The Muranaka Family

Oh How They Grow!

2011-07-28T14:50:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe it has already been 8 weeks since little Kai joined our family.

As you can see he is absolutely adorable and we have had so much fun having a baby around the house again. You forget how much work they can be but you also forget the joy that comes from caring for a newborn.

Mylee is an excellent big sister and she loves her baby brother sooooo much. I don't know how I could've done it without such a big helper like Mylee around.

We've enjoyed having family come visit and we even got to have a little vacation to Branson, Missouri. It was super fun and I would recommend it to anyone for a fun family friendly vacation spot.

I hope you enjoy the pictures. It's been quite the summer and we've enjoyed every minute.

1 week old

8 weeks old

The best big sister EVER!!!

We love "Swimming" Grandma

And "Grand-mommy"

For those of you that don't know Mylee LOVES the water and is quite the fish. She also loves to jump off the diving board which looks funny because she is so tiny. This was at our ward party the other night.

Birthdays, Vacation, and Princesses on Ice

2011-03-28T06:53:00.000-07:00

I guess it's time for my quarterly report on the Muranaka Family. We've actually had a pretty exciting month and I'm sorry for not posting pictures sooner.

We started out the month with a special birthday celebration. Mylee turned 4 years old this year and decided to have a Royal Breakfast Ball with all her best buddies.

They had a wonderful time playing games, balloon sword fighting, painting faces and eating lots of cake and ice cream.

Here's a clip of Mylee blowing out the candles and it's hilarious because she's sulking the whole time. Apparently she wanted the pink punch balloon and she was very upset, but at least she blew out the candles.

The next day we were off to Florida for a little R and R and a Podiatry conference.

At least Mylee and I got a chance to relax and enjoy the beach.

Mylee wasn't exactly crazy about the ocean and the sand, but boy did she swim swim swim all day in the pool. She can actually swim very well now and begs daily to go down to the YMCA to practice swimming.

Here's a little belly shot for those of you who want to see how huge I am.

One of Mylee's birthday surprises was a chance to go see "Princesses on Ice".

We went with a couple of friends and it was absolutely Magical. We figured it was almost as cool as going to Disney World, but a lot cheaper.

That's my little Princess! It was definitelya mother daughter moment I'll never forget!

Only 3 Months Later . . . . . And a Big Announcement!!!!

2011-01-17T14:04:00.000-08:00

So, at least I'm writing after only 3 months instead of 6, but I know I need to be better.

Anyways Christmas was totally AWESOME this year because we got to spend it with family, which we haven't been able to do for the past 2 years, and we were so excited to see them all. Mylee especially because she just loves loves loves all of her Grandmas and Grandpas and Aunts and Uncles and her cousin Andrew and her new cousin baby Katie( who is absolutely adorable).

We went to the Nutcracker ballet, bowling, shopping, to the movies and even played in the snow. Mylee had a wonderful Christmas and got everything she asked for, even the over glorified Unicorn Pillow Pet she's been wanting for the past 3 months.

We stayed with family for about 3 weeks and it was really hard to come home, but we had a big surprise waiting for us.

IT'S A BOY!!!!!!!!!

Yes I am about 4 1/2 months along and we found out what we were having last week.

I've been nervous to announce it until now, but I think we're in the clear so I feel much better about spreading the news.

Mylee wanted a girl and is still getting used to the idea of a baby brother, but I think she's pretty excited to be my big helper. She's already asking if she can help me change diapers and stuff.

6 Months Later . . . . .

2010-11-08T13:40:00.000-08:00

o, I promised my mother-in-law that I would update my blog, I mean it's only been 6 months, so I finally made time for it. It's been a little crazy around here but here are some of the highlights from the last few months.

In September my family came out to Indiana for a week. They got to enjoy the wonderful

humid days and the flat lands of the midwest. We really had a lot of fun and it was very sad to

see them go, but we know we'll get to see them soon.

Next is October and Halloween. Mylee is obsessed with Alvin and the Chipmunks and we figured it would be cute to dress her and her friends up as the three "Chipettes"

I thought they looked adorable, but there just aren't very many people who are familiar with the Chipmunks and the Chipettes.

We also had a little Halloween party with her little preschool friends and they all looked so adorable.

A couple of weeks ago we were able to attend a Masquerade Ball at a beautiful resort but I haven't got the pictures downloaded yet. It was a very fancy shmancy dinner and everyone was dressed so nice. I promise I'll post pictures soon.

There I did it, I finally updated my Blog!!!

Our Summer So Far

2010-07-21T14:16:00.000-07:00

It is so ridiculous how far behind I have gotten on my blogging. I apologize to all those who have been waiting with great anticipation for an update on my blog J/K. It's been a little crazy around here. I had no idea my summer would actually be pretty busy, but it has and we have had so much fun. Unfortunately I keep forgetting to take my camera on our fun adventures, but I mean let's be honest, all anyone likes about blogs are the pictures right? But lucky for you I did snap a few when I went home for my sister's wedding so you can just enjoy those for now.

Mylee and her favorite and only cous (until Nov.)

The happy couple

We got to try out Grandpa Sevy's new toy for his grandkids

Burdette park, the "coolest" place in Evansville

Family Pictures

2010-05-25T06:35:00.000-07:00

So, I've been promising my mom a family picture for about 8 months now and I am just now getting around to it. My excuse is that it's been too ugly outside to get cute pictures, but now I have no excuse because it's just gorgeous outside so we finally set up a time to take them. My wonderful friend Lindsay offered to take them for us, and even though she says she's just an amateur you can see by these photos that she knows what she's doing. They turned out pretty fantastic and I'm so excited to finally be able to display my beautiful family on our walls. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

My Excuse for not Posting

2010-05-14T15:03:00.001-07:00

So usually my days consist of cleaning the house, doing laundry, playing with Mylee, and cooking, but for the past three weeks I have neglected all of my motherly duties and have just been sewing my guts out!!! It all started a few weeks ago when my husband told me the hospital was doing a craft fair and he suggested I do a booth. I have never envisioned myself as actually sewing enough to sell anything but I thought if I could convince my good friend Lindsay to go in on it with me then I would go for it. She and I gladly accepted the challenge and have been working nonstop for the last three weeks on dresses, skirts, bows and headbands.

Finally the day of the craft fair arrived and I think over all we did pretty well. We sold everything very reasonably and there was a pretty steady interest in our stuff. It was so much fun to watch someone get excited over something I actually made. I hope we get the chance to do it again, it was definitely worth it!! Thanks to Lindsay for all her hard work and for putting up with me.

Oh, and Mylee started swimming lessons this month, thanks Grandma, and she love love loves it!! She can't wait to show grandma everything she's learned.

A Perfect Easter Day

2010-04-06T13:15:00.000-07:00

So, I just realized today that I'm a "Major Moments" kind of blogger. I only blog when something major, like holidays, birthdays or other special events take place. I just have no motivation to blog just for fun. I think I value afternoon naps over blogging, but I did want to share our beautiful Easter weekend pictures. The weather was perfect, the spirit was perfect and even the food turned out pretty perfect. It was the first BBQ of the season and we had steak and chicken. The weather was so nice that I set up a table and chairs outside and we enjoyed a beautiful dinner outside. It almost felt like we were home with family celebrating together, but not quite. I hope everyone had as wonderful of a day as we did.

Birthday Bash

2010-03-09T12:30:00.001-08:00

Our little girl celebrated a special 3rd birthday this weekend with a big surprise visit from Grandma Muranaka. We picked her up from the airport on Thursday and Mylee had no idea until she saw her. She was so surprised and just as happy as could be to see Grandma standing there. We had a lot of fun with our special visitor and she was even able to decorate Mylee's princess cake. We had a small party sunday night with friends and then spent Monday just doing whatever Mylee wanted.

Unfortunately all good things have to come to end and we had to take Grandma back to the airport so she could be home for Mylee's little cousin Andrew's birthday celebration.

Thanks Grandma for making Mylee's special day even more special.

At first I wasn't going to do any decorations, but then I decided that it was my only daughter's birthday and she deserved to have a beautiful one. It wasn't much, but it made here feel special.

What's a party without friends.

This was birthday morning. The big present was a princess scooter. The rule is helmet at all times, if you know Mylee you know why.

Another Trip to the E.R.

2010-02-16T13:14:00.000-08:00

I was just about to do a post on how our luck was starting to turn around and the Friday night we were back in the Emergency getting stitches. We were at a birthday party for a friend and Mylee was running around, as usual, claiming her territory, when all of a sudden I hear this "SMACK" and by the time I got to her there was blood everywhere. She had run into an ottoman that had decorative beading around the edge and it had created a nice little gap right on the middle of her forehead. Mylee was very brave and let us get her all cleaned up. It really wasn't too bad of a cut, but being the vain mother that I am I didn't want my princess to have an ugly scar in the middle of her forehead for the rest of her life. So we decided to head into the E.R. and get a couple of stitches just to make it heal up a little better. Austin got to show off his mad skills and did the suturing himself, but I don't think he realized how hard it is to work on one of your own family members. He did a fabulous job though and the stitches are almost healed. Thanks Doctor Dad.

"Is there a big gash in my head?" You'd never know by that face.

My poor sedated child.

Other exciting news!!! I have officially started a Craft/Whatever blog called . . .

A Tiffany Epiphany

and I want you all to check it out. I'm just a beginner at this so bare with me, but I invite you all to contribute to it. So if you have any inspirations you'd like to share please email me or ask me for my email and I will make sure it get's posted.

A Brand New Year!

2010-01-14T13:23:00.000-08:00

We have had a very interesting beginning to our new year here in the Muranaka home.

So far we've visited the ER twice, been admitted to the hospital for two days, spilled orange juice on the computer and had to buy a new one, found out I was pregnant, found out I was not pregnant and replaced the transmission in our car. If this is any indication of what our year is going to be like then I want OUT! I think Heavenly Father is trying to teach us something and we're are obviously not getting it. Hopefully we've suffered enough in the first two weeks of the year that he leaves us alone for the remaining 350 days.

It really does make you appreciate all the good things in life, especially when you don't think there are very many. But once you start looking for them you're surprised at how truly blessed you really are. As long as you have family, shelter, food (especially food), friends and faith you'll always find happiness.

It did snow the other day, and Mylee got to enjoy her first snow day. It's amazing how immune kids are to the cold when they're playing in the snow. She and Skipper had a blast. I promised I'd help her build a snowman, so we managed to make a very small one. I think it turned our pretty cute.

I took this picture with the filter option and Mylee's cheeks were so rosy they came through.

Here's our cute snowman.

And here's our little eskimo.

Christmas Video

2009-12-28T13:46:00.001-08:00

I forgot to add this to the previous blog. This is for all those that wanted to be here, but couldn't. We love you all!!!

2009-12-28T12:38:00.000-08:00

So I've kind of been an anti-computer person lately. I just spent the last 15 minutes deleting over 1000 email in my inbox that I never read and I realize I haven't updated my blog since Halloween. I just get so worried that if I spend too much time on the computer I won't get anything else done, and then I realized I don't get much done anyways so I might as well blog and check my emails once and a while. Sorry to all those that emailed me last month and never got a response. I'm such a Moron. Enough venting, it's time for the Christmas blog.

I think Christmas was a wonderful success. Mylee is at the age when Santa is a big deal and she understands that if she wants something all she has to say is "You tell Santa to bring this me Mom" I just got in the habit of saying "sure" and then brushed it off. You know they can't remember from one day to the next what the asked for. The one thing Mylee was very persistent on though, was a "purple fishy". She saw them at Walmart once and every time we asked her what she wanted for Christmas she would say "a purple fishy". Of coarse Santa delivered and Mylee was very excited to see a purple fishy waiting for her on the Kitchen counter.

"Which one should I open next"

Christmas Morning

Somebody's totally not excited for Christmas

There are good and bad things about being away from family at Christmas. I'm not going to lie, as fun as it is being around family it can get pretty stressful when they only live a mile apart. You're constantly being shuffled form here to there and trying to make everyone happy, but on the other hand it can get a little too relaxing when it's just our little family and you almost crave the hustle and bustle of being around lots of family. All in all, we decided to make every effort to spend next Christmas with all our family because we just plain miss em and Mylee is always asking when she can go see Grandma and and all her aunts and uncles.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and we wish everyone the Happiest of New Years!!

My little Fairy Girl

2009-11-04T10:24:00.001-08:00

We had a great Halloween this year. It's so much fun when your kids get old enough to really understand and enjoy the holidays. Mylee was the cutes Tinkerbell ever and she loved getting all dressed up. It really wasn't any different than any other day for her.

She dresses up everyday.

Trick or treating was a little cold, but that didn't stop Mylee from filling her bag to the top. She literally ran from door step to door step. I think after a while she was getting tired because she started to say "Merry Christmas" instead of "Trick or Treat" when they would open the door. Austin and I were party poopers this year and didn't dress up,

but next year I think we're going to go all out.

Now it is officially time to get ready for the Holidays so I'm going to get started.

Family Fun!

2009-10-28T12:39:00.000-07:00

So, I'm being lazy today and choosing to blog instead of laundry. Sometimes you just need a break. But anyways, Mylee got a special visit from Grandpa and Grandma Muranaka last week and I have yet to blog it. Here's just a few pix. I think they had a pretty good time even though the weather was just awful. Mylee is still talking about how she went swimming with Grandma and picked pumpkins with Grandma.

We took Grandpa and Grandma to the Children's Museum and I think

they had as much fun as Mylee.

Look at my beautiful Butterfly.

Finally the sun came out for one day and while the boys went

golfing the girls went to a pumpkin patch and had a blast.

Here are our lovely contributions to the pagan gods of Halloween.

Austin carved the dog. Isn't it the best ever!!!

Have a spooky cooky Halloween !!!

Fall has arrived!

2009-10-13T13:51:00.000-07:00

Let's see, it's been so long since my last blog that I don't even know where to begin. I find myself only writing on my blog when I have nothing better to do and that's just sad. Usually I'm taking a nap instead of blogging. But it's time to catch up on past events in the life of a Muranaka.

We celebrated Austin's birthday last month. Since I'm terrible at making cute cakes so I talked Austin into letting me make him pie for his birthday instead. I don't know about you but I would take a pie over cake any day, especially apple pie. It was sure yummy and we invited friends over to share it, but due to the latest flu pandemic only a few could come.

A new fun Indiana tradition is the Fall Food Festival. It is a carnival/food fiasco where every type of weird thing you could eat is delivered up to you on a paper plate. We're talking Cow brain burgers, chocolate covered crickets and deep fried anything. It was quite the experience, and the food wasn't so bad either.

Then, last week Mylee and I accompanied Austin to a conference in Indianapolis where he was giving a presentation. It was only for a couple of days, but we still had a blast. It actually worked out nice because the hospital actually pays him to go to stuff like this, so it's like a free mini vacation. While Austin snored his way through meetings Mylee and I were racing through four levels of fun fun fun at the Children's Museum. We just played all day. The rest of the weekend was spend eating at nice restaurants we would never usually eat at and shopping at the mall. By the way, I'm no coupon fanantic, but when it comes to clothes I know how to get a deal. The other day at Banana Republic I bought a pair of pants for $2. Regularly $50. That's the only way I get new cloths, but I'm not complaining.

So that's what's up with us, now it's time for carving pumpkins, enjoying the crisp fall air and jumping in piles of red, yellow and orange leaves.

2009-09-14T14:22:00.000-07:00

I must say that our summer here in Indiana has just gotten away from us. Between hanging out at the zoo or going to the races we have really enjoyed the more simple life here in the midwest.

Mylee went to here first parade the other day in a little town outside of Evansville. Talk about redneck! It was a grand showcase of the finest ATVS and old cars this side of the Mississippi. Blond mullet beauties showered us with candy and the local deputies gave us a grand ole' wave. Mylee didn't know what to do with all the candy that seemed to keep falling from the sky. This is why I love living here, because things like this are still a big deal and the excitement is contagious. I wonder what they do when deer season starts?

Life in Residency

2009-08-25T07:00:00.000-07:00

So far we've been in Indiana for about 2 and half months and the realities of life are settling in. You assume that once you get to residency you're home free and it's a breeze from here on, but that's a major misconception. It's just as hard or harder then school, the only difference is you actually get paid to work hard but not as much as you really deserve. I have to give my husband a lot of credit. I don't think I could work 16 hour days and still be in such a good mood. The difference now is that he's doing what he loves and that's all that matters. It makes it a lot easier for me as his wife to be supportive and understanding.

Funny Mylee story: So I think Mylee is getting ready for potty training but I'm not quite ready to make that kind of commitment, so she has officially appointed Skipper our dog to teach her. Twice now I've caught her outside with her diaper off in the grass squatting just like Skipper "going potty". I guess I better step in before it's too late or I'll have to clean up two sets of poop off my lawn.

Congrats Tara & Travis

2009-08-05T08:44:00.000-07:00

I am officially not the only married child in my family thanks to my little sis Tara aka Aunt Nellie. Tara and here new hubby Travis got married last friday in Utah and the wedding was simply gorgeous thanks to the brilliance and talent of my amazing mother and friends. My mom did all the flower arrangements, made dresses, decorated, and planed everything. I don't know if I can ever live up to all that. Hopefully she's still around when Mylee gets married so she can do her wedding. I did actually learn how to do flower arrangements and I must say it wasn't so bad. It was a really fun week. A lot of work but even more fun. Mylee loved hanging out with family again too. It was hard to leave not know when we might get to see them again, but we enjoyed coming home to our little house in Indiana. Maybe Channing will get married soon and give us another reason to go home.

Mylee could not get enough of the live band. She would have danced all night long.

Showin' some moves to Grandpa

Here's the lucky couple

We love you Travis and Tara!!! Good luck!!!

Happy Fourth of July!!!

2009-07-07T14:00:00.001-07:00

This was our first holiday here in Indiana and it was so much fun!!

Indiana fireworks put all those years of Utah fireworks to shame because there is no such thing as an illegal firework here. We were shooting off major fireworks right off the driveway and no one cares because they are all doing the same thing. You can basically look out your window and watch huge firework displays in every direction. It actually got pretty stormy on the 4th so we had a mock BBQ with friends up at the church. The kids still had plenty of room to run and play so they didn't mind.

Mylee and Skipper in their 4th of July attire

Thank you to all those who make it possible for us to celebrate our freedom.

New Home!!!!

2009-07-03T06:42:00.000-07:00

We are FINALLY settled. I forgot how absolutely wonderful it is to have a home. I am never ever going to take it for granted again. We arrived about 2 weeks ago and I'm still unpacking, not because we lots of stuff but because we had no furniture to store our stuff in. We got rid of all our furniture in Phoenix so we had to start from scratch. Luckily we found some really good deals and now I have couches, beds, a dining table, and bookcases. Slowly but surely we'll make this house a home. Austin let me paint too and I have to say it does look pretty good. I can't wait to actually put stuff on the wall.

Mylee is loving her new room, and she even has some toys in there now. She can finally have a semi normal life now. We've made some awesome friends and they've made us feel so welcome. Well here are some graduation pictures I'm finally posting. It's sooooooo nice to be done with school and we are all so proud of Austin and all his hard work these last 4 years.

Doctor in the House!!!

Bloggin' in the Bahamas

2009-05-28T07:35:00.001-07:00

So I was just killin time on the beach in the Bahamas when I thought " Gee, I should probably update my blog since it's been like forever !!" So that's what I'm doing. It's been pretty crazy these last few weeks so I'll just do a photo montage of our last crazy month.

First, we had to leave all our wonderful new friends in Texas and head home to Utah

( I love you girls!!!)

Then Mylee was finally reunited with her one and only cousin Andrew.

They've had so much fun getting to know each other.

These are pix from our Family Reunion. This is why I went home early in the first place, so I could lend a helping hand to my mother who was in charge of it this year.

Oh, and did I mention my little sis is engaged, this is her man coloring with Mylee.

Of coarse with all the family home we had to take a few family pix.

As soon as Austin got home from Texas we left on a much needed getaway to Florida and the Bahamas, just the two of us!!!

We did the whole Disney and Universal thing and then took a four day trip to the Bahamas.

This was my first time snorkeling, swimming with the fishees.

I got my Bahamas sun burn, so I'm ready to get back home to my baby girl.

I'm so glad we got to do this though. It's probably going to be the last vacation for a while.

Preemie Prima-Donna

2009-04-23T18:08:00.000-07:00

The other day I just had to laugh at my little "prima-dona". She was just too cute with her little pooch purse and her other purse and her "attitude" walk. I just hope this isn't a foreshadow of her teen years.

Late Easter Post

2009-04-15T08:08:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter. We woke up to a beautiful Easter Sunday. We planned an Easter Picnic that afternoon with our friends and Mylee went on her first official Easter Egg Hunt all by herself. She loved finding the eggs hidden in the grass and flowers. It's family moments like this that remind me how grateful I am to have a loving Heavenly Father who created a plan that allows me to be with my family for all eternity, and I know that this would not have been possible without the atonement and resurrection of His son, Jesus Christ. And that's what Easter is really about.

New Home!!!

2009-04-11T09:15:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we took a quick camping trip with some friends. It was so nice, except for the never ending wind, but Mylee and the kids had a ball collecting seashells and flying kites. It was just nice to be outdoors and enjoy the beautiful Texas scenery.

After camping, we took a road trip up to Indiana to look for a new home. After looking at a few houses we just kept coming back to the same one. As you can see, the kitchen is my favorite room. I've always wanted counter space and now I have it!! Mylee seems to like it too. I think it will just be nice to finally have our own rooms and real beds to sleep on. After a year of hopping about the country, Stability here we come!!!

SUMMER TIME IN TEXAS

2009-03-20T09:51:00.001-07:00

I know it may not feel like summer time anywhere else in the country,(except Phoenix), but it sure feels like summer here. We just skipped spring all together and we are just bathing in beautiful sunshine and loving the heat. Summer is definitely my favorite season. I just have way too many wonderful memories about summer. The sweet smell of freshly cut grass, waking up to the lovely song of a bird, and making waves in the nearest pool. Oh, and I can't forget watermelon, fruit of the Gods!!

Yesterday Austin got home early, so we headed to Sea World and faced the Spring Break crowds. The splash park was open and Mylee had no trouble jumping right in and getting completely soaked, clothes and all. It was so hot though she was dry in an hour. It was just nice to get out and enjoy the gorgeous weather. My sentiments go out to all my poor friends not so fortunate to have as nice weather, but don't worry summer will be at your door before you know it.

Birthday Girl

2009-03-09T10:59:00.003-07:00

It’s is now official, I have a two year old, let the trouble begin. I’m really trying to think positive and just enjoy these next couple of years. I know it might get a little frustrating at times, but I think it will be a lot of fun. Well, Mylee had more of a Birthday week this year rather than just one day. Last week we went to Sea World with daddy, swimming, yes swimming in March, at the pool, and then on Saturday we had lunch at Chucky Cheeses (Scary!). I think that was a pretty good birthday. Oh, and she still got presents, who’s spoiled?!!!! Mylee was much more into her birthday this year. She’s been yelling “Birthday” every time she saw her presents up in our closet, and whenever she sees a cake she yells “Birthday Cake.”

Unfortunately it was just the three of us, but I don’t think Mylee even noticed. She was way to busy opening presents and stuffing her face with cake. Thank you grandparents and aunts and uncles for all the gifts. You are all awesome!!! Heres a video and some pictures to help you relive the moment and pretend you were there. We love you all. And a Happy Birthday to cousin Andrew tomorrow!!

Look at all those presents

We had to be a little inventive for a birthday cake

Yah, that's my daughter

I have to apologize for my annoying high pitched excited voice. I find that I do that a lot. Sorry.

2009-03-02T07:37:00.000-08:00

Hooray!!! Sea World is finally open again and we couldn't wait to see what was new. Austin had to study so just Mylee and I went, but it was still fun. The only set back was the cold weather and the wind. It was a bit chilly but we still had fun.

Mylee is the cutest little girl and I don't know anyone that exhibits more Christlike love for others than her. Whenever she meets a new friend she immediately gives them the sweetest hug and warm smile. It's almost as if she already knows them. She will also say hi to anyone, and I mean anyone, even those that you're not sure she should be talking to, but that's just it, she views everyone as someone special and she gives her love to them all. Why can't I be like that, gosh. As for my husband, I have never seen anyone so dedicated to his work and education. These last few days he's been getting up before 6am just to study and he doesn't get back until after 7pm. I don't know how anyone can stay motivated that long to study, but he does and it's something I very much admire. I'm learning more and more from my family everyday and I'm so grateful to have them in my life.

Mylee's First "Potty"

2009-02-27T09:05:00.000-08:00

So last night marked a major milestone in my daughter's life, Mylee actually went "tinkle" in the potty!!! For the last couple of weeks she's been nagging me to take her "potty" and nothing ever actually happens, she just wants to play with the toilet paper, but last night was different. She actually did it and I was so so so proud of her. This morning she did it again, however, since then I've changed at least 3 diapers, but still I'm way excited that she's starting to get it. Well, cross your fingers and wish me luck.

Other than that my life is pretty simple right now. Austin's been studying like crazy for boards so we never see him, and I haven't had a car, so poor Mylee and I are getting cabin fever. But hopefully by next week things will be better.

I was checking out one of my other friend's blog and she decided to write something about each one of her family members that she is grateful for. I think I really need to do this, because sometimes I get overwhelmed by the few things they do wrong and I forget the million things they do right. So let's start with the #1 person in my life, Austin. He works so hard everyday, and instead of coming home depressed and stressed he greets me with a charming "hello" and a sweet kiss, the kind that make you feel like time has stopped for just a few seconds. It makes me rethink my attitude and immediately calms my nerves and the worries from the day just seem to disappear. Than there's Mylee, a very close second, who is full of so much life it's contagious and you can't help but be sucked in to her world of wild and craziness. It makes me remember what it was like to be a kid and I forget about being a grumpy old grown up for a change. I love these two very much and I can't wait to tell

you more thing I love about them.

2009-02-13T10:52:00.000-08:00

What trip to Texas would be complete without visiting a real Texas Rodeo and stock show. We decided to see what all the fuss was about and boy were we in for a treat. It turns out that rodeos and stock shows are kind of a big deal around here. I think Austin and I were the only ones there not wearing cowboy boots. We found a really cute little pair of boots for Mylee. We decided since she has a few cowboy Grandpas, and a Cowboy Uncle Brittan, she needed a pair of her own cowgirl boots. I've never seen so many goats, cows, pigs or livestock in one place before. We all got home with our fare share of manure on our shoes, but it was worth it. We even witness a pig race.

Mylee couldn't get enough of the petting zoo. This kid has absolutely no fear when it comes to animals. She was so excited to be able to get close to them and feed them and pet them. Her favorite animal was the pigs. That's all she would talk about, "pig, pig, pig". It was so nice to get out because Austin's schedule has been so demanding lately we all just needed a little fun.

So if you ever come to Texas make sure you come during rodeo season, it's a Hoot!!!

Mylee trying to kiss a lama

Mylee feeding the cute baby piglets

Of coarse she had to ride a pony

Freeze, this is the Mayberry Police Dep!

A little Valentine surprise from my sweety. I just love him!

A Real Texas BBQ

2009-02-06T09:38:00.001-08:00

Last weekend we experienced an authentic, real life Texas BBQ cook off. It was a blast! You just paid an entrance fee and then you could eat as much food as you wanted. We had BBQ brisket, BBQ chicken, BBQ sausages, and BBQ ribs and of coarse their famous slice of bread on the side. I think you use it to mop up the extra BBQ sauce. By the time we were done we all smelled of smoke and BBQ sauce. I think Mylee was just relieved to finally get out of the house, but she seamed to have a pretty fun time. She finally fell asleep with exhaustion after a few hours.

Austin's just working and studying hard for is second set of boards exam coming up in March. One step closer to graduation, I can hardly wait. And I've been looking at homes in Indiana and getting super excited to be settled again. This has been a crazy year and it will be so nice to finally have a place to call home.

My little cowgirl

I wouldn't want to be shot at with that

Happy Valentines Day everyone!!!

2009-01-20T15:40:00.001-08:00

I have a lot to catch up on. Well, last week we finally visited the Zoo. It was really fun besides the fact that half of the zoo was closed or under construction. I really don't think it's fair to charge full price when you're only getting half the fun. Mylee had a blast just the same. She's my little animal lover. She got so excited over every little creature. I loved the birds. You go inside this cage with some bird food and they fly right over and sit on your arm, head or shoulder. I don't think Mylee was ready to have birds land on her head. She enjoys birds more from afar than up close. Here's a few pix.

"It's going to eat me"

"RRRRRR! a pirate's life for me"

We celebrated MLK Day at the Children's Museum with some friends. They had a real plane the kids could play in. Mylee was ready for her Ginger Ale and free peanuts.

They also had a miniature grocery store with mini shopping carts and everything. Mylee was so excited to go shopping all by herself. We all had a really fun time.

2008-12-30T10:51:00.000-08:00

You can tell how exciting our life has been since I haven't updated our blog in a while. I'm being sarcastic, we really haven't done anything too exciting to blog about lately, but it was Christmas last week and I think there was plenty of excitement to go around.

We spent Christmas Eve with Shamu and friends at Sea World. It was a gorgeous 75 degrees with a slight breeze unlike the snow they were getting back home. I can't say I'm not jelous though because I've been asking for a white christmas my whole life and the one Christmas I'm not there he brings it to me. Ugh! Oh well, we had fun anyways.

Christmas morning was a lot better this year with Mylee because she actually knew how to be excited about presents and unwrapping them. It was so cute to watch her unwrap present after present after present after . . . . you get the idea. She was pretty spoiled. We all were.

Even though our family wasn't there we still had a wonderful Christmas and thank you family for all the presents.

Later on Christmas Day we joined a few other families for a Christmas dinner. It was nice not being totally alone on Christmas. Most of all it was nice to spend time with Austin since he's been so busy lately. He's learning a lot though.

Oh ya, did I mention we pretty much know where we're going for residency? INDIANA!!! It was our first choice and Austin was their first pick so we're house shopping. I'm so excited.

I hope everyone else had a Merry Christmas and I wish you all a Happy New Year!

Miss Mylee showing off some of her gifts

The first smiles of Christmas Morning

Shamu wishes you all a Merry Christmas

Even I got to sit on Santa's lap this year

Mylee and Dolphins

Just a little sample of what all you Gmas and Gpas missed out on, sorry.

Sea World

2008-12-09T10:14:00.000-08:00

We live exactly 1.5 miles away from one of the coolest place on earth, Sea World. This is especially fun because Mylee absolutely LOVES fishes. That was one of her first words, actually. So for Christmas we decided to get season passes and hopefully we'll get to use them quite a bit. Since this was her first time, I don't think Mylee really knew what to expect, but after she fed her first dolphin I think she was pretty stoked. I have to tell you, I think I'm more excited then Mylee. I had so much fun and I can't wait to go back.

Aust and me in our groovy 3-D glasses

The one and only (okay maybe not the only) SHAMU

Mylee feeding her first dolphin (what a momentous event)

Me and Mylee taking a picture with Santa Shamu

O' Christmas Tree

2008-12-05T08:34:00.000-08:00

So even though I sold all of my Christmas deco when we moved, I absolutely insisted that we at least put up a Christmas tree. So we found a cute little 4 ft tree and made our own decorations. It's very simple but it brings the spirit of Christmas into our home. Have a wonderful Holiday Season.

Thanksgiving in Texas "Yee haw"

2008-11-27T13:15:00.000-08:00

What better thing to do after a big Thanksgiving Feast than update your blog with pictures of the two things I'm most grateful for. I even included a live video of Mylee enjoying her mash potatoes and corn.

Before

After (look at that belly)

I love my Mac

2008-11-26T10:48:00.000-08:00

Birthday Lunch at Kona Grill, yum yum

So for my birthday this year we went shopping for a new computer and we decided to become Macbookers. Can I just tell you that so far I've absolutely Loved it. I strongly suggest for everyone to turn away from the dark side of pcs and discover the true power of "The Force", Mac. I've been editing photos and making movies and just having a blast. Anyway let me know if I haven't convinced you yet.

San Antonio has been all right so far. It would be tons better if I actually had a car during the day to go on more adventures, but for now we just try to be creative here in our little apartment complex. I do have to say they have some pretty cool features which make it a little easier. We went to church and met our new ward and I have to say I was very impressed. Everyone was very friendly and sweet. Mylee and I were even invited to a play date yesterday. She was so excited to play with other kids and I was grateful for the adult conversation. Everyone has been so kind to us and I think it's going to be a fun 6 months.

Well, Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!

Playing with new friends

Some of the fun I've had on my Mac

Yes, this is a new post so read it!

2008-11-20T10:35:00.000-08:00

Salutations fellow bloggers. The reason I've been MIA is because we took a last minute surprise trip home to Utah to see our families. For the past 6 months we've been traveling around the country for med school and we've really missed seeing our folks. Boy, were they shocked to see Mylee on their front porch. After a really fun week at home it was time to face reality and hit the road once more. Our last stop on this Medical rotation tour is San Antonio, TX, so ya better watch out y'all cause I might turn into a real big hair, buckle wearin' Texas gal, j/k. I'm really excited to visit San Antonio. I've only heard good things about it. So come and visit me and we'll all go to Six Flags and Sea World.

Some fun Family pix:

On a last note, I just want to brag about my beautiful home in Utah. Out of all the places we've visited this year this was still my number one pick. It has the perfect balance of everything beautiful including our beautiful families.

Official Halloween Post

2008-11-03T12:45:00.000-08:00

I love Halloween. Why can't we have more holidays where you just walk around your neighborhood and get free candy. This was a special Halloween because we're staying with our friends in Evansville, IN while Austin finishes his rotation. They live in the cutest neighborhood with tons of kids and cute little families, so it was a great place for Mylee to experience her first real Trick of Treating. Austin and I were party poopers this year and didn't actually dress up, but Mylee was seriously the cutest kitty ever. We decided to do a kitty because her friend Hannah was going to be a mouse and we thought the whole cat and mouse theme would be really cute.

Mylee had a blast knocking on the houses and picking out candy to put in her bag. She was doing really good until she realized she could actually eat what was in her bag. That kind of distracted her from the whole Trick or Treating charade, so we headed home to check out the goods.

The next day was the ward Halloween party in Boonville where we enjoyed a fun hayride, fire roasted hot dogs, and homemade chili. It was a really fun party. Well, I think that's long enough. I'm all about more pictures than words. I hope everyone had a safe and Happy Halloween!

Washington DC

2008-10-21T09:23:00.000-07:00

Am I alowed to do more than one post in one day? I just thought it would be less confusing to do two different ones rather than one big boring one since I haven't been able to update for a while.

I know it sounds like we're crazy kids who just travel all the time, but this is just a one time deal so we're trying to have as many adventures as we can because we don't know if we'll ever get to do this much ever again. We have been truly fortunate to have been able to visit these places and I can't thank enough all those that have helped us on our way. Whether it was a bed to sleep in or food on the table or just someone to hang out chat with I am truly grateful for you all and I hope I can do the same for another someday.

So here we are at our nation's capital. Austin's never been here so it was my pleasure to show him around a bit even though it was about 9 years since I've been here. We got to see and do pretty much all you can do in a day, but I would recommend more than one day to try and do everything. Here's a little photo journal of our day:

First stop, the Lincoln Memorial.

Washington Monument and the famous Mall, not that kind of mall

One of the beautiful waterfalls featured at the FDR Memorial

Air and Space Museum at the Smithsonian, Houston, we have a problem.

The Capital Building. Wow!

Where George Bush lives

The Library of Congress, Beautiful!

The incredible Washington DC Temple and Visitor center. Burrrrrrr

Pumpkin Land

2008-10-21T09:05:00.000-07:00

Last week we went on an outing to Linvilla Orchards near Philli. It was sooooo cute! They have this pumpkin patch that's huge. I've never seen so many pumpkins in one spot in my life. Mylee had so much fun posing on top of the pumpkins.'

They also have a little playground with fun toys and a cute little farm with all kinds of animals. Mylee loved feeding the horses and the sheep. We had a lot of fun and it totally got me in the Halloween mood. I think we're going to be the Flinstones this year. Mylee has the perfect little boingy hair on top of her head for pebbles.

A Week in the Big Apple

2008-10-13T10:25:00.000-07:00

I just got back from one of the most exciting weeks of my life. If anyone's been to NY they know what I mean when I say that NYC is almost unreal. There is so much to see and do and it's almost impossible to take it in all at once. You're pretty much in a state of shock for the first few days or until you ride a NY subway elevator that smells strongly of urine. Ewwwwwww! My sister Channing was so generous to let us stay with her for the week and she was our favorite tour guide. Thanks Chan and we love you.

Here's my photo journal of our trip, enjoy:

Us in Time Square

Mylee "Clowning around" downtown

Picture with Minnie at the Disney Store

Mylee on a real police horse (cool!)

Russel Crow, yea that's really him!

Mylee and me with our good friend Meridith on the Today Show

Channing, Mylee, and me getting our 10 seconds of fame on the Today show.

(photo courtesy of Jamaica Hansen, thank you)

Mylee posing infron of an enormous balloon animal statue at the Museum of Art

Silly Mylee at the Children's museum

Us smoochin in Little Italy

Our last glimpse of Lady Liberty out our bus window as we left the city.

Downtown Philly

2008-09-28T17:50:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited to be in Philadelphia. There is so much history here and we're so close to NYC and Washington D.C. We were going to go to NYC this weekend, but it was too rainy, and we wanted to see NY at it's very best. So we decided to check out some of the many cool sights right here in Phili.

Of coarse we had to visit the famous Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. There is such a quiet reverence in that building as you think about what actually took place there over 200 years ago. Afterwards we took a charming carriage ride with our friends around the surrounding areas. Mylee was asleep for most of the ride, but boy was she delighted to wake up in a horse drawn carriage.

In honor of my cool brother Brittan we had to get a picture at the famouse statue of Rock Balboa at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It was truly a special moment as we ran up the steps of the museum and raised our arms in the air with pride when we reached the top.

By the way, it was my sexy husband's Birthday yesterday. 27 on the 27th, ironic, huh. Happy Birthday hun. Make a new friend today.

The Latest on our Family Adventures

2008-09-23T14:29:00.001-07:00

So it would probably take a novel to catch you up on all the fun we had in Tacoma, Wa, so I thought I'd just upload a ton of pictures and show you what we've been up to. Let's just say this was one of our more relaxed rotations so we took advantage of our time off.

Before we headed to Washington we had to check out Mackinaw Island in MI. It was absolutely gorgeous! There are no automobiles only horse drawn carriages.

Our first stop in Wa was the famous Pike's Market. They have everything from fresh flower bouquets to fresh fish.

While we were at Pike's Market we had to stop by and make a surprise visit to my cool cous Tyler who worked on the waterfront. He was so excited to see us and he taught Mylee how to feed french fries to the seaguls.

And then there was San Juan Island. We spent a three day weedend touring the island and whale watching. It was so beautiful.

Since we were so close to the border, we just had to visit Vancouver. It was only for a day, but it was still a lot of fun.

Mylee and I took a little day trip to the Zoo. We saw so many fun animals. My favorite was the Baluga whale.

Last but not least, we had to visit the Pulyallup Fair. It's the 10th largest fair in the country and
boy did it hold true to that. I don't even think we saw half of it and we were there all day. I think we tried every type of food there though. Corn on the cob, corn dog, BBQ pork, carmel apples, scones, taffy and an elephant ear.

Now we're on our way to Philidelphia where I'm sure our adventures are sure to continue.

The Shortest Summer of My Life

2008-08-14T12:32:00.001-07:00

Holy Cow, I can't believe it's August already. This summer has gone by way too fast. Here in Michigan some of the trees are already turning from green to golden yellow. It's even a bit chilly in the morning and evenings. So we are taking advantage of every warm summer day we have left by going on fun little outings around the Detroit area. One day we went up to Sterling Heights and met our good friend Jean for the day who was visiting her sister in law from SLC. It was so fun to chat about the good ol' day in Phoenix.

Congratulations to Miss Mylee who, for the most part, now uses real silverware at the dinner table all by herself. She's such a big girl. Mylee has also been heard saying new words like "Grandma, Grandpa, Hello, Good by, Cookie and thank you". It's so cute. We've had a lot of fun here in Michigan, but now it's time to prepare for our next destination, Tacoma, WA. I'm sure it will be just as fun and entertaining.

By the way, do you like my new due? It's actually a funny story. Basically I wasn't very happy with the haircut from the salon, so later that night I asked Austin to help me fix it and he gave me a great new look. So if this podiatry thing doesn' t work out we know he could be great hairstylist. Oh and thanks to my awesome friend Emily for helping me give my blog a great facelift. I'm so excited about it. I might even write on my blog more often. Okay, now I'm done

Scottish Brawl

2008-08-03T18:21:00.000-07:00

We have had a blast here in Canton, Michigan with our good friends the Rigbys. Mylee has had many new adventures with her best pals Ali and Kevin. Austin has kept pretty busy working with the other residents, but he's enjoyed getting to know the podiatry program here. Emily has been so good to entertain us and take us to all the fun places around the area. We've visited the Canton children's library, and we found a really cool splash park one day. Everyone I've met here has been very friendly. It's a great community.

On Saturday after Austin was done with surgery, we met him at the park for a neighborhood picnic. Mylee jumped in one of those big blow up jumper cages and loved it. We practically had to drag her out. After the picnic we decided to see if there was any other funness going on nearby and low and behold we found the coolest thing ever, the 159th Annual Detroit Highland Games. Yes, that's right a Scottish festival with kilts and dancers and log throwers and everything. We jumped in the car and were on our way. It was kind of late by the time we got there, but there were still tons of people around drinkin' beer and wearin' kilts and listening to some awesome bagpipe band called "Tartanic". Mylee was clappin' and smilin'' and having a gay ole' time. We even saw a real log throw. We definitely had our Scottish education for the day. We were too late to have real Scottish meat pies, but we did get to try some blueberry cinnamon Welsh Cookies that were nummy. It was a fun day and we had to get our little lassie off to bed, so we headed home, at least what we consider home for now.

Kay, so I just discovered that you can put mini videos on your blog, so I'm going to try it this time. I hope it works. This is Mylee and I jammin' to the rockin' Bagpipe band. They even had a bodrahn player

Welcome to Detroit, MI

2008-07-29T08:53:00.000-07:00

We've finally arrived at our next destination, Detroit Michigan. We are especially excited about this rotation because we get to spend the month with our very good friends Emily and Ryan Rigby. I don't think they know what they're getting into. We're quite the handful. Mylee has been busy playing with Ali, their 3yr old daughter. She's having so many new adventures, I think it's getting to her. This week was a little tough because we were teething, not fun, but Mylee's been a good sport.

On our way to Detroit we stopped in Cincinnati, Ohio to spend the night and have a little more fun, if that's possible. We had a heck of a time getting a hotel, because of course of all weekends we chose to come on the one during a Jazz festival and major Tennis tournament. We eventually found a hotel and were so exhausted from our travels.

The next day we got up early and headed to the Children's Museum. It was actually pretty cool. Mylee had so much fun playing with the water features and Austin and I enjoyed the Natural History Museum. After the Museum we head to the Ohio River to catch a riverboat ride. We found a fun riverboat tour and purchased tickets. Meanwhile there was a festival going on nearby so we checked that out while we waited for our boat. Besides being extremely hot and humid, it was actually a really fun day. The riverboat tour took us up and down the river going under as many as 6 beautiful bridges. It was truly a memorable experience. Now we're on to bigger a better adventures here in Michigan, but we miss all our friends and family and love them tons. TTFN, ta ta for now.

The 4th Year Adventure Begins

2008-07-10T12:35:00.000-07:00

Okay, I have to admit I'm not the best blogger, big surprise, but I think that I need to be a lot better now that we're going to be in so many different places this year. I think it's going to be a lot of fun sharing our many crazy adventures with friends and family.

Anyways, so we have officially began school year 2008-09 and our first destination is . . . . . EVANSVILLE, INDIANA. It was only a 22 hour drive, but it really wasn't that bad because we stopped in Denver on the first night and finished the next day. I got kind of car sick the first day and I think Mylee did too, because three hours into our trip Miss Mylee decided to throw up everywhere, making the rest of the journey very smelly, but we survived.

Evansville is so freakin' gorgeous. Every house looks like it came out of the Better Homes and Gardens magazine with yards full of hydragias and ivy and every other flower you can think of. Mylee and I have taken our morning jogs through the neighborhoods and parks and there seems to be no end to its cuteness. I think I could definetly spend 3 years in residency here, but that's up for Austin to decide. Our apartments nice and we have everything we need to make our stay very comfortable, even a Shopping mall close by for my own personal convenience. I don't have any pictures of Evansville yet, but I do have some pictures from our recent month vacation we spent in St. George anwith the in-laws in Phoenix. Like my Daddy always says: Don't forget to say ''Hello'' to someone who needs a smile today.

2008-05-15T11:25:00.000-07:00

We're already feeling the hot summer sun here in Phoenix, and for some reason I don't think I'm going to miss it at all. I do here that where I'm going I get to look forward to humidity which is probably just as worse, but at least it will be a change. We're getting ready to move here in a couple of weeks. I can't believe how soon it is. There's still so much to do and so many goodbuys to be said. I've been keeping busy with the Stake musical, Hello Dolly. I'm playing in the pit orchestra. It's been way fun. It's been a while since I did a musical, but it feels good to be apart of something again.

So I finally signed up on Facebook and holy cow, there are a ton of my old high school budies on there. It's been so fun to finally contact some of them. It's crazy how quickly your five year reunion comes up. Everyone's married and has kids and living all over. I think it's so fun to see everyone so happy and successful.

Here's some pictures of Mylee having fun in the sun. She loves going to the pool or playing with the garden hose outside. We sure to have a lot of fun together. She's getting so dang smart, and everyday she does something new. I love being a mom. Happy be-lated Mothers Day to everyone by the way. Austin had a sore throat for my Mother's Day, so I didn't get to be as spoiled as I wanted but he still did plenty. And he got me a 5 disc Cary Grant collection which has been so awesome so far. Well have a super day.

2008-04-07T10:04:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful conference weekend. I know I did. Wasn't it so amazing to stand and sustain our new prophet Thomas S. Monson? I bet that would be a sight to behold watching members around the world stand in unison to sustain the Prophet of the church. I'm so excited to see how the church will blossom and continue to grow under the direction of our new prophet. I'm sure he will follow in the footsteps of Pres. Gordon B. Hinkley and continue to spread the gospel to every corner of the globe.

During Satuday afternoon we took a little trip to Anthem and visited their farmers market. We bought some yummy veggies and had a little picnic at that awesome park up there. Mylee had fun playing in the water and walking Ibo, the Toronto's Shitzu, who we were dog sitting. It was just a beautiful day to be outdoors enjoying all of the beautiful sights and smells around us. Pretty soon it's going to be too hot to even get the mail.

I forgot last time to tell you exactly where we're headed for Austin's fourth year. We did a very good job at trying to see every corner of the U.S. First in July we're headed to Indiana, August will be in Michigan with the Rigbys (yea), September is Washington, October will be Pennsylvania, and lastly November -May will be in San Antonio Texas. Don't worry we'll still be faithful Jazz/Suns fans. I know it makes me dizzy even thinking about it, but hey, we're still young and have our whole lives ahead of us, so we might as well have as many adventures as we can before we have to really settle down and get serious.

Well that's enough gabbing for now. Have a super wonderful day!

2008-03-24T13:17:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, can you believe I'm finally updating my blog? I know it's been like forever, but you haven't missed out on too much.

Most recently we celebrated a very important birthday in our family. Mylee Kae Muranaka had her first birthday on March 8th. We had a little party with our family while we were in Utah last month and she had a lovely time trying to eat her entire birthday cake.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter weekend. The weather was just gorgeous so we took Mylee to the park and played on the toys and swings. Then after church on Sunday we had a really nice Easter dinner with our friends at the Draxler's house with their new little addition Ella. Can I just say how excited I am for Cami. She is so adorable!

As for the rest of the Muranakas, we finally put our house on the market and don't have any real offers yet, but we are getting some traffic. We just hope we can sell it by July. As far as rotations next year, we finally have a pretty good idea of where we'll be which is a very good thing. Austin's just working hard at rotations and Mylee have a blast at home dancing with the Wiggles and playing outside in the water. We're just trying to make the best of our not so extremely excruciatingly hot days while we can. That's pretty much it from the Muranakas, we'll chat later.

2007-10-31T09:39:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween everyone! It's Mylee's first Halloween and we're being party poopers because we already celebrated it twice. We went to an awesome Halloween party last week and we just finished up the ward trunk or treat carnival last weekend. Our family always likes to keep to a theme with our costumes, so this year Austin's idea was to do "Green Acres". I was the darling "Lisa" and Austin was "Oliver" and Mylee was our pet pig Alfredina (Alfred's cousin). Of coarse Mylee was the cutest. We decorated our trunk like a barn and had the theme song to Green Acres playing in the background. Unfortunately it wasn't enough to charm the judges, but we had fun anyway and it was a great time. I hope you enjoy the pictures. Austin's even wearing real cowboy boots.

We have some more exciting news to share about Mylee. She took her first two steps today! She's not even 8 months old and she's almost walking. Crazy. I know it will be the end of my world when she really starts to walk, but how can stop her. It's too exciting to watch them grow and learn. She also started to wave hello and good bye and she'll clap her hands together. It's so cute. I know, I admit I'm a pretty proud mommy. Have a great day!

2007-10-17T14:56:00.000-07:00

I just had to tell you the latest about our family adventures. Last Monday was a special day for our little girl. We took her to her first basket ball game. The Phoenix Suns were playing the Utah Jazz, so we decided to check it out. Mylee had a great time yelling and screaming. She cheered for both the Suns and the Jazz, but in the end the Sun,I'm sorry to say, slaughtered the Jazz. It was so fun.

Mylee is also having fun on her new toy. I've been eyeing this cool car thing at Costco for a while and we finally broke down and bought it. It's so cool, I'm even jelous. You can ride it, or push it, or push buttons and make fun noises.

Pretty soon she'll be driving everywhere.

Mylee has another reason to scream because we just found out that her new cousin is going to be a little boy! Austin's sister is expecting a little boy right around Mylee's first birthday. We can't wait.

Austin just put in his application for his clerkships next year, so we'll keep you posted on where we're headed next. Love you all.

Mylee becomes a Big Girl

2007-10-05T08:26:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's been a while since I've updated our blog. We've just been pretty busy with trips and school and now that Mylee's crawling I don't get a lot of sit down time. Yep she's everywhere now, crawling and climbing up anything she can. Her favorite game is chasing Skipper around the house trying to grab his tail. I don't think it's Skipper's idea of fun, but atleast he gets some attention.
Mylee has begun to eat cereal and baby food, and of course anything else she can sneek into her mouth when we're not looking. Her latest scandal is playing with Skipper's food and water. We have to hide it from her now so she won't be tempted.
Mylee has also sprouted a couple of teeth. They're the two front bottom teeth and they look pretty good. She loves to feel them with her tongue. I can't believe she's almost 7 months old already.

Austin just started his 3rd year rotations and seems to be loving the hands on experience. His first rotation is dermatology at the VA Hospital and he's learning alot. We are already deciding 4th year rotations and it looks like we're going to be on the road quite a bit. The three clerkships we're pretty sure about are Worcester, MA, St. Louis, MO, and Tacoma, WA. East coast, midwest, and west coast, I'm way excited. I hope everything will work out.

I'm just keeping busy doing mom stuff. I still teach a couple of violin students and I've started to babysit a 4 1/2 month old little boy 3 times a week. It keeps me busy. Well, hopefully I'll stay more on the ball and keep our blog better updated.

2007-07-14T12:08:00.000-07:00

We recently traveled down to Tucson, AZ to pick up another new car. After we had just bought the Honda Pilot, Austin found an Acura MDX for sale down in Tucson that he decided he wanted even more, so we put our Pilot up for sale and a week later we had an offer from a family in Tucson. So we were on our way to Tucson to drop of our Pilot and drive home the Acura. I know what your thinking, those Muranaka's are crazy, but hey, we got a pretty awesome car. It only took selling 4 cars, 2 trips to California and one trip to Tucson to get it, that's all. I just want to clarify that none of this was my idea, it was all Austin, but being the supportive wife I am I followed my husband over 800 miles to get his dream car. I don't think we'll be getting a new car for a long long time so I guess it's a good thing that we found a car we're very happy with.
As for the rest of the family news, Mylee is rolling all over the place. I can't leave her alone for a second. She now loves to lie on her stomach when she's asleep, which of coarse makes me nervous, but she's been doing okay. The other day I came in to check on her and she was asleep with her legs tucked up under and her little bum in the air. It was so adorable. I'll have to take a picture. some time.
Also this last week, Austin took his big board test. It was supper hard, but I'm sure he'll do fine. We're both just happy it's over and done with. Now I get my husband back and he can focus on the rest of his school work and being a dad.
Thanks for everyone's love and support always, we love you all.

Mylee's 4th of July

2007-07-06T10:43:00.000-07:00

We had a great 4th of July this year. We were in San Diego picking up our new car so we thought we'd make it a little get away. We flew into San Diego yesterday morning, picked up our car aroung noon and then we headed to the beach. Little did we know that everyone and their dog would be there too for the 4th of July. It took about two hours to finally find a parking spot. We only had to park about two miles from the beach, but it was a beautiful day so we didn't mind the walk. When we finally got to the beach we were starving and the only place around was little snack shack, so we grabbed a burger.
Mylee liked the beach. She wasn't crazy about the water, it was pretty cold, but she still had fun. We just sat near the edge and let the waves come up to our feet. Mylee was an official beach baby. She was so cute.
After our little adventure, we left paradise the next morning to return to the desert. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Mylee found her toes

2007-07-02T16:07:00.000-07:00

The other day Mylee discovered she could touch her toes. She can stuff them all in her little mouth. It's so cute watching her develop these new things. I can't wait to see what's next. Yesterday before church she laughed for the first time. It didn't last very long, but it was sooooo cute. This morning I made her giggle even longer.
For the Forth of July we are heading to California to pick up our new car. We're going to spend some time at the beach, so I'll be sure to take lots of pictures of Mylee playing in the sand and in the ocean.

Mylee's trip to the lake

2007-06-28T15:41:00.002-07:00

Yesterday, Mylee and I took some of the young women in our ward to Lake Pleasant for a water skiing activity. It was Mylee's first trip to the lake and she loved it. We played in the water and then she took a long nap while mom had fun riding the tubes.
We had a great time.
Austin has been trying to introduce Mylee to the piano. She's starting to play a little bit, but I think she needs some more practice. You can already tell that she really enjoys making music. I'm so excited to see what she does with that love of music.
Well I'll try to keep this more update with new pictures. See ya.

Mylee's Summer Blog

2007-06-21T16:35:00.000-07:00

This morning took Mylee to the pool and while we were playing Mylee went under the water for the first time. She did pretty well. She was a little surprised but she wasn't too mad at me. Tonight I'm going to take a class on infant messages. Hopefully Mylee will like it.
I think She's getting close to teething because she's been drooling like crazy. I hope it's not too soon.
Austin only has a couple more weeks until his board exams. He's been working really hard and I'm sure he'll pass, no problem, but it's been pretty stressful around here the past few weeks. But no matter how stressed he is, Mylee always seems to cheer him up.
By the way, Mylee is officially sleeping through the night which I have been absolutely thrilled with. She's so good!
See ya later, we all miss you guys.

2007-06-14T10:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Mylee and I went for a little swim. She was absolutely adorable just floating around in her little blow-up fishy having the time of her life. She loves the water and since it had been so hot that day the water was nice and warm. We took a few pictures of the little princess lounging around. Isn't she cute.
This morning during breakfast we set Mylee on the table in her new bebe pod and she began to tell us and amazing story. For about 20 minutes she just gooed and squeaked. She's having so much fun discovering her vocal chords. Sometimes I think she's trying to sing me a song but it comes out just a little squeaky. Well, we'll keep you posted on all of her majesty's cuteness.