We haven’t written to everyone for a while, so we thought that a note was due now that the winter is over and everything (including the sun) is coming out of
hibernation. For a while we were wondering if the Vermont winter was going to live up to its’ reputation. January was a pleasantly warm month (relatively) and the weather was looking up by the time Valentine’s day rolled around. For a few days we’d been hearing predictions of a good sized storm, but had doubts about it actually materializing. We woke up that Wednesday morning to fresh snow falling, fairly heavily. By lunch we had enough that the university cancelled classes and sent everyone home. By 4 pm the snowplows all gave up and the busses shut down. By that night we had over a foot of new snow outside our house. We woke up Thursday morning to find over two feed of new snow outside of our apartment. We had to literally dig out our front door. I don’t think I had ever seen that much snow outside of my house before. Some of the cars in the parking lot had so much snow blown onto them that there wasn’t more than an antenna sticking out.

Normally I’d be ecstatic for a snow day, but this one was a bit different. My mom was coming in to town for the school’s white coat ceremony. She was originally supposed to land in Burlington Wednesday evening (remember, right after the plows gave up and the busses went home…). Obviously the weather interfered with those plans somewhat, so she ended up spending the night in Ohio. My mom had to fly into Manchester NH (about 3 hours south) that morning, so we dug our car out of the snow and braved the roads down. It was quite an adventure.

That Friday we had the white coat ceremony, a tradition at the medical school representing the start of hands-on patient care. Along with the quintessential stethoscope, the white coat is one of the symbols of the medical profession. The meeting was held on campus in the Ira Allen chapel, where graduation will be three years from now. We heard from the dean and some other prominent members of the faculty about professionalism, ethics, and the process of becoming a physician. It was a very well done event, and very meaningful. I was especially glad that my mom was able to fly out and attend, despite one of the heaviest snowstorms they’ve had here in recent years.

All the guys at White Coat.

After white coat Kathryn took a break from the weather and went to California for her Birthday and the birth of Elizabeth's third baby Ezra. Everyone drove up for a birthday party and to see Braddock John and Kimberlee's third. It was so much fun and Elizabeth's baby, Ezra, finally came two weeks after his due date!! It was great to be there for the birth, and to be able to help her out for a week before heading back to the snow.

Elizabeth, Elijah and I with the cake. Grandma holding Braddock with Elijah and Isaac.

Travis, John, Elizabeth and I, we're Just missing Billy. The two pregnant ones.

Ezra

Now, of course, the most important thing going on for us is getting ready for our baby. We went in right after the holidays for an ultrasound and found out that we’re having a boy. I was hoping that would make it easier to figure out names, but we still haven’t made much progress. Either way, don’t worry, because we decided not to divulge anything too specific until after he’s born and we officially decide. Kathryn has been feeling pretty good through most of the pregnancy, which has been a blessing. She’s still substitute teaching several days a week, and finishing up all the projects on her list before the baby gets here (including reupholstering our couch and arm chairs). We’re gradually getting everything taken care of for the baby, and are of course very excited.

Next Friday I have my final in my current class (Nutrition, Metabolism and Gastrointestinal Systems), then we have a week off for spring break before I start my last class this year, Neuroscience. It’s hard to believe I’m almost finished with my first year of medical school. Some times I feel like I haven’t learned very much yet, other times I can’t believe how much material we’ve covered. The baby is due during the last week of Neuroscience, which will be an exciting way to kick off the summer. Obviously, there are a lot of plans that we can’t make for sure at this point, but after Kathryn and the baby recover, we’re planning on heading out to California for the last few weeks of the break. We miss you all, and are looking forward to seeing many of you this summer.

Well, Caleb and I have had a busy month with lots of excitement. First of all the most exciting news is that we are going to have a baby! We went and got the first ultrasound today to make sure everything is on track. The baby looks great, with a strong little heart beat, and is due June 12. We are very excited! I have been very nauseated for the past month and really tired, but besides that every thing has been great. Luckily my job as a substitute teacher is very flexible, so I can just stay home when I need to. That has worked out wonderfully. Caleb is looking forward to having a baby and of course enjoys all the extra exposure to medicine. I joke that sometimes he is more excited to ask the doctor questions than I am. ☺

Well, my parents came out to visit us for two weeks at the beginning of October. Since my dad can’t sit still we ended up exploring pretty much all of Vermont and even half of the Quebec providence. We went up to the Montreal temple, Quebec City and even went to church in French. It really feels like you are in a totally different country, even though it’s only an hour from Vermont. Caleb said that his favorite part of Quebec was the incredible French-Canadian food we got to eat.

We took lots of drives since the changing leaves where right at their peak. In Vermont we went to Stowe, the Capital, the Ben and Jerry’s Factory, a cider mill, apple picking and lots of other things.



It was great having them here, and kept me busy while Caleb was working on a really intense part of his course.

Caleb is still enjoying school. Right now he’s halfway through a course called Human Structure and Function which covers anatomy, physiology, histology, embryology, and probably something else. He has dissection lab three times a week so he comes home smelling of cadavers, which isn’t incredibly wonderful. Everyone says that this class is the true initiation into medical school, because of the pace and material. He has been really enjoying it though, even though it is a lot of work.

My substituting is quite an adventure. One day I am teaching kindergartners and the next day teaching physics or music to high school kids. I am getting really good at faking my way through subjects I don’t know. I also just got a new calling as first counselor in the primary presidency. They already have me pretty busy with an activity this weekend and the primary program coming up I am really excited about figuring the calling out and working with the kids.

We have been trying to adjust to the weather here. The leaves were really pretty when they were changing, then it started raining and getting colder about as soon as my parents left. The hardest thing to adjust to is how early it is getting dark now. Autumn in Vermont has been fun. Apples are everywhere, and they sure are proud of the leaves here.



Halloween was fun. We got our pumpkins and carved them for family night. It was a little weird with the trick or treating because we had to have a sign out so that people knew that they could knock. We did have a handful of kids come; mostly the kids of our friends from school.



We’re looking forward to our first Thanksgiving on our own, and especially to Christmas. We’ll be visiting Caleb’s family in Utah until the holiday, then heading to warm, sunny California for the rest of the break. I know I am looking forward to seeing you all then…on the beach…with the sun out…☺

Anyway we love you all and miss you.

P.S. If you have email addresses for anyone else in the family that we should send this to, please let us know.

Hi Everyone! Okay we made it out to Vermont safe and sound. We were a little tired and going nuts from driving so far in a moving truck with a cat and a bird, but we survived. We had lots of breaks on the drive since Caleb’s family drove out with us. We made a trip out of it and saw all the church sights and Niagara Falls, it was really fun.

We got to Vermont on a Saturday night and within 10 minutes had about twenty members, who were med students living in the same area, at our house helping us unload the truck. I guess they had been watching out for our truck all day and as
soon as someone saw it they called all the others. It was amazing, because we had the truck unloaded in about 40 minutes. They are all super nice, married and most with one or two kids. It has been a great help to have so many members around that make you feel comfortable and welcome. In Caleb’s class there are 8 LDS guys; four in our ward and four in the other Burlington ward. Their wives are all really nice (although there are only two others besides me who don’t have kids yet). We have already gotten to know them pretty well.



Burlington is a cute little town, right on Lake Champlain and with a really cute old downtown on the water. There are actually lots of little towns that make up the Burlington area, but they are all right next to each other, so it all feels like one town.

Caleb just had his first week of real school. The first week we were here he had orientation, but this week he has had classes all week. He is studying quite a bit already, and reading tons. So far he stays on Campus from 8:00 to 5 or 6, so it is like a full time job. It is nice for me because he usually gets most of his homework and studying done on campus before he gets home, but we’ll see how long that will last :O) He rides the bus to and from school, and has of course made friends with all the LDS guys really fast since they all ride together and study together. So Caleb is enjoying that association. He drags me out to different activities and parties, which it is very good for me and making friends.

I have mainly been getting the house put together and looking for jobs. I got a temporary job at the college bookstore for the next three weeks. It’s lower pay then I am used to, but will give me something to do. I also applied to substitute teach at two of the school districts here, and they pay well and apparently are desperate for teachers. They say you pretty much can work full time. It is nice though because you basically just pick your own hours. They call you and ask if you can work and if you’re sick or have another job, you just say no. I am also hoping to get a lot of tutoring jobs out of it, which is mainly what I want to do.


As far as our house goes, the area we live in is a converted army fort and is used as the student housing for UVM and St. Michael’s College. It is a nice community with lots of parks and green space. I already found a great running track around the main park, and the town has lots of biking which we have already explored and got lost on (for 30 miles :O). I miss the ocean though and the weather is very different; the leaves are already changing colors!! In relief society everyone talks about winter and how it gets dark at 4:30, and in January it rarely gets above negative 10, and you get ice storms often. We’ll see how that goes, but it should be okay. They that you just have to make it through January and February before it’s enjoyable again. We both survived Russia, though, so I am sure we’ll do okay. I just don’t know about Figaro.

Anyway, we are doing good and still adjusting. We miss everyone very much, and are
looking forward to coming out at Christmas. We love you all very much, and hope everything is going well.