Macdonalds

"A friend is one who knows ALL about you and loves you still the same"

Yep that's exactly how I felt when I met the Macdonald family at my apartment. 24 hours earlier the girls and I had set off for home in our car. We made it to Winnemucca and stayed in the Holiday Inn Express. After a quick morning swim and decadent breakfast we drove straight through the day to Sunnyvale in order to visit for a brief hour with such great friends. Needless to say we were less than presentable, may have even smelled a bit sour, and I had no idea what condition my home was in(I hadn't been in it for 3 weeks). Thankfully Dave and Liz were awesome as usual. They supplied pizzas for dinner and treats for afterward. The kids had a great time bouncing, exploring, and catching up. You guys made our day!!! I guess it's our turn to come see you guys...

The sweet hotel suite we ended up with by chance:

Greetings from some of the coolest people on earth:

Introducing Nate

The poster I made for the waiting room at the office:

Correction: Nate wrote it, I put it together.
It reads:

I will be joining the practice soon and wanted to briefly introduce myself. I was born in Seattle, Washington while my dad was attending the University of Washington Dental School. I spent most of my growing up years in the Ogden area before serving an LDS mission to Brazil. Between family humanitarian trips, cleaning the office, and occasionally helping at the Ogden Rescue Mission, I have always been interested in dentistry. I attended Weber State University, receiving a degree in microbiology and somehow convinced my wife, Stacey, to move to Maryland with me for dental school. I graduated from the University of Maryland Dental School in May 2008 and, shortly thereafter, started a one-year residency program at the Veterans Hospital in Palo Alto, California. In addition to my wife this time, two energetic and sweet little girls, Katelyn and Sarah, joined me as we had doubled our family size in Maryland. We will be returning back to Utah this July, and I am excited to start working here in Ogden.

We are really excited!

House Tour

The essence of don't bother me I'm coloring, and the pure delight of childhood:
(Love the chalkboard door of the pantry!)

Outside and family room

girls room, bath, master bedroom


dining, art studio

Kitchen

Laundry (and that's the only photo I took of downstairs but we'll show you more when the changes are finished).

Utah Montage

MOTHER'S DAY CHAOS
hmmm...we started with an early call from Spain with Matt, church with my mom, church with Nate's Mom, barbeque with Grandma Maxfield (thanks for coming too Grandpa and saving us one more stop), phone call with Spencer from Peru and finally we slept. Next year I think I am going to be selfish and take an only me mother's day but it was really nice to be with everyone...
Belated Package from Nate for Mother's Day


Huddling around the missionary phone calls

Grandma Maxfield's BBQ

Grandpa Ropelato


HIGHLIGHTS OF VISIT

A.Swinging at the new house with Grandma
B.Jocelyn and Katelyn at Valerie's Farewell (she's headed to Oklahoma Hol)
C.Watching Hunter, McKell, and Alexis while Natalie had her surgery
D. Katelyn growing up

So much to post, so little time

Sorry guys. We've been having a great time waiting on the house to close but we did sign the paperwork last weekend. We've been busy setting things up and spending time with our family. All I can say is I am thrilled with the new place. I am not sure if the neighbors feel otherwise (just kidding), a for sale sign just went up next door so if anyone is wanting to hang out with the Starley's on a permanent basis...

Sarah's Bumps and Bruises

This has been one rough trip for Sarah. Slipping on marble steps at the law office in Salt Lake, tripping on the stairs at Grandmas, skinning knees, bumping cheeks the list goes on. That's just the scrapes. She's also had fevers of near 103 and vomitting episodes. Scariest was during a bath session when I was dumping bath water over her head and rather than sputtering, Sarah was snoring. She has not had the cleanest bill of health but in between the down days has had plenty of intense play.
Sarah looking a little roughed up

The scene of the "spit"

Meg making a new best friend

Mother's Day Early

Mother's Day this year seems a bit daunting. Visiting with both mom's, church, Great Grandma Maxfield, and two missionary phone calls... My mom took pity on me and had everyone meet on Thurs night at The Greenery Restaurant. My brother's surprised us by picking up the tab and we enjoyed my two little munchkins corner food fight... I was reassured that this is why there is a thing called tips. Do you guys have any nightmare experiences?
Purousing Rainbow Gardens before dinner.

These guys look WAY to innocent of the mess that was left behind.

Look Mommy, I Sleeping Beauty and Sarah's the Frog

Katelyn looked down at her new pink shirt and Sarah's green one.
"Mommy I'm pretty. Look Mommy, Sarah pretty too-ooo! Look Mommy, I Sleeping Beauty and Sarah's the Frog."
There you have it folks. If Katelyn says you look like a frog, that's her highest compliment...
We didn't want the field of tulips and daffodils to go to waste and decided to make a bouqet. Bummer you are in PA Kate or we could have replayed our excursion last year...

Painting and Presents

We had a nice breakfast at Grandma's house with Becky and the girls. It turned into a painting session and then we finished by opening Katelyn's birthday presents.
Sorry about all the photos but...I wanted Nate to see everything going on (and don't mind the construction zone, my parents are remodeling).
The Crew

Sarah decided to get in on the painting action

Katelyn's skills

Present Frenzy-Sarah wanted to wear everything too!