::another day in san diego::

We went to Sea World on friday morning and it was pretty fun. We did have a problem though. They've added a bunch of rides, probably 5 or 6 big ones and some smaller ones. This was all Max could think about. I made the mistake of looking at the website with him before the trip to get him excited, and he spied the rides. That was all he could think about from that moment on--and this did not change when we actually got to the park.
We had "breakfast with Shamu" in which you have a breakfast buffet, eat right next to one of the whale tanks and see a few cool whale tricks up close. That was fun and I'm glad we did it because it was the only whale exposure we got the whole day.
After breakfast I was ready to head to the Shamu show, but Max was dying to go on the big roller coaster, so we went over there. Kris and Max went on that, and Max loved it, so I got in line with him to do it again. But of course the ride broke down, so we were stuck in line for quite a while for no reason--these Sea World guys are not too good at their ride management it turns out.

Anyway, after that we got stuck heading over to another ride, and it got hotter and more crowded. We finally made it to the Sea Lion and Seal show which was fun. Then when we tried to see the actual seals afterwards the area was so crowded it was impossible and we just had to push on. Finally Kris and I got tired of the crowds and after seeing the sharks and a few other things we hauled our boys out and took them back to the condo for some rest.

It was not great management of the Sea World trip, I'd do it differently if I was doing it again. And the Manta Ray area was closed because (of course) they're adding a big ride to it.
I think Sea World should stick with the animal stuff. It's what they do best.

But anyway, we liked this cool Shamu car.


The best part of the day happened after everybody get a little rest. We were able to get together with Kris's old roommate/mission companion Blake and his wife Brooke for dinner. It was just a weird coincidence that we both happened to be out here at the same time. They recommended a delicious Thai restaurant that we really enjoyed (all of us with refined tastes, anyway.)
Kris got fried rice that actually came inside half a pineapple. Pretty fancy, right?


After we ate Blake & Brooke took us down to a beautiful park on the coast to look at tidepools and seals. There were quite a few sea anemones in the little pools, but Max wasn't quite brave enough to stick his finger in them to make the them close.

Baby Evie was though.

Max however, was brave enough to go out to the very tip of the rocks we were out and wish that a wave would carry him out to sea. Weird kid.

It was an amazing view and a lovely sunset. And Max did not get carried away, happily.

It was prettymuch too dark to see the seals by the time we got to them, but the good company and fun conversation made up for it.
It was a really fun night--thanks Blake & Brooke for taking the trouble to meet up with us!
And Blake has a reputation in our family for taking good pictures (he took the photo that ended up being in our wedding invitation) so he took one of all of us on the rocks. I like it.

.::We Made It::.

We survived the red-eye flight we had to take to get out here to Rhode Island. Max was incredibly good during the whole ordeal. Thank goodness.
We didn't bring the dog out yet though. He's staying with my parents for a few more weeks so that we can do a little more traveling. That way we don't have to worry about him being sad and lonely if we have to leave him with somebody he doesn't know.

It's nice here. The weather has been great and we do have our new fridge now so we're happy.
Tonight after we did a whole bunch of work and stuff we headed out to see how the beaches are out here. First we ate at a fish and chowder "shack" kind of place near the beach.
Have you ever heard of a "doughboy"? Yeah, neither had we. Turns out that they're kind of like a cross between doughnuts and scones, dusted with sugar. Yum. And chowder from the shack right next to the beach is delicious, just as could be expected.






















We weren't really using our brains when we left the house--we weren't sure whether we'd have time to go to the beach or not really. So not only did we not bring bathing suits or towels, but I forgot my camera! Ahhh! So these are all from Kris's phone. And of course, there were many lovely and silly photo ops that I missed.

















We didn't really think the water would be warm enough to swim in, since everybody keeps telling us how freezing the atlantic is, but really it was not that bad. No worse than the beaches in So. California that we've been to a lot.
Max was THRILLED to be at the beach and couldn't stay away from the water.







































And of course, he fell in. First he got really wet just by getting splashed, and then he fell right in.
We had to remove his pants completely. Well, actually they fell off because they were so wet and heavy.

We learned our lesson--we won't go to the beach again with Max without at least one towel!

We are about 40 minutes from this beach. You can bet we'll be back a LOT this summer. We are really excited about it.

















We're off to New York City tomorrow. Kris has training all week and Max and I are going to explore the city. We'll keep you posted.
Oh, and I still have several things I need to post concerning our Utah visit, so don't be confused when those posts still show up.

::Our Trip::

So I just wanted to give you a quick run-down of our RI trip. OK, not a quick run down, more like a long one with lots of pictures but whatever. The trip was quick though and felt like it just flew by. It was amazing we even got there in the first place--Kris almost got stuck at school until too late the morning we were leaving. It was really nice to get away from school for a couple of days, especially for Kris. School has been really high stress for him lately because he's trying to finish up all his requirements.

We stayed somewhere different every night to try to get a good overview of the area.
On friday morning we went over to the hospital where Kris will be working where I got to meet the program director and the current residents. Everbody was so nice and pleasant. It's very busy there but I think that it will be a great atmosphere for Kris to work. It seems to be very positive and happy, and everybody seemed to get along well.
The program director was so nice. I was very impressed with him because as we were standing in the hall of the hospital chatting, suddenly we heard a strange noise behind us. A young teenage boy had fallen to the ground with a seizure and his mom was trying to help him. Dr. Kane ran right over to them and got right down there and took care of things. He didn't leave them until he was sure everything was ok. He seemed like a really good caring doctor. So that's great.

We did a lot of driving around different areas to try to figure out which areas would be best for us to live in. We spent a good amount of time at Barnes & Noble on the internet too. Thank goodness for the internet or we wouldn't know anything!

We found a couple of areas we really liked, and now we're just going to watch craig's list to see if something liveable there will be available soon.
In general we really liked it out there in the Providence area. It's definitely all old and most of the houses are small but our house we live in now is small, so as long as we can get a little more room than we have now we should be fine.

On friday night we went to a get-together with all the residents. It was really fun. It seemed like they got together a good amount, and were all really comfortable with each other. They were so nice to us too. It was great for me to get a chance to get to know them a little--it makes the move a little less scary.
This party was where, unbelievably, Kris sang karaoke. Like I said before I don't think it'll ever happen again. He just didn't want to look like a party pooper in front of his new friends. Good thing I used to be in the karaoke business! I got up there and sang with him and we were coolness incarnate. Or something.

I look totally exhausted in this picture because it was after midnight. The party went on forever! It was really fun though. We were glad we got to attend.

Here's Kris in our crazy all white hotel room in downtown Providence. Everything was either bright white or chrome/stainless steel. It was weird, but pretty fun!

and here we both are--not my favorite picture, but then again no picture with me in it is my favorite! It's better than the other one...nobody's going to see that one.


We got burned out from driving around looking at places which we were too early to rent, so on saturday night we drove down to Newport and stayed there. We took the scenic ocean drive around the coast and it was soooo beautiful. Soooo cold, but so picturesque.

There was gorgeous light sunday morning so we took the drive again so I could give my camera some exercise. So fun to look at.


Can you see the cool bridge in this shot? It was amazing looking. Can you see the line of geese in the water? I wish I could've gotten a little closer shot there.









We went to sacrament meeting at the ward we're planning on going to and that was nice. Seems like there are a good amount of members in that ward and a healthy amount of kids, so that's good for us.
We flew out on sunday evening and you know the rest! We're glad to be back home even though it means we're back into the stress. Hopefully we can be strong and tough and make it through the next couple of hard months, AND find a place to live that is everything we want and need.
Wish us luck!!

.:.:Big News, really really Big News:.:.

We heard from the "matching" service that Kris had to use to apply to his residency programs yesterday. We knew that the decisions would all be made public on the 28th, so we were pretty nervous the day before. But somehow we made it through the night and in the morning we got an email at 7:30 saying we are going to.......(a drumroll would probably be appropriate here)........Providence, Rhode Island for the next two years!! (Starting in June as far as we know)

We're not too surprised about it actually, because Kris's interview at that program went SO well, and they were very positive about him. They have a couple of locations, so we figured he would get into one of them. We thought it would be either Brooklyn, NY or Providence. We're happy about Providence because it's supposed to be the location with the best and newest facility and equipment.
We're especially excited considering that there was always a chance that things wouldn't have worked out. If that had happened Kris would've either had to give up the dream of being a pediatric specialist (which really would've bummed him out) or else wait a year and reapply. Neither of those alternatives sounded that good to me, so I'm just so glad that it all worked out.

Interestingly, neither Kris nor I have ever been to Rhode Island! The interview for this program happened in Brooklyn. So we don't have any idea what to expect. Luckily we have some great friends in the ward that just recently moved here from Providence (crazy, isn't it?) They're going to help us figure out some good areas we could live in and stuff like that. We're going to miss them and all of our other fun friends when we actually move. It's so sad to think of leaving, even though we'll be so so glad to be done with school and for Kris to move on to the next step in his "professional life." Probably the best part for me is that he is actually going to get paid. I'm typing it, but I can hardly believe it! He's going to get paid and we will have benefits, which is going to totally blow my mind. Hopefully I'm going to get to quit my job. I'm really looking forward to it.

So although we don't really have any idea how it's all going to be, we do have a few plans...
I'm looking forward to doing a lot of shopping here:

You luckies in UT have one, but poor me, I've have been suffering without. We should have one out here, I don't know why we don't! I'm excited because there's an Ikea between Providence and Boston. Yay!

Also I'm planning on frequenting this wonderful place:
I love H&M!! And for those of you that haven't had a chance to go, it's worth traveling for. Good clothes, cool clothes at excellent prices. There's one of these outside of Boston too.

We're also planning on spending a lot of time here:
and here:
and here:
assuming of course, that these pictures are all of Rhode Island beaches. They're supposed to be....
I love the beach, so I'm thrilled at the idea of living within a relatively short drive of some beautiful beaches.

We're also looking forward to frequenting here:
(New York of course!)

and here:
(Boston) We like big cool cities like these.

Kris is hoping for some good road biking opportunities, which seems likely to me, considering that road biking is kind of a preppy sport, and New England is preppy, right?

And I guess we're supposed to cheer for the Patriots now in football, and it seems this would be a good opportunity to do that, since they are probably going to win the super bowl. But I just can't. I think they're too boring. They just win to much. I guess that's a good problem to have. We'll see if living out there changes my mind.

So thanks to all of you for all your help and support!! Thanks for voting on Kris's application pictures, you obviously picked a good one since it got him some great interviews! Hopefully we'll have a chance to come visit all of our peeps out in UT this summer, maybe in may or june sometime. Everybody better clear their schedules. We'll see you then!