Applying for Dental School

As many of you know TJ applied for dental school last year and unfortunately we didn't get in anywhere. It is extremely competitive and it was a very frustrating for TJ to not be accepted. TJ has wanted to be a dentist forever...and it kills me that he knows exactly what he wants to do and not be lent the opportunity to do it. With all this being said I just want to say how proud of TJ I am. He has been taking classes from BYU independent study online and a 6 week course at UMSL on top of 40 hour work weeks with a commute. He got an A- in his first class and an A in his second...and has almost completed another course through BYU. He gets up @ 6 am and studies, then goes to work, comes home and studies and helps me do whatever I need or want him to do too. He puts up with all my complaining and never (very rarely) complains. He has also been trying very hard to stay in contact with all of the dental schools and doing everything he can to up his chances of being accepted this next round. September 1st is usually the earliest that schools start contacting for interviews. I know many of you have included us in your prayers and we are so grateful to all of you, so thank you thank you thank you! Keep your fingers crossed that we will be hearing something in the next couple weeks. I'm so proud of you babe...keep up the hard work...I know you can do anything you set your mind to!!!

Lake of the Ozarks

Friday after TJ got home from work we left to go to his Mom's Lake house at Lake of the Ozarks. Thanks again Mirae for letting us use it and letting us bring some friends along for a fun weekend. We took a couple of friends from our ward. The Richters: Mikel, Emily, Krew & Sway. And the Nelson's: Tyler, Lindsay & Lyla. Thanks guys for the fun time and all of the great food. Each family made one dinner meal and everyone brought more than enough food for all of the meals in between. We swam, played games, watched boats/storms, ate, talked, laughed, hiked, ate again, relaxed, and enjoyed a nice weekend with great company.

Monkey boy and his girlfriend.

Cohen waiting for lunch at Shorty Pants. Thanks Mirae for the gift card. The food was awesome.

Love this boy!

Tyler, Linds & Lylas on our Hike

Natural bridge

Aren't my boys cute...it was really hot can you tell?

Krew in the Castle window...eating a PB&J

A big spider we saw up by the castle ruins.

Sway eating his greens...

Trying to get a picture of the babies

The old castle ruins on the ha ha tonka hike

The water tower....the servants lived below it.

The boys got a little crazy swimming in the lake. Gross! I much prefer the well chlorinated swimming pool.

Beautiful sunsets and views for the lake...

The boys grilling away.

Our dinner that we made for the bunch...think we made enough???

Of course TJ has to correct me on how I'm doing something wrong in the kitchen again...and he wonders why I hate to cook....

Unfortunately Mirae sold the Lake House last weekend so no more trips to the lake : ( ! We are so glad we had the opportunity to visit so many times though.

2nd Summer Trip to Nauvoo

TJ's Aunt Gina and her family were in the Nauvoo pageant this summer for a week. I have never seen the pageant and TJ had not seen the new one so we jumped at the opportunity to go. It was so fun watching them and seeing and hearing about the experiences they had through doing it. There is definitely a distinct spirit to Nauvoo and we're so glad we've had the opportunity to go twice this summer.

When we first arrived Wednesday afternoon we met the Fullers for some delicious PB&J's for lunch and then we watched a small play about the letters Joseph and Emma had written to each other.

Cohen and the actor for Joseph Smith

Fuller family with Emma & Joseph

Us with Emma & Joseph

After we headed back so the Fullers could begin to get ready for the shoe. Gina getting her hair done by Karalee. Before the show started they have a fun country fair where they have all of the old pioneer games, dancing, and pulling handcarts. It was so much fun but it kept raining. We loved the pageant except for the fact that it rained the entire time. We were videotaping the play and Cohen did not fall asleep so I had to hold him the entire time so we didn't get any pictures of it. It was amazing though and we were so proud of our little pioneer actors and actresses.

TJ with Devin and Sterling in there costumes.

Long couple of weeks for Mike...got to get a nap in any moment you can.

Rachael and Cohen

This is just a cute little boy I took a picture of...I honestly have no idea who he is...another great thing about Nauvoo, everyone is so friendly.

Thursday morning we woke up and made it by 8 am to the Trail of Hope. It was awesome and many of the actors and actresses from the pageant gave beautiful rehearsals of pioneer stories.

Down by the Mississippi River

The Anderson's who did not survive the journey west. My dad said he didn't think we were related to any of them though...oh well. It amazed me that the pioneers could leave this beautiful town they had built up from a swamp...and leave their beautiful temple they had worked so hard for.

That afternoon we went back to the Fuller's villa where they were nice enough to make room and let us stay with them. Cohen took a nap and then we went and walked around down town and the temple. We then went to the visitors center and went to another short play about the women in the relief society. If you haven't been to the women's garden it is a must see. It is definitely one of my favorite things in Nauvoo.

Us with most of the Fullers before they left to go perform again on Thursday. Thanks guys for the great time...we loved sharing it with you!!!

Before we left town we met up with some of the Karlindsey's and had dinner at the buffet. It was again very delicious. Thanks Dayna, Brynne, and Braden for including us in your plans.

We then headed home and TJ had to work Friday morning. I unpacked then started packing for a weekend trip to Lake of the Ozarks with friends.

Cohen's 9 Month Update

I completely got ahead of myself blogging and forgot to do Cohen's 9 month updates...so here they are!

6/7/2010

Height: 28 3/4" - (50-75%)

Weight: 20lbs 15.5 oz - (50-75%)

Head: 46.4cm - (75-90%)

Cohen also started to inch-worm crawl. At about 10 months he started crawling and now he never stops. All he wants to do is go, go go!

Family Pictures: May 2010

In May TJ's best friend Jared was in town and his wife Erica is an amazing photographer. She did our engagement photos, and our wedding. We love her and once again she presented us with beautiful pictures. Thanks Erica! I couldn't put many of them up because the files were so big and I had to upload them one at a time. They are all on facebook though.