Welcome to the Family

We just wanted to congratulate London and Alissa on their new addition... Orion London Jenks.  He was born today at 11:59am, weighed 5 lbs 13 oz, and is 19 1/2 inches long.  Everybody is doing great!  Christmas can't come soon enough.  We can't wait to meet him!

What a sweet heart!

I Have a Hero...

...I call him Dad

Fall Break

Creighton University gives their students not only Spring Break, but also Fall Break.  Dexter and I were so excited!  We got to have Dad for a whole week of fun!  On Monday, we went to Vala's Pumpkin Patch with Kevin, Karen, and their 2 boys Ethan and Alex.  This is no ordinary pumpkin patch either.  It is more like a harvest carnival.  It is 152 acres of harvest fun complete with food, a lot of games, pig races, pumpkin canon, corn maze, hayrack ride, train ride, camels and goats, pumpkin eating dragon, and tons of other fun things!  Next year will be a lot of fun to take Dexter since he'll be older and able to enjoy it more.

Uh Oh, Dexter might need help bailing out his parents

Working our way through the corn maze

This was on our way.  Notice the traffic light. Odd.

On Tuesday, we went for a drive.  We went up the bluffs and took the Loess Hills Scienic Byway.  It was really pretty with all of the trees turning.  We of course did some geocaching along the way and came across a cute church.  It was the countrysideWaubonsie Church.

 

We also stopped in Sydney at Penn Drug.  It is a Soda fountain/Pharmacy that has been run by the same family since the Civil War.  Then we went to the Waubonsie State Park and up to an overlook.  After that, we stopped ant Mincer Orchard roadside stand and bought a cute little pumpkin and some apple cider and cherry cider, YUM!  Dexter enjoyed it more this time too.  We had fun.

                                                        

Wednesday and Thursday were study days.  Then on Friday, we fed the missionaries.  It was a lot of fun.  I made them waffles, eggs, and bacon.  When the elders called to confirm the appointment, I asked what they wanted and one said breakfast and the other didn't care, so I surprised them and actually made breakfast.  It was nice to have them here, and Ashton enjoyed comparing notes with them about the mission.    

Our Fun Saturday

Yesterday, we decided to go geocaching, enjoy our new surroundings and good weather. Unfortunately, not all of us were very excited about it.

This was Dexter after a couple hours of getting in and out of his car seat. He was mad at us. In the car he wouldn't even look at Ali, just at his puppy.

First, we went to Lake Manawa. It was created after a flood here. We found two of four geocaches and saw some of the pretty lake.




The lake was very pretty. We also went East a little way on Pioneer road, through the hills, it was gorgeous! We saw an old church, and Hyde Park, named after Orson Hyde. We met some geocachers, yesterday was the 3rd annual Geocache the Bluffs. We didn't know that, we just stumbled onto their route. The caches were along part of the Wabash Trace Trail which looks like it crosses most of the state. Here is a picture of the trail.

Finally, there were a lot of mushrooms at one of the cashes, so, I took this picture.

Dexter Reading a Book

Every night Ali reads Dexter a book before he goes to bed. Apparently, he figured out what is going on. So, now he reads the book to us, complete with turning pages (with a little help).

Dexter 4 Month Stats

Yesterday Dexter had his well baby checkup and vaccines.  He weighed in at a whopping 12 pounds 13 ounces (10%), was 25 inches long (50%), and his head measured at 42 cm (45%).  The doctor was impressed with his motor skills and Dexter talked the whole time we were there.  He is such a jabber box lately.  He has done well with the vaccines too.  You wouldn't even know he had them.

Snow!

Okay all you Idahoans, just because you got snow in October doesn't mean that you have to send it to us. We woke up this morning to SNOW!!! I was very excited. I love the snow and it was the first time Dexter got to experience it! After Dexter woke up and ate, I bundled him up and we went outside!

I had fun showing him everything, but he wasn't quite sure what it was about.




Next year will be fun. We can build a snowman! Also, isn't our meadow beautiful! I just love it!

100th Post!!!!

We made it!! Our 100th post! It only took us 1 year and 5 months to get here. We decided to do a "best of" post to celebrate, so, without further adieu here is Ash and Ali's Top Ten! Hope you enjoy the trip down our memory lane!

Just click the link and it will open a new window with the relevant post.

10. First Post

9. Boise Tour

8. Ali's First Bus Ride

7. The Burn Notice

6. Autopilot

5. Dexter Snores

4. Taking Back the Trophy

3. New Home

2. Ashton's coming out party

And number one: Dexter was Born!

4 Months Old!

Dexter is 4 months old today! He is getting to be so much fun. He has started to laugh, still loves his bath, he can roll onto his side and can roll from his tummy to his back though he doesn't do it a lot. He loves to talk, and grunt, and "sing". He likes to sit up and stand. He has to be a part of what your are doing, even helping to play the piano. He loves it when dad comes home, and he can't get enough of munchin' on his fists. He has his 4 month check up next week so we will have some stats to post soon!

*Sorry about the picture being sideways. I was trying to get him to smile and had to hide the camera. At least I didn't chop off his head!

Look Who Came to Play...

It's Flat Devon and Flat Brett!

In just a short 9 and 10 months they'll get to play for real!

Trash Talkn'

At our apartment, we live next to 1 of 2 sets of dumpsters. Needless to say, we get a lot of traffic in front of our apartment. Now, with this situation, you can tell a lot about people and their habits. We have determined that Saturday is the most popular day for people to clean. On Saturday, there is always a steady flow of people depositing their trash. I counted 6 in a span of 10 minutes. Wednesday is the next busiest day. I guess you get your mid-week cleaners there.

However, we have also determined that there are 3 different types of trash taker-outers. You have the normi-someone who walks their trash to the dumpster;

the outie-someone who drives their trash to the dumpster with their trash on top of their car;



and the innie- someone who drives their trash to the dumpster with their trash inside their car.


From our observation, the normies appear to be your normal, healthy people. The outies are probably your more daredevilish type. They have a tendency to speed up to the dumpster and slam on their brakes trying to fling the garbage bag off of their car before it gets put in the dumpster. The inies are the tidy, neat people. They usually have it in their trunks and they also proceed to clean out their cars while they are at the dumpster keeping everything nice and tidy.

Just an observation...

American Pharmacists Month

It is American Pharmacists Month. On facebook I changed my profile picture and am changing my status every day to another fact about pharmacists. I thought I would do my part to promote the proffesion. I will save you all from a daily update by just doing one post here. Go Pharmacists!


1. Did you know that October is American Pharmacists Month?
2. Know your medicine. Know your Pharmacist!
3. Did you know that Dr. Pepper (Charles Alderton), Pepsi-cola (Caleb Bradham), and Coca-Cola (John Pemberton) were all invented by pharmacists?
4. Did you know that student pharmacists were on the The Early Show, the Today Show, and Good Morning America, Thursday, October 1st to kick off American Pharmacists Month?
5. Did you know that 2009 Marks the 40th anniversary of the American Pharmacists Association Academy of Student Pharmacists (APhA-ASP)?
6. Do what questions to ask your pharmacist about medications: What’s the name of this pill and what’s it supposed to do? Should I expect any side effects? Is there any particular time of day I need to take this?
7. Did you know that all graduating pharmacists receive a Doctor of Pharmacy degree (PharmD)?
8. Did you know Pharmacists can be board certified in nutrition support pharmacy, nuclear pharmacy, oncology pharmacy, psychiatric pharmacy, or pharmacotherapy?
9. Did you know that pharmacists can immunize patients in all 50 states?
10. Did you know that managed care pharmacists working in health plans use scientific evidence to make the most efficacious use of medications and their management?
11. Know your medicine. Know your Pharmacist!
12. Did you know that pharmacists can complete one to two year residencies for additional training in a variety of settings from community to heath-systems after receiving their Doctor of Pharmacy degree?
13. Did you know that nuclear pharmacists work with radioactive medications that allow physicians to do imaging of various organ systems?
14. Did you know that studies have shown that anticoagulation management by pharmacists may reduce your risk for bleeding and likelihood of forming clots?
15. Did you know that compounding pharmacists can customize medication solutions for patients and even your pets?
16. Did you know that pharmacy research develop innovate, state of art delivery systems so medications can work more effectively with few side effects?
17. Did you know that pharmacists do research in health services, policy and administration with application to medication therapy and pharmaceutical care?
18. Did you know that federal pharmacists practice in such areas as the FDA, Department of Public Health, and for the armed services?
19. Did you know that pharmacy technicians work alongside pharmacists in the pharmacy to take better care of patients?
20. Did you know that Medication Therapy Management (MTM) are pharmacist provided, patient care services that optimize therapeutic outcomes for individual patients?
21. Know your medicine. Know your Pharmacist!
22. Did you know that the 5 core elements of an MTM model are a medication therapy review, a personal medication record, a patient medication action plan, intervention or referral for the patient, and documentation and follow-up?
23. Did you know that in 2008 student pharmacists immunized over 100,000 patients and educated close to 11 million additional patients?
24. Did you know that some pharmacists work under collaborative practice agreements with physicians and perform patient assessments, ordering drug therapy-related laboratory tests, and select, initiate, monitor, and adjust drug regimens?
25. Did you know that patients who met regularly with a diabetes pharmacists “coach” in the Diabetes Ten City Challenge saw and average total health care costs reduced by $1,079 per patient annually?
26. Did you know that pharmacists are a great resource to help you with picking out the right non-prescription medications and making sure they do not interact with any other medications you are taking?
27. Did you know that student pharmacists screened over 26,000 patients for diabetes in 2008 to help them live healthier lives?
28. Did you know talking to your pharmacist about over-the-counter medications can help prevent interactions with your other medications?
29. Did you know that pharmacists can help you pick out a Medicare Part D plan that works for you and your medications?
30. Did you know that your pharmacist can help you find programs to help afford your medications to make sure you are getting the care that you need?
31. Know your medicine. Know your Pharmacist!