BBQ - Memorial Day Part 2

After our adventures frisbee golfing, LeAnne & Donny Martin joined us for a BBQ at a park in Roseville. We went to the main part of the park and all the BBQ's were full so Kristin drove to a baseball park nearby and we had the whole place to ourselves. It was so much fun. We were able to plug in the iPod, eat, chat, and chill out. John and I really like hanging out with the Roses and really like hanging out with the Martins so we wanted them to meet so we could all hang out together. I think it went well...

After our delicious feast we went out to the field to play Bocce ball. Over labor day the boys barely beat the girls and so we wanted to come back and tie the score. However, the boys were lucky again and beat us. But I do have to add John and Thomas made up the stupidest (is that a word?) rule at the beginning that negatively impacted my play. For you bocce experts, let me know what you think... The rule entailed that once you threw the pallino (the small white ball), you couldn't move past the line to see where you threw it (even if it disappeared into tall grass) or make it visible. I love how they were just inventing new rules as they saw fit... But the current tally is Boys: 2 and Girls: 0. This is rather disappointing and distressing. Maybe I should drop out of school to make more time for bocce practice.

We are so lucky to have such great friends out here in Minnesota.

Thomas again fulfilling the role as the group pyro.
John eating a massive double bacon cheeseburger. I think it was fat free as well.
You know us...
Donny & LeAnne
Thomas & Kristin

Frisbee Golf (aka Memorial Day part 1)

As I was getting dressed this morning I noticed my right shoulder was sore. It took me a moment to realize that my shoulder was sore from frisbee golf!! For Memorial Day yesterday we played frisbee golf with our friends Kristin and Thomas at a frisbee golf park in Roseville. It was a beautiful course with tons of big trees. The only problem was the trees were between me and the basket (aka hole). John was amazing. Kristin and Thomas had never played before but they quickly caught on. I had never played before (and I already suck at throwing a frisbee) so needless to say, I was horrible (and didn't improve like the Roses). But I still had fun and want to go again.
Some Action Shots:

John sulking because his disc didn't make it into the hole.

There you go babe.

It appears as though John lost his right leg and left arm in this picture. Really, look!

The Roses and the "hole" (I don't know the official term)

Us

The Roses just waiting for our turn. We had to wait A LOT but it was worth it and we were able to enjoy the beautiful day.

Some more action shots:

Remember the trees I mentioned earlier. John's frisbee tried to take one out but the tree won.
( Look carefully and you can see his orange disc at the top of the tree)

Kristin and I planning our strategies

Save The Date

I still cannot believe I am officially in my last year of medical school. I get kinda teary sometimes just thinking I'll be graduated by this time next year. It's so cool! It's been a wonderful experience but not always easy.

This is mainly for the family, I graduate on May 7, 2010. So if you want to come out and celebrate with us (and attend a really long and boring graduation ceremony) we would love to have you. So keep this date open and free and come visit us in Minnesota. Plus, May is one of the best times of the year to visit Minnesota. It's usually not cold and the mosquitos/humidity haven't shown up yet!!

The Gorgeous Lunt family Preview

Another gorgeous Utah shoot...I'm too lazy to post on this blog too, but you can venture over to my photography blog to view the entire shoot. It will be worth it, I promise. As mnay of you know, I'm the youngest in my family by a long shot, so I grew up with many of my nieces and nephews. They were like my brothers and sisters. I photographed another one of my nieces and her family (yes that means the cute little girl Brynn is my great niece...crazy). These photos are really fun. By the time I shot this one, I had already had 4 shoots in the week. So I pulled a few new ideas out of the bag :) BTW, if you're on my photo blog and you want to leave a comment, I would love it. It always makes me feel more popular and looks good for the business. Hop on over to http://johnsharpephotography.blogspot.com
-John

While in Utah this past week, I had a chance to see lots of family and take lots of pictures. I don't usually post my photo session on the family blog, but since these photos are of my niece's family, I decided to share the post.

It Was Great While It Lasted...

I was reading an online news site and saw this headline:

Emma Tops Emily as Most Popular Baby Girl Name for First Time in 12 Years

"Move over, baby Emily. Emma is the new top name among baby girls, ending Emily's 12-year reign. The Social Security Administration said Friday that Jacob remained King among boys in 2008, his 10th straight year at the top." I included the boy name in case you were wondering, b/c I'm sure you were.

I've been dethroned. Oh well. I actually love the name Emma and would consider naming a future daughter that name if it wasn't so close to mine.

So we may only have one more year left in Minnesota. (With residency and the match, we can't be sure of where we will end up next year). I went to dinner with my good friend Kristin tonight and we decided we need to make a list of things we want to do/see before leaving Minnesota. (Her hubby graduates next year as well and they are leaving for sure). I don't want to leave Minnesota and then regret not seeing or doing something. So, if anyone has any suggestions about places or activities to add to our "To Do List," we would love the input.

And don't worry we have visited the Mall of America (many times) and we already placed the Spam factory on our list!

Cards By Reese

I just bought the cutest cards from www.cardsbyreese.com and I wanted to share them with you.

One of the radiology residents was telling me about this site yesterday. It was set up to collect money for the family of a young guy (he is a brother of one of the radiology residents here at the U of M) who died of ARDS (acute respiratory distress syndrome) a month ago. He left behind his wife and 3 kids. The oldest little girl is Reese (she's 5 y/o) and she is selling cards to help raise money. They are $10/pack. I don't know the family but if you are interested in learning more, check out:

www.cardsbyreese.com

Zoe's Trip to the Airport

Yesterday morning I took John to the airport for his flight to Utah. Zoe loves to ride in the car so she came along. When we got to the airport I leaned over and gave John a kiss and then he got out of the car. Normally this is how our exchange ends at the airport. However, John came over to my side of the car and wanted a hug as well. So I opened the car door and stood up to give him a hug and a kiss.

All of a sudden I look down and Zoe had jumped out of the car and started walking across the lanes of traffic. I freaked out and ran after Zoe. Normally when I go after her she runs away from me but fortunately she just stopped and let me pick her up. We are so lucky there weren't any cars coming at that moment. I put her back in the car and proceeded to drive home. I laughed on and off during my drive home. Because she wasn't hurt, it was actually pretty funny how she was just casually walking around the airport drop off. I'm grateful nothing bad happened.

This picture doesn't go with this story but it's a cool picture John took from our last big snow storm of the year. Zoe loves to bury her face in the snow when we go out for walks. He caught her right in the middle of shaking the snow off before going inside.

Med School Bowling

Yesterday was the last day of Period 8 and the last day of my 3rd year of medical school. (I can't believe I will be graduating a year from today!) Our class celebrated with a bowling party and Chipotle burritos. It was a lot of fun to see many of my classmates who I haven't seen in a while (when you are in rotations and not sitting in class every day you don't see many people). My highest game was 87. John and Jon were playing speed bowling in a neighboring lane and John scored 102 (which is higher than when he was trying in our lane). We had fun hanging out with the Grimsby's and Meghann.
When we were taking pictures we tried to get shots of people from the front but kept blinding people. So the following are a bunch of "butt shots."

Jon Grimsby and some cool lens flare

Emily (look at that hook, no wonder the ball doesn't go where I want it to)

John (He always gets shafted on the cool pictures, I took this a second too early)

Erin Grimsby. She was the pro of the night. I guess she was in a bowling league when she was little!
Meghann Duffy with a private lesson from pro Erin.