Dr. Larsen

This month as been a big month for us.  We celebrated our 9th anniversary, Grandma and Grandpa came to Vermont, we packed, we moved across the country and to round it out, tomorrow is my 30th birthday. But of all of those things, the biggest and best day of them all was this day:

This was the reason we moved to Vermont in the first place, the reason we have so many wonderful friends, and came to love one of the most beautiful places on earth. We went so Dave could be a doctor. And now he is! I am so proud of him for all the work he did over the last 4 years. Time flew by. I always say that I am amazed at all the stuff he knows now that he didn't know 4 years ago. He was a stellar student, and yet still managed to be there for us as his family and for his friends and for our church family. I am so lucky to call him mine!

Congrats, Dr. Larsen!

change

We are in full-blown teeth-losing mode over here. Ana lost two teeth in the last month. She tried to eat corn on the cob yesterday and found it very difficult without any front teeth. She also got quite impatient with the slacker tooth fairy who took so long to come. (A whole week for one of them!) Jack lost his first tooth this week too. He wiggled it a whole bunch while we were in Quebec because he really wanted to lose it in Canada. (I think he thought the tooth fairy would bring him Canadian money.) But alas, it feel out the day after we got home.  He really didn't want the tooth fairy to take his tooth though, so he asked nicely if he could keep it and she obliged. ;) 

I started packing today.  As I was carrying the boxes up from the basement I realized that this move is FOR REAL. I suddenly felt very sad and lonely. So I turned on some happy music. Part of my wants these next 3 weeks to go really slowly and part of me wants to just get them over with. Next up: our awesome trip to Quebec.

short years

After we matched, I knew that our move was going to come faster than we thought, so first thing was first and we found a place to live in Salt Lake. (Check.) Then I was mostly focused on our trip to Rhode Island. (Check.) Then I was making Katie's Easter dress. (Check.) Then I mostly focused on our trip to Quebec City. (Check. Post and pics to come.) Now reality is sinking in and I am realizing that Dave graduates in 3 weeks. And then we move. What the heck? And what better way to review the passage of time than by our Easter pictures from the last 4 years.

 2010. 3 months before we moved. Ages: almost 2, almost 4

2011

2012

2013

2014. Photo credit: our good friend Eli

Crazy. My kids looks so big. When did this happen? I am in major denial about this phase of my life ending so I will just stop now.

great things come in small states

We officially crossed the last of the New England states off of our "to visit" list this weekend with a trip to Rhode Island. We left after PTCs Friday morning and headed to Providence. We didn't really know what to do expect. I had looked a few options online, so we had a plan, but we didn't really know what to expect.

We started off walking down Benefit Street, which has a ton of really old (Colonial) buildings. One of the coolest was the First Baptist Church in America. And not just the "First Baptist" that you see on half of the baptist churches in the country and you jokingly say, "oh, hey, this is the first one. Haha." No this one actually was the first Baptist Church in the United States.

Then we walked up the State Capital and then into an enormous and ritzy mall right next to it so that Ana could go to the bathroom. While we were there, though, Ana and I walked into Tiffany and Co to look around and they gave her a bracelet. I told her she was a lucky girl to get a bracelet from Tiffany's. (It is a blue plastic blank armband bracelet, but still.)

 

We headed toward the car, but we decided to walk around Brown University for a minute on the way. There is something about University campuses that I love. There is an atmosphere of energy and excitement and hope for the future and it feels like there is knowledge just hanging in the air waiting to be grasped. So we started down a street hoping to walk across the quad but due to a concert we couldn't cut across. And then it was about 5 blocks before we could cut across towards our car. By the time we could, we were all starving and there just happened to be a little burger joint on the corner. The streets were swarming with college kids, but the place looked good enough so we decided to go it. Best. Decision. Ever. The burgers and fries were delicious. The obviously don't get many kids in there because they gave us a free huge cookie and when we ordered a nutella shake (which was DIVINE) they gave us two small ones for the kids in addition to the normal size one.We made it to our cars full and happy and headed to our hotel. (Of course, the kids favorite part of the trip was swimming in the hotel the next morning.)

Saturday we went down to Newport, RI. We had heard it was a cool place and to check out the Mansions. These turn-of-the-century homes were the summer "cottages" to wealthy families, including the Vanderbilts. We went to two (think Pride and Prejudice home touring) - The Breakers (the biggest and most grand) and the Marble House (the most lavish.) They were super impressive. The former had 70 rooms and was actually considered "simple" compared to other Victorian era homes, though they had platinum panels in one room and everything was ornate. The other was incredibly opulent, almost gaudy. A shrine to wealth. An entire room was gilded in gold. There was 500,000 cubic feet of marble used in its construction. The tours (self-guided audio tours that our kids really enjoyed) talked a lot of the women of the house and it was interesting that though they were sisters-in-law, they were so incredibly different in personality. (I am still deciding what I think of them. I will have to discuss more of this later.)

We also spent some time driving around Newport, walking the streets and looking in shops. We ended the day playing at the beach. The air by then was chilly, and the water was freezing (I am told.) But it was a good way to get the kids last few wiggles out before the drive home. Ana and Dave put their feet in the water. Jack chased the waves. Or rather they chased him. Katie mostly shivered and was very worried about the waves lapping on the shore, but it was still fun. We got as much sand off as a could and loaded back in the car, headed up the smallest state through farms and vineyards, got a quick bite to eat, and the kids drifted off to sleep.

At one point during the weekend, Katie exclaimed, "This is the best day of my life!" She probably got it from Olaf, but still, it does make a parent feel good. Here's to wholesome recreational activities and small states.

spring has sprung ...

And by "sprung" I mean, slowly creeping upon us. The snow is slowly melting during the day and refreezing at night. The ground is soft and squishy and the grass that is emerging is barely starting to take on a light green color.

But we had 2 beautiful sunny days this week and that is more than I could ever hope for. I felt so happy with the sunshine on Tuesday that I was giddy.  Wednesday after school we walked down to our housing office to give them our move-out notice. We dawdled our way down and back, thoroughly enjoying the almost-50 degree weather. The kids ran ahead or lagged behind. Sometimes they walked through puddles and sometimes avoided them. They carried sticks and smashed snow. And we all got a big kick out of breaking ice that had a river of melted snow running underneath it. Even when we got back to the house we stayed outside and watched the water run down our road like a small creek. The kids threw rocks, we built mini dams, and we visited with neighbors who emerged from their homes after the long, cold winter.

match day

Friday might as well have been Christmas. Dave and I couldn't sleep the night before, I woke up a few times in the night and then as soon as the alarm went off I was awake. The kids were excited too. They were wondering when we would know and how we would find out. We got them off to school and then fussed around the house for a bit until it was time to go up to the school. Heather took pictures of the event for us and I am so glad she did.

Every school does Match Day a little differently.  After a couple brief remarks by the Dean and the UVM president, they began calling up students randomly to open up your envelope and announce it to your classmates. It was fun to see everyone's reactions. It was TORTURE waiting though. Dave was called up almost at the end.

Woohoo! We waited a long time for this day.

The class's grand entrance.

Waiting. We were trying to decide where to stand. Dave can't stand in the front, but I can't see in the back. A common problem in our relationship. :)

Here we go... Where is it going to be?

Nervous

"Hi, I'm Dave. This is Erin. I am going into Pediatrics."

UNIVERSITY OF UTAH - Primary Children's Hospital

Hooray! Our #1 choice.

They gave the class these signs to hold up. Of course Dave chose the one with the LeBron reference.

Dave had 4 other classmates (2 couples) that matched at the U. We are so excited to be going there with them. One of them will be in Pediatrics with Dave. They are all awesome.

When we told the kids after school they were so excited to hear that we will be by grandparents, cousins, and get to see so many of our friends that travel to Utah. They want to help us look for houses and everything. We are so excited!

typical new england february

Sometimes when I am driving down the street with mountains of snow piled up on each side, I think to myself, "I can't believe I live in a place where this is normal. And where 25* is described as 'not too bad.'" But alas, I do live in a place where that is normal. Last week after a big storm dropped us a foot of snow, I took Zach and Katie outside to play in it. Except 2 year olds can't really walk in 15 inches of snow. I tried pulling them in the sled, but it kept tipping over into my footprints. They only lasted about 30 minutes.

I will say, the snow was beautiful. And on Saturday we bundled up as a family and spent 15 minutes building an enormous snowman that is waving to all the cars that pass by our house. So, there is that awesomeness. And not only that, I really appreciate spring and summer when they come around.

2013 recap

When we first moved here 3 1/2 years ago, I remember thinking that 2014 (and graduation) was so far away. And now it is tomorrow. In less then 6 months Dave will be a doctor. Crazy.


Some of the best Vermont memories will be from 2013. Here is a recap.

*The "They Might Be Giants" concert Dave took me to in February.

*Eating real sugar and snow and watching Jack guzzle a bunch of syrup.

*Ana ice skating.

*Going home to Idaho.

*Katie playing in the mud all summer.

*Riding bikes on the Burlington Bike path.

*Jack learning to ride a 2-wheeler in no time. (But I don't have a picture of it.)

*Birthday parties.

*Beach trips

*Seeing Monsters University at the drive-in

*Going to Lake Placid

*Camping with the Morey's

*Going to Shelburne Museum

*A visit from my awesome sister Kelli and her girls.

*Adirondack hot air balloon festival

*Jack's collections

*Jack playing soccer and scoring a goal. And then throwing it out of bounds when it was his turn to throw it in.

*The day Dave and I ditched the kids at school and took a beautiful fall drive without them.

*Going to DC

*The day I was going crazy so I took Katie to the lake and the museum and Panera.

*Dave's residency interviews. Especially when we did FaceTime while he was at the Seguaro National Park.

*Green Mountain Flyer train ride

*Our awesome Thanksgiving Week with our friends. Seriously, I will miss that.

*When me and my friend Heather went on a whirlwind trip to California to visit our friend Christy.

Seriously, this year was unforgettable.  Here's to a great 2014!