Visiting the Mainland: An Essay by Avril Zickgraf

I found this crumpled up somewhere. I'm so glad I did.

final draft

by Avril                                                                                                                                       5-16-11

Visiting The MainLand

Have you ever been to the mainland? I have. And it was really really fun. When I was visiting Bosie (sic) we went to Mariteen to see my Grama and Grampa Zickgraf for half a week and I had a sleepover. Then we visited Logon and my old firend alena and I played with her for 3 whole hours and Then went to Travis to visit my great Grampa and Grama Zickgraf and Then we flew for 10 hours and 3 flites and on the end of the 3rd flite my dad picked us up

I hope we can do that agen some day. And I wish we could live on the main land so we could visit Grampaes and Garamaes and cousins and firends. And I hope if my wish comes true I hope we visit the MainLand for 40 days insted of two weeks.

Intern Graduation

He- we-- did it! We've all survived intern year! 

The first year is officially over and Derek has graduated from intern to 2nd year resident. It's a good feeling. 

The ceremony was long and graduation-like. This was particularly annoying to me since I did not receive an invitation or even a definite time or place of where it would take place or who would be involved or how to dress until the day of. From the piece-meal information I gathered, it could have been anything from a small little ceremony involving the 5 interns in the family practice program to all the interns hospital-wide. 

As it turned out, I even underestimated there-- it was all interns, graduating residents and fellows hospital-wide! The ceremony had the classic speakers as well as a seemingly endless line of graduates receiving their diplomas and leis. 

Why would this bother me so much? Well, the moms out there don't need to ask. Just picture- one water bottle between the four of us- that's me being "prepared"; no snacks; hot tent; no entertainment for bored kids. And no end in sight. 

Thank you, Avril, my thoughtful and prepared daughter, for remembering to bring a lei for Daddy. Mom ran out of time/spaced it. 

Surprisingly well-behaved.... for being bored out of their minds, thirsty, hot and hungry! 

Fortunately, it was only distracting to me-- or so I assumed after receiving compliments from strangers about the excellent behavior of the midgets!

Congratulations, hon! We're so proud of you- and I'm sorry if I was cranky there at the end.... the kids sure were happy to see you! 

I'm proud of you for not only surviving, but thriving- and still managing to be an amazing husband and father through it all. Here's to year two-- let it be better than year one!

Minigolf!

While in Rexburg visiting the fam last month, we took the kiddos to Fat Cats and discovered a new fun pastime: miniature golf! There was a 9-hole glow in the dark course and the kids had a ball playing on it. So naturally they've been asking to go minigolfing ever since. 

Derek happened to get off early on Monday, so we took family home evening to Jungle River Minigolf! The kids had a great time again, of course.

Golf Posers

Daddy tried to teach a little technique... you know, how to hold the club, how to swing, keep the long part of the putt forward. Just a few basics. Roman did pretty well with Daddy's help:

But left to his own devices...

Need I say more?

Xandri was also given a lesson... or two.... or six on how to hold her club. She kept forgetting and going back to her default- which looked so uncomfortable. Here, though, she's looking great.

Atta girl!

Avril didn't need much guidance herself and the other two looked on, impressed. Or impatiently. 

 She did a great job and even got a hole-in-one at the end!

After we finished our round, the kids begged for a ride on one of those quarter rides--- they had a whole row of like ten of them or something. And yeah, try three quarter rides. We only had three quarters between us, so  we picked the one little carousel that would seat the three of them. It took them around and around in a circle and while Xandri & Roman got their cheap thrill, Avril was less than impressed. I can't wait till they're big enough to take on real rides!

Mother's Day

Fantastic Mother's Day this year... started off right with sleeping in and a phenomenal breakfast in bed!

Then the kids offered their sweet presents.

Roman's, made at church:

Xandri's, decorated and gathered at home from her own treasures:

Avril's, created with time & love at school:

Dear Mommy and Daddy,

Thank you for,   Love and care and to be a mommy so I could de born and

Thank you for,  cooking for me and thank 

you for good night kisses and hugs and also

thank you for theaching me to be good

by giving me spakes and handsquees and sending me

to my room and giving me school so I can

Lean and thank you for being the best mommy

ever ever ever ever have in the whole

wide world.

Best. Note. Ever. 

These are the rewards of motherhood.

Thank You note

From a little girl Avril made friends with at the Hickam Air Terminal while waiting to catch a flight to the mainland for Micaela's wedding....

9 Years Later....

Driving to Electric Beach on the morning of our 9th anniversary, (thanks Diane for watching the kids!) Derek suggested I take the camera out to document our anniversary. I promptly obeyed.

Please enjoy the first picture taken on May 2, 2011. It will always hold a special place in our hearts. 

It was shortly followed up by this one:

Since I knew it was unlikely I'd outdo those on the ride I decided to stop while I was ahead. 

We went, as stated before, to Electric Beach. It's across from this electrical plant that has these vents that run out into the water. They're these giant pipes that have coral growing all over them and fish LOVE it there. Which means so do snorkelers, scuba divers, and snorkel tour boats. We saw several of each-- and some spinner dolphins out performing for some tour boats. We considered swimming out to them, but didn't know if we'd have time. 

It's crazy, because the water just shoots out of these vents and it's so warm that even though you didn't think you were cold before when you get back into the normal water you have to readjust! It was crazy how many fish were there, especially how many different kinds of fish and they'd swim right up next to you. We both agreed afterward that it's the best snorkeling we've ever experienced. 

This is how happy good snorkeling makes us:

Me being something like 23 weeks pregnant:

Seriously, though... how many husbands can say they still look like this after nine years of marriage, a medical degree and 3 1/2 kids? 

For some reason, obviously next to the good-looking guy in the picture, I really like the boat in the background here. Not sure why. 

I love you, hon. It's been a crazy nine years, with many ups and downs-- but mostly ups. I'm looking forward to every day of the rest of our lives together- to growing old and growing better with you. I can't wait to see what life brings us, but at the same time I enjoy savoring each and every one of these moments with you. We've made so many wonderful memories together and I know we have many more ahead of us. Thank you for loving me, for overlooking and forgiving my quirks and faults, for helping me grow into a better version of myself. Thank you for being my husband, my support, my lover, my provider, my companion, my partner, my best friend, my other half. When I'm with you I know we can conquer the world (if you're into that sort of thing).

Happy 9th Anniversary love!

Kayak Attempt #2

Went kayaking again with Shane and Maggie. About halfway through the girls wanted to change kayaks. Yeah. Surprisingly no one got dunked!

"Don't worry you guys, I got this one." 

For some reason the paddles were pretty much the funnest thing to play with that day. A little hard to keep a hold of and to wade with, but you gotta do what your sisters do.

Quick family pic after the ride. This was a tricky one to catch since we were all so hyper from the fun kayaks. I mean, Derek and I could barely hold still, much less look at the camera with a normal face long enough to get a picture. The kids were perfect angels, though and reined us in.