Fall 2012 - First

Seth (46), Ivy (43), Kendra (10), Jared and Leah (2)

In the First household the twins were turning 2.  The family had a quiet celebration at home.

And then continued on with their daily routine.  Seth and Ivy would get the twins up in the morning

before the babysitter arrived and they left for work and Kendra left for school.

Kendra and Seth would be home first in the afternoon and spend some quality time together.

Unless Kendra had invited a friend home from school,

then Seth would help the nanny get the twins up from their nap.

The nanny knew Seth had a strong interest in stargazing and was curious if he'd ever seen any signs of alien life.

Ivy was still working long hours at the lab and usually got home late.  If the twins were still up she'd spend some time with them before putting them to bed for the night.

On her days off, she tried to catch up on the housework or yardwork.

And the little ones, especially, were always eager for some extra attention from their mommy.

When they weren't getting into trouble.  They were at the age where they could really be a handful.

Work was taking up a lot of both parents' time.  Seth had recently had a proposal accepted to build a local medical and research center in New Eden.  He and Bruce Lillard, the former chief of staff in Eden, were working hard to get everything together and running smoothly.

Back in the spring, when the McMillians had been in town visiting, Bruce had invited his niece and fellow doctor, Suzanna, to check out the work they had done.

It was kind of nice seeing an old friend again after so many years.  They had parted ways after college and since had found happy marriages, had children, and had been successful in their careers.

Since Apple Valley had a medical center for many years, Bruce and Seth were sure that Suzanna would have some helpful suggestions for making their endeavor work.

She was quick to point out a few minor glitches that would need to be addressed.

And she was excited about the research facilities located in the building.

That was Seth's favorite part too. His field was more in medical research than medical practice.  He knew as a professional scientist Ivy was excited about the new facility too.

Seth was going to have to get used to the idea of medical practice soon.  Since the newly opened center already had two patients.  Both were suffering from severe food poisoning.

"You just need to rest, take it easy for awhile and make sure you take in plenty of fluids."
"But I have so much to do at school with finals coming up."
"I know how that is, but right now taking care of your health, Violet, is more important."

After checking on his patients and after Bruce had finished giving Suzanna a tour of the facility, she stopped by Seth's office to say goodbye.

"It's too bad you have to go back to Apple Valley already.  Next time you're in town, Ivy and I will have to have you and Bradford and the girls over for dinner."

Amidst the seemingly fluid everyday routine, family strife was brewing underneath the surface.  Ivy was not happy

and Seth realized he was going to have to spend a little more time paying attention to his wife.

He promised her some night soon they'd hire a babysitter to watch the kids and go out for a night on the town.