My friend Kimberly threw me a wonderful shower.
It was great to spend time with the girls and catch up on what everyone has been up to and what our plans are for the future. Leaving our friends is going to be the hardest part of finishing school.
Thanks girls for a great time!
We are excited to announce that Matt passed the second section of the National Boards!
The first section he took back during the summer between first and second year. In March he’ll take the Regional boards. I’m so proud of all his hard work during these four years of dental school. I know he’s going to be a great dentist. We are looking forward to him being done with school soon and finding a job. Matt has been researching online, going to meetings, emailing and calling multiple dentists a week, to try and find prospective practice opportunities. It’s one of the many things that is constantly on our minds these days. But we’re hopeful that we’ll find the right opportunity for us.
After the White Coat Ceremony in 2007
It’s hard to believe that in about 6 weeks we’ll welcome our little girl into our family. It feels good to know that there is a reason for the frequent trips to the bathroom, slight heartburn at night, aching back when I sit too long, small stretch marks starting to appear on my belly, and some lovely spider and varicose veins on my leg. But really, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I haven’t had much to complain about, just some modifications to my schedule and eating choices. I have really enjoyed being pregnant, knowing that she is growing and developing her muscles (especially when she tries to move her legs and arms to see how far she can make my stomach stretch).
We went on a tour of the hospital last weekend. It was surreal to see all the different areas of the hospital that we will be in. But it also made us a little more excited to see the end of the line for this 9 month journey.
We realized that this Christmas will mark the quietest Christmas we will probably ever have. There were no small children running around and yelling.
We had the Burk family tradition of soup in bread bowls on Christmas Eve. It wasn’t the same as Mom’s soup but I think I did a pretty good job.
This was the first year we bought and decorated our own Christmas tree. It was fun to pick out all the ornaments. We’re hoping to find a Virginia ornament before Matt graduates.
Christmas morning we opened our presents from each other and then had a yummy french toast breakfast.
We were invited to Haley’s mom’s house for Christmas dinner. We got to be a part of their fun family tradition of getting table gifts. Each person had a poem at their seat that gave clues to what their gift was. We had to guess what it was before we could open the gift. I got some cute vinyl lettering for the bathroom and Matt got candy.
We all got a chance to try out Super Mario Bros. on the Wii. And the girls played Hand and Foot.
And this next part was mostly documented for Nina. Your son displayed his sewing skills as he and Cameron made a sock toy that Cameron got the kit for. It was definitely a sight to see.
Virginia got hit with one of the biggest snow storms they’ve had in the last 5 years, over a foot of snow in one day. Luckily we didn’t have anywhere we needed to be and Matt made it safely back from his rotation in rural western Virginia. He said the storm was chasing them all the way back into the city. It was nice to just hang out, watch movies, and drink hot chocolate. Church was even cancelled because the roads and parking lot still hadn’t been cleared.
Matt treated me to a night in the Botanical Gardens. They had some gorgeous light displays throughout the whole park. It was a little chilly so we took advantage of the indoor displays, like the train room. Which was really cool.
These trees have been decorated with dried flowers from the gardens. They were AMAZING! I can’t imagine all the time that went into decorating them.
More lights…
Matt had fun choosing his favorite poinsettia's while I took more pictures. I never knew there were so many varieties.
This miniature town was adorable.
I’m glad we’ve been able to take advantage of some of the sights of Richmond at Christmas. This is definitely a Christmas for the memory books.
