Dr. Richard Ruff~ Graduate of Palmer College of Chiropractic

~After 12 years of marriage~
~A few more than 4 years of Bachelor degree work~
~3 1/3 years of Graduate School~

~10 trimesters of hard, hard work~

~Thousands of hours of studying~

~5 VERY intense (and expensive) National Board Exams~

~Over 200 adjustments~

~Working with amazing Staff Doctors~

~Too many exams and practicals~

~Spending too many hours staring at bones~
~A memorable Coating Ceremony~

~Attending some amazing NUCCA conferences~

~So many early morning Radiology classes~

~A running of the Bix7~

~Serving and helping the people of the island of Bequia~

~Precepting with an amazing doctor~

****Richard Ruff is now a DOCTOR****

Here is a journey through our graduation experience!

The night before graduation there was a dinner to celebrate, 

so we joined our friends Levi and Karla Nelson for a fun evening out!

Graduation took place in Lyceum Hall (Vickie Ann Palmer Hall). 

 Processional into the auditorium with bagpipes.

(the girls thought that was really awesome!)

Richard enjoying the speakers.

Sweet tired Emma 

Slept through most of the ceremony until Richard walked.

So grateful to have Aunt Marianne to hold her.

Dr. Marchiori, chancellor, addressing the graduates.

 Waiting for his name to be called up to receive his diploma.

:0)

 Congrats graduate!!!

  You did it!

 Richard taking the Chiropractic Oath!

 Presenting

THE DOCTORS!!!

 Great job, Richard!

We love you so very much.

We are so proud of you!

Dr. and Mrs Ruff!!!!

 We had to pose with a few pix with Tanise and Kamari Colvin.  We love you guys!

Dr. Richard Ruff and Dr. Jordan Merrill (or BM- Brother Merrill).     Dr. Richard Ruff and Dr. Tim Sullivan

 Thank you so much for all you do for our family, Joy & Lynn!

Your support and love have been such a blessing!

 So grateful to have Aunt Marianne and Uncle Brian, too!  (0:

 Mom, thank you for your love for my wonderful husband!

 Sarah had to catch a quick drink while we were doing pictures!

Me & Richard,

Rachel (8 yrs), Sarah (9 yrs) and Emma (6 yrs)

 Congratulations Dr Richard Ruff!

We love you and are so proud of you!

It has been a long road, but worth every second.

Found some more pictures!

Ok, I know I just posted some pictures from the last few weeks (check out the post just after this one) and then I just found a few more pictures.

Sarah's class celebrated Chinese New Year and did a dragon parade, learned how to use chopsticks, ate some ham fried rice and, spoke in Chinese for the day.


Sarah gave up on the chopsticks and just started stabbing her food!

Had to get the chopsticks in her hair! Everyone LOVED it!

We went with some friends to see the "Nick jr stage show". It was so fun to be together as a family with great friends! The best part by far was DORA!!!!!! We yelled and screamed and laughed and sang!

Sarah and Rachel with their friend Trevor


A fun family night out!

Photoshoots and frizzy hair (and it's rainning!!)

One week ago, Richard finished his first year of graduate school. YEAY!!! He did great and even got some A's to go along with the B's. I am so proud of him. He has been working hard and he deserved a break.

SO WE...
........
drumroll please...
........

Stayed home and played the Wii and hung out as a family!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AMAZING!

Now, that may sound boring to some of you, but that is Richard's idea of a break! He has been tearing through Mario Brothers Wii and only yells at it a couple times a day. (0:

This week I also did a photoshoot with a family with a new baby, so in the cold weather, we had to do something indoors (not my thing). But I had to figure it out.
SO...
There is an amazing and beautiful glass enclosed bridge. At night, rainbow light races down the bridge.
And during the day it looks like this:



Emma is my guinea pig for my test shots and she LOVED it! What a cutie pie!


And I had to get Richard in on the test shot-ing! What a beautiful day!
I will get those pictures up on my Pure Photography blog in the next week (hopefully!). Let's just say, beautiful family with an angelic baby! And Grandma and Grandpa visiting, too! What a blast!

On Wednesday the girls got out of school early and we decided to do something totally different. We threw them in the bath at like 3:30 and then I braided their hair for the next day of school.




Rach took one look at Emma's hair and decided she didn't want any braids. A little too wacky for her. "It's a texture thing", as we say. I finally convinced her to only have 2 and we took them out in the morning and she loved it! We will be doing it again for her! (Maybe with a few more braids next time)


Emma loved her braids so much that she kept them in an extra day and here is the result. Pretty dang cute, I think!!!

And finally, the Sarah hair!!! One day of school full of braids (which she LOVED) and the next day she had this beautiful wavy hair! She love it and her friends at school loved it and wanted hair just like it!

What a fun way to spend Richard's random break at the end of February!

And I got up this morning and it was RAINING!!!! Maybe we are done with the winter here (maybe). And maybe it begins. The Spring Rain!!! I am getting ready to be soaked all the time. Here the umbrella isn't really a fashion accessory. It is a necessity. You never leave home without. We usually have 3 in the car and we use them EVERY time we leave anywhere! I will watch for some good rainy pictures for y'all!!!

(and hopefully there won't be more pictures of the snow next week, right?)

Love you all!!!

FINALS WEEK (oh yeah, and it's snowing...)

Pictures of snow to come.
I know, you are shocked!!!
But this week was actually pretty warm, up into the upper 30s.
And then starting this afternoon there is a Winter Storm Warning. So, still no Spring here! (0:

Sarah and Rachel "planted" a tree in our back fence yard. Then they decided to make a nest out of snow. Then they came and borrowed a hard boiled egg to put in their nest. It made me laugh! They did such a great job! Click on the picture and get a closer look to check out the tree and the nest!

This winter has been the "Winter of Snow in Emma's Hair". Every time I look around outside, Emma's hair is full of snow. So I just snapped this quick picture as she ran inside for a sec in the middle of a snow afternoon! And she is just sweet and cute to look at!

And, of course, Final's Week. That is the only thing going on in our house. Studying for classes like Peripheral Nervous System, Cardio-Vascular-Pulmonary, Microbiology, Immunology and Histology.

So pretty much, Richard studies all the time and can't wait for break starting next Friday. People keep asking if we are going to do anything for break.

OF COURSE!!!!

We are going to....

(drumroll please)

Sit on our bums and play the Wii and veg! That is our idea of a break.

(Plus Richard has a few things on his Honey-Do list he wanted to do during that time. He brought them up, not me!)

So for now, pictures of our children in the snow and maybe over the next couple of weeks there will be a little more action in the house.

....but maybe not!

May and Mother's Day!

There is just something about May! Maybe that it is Spring finally, or that the flowers are so nice, or that the humidity is coming. Or maybe because I can see the end of school coming. I really love May!

May at our house means:
Dandelions! They have a hallowed place in our hearts. We talk all about people that say they are weeds, but they are still beautiful! So each day, I get a new bouquet from the girls!

For Family Home Evening this week we headed over to the Family Museum, which was, conveniently, FREE!!!!

The girls and Bob the Builder!

Sarah and Rachel honing their drafting skills on the light tables!

Who knew? Sarah loves to rock climb! And in a skirt, no less!

Today is Mother's Day and it's been a great day! Richard got me some beautiful roses and a new dress! I love it and I love being a mom!

I got to talk to my little brother on his mission in Ghana Africa and learn about horrible toilet paper, beautiful sunsets on the beach, and the amazing missionary work!

I have an awesome Mom and Mother-in-Law and family and friends! So many wonderful and beautiful examples! Thank you!

We are getting ready for the girls to finish up their school in about a month. And we are looking forward to visiting some close friends in Kentucky over Memorial Day weekend! We are so excited to see the South and visit some awesome friends!

Richard has about 6 weeks left in his first Trimester (yeah, I can't believe we are surviving!). He is doing great. He just scored a 97% on his Gross Anatomy test this last week. I have to sing his praises!

I am just doing my thang and getting ready for a great (read:humid, hot, silly, fun) summer! It will be a great adventure!

Happy May!

PS Head over to my other blog for a list of things I learned from my mom!!!

Welcome to April!!!

April in the Midwest! I have been looking forward to the spring and the warmer days and rain! (0:

Well, last night we got some snow and I had to scrape the windshield this morning to take Sarah to school.

I guess that is how is goes!

We have been doing new things this spring.

A new thing at our house is side ponytails! The girls hair is just about long enough to put in side ponytails, so we do it sometimes! I do it with my hair, too and the girls love it! What is it about 80's hair? I love it! So much fun!

Girls with side ponytails!

Richard and I went to see the movie "Monsters vs. Aliens" with Sarah and Rachel and their friend Naya and her dad Keven! It was so fun to go out and laugh in the theater!

Rachel, Naya and Sarah hanging out!!!

Other things going on with us... We decided to move all 3 girls into one room so that Richard could have a good, quiet place to study at home.

I was kind of worried and nervous but the girls LOVE it! Sarah and Rachel are so kind and sweet with Emma and they are learning to get a long better and not fight so much. There is a set of bunk beds, a daybed, 3 dressers and a bookshelf in about a 10'x12' room. I can't believe it all fits!!!

(There will be a picture here asap of the new room....)

And Richard has a place to study! He studies on campus a ton. He leaves the house about 7 am and is home about 5pm and then he studies after the girls go to bed. Just like we expected! Lots of studying!

Richard had his first test today and feels ok about it! We will know better tomorrow when the teacher posts the grades! He has 2 other tests this week and at least one a week for the rest of his life, er, the trimester. Keep him in your prayers!

I am working on my sewing and made a dress for Sarah. I want to finish Rachel and Emma's and then I will put a picture up. An awesome chick in my ward is a super sew-er and was so nice to help me!

And we had our first General Conference out of Utah. We gathered around the computer (glad we bought a good size screen) and listened and learned! It was so awesome to be so Spiritually Fed! I love conference! I learn so much and I am ready to work hard and move forward. So grateful to be able to hear the Prophets voice! We are very blessed!

Changes!!!!

Life at our house the last 2 weeks has been FULL of changes!!! Actually the whole last month has been so different!!!
The big thing that happened 2 weeks ago was that Richard's sister, Michelle, flew to visit us at the end of her mission. She was serving in the Cleveland Ohio mission and she spent some of her mission at Kirtland and some other Church History sights.

Sister and mom and dad

Welcome!!! Emma and Richard welcome Michelle
The girls welcome Michelle to our new home!

Come play with us at the John Deere Headquarters!

Sarah, Emma and Rachel with Michelle

While the family was here, we took a trip down to Nauvoo and did a session at the temple. It was so wonderful to be together as a family! We also did a quick drive down to Carthage a spent a few minutes in Carthage Jail. We are so blessed to live near these Church History Sites.

Having Grandpa and Grandma and Michelle was so fun! It was great to see them again and show them around our new city! We miss them all so much and it was a blast to see them! We know that Michelle is going on to new changes and adventures in her life and we are happy for her! She is an awesome woman who has an awesome future!

The MAJOR thing that went on with our family this last week is that Richard started graduate school. We have been waiting for this for a long time and it almost doesn't seem real. Richard says that it will feel more real after his first test and labs. He is taking classes like Embryology, Neuroanatomy, Spinal Anatomy, Gross Anatomy, Biochemistry, Fundamentals of Neurophysiology, and Philosophy. Lots of crazy classes!!!

We love Richard so much and I know that he will do great in school. This is going to be a great (read:hard and long) 3 years! Thanks for all your love and support getting us here! Keep us (especially Richard) in your prayers.

Oh, and here is one of the random things that Richard had to buy at the bookstore for his first trimester at school:

"Bag of Bones" for Richard to study the Spinal Column

(we had to reassure the girls that they were just plastic!)