You'd better not shout...

Santa Claus is coming to town!

Well, we went to the mall the other day with our friends The Marshall's. Our main goal for going was to have the kids see Santa Claus. Ethan will be three in January so he's just catching on to the whole Christmas thing. He's loving it, though. Every time we drive by some lights he yells, "Christmas!". We went to "Peacock Lane" yesterday. This is a street where all the houses decorate quite elaborately. Ethan loved it. Even though it was raining he had to have his window down to have a clear view of all the houses. "But aren't you getting wet Ethan?" we'd query. "Yeah, but... I just... I wanna see the lights." he'd reply without looking at us. Joshy enjoyed it too. Every once in a while he'd point and "ooo" at something.

But I digress. Went to the mall with the Marshalls to see Santa. Little Gwen and Ethan are the cutest of friends. They love to hold hands and play together. Here's a little shot of them in line touching the Christmas Tree. They also had a mirror there that made you all short and squatty which they enjoyed. I stood behind them and starting to do the "We represent the Lollipop Guild" dance when I realized that unless you were directly behind me looking at the mirror at the perfect angle you probably had no idea what I was doing. I stopped immediately scanning the area for anyone looking at me. I think I got away with it. Phew!

By the by, Kudos to John and Amy Marshall for bringing their camera. At the other mall they wouldn't let us take pictures. So this time we came with the $20 to spend on ONE 5x7 PRINT!!! Ridiculous! Anyways, Amy brought her camera and John took pictures for us. Thanks guys! Incidentally, while John was snapping away one of the worker she-elves said timidly, "he-hem. Um, would you like us to take a picture?" Between shooting pictures and muttering directions John said, "Well, you can take all the pictures you want but we're not buying any." She quickly busied herself behind her elven desk. I sniggered quietly to myself.

This is Joshy and Chloe. Adorable!

Below is Ethan with the big-man himself. When I asked Ethan what he was going to tell him he wanted for Christmas he said, "A book" lengthy pause "and a car". After his visit with Saint Nicholas I asked Ethan if he told Santa what he wanted. He told me yes as we started to walk out of the area. As soon as we were out of there Ethan turned to look longingly back and just waited there. "What's up?" we asked him. "I need my car," he'd say. Over and over again, "I need my car." We tried to explain that Santa will come on Christmas to give his presents but I think Ethan just figured he was right there, might as well just get it now!

My two boys with Pere Noel. Aren't they cute? Thanks to Colleen for providing matching sweaters. I thought they looked quite stylish.

Afterwards we gathered in the food court for some eating. I had a Philly Cheese steak (delish!). Of course there was a children's arcade next to the tables so all the kids did was say, "I wanna go play!" and not eat there food. After many idle threats and forced feedings we released them to go play. Either there has been an arcade time warp or I've lost touch with reality because these things were expensive! The pic below is Ethan and Gwen on a roller-coaster simulation ride where there is a screen to watch as if you're on a roller coaster and the contraption itself moves loosely to the ride. I figured that for a buck it would move pretty good. Plus there was a bar to hold and a seat belt. I thought it would be well worth the dollar. Sadly, all it did was roll forward or backward. So you either had to be going up a hill or down to have the seat move at all. Ah, well. Just look at those smiles. Well worth the dollar right?

Hey, who are those sexy love birds?

Well, that's it for the Santa visit. Here it is Christmas Eve and the kids are in bed. We actually get to play Santa this year which is exciting. We get to eat the cookie (Challene already ate it) and drink the milk (I put it back in the fridge so it wouldn't get warm). We get to lay out presents and hang the candy canes on the Christmas Tree as to prove that Santa had actually come. It should be fun... should be. Sadly, Challene, Ethan, and Joshua are all sick! Yes, sick! The kids have been sick for almost a week and Challene for a couple of days. I guess I'm right behind her. It hasn't been much more than a cough until tonight. Ethan started throwing up tonight. I'm talking big-boy throw-up. Many many many times too. We had many plans that we didn't end up doing, mostly because we've been cleaning up barf from our couches, the floor, all around the toilet bowl and so forth. The poor guy. Joshy threw-up tonight too. Ugh! Merry Christmas, indeed. We've been invited by the Marshalls to a delectable Christmas brunch at his parents house. I hope that we'll be able to go! We'll see.

Well, have a holly, jolly Christmas everyone!

More singing time!

I had this other video of Ethan singing songs that I thought I would share.

So, what's up with us? Schools out for break. I finished my last final (still don't know for sure if I passed or not) and we are loving our time together as a family. In addition to my normal finals I had OSCE's to do. What are OSCE's? I don't know what they stand for. I can't remember. But essentially it is an entrance exam to the Out Patient Clinic. If I had not taken the split, I would be starting there next quarter. I still have to finish 9th quarter before I can start, though. But, timing wise this was when I was supposed to take the OSCE's. It's a big practical exam. There are 20 stations and you have five minutes in each room with a one minute prep time between rooms. Each room has a practical test in it. Some of the tests were: Take a chief complaint history on a 34 year old woman with neck pain. ( I had to do one on a woman with chest pain! Can you say referral?) You suspect spinal cord damage, perform a neuro exam on this low back patient. This chronic disc hernia patient needs core exercises, instruct and evaluate this patient in the quadriped track. Perform the following adjustments. Etc. There were a few stations to read x-rays and CTs. and there were a few stations with just follow-up questions about the previous station (likely diagnosis, lab tests, etc.) It actually went very well for me. I passed all but one station (I think it was the lab test station -- Who would of known that albumin is a better marker for liver inflammation than ALP/AST! Actually I should have). But, I needed to pass minimum 14/20 stations and get minimum 1400/2000 points. I did both! I'm pretty happy about that.

So, here we are in our little abode waiting for the holidays. We decorated yesterday, which was interesting. This is the first real time we've decorated with toddlers around. Previous years we didn't bother since we just came down to Utah for the holiday. This year is different, though, so we thought we'd decorate. Ethan would get so excited when he saw Christmas lights or a tree or anything, so we had to do it. It was a royal pain. They got into everything! We had visions of a happy little family singing along to christmas carols while gently placing ornaments on the tree. Yeah, right! Wake up call! We ended up stopping and waiting for them to go to bed before we finished. They still like to touch everything. I had to sit in front of the tree today just to block the kids from touching it. Josh has already tried to eat two ornamental balls. We got him, though. Only managed to scrape the paint off with his teeth. Hmmm... better check that for lead...

Well, I wont bore you anymore with my stuff. Happy Holidays!!!!!!

Singing Time

First of all, a hearty congratulations are mos-def in order to Quinn and LLL for the birth of their very first baby, Emma Mary Lavender! She was born on November 23 at such-and-such time in the evening. She was 8 pounds many ounces and apparently has adorable, yet cumbersome, jowls. It was, in fact, hypothesized by Quinn himself that her jowls may be the cause of her delivery delays! Well, I don't know much about that, but I do know that jowls can be adorable. You know who has big jowls? Elder Holland. Having personally witnessed him speak in my mission, when he gets riled up those jowls start a flying. Nothing but the utmost respect for the man, though. He's actually one of my most favorite apostles. He gave us perhaps the most life-impacting talk when he came to Seoul. He also stopped midsentance and yelled at an Elder to get rid of his gum. I later lived with that Elder. He was scarred forever!

Oh, anywho, congrats Quinn and Laura-Lee. We're looking forward to pictures of the new addition.

I thought I would complete this entry with some goooooood video of Ethan. I took this with our camera so the quality is not where I'd personally like it to be and its a little choppy, but it does the job that's for sure. Ethan has been learning so quickly lately, but when he gets excited it is hard for him to concentrate. He's always trying to outdo himself too (and I have nothing to do with that, despite what you hear in the video). Well, let's let the movie do the talking, eh?Enjoy!

Don't mind the underwear. He hates wearing clothes even when it is freezing inside! It sure has been cold up here lately, but that's a blog for a different day!

Fall Leaves

I.... looked out the window and what did I see?...

Our lawn was actually covered in a veritable sea of yellow, red and brown leaves. What could we do but go out there and have some fun?

This is Ethan playing the part of the Grim Reaper with his scythe. That stick came in handy, though, since we didn't have a rake to gather the leaves.

Not much more to say about that... enjoy the pictures.

Eight trillion leaves on the ground and he has to pull off more. It's like living with a two year old!


Joshy, our taste expert, told us that the leaves weren't quite ripe yet. But they were finger lickin' good.




The coverage seen here is actually nothing compared to a few days after these pics were taken. We had a rainstorm and it knocked nearly every leaf off the tree. It was an ocean of leaves. You could see no green.

My ubber-sexy wife with my little Joshy.

Artsy-Fartsy, no?

Fall is pretty much over now. It's cold and the leaves are all gone.

Linus?

Our little Linus!

Lately Joshy has gotten quite attached to a hand towel. So much so, that he likes to carry it around with him just like Linus from Peanuts. It makes us laugh.
Just thought I'd share some photo's of him hamming it up!
Here he is with his hand-towel, in true Linus form!
Bye Linus!!!

Midterms, already?

Well, it's already midterms and I haven't done my traditional list of classes with commentary. Where does the time go?


First of all I'm in 8/9 quarter, otherwise known as Split II. For those unaware, we are allowed to take 8th and 9th quarter and split them into three quarters. I'm smack in the middle of that right now. I have Mondays off, and half days on Fridays! Lovin' it! So... here is a list of my classes I'm currently taking:


Gastrointestinal - Essentially, it's a survey of the disorders/diseases/discomforts that can go on in the GI tract. There's been a lot of talk about poop so far. Who'd-a-thunk your poop could tell you so much about your health! Well, it can if you'll just listen. Anyhoo, we've covered the esophagus and the stomach. Ulcers are not your friend. Aspirin is not your friend, either... unless you are experiencing a heart attack.

Bone Path II - Well, if you'll recall (and I'm sure you will) Bone Pathology I was geared toward recognizing anatomical anomolies, fractures, and other bone injuries on x-ray. Bone Path II is tumors and infections of bone. Holy cow. There are nearly 16 thousand tumors that it could be, they all look exactly the same and they all sound the same! Osteoblastoma, Chondroblastoma, Chondrosarcoma, Osteosarcoma, Endochondroma, Chordoma, Osteoid Osteoma, etc., etc. Ergh! It gets very frustrating. We've just started infections (after having gone through many tumors) and they all look/sound the same too! There are tons of tumors specific to bone itself (the above named for starters) and then there is the possibility of the tumor being a metastasis from another primary tumor (kidney, lung, prostate, thyroid, etc.)! It's a big mix of tumor soup!

Radiographic Technology II - Well, last term we learned how to actually take the x-ray. This term we're learning how to position patients and the standard series'. Fairly boring, but essential none-the-less. Our teacher is a 60-something year old who plays in a Jazz band and talks just like Rocky Balboa. "Yo, you gotta use the bucky, you know. If you don't use the bucky, you know, you get a lot of the scatter radiation... and... you don't want scatter radiation, you know. So I'm sayin'... use the bucky." He keeps it interesting sometimes.

Clinical Nutrition - My last nutrition class was... four terms ago (one calender year!). Then, we learned about the physiologic needs of the body and how the actual different nutrients/vitamins/minerals contributed to fulfilling those needs. This quarter, we're looking at nutrition from a therapeutic aspect. I.e.: treating different diseases/symptoms using natural herbs and things. It's pretty interesting stuff and certainly practical for me as I plan on doing quite a bit of nutritional councelling in my practice, but... gosh... the instructor is so doggone boring!

NMS IV (Clinical Neurology) - I thought I was done with the NMS series, but I was wrong. We hadn't yet fully covered the 'N' in NMS. Perhaps I've gone into the wrong field, cause I just get a kick out of Neurology. I find it completely facinating that what appear to be vague symptoms (for example: trouble enunciating 'b' or 'p', blind spots, numbness on my left thumb, or shuffling feet vs. slapping feet, for example) can lead a clinician to a very precise lesion of the nervous system. It is such an intricately organized... machine. It is fun for me to see those neurological pathways coordinate with the symptoms. You'd think I'd be doing better with how much I like it. Well, again, the instructor is quite lack-luster. It's a shame, really. So, how does this course differ from the two neuro courses I've already had? Wonderful question, thank you for asking. The other two were geared toward the anatomy and physiology of the nervous system. Now we're taking all that knowledge (which was over a year ago) and correlating it to different diseases with their presentations, signs, symptoms and progression. We've talked about certain dementias, different strokes, concussions, bleeding in the brain (hematomas), seizures and the like. Cool stuff (to study, not live through)! We'll see videos of people who have suffered some of these things and it's almost harder to watch than seeing someone with crippling back pain. Why is that I wonder? It's easier to deal with someone in extreme pain when they can speak to you coherently and comprehend what you tell them, someone who can scream and cry with pain. Someone who can rejoice with feeling better and actually see a positive progression of their condition. With people who have had damage to their nervous system via any one of the above mentioned mechanisms, they can seemingly become so detached. Like I said, it's almost overwhelming just watching a video with them. I don't know, maybe it's better I didn't try to get into that field. Maybe dealing with it to the very limited level that I will be dealing with it is just enough for me. We'll see. I'll keep you posted. Check back in 10 years or so.

Adjustive Tech. VII - Pretty much a review of adjustments with some pointers and helpful hints thrown in. The lecture has actually been geared towards a business aspect, which I've appreciated since the only real business class we've had so far was pretty much a joke.

Sports Medicine - This is actually an elective class. An expensive one at that! It actually kind of prepares us for being sport team physicians. Upon completion of two terms of classes (I'm in the first term) we can go and treat atheletes at certain WSCC sponsored events. What sort of events, you may be wondering? Well, how about the Portland Marathon, for one. There's a beach volleyball tournement that we do. Tons of other races. Mixed martial arts competitions, tough-man contests, and a couple of small, lesser known events like the Dew Action Sports Tour and the X-Games. Yeah, how cool would it be to treat Shaun White for a sprained ankle. "So, Intern Green, am I going to be able to finish the competition and kick everyone elses butt," he'll question imposingly. Gulp, "yes sir, Mr. White, sir, just let me finish taping your ankle so it doesn't end up breaking if you were to attempt your slammin' 1080 axle grind with split legged twist and a goofy return." Gulp.

That's about it, I suppose. Hope you enjoyed. If not, then I'm surprised you actually read the whole thing. That just looks worse for you than it does for me.

Primary Halloween Party & Pumpkins

Primary Halloween Party

So when we went to the store to get Ethan a Halloween costume this year I thought he would pick something out really quick and we would be in and out. Ohhh how wrong was I. I think he was a little overwhelmed and at awe of Halloween. So of course Buzz was one of the first ones I showed him, but I got told "NO". He said he wanted to be a banana, which, if he really wanted to be that, I would have let him, but he really was not into anything. So finally after what felt like an hour and was probably only half an hour I told him if he did not pick some thing out I would do it for him and at that point he clung to Buzz and would not let it go. We did have to bribe him at the party to put it on though. Will told him he could not have any candy if he did not put it on.

Joshua got stuck with Ethan's last years costume but I think it is adorable so that is allright.

Ethan's wings kept sagging more and more as the night went on. Poor Buzz had a slow leak. They were not, as he professed in the movie, "a Pteryllium Alloy."

Too infinity and beyond!

Ethan got tired of actually throwing the bean bags through the holes (which he actually did quite well) so the last one he just pushed through. He has a really good arm. We will be putting him in Tee ball as soon as he is old enough.

Look at Joshua's ears they make me laugh.

He licked half the frosting off and then said he was done. Too cute!


Joshua doing pumpkin bowling.

Trick or Treat! Several people (including us) set up doors in the church for trick-or-treating.
Joshua looks to me like he needs some candy to perk up a bit.

Pumpkins

Ethan with his first carved pumpkin. Will helped him.

Joshua and Ethan with their pumpkins.

Me and my pumpkin.

Will did really well with his self portrait don't you think?