Perfect

So I made these cookies last night. It's hard to tell from the picture, but they are 3-4 inches in diameter and 3/8 inch thick. they have almost as many chocolate chips in them as there is flour and they are absolutely delicious. (I cheated and used our good calebaut chocolate.)
The thing that makes them special, though, is that they have granted me temporary immunity from any wrong doing in the eyes of my wife.
As she was eating one, she told me, "This is what will be waiting for me with Peter at the gate of Heaven. I'll be resurrected with one of these in my hand."
So I have achieved perfection in her eyes, at least as far as cookies go.

Finally done

So we finally did it.
This week I finished everything for dental school so I'm officially ready to graduate. Graduation is in two weeks on the 18th. I have been looking forward to this for so long it's hard to believe we're finally here. I also found out I passed my licensure exam, which I took two weeks ago. I was really worried about it and it was a huge relief to pass. It was the last thing I needed to be able get a dental license. Someone's looking out for us.
Because we've been here 4 years and we're nearing the end, I think I'll post some highlights of our life in Boston.

In February of 05 there was a blizzard that dumped 3 feet of snow on Boston and 1/2 - 1 inch inside our windowsill (we had some pretty rattly windows)
Nice intro to new england winters. Our first winter, we had 2 weeks were it never got above 10 degrees F and a monster storm.
Ezra was born March 12 2005
Acadia National Park as a family. Ezra's having a great time.

It didn't take us long to find someplace to climb. This is our local ghetto wall. Urban climbing at its finest. If you look closely at the lower left of the picture, you can see a little graffiti. It is 1/8 inch thick in some areas. You pretty much figure if there is paint on your foot holds, you can up the grade by about half a number grade.
Here's a better picture of some graffiti with Megan showing off her "huge" pregnant belly. We were amazed at how much she was showing.
Halloween is always fun. I carved a pair of dentures for this poor pumpkin. He lost his teeth in a tragic accident involving a kitchen knife.
Giddy up.
We always tried to climb as much as possible. I'm not sure how Ezra felt about it. Here we are in Pawtuckaway, NH. Meg's cranking in the background.
This is what happens when you take a 3 year old climbing in New England in December. Who knew my down coat was made for 2?
sometimes the stress just gets to you. My friend Peter cut this mohawk for me after our last exam of dental school. We both passed and no, this was not a cry for help.
Ezra got to hang out with his cousin Ian in Texas. It was fun to have the whole family together again. It had been a long time.
Travis was born on March 19 2008. Everything was going well until he started vomiting forcefully about 3 weeks ago. We took him to the doctor and he was diagnosed with Pyloric stenosis. The opening from his stomach to his small intestine was obstructed and he had to have surgery so he could get food through again.
Ezra's a pro on his bike.
So after 4 years, here we are. Our family is twice the size it was when we moved here, we have no money, and all we have to show for it are 3 letters. DMD.

Travis

For those of you who do not know, we had our second baby boy 5 weeks ago. His name is Travis Michael Lingard. He is still too small to do any tricks, but every once in a while you can catch him peacefully sleeping. I don't know what it is about a sleeping baby that is so magical. Maybe it's the innocence, or the unworried expression. Or it could be the little sucking motions he makes when it looks like he's dreaming of his next big meal.
Here are a couple of pictures to keep Grandma Jeanne happy.
Look at me! I have a huge head and toothpick arms!
Brothers.

Our First Blog

Ezra's first first ascent.
On Friday, we went into the Blue Hills to scout out some new boulder problems. Ezra found some boulders just his size and put up a couple of problems. It was fun to be out, there is a wealth of pint sized boulders out there perfect for pint sized climbers.

The first climb he put up is called ABϞCD. We got him some Mad Rock Mad Monkey children's climbing shoes and they're really cool. I'm actually jealous because he's so light, those shoes will stick on even the tiniest crystals and edges.
This is documentation of Ezra's first climbing related injury. He got scraped up on this fall because mom was spotting while also holding baby Travis. Dad abandoned her so he could get a sweet photo. Unfortunately, the photo didn't work out, and Ezra got scraped on his leg, side and arm. The things we do for sweet photos.
Here he is working his latest problem called Half Pint. It's a tricky lay back to a good edge with a sloping topout. He'll get it next time.
Ezra's favorite descent route.