Sweet Blessings!

Okay- so in order to understand how freakin' sweet this blessing is I must first give you a little background....

So during a student's 4th year of medical school you get to spend thousands of dollars applying to and interviewing for residency spots for the upcoming year. On "Match Day" all of the students get together and open up their letters telling them where they are going to for residency. Michael applied to Orthopedics, which is a very competitive field, but we weren't too concerned about getting a good spot because Michael had an outstanding resume. Somehow or another tragedy struck and Michael did not match at all and had no where to go for residency. We had to scramble for a one year spot in General Surgery and try to apply and interview again next year. It is difficult to explain to those not in the medical field how devastating and terrifying this is- but just know that it's bad- not only because you have to settle with some make-shift intern year program and then have to interview all over again, but also because you now have a big black mark on your resume, making it harder to match the next year.

A few months after the match (or I should say our non-match) Michael decided that he didn't want to do surgery after all and was much more interested in radiology. We applied to it and he interviewed at 8 programs, with 2 more still to go...

Fast forward to the present- Just this evening the head of the Residency Selection Committee of Radiology at Washington University called Michael up to offer him a 2nd year spot because apparently someone dropped out. Of course we accepted! This is honestly the best possible thing that could have happened. It totally erases the whole 'not matching' thing and puts us back on track. No more interviewing, no more worrying about the match, no more worrying about what to do next year inbetween this intern year and the year we would have started any other radiology program. We already know and love St. Louis and still have a lot of friends there and I am so excited to go back! I missed it so much! Anyway- just wanted to share this little bit of happiness with you. Now, please excuse me- I need to go celebrate!

'Twas the Night before Christmas

Christmas Eve! Wahoo! Our very first Dobson Family Christmas Eve Celebration. It was so fun starting traditions with our very own family this year. We decided to have Christmas on our own since we figured Michael would probably be working a lot- little did we know until a month before that he would get 6- count 'em- 6 days off! By that time, of course airfare was sky high so we stuck with our original plan and I think we're really glad we did. Michael got some much needed R-and-R and we got plenty of time together as a family.
In my family, along with many others, we act out the nativity story- a tradition we decided to carry on. We let Lynette do the casting. She quickly volunteered herself to be "Married", told Trevor to be the Wise Man, commanded Michael to be the Shepherd, and allowed me to be the Angel. I can't tell you how fun this was. Of course we had to keep it short enough for the kids attention span so we didn't involve singing this year, and just got the basics down. They loved it and we loved watching them love it.

Young 'Married' with baby Jesus.

Yes, that is my nursing cover being used as a head covering. Lynette loved it. Though our nativity only lasted a good 7 minutes, she kept up her role as the mother of Jesus for the next 3 hours. That basket and baby doll did not leave her side for a second.


Our Wise Man with...umm..his Myrrh.

Shepherd recording the miraculous event.

Seriously, how adorable is this kid in a paper crown? Love him.

The whole gang.

Take two.

Trevor really liked his cloak- he has a love affiar with soft things like blankets and pillows and having something blanket-like attached to him made his day. It was funny watching him walk around with it because the towel trailed behind him a good two feet. At one point he even backed up and layed down on it. So happy.

Two very lucky and very happy parents.