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!

A new tradition???

Apparently the Fase side of the family (Eric's mom's side) has an Easter tradition of making a lamb cake. This lamb cake is made from a recipe that has been passed down for a few generations. I think it was kind of a joke gift that I received for Christmas (being that it was from Aunt Sue), but nevertheless, I love family traditions and was really excited to receive a pan so I could carry this one on. I received numerous warnings from absolutely everyone in the family that the recipe was really not good-more like really bad!-but I was excited to try it out and expose my family to the tradition since we were going to be spending Easter with the Parish side this year.
While I was making the recipe, though, something just didn't seem quite right. For instance, there were ingredients listed that weren't referenced in the directions. But I winged it and was really proud that it seemed to turn out. The cake looked good when I took it out the pan-the little lamb still had a face! On Easter, I reiterated the warnings of the awful recipe to my family. "Try at your own risk!" I warned them, but secretly I was hoping it had turned out. Well, I can't say I wasn't disappointed when everyone tried it and had this look on their face that they, too, wanted to like it, but just couldn't muster that facial expression. So a new tradition? I don't think so until I can find a recipe that bring people back to eating a lamb cake!

Making the cake...

The overall response from the family!

Yes, we are still alive!!

So sorry there have been no posts in 4 months! Yes, we are still alive, but there just really has not been anything to blog about! We work, work, work and go to school and then work some more. Sorry for nothing fun to report, but with busy season wrapping up in a few weeks (supposedly!) and Eric's class schedule being a little less so he can study for the boards, hopefully there will be a bit more to blog about in the next few months!