Dominican Republic

Last month I was blessed to be a part of a group of people who went to the Dominican Republic to offer free dental work. Talk about an amazing experience! One of the best parts of this trip was me being able to share this experience with my brother Jordan (a dental student at Creighton).

I could write a long paragraph about all the crazy stuff I saw or how HOT it was, but pictures will say it better. Enjoy!

This is a picture of us at our first location: a school

Lots of people waiting in hopes of getting dental work done

this is the sterilization area. ha

Our hotel was close to the Santo Domingo temple, so we walked over one night to take a look at it.

My first tooth extraction!

you can't really tell, but this guy had some MAJOR calculus build up. 

After a majority had been removed....

 There you have it! Honestly, going to the DR was a great experience, I learned so much and I am grateful I was able to go with such an awesome group of people.

OMAHA!

Come Friday morning I had left Cleveland and flew to Omaha, NE to meet up with Jordan and Hilary and their twin girls Bella and Sofia. Bella is the one on the left, and Sofia is on the right. 

After Hilary picked me up from the airport we went back to their place and took the girls to the park. Bella loves the swing, while Sofia is terrified to even sit in it.

Saturday morning Jordan and I took the girls to the Zoo. Apparently Omaha has the 3rd largest zoo in the nation. 

This zoo is AMAZING! I think I enjoyed it 10X more than the girls did. Yes this picture was taken while I was at the zoo. Basically, you just need to go there. 

(check out these backpacks. every parent we saw had their kids in strollers. Pretty sure they were all extremely jealous of our inexpensive backpacks). I mean lets be honest, look at the picture above this one, would you be able to get a stroller across that bridge? I think not. 

 After church on Sunday, the 5 of us headed over to the Botanical Gardens (which happen to be right next door to where Jordan and Hilary live).

This is the rose garden, although the roses weren't in bloom, it was still very pretty. Imagine what it will look like in a few months from now... 

Behind me runs several toy train tracks. 

Beautiful Bella. Talk about photogenic!

Spunky Sofia. Haha, she is so funny and has a lot of personality.  

She's eating a banana... definitely one of her favorite requests when it comes to food. 

I had a blast in Cleveland and Omaha! Spending a few days at each place gave me a taste of what each area has to offer and now I want to go back even more. But the best part was seeing family and spending time with them, I've got a pretty cool family!