Visitors

We had visitors last weekend! Brad's parents came for a few days. Dad had a few of his students participating in the All Northwest Music Festival held in Bellevue this year, so it was the perfect excuse for them to come.

Brad and his Dad were pretty busy with their responsibilities but we still found time to play. The girls and I took Mom to the zoo...

In front of the Komodo Dragon

 and helped Lainy practice the new violin that Grandpa brought.

Isn't she darling? We discovered that she is a natural at the violin. (Maybe it's in her genes or something.) But seriously, she had her positioning and bow hold down after very few instructions, and played along with a CD for over a half hour straight. It made us smile.

Saturday we went to listen to the All Northwest Orchestra practice. They were kind enough to go through their whole program for us (so we didn't feel too bad about missing their concert Sunday night). We loved it.

We also went to for a nice drive to Alki beach, to Church on Sunday, and otherwise just played at home.

It was so nice to see Brad's parents. They are so much fun to have around. We love them!

Date with Dubs

One afternoon upon arriving home, we found a special invitation taped to our door. It was a Valentine Date with Dubs for our whole family (actually for all UW students with kids).

Lainy was beside herself with excitement. Dubs (in case you don't know) is the mascot for the University of Washington - a beautiful Husky dog. The invitation promised an actual meeting with Dubs himself. We decided we couldn't miss it.

As things turned out, the night scheduled for our date with Dubs turned out to be busy. Brad was tied up in meetings and we had his parents in town. But I couldn't let Lainy down, so I took her myself.

Dubs was no where to be seen when we arrived, but we contented ourselves with eating pizza and commissioning a balloon artist to make Lainy's best make-believe friend, Jessie (from Toy Story).

Finally, Dubs arrived. Lainy was the first to greet him. He was a real gentleman. He bowed to her when she approached him, stood politely beside her for a picture, and even gave her a parting kiss (a lick on the cheek). Lainy was over the moon!

We had so much fun! What could be better than a night out with Dubs, Jessie, and my little girl?

Zoo Friends

A couple of weeks ago we went to the zoo for the first time since being back in Seattle. Last year the girls and I went almost every week. We love it.

It was good to get re-acquainted with our buddies. You know, the lion, the siamang's (aka "bubble" monkeys), the gorillas, the elephants. I think they were happy to see us too.

The lion greeted us with a few loud roars.

 The bubble monkey's sang us a nice song.

 One of the elephant's danced the can-can when she saw us (she always does that). The orangutan peered woefully through the glass right into Lainy's eyes. And the baby giraffe leaned close to Leah to say hi (I think they were born about the same time).


We had fun. And isn't it amazing that we can go to the zoo in January and not freeze?! It's good to be back.

Doctors, Callings, Blessings

Brad is doing an inpatient rotation in Pediatrics at Seattle Children's Hospital. It is one of the best pediatric hospital's in the U.S., so this has been a good opportunity for him. Brad is working with the Cardiology team. He has been put in charge of the care for a few patients, reporting to the residents and attending doctors above him. He's learning a lot and he's been pretty busy. Okay, really busy (14-16 hour work days).

He came home the other night ashen-faced and visibly shaken. They had almost lost one of his patients. A two day old "Invitro" baby born to a couple who have been trying to have a baby for ten years. After talking with Brad that night, and over the past couple of weeks, I have realized something.

I have realized that I really have no idea of the pressures Brad (and other doctors) are under every day. I don't think most people do. The decisions he makes really are life or death decisions. Especially in this hospital. That's a lot of pressure and a lot of stress. It must be kind of lonely too. It's a profession like no other.

I received a new calling in my ward last week to be the Compassionate Service Leader. The calling in our ward is kind of unique because our ward takes care of all the LDS families that are patients in Seattle Children's Hospital. I've spent some time this week at the hospital. It's an amazing place. The staff there is amazing. So are the patients and their families.

My Relief Society President told me that she hopes (among other things) that through this calling I will gain a better understanding and appreciation for what my husband does every day so that I can be a good support to him throughout his career. I hope so too.

And I hope that, in some small way, I can help those families bear their burdens a little easier. When you become aware of people whose needs are so much greater than your own, it makes you very grateful for what you have. Last year I would have been complaining about rarely seeing my husband and handling two adorably active little girls alone. Right now I feel like I have too many blessings to count.

Lainy is growing up. Isn't she beautiful?

Leah discovering rocks on our walk.

Look at all those pagers!