Our Vacation *Warning: Long Post!!*

Eric and I went on vacation at the end of June. We went back to Illinois and had a great time visiting with friends and family, going up to the cabin in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and just spending time in our old romping ground. The trip was so much fun and we had a great time spending time with each other as well.

We got there on Friday, June 20th and stayed in town for the weekend. I was able to squeeze in a girls' night out with my college roommates. We had so much fun. I really miss those girls!

Danielle and Me

Michele, me and Lisa

The next week, Eric, his mom and I drove up to the UP. It is always so relaxing to go up there. Since Uncle John and his family were staying in the kids' cabin, Eric and I stayed in Grandma and Grandpa Fase's coach house. It's a bedroom and bathroom they built above their garage and it is so nice! I wish I'd taken a picture of it now. Grandma used a lighthouse theme in her decorating and it is just so cute!

While we were there, we enjoyed visiting with Grandma and Grandpa Fase during "wine time" every afternoon, our annual day trip on our anniversary to Marquette, MI and visiting all the local waterfalls. It was just a lovely visit.

The view of Steven's Lake from Grandpa Fase's deck while we played skipbo.

We stopped on the side of the road on our way to Marquette to go down to the beach

Isn't Lake Superior so beautiful? Here is the pier in Marquette. We just love this town and always go to the same restaurant when we are there, The Vierling.

Here are a few of the pictures of the waterfalls and other places we visited the next day.

Eric and me at Munising Falls

Here's the view of Miner's Castle on Lake Superior. It was SO pretty!

At the end of the week, we drove back down to Chicago and saw the Jersey Boys Broadway show with Eric's Mom and Dad. Now, Eric and I might have been a little young for the show, but it was still enjoyable and I couldn't believe I knew all but 2 songs! If you don't know about the show, it's the story behind Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons and how the group was formed. It was such a fun show and we had "Walk Like a Man" and "Big Girls Don't Cry" stuck in our heads for days afterward.

Towards the end of the vacation, Eric's dad flew us down to Peoria, IL to go fishing. I'd been fishing many times before in my life, but I'd never caught a fish. It was so much fun! Eric's dad always fishes on some company property that was built to be a landfill but ended up not being used. So it's this beautiful land with a few lakes and tons of wildlife and now they let farmers graze their cows on it. And did I catch a fish? Umm...yes! Within a few minutes of being on the lake, I'd caught one! We fished for a few hours and I caught 9 fish! Eric's dad kept saying it was because he'd given me the special lure because he only caught one fish and Eric didn't catch any. On our way back, we chased some rain storms to wash the helicopter and then when we got back, Eric's cousins, Mike and Lizzie, wanted a ride with "Uncle Woger" so dad took them up. It was so fun to see Mike so excited. Below are some of the pictures from the fishing trip...

We had so much fun on our vacation and can't wait to go back to see everyone!

My husband actually did that???!!!!

So, the big news in the Groen household today is that Eric delivered a baby! He did it! My husband!!!!!!!! I just think that is the coolest thing ever.
He has been getting really good at delivering placentas and taking cord blood, but yesterday he really put his skills to the test and delivered the baby. I'm so proud of him!
He was also on call with a doctor who really enjoys teaching. Most of the doctors just tolerate the med students and really only teach when the students bug them enough, but there is one that Eric just started working with who really loves teaching and is really challenging Eric. With her, Eric got to practice suturing during a ceasarean and got to help out with a tubal ligation. Too bad yesterday was Eric's first day working with her and he only has a week and a half left in OBGYN, but I know he's definitely going to be making the most of the time he has left.

My very talented mother

Among my mother's many talents, she definitely excels in painting. She just finished a painting for Eric and me of Amsterdam. When we went to Europe a few years ago, we had such a great time in Amsterdam and fell in love with the city. When Mom told us she would paint us a picture, we thought it would be perfect to have a street scene like one we had seen while we were there. We gave her a picture of what we wanted and told her to take her inspiration from that, but to also add whatever she wanted to it. We just love the final painting and can't believe we have it to hang in our home!

Thanks, Mom, for our beautiful painting. You are so talented and we just love it!!!!

Here is the picture we liked.

Here is the final painting! Isn't it great? Mom added the leaves on the trees, made the buildings more colorful, added flower boxes to the windows, and even added a little bird on the ground. It's hard to show all the details in a photo. We just love it!!Mom signing the painting...

Here is the painting hanging in the spot it was made for...our living room. Now, we just need to finish painting the walls!

My new hobby

For my birthday last month, Eric got me a new camera. It is so cool. It's one of those kinds where you can change the lens. Although I'm not expert enough to need to have all the fancy lenses, I had a great time experimenting with all the different settings when we went on vacation. Below is a few of my favorite pics:

Our cat, Kitty....
Random flowers....

Okay, so Eric says this is a weed, but I still think it's pretty....

Steven's Lake in Michigan's Upper Peninsula

Congratulations, Dr. Laura!

At the end of May, I went to Chicago for Laura's (Eric's sister) graduation from Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine. Eric couldn't go because he was taking the medical boards the following week. I flew in on Friday and helped my in-laws throw Laura a party on Saturday. Grandma Fase and I assumed our roles as party decorators and had a ball decorating with latex gloves, bags of candy blood and gauze. The family even dressed up in medical scrubs. We had awesome pork chops from Hog Wild (I love that place!) and had so much fun seeing everyone.

Grandma and I decorating....

Visiting with friends and family...

Uncle Mike Jr. pretending to be a proctologist...this was sooo funny!

Laura and her awesome cake Aunt Sue made...


Then on Sunday, we went to the graduation ceremony held at Navy Pier. It was in a ballroom at the very end of the pier. The room was just gorgeous with windows looking out to the lake. The ceremony was beautiful. We were so happy for Laura and proud of her.

Laura with Mom and Dad G....

Laura and me...
Laura with the Groen grandparents and the Fase grandparents...


The entire crew celebrating after the ceremony at Carmine's...

It was a packed weekend, but so much fun. I was thrilled to celebrate Laura's accomplishment with her. We are so proud of her! Congratulations, Dr. Laura Schrader!

Update on Eric

After only being in OBGYN for a few days, Eric has already been able to see and take part in many different procedures. Below are a few of the procedures he was apart of on his first day:

• c-section and tubal ligation (he got to cut the tubes!!)
• vaginal birth
• exploratory sugery (he held a suction!!)
• Drew umbilical cord blood

Isn't that so cool?!

Yesterday (Thursday) was Eric's first 24 hour shift. He was very tired from the day before even starting the shift. I felt so badly for him. I don't really understand why doctors have to work 24 hour shifts. It seems a bit ridiculous to me. Other professions have regulations on the amount of hours employees can work and it seems to me that this type of profession should as well. Should someone be able to administer an epidural or perform surgery after already being on the job for 20 hrs? I would argue that at some point it's just not safe!! Oh geez!!

Well, the good thing is that Eric was able to see alot during the night. The bad thing is that while the doctors slept and waited for the nurse to tell them to do something, poor Eric had to just wait around for it all to happen. I'm just glad he got through and got home safely!

Below are a few pics of Eric before he left on his first day. He dressed up the first day but then found out that he has to change into scrubs as soon as he gets there. He wasn't too thrilled that I was trying to take pictures, but I was so proud of him (plus he looked so cute in his back to school clothes)!

Eric started his rotations!! Yeah!

Again, I apologize for the lack of posts. We are alive. Really we are!

Since the last post, Eric finished his second year at Midwestern and studied and sat for the USMLE (the MD board exam) as well as the COMLEX (the DO board exam). Eric decided to sit for the MD board in addition to the DO board so that if, when he graduates, he wants to get into an MD residency, he can. So he really did it to keep his options open. But, the poor guy had to endure two brutal exams.

The exiting news is that Eric started his clinical rotations this week. The classroom work is over and he is now learning on the job. His first is in OBGYN at Banner Desert Hospital in Mesa. It's a long commute for Eric, but it's the busiest OBGYN unit in AZ. I've heard that the majority of babies born in AZ are born there and some call it the "baby factory."

Eric said that all the doctors and nurses are very nice at the hospital. Usually, there are about six medical students at a time in the unit, but right now, there is only Eric and another student from Midwestern. So he will definitely be able to pick the "good" cases. Every day, Eric has to pick a few patients and evaluate them and present their case to the doctors during rounds. I don't really know what this means (Eric has to do this for the first time today so I'll get more details tonight), but it sounds pretty intimidating. He also starts surgery today (he has a hysterectomy at 10 am) and his first 24 hour shift tomorrow. What a week!