"Dr. B" makes the news

Dr. B (as Melissa is affectionately know by her students) made the news yesterday as the Duluth News Tribune did a story on the Medication Therapy Management Clinic she directs through the University. The article was on the front page of the business section, complete with a very large color photo. You can check out the article at the following link (you may have to register to be able to read it though): http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/articles/index.cfm?id=62998

Go 'Lissa!

Where do big-girl underwear belong...

...according to Sheinah, they go on your head! We moved Sheinah to big-girl underwear...permanently...on March 13th. We just decided that we were done with the potty training and pull-ups and Sheinah deciding whether or not she wanted to put her tinkle in the potty. We figured we would try those special training pants that have thicker cotton so that if she did have an accident it wouldn't be as big of a deal. Travis had the priveledge of dealing with her first poopie accident on that first day while we were at bible study. The funniest part was when Melissa walked in to help and saw "Daddy" slide Sheinah off the toilet and leave a 'trail' of poop down the toilet seat. Good times!

Our morning ritual includes putting Sheinah on the potty for her potty time while we go grab her clothes to wear for the day. Yesterday morning, when Travis returned from getting her clothes, he found what you see here.

It fits...kind of.

When we got married, we made a deal that Melissa would wear her wedding dress on our anniversary for as long as she fit in it. Year 1 was easy...then came the pregnancy...and the post-pregnancy weight that didn't go away as quickly as a woman might like. Well, the other day, Travis wanted to weigh Sheinah (she weighted about 25 pounds, we think, but she kept jumping on the scale so it was hard to tell for sure). Of course, Sheinah wanted everyone to get on the scale. That's when Melissa realized that she weighed just 5 pounds more than she did when they got married. So...we decided to unbury the wedding dress and see if it fit. The good news is that it did! The bad news is that Melissa couldn't breathe...at all. We snapped a quick few pictures to prove that she did get back into it and then chalked up the lack of breathing ability to the influence of a previous pregnancy on the width of the hips! Sheinah watched the whole process and then demanded to have her turn. Enjoy the pictures. We're not sure if Melissa will ever fit into it again!

Bums Travel 4 Less

Sooooo, we are pleased to announce that we started a new business. It's a travel business with an awesome website: http://www.mnbumstravel4less.com/ where you can find great deals on flights, hotels, cruises, etc. The website is powered by Travelocity so it is really easy to use. The best part is that you can get good deals on travel and support someone you know (instead of some big company). Travis went down to Minneapolis for a certification training session so Sheinah and Melissa decided to come along and hang out at the waterpark which was just down the street from the training conference. One of the perks of being a travel industry professional is the curtesy upgrades! We paid for a small room and got upgraded to a room with a bunk bed for Sheinah and a balcony that opened up to the waterpark.

To top it all off, Travis just got a super-wide camera lens to use in his virtual tour business right before we went down to Minneapolis. Of course, he brought it along to see what it could do. Travis took a picture from the balcony that caught more of the view than we could really see from the sliding glass door. It also has an amazing zoom function. The pictures below of Travis and Sheinah in the water are from the balcony (like 150 feet away).

Really really cold

It has been pretty cold here in Duluth. When we first moved here, someone told us that if you throw boiling water in the air when it is really cold (in the lots of minuses) then it will just evaporate. Since the temperature with wind chill was minus 50 on Sunday, we decided to give it a try. IT WORKED (see video):

Father Daughter Ball

On Saturday night, Travis took Sheinah to the Annual Father Daughter Ball. It is sponsored by the local Christian Radio station and it is apparently a pretty big deal around here. We heard about it on the radio, but we thought Sheinah was too young to go. One of our friends from the college said that he was going to take his daughter Eva (who is just 6 months older than Sheinah) and asked if Travis and Sheinah would like to go too. Sheinah wore her Christmas dress and let Melissa curl her hair. She was very excited to go dancing with her daddy and couldn't wait to leave once she got dressed. However, when she got there, she spent more time playing with her friends than she did dancing with her daddy. Nonetheless, everyone had a good time!

Inaugural Pharmacy Bonspiel

What is a Bonspiel you ask? We didn't know either until a colleague of Melissa's at the College asked if we wanted to go curling. Curling is actually an Olympic sport and the Duluth Curling Club has several Olympic Medal winners! We've seen it on TV a time or two and always thought that it looked kind of silly. Boy were we wrong. It is a very physical sport that uses your body and your mind...it's almost more of a game of strategy than skill. As Melissa's friend Karen likes to say "An eight year-old and an eighty year-old are on a level playing field." Assuming, of course, that the eight year-old can "throw" the 40 pound" rock. If you've never heard of curling, you might want to check out this website for more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curling.

In any case, we each took turns "skipping" for Team Bumgardner in the Inaugural Pharmacy Bonspiel this weekend. We had planned it this way because we figured that Sheinah wouldn't want to stay at the rink the entire day (the bonspiel lasted from 10am to 7pm). We were wrong! She loved being on the ice with her "stick" as she called it and we actually had to drag her home to take a midday nap.

The best part is that Sheinah seems to remember curling! Melissa wore the sweatshirt she got at the bonspiel last night and it has a picture of the rock on it. Sheinah asked what it was and Melissa said...that's the rock. Sheinah said "I push the rock...with the stick!" What a smart girl she is!