Dec. 20th-26th

Richard has this and next week off, which does not mean he will stop working ;) He went to preceptorship on Tuesday, and took care of some other things that came up on emails.

We all went to see Santa with our friends Krisanna and David along with Neil, Jen, and Miles. The line was incredibly to long so we took some shots in Nordstrom's and went back early the next day. It was adorable, Tilly and Miles just didn't care for Santa.

We packed up and headed to Seattle on Wednesday to stay at my aunt and uncle's for Christmas. We had such a wonderful time there. Tilly loved their dog Lucky. We had a great time downtown seattle on christmas eve, rode the carousel, and saw amazing gingerbread houses. Christmas morning we opened all of our presents and sat around in our Christmas pj's. We had a relaxing day playing our cousin's new beatles rock band game, then went out to the botanical gardens to see the amazing light display. It was a wonderful Christmas!! The day after we went to bainbridge island to visit my other cousins. We went for a walk at the nature school IslandWood where Chip works and walked to the top of a observation deck. We headed home the 26th after a wonderful vacation.

Dec 13th-19th

Since we have been having to much fun to take the time to blog, here are a few highlights from the week of Dec 13th-19th

Dinner with Landlord/Neighbors

Mark S. in town

David and Krisannas Holiday Party

Lots of baking

Grotto to see Krisanna sing and all the lights

Richard:

Prenatal visit -following Dr. Tophler with a patient who is due in June/July

Brain in box training -will be going to teach 7th graders about the brain

Last exam before break

Preceptorship

ADHD study

PNHP

Sleep Apnea support group meeting

and here is a cute picture from the grotto

Dec 6-12th

We went to the Psychiatry Department's Christmas party on Wednesday at the historic Pittock Mansion (where the finale of the last Amazing Race season was filmed). It was a lot of fun to see all of Richard's old co-workers, and this year we walked around and checked out all the decked out rooms. My favorite room was the sewing room where they had an old sewing machine (the kind my great-grandmother had) and all sorts of handmade dolls laying around. The tree in that room had old thread with tiny scissors as ornaments!

On Friday we went to the cadaver memorial service for Richard's class. It was very touching, some of the students shared their experience with their "first patient." The families of the patients had a chance to speak about their loved ones and share stories, and there was a slide show of photos that made everyone tear up. Along with all of that, students shared their musical talent. A string quartet played at the begining and end, harp and piano where played, and Richard with some fellow students sang "Bridge over troubled water." It was a very nice event!

We also went to the Taylor's house for dinner this week. Mikele showed us how well she is walking now, and in just a few months Tilly and she will be running around playing beautifully.

All the while Richard has been studying for the last exam before break this coming friday.

Nov 29 - Dec 5th

Tis the season to be busy!

On Monday night I went to an ORFN craft night where we made wreaths. It was totally awesome, and I am addicted! I made two that night, I have wanted to make more since then but haven't had the time. Tilly and I have been making a lot of things- yummy food, little dolls, ornaments! It has been really fun. On Friday night we went to see Richard's band The Subcons play at the AMSA medical student regional conference. It was in the old library up here on the hill. Tilly was so cute, she ran up to her dada whenever she could, she danced just a little bit, and walked up and down stairs (with help) A LOT. She is interacting more and more with people, loves being held and loves signing to them. Her fav. sign right now to show is 'light'. It's too cute!

Richard has been just as crazy as last week; he studies tons, has a million meetings, and added on some band practices during the week. On Monday he won the Movember challenge he had entered, that was pretty exciting... I am pretty happy the mustache is gone :) He has been doing great things with The VACUUM (voices and concerns of the uninsured and underinsured millions) video project. He made a website for it, and it is continually growing as he finds more and more doctors, patients, and fellow students who want to participate.