Story time

"boys do you want me to tell you a story? Once upon a time there were 2 boys who didn't eat there dinner so their mom and dad ate all the ice cream sandwiches all gone, and the boys didn't get any. The end"

after a great deal of time spent fake crying and throwing fits....

"mommy that wasn't a very happy story. I'll tell you a story. Once upon a time there were 2 boys . and Ethan and Noah were holding hands with their mommy and daddy and they were so happy to cross the street and hold hands. And they went to the park and were so happy to play." 

 I love their creative play. although its so obnoxious to hear them sing Rudolph the poop nosed poop dear, I am secretly hoping that it will someday translate into some form of creative writing talent.  This is the first time they have made up their own story. I hope to hear many more in the future.

Family Pictures!

A few weeks ago we were able to have our pictures taken by our friend Kate Allen. Proceed to the bragging: she's an award winning photographer, and she's just been accepted into the Master's program at the University of Iowa College of Fine Arts. Here is her website in case you'd like to see some of her work. 

 http://www.kateelisabethphotography.com/

I love how they turned out!

OUT OF TOWN!

Joe GRADUATED FROM DENTAL SCHOOL TODAY!!! I'll post more when i have time. I'm just updating to say that Joe and I are leaving for our cruise and we will be gone for the next week. I'M LEAVING MY PHONE WITH GRANDMA (Joe's mom is staying at our place with the kids) so if you need to get ahold of me, you will need to call Joe's phone.

WE ARE OFF!!!!

Solid Food

Joelle has been eating solid foods really well!

Today was prunes and green beans

I think she likes it!

Trip to Missouri

On Thursday morning Joe and I dropped our boys off at a friend's house (a VERY good friend who was willing to watch our rascals overnight) and drove to St. Joe's to find a place to live. We'd expected to drive around all day Thursday collecting info and making phone calls, and then spending all of Friday seeing places. Luckily enough we were able to find, call, tour, and sign paperwork for a great place all in a few hours time on Thursday.
Here is a link to what our place looks like. We aren't renting through this website but the rentals are almost exactly what our duplex will be like except for a few minor differences. We live on a different street so our backyard is different than pictured on the website. It also doesn't show this on the video tour but there are 3 bedrooms, 3  bathrooms, and each bedroom has its own walk in closet! I'm most excited about that part! Also our place doesn't have shower doors, and the kitchen cabinets have a lighter wood color.

 http://www.stjoerent.com/c-north-woodbine-1.html


We can move in as early as June 15th, but logistically can't really move in until about the 20th. This means that we will be able to spend some time visiting friends and family in Utah after we move in.
This is all happening so fast!

WE GOT A JOB!

In case you haven't heard, we got a job in St. Joseph, Missouri!

(yes I say "we". We got a job. We are graduating. Why not? Joe got to say "We are pregnant" and "we are having a baby" when in fact I did all the carrying and pushing out of the baby. So yes, I say again: WE got a job!)

Joe will be walking across the graduation stage in 13 days! Can you believe it?! I am so proud of him! Its been the best 4 years being here in Iowa. I'm sad to be closing this chapter of my life. Fortunately I won't have to leave the Midwest completely. Missouri has the lush foliage, the fireflies, the booming summer storms, the cornfields, and the warm humid air.  St. Joe's has all the basics as well. It has Target, Kohls, Hy-Vee (with awesome GF section), Sonic, Sam's Club, a mall, Buffalo Wild wings (which i just barely discovered had an extensive GF menu), etc.  Kansas City is just 40 minutes away so it has all of the big city attractions including an amusement park, an airport, and a brand new temple. I've also heard that the 4th of July firework show is insane.  We are pretty excited. It will only be 2 yrs there, but we intend to make the most of it.

other happenings:

I'm letting the boys dress themselves. Its so much easier, but oh how I hate how they look.  Not only do they NOT match each other, but they just plain don't match! look at these outfits?! shudder

  Joelle is super adorable, although she is looking less and less like me, and more and more like her brothers. Oh well.

Sorry, I can't figure out how to rotate this picture. Look how tubby she is! I love this girl.

And Noah has learned how to write his name. Ethan can do it too, but i didn't get a picture.  They are getting so big! Every day they say some new funny thing that I've never heard before. Today during breakfast prayer Noah said "bless that we can be so hungry, and bless that we won't eat poo, and bless that we can go to heaven and live with Jesus.".  Also the other day I called Noah a sweet pea.  He looked confused and said "sweepy? I'm not sweepy." I said "no, not sleepy. Sweet Pea." Then I heard Ethan down the hall yell "mommy you a poop!" I thought to myself "why would he say that random mean thing to me?" then i realized that he doesn't distinguish between sweet pea and sweet pee. oops. 
I love these boys. and my girl. and my Joe.

4 weeks and 3 days...

...until Joe will walk across the stage and receive his diploma! I really should be more excited, but we STILL don't have a job! Fortunately we have a LOT of prospects. Joe has been applying like mad to a lot of different places, and making lots of contact. So far we have:

-an interview scheduled this weekend for a community health job in St. Joseph, Missouri. this seems like an AMAZING option for our family because they offer loan repayment! hey-yo! plus they are paying for us to come out and interview, so we are thinking that is a very good sign.

-an interview for an associateship in Billings with an LDS dentist who is a friend of a friend. He has also said that he would fly Joe out for an interview. Billings would only be 9 hrs from salt lake and the area seems really nice.

-contact with a Gentle Dental practice in Vancouver, WA.  Joe was able to get another 'friend of a friend' recommendation to an LDS dentist there who seems to be in pretty desperate need for a dentist. Again, the location would be really beautiful-right on the Oregon-Washington border. So pretty.

-Joe had a phone interview with a company called Midwest Dental who buys practices and then hires dentists to run them. They have 2 openings in New Mexico, so they contacted us to see if we'd be interested. Uh, ya! Are you kidding? We are done in 31 days and have no job-we are interested in anything!

-a contact for an LDS dentist here in Iowa City who is looking for an associate. I really wouldn't be opposed to staying in Iowa City a little longer. I love it here. The only issue is that I'm assuming this Dentist wants someone who would eventually buy in, and I don't think I want to stay in the Midwest forever.

-and "the Price job". it seems to always be there, but never be there. We still have no information right now except that there will be an opening for an associate very soon. we've had a lot of contact with them, and they are really great people, but they don't have any numbers worked out yet. We don't even have a ballpark estimate, so it's hard to try to plan out what our life would be like there.

I really do feel like things will work out exactly as they are meant to. we have EXACTLY one month left, but that's still enough time to find a job! Wish us luck!


P.S.  I'm SO bummed that i missed the Pella Tulip Festival again! I absolutely love tulips, and every year I say that I'm going to the Tulip Festival, but I've always missed it. Dang it.  Well, out of the list above there are 2 jobs that would allow us to see it next year. I guess that's fine.