marshall family

Finally Bloging Again!

2009-03-24T16:51:00.000-07:00

I know, I know many of you are in shock that I am posting a blog. I can probably only say it is happening because I am in Cedar for a few weeks and have a little extra time, so I thought it is now or never. I also thought a post was necessary since we have two major announcements!
The First is we want to welcome little ALEXA ANNE to our family. (this may be a shock to some since I never even posted I was pregnant) Alexa was born on February 6th. She was 8 pounds 1 ounce. The delivery was perfect, which I fully feel I deserved after my last delivery with Jacob. I got induced again but this time it was a short labor of about 8 hours from the time I checked into the hospital (the boys were 18+). Once things got rolling I only had to push for about 5 min. I don't know, it could have been the amazing doctor that delivered her that made it so easy. Thanks Daddy!!
This brings us to our 2nd major announcement which is Colin just got accepted to the Residency program at McKay-Dee Hospital in Ogden Utah. We are so proud of you Colin. Mckay-Dee was our first choice so it is quite a relief to know that is were we are going and we don't have to move out of state again.
As for the rest of the update on our family this is what we have been up to:
Colin- got a snowboarding pass at Beaver Mtn. for Christmas, so he has been snowboarding the last couple of months and loving it. He hasn't been able to snowboard since high school so he's been glad to start that up agian. I just hope we don't get any medical expenses out of his little hobby. He is getting anxious with his last couple of rotations now and just wants to be done as you can imagine.
Juli- I am doing great! I am having so much fun taking care of my little girl. It is so much fun to get her dressed and pick out her outfits. With the boys you just throw stuff on. Alexa has been a easy baby since the day she came. I recovered in less then a week and was back to all normal activities. I am also loving my new suv. Colin got me a Honda Pilot and it has been so nice. Our Toyota Camry was not making the cut with three kids.
Thomas- is such a big helper with the new baby he is an excellent binki holder. He is loving pre-school and is getting so smart. I can't believe he has gone to a full year of pre-school and will be starting Kindergarten in the fall. He will be 5 in a couple of weeks and is already planning his birthday party the only problem is he can't decided between a Star Wars or Transformers party. He has been obsessed with turning 5 since he was 2 because I told him he would get a dog when he was 5. Since we still don't have a house yet I am hoping I can hold the boys off until Christmas.
Jake- he is still a Tank! He pretty much can take Thomas down to the ground in anything they are doing, whether they are actually wrestling, boxing, playing basketball or racing some how they end up on the ground with Jake on top! We are in the never ending battle of potty training but we will just keep on trying.
Alexa- She is doing great! She finally decided to start gaining some weight and is now starting to get some chunky little thighs She is just perfect! She sleeps and eats great and is quite the happy baby with a beautiful smile. For the majority of time she is happy. There are only a few things she doesn't like that is being cold and having a stinky diaper.
Here She Is!!

Lexi with her Aunt Jodi

Lexi and the boys

Lexi at the hospital

JUNE

2008-09-26T08:10:00.000-07:00

TRIATHLONS
June was a busy month full of endurance activities. We started off the month with my first Sprint Triathlon. It was a 300 meter Swim, 12.5 mile bike ride, and a 3.1 mile run. I shockingly placed 4th in my age group. To say the least there were not a lot of people in my age group. I did another Triathlon in July and ran a 5k. It has been fun to train for these and it is something I never could have imagined I would enjoy and be able to accomplish. Colin placed second in his age group and second in the triathlon we did in July. He just finished his 4th Triathlon which was open water. He has also ran a couple of 5k's. He has had a busy year of training and is glad to be
getting into shape again.

SUBWAY
The other exciting event we got to participate in was a 9.5 mile hike in Zions called the Subway. This involved climbing down steep rock hills, hiking through tons of water for hours, repeling off huge boulders, jumping into pools of water and then swimming through freezing cold water to get to the other side. It really was amazing! I told Colin this is probably the most intense and exciting thing I have ever done in my life. We went with Colin's sister Mckenzie, her husband Corbin (his sister and brother-in-law) Colin's other sister Jupe and her husband Nick and our brother-in-law Shane. It was a blast and it took us all day to complete the hike(about 9hrs).

May Memorial Weekend

2008-09-26T06:58:00.000-07:00

For Memorial Weekend we decided to go up to Yellowstone and camp. It may have been a little premature for camping as it turned out that we got rained and snowed on.

It was still a lot of fun. My sister Jodi and her boyfriend Mike and his brother came with us.
Yellowstone was beautiful with all the rain. With Jodi there we were able to get some fun family pictures.

The weather didn't seem to effect the boys they still ran around and had plenty of energy.

We saw a lot of wildlife and a tone of buffalo so Jacob of course learned how to say buffalo.

Spring has come!!

2008-05-26T22:28:00.001-07:00

Well, after being out of town for rotations and traveling the I-15 highway from Logan to Southern Utah countless times we are finally back home. We are trying to catch up on a little of everything and finally got around to posting a blog, which was past due!! Stay tuned there will be more to come in the next few days.

What is Easter without a good Easter egg hunt, coloring eggs, and hanging out with cousins. We were in Panguitch for Easter and the kids had a great time.

Easter weekend at Calf Creek. I think this was the first time we really experienced spring fever this year. It was such a beautiful hike. It was a little cool right down by the falls but the rest of the hike was great. We had most of the Marshall crew with us and had a wonderful hike.

As you can tell the theme for the Birthday party was biking. Juli got a new road bike and gear and is now gearing up for her first triathlon.

Thomas's birthday is just a few days after Juli's and so we had a week full of parties. Thomas had a Diego Party and they made t-shirts with their names on it and had an animal rescue. Of course, Juli went all out!!!

In the war against old age and an increasing waist line I decided to try a few triathlons this year. This one was in St. George and I had 2 bros, 2 brother-in-laws, my dad and myself all participated. Also my two nephews did the kids triathlon and so we got the whole family involved. After the nausea, fatigue, and pain blew over I realized I actually really enjoyed it.

Peru Surgery Trip

2008-03-02T16:03:00.001-08:00

As some of may have heard I recently spent 10 days in Peru on a humanitarian trip with a group called The Hope Alliance. This is a great charity group that organizes medical trips for many different areas, but does a lot of things in Peru. We went to the south end of Peru and worked first in the town of Nazca and Palpa. The area is specifically known for the Nazca lines, which are large figures that they made in the stone and dirt (as big as a football field in some cases) and because it never rains in these areas these figures have lasted centuries. They are so large that you can really only appreciate them by flying over them.
The conditions for surgery were much more primitive then we are used to in the states. We had to operate at about 85+ degrees and the humidity was 80% usually. When we had a full day of surgery I couldn't drink enough to stay hydrated and we would have have nurses wipe our forehead so we didn't drip sweat into our operating field.

This is was a pretty typical O.R. Room.

This was one of the wounds we treated. I will let you count toes here.

We had an anesthesiologist that didn't show up one morning and so while we waited one of the local tour guides said there was some Incan ruins and mummies in the back of this persons house. These were heads of people who had been beheaded and then they would bring there heads back as proof they killed them. It was a little creepy to say the least.

This picture was hanging in every operating room that we did surgery. I thought this was an awesome poster, and you can always use a little divine intervention in the O.R.

This little guy was in the hospital for pneumonia and I gave him one of the blankets Juli made and set me with.

This sign was at the entrance of one the hospitals we operated at. In case you were wondering how to avoid getting TB.

On our trip we were mainly there to do surgeries, but one day we went to a small village where the only doctor had left and so we ran a clinic. We were supposed to see 4-5 of the sickest patients in the area, and when we got there we had 200 people lined up at the door. I think we saw around 130 patients. It was CRAZY!!!!!
The first 5 days of our trip we worked and did surgeries. The last three days we traveled and saw some of the sites. This a church built by the Spanish who came and conquered the Incans. The thing that was weird was inside of this church their were walls and portions of the old Incan temples and they built right on top of them.This was inside. You can see the precision with which they built. There is no mortar between these stones. They just line up perfectly.
This stone was estimated at 120 tons and all the stones were moved from a quarry that was miles away.

We went directly from Nazca which is around sea level to Cuzco that is over 11000 feet elevation. I took the picture of the New balance sign for my Dad who may as well own stock in the company because that is the only kind of shoe he runs in.

These pictures were from a place called the Sacred Valley near Cusco. On the right if you look close there our tombs in the side of the mountain. It was incredible to see where the Incas lived the valley was miles below, and they would build their homes at the top of the mountains. Anywhere they built there were hundreds of the terraces shown on the left that they would plant crops on.

Here is a few people in their traditional dress. The thing you found out very quick with them is that every time you took their picture they wanted money.

These next few pics our from Machu Picchu. This place was so amazing. It was like walking onto a city that had been frozen in time. It was a very surreal feeling, and one I believe you can only truly experience by going (which I would HIGHLY recommend).

We did a hike on a mountain adjacent to Machu Picchu and on this hike we hiked nothing but stairs and ladders for 2 hours straight. One of the ladders we went up was 120 rungs long. Most of this trip all you could see was the jungle until you got to the very top and walked out on a ledge and this was our view. The hike up was a killer, but it was real scary coming down with legs that shook like a leaf (2hrs of the stair stepper at 10,000 feet will do that), and having thousand foot drop offs around you.

Needless to say the trip was incredible. Both the touring portion and the medical side of things were something I will always remember. I have so many more pictures (and stories) and so if you want to see or hear more come on over.

I've been tagged so...

2008-02-28T09:48:00.000-08:00

I've been tagged so I guess I'll do it.

What were you doing 10 years ago:

Oh the joys of high school at South Summit. It was 10th grade torture of waiting through drivers ed so you could have freedom (ha ha). Let's see February 10 years ago???? I was probably in the middle of practicing for drama and helping Wade finish up the wrestling season.

5 things on my to do list today?

1. Work out
2. Actually get ready for the day
3. Go run errands
4. Try to convince my almost 4 year old that he needs a nap.
5. Clean the house, make meals, change diapers, play "deigo" give horse rides etc. etc.

Things I would do if I suddenly became a billionaire:

Well I would first pay off all my husbands medical school student loans and then if there happened to be some money left over I would like to live in a house one day and maybe go on an exotic trip or something fun.

2 of my bad habits:
The first is I can't say no. Anytime anyone asks me to babysit or help out some how I just can't say no (you may think it's not a bad habit but just ask my husband he'll let you know). I also take forever to get to bed. I'll say I am going to bed and then for some reason I don't get there until about an hour later.

5 places I have lived

1. Logan Ut. (currently)
2. Kirksville Mo
3. Cedar City Ut.
4. Provo Ut
5. Kamas Ut

Jobs I have had:
Kiddie Campus Day Care
Total Energy Day Care
Guardian Angel Babysitting
Summit Inn
Dicks Drive In
Cleaning Condos (in Liberty Ut.)

5 things people don't know about me:

1. I like to sew and crochet blankets all though I am just a beginner, so well see how long it lasts.
2. I like to make cards.
3. I like to plan baby showers.
4. I like to ride horses, go fishing, and hiking with my husband.
5. I eat mac and cheese with my kids at least 3 times a week.

Fun in the Snow

2008-02-06T21:33:00.001-08:00

Logan has seen its share of snow this year and the kids are loving it. We have just been shoveling all the snow into one pile and that has become their sledding hill. Now given it is no Dickinson hill (like in P-town), but for now it will have to do. Juli has the labor intensive job of lugging the kids to the top and giving them a shove to the bottom. Jacob is not quite as enthusiastic about the sled, but he is slowly and cautiously catching on.

Christmas

2008-01-18T20:23:00.000-08:00

The family Christmas Party in Panguitch. Jake was a fine Donkey and Thomas was a wise man.

What would Christmas be without gingerbread houses.

What was Santa Claus thinking when he brought a trampoline in the middle of winter. Thomas has loved this. He just puts on his snow clothes and has a ball. Jacob likes it as long as we are holding him.

The three amigos.

Christmas tree

2007-12-01T22:08:00.000-08:00

We went and cut our Christmas tree near Brian Head this year. It was the easiest tree we have ever found. It was warm and there was no snow and we found the tree about 20 yards off the road. I also think it is about the best tree we have ever found. Juli and Thomas were very eager to get the tree up and decorated.

Halloween

2007-12-01T22:05:00.001-08:00

Happy Halloween

2007-12-01T21:59:00.000-08:00

We spent Halloween in Cedar City with Sam and Lauri because I was doing a rotation in OB/GYN and so all the kids got to trick or treat together. They had a ball of course.

2007-12-01T21:57:00.000-08:00

On our way to a COLD University of Utah football game. It rained and snowed and the boys didn't care a bit, they just enjoyed the football game.

2007-12-01T21:52:00.001-08:00

Thomas dropped a wooden stool and his toe and probably broke it. He has been limping around for the last week, and he has been quite miserable. Does anyone know a good doctor??? Just kidding we took him in, there is just not much they do for the toes. They put a poked a hole in his toe nail and drained some of the fluid, and he was screaming so loud I think they may have heard him in Panguitch.

2007-12-01T21:29:00.000-08:00

October 11, 2007
Jacob's 1st B-day. As you can see he really enjoyed his cake.

2007-12-01T21:18:00.001-08:00

2007-12-01T21:00:00.001-08:00

Well, here is a little update on our fam and what we have been up to.
Thomas now nearly 4 (in April) is as busy as ever. He is very excited about life in general and is especially interested in Diego the animal rescuer, which has become quite an obsession. He also loves being outside, rain or shine , that is where he wants to be. He loves reading with his Mom. He really loves having a little brother who follows him around like a puppy dog. As for Jacob he is very interested in being like his big brother. He has figured out the walking thing just enough to be a real hazard. He is also a great climber, which adds another kink into the picture. He is usually quite mellow, and loves to cuddle (which Juli of course thinks is great), and is quite interested in animals. He really likes dancing to music and enjoys being the center of attention.
Juli and I enjoy the boys very much and are so greatful for the joy and excitement they bring into our life. Juli is really happy to be able to stay at home with the boys, and is doing a great job to keep them busy and entertained (which believe me is a FULL time job).
I am in full swing on clinical rotations in Logan. I have really liked being out of the classroom and getting some hands on education in clinical rotations.

Marshall Family

2007-09-18T21:55:00.000-07:00

Thomas and Jacob