Settling In

Well, all our stuff is here and most of it is unpacked. We're settling in and love being in our own house. We'll put up pictures soon....but if you are out this way in the mean time please stop by.

Graduation is this weekend and this week has been filled with graduation "activities." So we'll see some of you on Sunday afternoon.

I promise, more posts are coming!

Moving Day

Dear New Tenants of 37 Fairchild Drive,

Welcome to an amazing property! The house may not look like much but we wanted to share with you some of our experiences within (and outside of) these walls.

This has been home to us for two years, two busy years…… The house has been witness to a marriage proposal, wedding day preparations, two little girl birthday parties, numerous sleep-overs, both raising a puppy and grieving over our dog’s death. We’ve had bonfires outside and too many cook-outs to count. We watched many movies in the living room. We finished our last two years of medical school while living here and experienced far too many pre-dawn departures down this driveway. We’ve played softball, soccer and basketball but played much more “pretend” in this gorgeous yard. We’ve tended these gardens and nursed some sickly rose bushes back to health on the side of the house. We’ve cut the grass about a million times!

Even though this yard is in the middle of suburbia we’ve seen so much wildlife within this fence. Currently a brown rabbit lives in the yard – you might see him feeding in the morning or after dinner out front. There are many birds that visited us here; you can’t miss the cardinal pair. Last August we watched some sparrows raise their young right outside the front porch window. We even had a wild turkey stop by last summer – it just came right over the fence. And of course the squirrels……good luck with them!

We hope you’ll enjoy living here as much as we did. Thanks for letting us say good-bye.

Warmly,

The Old Tenants of 37 Fairchild Drive

Hanging Out with Jake

I love dogs - I really miss having one. My dad "loaned" us Jake for the week, both because Jake has been bored at his house and to help make the hole in our lives a little less obvious for a while. I really think it helped Sydney and I know it made me feel a little better, too. Here are some of our pics from the week:

Okay, we had some help from Darcy on this one.

My friends Anne and Mike came over to help paint and brought their Jack Russel puppy - much smaller than Jake! They played well mostly, but Jake does have Brady's head in his mouth above!

Jake does not like the flash.

Jake's back at his house now. Thanks dad and Jake!

Good Bye 37 Fairchild Drive!

Things we'll miss about our house:

The fire pit in the backyard where we've had many summer time bonfires.

The gorgeous landscaping and huge lot.

Things we won't miss about the house:


Sydney's overcrowded room.

The tiny living room.

And of course the four foot by two foot kitchen!

Moving day is Tuesday......

Sydney's Homework

Sydney absolutely hates homework. She has no problem doing work in school and understands the necessity of that, but thinks homework is just boring "busy work." Most of the time she's right. Here she is working on a project where she is supposed to create symbols of her heritage.

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Remembering Lou

Lou's love of sticks started as soon as we brought him home. When we cleaned up the yard recently we make a bonfire of all the sticks Lou had dragged in. Lou was so distressed we thought he might go in after them!

Sydney and Lou - best buddies from the start.

Lou's other playmate was his cousin (my dad's dog), Jake. Those two would literally "puppy-play" until they were sick.

This is a picture of Lou at Trout Brook, a dog-friendly conservation area in Town. Lou ran regularly with Jon and I on the trails here. He also loved to hike with Sydney here rain, snow or shine. He would come home muddy, drenched from swimming and very tired.

Does it count as tormenting if they're sleeping?

For some reason, Lou had to rub his head and nose after he ate. It was very amusing. We dubbed it "snerggies" because that's the growling sort of sound he would make while doing it.

If Lou had it his way, he would have slept in Sydney's bed everynight. As he grew (and got dirtier with the arrival of spring) we just couldn't tolerate this and we trained him to stay off her bed at night. When her door opened in the morning though he burst into her room and onto her bed for a thousand wet kisses.

It was very easy to teach Lou tricks. He knew lots of them. This is a picture of "both paws." He was, by far, the most intelligent dog that I have ever had. Just last week Jon and I were marvelling over how many words Lou knew - we counted about 30.

For a while Sydney was convinced she could teach him to answer the telephone. In this picture she's dangling it from the ceiling and instructing him about what to do if it rings.

She did succeed in getting Lou to do many things she wanted, mostly by bribing him with treats. This picture is from a show Sydney and Lou put on for Jon's parents, Jon and I.

When Sydney had pneumonia this winter Lou was very concerned. He spent a lot of time lying with her (or on her) on the couch. He certainly lifted her spirits and made those sick days more pleasant.

Do you know many dogs that would let a little girl dress them up like a cowgirl? I didn't think so. One of Lou's most endearing features was his tolerance towards and absolute love of Sydney.

Lou we miss you so much. Thanks for all the happiness you brought us!

Sad News

We lost our dog Lou this week and the three of us are very sad. Lou always comes with me to drop Sydney off at school and when we got home from doing that a couple days ago, I went inside without shutting the gate at the end of the driveway. Being the social dog that he was, Lou trotted over to visit with the neighbor. On his way back he was hit by a car and died instantly.
We really are hurting right now. If you read our blog you know that he was an important family member to us and Sydney's best friend. The two were inseperable. Lou even knew when it was time to go get Sydney after school and came to her bedroom to say goodnight at bedtime. His happiness was infectious and it seemed impossible to upset this guy. Even when he was in trouble (like the time he stole Sydney's hot dog off the grill) you could still see the tip of his tail wagging between his legs. There is a great big empty space in our life at home now.
This week has been bittersweet because we did close on the house yesterday. The house has many "dog features" that were intended for Lou and make us so sad to see. No matter how much time passes this very special pup will always be our hearts.

Scary!!!!

Boo!

So, this is my wife as she gets ready for Anne and Mike Garrison's wedding. I told her that it was not a Halloween party or costume party, but she refused to believe me. She insisted on wearing this blue-green face paint and going as the Incredible Hulk. Boy did she look silly when she showed up with that stuff on her face!!

But seriously, my beautiful wife does not need any of this firming mask to look beautiful. She looks most beautiful when she wakes up in the morning -not the most pleasant person but definitely the most beautiful.

-the interloping blogger

Mother's day

The mother-to-be on mother's day....with my baby next to her.

My mother and her first born serving up the brownie sundaes.


My parents (and pooch) watch a heated softball match between the kids and grandkid. Both parents did have an at bat. That's the first time I've had a noticeably pregnant woman on my team. She was still as good as ever!



To all the moms, grandmas (and the kid who gives me the title "mom") in our lives thanks for all you do. We love you!

Mike and Anne's Wedding

Apparently, I said something that surprised Laura!

The happy couple later in the evening.



The med school gang minus me, (the photographer).

Obviously, a good time was had by all! Well done Anne and Mike, Congrats.

Babies, babies

No, we're not pregnant. But it seems like many of our family/friends are or are trying to be. My sister Erin is about half way through her pregnancy with a baby girl (Ciara - pronounced KEERAH). She's due in early September and we're very excited to be an Auntie, an Uncle and a cousin for the first time!!!

Also expecting a baby are Shara and Brian. Also, speaking like Yoda am I. They're due around Christmas. The plan to name the baby Jesus. Just kidding. They aren't far enough into their pregnancy to really have a name picked out yet and they refuse to consider a name that has been used by anyone they've ever met (i'm not kidding on this one!).

The pregnant couples are pictured below in their not-yet-pregnant states.

Hummingbird Softball

The season has started and Sydney is in top form. She's progressed alot since last year and really understands the game now. Her throwing, catching and hitting are all much better than last year - and more importantly, she's having fun this year! I really think being on a team with girls has madeit more enjoyable to her this time around. Here are some pictures from her most recent game, courtesy of her Grammy:

Sydney awaits a throw to second as a sparrow advances to second.

Sydney and teammate both attempt to field the ball.

Sydney swingsa bat as she prepares to hit.