Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Days of Summer Bliss with The Woods Family in Virginia

Bobby, Shirlene, and family came to Virginia for 10 blissful days of reconnecting, visiting, sharing in the joys of parenting, praying, worshipping, sharing wonderful meals, and reinvigorating one another's passion for life, faith, and community.

Fun along the shore of the James River
Come to Virginia for fresh crab

Swimming was enjoyable though the warm
80+ degree water brings multitudes of jelly fish which are being examined in the bucket

Father and Son

Fun in the sun

Ellie is such a dear young girl, who is responsible well beyond her years
Such a great friend to Thaddeus throughout the week
Thaddeus took notes and now is a better caretaker of his little brother...
Thank you Ellie for your good influence :o)

Playing together at the Virginia Living Museum


Reprieve from the heat with front yard slip 'n slide

Pool time



Exploring the local park


Grinding corn at the Jamestown Settlement

Thaddeus says they were playing "David and Goliath"

More interacting with history

Exploring the ships at Jamestown

Our dear neighbor loaned us his RV!!!
We got to enjoy camping with children in air conditioning, what a gift!

Johannes was in his element the entire time, endless dirt and food...


Bobby providing endless comic relief
"Hillbilly grin"

Time for a cool down and rinse of at least one layer of dirt
Johannes wasn't always happy with my methods, but it worked quite well

Beaching it at Yorktown waterfront
York River


The prehistoric looking Helmet crab came floating by us

Pure summer fun in Virginia
We love the Woods!


Vacation to Michigan July 2011

This past July we took a week long reprieve to Michigan to reconnect with our dear friends, as well as bring back our guitars, which were left in Michigan because of humid conditions and inability to store them during the transition to Virginia last summer.
We headed out in our "swagger wagon" midday on Friday after a morning of operating and arrived at the door of Rick and Victoria the following day before noon.

Our first afternoon we got to spend reconnecting with my former boss and his family. Their home had experienced a significant fire during the past year, so the home had many changes and beautiful modifications.
It was quite unique to be discussing our surgery cases, no longer as residents, but now all as attending surgeons. Trung and I felt more grown up I guess...

The beautiful family

Our gracious hosts for the entire week
Known by our kids as Auntie Victoria and Uncle Rick
Thank you two for all the fun and hard work of hosting not just us but all our friends that week.

Thaddeus and Amelia reconnecting

Amelia and I reconnect
We share the same birthday, and I got to hold her on her first day of life
We have always bonded well

Amelia's beautiful parents




We got to spend 3 full days enjoying the Lake Cabin in Northern Michigan
We are throwing our personal pizza dough
Rick doing it with style!! He must be italiano...

The Pizzas

Thaddeus was thrilled to wear a pair of "gobbles" weather swimming or not

First day in the water was mostly sounds of stress and fear, but by day three the boys had transitioned to confident water boys



Learning to relax in the water...
Not an easy skill to obtain as a three year old boy


Stepping into the boat

Celebrating my "34th" Birthday
We had a delicious grilled salmon dinner

The smile that brings a smile to us all everyday!!!

One of Thaddeus' many enduring looks
My surfer dude in his dino shirt

Kindred spirits on the water together
Yes I married a JCrew model
Lucky ME!!!
Our boys in front of their birthplace
Our first home