The hottest zoo in America

In the back left to right - Landon, Holden, Garett. In the front left to right - Braden, Spencer, Preston.

These are cousins to our boys and nephews to us. I took them to the Phoenix zoo the day after I flew in to Phoenix. I don't know exactly how hot it was, but it was hot enough to not see that many animals since they were hiding/snoozing. And, since we are a bunch of guys, we didn't bother getting a map when we entered. After two hours at the zoo we realized we had only seen half of the park...oh well. :-) While it isn't the worst zoo on earth (I have been to the zoo in Moscow...and that one was worse), it is easily one of the hottest!

More pics from our trip to follow. - GJ

While we've been away from our garden

We were very ambitious with our gardening plans this spring. But, we didn't really think so much about the fact that we will be traveling so much. Non-the-less, our friends down the street have been watering as needed (luckily it has been raining quite a bit here) and our garden continues to grow.

Some flowers in our yard.

Tomatoes, basil, oregano, etc.

Snap peas, jalapenos, blackberries, strawberries.

Our "vertical garden." Squash, cucumber, zucchini.

Our young blueberry bushes starting to bear fruit.

A small, early harvest.

Not seen are several watermelon plants and bell peppers.

Family Update

Just wanted to give an update of where we are and where we are going.

For the last couple weeks we were all down at Fort Bragg. Rachel and the boys played with friends while I worked at the hospital. It was fun to see friends and remember what being in the Army is all about.

I had the best experiences thus far in medicine (not that this is saying so much since the first two years of school are mostly bookwork, so any change is welcome). I was able to deliver 7 babies (I assisted with many more, but these were the ones that I actually "caught" myself. Obviously the moms do all the work, I just make sure that things go right through the labor process, nuchal cords are reduced, tearing is minimized, repairs are made, baby is suctioned and healthy, etc). I also helped with more than a dozen C-sections, and tons of other procedures and exams. I have to admit that the chances of me becoming an OB/GYN have risen dramatically. I worked an 18 hour shift last Wednesday and at the end of it, was still really satisfied with the experience, even knowing that I would have to be back to work in 6 hours. There haven't been too many times where I have worked as hard/long and still been happy about what I was doing. A couple years back when we first met Dr. Parker who delivered both our children (he also helped me coordinate this rotation since he still works at Fort Bragg), I asked him why he chose obstetrics. He gave the most curious response for a doctor "I don't really like working with sick people." He may have been joking, but it is true that most OB patients are young, healthy and are excited about starting families and seeing their doctor. This is typically not true of most other fields of medicine. What a choice experience it was to be able to help them out and be part of those special moments.

Rachel and the boys flew out to Phoenix a week early to take swim lessons and spend some extra time with family. I will be joining them shortly. We will take a quick trip down to Tucson, then up to Kanab, Salt lake, back to Show low, AZ, and finally back to Phoenix before flying back home at the end of June. Then enjoy our home for a week or so and off to Toronto to visit my Aunt, take care of unfinished research, and perhaps saunter up to Montreal for a weekend while we are there.

Here are some pictures from our spare camera.

Spencer was actually much happier than he looks here for his 2nd B-day...it is just that our old camera takes about 30 seconds between pictures...so catching the smile is tough work.

Sprinkler time, only problem is they are nudists.

Strawberry picking with Grandma and Grandpa Moore. Note the red juice all around Spencer's mouth.

Reckless Abandon.

If only we had one of these in our home, it would help us keep the house clean.

Rachel's parents came out to visit us for a few days. We took them up to Mount Airy, NC (only 45 minutes from our house). This is the birthplace of Andy Griffith and the town itself inspired the Andy Griffith show.

We had a "home made" pizza party at our house with several other families for Family Home Evening one Monday night. Rather than spending 20$ on a 5 gallon water jug to make root beer, we used one of our water storage jugs. The only problem was getting the dry ice in there. This is our friend Richard, a graduate biophysics major turned med student, meticulously at work on the root beer in our kitchen lab.