Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree....

Here it is...all decked out with ornaments and ready for gifts!!

Tree Trimming Party at the O'Malley's House

On Saturday Dec 13th, we went to the O'Malley's for a tree trimming party!!Thanks Meaghan and Ryan for hosting!! It was a night filled with warmed spiced cider, hanging ornaments, good food and great friends!


Mike and I in front of their beautiful tree.



Catching up with Ryan


Megan, Laura, Meaghan, Tina, Ryan and Emily

Christmas Tree Hunt

We decided today was the day to find our first Christmas tree as a married couple. Last year we started the tradition of cutting a tree down (as an engaged couple :) ) We headed out to the same tree farm to brave the cold and find that perfect tree!!

Here is Mike with the cart, ready to find the best tree out there....

He was nice enough to give me a ride!!

Wandering through the forest of trees.
We found it, the perfect one!!


Mike getting ready to cut it down....



We loaded it up on the car...


Here it is! It is huge (definitely bigger than last year). We were able to get the lights up, but are heading off to two Christmas parties tonight, so the ornaments will have to be hung at a later date! Stay tuned for the finished product!!

Internal Medicine Holiday Party

As most of you know, I love hosting parties....and Mike loves helping me host them :) We had a great time hosting many of our internal medicine friends at our "pre-party" before heading to the IM Holiday Party at the Michigan Union. Unfortunately, Mike was on call, so he missed much of the pre-party, but made it home in time to join us for the main event!! It was a great night with wonderful friends. We all enjoyed some of Padre and Muzzy's "Christmas Punch" to get us into the holiday spirit in honor of my grandpa! We miss you and love you Grandpa....especially this time of year!



Friends gathered around the kitchen.....


We had an apartment full of friends, it was great!

The girls!

Med Peds Friends

Prom Style Photo

Dancing Queens

So glad Mike made it (after a LONG day in the hospital)! What a good sport!

Thanksgiving with the Nichols Family

We had a wonderful, but brief (19 hours in TC) trip home to Traverse City to spend the day with my parents, my sister and her family, and our extended family on my dad's side. We had a wonderful time catching up with everyone. It makes me realize how lucky we are to all live close enough to carry on this tradition of driving to spend time together every Thanksgiving and Christmas. This year Thanksgiving was at my parents house, and "Christmas" is at my Aunt Kathy's on December 20th. It was also great having Christine and Todd's kids there and getting to spend time with them!


Aiden and I enjoying time together after dinner!




Mike and Avery after a trip to see the Elsenheimer's new puppy "B".


Dad, Avery, and Christine

Avery decided she wanted to try some more turkey after dinner, the leg she chose was almost bigger than her!!

Story Time....pretty sure this one was about puppies....


Todd and I watching the kids play in the hot tub!



Happy, full, and feeling blessed after a wonderful visit home!

Wedding pictures preview...

Check out our slide show from our wedding....Melisa McKolay did a beautiful job capturing all the highlights of the day, and the best part is....Melisa is still editing and there are several more pics to come.....

http://www.mckolayphoto.com/slideshows/howe/index.html

Welcome to our blog.....

Welcome friends!

This is something Mike and I have been meaning to do since we got married in August, but life has kept us pretty busy, so it kept getting delayed! We really enjoy reading our friends blogs and hearing about everyone's lives, so we thought it was time to join the rest of you, and start a blog!

For those that we are out of touch with, Mike and I met in medical school at Michigan State, and were married August 23rd, 2008 in beautiful northern Michigan!

Mike and I both continue to work at The University of Michigan Hospitals, we are now 2nd year residents! Mike is training in Internal Medicine, and I am in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics. Mike's programs is 3 years, and mine is 4 years. We will both remain in Ann Arbor for my 4th year, as Mike was just offered the position of Chief Medical Resident for the department of Internal Medicine for 2010-2011. Huge congrats to my wonderful hubby, this is a huge honor!

After 2011, the sky is the limit....as we will be looking for fellowships, Mike in Cardiology, and myself either in Allergy or will start looking for jobs in primary care med-peds.

Hope to keep you informed on the news in our lives, and please continue to share yours with us as well!

~mike and laura