Blessings...

As we begin this new year I just wanted to let my family and friends know how much they mean to us. This Holiday season was a time to reflect on the things that matter most and I got to thinking about all the blessings I have in my life. Last year was a great year for us and it was great because of you all. Luke Russell was born on the 28th of June and everything went well and weeks before he was born I graduated from OSU with a Bachelors degree in Sociology and I couldn't have done it without the help from friends in Owasso and Christie. Alyssa, Tim's sister left on her mission a day before Lucas was born and she is doing great. She is serving in Phoenix, Arizona. We also sold our first house after being in the market for exactly a month( it could have been after 2 days but we weren't that lucky:) My family was here for a month in January and then my mom came back to help with the baby and stayed for another month (by the way my mom got here at 10:00am and hours later the baby was born). Later my mom took Ashley to Paraguay with her for a month!!! talk about being blessed:) and after 4 weeks I went to Paraguay with Luke and came back with both kids...I know it was crazy but it was so much fun!. The Dorius Family came to visit several times and as always it was a treat to have them here. Now we are looking forward to having Grandpa Dorius here visiting us. Tim started medical school and believe it or not he is enjoying it a lot and doing very well!! Things are going great for us, more than we probably deserve but we won't complain!! Christmas break was great. We visited friends and spent time at home as a family:) What else could we ask for?

I am so glad that I graduated from college last May!! This is something that means so much to me and my family and though it wasn't so easy to do it with a toddler and a baby on the way I always thought of my mom and what an example she is to me. To mention just one thing she did, she went to Austria to finish a part of her years of education when she had just found out that she was pregnant with my oldest sister. She left my dad and everyone behind and moved on to achieve this dream/opportunity that was presented to her. My sister was born there and somehow she was able to get her degree there and take care of my sister all by herself when my dad and my mom's parents thought that she would come home soon before or after the baby was born. I often wonder how she did it since I can't imagine doing it without her help! Thanks Mom...:)
This is Lucas at age 1 month! He is a big baby, can you tell? We are so happy to have him in our lives. He is quite different from Ashley in every way. He is our cute and happy baby boy! Thanks Grandma Dorius for all the outfits you send for the kids! She is always buying tons of things for them and we appreciate that so much! I think that she has been sending new sets of outfits for Lucas every other month since he is growing so fast. Thanks Christie! The kids are always very stylish with their new outfits:)



Tim's white coat ceremony. It was such a great ceremony and I couldn't believe that Tim is now part of the medical field. They discussed the question "What kind of Physicians do you want to be? I always knew that physicians in general are important but I didn't understand/appreciate till that night how amazing this field is and what a great opportunity to serve others and also the trust that people have in physicians and the importance of keeping that trust and in doing all you can to cure/save/protect a person. I am so glad that Tim is involved with it. I am so proud of Tim I can't even explain it. He is loving medical school and I am so happy for him. So far it has been great. It hasn't been like most people talk about, it has been like a regular full-time job. He is always home for dinner and the kids and I love to have him home. He studies on the week between and after classes so on the weekends we can go out and do fun things as a family. We are so proud of you!!