Guatemala, baby!

Cody and I just got back from a medical mission trip to Montellano, Guatemala. We both had the most amazing time and can't wait to go back. Here's some pictures from our trip.
These are all the amazing nurses I got to work with down there. I love all these girls!

The nurses again along with some of the Guatemalan staff

I didn't really push him. Don't worry.




Quiet in the Nurses Station, everyone!
This was the sign on the door leaving the OR. I thought it was halarious.
This is me with my new friend, Ashley, eating this fresh pineapple literally just pulled from the ground. It was the best thing I've ever tasted!

We are standing at the base of a tree trunk on a cocoa farm

Cody drew this picture for this sweet little boy because we didn't have coloring books. He gave it to Cody after he colored it.

San Francisco!!

I just wanted to post a few pictures of our trip to San Francisco. We had a great time! We went to Alcatraz, Wine Country, and many other touristy spots. LOTS of shopping. Cody was a very patient husband and let me go every where my heart desired! So sweet of him! It was a fun trip, but we were very ready to come home when it was time. Enjoy the pictures!! Alcatraz

Golden Gate Bridge

Lombard Street

Napa Valley

Pier 39

Happy Birthday, Kramer Izmo King

It's our oldest child's birthday today. (That was partially a joke) He's turning 5. It makes me a little sad, which means it will only be a million times worse when it is our human child. For those of you who know Cody, you know how much he loves his sweet brown boy. He really is the sweetest, most loyal dog you will ever meet. Here are some great pictures of him through the years. Happy birthday brown dog!!

Wedding Weekend

I should have posted this a long time ago, but here it is! Our good friends, Chad and Meghan, got married almost 2 months ago and we got some really cute pictures from the weekend. Meghan was a beautiful bride as you can tell in the pictures and Chad looked great, too! It was so fun to get to hang out with all of Cody's old college friends all weekend. I love them all!

Mexico!!!

Oh, I wish we were still there. Cody and I went to the Mayan Riviera, Mexico, shortly after his graduation. We had to wait on my summer class to get started and orientation and all that business and then we left. We stayed at El Dorado Royale and it was great! My sister stayed there last year and loved it so we decided to go there too. We had a few minor problems with our room, like the AC going out one night in the middle of the night, getting locked out of our room 3 times in one day, and the shower made a noise that really hurt your ears if you made it even a little hot. We also used some kind of sunscreen that apparently didn't work very well, b/c we both ended up with really funny looking and painful burns on the first day. Most of our bodies were white and then there were these splotches of bright red that looked and felt terrible. I promise we rubbed tons on, but it didn't matter. After a few days our burns felt a little better and we were able to get new sunscreen and got no more burns! Yay us! As I type out all these awful things that happened, it really doesn't seem like it would have been a great trip, but it was! We were not about to let anything ruin our first vacation since our honeymoon 2 years ago! The resort was all-inclusive and had great food and room service, which I love! And Mexico was beautiful and the staff was amazing. We'll go back for sure...with better sunscreen! Here's a few pictures of our trip. I love the ones with the monkeys - even though they pooped on us!





These lizard things were huge!!

Graduation!!

Cody finally graduated!! It was almost 3 months ago, but as I think I've now stated in every blog I've written - I'm no good at this! I wanted to share some pictures with everyone of the best day EVER for both of us. I could not be more proud of my amazing husband! He worked harder than I ever could have...and I'm in school now! We went to Mexico about a week later and I'll share a few of those pictures next blog.



Cody and me at dinner after graduation









Cody's family









Me and Cody right after the ceremony ...I'm so proud!!






Cody with his Vanderbilt / Superman cake






Group 6 - Cody worked with these people from day 1

Life since last summer...

So...we are both terrible at this blogging thing. We keep saying that we need to update, but never seem to have time.

(Cody and I pretending to cross the finish line before we left the house -->)




There's a lot to tell since the last time we updated after the summer. In October, Cody, Christy (my sister), John (her husband), Nathan and Amber (2 of my cousins) and I did the Race for the Cure (a 5k). It was really fun! I've never been a runner and tried really hard, but I still held Christy and Cody up. They both said they didn't care and that that wasn't the point, but it was a struggle. Either way, I was excited to be doing something new and with my family for a great cause - breast cancer. My mom was supposed to come out and watch us run and dad was supposed to be running with us, but mom was sick that weekend. (For those of you who don't know, she had breast cancer for 2 years).
A few weeks later, she passed away after we found out the cancer had spread to her liver. It was short and unexpected and devastating to say the least.
Life has gotten better, but has been very difficult for the past few months. I am so blessed to have Cody with me through this process. He has been the most amazing husband and friend I could ask for and has been there for everything I've needed and even things I didn't know I needed. I could not ask for more. I'm the luckiest girl in the world to have married such a wonderful man.
To everyone who sent cards, flowers, plants and food, you will never know how much that encouragement and love meant to my family and me. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.


On top of all of this, Cody is still in school full-time and working full-time and looking for a new job. I am in school part-time and work full-time and we've been trying to go home to be with my dad and sister every other weekend. Our lives are CRAZY!!! But wonderful. Oh...we're also selling our house and building a new one...apparently, everything else in our life just wasn't enough to keep us busy. The pictures of us in front of the massive mound of rocks are really of us standing in our new lot where a house will be in a few months. I can't wait!!!

We've also had many blessings recently. While Mom was still in the hospital, my sister found out she was pregnant! She was able to tell my mother, which I know means the world to her. She's having a little girl and naming her Lauren Isabella after my mom (my mom's first name was also Lauren) and calling her Izzy. She's due July 4th. Cody's sister, Timpy, is also pregnant and due April 1st. She's having a little boy and naming him Ethan. The Lord's blessings never seem to end!
Since we haven't written in so long, I've added a few other random pictures from ICE, which we went to Christmas Day, and one of our dogs playing under the bed. Cute little boys!











































Cody just got back from India a couple of weeks ago, so that will be our next blog entry full of pictures!