August 2012

August started off on a tough note, with Ryan balancing the start of fellowship in Houston with an unexpected 2nd surgery to repair his ruptured Achilles (see his Achilles blog for more details). His dad generously visited Houston for nearly a week to help him recover from surgery. On that note, the theme of August was probably "thank goodness for family!"

As Ryan was adjusting to Houston, Megan and the dogs were adjusting to him being gone. Luckily, Megan's mom and sister came to town mid-month when Aunt Kathee and cousin Kate happened to have a layover in Chicago from their trip back from Ireland. We had a fun weekend exploring Chicago.

Speaking of Ireland, we traveled to Dublin the next week for a week-long trip with the Hoods as they prepared to attend the Notre Dame-Navy game. We did a lot on this visit, including visiting the Guinness brewery and the Irish countryside. Ryan also found out that he passed his boards while we were in Ireland, hence the champagne!