Croquet, conference and bathing suits

I was induced on Thursday and uploaded these pictures early on in the day. We've just been hanging out, enjoying Jason's company. We "played" croquet in the backyard and Clara perfected her bigfoot walk. :) It was pretty cold but Savannah refused to put on pants or socks.

Snuggling with my girls during General Conference. 

 Trying out the girls' new bathing suits in the backyard.

And the match results are...

We found out Friday that Jason matched in dermatology at WVU! He was really hoping to match to derm, and we didn't really mind where. We'll be here four more years; there is a first year that is more rotations, and then three years of dermatology. He is interested in MOHS surgery. (You'll have to look that up for a

There was a lunch on Friday and each student's match letter was in a box at the front of the room. They would open their letter, read where they were going, and pick the next student's name out of the box. Jason went up after about 20 minutes, and when he opened his letter, all I heard was, "Preliminary year---at WVU." (Preliminary year is the first year, which he had to interview separately for.) So the whole time he's walking back to me, I'm thinking, "What does that mean? Did he only match to preliminary year? Does he have to apply for derm again next year?" And all the while, he's smiling at me as he's walking back to our table. It wasn't until I saw his letter, and about 5 minutes later that it sunk in that he had gotten a residency that we wanted. It was surreal.

We are really excited. And now that we don't have to move, we'll have time to visit Jason's family, won't have to move with a newborn and can stay in our house. And since Jason's been fixing it up, it is looking great! His honey-do list is very short these days.

A random update as we wait for Match day

Jason celebrated his 30th birthday in February and we invited some friends over to celebrate. The girls were our official frosting taste-testers.

 Savannah is letting me fix her hair more, and not just on Sundays. I love her little "pigtail buns" that she didn't notice until after church. Hehehe. What a sweet face! She is getting so old and is excited to sing, kiss, rock and teach the baby things. She usually goes to sleep singing the ABC song at the top of her lungs.

I can't get this picture to turn, but Clara made it at school a few weeks ago and I thought it was so cute. Notice the ponytail on top of Savannah's head.

We got some "colorful cookie dough" from a school fundraiser, and the girls have just loved it. We make all kinds of funny shapes and faces. Clara has lost her second tooth, and is a firm believer in the tooth fairy...at least enough to warrant a visit. She is also growing out her bangs, which makes her look so grown up. 

 

We find out on Friday where Jason has matched for residency. We are trying not to count the hours, but we are keeping pretty busy. We've been trying to get some projects done around the house in case we are moving, which we are assuming, but...who knows!

New York City

Jason and I have been trying to plan a trip for a while, and finally did it! We went to NYC while my parents came to watch the girls. We haven't been on a big trip alone since 2006, and we had a great time.

The first day we were there we went to a highly recommended bakery, Levaine Bakery just a couple blocks from Central Park. Thanks to Ashley! We had chocolate brioche, hot chocolate, and banana chocolate chip bread. Clara kept saying, "No fair!" when we told her what we had for breakfast that day. 

 

 Then we walked through Central Park to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Luckily, the sun was out for the hour that we walked through the park. Central Park was so pleasant. The rest of the time it was cloudy/rainy. We saw the Dakota, where John Lennon was shot, and Strawberry Fields.

I haven't been to a big museum in a long time, and it was wonderful. We took some pictures with Renoir and Monet paintings to show Clara; she knows these paintings.

That night we had a fabulous dinner and saw "Wicked." I know we're about 10 years behind the times, but we finally saw it. It was amazing...the set, music, acting. So fun.

The next day we went to St. Patrick's Cathedral, which was all covered with scaffold, so we couldn't see one inch of the outside. We also stopped by Grand Central Station, which is celebrating 100 years this year. My hip was hurting from all the walking, so we hung out at the hotel in the afternoon. We discovered to our delight that just a block or so from our hotel was a Harry Potter Exhibit! It was awesome. There were tons of props, costumes, and sets from all the movies. For example, we saw:
All the famous wands                                                
Ron's horrible dress robes
Buckbeak                                                                  
Hagrid's huge furniture
Tri-Wizard Cup
Dementor's robes
Harry's glass                                                               
The quidditch uniforms
Harry and Ron's dorm room                                      
The tea cup with the Grim in it
It was awesome. I can't even remember all the things we saw. That night we saw the "Newsies" musical, which was fun. The boys were great dancers, and the music was great. I grew up on the movie, and had all the songs memorized.

It was so great to have a trip together and we're so grateful my parents could come and watch the kids. Clara and Savannah had a great time with them, and they were so happy to see us home.

The last few months

Lots of things have happened since I've last written, so here is a recap. The most exciting news of the fall was that we found out we're expecting another baby girl in the spring! The girls are ecstatic to have another girl in the family.

 Savannah's second birthday. Can't you tell she's excited? She changed outfits several times that day. She was so into the party hats, balloons, cake, ice cream, candles, the works.

The lap quilt I made for Mauri for Christmas, with Jason's and my mother-in-law's help. It turned out to match her living room perfectly!

These girls are becoming good friends. They've recently started calling each other "Best Buddies."

Clara lost her first tooth on our way to my parents' house for Christmas! She was eating a Wheat Thin, and out it came! She was relieved the tooth fairy could find her there.

Matching each other and their dolls in dresses from my mom.

Clara tried this huge trampoline at the mall, and had such a blast. At first she was hesitant, but then she decided to go for it! We were proud that she was so brave and tried something new.

After Christmas we went with my parents, and Ashley and Tom to Massanutten, Va. There was an enormous indoor waterpark, which the girls loved. Clara decided to try a ski class, and really enjoyed it. She seems to be getting so big and trying so many new things.

We're excited for the next few months, too. Jason has finished his last major test, Match day is in March, the baby is due in April, and graduation in May!

Farewell to J

Well, it's time to say goodbye to our Jeep, "J." Angela and I got it in 2001 when we were at BYU together. We took it lots of places, including lots of SLC Olympic events. Jason and I have had it since we got married, and now we must part ways.

Jason was driving home from the airport a week ago around midnight and a kamikaze deer ran straight for the headlights. Thankfully Jason wasn't hurt, and luckily we have AAA, who sent a tow truck all the way past Washington, PA. After an hour and a half, they picked Jason up, drove him home and dropped him off at our house around 4am. Since the repairs are more than the car is worth, it's "totaled." We figure that something happened to the engine. So it looks like we're in the market for a new car!

Uncle Paul and Pirate Swords

My brother in law Paul came to visit us for a couple days last week. We had a picnic downstairs because of the rain, and the next day we took him to Coopers Rock. We had family home evening as we walked around. We wish he could have stayed longer!

Savannah loves getting into Clara's dress-up clothes, and she gets some crazy combinations. Here she is wearing candy pajamas, a ballerina headband, a tutu, flower lei and is wielding a pirate sword. She's demonstrating how to correctly say "aargh" and poke someone in the stomach with the sword. I love this picture.