Jenn's First Wedding Cake

And this past weekend, Jenn delivered her first wedding cake.

• She made a mold of the lace from the bride's veil
  
• hand crafted and painted the flowers
  
• textured the tulle by running the fondant & veil through the pasta maker
  
• (the topper is a brooch bouquet provided by the bride)

And the cake flavors…

• Upper: dark chocolate cake w/ raspberry preserves and Nutella buttercream
  
• Lower: yellow cake w/ Kahlua syrup and mascarpone espresso buttercream (think tiramisu)
  
• each layer covered with dark chocolate ganache and finished with *tasty* fondant

In other news...

Lydia joined me at the clinic a number of times last week, and she bandaged this leg properly the first time without any instruction!

Gymnastics, Cake & a Whole Bunch of Stuff

Jenn was out with friends, I was having Bible study in the kitchen with some friends, and a storm blew through. Henry always wants to get out of bed and go somewhere, so this is where he went... right outside his doorway.

And here it is, mid-August. 2014 is buzzing by. Tomorrow starts a new era at Cuyahoga Falls Veterinary Clinic as Dr. Kirt Yant begins. Wow. 24 years Dad was a solo practitioner, then we paired up for 9 years, and now Kirt is set to assume my role as I assume Dad's in the coming months. James 4:14 says...

What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

He was onto something.

Lincoln had another fun trip to Leesville Lake last week.

One of the very cool events of the summer was when Grandpa Doug received tickets to the Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club that he couldn't use. He gave them to me, and I invited Brandon, and after he posted something about it on Facebook, Michael made mention that he'd like to come up from Charlotte and go with us. Well, I had an extra ticket, and it just worked out really, really cool. The Schwab tent was over the top, with hotdogs, fruit, prime rib, all the desserts and Nature Valley granola bars we could eat. It was fun to have the cousins together (it had been a long time!), and the highlight of the day at the course was when Kevin Na gave Lincoln his hat as he came off the 18th Green and then signed it for him. What a cool guy!


Below...
The kids decorated a birthday cake for Grandma Paulette; Lydia stretches before gymnastics class; another year, another Men's Retreat (this time with just my Bible study guys, Manny & Andy, along with three invitees); Lincoln at one of the Cuyahoga Falls wading pools; Grandma & Brandon's birthday party w/ Jenn's latest work of cake art



I'll try to remember to tack this onto the end of posts. They'll always look the same if you scroll through the posts, but at least if you keep up with this on a regular basis, you'll see the progression of my updates.

Princess Cake

While Jenn and I were in Columbus for some CE (and seeing Grandpa Dave & Grandma Laura's new house and sharing a good dinner at The Cheesecake Factory!), Lydia went to Grace's Birthday Party where Jenn's cake was on display. It was smaller than her previous cakes, but the investment of time and creativity was no less.Grandma Paulette took Lydia to the party, then took Henry for some ice cream, all while Grandpa Doug too Lincoln to Leesville Lake for a bit. Fun times with the grandparents!

Jenn and I got to have a good dinner at Cafe Istanbul before we headed home.

My first meeting with my first applicant went well. She made a very good impression, and I could see myself working with her. We'll see how the rest of the process goes.

Back Into The Routine

I want to take this occasion to publicly acknowledge Grandma Laura and thank her here on these pages for taking such good care of the kids for the week Jenn and I were away. Jenn and I value our vacation time together, and none of it would be possible without our parents taking on the kids, and this past vacation Grandma Laura took the whole week with them. We appreciate her so much.

It took the kids about a week to get back into the routine of having us home. Lots of getting up in the middle of the night, clinging, some touchy attitudes. They're back on track now.

As it turned out, Grandpa Doug & Grandma Paulette were on their vacation the week after ours, so Dad ran solo for a week, then I ran solo for a week. As is usual, stuff happens during one-doctor weeks that doesn't happen at other times. I had at least 6 walk-ins, and we usually don't have 2 in a month. We both got through it, but it confirmed that we're a 2 doctor practice, and running with 1 for very long gets a little crazy.

Jenn built a gorgeous cake for a friend's baby shower themed after "On The Night You Were Born" books. This was her first attempt with her new airbrush, and she killed it.
Lincoln came to the Clinic with me today, and boy does he love the calculator.
At a playdate the other day, our friend Courtney of LoveBug took some photos of Lydia as she was playing on one of her props. What do you think?
I received an e-mail from a reader who'd recently adopted a little one from Henry's orphanage and she informed me that a Facebook group has sprung up of families with children from Zhoukou. Holy cow! I've had fun visiting the page and seeing how other families are doing.

This weekend the kids will be with Grandma Paulette & Grandpa Doug as Jenn and I take off to Columbus for the Midwest Veterinary Conference. I'll be meeting my first applicant. Weird. Proof that time keeps ticking.

Wrist Bones

Lydia takes in "Finding Nemo"

It's been freezing here in northeast Ohio. Not much play-time outside, play-time and movies inside has been the strategy lately.

That, combined with the sick bug that hit Jenn the hardest, me the second-hardest, and worked its way a bit through Lydia, has led to an indoor kind of start to January. Lincoln had his round before Christmas, and we're half-convinced Henry just doesn't get sick.

Henry is learning to put on his underpants and pants by himself. This is a big, big step, and not only is he gaining patience and confidence in his abilities, he's also getting closer to not needing diapers overnight. The biggest reason I still have him in a diaper is because to this point he hasn't been able to work with his pants to get them back on after he takes them off. This is starting to change.

When Henry gets focused on play-time, not much distracts.

Lincoln continues to be an All Star Kindergartener. His reading is coming along nicely as well as his math. Right now he's at the cabin with Grandpa this weekend, and he'll certainly come home tired.

Funny story from the other evening. As we were reading our bedtime stories, Lydia noticed the bump in Jenn's wrist (her ulna, you have one, too), and said, "What's that?"

Jenn said, "Thats one of my wrist bones." For the anatomy sticklers, remember we're trying to explain this to a three-year-old.

Lydia looked at her chubby wrist and said, "Why don't I have one of those? I want a wrist bone."

Then Henry, as he often does, repeated what Lydia said, as he waved his *right* hand. "I want a wrist bone."

Jenn and I looked at each other with an, "Awww, gee," type of frown. He still has not acknowledged his difference, and it's neat to see him do what he needs to do with what he's got to do it with.

I came home yesterday to find Jenn "getting her hair done" by Henry and Lydia. Guess which side Lydia worked on first...
Plans are in the works for an October vacation to Disney this year. Jenn, in her typical travel agent fashion, has most of it planned out. There's also a stack of Disney vacation books that she's been working through. Not surprised.

Events have been set in motion, too, as far as it relates to me hiring a new associate later this year. I posted at Ohio State and got a response from a senior student that looks like it'll at least be a promising interview. I haven't yet advertised in places where seasoned vets might see, but that'll come soon. Also, I'll be blogging my hiring experience on my friend's (Eden Myers) blog, JustVetData.com. Big changes are coming to the Cuyahoga Falls Veterinary Clinic. At least as far as personnel. It is my plan for no big changes to come as far as the clients' experience is concerned.

After taking a couple of weeks off from running, I got back on the treadmill (it's way too cold outside even with the fantastic cool weather running gear the Parkinsons gave to me for Christmas) and the break was good thing. Jenn's been tired lately and a break, especially following her illness, would be a good thing.

I'm trying to whittle down my 5k time, and then a vet-buddy posted this story:

Galen Rupp Sets U.S. Indoor 5000-Meter Record of 13:01.26

Holy. Cow.

And a little digging provided this guy's 10k time at the 2012 US Olympic Trials: 27:25.33

Um. When I crossed the finish line at the Great New Year's Eve Race, the clock said 27:22, and my official posted time was 27:27. So if this guy had started 5,000 meters behind me at the start, we would have crossed the finish line at about the same time. Wow. I've got goals, but that isn't one of them.

Closing out 2013, Bring on 2014

A new year is here, but as there is catching up from the end of 2013 to do, let's close out the last year first.
Christmas seemed less hectic this year. It was nice having Grandpa Dave, Grandma Laura & Auntie Haley stay with us for the days leading up to Christmas. It also helped that the kids were just a bit older and a bit more mature. Lincoln, especially, was really good with all of the coming and going, the presents here and the presents there.
But perhaps his tonsillitis had something to do with it, as well. After being up and down with a fever and his activity level, he was really struggling by Mullen Christmas on Sunday. He even fell asleep in the loft (never had a Gates-kid ever done this) during some of the gift-giving time.
He bounced back on Monday, but I took him to the doctor on Tuesday. Even during sickness, he had a great attitude.After a round on antibiotics, life is back to normal.
The days following Christmas are always an adventure. Overstimulation, constant entertainment, lights and colors everywhere… and then everybody goes home and there are no more presents. How can kids not hit the wall?

But now it's New Year's Week and I've got a couple of days off. Jenn's been getting the house back in order and the kids have been bouncing back and forth from one of their gifts to another.

A while back at the Clinic, some of my staff were talking about running in the Great New Year's Eve Race. After some thought, Dad and I decided to get t-shirts for the team, expand the team a bit and pay for their registrations… make it a team-building event.
It's a 5K, and while it didn't snow during the event, it was ~19 degrees with 20mph winds and not a lot of sun. It. Was. Cold.
Jenn, who trains for the longer runs (10K, Half-Marathons and one of these years a Marathon), ran her usual good pace and finished with an official 27:42 (a little less on her Garmin, 27:33) which I submit is more accurate given the clogged starting line). I, who began running with any degree of consistency just a few months ago and am without any real training strategy, finished with an official 27:27. We were both very pleased, especially given the conditions.

And this brings us to the end of 2013. Jenn and I turned in at 10:00. Such was 2013: lots of fun, lots of challenges, and taking advantage of opportunities to rest up for tomorrow's challenges we found to be very worthwhile.

Kids @ The Clinic

Yesterday was a first in the Gates Family History. Because of a circle of events, the kids got to spend a day at work with me. That's right. Lincoln and Lydia spent Wednesday morning at the Clinic. Let's just say that it's not my plan to do that again any time soon.I picked up some Bob Evans for breakfast, and took a bunch of toys and books. But in the end, Lydia just wanted to wander around and/or play with the Rimadyl bottles. Lincoln was pretty interactive with my clients, and I had a string of clients that were very understanding and of patients that were very, very friendly. Rachel, my RVT, was also a huge help, and the kids love her.

Hopefully the next time they have to spend that much time with me at the clinic I'll be able to put them to work.