Four years ago...

We were just married and moving away from everything we knew and everyone we loved. We were moving to a little town called Kirksville, Missouri where Matt would begin his 4 years of training to become a doctor. I was scared half to death of the unknown. I barely knew my husband and I've never lived farther then 30 mins from my family and now I was going to live hundreds of miles away from them. I remember driving away from my parents house bawling my eyes out and watching my family cry as well, not knowing if I would ever live near them again. We arrived in Kirksville where all there was was a Super Walmart, a Ruby Tuesdays, a couple of fast food restaurants and a tiny movie theater. (okay maybe that wasn't all that was there but still pretty close) You could drive from one end of the town to the other in about 5 mins or less. I had no idea what to think. I didn't know if I would make any friends, I didn't know how much Matt would be gone with school and how much I would be alone.

Matt's white coat ceremony, the first day he was officially a Student Doctor:)


As time went on we started to realize that everything would be alright. Matt was doing his thing with school and studying as hard as he could. I didn't see him much besides the occasionally break he took from studying and would come out of his office for some food. I have never seen someone study so hard in my life. There would be some weeks especially around finals that he might get 25 hours of sleep a week. It was out of control and I thought that it would never end for him. I tried to keep busy. I got a job at good old Ruby Tuesday's and I started to make friends with the other medical students' wives. I decided to have a girls night at my house every Tuesday night with my friends while our husbands were busy studying. Pretty soon this wasn't enough for us girls so we decided to start a project night on Thursdays. I looked forward to these nights more then anything else. These girls were my family away from family and with out them I don't think I would of survived.


The Cohorts, yes we had a name for our group of friends. Jessica Gowdy already moved at this time so that is her on the phone:)


Then our lives changed again. I had my sweet little boy Ammon. He didn't sleep much and he loved to cry and scream.:) I didn't have Matt's help a lot so I was on my own once again. I eventually got things figured out!:)


Then we found out that we were going to move to Detroit Michigan for the last two years of Matt's schooling/rotations. The only good thing about this move was that we were going there with two of our closest friends, the Chases and the Laters. With them there it felt like we would live.:)

When we first met each other there was only one kid and now at the end of four years there was six. Craziness!! We really have been through a lot with each other.

Matt started his rotations and life was much better than the first two years. It actually felt like a normal life, sometimes. Some months he would have normal work hours like 8-5 and other months he would be home around 1pm. But then you would have the horrible months when I would only see him for a couple of hours a day and even then he would be sleeping because he worked the night shift at the hospital. Those rotations weren't fun at all. He seemed to always get sick every time he started a new rotation that involved working with children. That was always exciting for our family.

There in Michigan we met some more life long friends. We were neighbors with the Stewarts who were another medical family the same year as us. They were the most incredible neighbors. We got callings in our ward. I was the Cub Scout leader and Matt was the activities chairman. With these callings we made some wonderful friends. We lived right next to a beautiful park that was heaven for our little family. It took about 3 min to walk there and it seemed like we spent a lot of our time there. Ammon made a lot of friends, too. Even though he was always the shy and sensitive one, we knew that he loved to play with other kids his age and would look up to them a lot.

Audrey and Ammon. These two were best friends. They loved each other and Loved to play with each other. Rarely were there times that they would fight which is saying a lot for Ammon. I don't know what Ammon will do with out her in his life.


Then came baby #2, aka Mckay. We were so excited for him to come into our little crazy family. And as far as we could tell Ammon was ecstatic about having a little brother. McKay was an angel and we couldn't ask for a sweeter, more perfect little baby. But I'll tell you, he couldn't have come at a harder time in our lives then when he came. The day he was born changed our lives more then we could have imagined. On top of having a new baby, we found out that we would be moving to Saint Louis Missouri for Matt's anesthesiology residency in two months, and that we would be moving there alone. It was a bitter sweet feeling, but it was what it was.



So again, life changed. We drove out to Saint Louis, bought our first home, and moved all within 2 months of McKay's life. We were so excited to be in our very own house and to know that this would be a stable home for the next four years, but it was very overwhelming to think about what was in store for us.

Then the day that we had been waiting for (for four years) arrived... GRADUATION!! We did it. I can't believe we did it. I am so proud of my husband. Watching him walk across the stage and hearing his name be called and seeing them put the robes around his neck was such a wonderful feeling. I couldn't help but feel emotional about the accomplishments of my man. After looking at what we have been through the last four years and realizing that it is all over is a very surreal feeling. I couldn't be prouder of Matt for all of his hard work.

The Happy Couple!!


Matt's Parents and two brothers were able to come out for the graduation as well as my parents. It was wonderful to share such a amazing event with family. Thanks for coming! And for everyone else that didn't come, shame on you!! :)


The BFF's. These four boys spent more time together the first two years of school then I think Matt and I had for the first two years of marriage.

The Girls.

Okay honestly could my legs be any whiter. It's embarrassing to look at. Oh well. It is what it is.

The boys!

To close the whole day we went to celebrate at our favorite restaurant, The Pair Tree. What more could you ask for in one day?

Congrats Dr. Nelson. I am so proud of you!!