ACS Conference- San Francisco Getaway

This is Jason's chief year of residency and one of the perks of being a Chief is you get to attend the Annual College of Surgeons conference. This year the conference was held in San Francisco which was great since my best friend Christina lives there. 

Christina had the genius idea to attend the Neil Young Benefit Concert. We had no idea what an amazing show that is. Definitely a once in a lifetime experience. Highlights- Seeing Eddy Vedder perform, Florence and the Machine, Neil Young, Brian Wilson and so many more... We literally went straight from the violin recital to the airport to the concert and didn't leave the concert until 2am. We then headed out to dinner as we hadn't yet eaten. The CA life!

We passed the Google campus on our walk back to the car and had to try out the Google bikes. 

Neat park across from the hotel.

The next day Christina and Jeff took us sailing. Amber and Jim were able to join us. My 1st sailing experience and one that I will never forget. The water was beyond choppy once we got out past the bridge- we're talking crazy high waves. We eventually turned around but Jeff's sailing skills definitely were tested and proven that day. 

We ate such good food on our trip! My new favorite dish- ramen soup. Could eat that every single day. 

Banner attendees. Each night we met up with the Banner posse to explore the nighlife. Sumeet and his class had lined up quite the itinerary of fantastic restaurants and really cool bars to check out. We tagged along and had a great time.

We walked across the Golden Gate Bridge. What amazing views!

I met up with my good friend Shelley Higgins- one of my first friends in Arizona and my first surgeon's wife friend. She had her husband relocated to Washington a few years ago so it was nice to catch up as we walked 5 miles around San Francisco one day. We ended up going to Coit Tower and exploring China town before meeting up with our husbands. 

The World Series was going on during the whole conference with the final game happening the night I went out to dinner alone with Christina. Riding the subway back into town that night was an experience to say the least. 

It would have been nice to stay longer but we flew back on Halloween to get back in time for trick or treating. The past few months have been insane. Between various work commitments, Jason interviewing for fellowship and the kids activities, we were ready for downtime at ACS. 

Halloween

Audrey was really into trick or treating this year and went up to each door with the kids. We opted for trick or treating with Bertolinos this year which made it even more fun for the kids. Willem had been set on Darth Vader all year so that was easy but Ellie was a flip flopper. First she wanted to be Doc McStuffins and the week of Halloween pulled out a Cinderella costume we already owned and declared it was the right costumer for her. Audrey carried on the tradition of wearing the Dr. Weiss costume. I tried to convince them to do a Wizard of Oz theme but was not successful. 

October 2014

This month started out with me going to my first ARCA convention which was held in Laughlin this year. It was hard being away from the kids for a week but they had fun at home with Mom and Jason. 

I golfed with my Dad and vendors 2 days in a row. That is enough golf for me for the year. Laughlin was beautiful though, I really enjoyed my time up there. 

Jason took them to the train park one day. Of course they loved it. 

Willem celebrated his 3rd Suzuki Birthday. 

Rachel took Willem on the Cub Scout Hike up South Moutain. 

Willem making Audrey breakfast in bed- so sweet!

1st round of Halloween costumes

Storytime

Annual ASA workshop at Orangewood Church. Willem had a Master Class with Louise Scott this year and enjoyed the group games they played. There was a singing class where they learned Raindrops on Roses from Sound of Music. That is one of our favorite movies right now so he had fun knowing the words already. 

Grandma brought the girls by for the final concert. 

We began decorating for Halloween. The kids got creative this year.

Fall Recital

Jason and I were leaving for his ACS conference directly from the recital so the day was a bit crazy. We actually arrived as the recital was starting but all worked out. 

Ellie played the bunny song and did a great job. 

Megyn told the kids they could dress in their Halloween costumes for the recital. It was really cute!

Ellie and Willem were both amongst the group of students who completed their sticker chart by practicing at least 6 days a week and doing extra assignments. 

Willem played Perpetual Motion. We took video so I don't have any pictures. He did a good job, it's a had piece and he practiced a lot to get his fingers to move quickly. It the first piece he's learned with that level of difficulty but he stuck with it and figured it out. 

Willem received the award for having earned the most stickers. He is now determined to get the same award in the Spring.