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So the big news is that this weekend Emmy learned to ride a bike.  This is my first attempt at embedding video so if it doesn't work I'll try again.

Easter

So I'm on a roll.  Here are some photos from our Easter Sunday morning and walk.

Here are the kids with their Easter haul.

We took a walk along the muddy trails next to our house and spent some time at the playground.  Can you tell Schmoopie is getting too old for some things (and she does NOT want her picture taken).

Meanwhile. Sal and Boofis are still willing to smile for the camera.

And here is the token Veep nature photo.

My Monthly Post

I look at everyone else's blog and wonder how they are able to post every day or two and I can't even manage to post something once a month.  Tonight I was supposed to go and work at the VA down the hill but while I was gone last week they updated their computer software and my login wouldn't work.  So now I'm back at home and have some unexpected time to kill.

So here are the biggest news items since I last posted. 

I had the week off last week and we drove out to Utah for spring break.  Veep and I spent three days at Snowbird skiing during one of the few snowstorms this season.  The trip was marred by a newfound kidney problem.  I had a sore throat a few weeks before (strep throat, it turns out) and didn't take the time to get an antibiotic and ended up with something called post streptococcal glomerulonephritis.  At least that's the working diagnosis.  In short, halfway through the week I found myself twenty pounds heavier with calves larger than my thighs.  I kind of figured that this was related to the aforementioned diagnosis and went to the ER in Provo at the end of the week.  The guy there told me it was probably just the change in altitude and gave me a diuretic.  But when we got home Monday night there was a message on the phone from the Provo hospital saying that my strep culture was positive.  So basically now I have to follow up with a nephrologist (kidney doctor) to make sure that this thing resolves as it can rarely progress.  At this point I've lost most of the water weight with the diuretic and feel fine.  Veep jokingly made the point that I will probably get hit by a truck now that I am finally nearing the end of my training.

The other big news, which is more interesting news, is that we visited Spokane on our way back to Portland and signed a contract with a builder to build a house on a ten acre lot just south of town.  Veep and I are both very excited about this.  The lot is full of trees, which we like, and we will have plenty of room for the kids as well as privacy.  Oh, and the house will be nice too.  We are going to build a house that is a timber frame hybrid, meaning that the great room (or living room) will have big timber frames that are actually structural and weight bearing, not just decorative.  And the rest of the house will be conventional framing.  The kids will each get their own room and we will have a nice main floor master suite.  Some of the other great things, in my opinion, is the three car garage and the proximity to a local favorite road biking route.  We will also have a daylight basement that we are going to leave unfinished for the time being, but will probably finish sooner than later.  At this point we are just waiting for all the financing/appraisal stuff to be in place and the builder is securing the permits.  They will probably break ground in early May.  So maybe when I write another post in two months I'll have some photos to share.

So, because I have no fancy Italian food, Easter crafts, or serene landscapes to photograph, I will round out this post with a photo of Sal.  It makes me tired listening to him breathe, I think I may be nodding off. Zzzzzz.