News

Wow so much is going on in our lives! I am in my sixth week of school and I am doing well. I have an 86 average so I am on track to pass third semester. I just finished my psych rotation which was very interesting.
Mason is thriving in first grade. He got a 100% on his first spelling test! We are very pleased. We joined boy scouts and so he is officially a tiger cub! They made marshmellow launching guns last night which was a huge hit as you can only imagine.
Talan is great as well. He continues to enjoy helping out around the house and doing "homework" with his big brother.
Our newest additions to the family are two baby kittens that the boys rescued from under Barclays front deck. We are bottle feeding them and they are using the litter box when we remember to put them in it! Lucy and Luna are not pleased. Nor are the rats as they have been neglected ever since the kittens arrived. We are not keeping them but have not
found homes yet either.
Joe will be home next Monday and finished with this years race schedule! We are estatic to have him back home.
My dear friend Fabienne just moved back to Idaho last night. I am so happy that she is back. I am with her right now helping her resettle in to her home.
Life is good. The weather is great. We are all healthy and well. Sweet!

July was a wonderful month

We traveled again, this time to Edmonton Canada for Joe's race and then for a little camping trip through Jasper National Park. It was so beautiful. We tent camped which the boys are a bit shocked by as we always have our 5th wheel. We had a few issues with the air mattress etc but got through it all just fine. The boys voted to get a hotel after two nights so we obliged by staying at the Fairmont Hot Springs Hotel which was a lot of fun although a bit pricey! Canada is not cheap but it sure is gorgeous. We took the gondola up Whisper Mt. in Jasper and then hiked to the summit. We paddled around in a boat on Emerald Lake in the Yoho National Forest. I also did a little shopping there and picked up a darling metal sculpture of a beaver who now resides on our front step!

I start my summer clinicals this Monday and then I will be in Marin on August 14th for a week before school officially starts on August 23rd. Joe and the boys will be in Marin too and stay a couple days longer than me. We look forward to seeing our family and friends in Marin and catching up as always.

Recent Events

We have been busy! We camped at Glacier National Park last weekend. We lost Talan's bicycle from the back of the trailer so he got a new bike which looks like a motorcycle. We had a wonderful playdate with Talan's classmates at his teacher Jessica's house. We went to Mason Paul's 5th bday party at the Fort Sherman park in CDA (where we had Mason's 1st bday party). Lots of fun and enjoying the summer weather which finally arrived in Northern Idaho! Oh and we tried to have our first sleep over with Tyler but he ended up wanting to go home at 10:30pm (thank God he lives next door)! Brianna McCarthy Sent from my iPhone

I am coming to visit next week

Surprise! The boys and I will be in Marin from the 16th to the 23rd. Hope to see everyone and enjoy lots of hiking, catching up and fun excursions. I'll be at my folks house enjoying some grandma and grandpa time!
Love to all of you,

Brianna McCarthy
Sent from my iPhone

Photo update

I just wanted to share some photos that were taken recently.

Brianna McCarthy
Sent from my iPhone
I just wanted to share some photos that were taken recently.

Brianna McCarthy
Sent from my iPhone

Happy Anniversary - 8 years today!

Eight years ago, we tied the knot in beautiful Mill Valley. It is amazing to both of us that it has only been 8 years as it feels much longer. We celebrated a little early as Joe leaves today for 3 weeks on the road. We took the kids camping for 4 nights in central Idaho. We had a fabulous time. The boys caught trout and are now hooked (literally) on fishing. :) We made a lot of smores (my personal favorite) and hiked and biked our little hearts out. The weather could not have been better and we really enjoyed some quality family time. I am done with my first year of nursing school. I ended up with a B for the second semester. I am happy that all that stress and chaos is over for the next three months.
Talan and I are out of school while Mason has three more weeks. I just helped his class take a field trip to the fire station and that was cute and fun. I am helping out on a couple more field trips which they are trying to cram in before the end of the year. Mason has been "invited" to summer school to improve his reading. That will start in late July. Of course, our vacation arrangements will have to work around that. I am opting to do a two week intensive clinical class at the beginning of August to help me prepare for next year as I will be expected to be able to handle 3 or 4 patients per shift by the end of the third semester. I am barely able to handle two now, usually I check in on one and then devote my time to the other one! Not very fair or safe! Lots to learn especially in time management and excusing oneself when the patient is in the middle of a long involved story that isn't relevant to anything I can do for them.
If anyone wants to visit we would love to have you. :) Lots of love to everyone.

Goodbye Grandma Fred

Some of you may know that Joe's dad passed away last week. He is finally out of his suffering but we miss him terribly. Fortunately, Joe was there visiting and was able to spend some quality time with his dad before he died. There is a memorial on the Marin IJ website to view if you are interested. I just wrote a quick note saying goodbye on it. My poor husband has lost all three of his parents in the last 29 months. Thankfully a lot of family was around visiting Fred, his sister Beth, Greg, Katrina and Kevin, Joe and Candy. The lesson we are learning is to live and appreciate life now. There are no guarantees.
I have less than two weeks of school left and then a three month summer break awaits me. I plan to spend lots of time with my boys and perhaps take a trip or two. I can't believe the first year of nursing school is coming to a close. It has been a lot of work and I have learned so much. I feel blessed to have this opportunity to be in this fabulous field and I am excited to continue with it in the fall.
I will hopefully write more and post more as I have "free" time. Not even sure what that is anymore! :)