Our little horse
Sunday, November 02, 2008
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
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
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
Monday, September 22, 2008
Some fun pictures
Having fun on one of our many trips to Home Depot
Silly Willy (no, we never call him Willy)
Silly Willy (no, we never call him Willy)
Sunday, July 27, 2008
WKRP in Cincinnati!
Dear family and friends,
Maybe we could say WKRP stands for “We Know Real People” in Cincinnati now. Since we last wrote, we have successfully moved all of our belongings to Cincinnati, OH, where David is now gainfully employed at the University of Cincinnati Hospital as a neurology resident. We felt very blessed to have sold our home swiftly, and for not much less than we had originally hoped for, given the market situation. In May we went on a house-hunting trip to Cincinnati, and were able to find a home, negotiate a contract, and get it inspected in 4 days. We returned to Dallas to enjoy David’s graduation from medical school May 31st. Much of David’s family was there for the occasion, and Emily’s parents were able to come down as well. After the festivities, we packed everything up and left Irving June 7th. We closed on our new home June 10th, and David began his orientation June 16th, so there wasn’t too much time to get settled before things got busy again. Then we managed to get away to Nauvoo, Illinois for the family reunion of the Miller family for a few days. We had a great time visiting with family and seeing the LDS historic sites there. David's first two weeks of residency were night float, followed by two weeks of emergency department. To “celebrate” having finished his first month of residency, David ripped out our master shower. Now we need to figure out what to do about replacing it!
We are excited to be expecting our 3rd child on January 7th, and Emily is relieved that the morning sickness is mostly over. She and William ventured out to a blackberry field in northern Kentucky (about 45 minutes away), and managed to pick 16 pounds of blackberries! William was a great help, and we had a fun time. Emily made 5 batches of freezer jam, and we froze the rest of the blackberries to enjoy other ways.
William can now count to 20 (almost), knows his colors really well, knows almost all the alphabet (not by sight), and is making progress on potty training. William’s two latest obsessions are tools of all kinds and blocks. He also recently got a tricycle from his Great Grandpa Clark, which he enjoys trying to figure out, and was given an old toy lawn mower by our neighbor, which was an instant hit. He also enjoys playing in a sandbox we put together for him. Since we’ve moved to Cincinnati, he has figured out how to open doors with child locks, so we have had to be more creative in keeping him out of certain places.
David has been thrown right into the medical care arena. He did about 18 days of night float, where he admitted all the patients after 8pm and before 6am. This got him into a rhythm very quickly, and he has cared for those with alcoholic withdrawal to pulmonary hypertension to heart/kidney/liver failure. Every third night he took cross-cover calls, where he took care of everyone else’s patients after they went home. David figured he was responsible for over 100 patients on these nights. Next he worked two weeks in the ER, where he sewed up a knee, casted a broken arm, drained a three-inch boil, and lost count of the gynecological exams he performed, among many other things. His most unpleasant patient was a lady who had not been able to have a bowel movement in seven days. He spent six hours trying to chemically and digitally dysimpact her. The wildest patient was a man who shot up with some “bad” heroin and went into respiratory arrest, after which his drug-buddies did CPR on him for more than 20 minutes before he came back. He was embarrassed about it, and though he was sick, he didn’t come to the ER until three days later. When David saw him, he had anoxic injury to his brain and was in kidney failure in addition to having had cardiac damage. David has just started his next rotation in the VA medical intensive care unit.
We miss all of our Texas friends and family, but are enjoying this beautiful city and cooler weather. If any of you are ever in the area, we would love to have you come for a visit!
Love,
David, Emily, and William
Maybe we could say WKRP stands for “We Know Real People” in Cincinnati now. Since we last wrote, we have successfully moved all of our belongings to Cincinnati, OH, where David is now gainfully employed at the University of Cincinnati Hospital as a neurology resident. We felt very blessed to have sold our home swiftly, and for not much less than we had originally hoped for, given the market situation. In May we went on a house-hunting trip to Cincinnati, and were able to find a home, negotiate a contract, and get it inspected in 4 days. We returned to Dallas to enjoy David’s graduation from medical school May 31st. Much of David’s family was there for the occasion, and Emily’s parents were able to come down as well. After the festivities, we packed everything up and left Irving June 7th. We closed on our new home June 10th, and David began his orientation June 16th, so there wasn’t too much time to get settled before things got busy again. Then we managed to get away to Nauvoo, Illinois for the family reunion of the Miller family for a few days. We had a great time visiting with family and seeing the LDS historic sites there. David's first two weeks of residency were night float, followed by two weeks of emergency department. To “celebrate” having finished his first month of residency, David ripped out our master shower. Now we need to figure out what to do about replacing it!
We are excited to be expecting our 3rd child on January 7th, and Emily is relieved that the morning sickness is mostly over. She and William ventured out to a blackberry field in northern Kentucky (about 45 minutes away), and managed to pick 16 pounds of blackberries! William was a great help, and we had a fun time. Emily made 5 batches of freezer jam, and we froze the rest of the blackberries to enjoy other ways.
William can now count to 20 (almost), knows his colors really well, knows almost all the alphabet (not by sight), and is making progress on potty training. William’s two latest obsessions are tools of all kinds and blocks. He also recently got a tricycle from his Great Grandpa Clark, which he enjoys trying to figure out, and was given an old toy lawn mower by our neighbor, which was an instant hit. He also enjoys playing in a sandbox we put together for him. Since we’ve moved to Cincinnati, he has figured out how to open doors with child locks, so we have had to be more creative in keeping him out of certain places.
David has been thrown right into the medical care arena. He did about 18 days of night float, where he admitted all the patients after 8pm and before 6am. This got him into a rhythm very quickly, and he has cared for those with alcoholic withdrawal to pulmonary hypertension to heart/kidney/liver failure. Every third night he took cross-cover calls, where he took care of everyone else’s patients after they went home. David figured he was responsible for over 100 patients on these nights. Next he worked two weeks in the ER, where he sewed up a knee, casted a broken arm, drained a three-inch boil, and lost count of the gynecological exams he performed, among many other things. His most unpleasant patient was a lady who had not been able to have a bowel movement in seven days. He spent six hours trying to chemically and digitally dysimpact her. The wildest patient was a man who shot up with some “bad” heroin and went into respiratory arrest, after which his drug-buddies did CPR on him for more than 20 minutes before he came back. He was embarrassed about it, and though he was sick, he didn’t come to the ER until three days later. When David saw him, he had anoxic injury to his brain and was in kidney failure in addition to having had cardiac damage. David has just started his next rotation in the VA medical intensive care unit.
We miss all of our Texas friends and family, but are enjoying this beautiful city and cooler weather. If any of you are ever in the area, we would love to have you come for a visit!
Love,
David, Emily, and William
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Spring Has Sprung
Dear family and friends,
We’ve had a few developments in the last few weeks that we would like to share. First of all, March 20 we found out that David matched with the University of Cincinnati neurology program! We put our house on the market the next day, and are gradually figuring out options for our new home. We will likely make a trip to Cincinnati to look at houses in May, and hope to be moved-in by mid-June.
David has been on his final spring break the last two weeks, and we have tried to make the most of our remaining time in Texas. We’ve taken William to the Dallas Arboretum and the World Aquarium (see photos), and visited David’s Grandma Evins and Grandpa Clark. While visiting Grandma Evins, we saw the Azalea Trail and rose gardens in Tyler, and while in College Station with Grandpa Clark, we saw the Texas A&M Campus, the George Bush Presidential Library, and went on a tour of the Blue Bell Ice Cream factory. We also got to visit with David’s brother Matt, who lives with Grandpa.
When we returned home, we celebrated William’s 2nd birthday with David’s parents and sister Lisa. His cake was decorated with a vacuum cleaner, since it remains his obsession.
William is now learning colors and making baby steps in counting and recognizing letters. His physical activity continues to increase! It is a challenge to keep him from jumping on the couch and spitting out his food, among other forms of mischief. The week before we put our house on the market, William decided to help with our home repairs with his wood hammer. Before we could intervene, he had shattered a pane in his bedroom window. We are still enamored with him and really enjoying our little 2-year-old.
Love,
David, Emily, and William
We’ve had a few developments in the last few weeks that we would like to share. First of all, March 20 we found out that David matched with the University of Cincinnati neurology program! We put our house on the market the next day, and are gradually figuring out options for our new home. We will likely make a trip to Cincinnati to look at houses in May, and hope to be moved-in by mid-June.
David has been on his final spring break the last two weeks, and we have tried to make the most of our remaining time in Texas. We’ve taken William to the Dallas Arboretum and the World Aquarium (see photos), and visited David’s Grandma Evins and Grandpa Clark. While visiting Grandma Evins, we saw the Azalea Trail and rose gardens in Tyler, and while in College Station with Grandpa Clark, we saw the Texas A&M Campus, the George Bush Presidential Library, and went on a tour of the Blue Bell Ice Cream factory. We also got to visit with David’s brother Matt, who lives with Grandpa.
When we returned home, we celebrated William’s 2nd birthday with David’s parents and sister Lisa. His cake was decorated with a vacuum cleaner, since it remains his obsession.
William is now learning colors and making baby steps in counting and recognizing letters. His physical activity continues to increase! It is a challenge to keep him from jumping on the couch and spitting out his food, among other forms of mischief. The week before we put our house on the market, William decided to help with our home repairs with his wood hammer. Before we could intervene, he had shattered a pane in his bedroom window. We are still enamored with him and really enjoying our little 2-year-old.
Love,
David, Emily, and William
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Winter Whassup
It has been a long time since we last wrote. On September 21 our son Aaron David Clark was miraculously born and tarried with us for a few hours before passing away. Though we were saddened at his passing, we had much relief that he had a peaceful life without pain or suffering. We are grateful all four of our parents could be there to meet their grandson. We had a brief graveside service for him on September 24, which was attended by our parents, Grandpa Clark, David’s sisters, and Emily’s brother Nigel. We feel very blessed to have had so much love, support, faith, and prayers from so many of you.
In October we made the rounds in Texas to visit David’s Grandma Evins and Grandpa Clark on the way to his second major board exam in Houston. After a brief stop at our home, we then drove up to Rochester, Minnesota for David’s 4-week rotation in neurology at the Mayo Clinic. Emily’s sister and family live in town and were gracious enough to put us up in their basement for the month. This was an excellent experience for David career-wise, and the whole family enjoyed the visit with family as well as the different weather. We raked quite a few leaves and also saw some snow, and William went trick-or-treating for the first time. After a few houses, he got the routine down and was knocking on the door. We spent a few days in Kansas City around Thanksgiving visiting Emily’s parents in their new home, along with Emily’s two sisters and their families. It was fun to be together.
David interviewed for neurology residency from November to January, going to Rochester, Atlanta, St. Louis, Nashville, Iowa City, and Cincinnati. We will find out March 20 where we will go. He had most of January off, and is in the middle of a Radiology rotation right now, which is rather light. We have really enjoyed having David around so much more the past few months.
At the end of December David’s sister Melanie moved to Lubbock, Texas to start a new job at Texas Tech in its architectural library. She has been happy to finally be on her own after earning her master’s degree.
Early in January we were happy to welcome David’s brother Matthew back from his mission in Bolivia. It was fun for William to meet him for the first time. Matthew began his semester at Texas A&M the very next Monday, and is doing well.
William has made many new developments the last several months. He now climbs all over, shakes his head “no”, opens doors, eats with a fork/spoon, does somersaults, and is learning new words every day. William can now say his name quite well, and has started putting two words together. Just today he learned how to give us kisses, just in time for Valentine’s Day! He also loves to give us hugs, but he is 100% boy—being into cars, trucks, trains, blocks, destroying things, running and jumping, and playing outside.
Emily’s favorite recent incident happened last week when she left the kitchen for a couple minutes. She returned to find William sitting in a chair, shaking chili powder (that she had left on the kitchen counter) into a bowl. When he saw her, he said, “Happing! Happing! [Helping]”. He really is a good little helper—loving to sweep, vacuum, put his shoes and clothes away, and put his dishes in the dishwasher.
We had a big scare this week when we found he was missing from the backyard. After an eternal three minutes of sheer terror and a 911 call, Emily discovered him in the car. He had gotten in, closed the door, and started playing with the CDs. We didn’t even know he could open the car door on his own.
In anticipation of moving, we have taken on some home improvement/remodeling projects, including resurfacing and painting our bathroom, installing a new toilet, repairing the backyard fence, and painting several other rooms.
We were saddened to learn of the passing of our dear prophet, President Gordon B. Hinckley, but were happy to sustain President Thomas S. Monson as the new president of our Church today in our Stake conference.
We hope you are all doing well.
Love,
David, Emily, and William
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Summer 2007
Dear family and friends,
It has been a long while since we wrote everyone. David survived his 12-week-long internal medicine rotation, studying very diligently and working very hard the whole time. He has now begun his neurology rotation, which he has really looked forward to since that is what he would like to go into. David even got to do a spinal tap on his first day. He still manages to spend some good time with Emily and William, help with the Young Men, and help out some around the house. David and Emily enjoyed celebrating their 2nd wedding anniversary by eating out at a Brazilian churrascuria (did we get that right, Clark?) restaurant.
William is now 15 months old. He walks faster and faster, but is not quite running yet. His latest tricks are walking backwards and spinning in circles. William jabbers constantly, and has made some decent attempts at words, but does not seem to like to continue using them, except for “Daddy”. His understanding is definitely increasing, though, and he loves to have books read to him. He can also point to his toes, ears, and hair when asked. We really enjoy watching him discover and learn.
William is also our little beaver. We discovered that he gnawed all along the top of his crib rail. Now we know the purpose of crib rail guards! Too bad our crib didn’t come with one. He enjoys chewing on his fingers and other sundry things as well, but hasn’t gotten any new teeth lately. Sometimes we feel like we live in a high security area, having to close one door before we can enter another, to ensure that William won’t get into the most “dangerous” parts of the house. He loves to reach up and get into anything he can find. We’re often amazed at what he can reach. Lately we have lost some things, only to find them later where William has taken them. We’ve also discovered that he loves to put things, including some of his toys, in the trashcan. Recently he started holding the phone up to his ear as if he’s talking on the phone. He is a great help around the house—he actually helps Emily with the laundry and with collecting the trash from around the house. William loves the vacuum, broom, dishwasher, and motorized drills. Whenever he hears anyone clapping or laughing (even on the radio), he joins in excitedly. One of his favorite things is to be chased by his daddy, and he is also very affectionate and loves to give us hugs (especially when he wants to try our food).
Emily has kept busy chasing after William and cleaning up his messes. One week in June she helped carpool her Cub Scouts to and from their day camp, and even went one half day to help her den there. Emily especially enjoyed the archery part, during which she got to shoot 10 arrows. One of the men was giving her a few pointers before she started, then was shocked when she got a direct bull’s eye on her very first shot! The other 9 weren’t bad either. Emily brought William to the family lunch on Friday, and even though they only stayed about one hour, poor William got 16 mosquito bites on his little legs.
Emily got a new calling today to be the 1st counselor in the Relief Society Presidency. She is excited about the new assignment, but will miss working with the Cub Scouts. She enjoyed taking William to the Irving parade on the 4th of July while David was studying. William even caught some candy (it landed in his stroller).
For any who may not know, we are expecting another baby boy in September. Ten weeks ago we had a sonogram which revealed our little boy is not developing properly. His brain has developed almost completely outside of his head in a sac called an encephalocele, and is expected to live a few days at the most. This was quite a shock to us, but thanks to the prayers and fasting of many family and friends, we feel peaceful that this is Heavenly Father’s will for us and for our son. We chose the name Aaron David Clark. Since that sonogram, we’ve had some meetings with specialists to get some direction and a better understanding of what to expect. We will be delivering at a different hospital that can handle Aaron better, and have also had to change obstetricians. We realize even more what a miracle all births are, and are especially grateful for William.
We hope this letter finds you well and happy.
Love, David, Emily, and William
It has been a long while since we wrote everyone. David survived his 12-week-long internal medicine rotation, studying very diligently and working very hard the whole time. He has now begun his neurology rotation, which he has really looked forward to since that is what he would like to go into. David even got to do a spinal tap on his first day. He still manages to spend some good time with Emily and William, help with the Young Men, and help out some around the house. David and Emily enjoyed celebrating their 2nd wedding anniversary by eating out at a Brazilian churrascuria (did we get that right, Clark?) restaurant.
William is now 15 months old. He walks faster and faster, but is not quite running yet. His latest tricks are walking backwards and spinning in circles. William jabbers constantly, and has made some decent attempts at words, but does not seem to like to continue using them, except for “Daddy”. His understanding is definitely increasing, though, and he loves to have books read to him. He can also point to his toes, ears, and hair when asked. We really enjoy watching him discover and learn.
William is also our little beaver. We discovered that he gnawed all along the top of his crib rail. Now we know the purpose of crib rail guards! Too bad our crib didn’t come with one. He enjoys chewing on his fingers and other sundry things as well, but hasn’t gotten any new teeth lately. Sometimes we feel like we live in a high security area, having to close one door before we can enter another, to ensure that William won’t get into the most “dangerous” parts of the house. He loves to reach up and get into anything he can find. We’re often amazed at what he can reach. Lately we have lost some things, only to find them later where William has taken them. We’ve also discovered that he loves to put things, including some of his toys, in the trashcan. Recently he started holding the phone up to his ear as if he’s talking on the phone. He is a great help around the house—he actually helps Emily with the laundry and with collecting the trash from around the house. William loves the vacuum, broom, dishwasher, and motorized drills. Whenever he hears anyone clapping or laughing (even on the radio), he joins in excitedly. One of his favorite things is to be chased by his daddy, and he is also very affectionate and loves to give us hugs (especially when he wants to try our food).
Emily has kept busy chasing after William and cleaning up his messes. One week in June she helped carpool her Cub Scouts to and from their day camp, and even went one half day to help her den there. Emily especially enjoyed the archery part, during which she got to shoot 10 arrows. One of the men was giving her a few pointers before she started, then was shocked when she got a direct bull’s eye on her very first shot! The other 9 weren’t bad either. Emily brought William to the family lunch on Friday, and even though they only stayed about one hour, poor William got 16 mosquito bites on his little legs.
Emily got a new calling today to be the 1st counselor in the Relief Society Presidency. She is excited about the new assignment, but will miss working with the Cub Scouts. She enjoyed taking William to the Irving parade on the 4th of July while David was studying. William even caught some candy (it landed in his stroller).
For any who may not know, we are expecting another baby boy in September. Ten weeks ago we had a sonogram which revealed our little boy is not developing properly. His brain has developed almost completely outside of his head in a sac called an encephalocele, and is expected to live a few days at the most. This was quite a shock to us, but thanks to the prayers and fasting of many family and friends, we feel peaceful that this is Heavenly Father’s will for us and for our son. We chose the name Aaron David Clark. Since that sonogram, we’ve had some meetings with specialists to get some direction and a better understanding of what to expect. We will be delivering at a different hospital that can handle Aaron better, and have also had to change obstetricians. We realize even more what a miracle all births are, and are especially grateful for William.
We hope this letter finds you well and happy.
Love, David, Emily, and William
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Spring is here
Dear family,
We’ve enjoyed a nice spring this year. David finished his obstetrics/gynecology clerkship having been directly involved with 25+ deliveries at the county hospital. We then all enjoyed a good two-week spring break visiting Mom and Dad Miller in Kansas and college friends in Oklahoma on the way home. We posted some great photos we took at the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens and in a field of bluebonnets on the side of a road near our house on our photo site. We also did a little spring-cleaning and yard work.
William is constantly increasing his keep-ahead-of-mom-and-dad skills. Though he is continuing to walk with us holding his hand and along furniture, when he really wants to get from place to place, he switches to his turbo-crawl. He is also starting to mimic what we say and realize that words mean things. We had a little birthday celebration for William with much of the Clark family here in the area. He enjoyed tearing open his presents and had cake for the first time.
David has started looking more seriously into neurology as a specialty, and is encouraged the more he finds out. Last week he met with the director of the UT Southwestern neurology residency program, and felt right “at home” in talking to him. Though we doubt we will stay here for residency, the director did guarantee him an interview.
Beside all this, David is staying busy with his 12-week internal medicine clerkship, Emily is busy with her Cub Scouts and violin student, and William is just busy.
Love,
David, Emily, and William
We’ve enjoyed a nice spring this year. David finished his obstetrics/gynecology clerkship having been directly involved with 25+ deliveries at the county hospital. We then all enjoyed a good two-week spring break visiting Mom and Dad Miller in Kansas and college friends in Oklahoma on the way home. We posted some great photos we took at the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens and in a field of bluebonnets on the side of a road near our house on our photo site. We also did a little spring-cleaning and yard work.
William is constantly increasing his keep-ahead-of-mom-and-dad skills. Though he is continuing to walk with us holding his hand and along furniture, when he really wants to get from place to place, he switches to his turbo-crawl. He is also starting to mimic what we say and realize that words mean things. We had a little birthday celebration for William with much of the Clark family here in the area. He enjoyed tearing open his presents and had cake for the first time.
David has started looking more seriously into neurology as a specialty, and is encouraged the more he finds out. Last week he met with the director of the UT Southwestern neurology residency program, and felt right “at home” in talking to him. Though we doubt we will stay here for residency, the director did guarantee him an interview.
Beside all this, David is staying busy with his 12-week internal medicine clerkship, Emily is busy with her Cub Scouts and violin student, and William is just busy.
Love,
David, Emily, and William
Sunday, February 04, 2007
The new year
Dear family,
A lot has happened since we last wrote. We enjoyed Thanksgiving with the David’s parents nearby in Fort Worth. It was especially nice for David to have the weekend off from the 90 hours surgery weeks! (Yes, 90 hours.) During his two-week Christmas break, we saw a couple movies and enjoyed our first Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with our little family in our home in Irving. For the remainder of Christmas Day we joined David’s parents and saw Chad and Melissa Kidder, a college friend of David’s and a former roommate of Emily’s who happened to have gotten married before we met. A few days later we drove to Tennessee to visit the Fullmers, who graciously entertained us by taking us to the zoo and showing movies in their new home theater.
We hope 2007 is off to a good start for each of you. Having survived the 8-week Surgery rotation at the end of 2006, David has nearly completed the 6-week Psychology rotation. Most of it has been spent in the adolescent clinic at Children’s Medical Center seeing patients with eating disorders. One perk of this rotation is that he gets to eat free meals with the patients every day, and he often comes home not hungry, much to Emily’s chagrin. David keeps busy between school working with the Aaronic Priesthood/Scouts, playing with William, working on his novel and music, and spending time with Emily.
William, now 10 months, has had the most changes since we last wrote. In addition to having two bottom teeth, he now crawls, waves, claps, and climbs all over. He is even cruising around the furniture and pushing his new walker/car all the way down the hallway. William has become very social—smiling at all of the strangers in the stores and at church. He now eats three meals a day and is growing like a weed.
Emily manages to hold down the fort. She still teaches her one violin student and has her weekly Cub Scout Den meetings. She is excited that one of her Cubs recently advanced to Bear. Early in January, Emily joined all her siblings in Kansas City to surprise her dad for his 60th birthday. They had prepared a special book of memories for him and really enjoyed being all together again.
That’s about it for us. We hope you are doing well.
Love,
David, Emily, and William
A lot has happened since we last wrote. We enjoyed Thanksgiving with the David’s parents nearby in Fort Worth. It was especially nice for David to have the weekend off from the 90 hours surgery weeks! (Yes, 90 hours.) During his two-week Christmas break, we saw a couple movies and enjoyed our first Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with our little family in our home in Irving. For the remainder of Christmas Day we joined David’s parents and saw Chad and Melissa Kidder, a college friend of David’s and a former roommate of Emily’s who happened to have gotten married before we met. A few days later we drove to Tennessee to visit the Fullmers, who graciously entertained us by taking us to the zoo and showing movies in their new home theater.
We hope 2007 is off to a good start for each of you. Having survived the 8-week Surgery rotation at the end of 2006, David has nearly completed the 6-week Psychology rotation. Most of it has been spent in the adolescent clinic at Children’s Medical Center seeing patients with eating disorders. One perk of this rotation is that he gets to eat free meals with the patients every day, and he often comes home not hungry, much to Emily’s chagrin. David keeps busy between school working with the Aaronic Priesthood/Scouts, playing with William, working on his novel and music, and spending time with Emily.
William, now 10 months, has had the most changes since we last wrote. In addition to having two bottom teeth, he now crawls, waves, claps, and climbs all over. He is even cruising around the furniture and pushing his new walker/car all the way down the hallway. William has become very social—smiling at all of the strangers in the stores and at church. He now eats three meals a day and is growing like a weed.
Emily manages to hold down the fort. She still teaches her one violin student and has her weekly Cub Scout Den meetings. She is excited that one of her Cubs recently advanced to Bear. Early in January, Emily joined all her siblings in Kansas City to surprise her dad for his 60th birthday. They had prepared a special book of memories for him and really enjoyed being all together again.
That’s about it for us. We hope you are doing well.
Love,
David, Emily, and William
Sunday, October 22, 2006
Fall
Dear family and friends,
We are so happy to be in October and officially into fall! Fall is Emily’s favorite season—she just wishes the leaves would change color here. David says they always do here too, yet she still goes through leaf withdrawals.
Since the last time we wrote, David has finished four weeks of Family Practice as well as eight weeks of Pediatrics. He tries very hard to balance school, his family, and his calling. According to Emily, David never complains about his schedule or responsibilities, and is very good about making time to play with William and spend time with her. She’s not sure how he manages so well, except that he is being blessed. He is really enjoying getting to directly apply all that he’s been studying the last two years.
William is now six months old! He is able to sit up on his own, which has opened up a whole new world for him. He seems to enjoy the new perspective. He does quite a few “push-ups” throughout the day, and often rolls over and back and forth, but is not yet to crawling. We suppose we need a little more time before he gets into everything. His latest trick is to make himself fall back from a sitting position and bounce on our bed. We love to watch him so excited. At five months he started eating baby cereal, and immediately loved it. William also loves his peas, carrots, green beans, pumpkin, and squash. He has also been experimenting with a few consonant sounds, including “ba”, “ga” and “da”.
After weeks of Emily shopping around, we finally settled on some curtains for our living room and kitchen to replace the ancient hand-me-downs that came with the house. Trying to find curtains that match our particular furniture and room color schemes, while trying to be economical, turned out to be a formidable challenge. Attempting to enlist David’s opinions on the matter was, by his own affirmation, futile, so Emily made the choice herself.
One of Emily’s Cub Scouts keeps her smiling; he stumped her at 20 Questions because she couldn’t come up with the planet Zena (the hotly debated tenth planet). How many of you could have gotten that? The next week when they were talking about prayer, he sincerely suggested we thank Father in Heaven that we are the third planet from the sun, and not the second or fourth. (We would burn up on Venus and freeze on Mars, of course!) He’s a smart 8-year-old!
Emily started teaching violin lessons to a beginner 6-year-old girl named Kylie, and they are off to a good start. We were a little concerned about William interrupting the lessons at first, but things have worked out great so far. Kylie’s parents have been pleased.
Emily has also really enjoyed some more crafty activities lately. After some experimentation, she finally figured out the trick to making homemade baby food with our food processor, which she finds very fun now. She recently enjoyed attending an enrichment class taught by a lady in the ward who makes cutout sugar cookies professionally, and looks forward to trying out some of her tricks. In addition, after about a year of making ice cream with mixed results, we’ve figured out the right factors to making it great. We are currently enjoying some very strawberry-y ice cream. The other day we had David’s family over, and his Dad thought it was store-bought.
We have started trading baby-sitting with two young couples in our ward so that we all can have regular nights out with our spouses. So far it has been a cinch: everyone's baby goes to bed without fuss around 7:00, so even when its our turn to baby-sit, we get the evening to ourselves.
Recently we enjoyed going out to an upscale steak place called Smith & Wollensky thanks to a gift card Emily’s boss gave us when Emily quit work and a special they have where you “pay your age” after 9:00 p.m. for an appetizer, entrée, and dessert. We estimated that it was normally a $150 meal! We were very impressed by the quality of the food and the service. They had great steak and HUGE slices of out-of-this-world 5-layer cake. It took us the next 3 days to finish our slices! It was a very memorable experience for us.
Yesterday, David surprised Emily with tickets to a Dallas Symphony performance. They performed Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto, Borodin's Polovtsian Dances (with full choir), and some contemporary atonal piece that we didn't like very much. The contemporary piece had a misguided attempt at light choreography during the purformance that left us underwhelmed. The night overall was very fun. We even chatted with an artist who was displaying some of his paintings in the symphony hall lobby.
That’s about it for us right now. We hope things are going well for you!
Love, David, Emily, and William
We are so happy to be in October and officially into fall! Fall is Emily’s favorite season—she just wishes the leaves would change color here. David says they always do here too, yet she still goes through leaf withdrawals.
Since the last time we wrote, David has finished four weeks of Family Practice as well as eight weeks of Pediatrics. He tries very hard to balance school, his family, and his calling. According to Emily, David never complains about his schedule or responsibilities, and is very good about making time to play with William and spend time with her. She’s not sure how he manages so well, except that he is being blessed. He is really enjoying getting to directly apply all that he’s been studying the last two years.
William is now six months old! He is able to sit up on his own, which has opened up a whole new world for him. He seems to enjoy the new perspective. He does quite a few “push-ups” throughout the day, and often rolls over and back and forth, but is not yet to crawling. We suppose we need a little more time before he gets into everything. His latest trick is to make himself fall back from a sitting position and bounce on our bed. We love to watch him so excited. At five months he started eating baby cereal, and immediately loved it. William also loves his peas, carrots, green beans, pumpkin, and squash. He has also been experimenting with a few consonant sounds, including “ba”, “ga” and “da”.
After weeks of Emily shopping around, we finally settled on some curtains for our living room and kitchen to replace the ancient hand-me-downs that came with the house. Trying to find curtains that match our particular furniture and room color schemes, while trying to be economical, turned out to be a formidable challenge. Attempting to enlist David’s opinions on the matter was, by his own affirmation, futile, so Emily made the choice herself.
One of Emily’s Cub Scouts keeps her smiling; he stumped her at 20 Questions because she couldn’t come up with the planet Zena (the hotly debated tenth planet). How many of you could have gotten that? The next week when they were talking about prayer, he sincerely suggested we thank Father in Heaven that we are the third planet from the sun, and not the second or fourth. (We would burn up on Venus and freeze on Mars, of course!) He’s a smart 8-year-old!
Emily started teaching violin lessons to a beginner 6-year-old girl named Kylie, and they are off to a good start. We were a little concerned about William interrupting the lessons at first, but things have worked out great so far. Kylie’s parents have been pleased.
Emily has also really enjoyed some more crafty activities lately. After some experimentation, she finally figured out the trick to making homemade baby food with our food processor, which she finds very fun now. She recently enjoyed attending an enrichment class taught by a lady in the ward who makes cutout sugar cookies professionally, and looks forward to trying out some of her tricks. In addition, after about a year of making ice cream with mixed results, we’ve figured out the right factors to making it great. We are currently enjoying some very strawberry-y ice cream. The other day we had David’s family over, and his Dad thought it was store-bought.
We have started trading baby-sitting with two young couples in our ward so that we all can have regular nights out with our spouses. So far it has been a cinch: everyone's baby goes to bed without fuss around 7:00, so even when its our turn to baby-sit, we get the evening to ourselves.
Recently we enjoyed going out to an upscale steak place called Smith & Wollensky thanks to a gift card Emily’s boss gave us when Emily quit work and a special they have where you “pay your age” after 9:00 p.m. for an appetizer, entrée, and dessert. We estimated that it was normally a $150 meal! We were very impressed by the quality of the food and the service. They had great steak and HUGE slices of out-of-this-world 5-layer cake. It took us the next 3 days to finish our slices! It was a very memorable experience for us.
Yesterday, David surprised Emily with tickets to a Dallas Symphony performance. They performed Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto, Borodin's Polovtsian Dances (with full choir), and some contemporary atonal piece that we didn't like very much. The contemporary piece had a misguided attempt at light choreography during the purformance that left us underwhelmed. The night overall was very fun. We even chatted with an artist who was displaying some of his paintings in the symphony hall lobby.
That’s about it for us right now. We hope things are going well for you!
Love, David, Emily, and William
Sunday, August 06, 2006
Summer 2006
Dear family and friends,
We’ve passed several milestones, and have had many exciting things happen the last two months. On the “business” side of the family, David finally took his STEP 1 board exam on June 30th after studying 8-10 hours per day, six days a week for six weeks. This is the exam of most consequence to his medical career, so he wanted to do well, needless to say. The time he put in sounds formidable, but he took plenty of occasions to relax and spend time with Emily and William all the while. The Lord blessed him, and this week he received his results, and he was very pleased with how well he did. In August he will start his 3rd year Family Practice clerkship, followed by Pediatrics, and Surgery, which will end in December. David is excited to be finally advancing to his clinical years.
William has advanced much since we last wrote. Besides getting bigger and more social, he has started reaching for and grasping things. Our first experience with this was discovering a small piece of sausage in his hands that he grabbed from Emily’s dinner plate while on the way to the Grand Canyon. Since that time he has enjoyed playing fetch with Mom and Dad by plucking his pacifier from his own mouth, extending his arm outward, and letting it drop to the floor. Sometimes he even gets a good throw. We are constantly amazed at how far the pacifier can go. In Emily’s estimation, William’s biggest accomplishment over the last couple months was learning to fall asleep on his own (with or without minimal crying). She has been waiting for that for a long time!
Since David could not take off less than a full month for the Miller family reunion, we decided to make the most of it. Emily, for the most part, planned a full and rather ambitious vacation for us that lasted sixteen days. We also took three days to paint our bedroom and living room, and David took a few more days to prune the long-neglected trees in our yard. The yard looks better and better ever time he works out there. We also managed to see a couple movies.
For our vacation, we started by camping at both the Grand Canyon and Bryce Canyon, and spending an afternoon at Zion National Park. William seemed to really love the scenery, especially the first day at the Grand Canyon. I’m sure he will treasure those memories forever. People seemed to enjoy seeing such a little baby at these sites. We all had a great time. We have some photos here.
For the Miller reunion, we spent one week at Aspen Grove in Provo Canyon. There we stayed in “rustic” cabins (they seemed luxurious after camping in a tent!) and ate at a buffet-style cafeteria. Some of our activities included paint-balling, air rifle shooting, repelling, making pottery, hiking, climbing, and, did I mention, eating? We really enjoyed spending time with family. David got a chance to wear himself down on the slopes of Mount Timpanogos. He certainly now has an informed respect for his great-great grandfather, Frederick William Clark, who made the same hike from the bottom of the trail to Emerald Lake at age 80. To put it into perspective, he farmed and built houses and barns until he died, so outdoor activity was what he had always known.
We got a chance to spend an evening with two of David’s former mission companions and their families, and David had a great time catching up. As it turns out, all three of us have a two-to-three month-old child now. After the visit, David remarked how much he had changed since he first met these friends.
While in Utah, we enjoyed a good visit with Emily’s Grandma Miller and Grandma Priday. Emily and William also attended the Keith Miller reunion while David unfortunately was in bed, sick with the virus that had been passed around at Aspen Grove. David and Emily really enjoyed attending a session in the Salt Lake Temple, thanks to Mom and Dad Miller watching William. On Monday, July 24th, Mom, Dad, David, Emily, and William joined Creed and Heidi and their children for the Pioneer Day parade in Salt Lake City, followed by a great barbecue at Heidi’s parents’ home in Sandy. On our way home, we stopped for the night at Emily’s cousin Mandy and Bill Mannewitz’s home in Dalhart, Texas. We enjoyed visiting with them and their 5 children. Even though we had a great time on our trip, we were happy to get home and settled back in to life.
Love,
David, Emily, and little William
We’ve passed several milestones, and have had many exciting things happen the last two months. On the “business” side of the family, David finally took his STEP 1 board exam on June 30th after studying 8-10 hours per day, six days a week for six weeks. This is the exam of most consequence to his medical career, so he wanted to do well, needless to say. The time he put in sounds formidable, but he took plenty of occasions to relax and spend time with Emily and William all the while. The Lord blessed him, and this week he received his results, and he was very pleased with how well he did. In August he will start his 3rd year Family Practice clerkship, followed by Pediatrics, and Surgery, which will end in December. David is excited to be finally advancing to his clinical years.
William has advanced much since we last wrote. Besides getting bigger and more social, he has started reaching for and grasping things. Our first experience with this was discovering a small piece of sausage in his hands that he grabbed from Emily’s dinner plate while on the way to the Grand Canyon. Since that time he has enjoyed playing fetch with Mom and Dad by plucking his pacifier from his own mouth, extending his arm outward, and letting it drop to the floor. Sometimes he even gets a good throw. We are constantly amazed at how far the pacifier can go. In Emily’s estimation, William’s biggest accomplishment over the last couple months was learning to fall asleep on his own (with or without minimal crying). She has been waiting for that for a long time!
Since David could not take off less than a full month for the Miller family reunion, we decided to make the most of it. Emily, for the most part, planned a full and rather ambitious vacation for us that lasted sixteen days. We also took three days to paint our bedroom and living room, and David took a few more days to prune the long-neglected trees in our yard. The yard looks better and better ever time he works out there. We also managed to see a couple movies.
For our vacation, we started by camping at both the Grand Canyon and Bryce Canyon, and spending an afternoon at Zion National Park. William seemed to really love the scenery, especially the first day at the Grand Canyon. I’m sure he will treasure those memories forever. People seemed to enjoy seeing such a little baby at these sites. We all had a great time. We have some photos here.
For the Miller reunion, we spent one week at Aspen Grove in Provo Canyon. There we stayed in “rustic” cabins (they seemed luxurious after camping in a tent!) and ate at a buffet-style cafeteria. Some of our activities included paint-balling, air rifle shooting, repelling, making pottery, hiking, climbing, and, did I mention, eating? We really enjoyed spending time with family. David got a chance to wear himself down on the slopes of Mount Timpanogos. He certainly now has an informed respect for his great-great grandfather, Frederick William Clark, who made the same hike from the bottom of the trail to Emerald Lake at age 80. To put it into perspective, he farmed and built houses and barns until he died, so outdoor activity was what he had always known.
We got a chance to spend an evening with two of David’s former mission companions and their families, and David had a great time catching up. As it turns out, all three of us have a two-to-three month-old child now. After the visit, David remarked how much he had changed since he first met these friends.
While in Utah, we enjoyed a good visit with Emily’s Grandma Miller and Grandma Priday. Emily and William also attended the Keith Miller reunion while David unfortunately was in bed, sick with the virus that had been passed around at Aspen Grove. David and Emily really enjoyed attending a session in the Salt Lake Temple, thanks to Mom and Dad Miller watching William. On Monday, July 24th, Mom, Dad, David, Emily, and William joined Creed and Heidi and their children for the Pioneer Day parade in Salt Lake City, followed by a great barbecue at Heidi’s parents’ home in Sandy. On our way home, we stopped for the night at Emily’s cousin Mandy and Bill Mannewitz’s home in Dalhart, Texas. We enjoyed visiting with them and their 5 children. Even though we had a great time on our trip, we were happy to get home and settled back in to life.
Love,
David, Emily, and little William
Sunday, June 04, 2006
June Update
Dear family and friends,
It’s amazing how much your life can change in just a couple months! William was born 9 ½ weeks ago, and we are really enjoying him. ☺ It’s amazing how much you can love a little person! William is smiling and cooing a lot now. My favorite thing that William does is to raise and lower his eyebrows when he smiles at times. It’s very cute, but you’d have to see it to enjoy it. In the last few weeks he has begun sleeping through the night, though he doesn’t have that down flawlessly yet. One of William’s favorite things to do with his dad is “direct” marches, particularly the “Stars and Stripes Forever”. William is a determined little guy, having already rolled over at only 8 days old, though he does not do that routinely by any means. He can really push up with his legs now. William seems to take after his Uncle Creed, because he doesn’t sleep a whole lot. He is often very alert.
William was blessed in church by his dad on April 30th. We were glad that Grandpa Clark, David’s sisters, and all of our parents could be there for the occasion. It was especially nice of my parents to come all the way down for it. We are also very grateful to my mom for coming down the first week I was home from the hospital—she worked very hard and was a huge help!
For someone who enjoys being in control of her life, William is sure to teach me that I am no longer in control! Just when I think we may have a pattern down in his schedule (it only takes me one or two days to think that), the next day/night is totally different. He really keeps us on our toes, and we are very grateful for the swing someone passed on to us. I have read a couple books on getting babies to sleep and made the following conclusions: 1) there are no clear conclusions; and 2) getting babies to sleep is a big business (there are lots of “sleep experts” out there who get paid a lot!).
For Memorial Day weekend, we enjoyed visiting Grandpa Clark in College Station and Grandma Evins in Jacksonville, Texas. On Saturday Grandpa Clark took us to the Texas Rose Emporium. Then after church on Sunday, we enjoyed visiting Aaron and Julie Stuart (David’s cousin) in their new home, as well as Cory and Jeanene Toole (David’s college friend). We spent Monday with Grandma Evins visiting some of her family. Grandma also took us on a little tour of Gallatin, the small town where she grew up.
David finished his 2nd year of medical school May 7, completing the sections on pediatrics, geriatrics, and obstetrics. It has been really nice to have him home more, allowing him to play with and help with William more and help around the house even more than he was normally able. David has also put in MANY hours outside in our yard, cutting down trees, mowing and edging and cleaning up the lawn, removing bushes and major roots, and helping me plant flowers. He has worked so hard, and the yard looks so much better! David has also been busy with the Scouts in the ward, going on a campout, participating in the Dallas Scout show, and attending the weekly activities. In the last couple months, David has mastered the numbers puzzle Sudoku, but by his own admission spends way too much time on it. He is amazingly focused when he is working on these puzzles, and is very fast with them! Now that classes are over, he is preparing for the national board exam on June 30. David and I enjoyed attending a nice dinner at the dean’s home so she could get to know several students. In May we attended the ballet “Cinderella”. Recently Lisa and Melanie have each babysat William at different times. It was really nice to get out together, and to know that William was in such good hands. Thanks, Lisa and Melanie!
I have been making a major adjustment to my new job of being a full-time mother. I went into work for half a day this week to clear out my desk, turn in badges and keys, and have lunch with my boss. Although I have really enjoyed my job the last nearly 4 years, I am very grateful to be able to stay home with William. I love being a mom! The weeks are flying by. Last month I got a new calling as Cub Scout Den Leader, which will be in addition to my current calling of Relief Society teacher. I was caught off guard with my new calling, as I had not ever considered it, but I think I will really enjoy it. I have read the Wolf and Bear Cub handbooks, and the activities all look fun. For my first den meeting, I taught the boys about recycling and pollution and saving energy, so I felt badly when I realized I had nearly killed a tree in printing off things from the Internet to prepare for the meeting! A couple weeks ago we had a dinner group over to our home. I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to use a turkey we’d had in the freezer, but it probably wasn’t the greatest idea since it was 95 degrees outside! It’s a good thing Thanksgiving is in November!
Thanks to everyone for all of the nice things you have done for us with the arrival of William. We just wish we could live closer to all of you!
Love,
David, Emily, and little William
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Our baby was born!
Yesterday William Leland Clark was born at 1:44pm at 9lbs. 6oz. and 22 inches. I have a few more pictures up on our main website. We'll put out a more detailed account in a few days....
Sunday, March 19, 2006
The Game of Life
Dear family and friends,
I’ve decided lately that we’re full swing into the game of “Life.” Last summer David and I got married, bought our first home, and we are eagerly awaiting the birth of our first child. We’ll have the little blue peg added to our plastic car any day now. ☺ He’s due in two days, to be exact. In addition, we have been investigating life insurance and health insurance for after the baby is born. It’s kind of sobering to set a value to your own life and talk about what would happen if one of us died. The game of Life has also brought us some mishaps and events that have happened since we last wrote:
I have to brag on David a little for two things. First, he won the crunch contest the scouts had, doing 107 crunches in 2 minutes. And also, he found out after we wrote last that his research poster got “Honorable Mention” and a (small) cash award. David has been hard at work in school, completing the blocks on the renal system and neuromuscular systems, as well as attending the OB/GYN clinical training. The last two weeks he has been on spring break, but David has worked hard on various projects around the house, including putting together the portable crib and stroller for our baby, filling the numerous nail holes in our walls with putty, giving the yard a good overhaul, cleaning the vents, and buying the mattress for our crib. He has also enjoyed a chance to work on the novel he is writing. David remains very driven with this project! His calling of Deacons’ quorum advisor has recently been morphed more to Assistant Scoutmaster. He dove right in and seems to enjoy working with the fired-up Scoutmaster. David enjoyed a campout a couple weeks ago with the boys, and attended the Stake Merit Badge Camp all day on Saturday.
As an early birthday present, we found out that David’s driver’s license was finally reinstated on February 21. The day we found out he could get it, I hurried after work to get to the driver’s license station, but we arrived about 2 minutes after the 5:00 closing time. We knocked on the door and begged the officer to let us in, and he inquired why we put it off. I pleaded with him, briefly telling him our sob story and how we had waited for 7 ½ months for him to be able to get it back, and the officer mercifully let us in. David has greatly enjoyed being able to drive again after 7 ½ months of me driving him crazy! Since then my driving “lessons” have been put on hold. David’s birthday was the 25th of February, and we enjoyed having dinner with his family at Joe T Garcia’s (a Mexican restaurant in Fort Worth with a very good reputation). One of the things he got for his birthday was a Palm Tungsten E2 PDA. He has spent a great deal of time working on getting this up and running in an amazing fashion—one of the many perks of being so talented with computers. It has been fun to see him get more organized. Despite David being a year older, there are still some humorous things that happen since we have an age gap. For example (Heidi should get a kick out of this), the other day on the way to work we heard a song (I can’t remember which one), and David said, “Oh, this must be a remake.” To which I replied, “David, this is the original.” We had a good laugh over this.
Also towards the end of February David had his annual TB screening, which turned out to be positive. They immediately had him get a chest X-ray, and started him on a 9-month course of antibiotics, even though he does not have active tuberculosis. Sound familiar, Nigel? David figures he got this in Haiti since tuberculosis is endemic there. (3% of the population has active TB, so just about everyone has been exposed.) Actually, finding out he has TB has been an answer to our prayers. This explains a lot of the problems (primarily fatigue) David has been having increasingly over the last few years. He has only been on the antibiotics for a couple weeks now, but he is already feeling much better. We are very grateful.
In February I enjoyed watching much of the Olympics. David and I had two other couples over to watch the opening ceremonies and enjoy an Italian dinner in honor of the host country. We also had a group of his high school friends over for dinner and games a couple weeks ago. David and I enjoyed attending a multicultural night as well as a luau held for the medical students. We also continue to enjoy playing games together, usually alternating between Boggle and Scrabble. David and I attended two childbirth preparation classes at our hospital, which was not very stimulating for my medical student husband, and somewhat overwhelming/scary for me. But I am still pregnant, and will have to get this baby out of me somehow eventually!
I have had a month or so of baby showers, beginning with one I put on for a friend in the ward. I had a shower put on by the audiologists with whom I work, then a shower put on by my friend Melissa Kidder and a girl in my ward named Greta, which was attended by several ward members, friends I knew from before I got married, and David’s mom and sisters. Then Friday I had another shower put on by the ENT clinic at the Children’s hospital where I work. I had planned to work right up until we have the baby, but at my doctor’s visit this Tuesday, he told me that Friday should be my last day of work. I gladly agreed to follow the doctor’s orders and will welcome the chance to rest a bit before our baby arrives. As Adrienne put it, I can enjoy a little break before I never have another vacation. It’s ironic that I have had to work during David’s spring break, and now that it’s over, I don’t have to go back to work!
I seem to have the worst luck in this city! This week I had yet another car accident (I’ve been rear-ended 3 times, and now this one--all in Dallas). Again, the damage wasn’t significant, and I am gratefully okay. The cop classified this accident as a hit-and-run accident. Don’t worry—I didn’t do the running, but I did do the hitting. I had a green light, and they had a red light, so it was considered their fault. The driver stopped and talked with me, but when I asked them for their insurance information and they replied they didn’t have any, the women ran and got in their car and took off. The witness, who kindly came to check on me, drove off after them and got their license plate information.
I think that’s about it for us right now. But we will soon have some big news about the birth of our son! We will keep you posted about this event.
Love,
David and Emily
I’ve decided lately that we’re full swing into the game of “Life.” Last summer David and I got married, bought our first home, and we are eagerly awaiting the birth of our first child. We’ll have the little blue peg added to our plastic car any day now. ☺ He’s due in two days, to be exact. In addition, we have been investigating life insurance and health insurance for after the baby is born. It’s kind of sobering to set a value to your own life and talk about what would happen if one of us died. The game of Life has also brought us some mishaps and events that have happened since we last wrote:
I have to brag on David a little for two things. First, he won the crunch contest the scouts had, doing 107 crunches in 2 minutes. And also, he found out after we wrote last that his research poster got “Honorable Mention” and a (small) cash award. David has been hard at work in school, completing the blocks on the renal system and neuromuscular systems, as well as attending the OB/GYN clinical training. The last two weeks he has been on spring break, but David has worked hard on various projects around the house, including putting together the portable crib and stroller for our baby, filling the numerous nail holes in our walls with putty, giving the yard a good overhaul, cleaning the vents, and buying the mattress for our crib. He has also enjoyed a chance to work on the novel he is writing. David remains very driven with this project! His calling of Deacons’ quorum advisor has recently been morphed more to Assistant Scoutmaster. He dove right in and seems to enjoy working with the fired-up Scoutmaster. David enjoyed a campout a couple weeks ago with the boys, and attended the Stake Merit Badge Camp all day on Saturday.
As an early birthday present, we found out that David’s driver’s license was finally reinstated on February 21. The day we found out he could get it, I hurried after work to get to the driver’s license station, but we arrived about 2 minutes after the 5:00 closing time. We knocked on the door and begged the officer to let us in, and he inquired why we put it off. I pleaded with him, briefly telling him our sob story and how we had waited for 7 ½ months for him to be able to get it back, and the officer mercifully let us in. David has greatly enjoyed being able to drive again after 7 ½ months of me driving him crazy! Since then my driving “lessons” have been put on hold. David’s birthday was the 25th of February, and we enjoyed having dinner with his family at Joe T Garcia’s (a Mexican restaurant in Fort Worth with a very good reputation). One of the things he got for his birthday was a Palm Tungsten E2 PDA. He has spent a great deal of time working on getting this up and running in an amazing fashion—one of the many perks of being so talented with computers. It has been fun to see him get more organized. Despite David being a year older, there are still some humorous things that happen since we have an age gap. For example (Heidi should get a kick out of this), the other day on the way to work we heard a song (I can’t remember which one), and David said, “Oh, this must be a remake.” To which I replied, “David, this is the original.” We had a good laugh over this.
Also towards the end of February David had his annual TB screening, which turned out to be positive. They immediately had him get a chest X-ray, and started him on a 9-month course of antibiotics, even though he does not have active tuberculosis. Sound familiar, Nigel? David figures he got this in Haiti since tuberculosis is endemic there. (3% of the population has active TB, so just about everyone has been exposed.) Actually, finding out he has TB has been an answer to our prayers. This explains a lot of the problems (primarily fatigue) David has been having increasingly over the last few years. He has only been on the antibiotics for a couple weeks now, but he is already feeling much better. We are very grateful.
In February I enjoyed watching much of the Olympics. David and I had two other couples over to watch the opening ceremonies and enjoy an Italian dinner in honor of the host country. We also had a group of his high school friends over for dinner and games a couple weeks ago. David and I enjoyed attending a multicultural night as well as a luau held for the medical students. We also continue to enjoy playing games together, usually alternating between Boggle and Scrabble. David and I attended two childbirth preparation classes at our hospital, which was not very stimulating for my medical student husband, and somewhat overwhelming/scary for me. But I am still pregnant, and will have to get this baby out of me somehow eventually!
I have had a month or so of baby showers, beginning with one I put on for a friend in the ward. I had a shower put on by the audiologists with whom I work, then a shower put on by my friend Melissa Kidder and a girl in my ward named Greta, which was attended by several ward members, friends I knew from before I got married, and David’s mom and sisters. Then Friday I had another shower put on by the ENT clinic at the Children’s hospital where I work. I had planned to work right up until we have the baby, but at my doctor’s visit this Tuesday, he told me that Friday should be my last day of work. I gladly agreed to follow the doctor’s orders and will welcome the chance to rest a bit before our baby arrives. As Adrienne put it, I can enjoy a little break before I never have another vacation. It’s ironic that I have had to work during David’s spring break, and now that it’s over, I don’t have to go back to work!
I seem to have the worst luck in this city! This week I had yet another car accident (I’ve been rear-ended 3 times, and now this one--all in Dallas). Again, the damage wasn’t significant, and I am gratefully okay. The cop classified this accident as a hit-and-run accident. Don’t worry—I didn’t do the running, but I did do the hitting. I had a green light, and they had a red light, so it was considered their fault. The driver stopped and talked with me, but when I asked them for their insurance information and they replied they didn’t have any, the women ran and got in their car and took off. The witness, who kindly came to check on me, drove off after them and got their license plate information.
I think that’s about it for us right now. But we will soon have some big news about the birth of our son! We will keep you posted about this event.
Love,
David and Emily
Sunday, January 29, 2006
Opening Post
Dear family,
It has been a while since we last wrote everyone! We are now counting down the weeks until our son will be here…just under 8 weeks remaining. It has been exciting to see and feel our baby’s increased activity.
We have some interesting stories since we last wrote. First, we learned at the same time that you don’t have to be in Jakarta to live among beetles, and that black-eyed peas are not so lucky around New Year’s as people may think they are (this is a southern tradition, I believe). Anyway, I’ve gotten into black-eyed peas in the last year or so, and tried a new brand that was on sale for New Year’s, and David and I were eating them one evening. We were both taking our first bite, when David noticed a beetle floating in his bowl. I couldn’t eat any more, but David amazingly finished his bowl anyway (minus the beetle), but when we looked at the pan on the stove, we stirred around the remaining portion and noticed yet another beetle from the same can!!! Needless to say, I will no longer be buying that brand again!
We made two major purchases for our baby so far. We bought a stroller as well as a crib, and to bring it home, we asked our friend Joe Davidson to borrow his truck. While he and David went to Young Men’s, I carefully drove the truck [please, no comments about living in Texas!] about a half-hour drive up to the store to get the crib, but while I was on the crowded highway amidst very slow traffic, I looked at the windshield and noticed that there was no state inspection sticker. When I got off the highway and onto the side roads, I soon got pulled over. I was puzzled why this might be since I was not going fast at all, and didn’t recall any other traffic violations. The officer said, “I pulled you over because your headlights were off.” I said, “They are?” I had no idea! When I had gotten in the truck, I turned the switch and saw the front panel lights come on, and thought I had headlights on. I was around enough traffic, though, that I had not noticed they were off. Of course the officer then noticed my missing state inspection sticker and proceeded to issue me a ticket for not having the sticker. Once I did make it home, David put the crib together. It’s neat to see it set up in the room.
Aside from a 2-day ice “storm” that kept many away from work in December, the weather has been remarkably mild. This is my 4th winter here, and by far, it is the warmest. We have rarely had the heat on, and even turn the air conditioning on in the car frequently. Ironically enough, David’s winter coat was brought out for the evening last week, and got stolen. So we had to buy him a new one last night. We just hope that whoever has it now will get some good use out of it. ☺
David has been busy with school. He had respiratory and gastrointestinal systems in class recently, had a clinic in rheumatology, and has begun seeing patients under the supervision of a resident once a week. A couple weeks ago we went to a reception for the poster he put together on the research he did last summer.
It was neat to see his work. He has also enjoyed exploring Google Earth recently, particularly areas where he served his mission. He has been quite nostalgic about it all.
We enjoyed Thanksgiving with the Clarks, including Grandpa Clark. For Christmas we drove up to Kansas to spend it with Dad and Mom Miller, Clark, Kim, and little Jaron, and the Dangerfields. We very much enjoyed seeing the new Joseph Smith movie the Church produced at the Liberty Jail visitors’ center. We got back home in time to hear Matt speak in Church before leaving on his mission to Bolivia January 4th. We will miss him (especially David!), but know he will be a great missionary.
December was busy with various parties, including our ward’s “Christmas in Nauvoo” night, the medical school Christmas social, a (separate, additional) dinner for married medical students and their spouses, and an informal game night at our home with 3 other couples. I was busy performing Christmas music at 2 different stake crèche exhibits with my “Classic Strings” group. At one of the performances, we performed with the Dallas/Fort Worth LDS auditioned choir (called Evening Song), then heard the performance (in our chapel) by a black Baptist choir. They were something else! They sing with such enthusiasm and heart! We’ve seen a few movies lately. The first was Harry Potter #4 with David’s high school friends. Then at Thanksgiving time we saw Pride and Prejudice with David’s family (David and I highly recommend this one!). And last week we got around to seeing Flight Plan at the dollar theater, for which our neighbor Deborah joined us.
We hope everyone is doing well!
Love, David and Emily
P.S. You can take a look at our latest photographs at our website
It has been a while since we last wrote everyone! We are now counting down the weeks until our son will be here…just under 8 weeks remaining. It has been exciting to see and feel our baby’s increased activity.
We have some interesting stories since we last wrote. First, we learned at the same time that you don’t have to be in Jakarta to live among beetles, and that black-eyed peas are not so lucky around New Year’s as people may think they are (this is a southern tradition, I believe). Anyway, I’ve gotten into black-eyed peas in the last year or so, and tried a new brand that was on sale for New Year’s, and David and I were eating them one evening. We were both taking our first bite, when David noticed a beetle floating in his bowl. I couldn’t eat any more, but David amazingly finished his bowl anyway (minus the beetle), but when we looked at the pan on the stove, we stirred around the remaining portion and noticed yet another beetle from the same can!!! Needless to say, I will no longer be buying that brand again!
We made two major purchases for our baby so far. We bought a stroller as well as a crib, and to bring it home, we asked our friend Joe Davidson to borrow his truck. While he and David went to Young Men’s, I carefully drove the truck [please, no comments about living in Texas!] about a half-hour drive up to the store to get the crib, but while I was on the crowded highway amidst very slow traffic, I looked at the windshield and noticed that there was no state inspection sticker. When I got off the highway and onto the side roads, I soon got pulled over. I was puzzled why this might be since I was not going fast at all, and didn’t recall any other traffic violations. The officer said, “I pulled you over because your headlights were off.” I said, “They are?” I had no idea! When I had gotten in the truck, I turned the switch and saw the front panel lights come on, and thought I had headlights on. I was around enough traffic, though, that I had not noticed they were off. Of course the officer then noticed my missing state inspection sticker and proceeded to issue me a ticket for not having the sticker. Once I did make it home, David put the crib together. It’s neat to see it set up in the room.
Aside from a 2-day ice “storm” that kept many away from work in December, the weather has been remarkably mild. This is my 4th winter here, and by far, it is the warmest. We have rarely had the heat on, and even turn the air conditioning on in the car frequently. Ironically enough, David’s winter coat was brought out for the evening last week, and got stolen. So we had to buy him a new one last night. We just hope that whoever has it now will get some good use out of it. ☺
David has been busy with school. He had respiratory and gastrointestinal systems in class recently, had a clinic in rheumatology, and has begun seeing patients under the supervision of a resident once a week. A couple weeks ago we went to a reception for the poster he put together on the research he did last summer.
It was neat to see his work. He has also enjoyed exploring Google Earth recently, particularly areas where he served his mission. He has been quite nostalgic about it all.
We enjoyed Thanksgiving with the Clarks, including Grandpa Clark. For Christmas we drove up to Kansas to spend it with Dad and Mom Miller, Clark, Kim, and little Jaron, and the Dangerfields. We very much enjoyed seeing the new Joseph Smith movie the Church produced at the Liberty Jail visitors’ center. We got back home in time to hear Matt speak in Church before leaving on his mission to Bolivia January 4th. We will miss him (especially David!), but know he will be a great missionary.
December was busy with various parties, including our ward’s “Christmas in Nauvoo” night, the medical school Christmas social, a (separate, additional) dinner for married medical students and their spouses, and an informal game night at our home with 3 other couples. I was busy performing Christmas music at 2 different stake crèche exhibits with my “Classic Strings” group. At one of the performances, we performed with the Dallas/Fort Worth LDS auditioned choir (called Evening Song), then heard the performance (in our chapel) by a black Baptist choir. They were something else! They sing with such enthusiasm and heart! We’ve seen a few movies lately. The first was Harry Potter #4 with David’s high school friends. Then at Thanksgiving time we saw Pride and Prejudice with David’s family (David and I highly recommend this one!). And last week we got around to seeing Flight Plan at the dollar theater, for which our neighbor Deborah joined us.
We hope everyone is doing well!
Love, David and Emily
P.S. You can take a look at our latest photographs at our website
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