Well, we’ve been in San Diego (wink wink) with my family now for a week and a half. We’ve been having a great time while we’ve been here. So far, we have been able to go to institute class with my mom, go swimming in the pool several times, help with a little yard work, watch some fun movies, do some shopping, go on a walk, try out the features on dad’s new I-phone, play card games, listen to Aaron practice the new piano (and the boys have done their own piano practices on the old piano too), Kolby and Eli got to go with Papa and Uncle Aaron on a scout campout, I got to go with Mom to help serve at a luncheon for a missionary zone conference, the boys have played a little with Nana and Pap’s dog (and Eli and Camden are slowly improving and becoming less afraid of the dog), we have visited with a few old friends and met some new friends, I’ve been able to take several afternoon naps since I’ve been here – something I rarely do, we have had humus with pita bread (a taste that actually does grow on you), we took the boys to a story time at Borders and Nana got them a couple new books, we took the boys to a playgroup at a nearby pool, we got to go to Ladies’ Night Out, we went out to California Pizza Kitchen while Papa took the boys camping, we have made it through a couple weeks of church here and the boys like their primary classes, Isaac has started to stand up beside furniture and then let go and just stand for several seconds before getting down and crawling again, I have spent a little time looking at houses for rent in and around Rochester on craigslist, I have caught up a little on friends’ blogs, the boys have had lots of fun playing with their uncles, Papa taught the boys all about gophers (and how they love to tickle little boys, especially whiny little boys), the boys have built lots of lego towers, I have realized that one nice thing about having basement bedrooms back in Utah is that the boys don’t wake up as soon as there is any light out like they (especially Isaac) have been doing since we’ve been here, Eli jumped off of the top of Aaron’s bunk bed (fortunately, he wasn’t really hurt from that), Mom and Grandma and I got to go to the General Relief Society Broadcast last night which was very good, we have met people named Camden – one little boy at story time and another mom who is planning on naming her baby Camden when he is born next month – and that is a name I barely ever hear, and I have met two people who know people named Courtland (which I didn’t know that I would ever hear anyone else with that name out there), we have had a couple yummy meals made on the outdoor grill, I have been able to call Michael almost every day to talk and have our family scripture reading, I have learned one very good reason to have a dog: you can let it come inside and eat up all the crumbs off the floor after 4 babies get done with a meal and if it’s a big dog it can even reach up and clean the crumbs out of the highchair seat, we have made several trips to Costco where the boys were excited to get samples for lunch (the Costco here has a lot more samples than the one in West Valley, and it’s actually enough to make the kids full at lunch time), I have had fun playing with mom and dad’s new toy – a ClearPlay DVD player which edits movies so you can watch anything and it will only be at a PG rating, and Mom and I got to go to Canterbury Gardens for their Christmas opening and I found the cutest little dinosaur ornaments to give to the boys this year. We’ve done a lot more stuff since we’ve been here, but I can’t think of it all right now.
And tomorrow Matthew and Aaron have the day off of school, so after the morning institute class and dropping Grandma Faun off at the airport, we are planning on spending the day at the beach, which should be lots of fun!
Showing posts with label Vacation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vacation. Show all posts
28 September 2008
13 April 2008
Two Weeks of Vacation
I love having this month off for vacation. It has been so nice and relaxing to take time getting up in the morning, eating nice breakfasts with the family, playing with the boys, and just being home with the family. We have gotten a lot done over the past two weeks to get ready for packing and moving while still finding time to have some fun.
As far as moving, we have decided to try and fit most of our stuff into a pod that will be transported to Rochester, New York and then kept in storage for a year. Then we will try and fit the stuff going to Utah with us into another pod and our cars. We are going to try and sell most of our bigger furniture (dressers, bookcases, entertainment center, couches, table) in order to make everything fit, and then slowly purchase them again when we get to Rochester. This will help us to save quite a bit of money if we can use 2 pods rather than 3. We set a date to rent the pods for Tuesday, May 27, which will allow us a few fudge days to get everything packed before we have to be out of the apartment on May 31. Then, we are going to get a towing package installed on the back of our van and rent a car tow dolly from U-haul to tow our smaller blue car behind the van when we drive to Utah. That way, we can take a few extra days getting to Utah, stopping in Nauvoo and at Steph’s grandma’s house in Missouri (plus it will cost less to tow the car than to pay for gas to drive it). Steph also found some people in Milwaukee that had just moved here and were giving away their boxes, so we picked them up and have them ready to start packing soon. We also spent a couple of days cleaning out our storage units and trying to get rid of the junk that has accumulated over the past few years. That felt good.
It is crazy to think that we only have about 7 weeks left in Milwaukee. We are really excited to start this next step in our journey, but we will be very sad to leave all of the friends out here that have become our family while away from family. Thanks to everyone who has been so good to us, helping us out when needed and having fun playing games with us. We hope that we can stay in contact with all of them even though we will not be close by.
Speaking of the next step in our journey, we got all the paperwork this week for my new job as an intern at Intermountain Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah. I got my contract that showed how much I will get paid (and let’s just say it will be so nice to finally be getting a paycheck again). I also got the form to pick my schedule preference, as well as all the stuff from human resources for insurance, lab coats, ID badge, etc. It is exciting to think that I will be starting as an intern in just a few months, though it was a little crazy to see the spot that I signed at the end of the contract with a M.D. after my name. I mean, I guess that is what I have been working for the past 4 years, but it will still take some getting used to.
Last weekend we got to enjoy watching the 168th General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints over the internet on our computer. For those that may not know, this meeting occurs twice a year and it is a meeting of our entire church throughout the world. It is a chance for us to hear from the prophet and his 2 counselors, the 12 apostles, and the other general leaders of our church, to receive counsel and instruction that is applicable to us living in the world today. There are 5 two-hour information-packed meetings, 3 on Saturday and 2 on Sunday. This weekend’s set of meetings was especially neat because a new prophet was sustained, since President Gordon B. Hinckley passed away earlier this year. The new prophet is Thomas S. Monson, and we each got a chance to show our personal willingness to accept this man as the living prophet of our day. A new apostle was also called, Elder D. Todd Christofferson. I love these meetings because I learn so much and feel such a warm feeling inside as the Holy Ghost testifies to me that what I am being taught is true. I really enjoyed Elder Dallin H. Oaks’ talk about testimony, President Dieter F. Uchtdorf’s about using self-discipline to stay the true course, Elder Jeffery R. Holland’s about the importance of continuing revelation, and Elder M. Russell Ballard’s about the role of young mother’s in raising a righteous generation of children. Our kids did pretty well, considering their ages, but there were still times that I wasn’t able to pay as much attention as I would have liked – I can’t wait for the Ensign to come out so I can reread everything that was taught.
Last Monday we decided to take a trip down to Chicago. We had heard that the zoo was free, so we drove down and found some free parking in a park just across the street from the zoo. We got to see the seals being fed and trained, Kolby and Eli chasing seagulls around while eating lunch, and some other cool displays (though the lion’s were not very exciting like they are at the Milwaukee zoo). My favorite was a pygmy hippo that the kids could get down in front of a glass window. The hippo kept trying to dig at the kids and they would squeal. It was really funny to watch. There was also a really cool jungle gym that was shaped like a giant tree, with leaves and netting for the kids to climb around in. After the zoo, we drove downtown and found a parking garage to leave the car and then spent the night walking around the city. We wanted to get to Navy Pier, and since we had been there before, we knew what direction to go. Well, to make a long story short, we ended up taking a wrong turn (though it wasn’t our fault because there were no signs posted saying that the sidewalk was going to end) and found ourselves on a bridge over the Chicago river, at a freeway entrance with cars whizzing past, and us needing to get to the other side. Luckily, there was some construction being done that slowed the cars down some, and then there were some nice people that stopped to let us by. We ended up safely at the Navy Pier and the boys had fun watching the giant ferris wheel and swings. Then we took a trolley ride back into the city to get us closer to our car. We had a lot of fun, though we were so tired on the drive home that Steph and I had to keep trading off driving.
Steph found a website called MilwaukeeMoms.com that has postings for different community events and there were 2 that we did this weekend. In the morning we went to a Kid Fest at the state fairgrounds in the exhibition center. They had all sorts of booths set up from different organizations all over the community, with candy and activities for the kids and drawings for the parents to enter. There was a kid’s circus where they took volunteers from the audience and dressed them up in animal costumes and then had them perform on the stage. We’ll have to post the video of Kolby and Eli as they danced around as horses on the stage. It was really cute.
We got a call from the Theriot’s, a family in the ward, asking if we could watch their 2-year-old boy over the weekend while they went to St. Louis to do some house hunting. He is a really calm and happy kid and has fit in real well with the other boys. They also left us with their X-box to enjoy over the weekend. We have enjoyed playing Tetris, Star Wars, and Cars together and with friends.
This weekend is our Stake Conference, and the other thing that Steph found on that website was a Methodist church that was doing a free babysitting night as a service to the community. We decided to take them up on the offer. We dropped the kids off at 5 and picked them up at 9:30. They fed the kids dinner and then did several activities with them. Steph and I were able to go to dinner at Uno’s and then attend the adult session of Stake Conference together. It was so good as we were counseled on ways to increase our faith and strengthen our families. We need to get the kids ready now for the meeting today at 2pm. We will have 5 boys under the age of 5 with us – it should be interesting. Hopefully we get something out of it. :)
As far as moving, we have decided to try and fit most of our stuff into a pod that will be transported to Rochester, New York and then kept in storage for a year. Then we will try and fit the stuff going to Utah with us into another pod and our cars. We are going to try and sell most of our bigger furniture (dressers, bookcases, entertainment center, couches, table) in order to make everything fit, and then slowly purchase them again when we get to Rochester. This will help us to save quite a bit of money if we can use 2 pods rather than 3. We set a date to rent the pods for Tuesday, May 27, which will allow us a few fudge days to get everything packed before we have to be out of the apartment on May 31. Then, we are going to get a towing package installed on the back of our van and rent a car tow dolly from U-haul to tow our smaller blue car behind the van when we drive to Utah. That way, we can take a few extra days getting to Utah, stopping in Nauvoo and at Steph’s grandma’s house in Missouri (plus it will cost less to tow the car than to pay for gas to drive it). Steph also found some people in Milwaukee that had just moved here and were giving away their boxes, so we picked them up and have them ready to start packing soon. We also spent a couple of days cleaning out our storage units and trying to get rid of the junk that has accumulated over the past few years. That felt good.
It is crazy to think that we only have about 7 weeks left in Milwaukee. We are really excited to start this next step in our journey, but we will be very sad to leave all of the friends out here that have become our family while away from family. Thanks to everyone who has been so good to us, helping us out when needed and having fun playing games with us. We hope that we can stay in contact with all of them even though we will not be close by.
Speaking of the next step in our journey, we got all the paperwork this week for my new job as an intern at Intermountain Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah. I got my contract that showed how much I will get paid (and let’s just say it will be so nice to finally be getting a paycheck again). I also got the form to pick my schedule preference, as well as all the stuff from human resources for insurance, lab coats, ID badge, etc. It is exciting to think that I will be starting as an intern in just a few months, though it was a little crazy to see the spot that I signed at the end of the contract with a M.D. after my name. I mean, I guess that is what I have been working for the past 4 years, but it will still take some getting used to.
Last weekend we got to enjoy watching the 168th General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints over the internet on our computer. For those that may not know, this meeting occurs twice a year and it is a meeting of our entire church throughout the world. It is a chance for us to hear from the prophet and his 2 counselors, the 12 apostles, and the other general leaders of our church, to receive counsel and instruction that is applicable to us living in the world today. There are 5 two-hour information-packed meetings, 3 on Saturday and 2 on Sunday. This weekend’s set of meetings was especially neat because a new prophet was sustained, since President Gordon B. Hinckley passed away earlier this year. The new prophet is Thomas S. Monson, and we each got a chance to show our personal willingness to accept this man as the living prophet of our day. A new apostle was also called, Elder D. Todd Christofferson. I love these meetings because I learn so much and feel such a warm feeling inside as the Holy Ghost testifies to me that what I am being taught is true. I really enjoyed Elder Dallin H. Oaks’ talk about testimony, President Dieter F. Uchtdorf’s about using self-discipline to stay the true course, Elder Jeffery R. Holland’s about the importance of continuing revelation, and Elder M. Russell Ballard’s about the role of young mother’s in raising a righteous generation of children. Our kids did pretty well, considering their ages, but there were still times that I wasn’t able to pay as much attention as I would have liked – I can’t wait for the Ensign to come out so I can reread everything that was taught.
Last Monday we decided to take a trip down to Chicago. We had heard that the zoo was free, so we drove down and found some free parking in a park just across the street from the zoo. We got to see the seals being fed and trained, Kolby and Eli chasing seagulls around while eating lunch, and some other cool displays (though the lion’s were not very exciting like they are at the Milwaukee zoo). My favorite was a pygmy hippo that the kids could get down in front of a glass window. The hippo kept trying to dig at the kids and they would squeal. It was really funny to watch. There was also a really cool jungle gym that was shaped like a giant tree, with leaves and netting for the kids to climb around in. After the zoo, we drove downtown and found a parking garage to leave the car and then spent the night walking around the city. We wanted to get to Navy Pier, and since we had been there before, we knew what direction to go. Well, to make a long story short, we ended up taking a wrong turn (though it wasn’t our fault because there were no signs posted saying that the sidewalk was going to end) and found ourselves on a bridge over the Chicago river, at a freeway entrance with cars whizzing past, and us needing to get to the other side. Luckily, there was some construction being done that slowed the cars down some, and then there were some nice people that stopped to let us by. We ended up safely at the Navy Pier and the boys had fun watching the giant ferris wheel and swings. Then we took a trolley ride back into the city to get us closer to our car. We had a lot of fun, though we were so tired on the drive home that Steph and I had to keep trading off driving.
Steph found a website called MilwaukeeMoms.com that has postings for different community events and there were 2 that we did this weekend. In the morning we went to a Kid Fest at the state fairgrounds in the exhibition center. They had all sorts of booths set up from different organizations all over the community, with candy and activities for the kids and drawings for the parents to enter. There was a kid’s circus where they took volunteers from the audience and dressed them up in animal costumes and then had them perform on the stage. We’ll have to post the video of Kolby and Eli as they danced around as horses on the stage. It was really cute.
We got a call from the Theriot’s, a family in the ward, asking if we could watch their 2-year-old boy over the weekend while they went to St. Louis to do some house hunting. He is a really calm and happy kid and has fit in real well with the other boys. They also left us with their X-box to enjoy over the weekend. We have enjoyed playing Tetris, Star Wars, and Cars together and with friends.
This weekend is our Stake Conference, and the other thing that Steph found on that website was a Methodist church that was doing a free babysitting night as a service to the community. We decided to take them up on the offer. We dropped the kids off at 5 and picked them up at 9:30. They fed the kids dinner and then did several activities with them. Steph and I were able to go to dinner at Uno’s and then attend the adult session of Stake Conference together. It was so good as we were counseled on ways to increase our faith and strengthen our families. We need to get the kids ready now for the meeting today at 2pm. We will have 5 boys under the age of 5 with us – it should be interesting. Hopefully we get something out of it. :)
25 May 2007
The Perfect Schedule
Well, about a month ago Michael got his schedule of rotations for his 4th year, but some changes had to be made because one of the required classes was missing from his schedule. He had to wait until this week, when they opened up the website for students to make schedule changes, and we were a little worried that the only time that required class might be available was during the months when we were planning on being out of town for an away-rotation and a vacation month, and that would have messed everything up. But Michael said that someone must have been praying for us, because when he got onto the computer, all the rotations he needed/wanted happened to be available in the exact months that he was hoping for. So, he rearranged the schedule a bit, and we were very pleased with how it turned out. He could always make changes later, if he decides to choose a different rotation one month, but we were glad that for now we got everything worked out.
So, he’ll start with Dermatology in July. We are glad that he got Derm his first month, because that way he can decide for sure if that’s what he wants to go into or not. And they will need to be decided on a specialty in the next couple months because applications for residency interviews will begin. In August he has Ambulatory Medicine. And in September he has his Medicine Sub I – a sub-internship is when a 4th-year student takes on the responsibilities of a 1st-year resident (intern). So for his two Sub I months 4th year he will have a more demanding schedule. In October he has one called, Family and Community Medicine: Promoting Health in Urban Underserved Communities. In November Michael has tried to get a rotation with an easier schedule since we will have a new baby at home, and he signed up for one that he heard wasn’t too bad: Pediatric Radiology. We will be going to Boise for the month of December and Michael will be doing another Dermatology rotation there with a Dermatologist who is a family friend of theirs, who Michael has shadowed in the past. We will be staying with Michael’s family and then we will be there for Christmas. We have heard that the months of December and January will be the busiest for Michael with his interviews, so he will be flying/driving to interviews a lot those two months. In January we are taking one of our two vacation months, and will be staying with my family in San Diego. It will be nice to avoid some of the long winter months of Milwaukee. In February Michael has a rotation in Infectious Diseases. And in March he will be doing Plastic Surgery for his Surgery Sub I. In mid-March we will find out where Michael has matched for his residency. In April we will take our second month of vacation so that we will have time to go look for housing wherever we may be moving. And in May Michael has signed up for an easy course that everyone takes, called Preparing for Internship.
So, we are very excited for this upcoming year and all the new experiences it will bring for our family. And we can’t believe that medical school has gone by so quickly – although, I assure you that there were times when it did not seem to be going by very quickly at all. But as we have been watching lots of our friends who just graduated make preparations and move away, it has been amazing to us that we will know where we will be going for the next four years in less than a year now. Michael will be graduating, and he will officially be a doctor. And our little family is starting to grow up too. With the next place we move to, we will not only need to consider finding a nice house and it’s location relating to the hospital where Michael works, but we will also need to look into the reputations of the local school districts for the boys. Wow. I remember moving here, and seeing the 4th years moving out and thinking how much they knew and how long they had been in medical school, and now we are almost there. And now we are looking forward to residency – a whole new adventure.
So, he’ll start with Dermatology in July. We are glad that he got Derm his first month, because that way he can decide for sure if that’s what he wants to go into or not. And they will need to be decided on a specialty in the next couple months because applications for residency interviews will begin. In August he has Ambulatory Medicine. And in September he has his Medicine Sub I – a sub-internship is when a 4th-year student takes on the responsibilities of a 1st-year resident (intern). So for his two Sub I months 4th year he will have a more demanding schedule. In October he has one called, Family and Community Medicine: Promoting Health in Urban Underserved Communities. In November Michael has tried to get a rotation with an easier schedule since we will have a new baby at home, and he signed up for one that he heard wasn’t too bad: Pediatric Radiology. We will be going to Boise for the month of December and Michael will be doing another Dermatology rotation there with a Dermatologist who is a family friend of theirs, who Michael has shadowed in the past. We will be staying with Michael’s family and then we will be there for Christmas. We have heard that the months of December and January will be the busiest for Michael with his interviews, so he will be flying/driving to interviews a lot those two months. In January we are taking one of our two vacation months, and will be staying with my family in San Diego. It will be nice to avoid some of the long winter months of Milwaukee. In February Michael has a rotation in Infectious Diseases. And in March he will be doing Plastic Surgery for his Surgery Sub I. In mid-March we will find out where Michael has matched for his residency. In April we will take our second month of vacation so that we will have time to go look for housing wherever we may be moving. And in May Michael has signed up for an easy course that everyone takes, called Preparing for Internship.
So, we are very excited for this upcoming year and all the new experiences it will bring for our family. And we can’t believe that medical school has gone by so quickly – although, I assure you that there were times when it did not seem to be going by very quickly at all. But as we have been watching lots of our friends who just graduated make preparations and move away, it has been amazing to us that we will know where we will be going for the next four years in less than a year now. Michael will be graduating, and he will officially be a doctor. And our little family is starting to grow up too. With the next place we move to, we will not only need to consider finding a nice house and it’s location relating to the hospital where Michael works, but we will also need to look into the reputations of the local school districts for the boys. Wow. I remember moving here, and seeing the 4th years moving out and thinking how much they knew and how long they had been in medical school, and now we are almost there. And now we are looking forward to residency – a whole new adventure.
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