Can You Find Hamish?

This picture was taken in September 1998, when Hamish was a spright 17 year old freshman at Columbia.

TEAM HOYT

This posted under the link section but I came across this video today, and knew I had to pass this inspiring story along.

PICTURES RECOVERED! WATCH OUT NYC! BIRTHDAY GIRLS ARE READY TO PAAAARTY!

OKAY, so these pictures are from December, when both Miriam and I turned 29. We spent 4 fabulous days in New York City to kick off our last year in the twenty bracket. Miriam had a lady on her flight from Oregon warn her not to go too crazy painting up the town with her girlfriend, "Sounds like a lot of trouble to me!" she exclaimed. If this kind soul only knew, just how much havoc two pregnant women obsessed with Italian food, sleeping-in, and waiting in line TO GET THOSE DISCOUNTED LES MISERABLES TICKETS really can reek on a city. You can only imagine, right?

Happy Birthday to us! And a BIG THANK YOU ONCE AGAIN TO JARED FOR BEING SUCH A GOOD HOST! Especially when you woke us up at midnight with your stuffed orangutan, thanks for THAT highlight!

PS-PLEASE DON’T READ TOO MUCH INTO THE PICTURE OF ELLEN GAZING LONGINGLY AT THE SIDE OF MIRIAMS HEAD. SUBJECT MATTER THAT STIRS UP CONTROVERSY IS ALWAYS THE MOST INTERESTING, TO BE SURE!

OH THE DRAMA THAT TORTURES US. MIRIAM, THIS IS FOR YOU

BABY MAKES 3! HERE COMES NIBLET!

Here's Ellen at 16 weeks. Currently Niblet's due date is
August 2.

ps-We are calling the baby Niblet until we settle on a name, and discover the sex.
pss-Technically this baby makes 4, we can't forget Dewey!

YEP. THAT'S A BABY - Click the ulrasound to find the baby's head - then run the mouse over the square

YEP. THAT'S A BABY, originally uploaded by ellybell42.

This ultrasound is the result of the midwife checking to see if Ellen is carrying twins....FOR THE SECOND VISIT IN A ROW! In fact this photo was shot just moments after the MW exclaimed, "There are definitely two babies in there! I'm warming up the ultrasound machine!!"

This is exactly what happened to us at last months visit. Both times the doppler picked up two heart beats, and Ellen was measuring 3-4 weeks larger than her due date...... We don't know what to think.....so we're anxious for our 20 week ultrasound with a RADIOLOGIST.

Both ultrasounds show one baby, as you can see here, so we can all breathe a little easier- at least until the next visit. FOR THE LOVE OF PETE! THESE TYPES OF SCARES ARE NOT MEANT FOR THE GESTATING INNOCENT!


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THE GROUNDHOG IS OFFICIALLY A LIAR!

It was actually a lot of fun returning home to this! Albany's first winter storm (February is very late) dumped over 17 inches of snow in less than 24 hours. The whole city shut down on Valentine's day (poor florists!) except for, of course, the hospital and Hamish's classes. In fact Albany Med was the ONLY university open this snowy/blizzardy day. Good preperation for a lifetime of work - say goodbye to "snow days". Unless you're a teacher, in which case, you still get to frolic in the snow with the kids when school is cancelled - yeah!

Dewey did NOT know what to think about all this at first. When we'd take him outside with us, he'd walk a few feet, stop, look up at us with "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! YOU'RE KIDDING, RIGHT?" written all over his face, and he'd promptly walk straight back to the door and wait for us to open it.

Yes, Dewey, welcome to our new lives........get used to it pooch. It only gets colder from here...

A PIT STOP TO ONE OF OUR FAVORITE PLACES, WITH ONE OF OUR FAVORITE FAMILIES

We were SO HAPPY united airlines let us break our 14 hour trip up by stopping for a day and night in San Francisco to see Eric, Doug, Elizabeth, and Sophia! It was WONDERFUL to hang out albiet briefly, with family like this. We even spent the afternoon waiting for the Queen Elizabeth II cruise liner - the biggest ship in history to visit the SF bay - to make her grand entrance. It was pretty exciting - who knew! - and SF gave quite the IMPRESSIVE welcome. (Some might even say explosive, right girls?)

THANK YOU OKINGTON'S! ;) And to Catriona for a fun Monday morning before we left for the airport.

ALOOOOOHA!

We highly recommend a trip like this to ANYONE who lives in a frigid, grey, wet, or snowy place during the winter months. TREAT YOURSELF! Go to the tropics with your family and RELAX! FROLIC! LAUGH! wear nothing but sunscreen BECAUSE ITS WARM ENOUGH TO!

We had a FANTASTIC time with some of the Nebeker clan - those who weren't able to make it were SORELY MISSED! But we'll make you a pineapple & mango smoothie the next time we see you, no worries!

We visited the Big Island which meant both of us got to hang out with old friends we hadn't seen in a while.
A BIG MAHALO TO KRIS AND BOYS FOR A GREAT TIME PADDLING, EATING SUSHI, AND BREAKFAST ON THE LANAI!!

We saw turtles, spinner dolphins, geckos, wild turkeys, wild goats, WHALES, and all other manner of island wildlife - even a 5 inch centipede. Dad tracked down the wild pigs every morning we were there. We snorkeled, hiked, combed beaches for shells, and fell asleep in the shade of palm trees, and read our little hearts out. It was more than relaxing......except for when Aaron sliced his foot on lava rock, when Holly was impaled by a sea urchin, or when Avery was awake racing around exploring EVERYWHERE!!! And let's not forget the torrential rainfall that drenched us at the beach....

Good times were had by all. Let's do it again!

HIBISCUS LOVE, AWE YEAH!

IMG_3682, originally uploaded by ellybell42.