.

Mealtime on the floor was something new and exciting.

Since the Mac was going with us in the car, Alex could still watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse while we packed. Oh how Steve and I got sick of these episodes.

We visited family before we left. Here we are with Steve's Grandparents

We visited Grandma Gomm and said good bye to our friend Andrew.

We packed up the car and I mean packed it to the max....and then headed out on our journey. Alex wasn't too thrilled about his small little cubby but he got used to it and fell asleep pretty quick.

On our way out we said good bye to our friends Ricardo and Alicia. Ricardo was one of Steve's boys when he was an RA and Steve baptized Ricardo. They've been good friends to us.

We saw a lot of new things out on the open road. But mostly it was just flat....we are sure glad we chose to go through South Dakota to get a break from the flat prairie.

At our first stop in Wyoming, it was so windy we had to seek refuge behind a building. The wind still managed to blow on us but not as hard.

After feeding Alex I realized we hadn't brought anything to wipe his mouth off...in the time I ran back to the car the wind had plastered cheddar broccoli baby food to his face.

My turn to drive. :-) Our journey took us through Wyoming, across South Dakota and up to the Twin Cities. We traveled about 5 hours a day and made a few stops along the way. Alex did really well except for the first day. We don't know if it was the milk we bought in the middle of Wyoming or car sickness but he got sick and it made things interesting. The car was unpacked, repacked, the baby was changed in the wind, and the car seat was wiped out...Steve and I count our blessings that everyday wasn't that crazy.

Alex liked our motel rooms, especially the bed. We had to watch him close though, he kept wanting to go face first off the bed.

My mom got us a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse sound book special for the trip. Alex thought it was the greatest thing!

In South Dakota we stopped at Mt. Rushmore. It was something we've always wanted to see and we are sure glad we stopped. The Black Hills are beautiful and we'd love to go there again sometime.

Alex loves playing with his daddy. :-)

We finally made it to Minnesota! It's beautifully lush and green and different from any place I have ever lived. We stopped in Albert Lea for lunch and Alex enjoyed looking and listening to all the trees.