My parents and I were about to skip the short month of February for getting together, but my daycare observes Presidents’ Day, so it was the excuse I needed to make a quick trip back to Wisconsin to visit my parents, friends and grandparents. I caught up with Jessica and got my haircut while restocking on all my essentials. One day I’ll get a hairdresser in Pittsburgh, but I don’t mind waiting to get my hair cut until I’m back in Wisconsin!

Saturday morning we visited with Lyssa and the VanDeHei family at their farm over coffee. This was Drew’s opportunity to meet the dairy cows and see where he was going to be sent to help with chores! Every Wisconsin boy needs to experience dairy farm chores. We got him warmed up by playing with a few tractors until showing him the real deal. He didn’t cry, so that’s a good sign that he’s not all city boy.

While I was home we of course had to meet up with Matt and LeeAnna to check up with Drew’s big buddy Ollie. We went over there for dinner and watched the boys play around. They are getting too big, too fast. The boys are so similar too. Both are pretty chill, good-natured, and love their food! It’s nice going over there for dinner since their house is ready to host another baby for dinner. We brought over Ollie’s present since he was now a year old – it’s hard to believe they already graduated to toddler status. Nothing like adding another toy to make noise around the house. Sorry guys!

The months are flying by as we approach the end of Paul’s fellowship. Much of remaining weekends in February was dedicated to work and studying as he prepared for his anesthesia board exams coming up in mid-March. Paul’s mom came out for a week and spent time with Drew, John, Paul and Dale in Cleveland. It was so nice of her to spend time with us this way, helping out the men and Drew. This allowed me to catch up on some personal time. I was able to grab dinner with the girls and take a ballet class and work to catch up on school and life.

The second weekend Kathy was in Cleveland, Paul and I went on a dinner date to a restaurant down the road to celebrate what would have been Joel’s 30

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Birthday – the dirty thirty. It wasn’t exactly a restaurant I could have imagined Joel inside. It was a martini bar serving Middle Eastern cuisine – not exactly the meat and potatoes on which Joel survived. The meal was wonderful and Paul and I really enjoyed our night together. I love the tradition of going out on Joel’s birthday and I hope it continues for many years to come.

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