New home KC

 The front door

the back door--with the fenced in back yard! Love it! Mason loves it too!!

 One minute tour of the lower level.

 Stopped at Little America in WY on our 3-day drive from Declo, ID to Kansas City, MO.  Had to get some of those yummy 50 cent cones; we also split a corndog, which was, surprisingly, absolutely delicious.  We almost turned around 3 hours later to get seconds.

 On one of David's days off, we did some window shopping downtown and visited this park.  We also stopped at a bakery and got some pasteries--YUM. New favorite dessert location.

 Visiting the LDS visitor's center last Sunday.

 World's of Fun! Mason loved SnoopyLand.  They have a lot of fun rides for kids his size.

Baby Kate is 6 months old!  She is so sweet and is getting so big.  She must've inherited her dad's appetite because she usually eats more than Mason at mealtimes!  I'm looking forward to taking her to her 6-month appointment to see how she measures up.

Mother's Day-->Father's Day, David's Bday!

 On Mother's Day, we started the drive from Omaha, NE to St. George, UT.  It was the day after graduation.  The day/weekend of graduation was a little crazy--it was so good to have my parents and David's parents out for it, and we were packing/cleaning like mad.  I feel like I didn't even get to give a proper goodbye to all my friends there.  I cried off and on all Saturday.  I still miss Omaha like crazy.

David's RDEP group minus two students.  We have LOVED these friends and they became our extended family while we were away from home.

I love these girls in my neighborhood--and there are 20 other friends that I wish I would have taken pictures with before I left.  I feel SO fortunate to have lived in a place with so many women who were going through the exact same situation I was.  I will probably never live in such a unique, close-knit, loving neighborhood again.

On Father's Day, we were in the middle of our road trip coming back from Declo-->KC.  So David and I didn't really give each other gifts or celebrate for Mothers/Fathers Day, but we did enjoy a lot of time together as a family in close quarters!  The kids did GREAT overall for the road trips.  I was so surprised they handled it so well--Go Mason and Kate!

David turned 29 a week ago!  Can't believe it.  It was a good birthday--David had to work all day so the kids and I went to his office for lunch.  I brought him some Oklahoma Joe's Barbecue (arguable the best BBQ in Kansas City, which means it's the best in the universe).  That night, we did cake and presents (I made him a Oreo cheesecake).  Mason got David a football, Kate got dad some Snickers, and I gave him some season passes to Worlds/Oceans of Fun.  (I posted pictures of our trip to Worlds of fun on another post.)

 Mason helped David blow out some candles since he's getting short-of-breath with age.

 Thumbs up for Dad!

I also made him a good breakfast the next day :)

David started working at Comfort Dental a few weeks ago.  He works three 12 hour shifts during the week and a half day Saturday--the first few weeks he had to stay at the office even longer to finish up paperwork so the kids didn't see him all day.  But we had a lot of fun unpacking boxes, rediscovering toys, exploring the backyard, finding grocery stores, etc.  I expected David to be completely exhausted at the end of the 12 hour days, but he surprised me!  Every day he comes home with a smile on his face.  It is still very stressful, but it's a different type of stress than school.  It's more of a hopeful stress, a stress where you believe things are going to work out and things are looking up.  

I think it's like the difference between being in an airplane crash and a car crash.  Even though both situations are highly distressing, in an airplane, you have no control and your brain isn't really thinking of possible solutions--it's just panicking.  In a car, however, you're not thinking as much of the crash as you are of possible ways to counter the accident.  In school, it seemed like there were a lot of times where it's just a deep, depressing stress--finals, trying to maneuver pleasing different professors with wildly opposite positions on how to proceed on certain cases, calculating how much you study for boards, etc.  In some classes, it seems like no matter how hard/long you studied, tests could throw you for a loop at any time, or your grade was up to the professors' discretion.  Blah.  But this new full time job?  David is at the wheel!  It's a great feeling.  Even though it's stressful, things are going to be okay. 

Harper Happenings!

From the end of May to the beginning of June we got to spend time in Idaho with my family.  The biggest event was that my brother Garrett came home from his mission to Mesa, Arizona!  It was SO good to see him and we are so happy for him.  It was awesome because we got to see Everybody.  Don't know when that will happen again so we were so glad everyone was there.

We went swimming with all the grandkids and everyone had a blast!

 This is Kate's cousin, Wynn, who was born around 5-6 weeks after Kate but is already bigger!  She's the best little baby.  So happy, such a good eater, and Kate and Wynn loved looking at each other and hanging out together :)

 We went to the river a few days (thank goodness it got hot enough!) and Mason was in heaven.

 Pinata!

We also had such a good time playing minute-to-win-it, I got to visit some very good friends from high school, and all the girls took a trip to The Gathering Place (best fabric store ever) followed with a visit to Burgers Etc for some yummy shakes.  I also got to go to my brother Greg's high school graduation--we are so happy for him!

Yates Family

From mid May to end of May and again for a while in June we hung out with David's family.
David's sister Stephanie got married on May 18 and we are so excited for her and Jared!  It was so perfect because we were able to spend a few days with the WHOLE family.  

 We took the kids to BYU.  It was kind of weird going back and having a flood of memories come back. . . with my kids in tow. . . who would have thought?  Michelle was able to come with us, too.  We stopped at the BYU Creamery and got ice cream and kids meals :)

 David and his dad went to a car show at the University of Utah that hosted cars that broke one speed record or another.

We also had such a good time at St. George, visiting Brooke & Brighton and Stephanie & Jared's new places, and having a baby shower for Becky.  We love you guys!

Plus, no visit to UT would be complete without hanging out with some of David's friends from high school and BYU.  Everybody is starting to spread out but it's always the best to be able to see them and catch up.  David also took me to MY FAVORITE ice cream stop in the world--Leatherby's Ice Cream Parlor. Mmmmm.

Graduation

 This was at senior banquet.  There was a lovely dinner and we got to visit with all our dental classmates and wives.  They had a live band (which was really good), and they showed some funny videos that some dental students had made.  There were also awards given out to the faculty in appreciation from the students.

 David was invited to an awards ceremony before graduation and received a plaque in recognition of his volunteer hours spent during his junior and senior year at One World Clinic.

Hooding ceremony

 This gives you a pretty good idea of what the hooding was like--that is why we didn't take kids to the commencement the next day.  Check out Kate's massive comb-over!

Commencement on Saturday included the medical, dental, nursing, physical therapy, and pharmacy schools.

 

David's RDEP class.  They are a very dedicated group and I can't believe they are finally all done!  I think around 7 of these guys finished cum laude, summa cum laude, or magna cum laude.  Way to represent!  

They are all going to make great doctors.

Mason and I drew this for David on his last day of clinic.  We are SO proud of him for working so hard for the last four years.