Bindi at 4 months and other news

A lot of fun stuff has happened since the last post. We really should write more often. Derek got a job, although it was not with the Geek Squad. He's a receptionist/video media producer with the school of education at UNR. The good news is that he doesn't have to work weekends or holidays, the bad news is he only gets 20 hrs a week at $8.50 an hour. I'm pretty happy about that though, it still seems like he's gone all the time and the little bit of money really helps (although we're still awaiting his first pay check). I think Derek is enjoying it too because he is able to do something he's really good at - making videos. As far as med school interviews go, the interview with the Charles Drew Medical School in LA went well. I got lost on the way there and ended up in the middle of Inglewood, but I found my way in the end. I was late but I think I still made a good impression - there were two interviews, one with faculty and one with a student, as well as a writing sample and a group problem solving exercise. I wasn't expecting the extra stuff, I don't think many other med schools do that. Anyway, they only accept 24 students and they interviewed 120, so we'll see. I've got the UC Davis interview and a U of Utah interview coming up next week. I'm really not looking forward to it, mostly because I'll be away from Derek and Bindi for two days in a row. I also found out a little bit of bad news - if I get accepted to the 5 year program at UC Davis, the Air Force won't accept my application for their scholarship until after the 1st year. That would leave me with a hard decision to either decline the position or find a way to pay for the first year. That's enough on that subject. The most important part of our post is Derek's b'day and Halloween. I surprised Derek with a trip to Lassen Volcanic National Park, which you can see pictures of down below. Denise watched Bindi over night and we stayed in a "resort" close to the park. Their "cabin" was actually a motor home decorated like a cabin, but that was our own complaint, the park was awesome. We really enjoyed the hiking and the weather was beautiful. After the park we went to Gridley for the Halloween party. We all dressed as teenage mutant ninja turtles. Bindi was adorable. You can see pictures below. Also, I might include pictures of Corine's wedding which I went to on Sept. 12. She was beautiful with her 5 month pregnant belly and little Ava in tow. She made a beautiful flower girl. I think that's about it for now. We'll at least write again after Thanksgiving.