Yearly Post

Well,
  I was doing well today, I thought, by making a trip to Portland and back to see my mother's family as there were a few left in the area from the reunion that I could not make it to over the weekend. Seems people pick the most inconvenient time to get sick and need surgery and then two days of intensive care management before dying. This is the part of medicine that I really really really do not care for; the part where people are dying and you try your best to prevent it but realize once again that sometimes it is that person's time to go and that you can't control it. Still makes it hard.
Anyhow, I was reunited with a former resident from Ohio this evening and was blessed to get re-acquainted with him. He mentioned very nicely that this blog was not exactly the most up to date, so here you go.
  Since the last post, over a year has passed. The kids have all done quite well in their home school program Classical Conversations, and the older three all got extra credit for mastering a large body of knowledge. Another year of AWANA (Bible club) has finished with good effect, and we were able to take another very fun family vacation. Since the family survived without drowning or getting eaten by sharks last year on Maui, I tried to shake them again with another more extreme sport; canyoneering. We took a week and went to Utah to visit some National Parks. We spent several days hiking and canyoneering in Zion National Park, which was by far our favorite.
  One of the PA students that rotated with me this year convinced me to take the family through some canyons, so I got them all wet suits and tied them to ropes and forced them to explore some beautiful slot canyons for two days in Zion. They were all troopers (the water was REALLY cold), and I think next time I suggest a new experience, I may not have any company, but they did amazingly well. Jan and Alec even let me belay them down a 90 ' free hanging boulder. I don't think I would have let anyone do that to me at that age.  Jan and Alec also hiked Angel's Landing with me, and by myself it was no big deal as far as hikes go, but when you realize one off-balance move or slip and you are dead, it becomes a completely different hike (especially when some people's children trip and fall on basketball court conditions).
  They all were hiked out I am sure, but hung in there with us and we all had an amazing time in perfect hiking weather. End of May is the perfect time down there. Ever since we returned the weather has been scorching.
  The kids learned to rock climb at Smith Rock State Park (in preparation for the Utah canyoneering adventure), so we can add that skill to the bag as well. The year has already been full of interesting operations, family, good friends, and great experiences. This summer promises lots of soccer, a few 5k and maybe 10k races, piano, violin, and guitar lessons. Maybe in another year or so I will get a chance to sit down and post something else.

First Vacation

Now that we are back, I can hardly believe that we were really there. In the 12 years since our family began, David has not been free to not work or study. In October 2013, David took his last test and passed it. He still works hard, but is more available than he has ever been since I have known him. He planned and researched and saved and set up a trip to Maui for 7 whole days. No work, no study, although he did end up at the hospital in the middle of the night a few hours before we left. We got on the plane and I couldn't believe it was really happening.

David enjoys tormenting, er, keeping the kids in suspense, so until the night before we left, we didn't tell them where we were going. We got up early in the morning, flew to Seattle and then got on a  6 hour flight to Maui. 

11/2 hours into the flight we were served beverages and little packages of dried pineapple mixed with nuts and crackers. I was sitting with Anne, and made a serious misjudgment. I picked all the dried pineapple out of her package and mine and let her eat it. 60 seconds later, I looked over and she was scratching her tongue with her fingernails and saying "Mom, my tongue itches." Then her lips began to swell. I felt physically sick from fear, and prayed that God would keep her from a life threatening reaction. I also gave her Benadryl, and thought about the fact we had 4 hours until we landed, and even if we turned around we were still 90 minutes away from land. I clutched my ziplock bag containing two

Epi-Pens in it and thought about how they were supposed to give you a total of 40 minutes to get to a hospital for treatment. So I prayed some more, and watched Anne's lip grow larger. Thankfully, 30 minutes later the swelling began to subside and the itching was gone. 

Because we started early, and because of the time change, we arrived on Maui at 11:00 in the morning! We quickly bought groceries for the week, and went straight to the beach.

All four of the kids took to snorkeling easily and we spent hours every day swimming and looking at fish and eels and turtles and coral. 

We played hard and slept hard.

Even Anne and Pati swam out long distances and enjoyed exploring the reefs. What a beautiful place. 

We wore rash guards and 110 sunblock and went inside for 2 hours in the middle of every day and managed get only mildly sunburned.

David is at home in the water and loves the ocean. We all gained a lot of confidence from just following him around, and looking at the things he pointed out to us.

We are grateful to God for the time we spent together, and for the beautiful place we were able to enjoy.

Silent but harmless

It has been an exceptionally long time since I have posted anything, but not because I was busy working, or studying to take my board exam again, or out for a run or bike ride, or taking my board exam again, or helping the family with something, or passing my board exam finally, or anything else. Just have been swept up into the stream of life for a bit.
  Not much has changed with us here in Central Oregon. We are nearing the end (in another month or so) of the second year of the kids being a part of Classical Conversations (home school with a weekly day of in-class activities), which has been very good for them all the way around. Kristi has been a tutor for one of the younger classes this year, and so has had even less than no free time. Pati is beginning to read a bit, and we just learned yesterday that she will be getting glasses. Nobody believed that she really required them, and this probably has nothing to do with her amazing fashion sense and desire to accessorize whenever possible, but she is pretty excited about them, and I suppose a picture will be posted at some point.

  Anne is still struggling with allergies, but seems to be much better than she was 3 or 4 years ago, and she is still breathing, so we are grateful.  Amazing what Kristi can do with so limited options for ingredients. She especially does well in school and is our accountant or at least our organizer. Alec is growing quickly, and is still interested in most anything that involves a ball or running around or poikilothermia (he has a leopard gecko). He enjoys school more this year, and especially the socialization as he seems to slowly become some sort of hub where he is placed.
  Jan is growing up very fast, and devours any academic pursuit with intensity. She has very much enjoyed the challenge of study, memorization, and reads late into the night most nights (but don't tell, cause her parents don't know). Now if she could just remember to remove her contacts and replace them with glasses before she realizes she doesn't have solution and is forced to borrow some from her sleeping parents at 23:30, she might get away with more unnoticed. Transparence is good.

  All of the kids have really seemed to settle in here, and have adapted well to moving to a new place with new people. AWANA has been a platform they excel at and enjoy very much. Jan also does Horseless Horse 4-H (yep, she still rides her stick horse... much less maintenance), all of the kids are involved in gymnastics after their day doing school in Redmond, get to see Grandpa Carne and Grandma Maria on a fairly regular basis, hike and bike and attend birthday parties, and are able to see their grandparents and cousins on a much more regular basis.
  I have settled in to work fairly well, I think. The people I work with are incredibly nice, and have gotten me into shape again. There are several who run, hike, mountain bike, road bike, and ski so I have been able to pick up new skills and the gear that goes with them. Kristi and I were able to go downhill skiing a couple of times this year for the first time since we were married, and that was really fun.

The kids all have taken lessons and have learned to downhill this year, so that has been fun to supervise. We are starting to think we may be here for a while, so are pursuing finding a home with some land and a shop so we can engage in more activities. who knows, maybe even plant a garden or get a pet that is not a rodent or a gecko.

Outside

In this picture Jan and Alec are wearing evidence of a great accomplishment for their 2011-2012 school year. Sometime late in 2011 they both decided to try to become "Memory Masters" which required a lot of time and effort beyond what I required of them. They worked hard and passed several intimidating tests, earning the title of Cycle 3 Memory Master, along with those T-shirts! I am grateful to the Lord for His leading, and for allowing us to be apart of a day a week schooling together with others, for classroom time that was interesting and motivating to all four of the kids.

And now, school is out! I mean it is out for most of the family. While the rest of us have discarded formal schooling and are out fishing, swimming, biking and reading, David continues to work hard on studying for another big test coming in the fall. 

He does get breaks from work and study and living so close to trails and mountains means that during study breaks he can be outside with us! A friend took him out cross country skiing late in the season and I thought the pictures he brought back were so beautiful.

All four of the kids are doing well on two wheels and David has taken the two oldest on a few mountain biking trails. The highlight of Alec's spring was catching this 16 incher in Ochoco Creek. Catching is much more fun than fishing.

This is Anne waving at the cheering crowd during her race a couple Saturday's ago. Pati was too busy running to wave.

Much to my amazement those around me are already planning and purchasing school materials for next year. I know I will have to do that soon, but not quite yet. We are enjoying a few weeks of summer break before jumping into planning for next year.

Been thinking about perspective, and how mine is generally not the right one. I am amazed at how much I need to be reminded of what I already know, have already been taught, have already read and learned.  (Incidentally, that is something that sometimes wearies me about parenting. It not only frustrates me when my children do this, it frustrates me that this is true about myself.) One of the main things I do during the day is remind the children that their perspective is not the only perspective.  "Try to see things that way that others see them." But it isn't just that. It is trying to see things the way that God sees them. I remember that being one of the main lessons I learned in my school, at my parents kitchen table,  that real wisdom is seeing things from God's perspective. Working with myself, and with my children I see how purposeful we have to be to even see things from ANYONE else's perspective except our own, let alone trying to see things the way that God does. We are all still working on this. That kind of schoolwork isn't over for the summer!

End Of Residency Count-down (This time last year)

(I wrote this a little over a year ago, never finished it and forgot about it. Just found it tonight and thought it was interesting to remember what was going on this time last year.....packing, painting, showing the house, saying goodbye to Akron, me getting hives,  trying to find a house to rent, Anne having hives, just loads of fun. Thought I would publish it in memory of our almost year anniversary of being out of residency. I hope that the picture publishes, I am not even sure which one it is.)

This picture cracks me up. I guess it is the best we can do this year. David had just gotten home from more than 30 hours of non-stop activity at the hospital and had time to shower and eat something. The rest of us had just gotten back from church.
"Hi David, remember us? We want a family picture from this year. Put on something nice and smile."
I have always found that writing about things that are going on in my life is helpful to me. Helps me understand what is going on, how I need to respond, what my attitude is. I haven't done much of that for the past couple of years. Because I don't know how.
Residency has been difficult. I guess you could say it has been a dark place, in many ways.

Last June marked the beginning of fifth year for David. He works even longer hours this year and when he is home he works and when he should be sleeping he works too. There are presentations every week and things to oversee and tests coming up and bigger presentations coming up and the biggest test of all coming in August. If any of you are ever in the hospital and you or someone you know is being taken care of by a surgical resident and you feel tempted to be impatient with them, try to remember, they have probably been there, without sleep or food or bathroom breaks for more than 24 hours, in tense situations, making difficult decisions and dealing with unhappy people (some of them swearing, spitting, vomiting and trying to do them physical harm). They may not have had a day off in a month.

And then he gets to come home. To angelic children and a wife that has it all together. Ha!
He really just comes home to sleep.

June 15 is the last day of residency for David.
August 1 he starts work at the hospital in OR.
In mid August he will take his surgery boards, so any "free" time that he might find himself with between now and then will be spent studying his brains out.

The kids and I have a lot more opportunity for good times than David does. We just miss him.
Ohio has proven to be a place where people have alot of family and alot of traditions. Which is probably pretty fun if you are part of the family. In the 5 years that we have lived here we have not accumulated very many good friendships. We are DEEPLY GRATEFUL for the ones that God has given us.

We have good memories of sweltering in the spring and summer humidity, of catching fireflies and hiking in Metro Parks and jumping off the dock out in "The Lake". When everything freezes up we head out to the sledding hills (everyone here calls it "sled-riding" which I had never heard before.) or down to the big ice rink at the Metro Parks to skate. We use the Towpath - all the kids but Pati have learned to ride a two wheeled bike here. We have taken advantage of all of the nature programs offered through Metro Parks here and have learned more about being being "naturalists" than we ever would have thought possible in these few years. We have fed the birds by hand and watched hawks and cardinals and black squirrels out in our own yard. We have trained and run races and participated in triathlons. This is our third year of participating the Christian Home Educators of Ohio co-op that meets on Fridays and we feel as though we are juuuuust now starting to fit in there. Ohio has been a good place in many ways.

When we moved here Jan had just turned 4, Alec was still 2 and Anne was an infant. I was pregnant with Pati. When we leave, in a few months, Jan will be 9, Alec 7, Anne 5 and Pati 4. They will be leaving behind the familiar and they are apprehensive about that. But they will be moving closer to Grandparents and cousins and aunts and uncles....not REALLY close, but closER. And the most exciting thing is that maybe Dad will be home for dinner, or get to go to church with us or just plain old be available to have some fun with us. We are hoping so.

There is so much to get done. Not sure of how to do it all. I had much of it all mapped out, starting with Week One of 2011. I was right on track, getting school done, housework done, exercising everyday and I had painted one of the bedrooms. Then I got this terrible horrible awful all-consuming uncontrollable ITCHING rash. And the world fell apart. No one knows what it is or why I have it. I hope it goes away for good.  (It did, finally)
And David had his last day at Akron General, and we went to the graduation and had resident friends over for a BBQ (we miss them), and the boxes got packed and loaded and the  house got recarpeted and repainted and put on the market and we said goodbye to the neighbors and we swam one last time at the lake and now we are in a really different time and place. It is a very good place, and we have found that here we have new challenges and new things to learn and trust God for. But when I think of residency I feel overwhelming gratefulness to God for his faithfulness to me. For the things that He taught me, for the blessings that he gave, for the provision that He brought, for the impossible things that He was sufficient in.

Another Saturday, another race.

The neighborhood where we live is an unfinished housing development. It is a closed development, with very little traffic. Even less traffic than there could be because half of the lots are vacant. It is a great place for kids to ride bikes, use rollerblades, and it is very much like having our own personal track.

One time around the neighborhood is a little over half a mile. Since the weather has warmed up the kids have been running. 

So far they have participated in the High School Track Fund Raiser 2k (all of them ran), the Elementary School 1.5 mile Fun Run (all of them ran) and the Wildlands Firefighters Memorial Run (Jan and Alec ran the 5k, Anne and Pati ran the kids run). While running around the neighborhood at quite a slow pace, they told me that it was just alot more fun to run races than it was to train for them. So they train at a slow pace and then run fast during races! 

The picture above is after the Firefighter Memorial Race - David wasn't on call, but I think that you have to  leave town to really not be on call. He got to run in the race without having to talk on the phone and he beat both Jan and Alec :)

We have a race coming up Memorial Day, and get to run it with our Engen cousins, which everyone is pretty excited about.

Easter

This is the Carne kids with their little Easter garden. They had such fun making it, although it ended up being too heavy to put on the table in the house. We don't have one of the clear plastic guards for the bottom, either, and after they watered it once I decided the garden should live outside.  Spent the last month reading again through "Journey To The Cross"  by Helen Haidle and aren't quite finished with it yet. It has been a good tradition for us and really makes Christ's sacrifice for us clear and real. Been thinking of this song:

I serve a risen Savior

He's in the world today.

I know that He is living,

Whatever men may say.

I see His hand of mercy

I hear His voice of cheer,

And just the time I need Him

He's always near.

We had a special day celebrating here at church and home in Prineville, and then, since Monday would be David's first real time off in awhile we took off for Mt. Jefferson right after lunch. We have taken the studded tires off, and spring is really here. We wanted to go camping, but settled on camping in a little cabin since it is still pretty cold some of the time. No running water, kitchen or bathroom, but the heat was very nice. We had good weather and got some running, hiking, biking, and exploring done. Played a lot of Indian sneak tag right by the cabin and spent a lot of hours tending the campfire. Nice to get away for just a little while in such a beautiful place.

We are grateful for our risen Savior.

Mild Winter

Been such a busy time with school and life that we have forgotten to keep track of any of it here. The winter has been so mild (I hesitate to say it, since we are certainly not into spring yet) that we have had opportunities to hike and be outside quite a lot. Lately we have been going on rockhounding hikes which we have all enjoyed. To the kids it is like treasure hunting. We have found jasper and lots of quartz crystals and even some petrified wood. The kids have their eyes on a hike a bit farther away that will involve hunting for geodes and thunder eggs - maybe this spring we will have time to do it!

Snow and winter weather aren't far away and after a 45 to 60 minute drive we find ourselves on a mountain with all the snow we could want. The older kids have had some skiing opportunities and Anne and Pati caught some serious air on a sledding hill (still black and blue, but no bones broken).
School has consumed a lot of our time and energy and we are so happy to be involved with two different groups of homeschoolers here. We have enjoyed starting new relationships and the help and accountability that come from shared goals and class times.

Last weekend was the AWANA Grand Prix here in town and it was such and exciting event! We will have to post some pictures of it later. The kids worked hard on their cars and are full of plans for next year.

Our main project, which has overlapped into every area of living and schooling is in Ephesians 4:29.
"Let no unwholesome word proceed out of your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification, according to the need of the moment, that it may give grace to those who hear."
Focusing on building each other up and keeping rotten speech out of our mouth has been the topic for a couple of weeks now, and projects and games and accountability to help us do that have been frequent. Living with people is just not easy sometimes :)

Christmas 2011

Just a few random pictures from the crazy fun that was yesterday.

Under Where?

We have been listening to 2 new music albums. One is pretty and edifying and one is just pretty fun.

The beautiful one is "Psalm 119 In Song", written and composed by Susie Kimbrough.

We love it, it is easy to listen to and maybe by next year we will have the whole Psalm memorized without even working on it!

The other CD we got in the mail today and we have spent the afternoon laughing our way through it. Before I tell the name of the CD Iwill say that a couple of years ago some friends bought the kids the album called "Slugs, Bugs and Lullabies"They loved it . Then they received  "A Slugs and Bugs Christmas". Loved that one too. They are on the silly side, but my kids are just the right age for this music. Close to Thanksgiving  the Christmas CD died a terrible death and while we were looking online for how to reorder it we saw that there was a new album. Called "Under Where?"  We could not believe it. My kids thought they invented that game! Where they tell someone to look under something but mumble at the end of their sentence so the person says, "Under WHERE?" And then everyone explodes with laughter except for the sheepish person who said it, who then immediately begins his own quest to make someone else accidentally say "Under WHERE"? Hilarious. Close relative to but a little more grown up than the game where poop, potty, bathroom and bottom are inserted randomly into conversation and everyone laughs like hyenas.  Nice to find a songwriter who gets their sense of humor. So we ordered "Under Where". Please note that it really isn't about underwear.  That song is just a little piece of it. All three of these CD's are a good mixture of pointing kids to the Lord and good family fun.

Ice cream is good

Supporting the local businesses is something that I have dedicated myself to since moving to Prineville. Has been pretty rough, and usually means an exercise program and a good stain removal system is needed. Have really enjoyed getting settled in to Central Oregon. The children have jumped right in to school, doing work every Tuesday with a group in Redmond, about 30 min west from us. They have lots of work during the week to prepare for these sessions. They also are attending a Friday local co-op with Science and Music training.
  They all played AYSO soccer this summer, have been busy riding bikes, fishing the creek across the street, hiking local trails, and of course the local obligatory trips to local culinary businesses to help stimulate the economy. We are on call a lot here, but the call that we are on is much less taxing than any I have imagined. I am helping cover another local hospital, in Madras, about 40 min to the northeast where I take call every Friday, and one weekend a month.
  Passing my written board exam was definitely the highlight of my summer, much more so than graduating from residency, and I look forward to my shot at the oral exam in March. Have definitely enjoyed hiking, a short camping trip, riding bikes, running on trails and with a local weekly running group, tackling some world-class mountain biking trails, teaching Alec how to fish, and seeing the sunshine every day!  In addition, we were able to take in several OSU football games (THE Oregon State University, for all of my midwest buddies) with my dad and Maria, as well as with Grandma and Grandpa Seppa.  Kristi and I even got to go to an outdoor Alison Krauss concert in Bend, which was really fun.
  We look forward to being able to continue to explore the amazing outdoor activities here, get to know our families again, and make new friends and become more involved in the local community and church. We have been very blessed with quick friendships with a couple of families at the church we are attending, with the job I have, being close to family, and the smooth transition we have enjoyed so far. Our home in Ohio is possibly sold, which is yet another reason to be grateful. We have much for which to be thankful, and for this we truly give thanks to God for so much that we have been given, that we enjoy, and that has been promised to us.

From Fall/Winter 2011

Kristi and the kids belly up to the bar at Goody's Ice Cream Parlor in Prineville

From Fall/Winter 2011

Alec tries out the licorice ice cream, white shirt and all. Talk about living on the edge! Nobody said it would be easy supporting the local community, but with lots of practice with more neutral colors and similarly colored upper apparel, one can then graduate on to more senior moves like this one.

End Of Summer Pictures

The kids new favorite place to spend some change on treats is on the main street in Prineville: "Goody's"!

It is always so hard to decide, but they let you get a few cents of this and a few cents of that.

We went for a walk down by the Crooked River at the tail end of summer. Made the kids wash up before we did it so we could take some pictures.

They wanted to be in the river, or fishing in the river, not walking beside it, but they humored us.

Took these pictures right before we started school for the year. We are now into week ten of school, so these picture are pretty outdated :) All the kids are probably wearing different sizes now than they were then!

It has been a busy fall for our family, but we are really grateful for the new people and places God has put into our lives. We are learning new things and especially enjoying getting to see David more.

Soccer Tournament and Horse Camp

We had to join in soccer late this year, but it was just nice that they made room for us. It has been the best part of the summer for the kids. We have spent most of the evenings for the last two weeks out at the Les Schwab fields watching kids practice or play a game. Jan and Alec got put on the same team and it has been nice to have them on the same schedule.

This past Saturday was in the 90's and we spent all day watching soccer. Pati played four games (5 minute quarters), Anne played 3 games (10 minute quarters) and Jan and Alec played four games also. Jan and Alec's team went undefeated and won the tournament. The most exciting thing was that their team really worked hard to play as a team, to learn how to set up and pass better. It was a great day even though it was so hot.

Monday morning, early, Jan set out for River Run Christian Horse Camp. Just three days this year, since it is her first year of being old enough and I think it would be better to save the longer camp for when she is older. This is really a dream come true for her and we were excited that she had the opportunity to go and do this. The younger kids are really happy for her, and are looking forward to being old enough to go do it too. This afternoon they were supposed to go float in the Crooked River which runs through the ranch. We can't wait to hear all about it when she gets home. Maybe I will ask her to write the next post !

New Pets

The girls got tired of waiting for us to live in a neighborhood where we could have real living pets, so they tore apart some cardboard boxes, designed some saddles and horses and set up a barn on the front porch. There are three horses out there so far and they all have spent hours out there riding and taking care of them. I like these horses. For now, they are just right.

Camping

David took his boards last week and we scheduled a camping trip at Tumalo State Park to celebrate that this test, for this year, is over. We hope that he never has to take it again….he will find out in September, but for a few days he is taking a study break and we really enjoyed being together outside. We only had time to go for one night, and it was so much fun! We made hobo stew and roasted marshmallows and rode bikes and did part of the junior ranger program and floated in the Deschutes….and got marshmallow in our hair and came home really dirty and smelling like smoke. It was great. We can't wait to go again.

New Neighborhood

Been a busy month with some big changes for our family. It has been nice to be back in the NW - the air is so fresh. That seems like a funny thing to say, but I think it every time I open a window or go out the door.

We left our house in Akron with some sadness and the kids have been pretty open about their gratefulness for our home there, their familiar neighborhood and neighbors, our good routine and some special family friends. Most nights there are tears from somebody, remembering good times and special people and struggling a little with the unfamiliar.

We had a difficult time finding a rental here and the house we are in did not open up until two or three days before our moving truck arrived. It is near the hospital where David will work and close enough in town to ride our bikes to the store, the library, the park or the swimming pool. Across the street and through a vacant lot there is a beautiful creek and the kids have been swimming or fishing in it nearly every day. David is working hard at studying for his boards in the middle of August and the kids and I have been unpacking and exploring.

Every joy or trial falleth from above;

Traced upon our dial by the Son of Love.

We may trust him fully, all for us to do

They who trust Him wholly,

Find Him wholly true.

Staid upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blessed

Finding as He promised perfect peace and rest.

Goodbye Tiny Tim

Well, we have begun the process of saying goodbye to Ohio and we started with Tiny Tim, our pet turtle.

The thought was that T-squared would have the best chance if we sent him to Turtle Nirvana well-nourished and still moving around. I figured we would be making him a spot in the flower bed next to Spike the fish, but the kids did a great job figuring out that these little guys need to have little live worms, and they won't eat unless they are under water, but not too much water.

We are down to the last few weeks here in Ohio, and have enjoyed being here. The kids seem to be just starting to settle in and make some friends, have been quite involved with activities and sports, and the weather is finally reasonable after 6-7 months of nastiness.

We still have to put a few final touches on things here, such as packing, selling our house, finding a place to live in Oregon, and such but I am looking at only 4 more calls left at the hospital, and most likely one about 2 more weeks of real work.

Have been using all of my "spare" time studying for my upcoming board exam in August, as well as putting the finishing touches on 3 different research projects.

Seems like it has been much longer than 5 years to me, but I suppose there are those who didn't even know we were even gone from Oregon. The children really don't have too many memories except here, so that part will be rough for them for a bit, but they will adjust well I am sure.

The training seems like it could go on forever before I am really "comfortable" doing things by myself, but on the other hand I am feeling safe enough to do large cases and even difficult ones on my own. Fortunately there have been all types of attendings here to train under. Some of the attendings always scrub in with me on all of my own cases, which is nice. Other attendings don't scrub in at all, and just call in to ask how I am doing, or if I have a question I call them in. At first that is a little nerve-wracking, but after the first case or two I actually appreciated that supervision, as it really gave me confidence that when I leave here and do my own cases by myself, I will have no problem, because I have actually been doing my own cases for many months now, and even some large complex cases.

Really happy about not having to take any more trauma call pretty soon. Really happy that I won't be up all night ever 4th night, pulling 30+ hour shifts and just getting farther and farther behind in my rest and out of contact with my family. Will really be glad to be busy, but I would much rather be really busy with my own patients, and not doing all of the mundane residency stuff, ICU coverage, trauma call, backing up all of the neurosurgeons, vascular surgeons and in-house residents.

Have enjoyed many things of the training process, and have been able to work with some great surgeons, but am really glad it is coming to an end soon.

Well, good bye Tiny Tim. We hope you are swimming around in Frog Pond where the worms fall into your path, the sun shines on your log, and you find other turtles to play with.

Suppose we will have to get a pet lizard or something that the girls aren't allergic to when we move out to Oregon next month.

Tiny Tim

From Spring 2011

This little fellow is cute. (Alec is too, but he hates it when we say that.)

The turtle is a Midland Painted Turtle. Very common in Ohio. Probably not more than two weeks from hatching. About the size of a quarter.

Our children have wanted a pet so badly. In the midst of this time of upheaval and change I think it is a marvelous gift from the Lord that he would provide this tiny creature for the kids to dig worms for and laugh and coo at. I read once in a good book that children need three things every day: Something to DO. Something to THINK ABOUT. Something to LOVE.

They really do love that little thing. Anne has allergies to dogs and cats (and probably to other hairy creatures, but no one has ever offered to test her for allergies to horse or cat or gerbil :)). Although the kids know that it will be difficult for us to ever have the kind of pet they long for, they still hope for it and talk about it and ask about it. Often.

So I feel especially blessed by God that He has provided this very real pet for us to enjoy for a few days/weeks.

We have been worried since we had read that it is very difficult to get hatchlings to eat. The plan was to keep the turtle a day or two and then let him go quickly if we couldn't get him to eat anything. This morning, Tiny Tim sat in the old fish tank (with a little bit of water and some rocks in it) in the middle of breakfast table so the kids could watch him while we ate. He started to pull on the worm that the kids had picked up off the pavement. They were delighted to see him pull off a big piece and chomp away on it. "He's eating! He is happy with us!" I don't know about that, but it is good that he is eating and it will make me comfortable letting them keep him for a couple more days.