Hooray for Fall!

We have definitely gotten more settled here in Cincinnati. Fall is in the air, and Emily is so excited to experience her first real fall since 2001. The leaves are changing color, and the air is becoming cooler and sometimes crisp. Since we last wrote, we found out we are expecting another BOY. We are excited!

We have done a lot of work on our master bathroom. David took out the toilet, two layers of linoleum flooring, shower door, cabinet/vanity, and baseboards. Emily chose and ordered all of the materials for our shower and floor to be tiled. Although we paid a professional (a German lady—a grandmother, and mother of 5 children—who did a great job, by the way) to put the tile in, we still feel like we get credit for this bathroom project since we did all of the preparatory and finishing work! After searching high and low (lower than we wanted) for a taller cabinet, it seemed better to have David build a base to raise our existing cabinet six inches higher to save his back from bending over so much. Emily touched up the paint, and David installed a new toilet, and put everything else back. It was quiet an ordeal. Emily and William in particular took countless trips to Home Depot for this project.

When he wasn’t working on our bathroom or working at the hospital, David delved into learning how to cook Indian food. He has tried multiple dishes, with Emily as his assistant. David has quite the knack for knowing how to spice things, so we have really enjoyed his cuisine. If this sounds good to you, you’ll just have to plan a visit to Cincinnati and we’ll make some for you. In August we enjoyed going to an outdoor big band concert. William was quite the ham—dancing and generally performing for those sitting around us. We also enjoyed our first trip to the Louisville temple about 90 minutes away. Labor Day weekend we had our first out-of-town visitors to our new home here. Emily’s sister Adrienne and her family stayed overnight, and we had a nice—but too short—visit. William had a blast with his five cousins. A few weeks ago, Emily and William were surprised to see three deer in our front yard. Emily ran to get the camera, but they were gone when she returned. After she put the camera away, she and William saw the three again with a fourth as they walked through our back yard. It is not unusual for us to see deer in our backyard, but if we happen to miss it, our neighbors are always sure to give us the “deer sighting report”.

David and Emily were finally given callings in our ward. David is an Elders Quorum instructor, teaching basically every time he is able to attend church. He and Emily were both assigned to serve on the activities committee. This is a calling neither of us has ever had. Our first activity to help with was an indoor “picnic and drive-in movie”.

It seems strange that we had to leave Texas to be affected by a hurricane, but that is what happened. Hurricane Ike moved up towards Ohio and collided with a cold front, causing an unusual dry windstorm for a couple hours. Cincinnati has so many trees and many were blown down, knocking down many power lines. 90% of the metropolitan area—over 500,000 homes—were left without power. We felt fortunate to only be without power for 3 ½ days, instead of up to eight like a few of our friends. We also feel blessed that the weather was so pleasant during that time, and that our freezer was so full, minimizing the loss of food. We felt like we were camping in our own home, going around with flashlights and candles, or even just sitting in the dark talking at night. We survived, but are very grateful for our electricity! We’re also grateful we don’t live in an area where hurricanes are more likely.

William now knows all of his letters and the sound they make. He is a very determined, strong-willed boy, who also has some sensitivity. William continues to be a very cheerful boy in general. He also is a jokester—really making us laugh with some of the things he says. For example, when asked why he is so silly, he responded, “’Cause I’m just 2.” William loves to “help” David with projects around the house and read dinosaur books with him. He also enjoys helping Emily cook/bake, sweep, mop, and vacuum. He wants to be involved in whatever he can.












We are very grateful that David has been unofficially labeled a “white-cloud” intern, meaning he doesn’t get a lot of difficult patients, and gets the ones he does have well enough to go home in a timely fashion. Ultimately that means he is home a lot more than he would otherwise be. He is really enjoying his work, and doing very well. He finished a month at the VA hospital’s ICU, then a month at University (of Cincinnati) Hospital’s gastrointestinal specialty service. David is really good to make time for Emily and William whenever he is home.

We are looking forward to the LDS General Conference this weekend, and hope you are doing well.

Love,
David, Emily, and William