Here are the pictures from the day we spent in Chicago a couple weeks ago. We had fun at the Chicago Zoo, and then parked downtown and walked around the city (my favorite thing to do in Chicago). We ended up at Navy Pier and the boys loved seeing all the sights. Everyone was worn out by the end of the day from having so much fun and doing so much walking.
Showing posts with label Zoo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Zoo. Show all posts
29 April 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. :)
02 March 2008
Swimming, Zoo Trips, Potty Training, and Car Seats in Church
This week the boys enjoyed their preschool class. Kolby and Eli love their classes, and on Friday I even got motivated and took all 4 boys and worked out during their classes. Camden and Isaac went to their kid care, and I used the elliptical machine for a while. Afterwards I picked up the boys and it was all I could do to keep Camden from joining in with Kolby and Eli in their gym class. That was a fun morning.
On Tuesday it was Camden’s night out with Daddy and they went to the YMCA in Menomonee Falls because it has a nice kid’s swimming area with a little wading pool and slide. Unfortunately there was a problem with their heating system in that room that evening, so they got moved into the lap pool. Camden wasn’t able to go down the baby slide anymore, but they still had a lot of fun. And then on Wednesday night Kolby and Eli had their swimming lessons, and they both did great. Kolby is now able to jump in from the side of the pool without anyone to catch him and he can walk out to the middle of the pool. Eli is still as brave as ever – dunking his entire head under the water over and over. It’s pretty fun to watch.
On Thursday we had an Enrichment activity at Catherine Call’s house sharing all of our favorite children’s books, which was nice to have a night away from the kids. I enjoyed remembering the books that we loved as children and thinking about which ones I would like to add to our collection for our kids. Then on Friday evening we had a ward dessert night at the Spencer’s house and Alicia and Steve Taylor were there too. That was nice to get together with some ‘new’ people, and it was fun to see all the little boys running around together too.
And then yesterday was fun. We went to the zoo in the morning because it was a free zoo day (our membership had expired on Friday). We told the boys that there was going to be a surprise at the zoo (Eli was sure that the surprise was going to be the animals, but Kolby was excited to find out what it would be). When we got there we met our friends, the Hedgecocks, and Kolby was excited that the surprise was his friends, Jordan and Carter, at the zoo with us. My favorite part of the Milwaukee zoo is always the big cat house, because the lions and the cheetahs are always right there in front of the glass and they are usually active and moving around so they are so interesting for the kids to watch. We stopped on our way home and picked up some tennis shoes for Michael since his were getting his feet all wet every time he went out in the snow because he had so many holes in the soles. Then, after naps we took the boys to Denny’s for their kids eat free night. After we got home, picked up around the house, and put the boys to bed, the Kearls joined us for some games.
And today started out with Michael waking me up to help with the other boys because he needed to take care of Eli, who had had an accident. We are working on the potty training with Eli, and he is doing pretty well most of the time. He still wears a diaper at naptime and bedtime, and we have been using pull-ups for school and church (just in case), but during the daytime when we are at home he is just in underwear, and he has only had two accidents since we started this week, so I guess that’s pretty good – we are using less diapers, anyways.
Today went pretty well. After getting the boys ready and making bread, we headed to church. (On the making bread, if anyone has any good suggestions for getting bread to rise well, I would be open to them! I have made bread now every Sunday for the last five weeks and am starting to get a little discouraged. The first time the bread barely rose at all and turned out very thick, the next time it took hours and didn’t rise much but was a little better, another time it rose pretty well and then sunk right before I put them in the oven, last week they rose nicely and then they sunk while they were cooking, and this week they rose ok but still not very high. I know the recipe is good because my mom’s bread turns out great. I have tried letting the bread rise in the oven on “warm,” letting it rise sitting on top of the stove while the oven is on warm, letting it rise on top the stove on a cooking rack, letting it rise while the oven is on higher, and letting it rise just sitting on the counter top. There are just so many things that could be affecting it, and I don’t know which thing it is I need to fix – is the yeast bad? (but it has risen somewhat), am I letting it get too hot or not hot enough while it rises?, am I letting it rise for too long or not long enough?, or is it something totally different that I haven’t even thought of? At least the bread tastes really good and it’s nutritious, but I sure wish that it looked good and it made bigger slices for sandwiches. So, any suggestions would be appreciated!)
Anyways, on the way to church Camden fell asleep in the car, and Michael and I spent the entire ride to church considering options of how we might keep him asleep (church is hard with a child who is too young for nursery, too old to sit still, and too tired because it is right in the middle of naptime). Various ideas were thrown around, including taking a playpen and setting it up in an empty room at church, leaving him in the car, or putting him in the shed out behind the church – but none of these seemed satisfactory (and some rather illegal), so we ended up deciding on carrying his entire car seat in and setting it on the bench next to us. Now, Camden has long outgrown the little infant car seats that are meant to be carried with a child in them, and he is in an upright, forward-facing seat. Michael huffed and puffed and lugged that big old seat into the church building, and Camden actually slept through a good portion of the first meeting. Michael also decided to take a separate container of snacks for each boy to eat, and that actually kept them all entertained for the entire first meeting, which is uncommon. So, other than the fact that Camden can now open doors and escape from the classrooms at church and so the second two hours of church were not the easiest, it was a good day so far. Camden has two more Sundays before he is old enough for nursery class – yeah!!!
Well, only 18 more days until Match Day when we find out where we will be going for the next four years. We are not-so-patiently awaiting that day. So, tonight we are heading over to Amy and Vicente Cortez’ house for dinner, which will be nice since we haven’t had a chance to visit them for a while. We’d better get ready to go to their place now.
On Tuesday it was Camden’s night out with Daddy and they went to the YMCA in Menomonee Falls because it has a nice kid’s swimming area with a little wading pool and slide. Unfortunately there was a problem with their heating system in that room that evening, so they got moved into the lap pool. Camden wasn’t able to go down the baby slide anymore, but they still had a lot of fun. And then on Wednesday night Kolby and Eli had their swimming lessons, and they both did great. Kolby is now able to jump in from the side of the pool without anyone to catch him and he can walk out to the middle of the pool. Eli is still as brave as ever – dunking his entire head under the water over and over. It’s pretty fun to watch.
On Thursday we had an Enrichment activity at Catherine Call’s house sharing all of our favorite children’s books, which was nice to have a night away from the kids. I enjoyed remembering the books that we loved as children and thinking about which ones I would like to add to our collection for our kids. Then on Friday evening we had a ward dessert night at the Spencer’s house and Alicia and Steve Taylor were there too. That was nice to get together with some ‘new’ people, and it was fun to see all the little boys running around together too.
And then yesterday was fun. We went to the zoo in the morning because it was a free zoo day (our membership had expired on Friday). We told the boys that there was going to be a surprise at the zoo (Eli was sure that the surprise was going to be the animals, but Kolby was excited to find out what it would be). When we got there we met our friends, the Hedgecocks, and Kolby was excited that the surprise was his friends, Jordan and Carter, at the zoo with us. My favorite part of the Milwaukee zoo is always the big cat house, because the lions and the cheetahs are always right there in front of the glass and they are usually active and moving around so they are so interesting for the kids to watch. We stopped on our way home and picked up some tennis shoes for Michael since his were getting his feet all wet every time he went out in the snow because he had so many holes in the soles. Then, after naps we took the boys to Denny’s for their kids eat free night. After we got home, picked up around the house, and put the boys to bed, the Kearls joined us for some games.
And today started out with Michael waking me up to help with the other boys because he needed to take care of Eli, who had had an accident. We are working on the potty training with Eli, and he is doing pretty well most of the time. He still wears a diaper at naptime and bedtime, and we have been using pull-ups for school and church (just in case), but during the daytime when we are at home he is just in underwear, and he has only had two accidents since we started this week, so I guess that’s pretty good – we are using less diapers, anyways.
Today went pretty well. After getting the boys ready and making bread, we headed to church. (On the making bread, if anyone has any good suggestions for getting bread to rise well, I would be open to them! I have made bread now every Sunday for the last five weeks and am starting to get a little discouraged. The first time the bread barely rose at all and turned out very thick, the next time it took hours and didn’t rise much but was a little better, another time it rose pretty well and then sunk right before I put them in the oven, last week they rose nicely and then they sunk while they were cooking, and this week they rose ok but still not very high. I know the recipe is good because my mom’s bread turns out great. I have tried letting the bread rise in the oven on “warm,” letting it rise sitting on top of the stove while the oven is on warm, letting it rise on top the stove on a cooking rack, letting it rise while the oven is on higher, and letting it rise just sitting on the counter top. There are just so many things that could be affecting it, and I don’t know which thing it is I need to fix – is the yeast bad? (but it has risen somewhat), am I letting it get too hot or not hot enough while it rises?, am I letting it rise for too long or not long enough?, or is it something totally different that I haven’t even thought of? At least the bread tastes really good and it’s nutritious, but I sure wish that it looked good and it made bigger slices for sandwiches. So, any suggestions would be appreciated!)
Anyways, on the way to church Camden fell asleep in the car, and Michael and I spent the entire ride to church considering options of how we might keep him asleep (church is hard with a child who is too young for nursery, too old to sit still, and too tired because it is right in the middle of naptime). Various ideas were thrown around, including taking a playpen and setting it up in an empty room at church, leaving him in the car, or putting him in the shed out behind the church – but none of these seemed satisfactory (and some rather illegal), so we ended up deciding on carrying his entire car seat in and setting it on the bench next to us. Now, Camden has long outgrown the little infant car seats that are meant to be carried with a child in them, and he is in an upright, forward-facing seat. Michael huffed and puffed and lugged that big old seat into the church building, and Camden actually slept through a good portion of the first meeting. Michael also decided to take a separate container of snacks for each boy to eat, and that actually kept them all entertained for the entire first meeting, which is uncommon. So, other than the fact that Camden can now open doors and escape from the classrooms at church and so the second two hours of church were not the easiest, it was a good day so far. Camden has two more Sundays before he is old enough for nursery class – yeah!!!
Well, only 18 more days until Match Day when we find out where we will be going for the next four years. We are not-so-patiently awaiting that day. So, tonight we are heading over to Amy and Vicente Cortez’ house for dinner, which will be nice since we haven’t had a chance to visit them for a while. We’d better get ready to go to their place now.
29 July 2007
Family is Great
We just had a wonderful morning at church today. There was a combined third hour meeting, so Steph and I got to listen together. And Steph’s visiting teaching companion wanted to hold Camden for us the entire time, so we actually got to listen to the lesson. The topic was The Proclamation to the World on the Family, and we were taught two of the main doctrines that come from that proclamation: staying close to your spouse and learning how to cope with life’s challenges together as a couple; and the importance of nourishing and teaching our children from a young age. The bishop brought up the fact that statistically right now about 1/3 of the young men in the church are serving missions. He specifically pointed out that since we have three boys in our family right now, statistically only one of them would serve a mission if those numbers remain the same. And that this also affects the young women in the church when it comes time for them to choose a spouse and trying to find temple-worthy young men. The bishop wanted us as parents to think about what we need to be doing to teach our children so that they will want to make positive choices later on in life. Steph and I had some good ideas afterwards of things we can do to try and have more love and goodness in our home, including doing our family scripture reading as part of the boys' bedtime routine each night and trying to include them in the reading more, rather than just reading while they play on the floor.
The weather this week has been very pleasant. We took advantage of the good weather yesterday and met the Kearls at the beach at Lake Pewaukee. They have so much fun playing in the sand. We made an island for Steph to sit on and then the boys dug a “river” around her to trap her on her island. Afterwards we all went to dinner at Denny’s, since kids eat free on Saturdays – what a deal for our family.
I can’t believe it is already the end of July. It feels like I just started my dermatology rotation, and now I just have two days left. Maybe that’s because I’m having so much fun on this rotation. I continue to enjoy the things that I see and the idea of becoming a dermatologist just feels right. I have a presentation and my end of month test this week, so wish me luck.
I have also been working hard this week on my residency application. I met with my dermatology advisor, who I am also writing a case presentation with about one of her patients. She is going to write one of my letters of recommendation. I will meet with the dermatology chairman this upcoming week so he can get to know me a little better and write a letter – wish me luck. I am talking with one of the other pediatric dermatologists to see if she will write a letter for me. And then Dr. Flores, who I did my summer research project with during first and second years, is writing the other one. I have also been working on my curriculum vitae (in common terms, my resume) and a personal statement that we have to write.
Steph continues to stay busy at home with the three boys. They are always full of so much energy. They went to the zoo earlier this week, they both have swim lessons, and they have an art class every Thursday morning. And then Steph has her physical therapy each week to help strengthen her knee, which seems to be helping. Camden also got one of his front top teeth this week, and he looks so cute. And he waved at someone for the first time the other day too.
Monday night we had the missionaries over for dinner, and the message they shared for family home evening came from James in the New Testament, where he talks about the importance of going to the Lord for help, and then waiting for the answer to come, telling us how to act and what to say.
Tuesday night we went to JCPenny to get pictures of me for applications and the school’s yearbook. Normally when we go, it is such a chore just to get the boys to smile and try to get a decent photo. So I was expecting us to be there forever like always, until I realized that the photographer only took about 10 pictures and said we were done, all in about 5 minutes. It was great.
Friday night we had the Kearls and the Morrisons over for games. We played a card game called Red One that normally is meant for four players, but we tried it with six, and it actually worked fine.
Life continues to fly as we keep ourselves busy and enjoy the friends and memories we are creating out here in Milwaukee.
The weather this week has been very pleasant. We took advantage of the good weather yesterday and met the Kearls at the beach at Lake Pewaukee. They have so much fun playing in the sand. We made an island for Steph to sit on and then the boys dug a “river” around her to trap her on her island. Afterwards we all went to dinner at Denny’s, since kids eat free on Saturdays – what a deal for our family.
I can’t believe it is already the end of July. It feels like I just started my dermatology rotation, and now I just have two days left. Maybe that’s because I’m having so much fun on this rotation. I continue to enjoy the things that I see and the idea of becoming a dermatologist just feels right. I have a presentation and my end of month test this week, so wish me luck.
I have also been working hard this week on my residency application. I met with my dermatology advisor, who I am also writing a case presentation with about one of her patients. She is going to write one of my letters of recommendation. I will meet with the dermatology chairman this upcoming week so he can get to know me a little better and write a letter – wish me luck. I am talking with one of the other pediatric dermatologists to see if she will write a letter for me. And then Dr. Flores, who I did my summer research project with during first and second years, is writing the other one. I have also been working on my curriculum vitae (in common terms, my resume) and a personal statement that we have to write.
Steph continues to stay busy at home with the three boys. They are always full of so much energy. They went to the zoo earlier this week, they both have swim lessons, and they have an art class every Thursday morning. And then Steph has her physical therapy each week to help strengthen her knee, which seems to be helping. Camden also got one of his front top teeth this week, and he looks so cute. And he waved at someone for the first time the other day too.
Monday night we had the missionaries over for dinner, and the message they shared for family home evening came from James in the New Testament, where he talks about the importance of going to the Lord for help, and then waiting for the answer to come, telling us how to act and what to say.
Tuesday night we went to JCPenny to get pictures of me for applications and the school’s yearbook. Normally when we go, it is such a chore just to get the boys to smile and try to get a decent photo. So I was expecting us to be there forever like always, until I realized that the photographer only took about 10 pictures and said we were done, all in about 5 minutes. It was great.
Friday night we had the Kearls and the Morrisons over for games. We played a card game called Red One that normally is meant for four players, but we tried it with six, and it actually worked fine.
Life continues to fly as we keep ourselves busy and enjoy the friends and memories we are creating out here in Milwaukee.
24 July 2007
A Day At The Zoo
So, today the boys and I went to the zoo with Amy Hymas and Faith Kearl and their kids. It was a fun day, and everything was pretty uneventful until we got to the African animal area. We walked past the hippos and came to the enclosure for a large striped antelope called a bongo. The boys were standing near the fence, looking at the bongo, when Eli dropped one of his flip flops into the animal's enclosure. While I was trying to figure out how to get the sandal out, he quickly dropped the other one in too. I found a zoo worker nearby and she radioed for someone to come with a long hook to pull the sandal out. When the girl with the hook arrived, she seemed rather exasperated that she had to fish out two sandals, and not just one. But we got them back and Eli assured me that he understood that we shouldn't put anything in with the animals. I just kept thinking the rest of the time we were at the zoo how embarrassing it would be if he dropped his sandals into another animal enclosure a second time and I would have to call the annoyed girl with the hook back again to confirm her previous suspicions that I was a totally careless mother. I'm really glad that didn't happen! The rest of the day at the zoo went smoothly with no unusual events.(No, the picture isn't real -- the sandals just fell on the ground by the fence).
08 July 2007
Dermatology is Great
So it is my turn to write about our week, but Steph has made my job a little easier, since she has already written about going to the zoo and how we celebrated on Independence Day. :)
This week has been a wonderful week for me. I started my dermatology rotation, and I am again loving life. It is so nice to be doing something that I am enjoying, that I look forward to reading more about when I get home, and that am excited to go back to the next day. It is also nice to have nights free and the weekends off to be with the family. Just this week I have seen so many odd things that can happen to the skin – I’m so grateful that I have healthy skin. I really like the complexity of dermatology – they have to know so much in order to differentiate the different rashes, lumps, bumps, etc., and then to know how to treat them. There is a lot of dermatology that is so new, with new drugs just coming out on the market to treat/manage currently untreatable/unmanageable conditions. I like that it has the feel of primary care with the day-to-day clinic work, interspersed with quick little procedures (shave biopsies, freezing, punch biopsy) and then more involved surgeries. I have decided that I am going to apply for dermatology for residency.
I came home Tuesday afternoon with two derm books, and Steph immediately took them from me and started looking through them. I think she has already learned more about derm than I have this week. It is fun that she is also excited about dermatology and interested in what I am learning. Tuesday was also a good day because we got our loan money for this semester, so we no longer have to live off the credit cards, at least for another few months. Yeah!!
Thursday night I got to take Eli to swim lessons, and we had so much fun playing together in the water. We stayed after the class for about a half hour just playing on the steps and near the wall of the pool. Eli loves to jump in and under the water.
Friday was only a half day in the clinic, so I got the afternoon off to be home. I stayed home and played with the boys while Steph went shopping for the next two weeks. She also got a video from Blockbuster, Flyboys, that we watched. It was based on a true story from WW1 – it was good, though a little slow and predictable.
Saturday morning it was my turn to help clean the church building. I also got the chairs set up so that we wouldn’t have to go as early Sunday morning. I spent the rest of the morning starting to fill out my residency application online. I am going to use July and August to try and get all of my application materials ready to submit. We can start submitting to residency programs September 1, so I want to have everything ready before then. That afternoon we took the boys over to a neighbor’s house to swim in their little outdoor swimming pool. I got in with all three boys and had a blast. Kolby and Eli had two little watering cans that they used to “water” daddy so that I would grow. It was fun. Then last night we had some friends over for dessert. Sandra Simon came with her son, and Heather Vernon and her son Isaac came – her husband is out of town for the month doing an away-rotation. Steph had tried a new recipe for an ice cream cake and wanted to share it with others. It was really good. We also played some card games and had fun talking.
All of the boys did really well at church today. The sacrament talks were about family history work and making sacrifices to go to the temple. We have another stake temple day coming up in August, so they want people to try and get family file names ready to take and do their work. Steph is trying to get some ready for us now. Then in Sunday school we talked about John 16-17, where Jesus talks about the importance of the Holy Ghost and His mission and atonement so that we can gain eternal life. We talked about the difference between the manifestation of the Holy Ghost and the Gift of the Holy Ghost, the difference between knowing about Christ and actually knowing Christ, and then how to teach these things to your children. And then in priesthood we talked about the importance of faith and obedience, and how they lead to blessings; that faith always precedes the miracle; and that when we decide to follow God and His commandments we are not showing blind obedience, but faith obedience – we may not know everything, but we know that God knows what is best for us and we are using our faith to trust and follow Him. They were all really good lessons.
Well, I am going to enjoy the rest of this beautiful day with my family. Have a wonderful day.
Luv,
Michael, Stephanie, Kolby, Eli, and Camden
This week has been a wonderful week for me. I started my dermatology rotation, and I am again loving life. It is so nice to be doing something that I am enjoying, that I look forward to reading more about when I get home, and that am excited to go back to the next day. It is also nice to have nights free and the weekends off to be with the family. Just this week I have seen so many odd things that can happen to the skin – I’m so grateful that I have healthy skin. I really like the complexity of dermatology – they have to know so much in order to differentiate the different rashes, lumps, bumps, etc., and then to know how to treat them. There is a lot of dermatology that is so new, with new drugs just coming out on the market to treat/manage currently untreatable/unmanageable conditions. I like that it has the feel of primary care with the day-to-day clinic work, interspersed with quick little procedures (shave biopsies, freezing, punch biopsy) and then more involved surgeries. I have decided that I am going to apply for dermatology for residency.
I came home Tuesday afternoon with two derm books, and Steph immediately took them from me and started looking through them. I think she has already learned more about derm than I have this week. It is fun that she is also excited about dermatology and interested in what I am learning. Tuesday was also a good day because we got our loan money for this semester, so we no longer have to live off the credit cards, at least for another few months. Yeah!!
Thursday night I got to take Eli to swim lessons, and we had so much fun playing together in the water. We stayed after the class for about a half hour just playing on the steps and near the wall of the pool. Eli loves to jump in and under the water.
Friday was only a half day in the clinic, so I got the afternoon off to be home. I stayed home and played with the boys while Steph went shopping for the next two weeks. She also got a video from Blockbuster, Flyboys, that we watched. It was based on a true story from WW1 – it was good, though a little slow and predictable.
Saturday morning it was my turn to help clean the church building. I also got the chairs set up so that we wouldn’t have to go as early Sunday morning. I spent the rest of the morning starting to fill out my residency application online. I am going to use July and August to try and get all of my application materials ready to submit. We can start submitting to residency programs September 1, so I want to have everything ready before then. That afternoon we took the boys over to a neighbor’s house to swim in their little outdoor swimming pool. I got in with all three boys and had a blast. Kolby and Eli had two little watering cans that they used to “water” daddy so that I would grow. It was fun. Then last night we had some friends over for dessert. Sandra Simon came with her son, and Heather Vernon and her son Isaac came – her husband is out of town for the month doing an away-rotation. Steph had tried a new recipe for an ice cream cake and wanted to share it with others. It was really good. We also played some card games and had fun talking.
All of the boys did really well at church today. The sacrament talks were about family history work and making sacrifices to go to the temple. We have another stake temple day coming up in August, so they want people to try and get family file names ready to take and do their work. Steph is trying to get some ready for us now. Then in Sunday school we talked about John 16-17, where Jesus talks about the importance of the Holy Ghost and His mission and atonement so that we can gain eternal life. We talked about the difference between the manifestation of the Holy Ghost and the Gift of the Holy Ghost, the difference between knowing about Christ and actually knowing Christ, and then how to teach these things to your children. And then in priesthood we talked about the importance of faith and obedience, and how they lead to blessings; that faith always precedes the miracle; and that when we decide to follow God and His commandments we are not showing blind obedience, but faith obedience – we may not know everything, but we know that God knows what is best for us and we are using our faith to trust and follow Him. They were all really good lessons.
Well, I am going to enjoy the rest of this beautiful day with my family. Have a wonderful day.
Luv,
Michael, Stephanie, Kolby, Eli, and Camden
02 July 2007
Day at the Zoo
Today we spent the day at the zoo. We had several coupons for things that we hadn't done there before, so we got to go to the shark and stingray exhibit and take a ride on the little train. The boys each got to pet the stingrays.
There was a zookeeper telling about a few animals and then the kids got to pet them. Kolby was excited that the box turtle was three years old, just like him.
We went to a short show about birds of prey, and we learned that even though bald eagles are mature after about a year, they don't get their white head and tail feathers until they are a few years old. That was something I had never heard before. So we got to see an all-brown bald eagle (the bald eagle is Michael's favorite animal).
We went on the little train ride, and although it didn't really go anywhere where you got to see any of the animals very well, it was a fun little ride for the boys. And we also went to the far side of the zoo that I hadn't been to before, and we saw the kangaroos and koalas.
One of the best parts was the seals right before we went home. We went down to watch them swimming through a big glass window, and one seal kept swimming right up to the glass in front of a big crowd of cheering kids over and over again. It was a really fun day.
There was a zookeeper telling about a few animals and then the kids got to pet them. Kolby was excited that the box turtle was three years old, just like him.
We went to a short show about birds of prey, and we learned that even though bald eagles are mature after about a year, they don't get their white head and tail feathers until they are a few years old. That was something I had never heard before. So we got to see an all-brown bald eagle (the bald eagle is Michael's favorite animal).
We went on the little train ride, and although it didn't really go anywhere where you got to see any of the animals very well, it was a fun little ride for the boys. And we also went to the far side of the zoo that I hadn't been to before, and we saw the kangaroos and koalas.
One of the best parts was the seals right before we went home. We went down to watch them swimming through a big glass window, and one seal kept swimming right up to the glass in front of a big crowd of cheering kids over and over again. It was a really fun day.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
