The newest Mr. and Mrs!

Parker and Kristina got hitched June 8th!!!!

Shannon was so sweet and stayed with McKenna and Adyson at home while Chris, Reagan, and I drove the 14 hours to Minnesota for the wedding we COULD not miss!  

On our way out there we stopped at Liberty Jail...

We then got to Minnesota super late and stayed the night in The soon to be newlyweds new apartment!  Kristina is hands down one of the nicest people I have ever met.  Even with everything going on with her special day she was constantly checking in on us and making sure we were good... I mean who does that?!

I'm a crier... 

always have been a crier... always will be a crier...

Immediately as I sat down waiting for the ceremony to begin I was a wreck.  I was just sooo very happy to see these two get married.  We were able see see their relationship grow from their first date, to Kristina NOT willing to admit she had a boyfriend to EVERYTHING!  There was no way I was missing this wedding :)

I was perfect and they were SOOOO happy.  Everything was done so beautifully and I enjoyed every second!!!

 After the ceremony we headed over to the reception and it too was AWESOME!!!  They did the most amazing candy bar and had great food!  

 After dinner there was lots of fun dancing.  Although Chris and I are not known for our awesome dance moves we decided to let lose :)  Reagan slept most of the night in her car seat underneath the table and we had a BLAST!!!!!

Unfortanately the time came to say goodbye.  I once again was losing it emotionally.  This wedding was the last "Arizona" thing we had to do.  Even when we left AZ we knew we still had the wedding to go to.  I tried to pull myself together but when Kristina and I hugged goodbye I was a wreck.  She has been there for me the last four years through thick and thin.  She has been an aunt to my girls, a running partner, and a great great friend.  Oh how I will miss seeing her everyday.  She is one of the few people that have seen me and my house at their absolute worst.... and she still came back!

Congrats to the Mr. and Mrs. (Dr.)  We love you guys so much and we were sooo blessed to be able to be at your special day!!!!

So... I swear.... this is my last post about saying goodbye and telling everyone how depressing it is to leave AZ and our friends.  I think I have made it 100% clear how much we loved it there.  So I promise... no more.  But know even though I'm not talking about it and it's still sad we are now looking forward to new adventures!!

Hello Arkansas

Glendale to Bryant = 20 hour drive for us

Glendale to Bryant = A lot longer of a drive with our big truck for Nana and Papa!  Holy cow do we owe them BIG!!!!

We drove the majority of the way the first day.  We made it to Oklahoma City pretty late that night.  When we got to Oklahoma City it was POURING cats and dogs.  If we had been only 2 hours earlier we would have been right smack in the middle of a tornado.  The roads had no street lamps, there were semis tipped over and there was debris all over the place.  Lucky for us Shannon and Doug had already reserved a hotel room.  Unlucky for them, they were too far behind to make it that night.  The hotel sign had been ripped off and it was raining in the nice front lobby.  They were sold out because of the tornado so it was a relief we had a room!  The next day we drove the rest of the way.  The girls did SOOO good.  Seriously for that long of a drive they were little angels.

Our lenders weren't ready for us to close yet.  We have the NICEST builder and he let us move in early free of charge!  A few days after getting there we were able to close on our first home!

Our Home Sweet Home...

We were SOOOO lucky to have Chris's parents stay and help us get settled.  They were AMAZING!  They had us moved in and organized in no time!  They also got us a swing set which is definitely the girls favorite thing about our new home!  It only took Chris 3 days to assemble it :)

Oh... and this little lady turned 4 months old the day we left for Arkansas!!!!

More pictures to come once we are more settled :)

Goodbye Glendale

Moving started getting real when our little 2 bedroom apartment was all packed.  I pretty much held it all together except on my runs.  Angel was gone vacationing for a couple weeks and so most of my runs before I left I did alone.  That's where I would have time to think about how great we had it in Glendale and how much I was going to miss all the people and things about it!

Glendale is where I became a mom to 3, really started caking, became a runner, served in young women's for the first time, and so much more.  My last 2 babies were born and Chris became a doctor!  Glendale was sooo easy to move to.  We all had an immediate support group with so many wonderful people who were experiencing the same things we were.  We both couldn't have done it without all of them!

Angel and I managed one more run before it was time to say goodbye... We did our "regular!"

 After graduation everyone helped us clean up what was left and then super early the next morning we left.  It was surreal turning in our keys and knowing we were really saying goodbye.  Chris's parents are SAINTS and drove our truck for us while we drove our car.  Before we left we said a prayer all together and I was trying so hard to hold it together although tears were definitely flowing.  As we started to pull away I told the girls to say goodbye to AZ McKenna lost it.  She was literally sobbing.  I have never heard her sob a sad cry like this.  It wasn't a whiny cry that we have ALL heard a million times, it was a sad sob.  She just kept repeating I don't want to leave Arizona.  I don't want to say goodbye to my house.  It was SOOOO sad.  I couldn't even comfort her because I too was sobbing.  Change is hard and saying goodbye is so hard.  We will FORVEVER have amazing memories of Glendale and the people who became family!!!  

 Top Ten things we will miss about Glendale

1. Our wonderful friends

2. The AMAZING pool

3. Fry's kids corner

4. The perfect weather 9 months out of the year

5. The SUPER close shopping with 2 outlet malls, a regular mall and everyother store I spent much time in :)

6. Our ward

7. Cafe Rumba

8. All the events Midwestern would throw

9. Being a 10 hour drive away from family

10. Having a park on every corner and so many places to run!

Goodbye Glendale... we will never forget you!!!

Dr. Christopher Fowler!

Our ENTIRE marriage has been leading up to this day!!!

When I first started dating Chris he knew that he wanted to be a doctor... although at that time he thought he wanted to do something with oncology.  The day before we left on our honeymoon he took the MCAT.  Shortly after we started the application process for med school.  Not really having understood the process and being dumb... we only applied to I believe 3 schools.  When Chris didn't get in we then spent a year with Chris working on his application and working at the U while I taught high school for another year.  We were able to have McKenna and at the same time as applying and interviewing to schools for a second time.  Chris was immediately accepted to a school in Des Moines, Iowa and we were thrilled to know we'd be going somewhere.  Chris was waitlisted at several other schools and when Midwestern called just 1 week before we left Chris laughed.  I remember when he told me he said "I mean obviously we aren't going to go there."  I was like "WAH??  Lets!"  I remembered feeling so good about Arizona when he was out there for an interview.  Only hours after getting the news from Midwestern we had housing and everything started perfectly falling into place which was a huge difference from how things were going with Iowa.  

Wow... what a blessing!!!!  The next 4 years Chris worked soo hard.  Not only did he work so hard in school but as a dad, husband, and priesthood holder.  He always put the Lord and our family first and I know because of that he was blessed!

Chris was able to finish in the top 10% of his class of 250 students... so to say I was a proud wife on this AWESOME day was a huge understatement!!!  

Chris and I are both also soooo grateful for both of our families.  Supporting me when Chris was gone and busy and Chris through tests and struggles.  We are SOOO blessed!!!

Dr. Christopher Wade Fowler...

 Dr. Derek Kestila...

Dr. Kristina Bruns...

Dr. Trevor Day...

My 2 besties Kristina and Angel... oh how I will miss these two :(

After the ceremony we went to the apartment Chris's grandparents were renting and ate a little brunch and relaxed until dinner.  We then went to dinner at Yard House!!!

Thank you to both our families for coming from so fart to be with us!!!!!  

Dr. Fowler I love you so much!!!  CONGRATS!!!!!