The Holidays...whew!

First off...I owe everyone a big apology. I didn't realize I hadn't posted anything for a month an a half. Jeez. Guess you could say we were busy! In my defense, we were out of town for three weeks with essentially no access to the internet. (It was actually liberating in a way...but I digress...as usual.)

Let's see...Thanksgiving. Chris had to work the day before and the day after Thanksgiving so we just ran down to my parents' house for the day. As is custom, we had a big feast, ate too much and kicked off the "gain 5 pounds over the holidays" campaign. Pretty typical Thanksgiving. There were two noteworthy items, I think. First, Ava is definitely a toddler now. She was running around, chasing her older cousin, Jarrett, who was teaching her how to jump. She laughed, played and got into mischief. It was awesome to see. Second, my cousin Clinton - a real life G.I. Joe - brought his girlfriend, Stephanie, home to meet the family. Over Thanksgiving dinner, he awkwardly announced that they were engaged. Quick congratulations were given (even from his parents...apparently they were hearing it for the first time too) and then it was, "can you pass the potatoes, please?" She's a nice gal and should make a nice addition to the family.

Next...my birthday. This year was actually the best birthday I've had in a while. Largely thanks to Facebook, just about all my friends and family remembered. Even though my mom had to work that day, she met me half way and bought me breakfast. Then, I came home for a few hours and then met my friend, Haley, for lunch. (Unfortunately, I had to bring a very crabby Ava because Chris didn't get home in time. I have never seen a temper tantrum like that before. I was mortified). Then, I slept the afternoon a way and had dinner with Chris. Lots of thoughtful gifts. It was nice.

Finally - Christmas. Lots of Holiday parties. First was the Ugly Christmas Sweater pub crawl. We couldn't find anything too wretchedly ugly but we did have a few tacky things in our closets so we made it work. It was fun. Then we had the annual MFMR (residency) Christmas dinner. Plus, throw in a couple of applicant dinners and we were booked solid.

Chris also had to do a rural rotation in Red Lodge, MT. Fortunately, we were able to find someone to rent us their cabin for the two week before Christmas. Thank God for friends with connections. Basically, we stayed at a beautiful cabin right on Rock Creek. We had family come up for a day here, a night there, but really, it was a nice get away for us. No internet, cell phone coverage was really crappy so we were able to really get away. Red Lodge is a ski town so it has a cute little street with all sorts of shops and restaurants. Plus, it snowed when we first got there so it really was a winter wonderland. Every day we had deer running across the front yard and Ava would laugh and point. Chris worked with two great family med docs who are alumni of the program. We went to dinner with each of them and their families. Plus, we took in a local high school basketball game. Anyway, fun times.

Then, after Red Lodge, we zipped down to Powell for a few days. All of my siblings were home so it was great for Ava to play with her cousins, Aunts and Uncle. Plus, my parents have a houseful of animals so it was pure bliss for her.

The day after Christmas, we left for New York. Thankfully, we arrived without too much delay and spent a great time with the Cancro side of the family. Everyone was supposed to be there. (18 people in my inlaws house!) Chris' cousins' family got horribly sick and didn't make it. Although we missed seeing them, it was a fairly sane week. Ava absolutely ADORED her cousins George Zachary and Violet. It was mutual too. That was my favorite part. She played so well with them.

Chris and I went out a few times without Ava which was nice. We stuffed ourselves at an Indian buffet. Man...I'm salivating right now thinking about the naan and palaak paneer. Sigh... I also managed to get some serious shopping done (ah...the variety!!) as well as get a few cups of Dunkin' Donuts. Ava bonded nicely with Grandma Patti and was just getting there with Pop Pop but we had to leave. Despite a constantly moving child, travel to and from New York was uneventful. I did feel and look like a human rock wall after each trip.

Now we're back in the swing of things. That's the quick overview. I'll follow with some more interesting stuff soon. The pictures, infortunately, are in random order. I don't have the patience to figure out how to fix them at the moment. I messed with my settings and I don't know how to change it back. Grr...

OH! If you know of anyone who might want access to this blog, email me. kristy_cancro@yahoo.com.