Jared started a new rotation this past week, surgical oncology (it's a part of his general surgery requirement). We had heard that this rotation could be brutal so we decided to take a last minute weekend getaway up to the mountains before he started this rotation. There's no snow yet but it was fun to get away. The drive up there was beautiful and we had fun walking around, going to the pool and hot tub, drinking hot chocolate and watching movies.

UVA football

It's been over a month now since we went but it was Sam's first footbal game ever so I thought I should post these pics. Jared got some free tickets so we called up the Pooles and asked them to come along and drove down to Charlottesville. I think Sam is addicted already. He loved cheering and did pretty good, for a 2-yr-old, staying in our area. It had been kind of cold for a few days before the game but that Saturday turned out to be a beautiful, a little warmer than we expected, day. We got there right after half-time and I think we had Sam's shirt off somewhere in the 3rd quarter. UVA lost in over-time but we still had a good time.

I was taking some pictures of Sam playing in the leaves today and I fell in love with this one so I thought I'd post it. I have more that hopefully I'll get to later.

Happy Halloween

I probably let Sam watch a little too much Mickey Mouse Clubhouse...he calls Mickey Mouse "Toodles" so this year he was Toodles for Halloween. Once he found out that he got candy for saying Trick or Treat he was yelling it before he before we would get to the next person at our ward's Trunk or Treat. On Halloween Jared was able to take Sam trick or treating.

"Toodles"

The ward Trunk or Treat.

He loved carrying his pumpkin.

Woody and Mickey Mouse.

"CARS"!!!!

Sam is two. We had a "Cars", or as he says "Trucks" themed party for him yesterday. I made his cake the night before. As I was taking it out of the fridge and putting on the table in the morning I almost dropped it and scattered some "dirt" onto the "grass". Oh well, at least I didn't drop it. From the time I put the cake on the table until his party, Sam kept sneaking into the dining room to take Lightning McQueen and Chick Hicks off the cake.

We played a few games, of which I didn't get any pictures, fishing with Mater for cars, custom paint jobs with Ramone (they got to color pictures of Lightning McQueen) and driving with Doc (they all took turns driving a power wheel around the yard). I think the power wheel was the big hit of the party. We also did a Lightning McQeen pinata.

Singing Happy Birthday to Sam and Shelby.

Sam blowing out his candles. He did a pretty good job of not spitting on the cake.

As soon as he blew the candles out the cars were his.

Let's have some cake.


Sam enjoying his cake for a second. He only took a bite or two before he was ready to move on and play with his new cars.

All the kids enjoying cake and ice cream.

Opening presents. Sam would not let go of his two new cars from the cake to open his presents. He held onto them the entire time. He really enjoyed watching the other kids "helping" him open his presents and was so excited about each and every new present.

His new dump truck from Papa Mel and Grandma Paula. He fits inside. *Note: he's still holding on to 2 cars.

Down to the last presents and still he's clutching his 2 cars. He has since let go of those cars and really does love all the presents that he got. He lines up all his cars several times a day and puts them in his dump truck, he also likes to drive his cars on his "Cars" rug. He loves all the books, we've read stories from all of the them. He was also super excited to discover that his new markers make animal noises.

He had a super exciting day and had fun playing with all the kids.

The big 2 9!

Happy Birthday Jared! We love you!
We celebrated Jared's birthday yesterday with a barbeque and cake. We had a great time celebrating with friends. We feel so blessed to be surrounded by so many wonderful people that have really helped us in our short time here (although we still miss CA and home and love all you guys).

I think because Jared's birthday is in October I associate his birthday with Halloween so I made him a Halloween themed cake and I have to say I'm pretty proud of myself. I don't consider myself crafty or creative but I think I did okay on his cake.

The witch is made from fondant icing. I found a recipe online that only called for marshmallows, powdered sugar and water so it was super easy to make.

I think a post wouldn't be a post with out a picture of Sam. He turns 2 on Saturday so I'll have pics of birthday next week. Can you believe it?

I love New York!!!!

Jared and I celebrated our 4th anniversary this month. On the day of our anniversary, Jared had to work the night shift in his ER rotation so we went out for an early dinner to PF Changs. We decided that to really celebrate our anniversary we would go to New York and stay with our good friends Jared and Debi. (Thanks again guys we had so much fun and hope that you'll let us come back again.) We were also reunited with a few more dental friends, the Shamos and Will. It was great seeing them again. We had a blast and saw so much of the city. We went to: the Statue of Liberty; Ground Zero (well a big fence where it's supposed to be, they're building the new building to be done in 2012, same year we'll be done with residency); Times Square; FAO Scharz (the toy store from the movie "Big" with the big piano); Greenwich Village; SoHo; Toys'R'Us in Times Square (there's a ferris wheel in it, Sam loved it); Union Square; Gray's Papaya (the best hot dog place in NY); Central Park (it really is huge and beautiful); Jared went to the Yankee vs. Oriole game on Friday; Natural History Museum; and we did so much more. Here are a bunch of pictures from our trip.

Lady Liberty herself.

FAO Schwarz. Sam loves stuffed animals. He kissed and hugged as many as he could and then made them kiss each other.

Will playing chop sticks.

Sam trying to play chop sticks.

Even jumping on the keys, Sam couldn't didn't weigh enough to make any noise.

Harry Potter and friends made of legos.

Carnegie Deli where if you ask for bacon, you get bacon...a lot of it.

If you ever go there be prepared to get more than you bargained for.

Times Square

Central Park. I can't believe how big it is. It's gorgeous too.

Toys'R'Us ferris wheel. Sam loved riding in the fire truck.

Old Yankee stadium.

Go Yankees!

Two little buddies together again.

Max Brenner's, where if you love chocolate then come here.

Chocolate peanut butter crepes with chocolate sauce.

Waffles with strawberries, white chocolate and milk chocolate sauce.

Is my little baby boy trying to tell me something???

A couple of weeks ago I was folding laundry while Sam was playing. I turned around to find this.

I know he has a few years before he goes off to school but I don't know if I'll be ready.
I got these boots for Sam a few weeks ago on clearance at Target and was really excited for them to get some real use today. Sam was not so sure at first about being out in the rain but after a few minutes he was jumping in puddles and playing cars in the puddles.

He's gonna be a soccer player!!!

In Richmond there is an indoor soccer gym where you can start your kids, on a team, at 18 mos. This was Sam's second time and he really likes it. The first week we couldn't get him to put down the soccer ball. He held one the entire time but still managed to kick a few others. Today he did really well and even scored a few goals. It was so fun watching him play and get so excited about the "ball" (one of the few words he says). I love that he has a uniform. We bought him new shoes for it which he fell in love with the moment he saw them because they have a car that lights up on them. (He is totally obsessed with cars right now.)

Hanging out.

Water break.