Papa Tom's

If this whole medical thing doesn't work out, Tom already has a Plan B for what he wants to do when he grows up! Tom has been in the pizza making mood for the past few weeks and has perfected making his own crust. I thought documentation of this process was in order (because it is definitely a process!) and friends and family may want to see the glorious pie in it's finished state.

Step 1:
Measure all ingredients for dough and load into bread maker.


Step 2:
Hand knead and toss dough


Step 3:
Shape dough on pizza pan and add mozzerella cheese sticks for a 'stuffed crust' effect.



Step 4:
Add sauce

Step 5:
The pepperoni layer


Step 6:
Add all other veggies and meats.

Step 7:
Add cheese and bake!

About 25 minutes later, this is what we had to feast on tonight!!


It was awesome. The stuffed crust was a bonus - and a first for Tom. The pizza was great and very filling.

Here's the obligatory picture of Clara (and the real reason the grandparents are still reading at this point) Crazy hair night!

Big Sky was Big Fun

After a week in the mountains, it was hard to come back to the midwest. We had such a good time in Montana!! We did so many different things, it's hard to write about all of them in one post.

The travel part was so much easier than our ski trip last year. Our flights were on time, weather was good, the car rental went smoothly and we made it easily from the airport to our condo. The drive from Bozeman to Big Sky is gorgeous. You ride alongside the Gallatin River for much of the trip up the mountain. Apparantly this is one of only a few rivers that flows northward and was the river that was filmed in the movie 'A River Runs through it'.

We made it to our condo and were happy with our accomodations. It's 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, nice open floorplan with the kitchen, dining room and living area all together. We were only 150 yards from the ski lifts and had an awesome view of the ski runs on the mountain.

Clara found a few little spots she she enjoyed sitting. This was one of them - she could sit on the windowsill, eat her snack and look up at the skiiers on the mountain. A few minutes after this picture was taken, Clara was messing around, trying to climb up the windowsill and she fell over. She bit through the skin below her lower lip and had a fat lip the rest of the trip. Tom didn't think it was worth stitching up and Clara wasn't too traumatized by the whole thing. She cried for a couple minutes and then started laughing in my arms. What a trooper!

During our week long stay, Tom skiied 5 days and I skiied 4 days. The terrain was great - plenty of snow, lots of challenging runs, and no lift lines! This was taken on one of the rare, clear days. A lot of the time we skiied, there was snow falling and cloudy skies.

Clara, G-ma, and I went tubing together one evening which was so fun. Once we learned how to slow down, it was a little less scary.

The reason we decided to go to Big Sky was for a Wilderness Medicine conference that Tom wanted to attend. Tom would go for a couple hours early in the morning and then come home and we would ski the rest of the day. Several of his resident friends also went to the conference and it was fun to hang out with them in the evenings and on the mountain.

We took a horse drawn sleigh ride one night out to a little cabin in the woods for dinner. There was no electricity or running water. Only a huge 120 year old wood burning stove and candelight. There were lanterns hung from the ceiling too, maybe gas powered?!? I can't remember. The dinner was so good - we had lentil soup, wheat rolls, prime rib, potatoes, veggies, and cheesecake for dessert. Yummmmmm.

We also tried something new this trip. We took a dog sled ride through the woods and it was probably the highlight of the trip. Tom drove our sled, while Clara and I rode, and 8 Alaskan huskies pulled our sled. Clara fell asleep quickly into the ride which surprised Tom and I both.

Here's Clara and I standing behind the sled.

Here's a view from the sled, while the dog's were pulling.

It was an 8 mile round trip and halfway through we stopped for cookies and hot chocolate and took some pictures. Here's Clara sleeping during the ride.

My Mom came with us to help out and watch Clara while Tom and I skiied during the day. She was a huge help and it was a lot of fun for Clara to hang out with Grandma. They played a lot, walked around the base area, shopped, etc.

Clara played several times on this playground which was mostly covered in snow, but was fun for Clara to crawl through and climb on.



We had a really good time in Big Sky and will make a trip back there, maybe next year. It's a great place to ski - huge mountain and not very crowded. It's also a quick and easy drive from the airport. There isn't as much shopping and businesses in Big Sky, like in Colorado, but that doesn't really matter to Tom and I very much. The skiing was good and that's what was most important.

The trip home was pretty easy and uneventful. Clara was a really good traveler this time. She slept when she should and was happy and content while awake. (This is in stark contrast from our trip out west over the summer...). Now that were home, it's back to normal. Tom is back at work today and Clara and I are trying to get the house back in order.

47 out of 47

Wonder what the title means? You probably would never guess so I'll just tell you. Tom just finished his 47th night of overnight call (over the past three years) and it is his last!! Yea! This means from here on out Tom only (yea, right, 'only'...he is still a resident so is working a lot!) will work his 10 or 12 hour ER shifts, no more of those energy draining, crabby-making, way-too-long-for-Dad-to-be-away-from-his-family 30 hour shifts at the hospital!


I love this picture of Clara with the phones. Right before I took this picture she was walking around the house chattering away with both phones up to her ears! You know how little boys make anything they can find into a gun? Clara makes everything she finds into a phone...like the TI-83 calculator, the remote control, etc. You get the picture.

Here's Clara in her Valentine outfit. I am hoping to get Tom and Clara's picture made together with her wearing this shirt and Tom dressed up nice too. Stay tuned...hopefully you will see it in a couple weeks.
We are getting excited about our upcoming vacation. In a couple days we will be skiing down the slopes in Big Sky, Montana. Clara will be with us too along with my Mom who will lovingly babysit for us while we are out during the day and night! Rest assured there will be a ton of pictures from that coming soon too.