3/2/2009
I’m headed to Vancouver this week for the Pacific Dental Conference. I’m excited because I’ll be taking courses in Sleep Apnea, Botox, and Invisalign. It is also a great chance to spend with some of my team, learning together.
Just as exciting (okay more exciting) is the opportunity to see my British Columbia family.
My two dental assistants have never been to Vancouver and one of them has never been on a plane! I’m excited for them to see all there is to see, and for them to have their first big conference experience. I really believe in trying to help those around me grow and reach their potential and goals and it is wonderful to have assistants that really are eager to grow.
2/7/2009
Last night we traveled to Calgary to stay with the Cranmers and be with our soon-to-be daughter Serenity. It was great time together. I really enjoyed watching the cousins play. The adults stayed up late just talking, reminiscing and laughing. Saturday we just hung around the house stopping for eggs benedict and pizza structured around games movies chatting and play. Now we are off to see Australia leaving the kids with sitters.
UPDATE: Just returned from Australia and it was superb. Had me teary about ten times. I was very impressed with the themes and story the performances direction and cinematography. Oscars are on the way.
1/8/2009
The past couple of nights I’ve stolen an hour or so to paint a room with my four boys. I love the feeling of working alongside my family on a project. The boys are all quite proud of their handiwork and the paint job turned out great. It was quite adorable when Brigs and Joshua painted their names on the wall. A classic moment.
12/8/2008
We traveled to Calgary this weekend to spend more time with our soon-to-be daughter, currently going by the name of Serenity. Our time with Serenity kicked off at a Church Christmas party with a dinner, program, and dance. The highlight was watching Serenity dance– the girl has rhythm and energy! I even had my first dance with her which was a great moment. She has really already formed a strong attachment to Daria which is so cute to watch. Saturday Serenity came over to spend time with the boys at my in-laws. Joshua’s characteristic instinct to love and protect has already kicked in and he has been so tender and loving about and with Serenity. She is a fun little girl who loves to laugh and play and has a good nature about her. Noah loved seeing another little person smaller then him. I’m looking forward to them having lots of playtime in the coming months and watching that relationship form. Today we spent another hour with Serenity and we learned some of her favourite foods and that she is a very good copycat right now. She copied nearly all of my hand movements and facial expressions. We’ve decided we are going to do baby sign language with her as she has lots to express but no vocabulary yet which is visibly frustrating her. It was a magical weekend that we couldn’t have orchestrated any better. She recognized us, started to call us by names, and gave us all oh so many hugs and goodbyes. I’m going to really miss her this week and can’t wait till we can take her home for good. I have no doubts about her place in our family.
11/29/2008
Nephi said:
Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.
His words are words to live by, and landed among my favorites some 14 years ago. They serve me in every season of life, in the ups and downs, and most importantly dampen the downs and magnify the highs. Recently we experienced a miscarriage, the loss of a little dream we thought we were building; and yet there is still a brightness of hope. There is much to love, look forward to and feast upon. We have felt the love of God and of all men in this time, and we thank you all for your many kindnesses expressed and felt in our hearts. We have come to appreciate our little (and not so little) boys even more this past week. We continue to press forward with the adoption of our new little girl. There is sadness for certain, but we have found that it has bound us closer together. Thank you all for your prayers, thoughts, gifts and meals, it has been an angelic time that has matched the sorrow.
11/29/2008
I just approved all the delightul, insightful and kind comments many you have made. Sorry it took me so long. Before blogging got popular, and more importantly before spamming blogs got popular, comments were far easier to administrate. Tired of deleting comments on prescription drugs, and the like, from people I haven’t yet had the pleasure of meeting, I turned comments off. I’m going to be testing out a new system for approving comments now that Wordpress has updated its tools.
11/3/2008
I really enjoy my career. Truly. Sometimes I think I enjoy it too much.
I love the challenge and I love the pursuit of knowledge it has put me on.
But guess what, it has been my goal, for some time, to be able to retire by 40. That is, to have accrued enough assets (businesses, real estate etc.) to completely cover all my expenses and then some with passive income. I think I will still be practicing dentistry in some form but perhaps only 2-3 days. Ambitious? Yes. Achievable? Definitely.
When will you retire?
10/30/2008
I’m excited for trick-or-treating with my boys tomorrow. It’s always fun to enjoy their boyhood excitement.
We are dressing up at our office with a 101 dalmations theme. Bryan will be Cruella De Vil and Dan and I are the henchmen. The rest if the staff will be dressing up as the Dalmations.
I’ll try and get the pictures of all our costumes up here soon.
