Updates of the last 9 months!

Woah....again, sorry for the blogging hiatus. Since my last post (which I belive was about Christmas 2011!), plenty has happened! Here's a quick "bullet point" type abbreviation of the last 9 months:

• Koda's 2nd semester of 2nd grade went WAY better. A couple of the "problem" children were not in his class anymore, and he made some new friends!
• We went snowboaring/skiing a few times, and had a blast...including one late-season day that was so insanely wet that we only held out for about 2 hours before we were all SOAKED to the bone! Pictures in the next post.
• Organic Chemistry kicked my butt last fall, so I had the *pleasure* of doing it all over again starting in January. It went much better this time. While it still totally sucked, I ended it with a "B". I'll take it thank-you-very-much.
• Since I only had that one class, there were plenty of days I substitute taught for the high schools. I filled in for about a week as the choir teacher at Hanshew and Mears for the teacher who broke her foot, as well as the last 3 weeks of school for my dad up at Service, who was the lucky winner of the jury pool and ended up on a high-profile case!
• We went down to Phoenix for a week over Spring Break and had some fun in the sun. We stayed at my parent's "vacation" home down there, so that was nice! We spent time with our brother and sister-in-law Alvin and Eleanor. George's parents were staying with them at that time also, so we got to spend some time with them also! Probably the highlight of the trip for the kids was the little water-sprinkler splash park thing at the mall!
• The weekend after Spring Break, we spent a few days up in Fairbanks visiting Lizzie and Alan and the boys. We sure do miss them!!
• February through April was overrun with Koda's wrestling! 3 days per week, at 1.5 hours per day, plus most Saturdays (for meets)=one tired family! Koda did amazing this year and really stepped his "game" up. He medaled in every meet after this 2nd meet! He even came in 6th in his weight division at State out of somewhere around 40 kids! His weight division (and the one directly below it) were arguably the toughest in the meet, with the most kids, and the most diciplined 5-7 year olds out there! We were pretty darned proud of him! As a team, the Battle Cats made history, becoming the first (and only) team to sweep the state tournament with championships in all three divisions: Freestyle, Greco, and Folkstyle! We even had a couple older ones who took 1st in their weight divisions in ALL three divisions!
• We spent Memorial Day weekend up at the cabin near King River, as usual. This was Scott, Heather, and the boys' last campout with us :( We had a blast, though, staying up late, roasting marshmallows, and playing cards together!
• Dakota chipped a big chunk of a bottom tooth off chewing gum (?!), and ended up having to get a "silver tooth" (ie: stainless steel cap). He thinks it's pretty cool and we all call it his pirate tooth. Thankfully, his front teeth have fully grown back, so he doesn't look *too* goofy anymore.
• We held Brayden's birthday party a few weeks early so that Koda and the twins could be there (it would have been a pretty lame bday party without anyone there!). Brady decided on a "Mater-McQueen" franken cake, and it turned out pretty good!
• Koda left for Kodiak the beginning of June :(
• Scott, Heather, and the boys left for New Jersey (Heather and the boys) and Spain (Scott) the middle of June. We sure do miss them tons! They spent a couple weeks driving to New Jersey, making some fun stops along the way. Scott got the family settled into a nice townhouse before heading off to Moron Air Base, Spain for 15 months. He ended up with a really nice condo with a pool and tons of ammenities, so don't feel *too* bad for him!
• Brady had his first full dental checkup, including XRays, a polishing, and flouride, around his birthday in June. He did awesome, had no cavities, and actually thought the dentist's office was pretty cool.
• I took a 5 week (full semester) intensive Physics class this summer out in Wasilla. 6 hours a day, three days a week was rough, but I made it through!
• Brayden, Kylee, and I were able to go out and enjoy the little baby pygmy goats that my cousin, Amy's, goats had this summer. They were adorable, and so playful! Brayden couldn't get enough of them!
• Kylee has turned into a full-fledged diva. She loves everything girly and frilly. She's become picky about her clothing, and often won't let me put pants on her....it has to be a dress. She also loves shoes, and has a solid opinion on which ones she wants to wear on any particular day. Her favorites are probably her hot pink patent leather danskos.
• My best friend, Lucy, is due to have a baby girl next month...Tina held a gender reveal party in May for her, and I got to make the cake. Hahaha....I was the only one to know the sex for a whole WEEK!! I told her she couldn't call or talk to me once I knew because I would probably slip up! We had her official baby shower in August, and was able to make all the cupcakes also!
• George and I celbrated our 4th wedding anniversary August 2nd!
• Koda came home the 16th of August. After flights being cancelled all day in and out of Kodiak, Keller came to the rescue as Ryan and Koda showed up to the harbor with dinner for him (and a hefty amount of $$) for him to fly them (and a few others) up to Anchorage in his Beaver. 3 hours later, with a stuffed plane (Koda and Keller were the only ones under 300 lbs!), and they peeled themselves out onto the dock!
• Koda got his preferred teacher for 3rd grade, and he was SO excited! He loves going to school everyday, which is such a change from last year.
• We spent 2 days at the state fair this year, and got thoroughly rained on the first day. It was pretty miserable. The 2nd day ws insanely crowded, but sunny, so we had some fun :)
• Labor day was spent up at the cabin as usual, but George had to work, so it was just my parents, the kids, and I. Pretty quiet compared to the normal!
• We had a massive windstorm (hurricane force category 3 winds) here in Anchorage the night of the 4th (September), which cancelled school the next day. On Wednesday, I took the kids on a drive to check out all of the downed trees. There was a lot of damage-trees falling on houses, cars, etc. As well as the power outage. We lost power for about a day, and my parents lost power for a few days!
• Last Sunday, we took the kids up to Flattop to go hiking. We ended up doing Blueberry Loop, and were able to pick quite a few blueberries! The only downside was the wind, which made it a little chilly.
• I started Organic Chemistry 2 plus the lab a couple weeks ago. My very LAST class for medical school prerequisites, and I can't be any more excited to get this class over with! I'll be done in December. Then I have about 4 months to study for the MCAT, which I will take in April.

In all, that's a quick rundown of our lives! I'll get on and post some pictures of our winter/spring/summer/fall adventures later!