Sorry, i don't have any pictures. Pathetic right? 4 weeks in Utah and I don't have a single picture. I didn't pack my camera for fear that I'd have my luggage checked and have it stolen. Turns out I did have my luggage inspected on the return flight, so I do NOT regret this decision.
I'll have to keep this post fairly brief since nobody will read a long post with no pics, and I can't blame you.
Quick overview:Joe has an externship in Des Moines for school for 5 weeks so I decided to spend the first 4 weeks in Utah so I could get some help with the boys. This is another decision I do NOT regret. I cannot tell you how good it was to have so much help. I don't think I could have made it through these 4 weeks otherwise. He still has to finish out this last week, but i can handle one week alone.
the highlights: -The boys playing with their cousins in Salt Lake. At one point, all of the twins (there are 6 of them) were running around in super hero costumes screaming and hero-ing. it was so much fun to watch them all play together.
-The boys playing with their cousins in Price. One of the nights all of the cousins went to the dirt hills to ride a mini motorcycle. Obviously my boys were too little for this, but it was so fun to see the boys running around with their cousins in the same dirt hills that Joe spent his childhood running around in.
-The Gluten Free Expo. I came home with 4 loaded bags of free stuff. Super awesome.
-My mom putting my kids to bed for me for 2 weeks. Oh. My. Goodness. Can you imagine not having to put your kids to bed for 2 weeks? Seriously-it was SO NICE!
-Relaxing in Price. Peggy (Joe's mom), and Sarah (Joe's sister) probably got sick of my non-contributing laziness, but it was so helpful not to have to worry about meals, and housekeeping etc. Plus Sarah's little girl Molly kept the boys attention most of the time and i just got to sit and relax, and grow my new baby.
-Visiting friends. I got to see a lot of my Utah friends while i was in salt lake-plus some Iowa friends that recently moved to Utah. The boys loved seeing "jackson and akenna" (jackson and makenna), and i loved seeing their mom Kassie.
-i loved seeing my family. over the 4 weeks i was able to visit with all of my siblings and in-laws. plus i got to spend a whole week with my mom, which is rare since she works full time.
-gluten free restaurants. mmmmm.
The Low-lights:-missing Joe. a lot.
-a very dear friend of mine passed away on oct 24th. But i felt blessed to be in Utah when it happened so that i could get together with our mutual friends and share pictures and memories about her.
-missing Joe more
-Noah discovering that I don't punish him as harshly around grandma. He was such a punk sometimes. He needed/I needed Joe there to back me up. And Ethan felt like he NEEDED to play with the ipad all the time. ugh.
-missing Joe when i had nightmares. yes i have nightmares and yes i usually wake Joe up to help calm myself down.
-the flight back to Utah was terrible, but it's over so i don't have to think about it anymore.
Conslusion: for those of you dental wives who'll have to go through this 5 week externship without their husbands, i would most definitely recommend getting to some extra help if you can swing it. 4 weeks is a long time to be away from Joe, but it was totally worth it. the time went by pretty quickly, and my kids still have all of their limbs attatched. Neither of those things would have happened if i'd stayed in Iowa.
Building "tunnels". This is a fort we made out of blankets on their bunk beds. They loved it! I find that if I want the boys to actually sleep for nap time i have to bribe them with something fun when they wake up-but only if they take a good nap. This is one of those bribes. Building a tunnel.
Another bribe is playing in the leaves.
They sure are cute. They loved jumping in the giant pile of leaves out front and were supremely disappointed when the city came by to suck up all the leaves. 
....This. A built in shelf. Now the boys have a place in their room for their books, hamper, and some toys. While Joe was hammering away I took the opportunity to reupholster the rocking ottoman. It was a cream color with LOTS of stains on it from the boys. We use it as a time-out chair. I also moved the boys recently repainted letters into their room. I think it looks so much better, and now it can be more organized too. Good job Joe!
Here is the crib all set up with the completely amazing crib bedding I made. Its so crazy to have this all set up. It means a baby will be sleeping in it soon.
