University Medal Recipient!

So... I have to brag. Mike never ceases to amaze me. At convocation, he was awarded with the University Medal in Dentistry! For those unaware of what this means, it is a gold medal awarded to the student that achieves the highest grade point average over all 4 years and graduates with distinction! Pretty amazing, eh?!!

These are his awards and prizes for his 4th year in dentistry:
- University Medal Recipient
- Graduation with Distinction
- Dr. Frank Woodbury Memorial Prize for highest academic standing
- Dr. Frank Woodbury Memorial Prize for greatest proficiency in comprehensive care
- Dr. J.D. McLean Scholarship for outstanding scholastic achievement
- Quintessence Award (Restorative Dentistry) for greatest proficiency in Restorative Dentistry

The official day has come and gone. Mike had his convocation on May 22nd and is officially Dr. Smith! I would have posted sooner but we were sightseeing with Mike's parents and Chanelle for about a week and then we (Mike, me, and the kids) drove across the States. It was about a 60 hour drive!

The night before the convocation, we had a faculty of dentistry convocation dinner. Here are some pictures of the event.

Mike receiving his awards during the white coat ceremony.






Convocation Day:

During the capping ceremony.


Receiving degree.


During presentation of his University Medal. The Dean of Dentistry is sharing his write up about Mike to the audience.


Mike receiving his University Medal from the Chancellor.


Mike with his gold medal! Way to go Mike! I'm so proud of you.


Mike with his parents.


Mike with some of his classmates.


Me with my fabulous husband!


Thanks to Mike's dad for taking so many fabulous photos of this special event!!

Random stuff

In April, Elania gave her very first talk in Primary. She showed some pictures and talked about how: My Family and I will be resurrected. We weren't sure if she would actually talk into the microphone but she did! We were so proud of her. Cute picture of her here.


Also in April, we had a lobster get together with the other 4th year dental students and their families (who are LDS members).


Elania goes to Story time at the library every week. Two of her little friends go as well. [Chaim Pilling, Elania, and Ava Misner]. I know Elania will miss Story time with them when we move.


Brayden tasted some dirt and about threw up! He ran around the yard with his tongue sticking out and wouldn't close his mouth. Mike couldn't stop laughing.


Brayden loved the dinosaur Elania got for her birthday. He growled for the dinosaur while the dinosaur ate the playdoh. Such a boy.

Wonder Pets birthday party

Elania had her 4th birthday party on Tuesday. We wanted her to have her party here before we move so all her little friends could come. Her real birthday is June 16th. She had a Wonder Pets theme and loved it! For closer up photos, just click on the images.





(Credits: Kit - Birthday Party by Rustic Charm Creations, and template by Scrapping with Liz)

Horse?

Elania colored this picture and then proclaimed, "Look mom, I drew a horse!" Do you see the horse?!


I know Easter has come and gone, but I just finished scrapbooking the kids Easter pictures. So here they are:



(kits: Hello Easter by Digi Designs & Scrappy Cocoa. Word art by Nibbles Skribbles.)

Mike has officially passed!

That's right. Mike received his letters from the National Dental Examining Board of Canada yesterday advising him that he has successfully passed his two exams. The exams were a full two days. One was a written exam and the other was an objective structured clinical exam. Not that we thought he wouldn't pass! It is just nice to have the official letters. So now he just has to finish up with his clinical stuff and he's done!! I'm so proud of him and all his hard work.

I thought I'd add some pics of the kids lately.

Here is Elania putting pretties in her hair.



Brayden being happy.


Brayden being grouchy. (And yes - he needs a haircut!!)

Elania's drawings

Elania loves to draw. Here are some of her latest ones. Pretty cute, huh?!

This is "sad daddy because he lost his computer". Which of course she is just using her imagination.


She drew our family during her Sunbeam class. Note we all have toe jam.


This one she drew in January. It is a picture of Heavenly Father and Jesus walking on the grass. It is hard to see but there is a line for a mouth which is attached to the legs.

Been busy

It has been awhile since I've posted. We have been super busy. Here is an update on our lives:

- Mike finished his finals for his class exams this past week.

- Mike also finished writing his National Board Exams this weekend. It was a full two days of exams.
(He was so exhausted from all the studying and exams. I think I was more excited that he was done than he was! I know he was excited but too tired to show it.)

- We put our house on the market on February 18th. We sold it last Wednesday! Of course the buyers have all the usual conditions and such (like financing, house inspection, etc) to be done by this Friday. So hopefully all goes well and we will officially have sold the house as of Friday.

- Because we put our house on the market to sell, it has been very busy for me trying to keep the house SPOTLESS for the showings. That has kept me very busy - especially with Elania and Brayden here!

- We also found a house to rent in Edmonton when we move there in June! We are super excited about it. We actually haven't seen the house but we had Jonathan and Cori go over and check it out for us. Apparently it is sweet! The house is only a few years old and not too far from the University where Mike will be working.

- We are extremely thankful for all our blessings. Especially this last month. Within one week Mike was done his finals, sold the house, and found a house to rent. It was a VERY busy week but it has all worked out. We are excited that Mike will soon be Dr. Smith! He has clinic until the end of April and a few assignments left as well. Then the actual graduation ceremony is the end of May. Before we know it, we will be on our way to Alberta.

Here are a few pictures of the kids since the last post:





Elania and Brayden LOVE jumping off the couch.



(credits: The Little Things by Amber Gray Designs; Puppy Dog Tails by Amber Labau; Laurie's Scraps, Nibbles Skribbles, and one more I can't remember right now.)

Brayden vs. Elania

We had Brayden weighed on January 2nd when he got his 18 month shots. He weighed in at 36 lbs 4 oz! Wanting to compare Elania's weight, I weighed Brayden and Elania on our scale at home. On the scale, Brayden weighed 36 lbs and Elania weighed 32 lbs! My 1 1/2 year old weighs more than my 3 1/2 year old. No wonder my back hurts.

These are some Christmas Eve pictures of the kids in their Christmas pajamas. As you will notice, Brayden doesn't fit into his. It was so tight getting on that we couldn't actually get it all on. We had to roll up the sleeves because we couldn't stretch it up any higher. Also note the shoulder seams are not even close to being on his shoulders. Can't miss the sweet belly either! I must point out that I intentionally bought Brayden size 3 pajamas thinking they would fit my 18 month old. Apparently not.



Elania loved her ballerina pajamas. She is totally into ballet so the jammies were a hit.

Mike accepted in GPR program

Mike was just recently invited to fill a position at the University of Alberta Hospital Dental Clinic as a General Practice Resident!

He was interviewed a few weeks ago. As such, we will be moving to Edmonton probably in June sometime and starting work July 1st, 2009 to June 30, 2010. We are excited as this position was the top on our list of possibilities. Elania is especially excited to live closer to her cousins.

If you are wondering what this actually means, Mike explained it in an email he sent out to our families. He said:

"In this position, I will be a licensed Dentist in the province, and will work in the Hospital's Dental clinic during the week, take turns staffing the walk-in dental clinic in the evening, and rotate with other staff and residents taking on-call for dental emergencies in Edmonton and Northern AB. We also spend a few days a week at a clinic in the Dental School where we will see patients with needs too numerous or too complex for the dental students there. This will include doing crowns, bridges, implants, root canals, fillings, extractions etc as well as training with lasers and some other high tech doodads.

At the hospital we will be trained in IV (conscious) sedation for doing dental work for patients with special needs, impacted wisdom teeth and anxious patients... We will also be involved in treating patients who are currently in-patients with dental needs including (dentally) preparing patients who are about to undergo chemo/radiation therapy."

Enjoying the winter season

What we have been up to. Click on pages to read.





(kits by shabby princess - "holiday sampler"; vicki at scrap n' art - "merry mistletoe"; bon scrapatit designs - "chance of rain"; a work in progress by vicki - "summer cocktail")

Halloween

We had lots of Halloween fun this year. Click on layouts to read.









(Pages made from: Frightfully good -Aussie Caz Designs; glitz alpha green (recolored); Kindergarten craft - Miss Mint; RAK Scraps Oct - Jeanelle Paige, Paper Pieced:Halloween - Nicole Norcutt Designs; Halloween Scream Mini kit - by Vicki; Tina Chambers, and an unknown.)

Happy Thanksgiving and more

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! This past year we have been blessed very much in many ways. One way is how well Mike does in school. He received some awards again this year for his achievements in 3rd year dentistry. They are as follows:

•Dr. Don Stephenson Memorial Scholarship – Student entering DDS 4 who has achieved academic excellence over the last 3 years of study and who has demonstrated outstanding abilities to treat his/her patient family

•Comprehensive Patient Care III Prize – Greatest proficiency in Clinical Comprehensive Patient Care III

•United Dental Laboratory Prize – Greatest Proficiency in Clinical Removable Prosthodontics

•DCF Oral B Undergraduate Scholarship – Student of Merit Award DDS 3

I am so proud of him and wanted to share with you his wonderful news!

These are pictures at the Dentistry Awards Night held on October 9th. The close up pictures are from Karen Sherwood (photographer at the event).




Us with our orange juice and 7-up at the reception afterwards.

Picking Pumpkins

(Kits: Autumn Blend by Peppermint Creative and Creating Keepsakes) Click on scrapbook pages to read!

Our Little Ballerina

Elania has been dancing up a storm around here. She wishes she had ballet class more than once per week. I promised her I would take my camera to her ballet class and got some cute pics. She did really well - followed the teacher right from the start and hardly looked to see if I was still around or not. Here is a scrapbook page I did of her being super cute. (Pages made from: Whimsy Magic, Funky Princess, and Elegant Word Art.) Click on scrapbook pages to see larger.