Congratulations Joe!

Joe graduated last week and is now officially an orthodontist. Congratulations hon, you did it! We both never thought that this day would come, but it finally did after 10 years of college and a lot of hard work! I am so proud of you and the sacrifices that you've made so that you can provide for our family.

After an amazing dinner, speeches from his professors, and a slideshow from the 1st year residents, Joe accepted his Masters degree and Orthodontics certificate. Each graduating resident spoke and Joe did a great job even though he didn't prepare anything ahead of time (typical Joe). He was actually caught off gaurd, but recovered nicely. My favorite part was when he thanked me for being such a wonderul support. I would have to agree!

It was so much fun to have Tom and Suzy visit for this occasion. We always have a blast when they visit and this time was no exception. One of the things that we did while they were here was to visit a toy train museum. Tom is a big collector of Lionel toy trains and it was fun to take the boys and watch their reactions to all of the trains.

We also went to the zoo which was really fun. It happened to be a nice and warm day, so of course everyone in the city of Milwaukee wanted to get outdoors and enjoy the weather...the zoo was absolutely packed. Samuel's favorite thing was the petting zoo with the goats. We made 2 trips because he enjoyed it so much. Here is a video of Samuel in the middle of goats, trying to feed them. He had no fear! He just walks in and sticks food right into their mouths.

So now that Joe has graduated you may be wondering about our plans. After A LOT of searching, the best opportunity that met both criteria of being by family as well as being a good practice opportunity for Joe is in Kissimmee and St. Cloud Florida. The only hitch (which is a big one) is that Joe will have to take the Florida boards to practice there. To all my dental friends, you can understand how painful this process is for Joe to do all over again. He is currently there right now taking a refresher class and then the boards. Save some of your pity for me though, because while he is gone for 2 WEEKS, I am here by myself with the kids. My family was not able to come and all of my friends have either moved or are on vacation. Please pray that I can maintain my sanity without any adult interaction during this time! To Joe in Florida: you are such a trooper and I am so proud of all of your accomplishments so far. I admire and respect you so much. Good luck in Gainesville.