Zuka and Meg

Zuka is thinking: "I cannot wait when Meg drops the ball"

oh, she still has the ball...

oh, I think that i can get it now...Yahoo...

Meg was very smart in learning how to feed Zuka when nobody else was watching..No wonder my child was smelling like salmon one night....

Sprunger Family Photoshoot

Mark Tubing

More Pictures from the Lake House Vacation

At the Lake House with the Sprunger Gang

Lakehouse vacation has been adventurous....

Fairy Land----I would have loved one of these homes when I was a little girl!



Stephen having fun in the water!



Zuka being our boat captain~



and fishing....But did we catch anything? No Does Stephen seem to be bored? Yes


More pictures to follow!

A Visit from a Wonderful Sister!

So the company keeps coming and Stephen's Sister Faith came for a 3 day stay! Outings consisted of a trip to Beufort, SC; hitting the beach on Sullivan's Island; and much discussion of life in between; ).....it was nice to spend time with Faith since she will only be able to attend one day of the Sprunger Family Vacation. Here are some pics of us at Sullivan's Island.

Our Parenting Skills Being Tested by Zuka...

Finally, we bought a crate for Zuka. That should keep him from jumping into our bed, or messing around the house in the middle of the night...Poor fellow....Look at his sad face!

God's Glory.......

Seen through these beautiful flowers....

Fun at the beach.....

Springtime in Charleston

We have been enjoying the flowers in our yard. The palm trees are beautifying the place but it is taking lots of watering to keep them happy!

Nathan's Graduation Party

Stephen did a fabulous job on Nathan's graduation party along with all the help from our friends who did a marvelous job on the food

Stephen's Event at the College of Charleston

Fabulous event at the College of Charleston...Just couple pictures to depict some moments...

Cooper River Bridge Run 2008

No, we did not run the 10 kilometer race.... But it was fun cheering on the participators including two of our friends












Some were very creative in how they presented themselves during the race....














Zuka seemed to enjoy the race as well-but he preferred to rest and watch













At the end of the busy weekend, we had fabulous time hanging out together

Trip to Miam

Stephen and I spent several days in Miami, FL where I attended a medical conference. Our adventures included

1. First night-ghetto Brazillian restaurant found on the internet. We were the only non Latinos....Everybody was staring at us....

2. Second night-we moved up a little bit...Found a local "best" Cuban restaurant. Still we felt like we were back in Puerto Rico...but there cafe con lache was excellent

3. Third night-Newly found friends (2 Russian physicians) who took us out to a nice restaurant and a harbor tour.

4. Fifth night-Finally, a romantic dinner at Touch a famous restaurant in South Beach were we enjoyed lobster and tuna tar tar.....

Pictures will follow!

PS Our recommendation: never depend on the internet to decide for you what is a good restaurant in town...Ask somebody who has been to that city....I am being so profound....

Vizcaya

While in Miami during Anna's Vein Conference, we visited Vizcaya which was the winter residence of American industrialist James Deering during 1916-1925. The gardens were breathtaking....there were several brides getting their portraits. The house was intended to appear as an Italian estate that had stood for 400 years and had been occupied and renovated by several generations of a family. It had 34 decorated rooms. The expansive gardens combined elements of Renaissance Italian and French designs.

Gift from Stephen to Anna

Stephen keeps on suprising me....I woke up on the Easter morning and found this package waiting for me at the door.. He is so creative...I love that about him!

Imaging Center Open House

Open house was a lots of fun. Fireworks, jaz band, oyster bar, delicious food, and lots of fund with my friends from work.

Philip, Sarah, and Meg Visiting Us

What a delight to have Philip, Sarah, and precious Meg visit us for a whole week. We had lots of fun. Zuka found himself somewhat jealous when Meg was getting lots of attention but he was not (I wonder what I am going to do when I have kids :)

Anna's 30th Birthday Festivities

Wow! My Husband is amazing-When I woke up this morning, there were bouquets of flowers with sweet notes all over the house...He took me by surprise when he sent my good friend Temple, Hope, and I to the Sanctuary spa where we enjoyed the amenities, and where I got a 60 minute massage. Well, we all forgot to take our cameras thus I had to put this pictures of a stranger from the Sanctuary website.....Afterwards we headed out to the Moroccan restaurant and we had marvelous girl time. Truly it was a fabulous 30th birthday.

Snowy Christmas in New Hampshire

Our Christmas this year was in New Hampshire with Stephen's family. It was a Christmas full of activities: Stephen really enjoyed skiing, while I enjoyed simply watching him. I was terrible at staying straight on the skies. Stephen and his brothers also enjoyed sledding and getting wet in the snow. I tried to stay away from all those crazy activities.....

Meg our new niece was a highlight of our trip. You can tell from the pictures that we pampered her a lot.


Our trip to NH also included a 2 day visit in Boston which was simply enchanting.



We played lots of games, exchanged gifts, drove around to see neat places, and ate lots of good food....I must truly join the gym now...

Dancing as a little girl.....

Of course, not to forget, Georgian National State Ballet. My mom allowed me to be part of the dance academy under National Georgian Ballet in 6th-7th grades. Since I was tall for my age and skinny I was asked to join the women's dance ensemble. It was lots of exercise, but it was so much fun. We traveled to Germany to couple performances-I cannot believe that my mom let me travel at that age....Also, we danced on the same stage as this video shows (Tbilisi National Philarmonic). I had many of the costumes as these women have...What a cultural and fun experience for a kid...I will never forget it.....It was worth it!

Too Much Free Time!

During the vacation I have been having lots of free time to enjoy videos of my favorite dancers...Here is an example of Nina Ananiashvili....She is amazing!

Some Pictures of the Holiday Party

So many friends came to our Holiday Party-friends from church, my PA school, neighbors....Food was amazing..Here are some pictures!

Our Friends in Town

Budimirs visited us this past week with their new baby Ema. Budimirs, our good friends, are raising support to go to Croatia this next year.

We held a Holiday Party in honor of them so that they could meet our friends in Charleston and share with them their mission. How sad that I did not get any pictures untill we go to the airport to say good buy to them....

Our Thanksgiving in Charleston

What a wonderful time we had with our dear friends, our sister Hope, Nadya from Atlanta, Tom from Greenville, and Kristine from Sumter.

Our Thanksgiving festivities started on Wednesday night when we picked up our Christmas tree at Lowes.

We spend most of the Thursday cooking and pampering Turkey. Our menu included: Appetizer-Broccoli Garlic Cream Soup, Main meal-Brined Turkey with Quince Glaze, Creamed Spinach, Cranberry Chutney, Glazed Pearl Onions, and Chestnut Stuffing. Our desert consisted of delicious Pear/Sour Cherry Tart with Earl Gray Tea.










Zuka kept burking at the table asking for some good food...



After dinner, we enjoyed decorating the tree and singing along to music.

Next morning, Nadya and I went for Early Bird Shopping at 4 in the morning....Now we are all tired....

Our Special Trip-Part II

Wilson's funeral on Nettere's Farm was a special occasion.

The burial took place on November 3rd, 2007 on an enchanting fall day when leaves were changing and the birds were still singing. Wilson's and Cricket's ashes were mixed together, wrapped in Vietnamese silk, and buried under oriental stones.

Our Special Trip-Part I

Stephen and I took the opportunity of being in the Northeast and we visited special people who were part of my life when I was teaching in Maryland.




I had the wonderful opportunity to catch up with my friend Alina Banu in Ft. Belvoir VA and her beautiful family.Stephen enjoyed playing batman with David Banu, while Jacob Banu was busy playing soccer.

Race for the Cure 2007

Today Charleston hosted Race for the Cure in honor to raise support for Breast Cancer Awareness and Treatment. Imaging Specialists of Charleston (Charleston Radiologists, Invisi Vein Clinic, and Women's Imaging Center) was one of the main sponsors. We got to set up a booth where we had lots of goodies for women and we walked in the honor of Susan Roble, a physician assistant before me who passed away with breast cancer.

Also, a gentle reminder to all women. Women ages 20-40 should have mammogram every 2-3 yrs, while women over age 40 should have yearly mammograms. New Guidelines state the following: Patients who should consider having an annual breast MRI screening in addition to a mammogram include those with:

• A lifetime risk of 20% or greater (based on standard risk assessment tools)
• A first degree relative (mother, father, sister, brother, child) with breast cancer before menopause
  
• A positive for BRCA gene mutation
• Prior radiation therapy to the chest for lymphoma treatment (between ages 10-30)
  
• A personal history of breast cancer
• Extremely dense breast tissue
• High-risk lesions on a previous biopsy

Hope's Suprise Birthday Party!

Today is Hope's Birthday and in honor of this special day Stephen and I made a hazelnut cake which took us about 5 hours. Definitely fits a birthday girl-I called this cake high maintenance:)

Also, in only 2 hours we planned a surpise party with cheese fundue, crusty bread from a french restaurant across the street, and bruschetta...We originally were planning with Hope to have the gettogether on Sunday but just yesterday she found out that she had to work....so We are glad that we got the opportunity to celebrate her life on the actual birthday. As Mark commented to Stephen today on the phone, Sprunger children almost never get to celebrate their birthdays on the actual date....

Anna's First Day at Work!

Wow.....These scrubs are a little too big for me.....I better change the size...
Anyways, I had the best first day at Charleston Radiologists. I was placed in the Vein Clinic for the day observing and assisting during laser vein treatments and spider vein injections. I had my breakfast too early this morning since I was getting a little "vagal" during the procedures. Vagal basically means that I was feeling somewhat dizzy, lightheaded, not to mention I heard buzzing in my head and started to sweat...What a way to start my first day-anyways I better eat a fatty and sugary breakfast before before I get to work next time (lesson for the day). During lunch hour, my fellow PA Betsy sneaked me into physicians lounge in the hospital to get some good food. You see I do not have my badge yet, thus I cannot get into secret places of the hospital. I love Betsy-she is very sweet and full of energy and good partner in "crime". I think that we will have lots of fun together. She also graduate from MUSC PA program but long time ago....So overall, I do not have a headache, and I do not feel awfully confused...We will see what will happen tomorrow when I have to start observing chest tubes, abdominal tubes, lung biopsies, vertebroplasty, and many other wild procedures.

When I came home, my loving husband had the best dinner waiting for us.
Marinated pork, sweet acorn, potatoes...Not to mention a lovely little bouquet of flowers seating on the table...He is such a sweet husband...After dinner we went for a walk....and now I feel it is time to crash.....