Sunday, December 11, 2005

Update!!

Well, for those of you who haven't heard, Jon has now been accepted to every medical school to which he applied, with the exception of the University of Utah. Thanks to his intelligence, charismatic interview skills and his all around greatness, Jon has been accepted to two medical schools in Florida and one each in Maine, Arizona, Illinois and Pennsylvania. We are waiting to hear from the University of Utah, which does not send their acceptance letters out until April or May, but until then, Erie, PA is our number one choice.

Aside from this exciting news, we must keep you updated on our sweet Makea as well. Her repertoire of words and tricks now include: saying "hi" or "bye" while waving, clapping her hands for patty cake while saying "pah - pah", jumping up and down while saying "uh, dah, uh, dah", playing peek-a-boo (she just says "pee"), emptying shelves, cupboards and, yes, even trash cans, standing on her own, and walking while hanging onto furniture. She also loves to wow people with her growing vocabulary - "ball" (even oranges and tangerines are labeled as such), "baby" (most often heard when she's looking in the mirror), and "puppy" (her general term for all animals, both inanimate and living). Most of all, she loves to show everyone how brilliant she is by saying "E" every time she sees any word with the letter E in it. Yes, she is fun. We enjoy every minute with her!

We hope you are all enjoying this wonderful holiday season!

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Our Little Angel


angel 4
Originally uploaded by snjbuchanan.
I had fun trying all sorts of Halloween costumes on Makea! She just looks cute in EVERYTHING! This little angel costume was one of my favorites - probably because she is such an angel!

Just the two of us


Just the two of us
Originally uploaded by snjbuchanan.
This is Jon and I at Murray Pioneer Park last winter...one of the last shots of 'just the two of us' (I was eight months pregnant with Makea at the time).

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Campfire songs


Campfire songs
Originally uploaded by snjbuchanan.
Makea loves to listen to her daddy play the guitar. On this evening, by the light of the campfire, she tried to help out with some of the chords.

Donut Falls


Rock climbing 2
Originally uploaded by snjbuchanan.
The hike to Donut Falls is really just a very simple walk... until the very end, where you must climb a rock wall to get up to the falls. This would have beem easy with just the 2 of us, but bringing Makea along was quite a feat! Jon carried her in the front pack while I nervously climbed behind them. Fortunately he is an avid climber and made it up easily. I, on the otherhand, barely kept my nerces intact. This photo does not accurately portray how high up we were! But, the falls and view from the top were beautiful and, in hindsight, well worth the effort!

Camping at the Spruces


Donut Falls
Originally uploaded by snjbuchanan.
This past August we went camping at the Spruces campground, up Emigration Canyon (UT). We had SO much fun, just relaxing, spending time with family and enjoying nature. While there, we took a hike to Donut Falls (behind us in the photo.) We had a great time!

Monday, November 21, 2005

First Family Photo


First Family Photo
Originally uploaded by snjbuchanan.
This is the first picture of the three of us, taken just a couple of hours after Makea's birth on January 20th, 2005 at the University of Utah Hospital. You can see the fatigue in our faces, but the delight in our eyes is unmistakable! :)

Thursday, October 06, 2005

Welcome to our blog!

Well, I assume if you've found this blog, you probably know us. But, just because it feels weird to just 'dive right in' without a little bit of background, here's a quick summary of us:

Jon grew up in Utah, lived in Northern Germany for a year, served an LDS mission to the Hawaiian islands, and attended school at the University of Utah and then transferred to BYU-Hawaii in Fall 1999. Which is when he came across little old me. :) I (formerly Sarah Stout) grew up in Oregon, and started school at BYU-Hawaii at the ripe old age of 17. I joined the BYUH Concert Choir, and in Fall 1999 set my eyes on the finest looking man I'd ever seen. After a tour with the choir to Taiwan and Singapore, long distance correspondence, an engagment to someone else (!), and then a year-long engagement to eachother, we were finally married for time and all eternity in the Portland Oregon LDS Temple in Aug 2001. Four months later we graduated together, with 'matching' degrees in Biology with minors in Biochemistry. We stayed in Hawaii for a few more months, and, sadly, had to return to the mainland to pursue higher education.

That summer, we took some time off to drive cross-country to upstate NY to serve as missionaries in the Hill Cumorah Pageant. Good times!! But, our fun back east was short-lived, and, in time, we had to decide "where to go from here". With Jon's family in Utah and mine in Oregon, it was difficult deciding where to go. We decided to visit both locations and let "the money" tell us where to go (in other words, where could we get jobs?). After fruitless efforts in Oregon, we both landed good jobs in SLC, UT - Jon at a forensic lab, performing complicated drug testing for the FBI, and me conducting oncology (cancer) research at the Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah. Shortly after moving to Murray, UT, we landed a job as Resident Managers at the SLC Ronald McDonald House - a nonprofit organization servicing families of patients receiving medical treatment.

We enjoyed our jobs but both decided to pursue higher education - namely graduate school. I applied to PA (Physician Assistant) schools around the country, was accepted to a few and chose to attend the University of Utah PA Program, partially because of it's ranking (5th in the nation), and partially because I was sick of moving (after 6 moves in our first year of marriage!!) I began school in Aug 2003 and, after 6240 hours of lecture, study and clinical practicum, obtained my MPAS (Master of Physician Assistant Studies) in Aug 2005. After two unsuccessful applications to medical school, Jon found a new job doing genetic and endocrinology research at the University of Utah. Longing to return to school, and wanting to garnish more skills, he applied and was accepted to the professional-MBA (Master of Business Administration) program at the University of Utah. He began the program Aug 2004 and, if all goes well, will finish ahead of schedule, in June 2006. (He's such an overacheiver :) ). He recently began his third round of medical school applications, this time meeting with MUCH more success! He has already had ten invitations to interview, along with one ACCEPTANCE! We are still waiting to hear back from other schools with which he has interviewed before making a final decision as to where to go, but we're very glad to say, the application process is finally over! Jon will be attending medical school starting Fall 2006, and will graduate 2010. Only time will tell what field of medicine he'll go into, or where he will complete his residency - we're happy taking things one step at a time!

More notable than anything else we've done in our lives is that we have recently become parents to an incredible little girl! In January 2005, our sweet Makea Rose Keho'omalamalama was born. (Translation - Makea: gift of God, Keho'omalamalama: one who brings light, warmth and compassion). She is our greatest gift, and fills a place in our hearts we never knew was empty. Parenting is even better than we ever imagined - we just never knew we could be so in love (with each other, and with such a sweet little girl!) She is very curious, daring, brave, independent, happy, opinionated, charming, sweet, sensitive, kind, innocent, pure, and pleasant.....all rolled into a cute little 8 month old bundle of joy. (Pictures to come soon) Sure, she keeps us busy, but we wouldn't have it any other way!

So, what are we up to currently? Here's a quick rundown:
Us - living at the Ronald McDonald house in SLC, UT
Makea - surprising us everyday with her constant growth and development: as of today (though it will be obsolete in a few hours), she can snuggle, smile, laugh, giggle, cry, complain, whine, shout, growl, roar, scream, say Mama, Papa, Mom, Dad, Duck (dut), All-Done (ah-duh), That (dat), Bye (bah) and Wow (wah)! She can get down on all fours, scoot around on her tummy, maneuver around on her bum, pull herself up to standing, climb, walk while holding onto things, and stand alone for a few seconds. Every day she amazes us with her whit, charm, and all-around sweet snuggability. She is perfect, and everyday we have to pinch ourselves that we are so blessed to have her in our lives!
Me - a full time mom, staying at home with Makea (a luxury I did not have for the first 6 months of her life, while she stayed home with Jon 40-100 hours per week as I finished clinical rotations.) When I am not snuggling, nursing, changing, feeding, bathing, reading to, walking, playing with or tickling Makea, I am working at managing the Ronald McDonald House (still resident managers), playing editor, travel agent, chauffer, maid, accountant, cook and secretary for Jon in his medical school applications, work and school (he does help out WAY more than he needs to!), serving as counselor in the Relief Society, and trying (rather unsuccessfully) to squeeze in a few moments to study for my boards (which must be taken by the end of the year).
Jon - a full time student in the U of U pMBA program, currently enrolled in 18 credits. Also working full time, both as an accounant at Wasatch Homeless Clinic and as a researcher at a lab at Eccles Human Genetics at the U of U. Has recently been 'skipping' class and work to fly and drive all over the country to places like Maine, Arizona, Oregon, West Virginia, Washington DC, Maryland, Florida, Pennsylvania and Missouri, to interview with various medical schools. Yes, he's exhausted, and so is our bank account, after all that! :) Leaving at 7am and returning home around 11pm doesn't leave him much time to be at home with Makea and I, but when he is, he is constantly doing dishes, cleaning the bathroom, doing maintenance on the Ronald McDonald house, playing with Makea, snuggling us both and telling us how much he loves us! We're so lucky to have such a wonderful husband and father!

So, that's us in a nutshell. Hope I didn't bore you with my rambling on and on. (But hey, you can always scroll down if you're bored!)

Happy Blogging!
Sarah