Whit's Wedding

This weekend I headed out to Utah for a quick trip to attend my friend Whitney's wedding. She was sealed in the Salt Lake temple and then they had a ring ceremony and reception at Sundance. It was so great to see her so happy and to get to hang out with some awesome old friends from Washington, D.C. Ryan stayed home with Oliver. They went to a Demolition Derby at the State Fair and had an absolute blast! Most of the other girls flew solo so it was a great girls' weekend too. I didn't even bring my camera so these are all from Traci. It was a little surreal because we kept taking pictures and I would think, I already have this EXACT picture from our New Year's Eve 1999 party, or from Duck Beach 2000, or from any number of parties/brunches at 825 S. 22nd Street where most of us lived at one point or another in our DC experience.

Elliot got to chill with some Ballsteadt cousins (thank you Smith & Elaine!!) while I attended the sealing, but then he came with me to the other festivities. He was quite well behaved and loved being passed around to all these pretty ladies.

Let's be honest, Whit looks like a supermodel...as usual.

Kathy and Mauri cuddling to stay warm!

I packed about 50 cute little outfits for Elliot but at dinner on Friday night he was still wearing the pajamas he went to bed in on Thursday in Raleigh. Mauri looks like Posh Spice here.

The reception was so elegant and fun!

Can you believe how cute these baby bumps are?

Staying up WAY too late!

On Sunday I got to visit our dear friends Ally and Scott from Ithaca. Oh, it was so good to see them again! Elliot and her youngest are almost the same age, so I'm hoping that they'll become buddies. You can see that they have a lot to talk about already. Elliot was very interested in eating his new friend's shirt.

These are some pictures of Sundance. It was so beautiful at this time of year. I took a long walk with Elliot on Sunday morning. I loved being able to spend some one-on-one time with him. I put him in the sling and cuddled him as I walked through the quaking aspens and spruce trees, it was really a memorable experience.

Bragging Rights

I'm so proud of my sister Abby. Not only is she a loyal and devoted friend, hysterically funny impersonator, quick wit, dedicated Auntie to my sons, lovely writer, talented chef, gracious hostess, able and caring doctor...She has made it to the pages of the NY Times.

In my book this is a HUGE accomplishment. I am a big, big fan of the Times. I know that it has a liberal bent compared to the Wall Street Journal (which I also enjoy) and Fox News (which makes me want to vomit), but it comes down to the fact that they provide interesting, intelligent reporting and commentary. I especially enjoy reading the "Most Popular" stories...admittedly these aren't often the most "important" stories, but they are the most fun! For instance, I just got totally sidetracked when I went to get the above link to that page by an article on Sarah Palin's $150,000 wardrobe makeover.

Anyway, Abby is mentioned in a story on teaching literature and reflective writing to med students in order to make them more compassionate doctors. Abby started a narrative medicine seminar for the ob-gyn residents at Columbia. Here is her quote below:

“Narrative medicine changed my entire approach to medicine,” said Dr. Abigail Ford, a senior resident in obstetrics and gynecology at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia who studied under Dr. Charon as a medical student. “As a doctor you are really a co-author of patients’ experiences and need to hear their story and take it on.”

With her former professor’s guidance, as well as the support of Dr. Rini Ratan, the residency program director, Dr. Ford has initiated a narrative medicine program for her fellow obstetrics and gynecology residents. While the program is still in its first year, “we’ve always run over,” said Dr. Ford. “People have to be dragged away.”

OK, I think that is pretty cool!! Not only that she was quoted in the Times, but also for the underlying story. Abby was interested in the nexus of medicine and the humanities and took the initiative to start a seminar in narrative medicine in her residency program. I can't tell you how many times I think, "someone ought to..., or someday I should..." but Abby just seized the day, as they say. Way to go Abby!

Fall Color

This past weekend we took a drive out to Pilot Mountain to check out the fall colors. From the pictures below you can see that we were about 3 weeks early. Not that fall colors even at their peak in NC have anything on the display in say, Ithaca, NY or Boston. The North Carolina Piedmont really is beautiful, though. It is full of small farms and small towns. We had lunch in the town of Mount Airy, which is "Mayberry," the home of the Andy Griffith show. We didn't have TV when I was growing up so I have no reference for this fact, but apparently a lot of people visit this town because they liked the show. We planned on stopping at Hanging Rock on the way home but drove right by it. Oliver and Elliot were real troopers. Ollie got stung by a bee on his thumb but after many tears he recovered. (Sitting on my lap and singing "Itsy Bitsy Spider," "the ABC song" and "Happy Birthday to [our neighbor and preschool buddy] Diana" seemed to soothe his pain.)

Ryan is pointing out Pilot Mountain to Ollie...this is the view they they saw:

We passed this old antique store and stopped to take some pictures. I love the color of this old door.

Oh, I just LOVE my boys!!!

How country is this...the cows come right up to the front door!

Big Punkin

Just down the road from us a very enterprising farm family put up pumpkin-selling operation, made notable by the presence of a GIANT inflatable pumpkin. There is another temporary pumpkin-n-mums stand just around the corner from them, but really, who is going to stop there when the BIG PUNKIN is a mere 200 yards away??? We feel sort of bad for the other guys. Everytime we get in the car Oliver asks if we are going to "see big punkin"? So on Tuesday night we all headed out to "see big punkin" up close and pick out some pumpkins.

Ollie was pretty freaked out by the "big punkin" at first, but soon warmed up to it

Witness Oliver's baby hypnosis trick...Elliot couldn't take his eyes off that pumpkin

We picked out an Elliot-sized pumpkin for the little guy and Oliver was so worn out by the evening's adventure that he totally pooped out in the 3 minute car ride home.

Over The River and Through The Woods...

...to their grandchildren's house they'll go.

Our lucky boys got visits from all four grandparents in the last few weeks. Ryan's parents came out just after we returned from Hawaii (Ryan's mom flew home with Ollie and Ryan's dad and Uncle Blake followed a few days later). My dad came out for a visit a few weeks ago and then my mom came up for a quick visit this past weekend to keep me and the boys company while Ryan went backpacking in the Blue Ridge Mountains with a buddy from highschool. It was so much fun to have each of those guests. Here are some pictures from their visits.

Grandma and Grandpa Halverson with the boys before church.

Ollie is looking up at Grandma Halverson as they were feeding the ducks at the Duke Botanical Gardens. Can you see in his eyes how much he loves her!
Ollie and Grandpa Halverson strolling though the garden. Actually, Grandpa Halverson is holding Ollie's hand because Ollie had just made a run for it. It is so much more fun to be chased than to walk around looking at plants. Can you blame him? Ollie tries to make off with the golf cart while Grandpa checks out the waterlilies
Ollie holds forth on the topic of aquatic plants
Oliver points out some fascinating detail to Grandpa Halverson

Elliot meets Blake for the first time...
...and is intrigued. He seems to know that Blake is a special spirit.
Elliot finds Grandpa Ford SO surprising...
and funny, too!
But Nana is just the best for cuddling!