Loma Linda Rotation--A Family Affair

(Pictures added to this blog post)

We've spent the month of August in California living with Brendon's parents while Brendon worked his tails off at Loma Linda Hospital for a pediatric surgery rotation. And when I say "worked his tail off" I mean waking up at 3:15 am (I didn't even know that time existed) to get to the hospital by 4:30 am, working, working, working, and driving home at 6:30 pm to be home by 7:00 pm which gave him just enough time to eat, play with Henry for a little while, work on residency applications, and get a measly five to six hours of sleep by going to bed by 9:30 pm...just to repeat the process the next day. That's 14 hours of work. Each day. For at least five days a week. Over the 28 day rotation, he had six days off. Yuck! Let's just leave it at this: the poor guy was tired exhausted and I am not looking forward to residency. We are going to soak in these last months of our fourth year of medical school with a lot of time together as a family.

During our rotations, we have been grateful for the opportunity to live with several family members. In the process, we have been able to get to know our families better. This month I learned just how much Brendon is like his dad, which is a good thing. There were a few times when my father-in-law said or did something when I thought, "that's just the way Brendon would have said that" or "that is something Brendon would do." When my FIL asked his wife in an undemanding way if his white shirts had been washed, it reminded me of Brendon. When my FIL came in one morning to give his wife an extra hug because she was leaving for the week, it reminded me of Brendon.  I am grateful for the good example Brendon had growing up of both his dad and mom and for the relationship they have which has helped us set a pattern for our own marriage.

Even though Brendon worked long hours every day, I honestly didn't notice just how much he is working most of the time. Maybe it's because I was asleep for the first 3-4 hours of his work day, but really I owe a huge "thank you" to Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Randi. Grandma coming home from work provided me relief so I wasn't the only source of entertainment for my busy buddy. Henry loves Grandma, always giving big smiles and laughs when she was around. She was among the best of playmates for the month.

After a couple weeks, Henry warmed up to Grandpa and was often found walking around him and keeping Grandpa awake while the tv was on. Grandpa was always so quick to help with Henry while dinner was being made, taking him outside (his favorite place to be) and playing with him and was another of Henry's buddies this month. Randi was always there to greet Henry with a "good morning" at breakfast time and was a great babysitter for my quick errands. We (especially me) loved having so many adults around.





Not only were we been able to spend a lot of time with Grandma and Grandpa, but also all the siblings (living in CA). We had a lot of fun swimming, playing, talking, eating, and simply being together. We tried to pack in as much fun as possible this trip and I'm glad Henry was able to spend lots of time with his cousins. Whenever one cousin was outside, the rest followed (which usually ended with tears and Henry asking to go inside, but it seemed like they were always together in the same area while we were together). We love having so many cousins!

To top off time with family, Brendon organized a get together with the "Norco Boyz." I couldn't believe some of the stories they were reminiscing about. They are silly, crazy, adventure-seeking boys. We had fun hanging out with "the boys" and their wives. Everyone had a good laugh and Brendon left saying, "I don't remember the last time I laughed that hard."

All in all, August was a good month. We were all excited to finish this busy rotation and return home, but we really enjoyed our time with family and friends.