Last Week

The past week was our first full week back in Milwaukee, and we had so much fun playing games and spending time with friends. It took a few days to get everything unpacked and back in the right places. We also got the Christmas decorations down and put away. After taking all the Christmas boxes and luggage to our storage unit, we had room to finally move the piano out of our bedroom and back into the front room, which has been so much nicer to play. The boys always want to play with it too.

I started into my new rotation, which is surgical pathology. I am with one other student and we sit in a room and look at pathology slides with the residents and fellows. I am amazed at how fast they can look at a slide under the microscope and know within seconds what they are seeing. This is good for me to start getting used to looking under the microscope, since I will have to do this in my dermatology residency.

Last Wednesday we had a huge snowstorm that swept through the area, dumping about 12 inches of snow. There was also a really gusty wind, so being outside and on the roads was bad. The director of our rotation on Tuesday said to not come in Wednesday if the snow was bad enough, so I ended up having a snow day, which was so nice. Steph and I were able to get a lot of little things done at home that day and that night we had the Kearls over for games. We played out in the snow when they first got here and the boys had so much fun because there was so much.

Thursday night we went to dinner with Tyce and Faith to celebrate Faith’s birthday, which was Saturday. We went downtown to the Pizza Shuttle and they had really good gourmet pizzas – we got a bbq chicken, alfredo vegetable, and spinach with feta. We thought it would be more than enough food, but the boys ate so much, and there were no leftovers. They have definitely gotten their appetites back since coming home.

Friday was Eli’s first day of preschool. He is in the same classes with Kolby. We got some really cute pictures of him and Kolby dressed up for his first day. He had so much fun and loves school, especially since he is with Kolby – they are such good friends. Steph said that as soon as they got there the boys were off playing and didn’t need her to stick around.

That night the Kearls had asked us to babysit for them so they could go curling. We went to their house to help out, and when they got back some others showed up for cake and ice cream and games. By the time we were done playing Killer Bunnies, it was pretty late, and all the kids were already asleep, so we just decided to spend the night in their front room. It made me feel like I was back in college. Saturday morning Nathan came out around 6:30 with a little flashlight, and when he saw Steph sleeping in the recliner, I guess he thought she was his mom and got really excited that she was out in the front room. He came over and shined the light on her, but when he realized that she wasn’t his mom, he started screaming and ran back to his parents’ bedroom. It was really funny.

Saturday we got to listen to the worldwide leadership training conference over at the church. The topic was on raising a righteous posterity and the focus was on how to better help our kids to learn the gospel in the home and to make sure that we made our homes safe havens from the evils of the world. I thought it was neat how often they spoke about making the sacrifice of faith to have a family while still in school and not making a lot of money, and that if you would obey that commandment to multiply and replenish the earth, then you would be blessed immensely for it. As I look back on our marriage so far, I can definitely see how much we have been blessed and helped as we have tried to follow the counsel of the prophet and keep the commandments. In the conference they also gave advice on things to do to have more love and unity in the home. Steph and I are continually trying to improve on making sure that our children always feel loved and that we are spending good quality time with them. We decided to set up a weekly night out with one of the boys so that we could spend more individual time with them. We will start with Kolby this week. Saturday night we had Peter and Cynthia Hedgecock over for games and had fun catching up on each others lives for the past few months. They brought a new board game that is now our favorite game for the time. It is called Carcassonne and is similar in some respects to Settlers of Katan, but easier to explain and quite a bit faster to play. Basically, you take turn picking up pieces to add to the table as you build up cities with fields and roads and you get points based on what you build.

Sunday was probably the coldest day that we have had so far since being back – the high was only around 10 degrees, and there was a really cold wind blowing all day. Kolby gave a talk in primary on the topic of how the scriptures teach us about Heavenly Father and Jesus. He said that his favorite parts of the scriptures are those about the Lamanites, and his favorite stories are Nephi building the boat, Noah and the Ark, and Ammon and the sheep. He wanted to do the talk without our help and he did a good job with the primary president helping him. I am really looking forward to next month when Camden will be old enough to go to nursery, because one of us ends up spending the hour in the hall with him because he just doesn’t want to be quiet. :) I also got released from my calling as the ward physical facilities representative and my assignment as the stake building coordinator. For now I will just be doing home teaching, which is different, especially since I have had those callings for almost the whole time we’ve been in Milwaukee.

After church we had dinner over at the Hedgecocks. Peter is an excellent cook and we love eating his food. He made us salmon that was so delicious. I had to run for a few hours to do my home teaching with Jason. We had fun catching up on the lives of Steve and Kara and Kyle and Tracy and their kids. When I got back to the Hedgecocks we got the kids in bed and then played another round of Carcassonne. We are so grateful to have such wonderful friends here in Milwaukee and are not looking forward to possibly having to leave them when I graduate.

Grandpa McIntosh also had his back surgery on Wednesday. It sounds like everything went well, although things were a lot worse than the doctors had thought once they got in and started working. He is out of the ICU but had to have a blood transfusion Sunday night. It is good to hear that he is continually improving, if not as fast as he had hoped. You are in our prayers grandpa and we hope that this will help to alleviate some of the pain you have been dealing with for so long.

We hope everyone else is doing well and love hearing from you.

Trauma is Almost Done!!!

Well, I’m finally home on a Sunday this month, so I guess it is my turn to write and say hi. Trauma continues to be busy, busy, busy. I had my last overnight call for this rotation on Friday (yeah!!), and just like the other ones, we were busy all night long – lots of accidents and lots of sick people. It has been an interesting month, with things that I will probably never see or do again in the future, so that has been cool. But the hours are just so long that it begins to wear on you by the end of the month. I just have a few more days this next week and then my test on Thursday.

This month I have learned that those who end up in our trauma bay do so due to a lack of common sense in a few different areas: 1) wear a helmet when you ride a motorcycle; 2) wear your seatbelt in the car; 3) don’t drink alcohol because it can lead to 4) knife wounds and 5) gunshot wounds.

Earlier this week we met with Kendra McMullin, a member from the ward that works with a financial company. She came to do a free financial needs assessment. Basically, they look over your current assets and your goals for the short and long term, and then they come back with things you can do to reach those goals. Some of their big messages are to pay yourself first, including life insurance, short term coverage (an emergency fund to cover up to a year), and then long term retirement savings. She had some really good things for us to think about as we will be getting into the salary stage of our life next year.

Steph took the boys to swim lessons this week and says they both continue to be little fish in the water. The boys also have an art class at a ward member’s house every Thursday morning where they do little crafts each week and have a fun time playing with the other kids.
Thursday night one of my home teaching families – the Stouffers – were moving to Ohio to start residency, so we helped them pack the truck. It is so weird to see all these recently graduated students leaving to start new adventures in residency, and then to realize that will be us just next year. Graduation is coming so fast – it is May 16, 2008, and anyone is invited to join us for that weekend.

It has been so nice to be home with the family today and to be able to go to church together – I missed that last weekend. In sacrament meeting we learned about the importance of fasting and fast offerings and keeping the Sabbath day holy – it is so nice to have one day a week set aside to escape from the normal routine and spend time at church feeling the spirit and being with the family. In Sunday school we discussed Matthew 25 that talks about the parable of the 10 virgins, the parable of the talents, and the parable of the sheep and the goats. Basically, we have to endure to the end and constantly strive to do what is right and develop the gifts we have been given, and then use those gifts and abilities to help others. I missed most of the priesthood meeting because Camden decided he wanted to be loud and talk. So he and I walked around outside for a little to calm him down. Luckily the weather is so nice right now – I love it. This afternoon I went and visited with Steve and Kara Pothier for home teaching, and then our home teachers just left from visiting with us. We are cooking a roast and are having a new family, the Townsends, over for dinner.

Congratulations to Mel and Christian for finding out that they are having another boy – that is so exciting. And we love hearing from all of you and how your lives are going.