Anyway, where I had left off, I had not yet been to Boston. So yeah, that happened. Haha. I went to Boston with my friend Lori and her husband Nate for the APTA NEXT conference. It was a really good experience. I learned a ton, got to have access to tons of resources which I am still parsing my way through, got to catch up with Lori and explore Boston a little bit. The first night of the conference we lucked out too because Sail Boston days was going on so we got to tour a tall sailing ship for free! That was pretty epic. I love seeing all the old sailing ships. For some reason, they remind me of when I was a youth and would read books that involved sailing. I loved getting caught up in the world of another time and place. Also they remind me of that time we got to tour the Mayflower replica when I was like 12. So good family memories. Anyway, so that was cool.
Lori and I also took one of our lunch breaks at the conference to walk down to the Boston Children's museum to buy a book for Levi. There were so many cute shirts and toys there it was so hard to settle on what to get him! But the book I ended up with is pretty cool because it is basically like a count your way through Boston book. It has things like 8 Boston marathon runners and 9 ducklings. So that's fun. Other than that we mostly just spent time learning and getting fired up with what's new in the world of physical therapy right now! It was inspiring to see so many other young clinicians and hear some awesome ideas about where physical therapy is heading in the future. I wish that the messages could have been shared with all the thousands of clinicians out there who were not at the conference. I mean, I feel like those of us who were there were those who are excited and ready to embrace change for the better and the future of our profession but there are some other clinicians out there who are set in their ways and may not be using best practices and I wish we could just provide more continuity of care across our profession and all rise together.
South Boston where the conference center was.
Boston temple :)
Anyway, so Boston was cool except for missing my boys. But it was ok because a couple days after I came home we got to go as a family and visit my family in California! I always love visiting my family but this time was extra special because my good friend Lauren got married so I got to go to her bachelorette party and then sealing. I am so proud of her for the choices that she has made so that she can now be starting her own eternal family. It was so special to get to be there for that, and I really felt the spirit strongly.
Bridal party at the Oakland Temple
Also the trip to California was extra fun because my brother Eric brought home his girlfriend Natacia so I got to meet her for the first time. They seem so good together and it makes me so happy to see him so happy!
Levi playing at the park of the elementary school I went to as a kid!
Ps I totally got those play shoes for him at a garage sale that very day for like $1 #winning
He rocks grandma's sunglasses!
Cutest boys on 4th of July!!
Levi absolutely refused to ride in the stroller so he walked or was carried on Dad's shoulders the whole hike!
And I absolutely loved all of us getting to be together! It was so fun to see Levi start to interact with his cousins a bit and chase them around.
Hyrum and Levi anxiously awaiting Papi to come to the door
Levi is looking up at Papi in this picture. Soo cute!
Measuring spoons and bowls were the favorite toys of the trip. Love this picture of Anson, Evan and Hyrum!
Sweet baby Ben
Each family was in charge of two meals during the trip so we ate like kings literally every meal. I honestly was super impressed at the time and effort that went into all the food and how delicious it all was! And it was sooo nice to only have to cook twice the entire week! Talk about a vacation! Haha.
Levi loved all the good food too!
It almost looks like Levi is shoulder pressing this bar and Eric is spotting him haha
In the afternoon, Nona watched Levi back at the cabin so that Eric and I could go on the Alpine slide.
That's right, I got a job for Newberg School District! It happened so fast that it's still a little bit surreal to me. The week before we went to Colorado, a recruiter for one of the staffing agencies I work with emailed me that there was an opening at the school district and that it was a 0.8 position but was I interested? I told her I was but only if we could negotiate for a 0.4 or 0.6 instead. The recruiter encouraged me to to do the interview anyway and she would see what she could do from there. Anyway so I agreed to do a phone interview in Colorado on Tuesday. And I was mostly thinking of it more like just practice because I really didn't think they would split the position. So I didn't even really do much to prepare for the interview! But then when I was on the phone with the interviewer she suggested that they were considering splitting the position into two 0.4 positions and would I be interested in that? So I told her that would actually be perfect for me! So we finished up the interview and she told me they would get back to me within the next day or two. But then less than an hour later, my recruiter called me and told me the district was offering me the position! I was shocked and told her I needed a day to think about it. So Eric and I took some time and discussed it as a family and prayed about it and eventually I decided to accept the job even though I was slightly terrified as I have never worked in a school before and felt like I don't know anything! We just realized that an opportunity like this doesn't come around every day and it would be a great chance for me to get my foot in the door in pediatrics and learn a ton. And I will basically have a built in mentor because the lady who is taking the other 0.4 position is experienced in schools so I will definitely be relying on her a bit to mentor me as I explore this whole new world of school therapy. I know that I will probably mess some things up in the beginning but I can't just pass this up because I'm scared. I know that I need to take a leap of faith and just do my best and it will be a great learning experience. So yeah, I start August 14th and I'm already getting ready reading over things from the pediatric APTA section and talking to my friend who has worked as a school PT. I'm starting to feel a little more comfortable about things but still pretty nervous. :)
Also, Eric and I have decided that now would be a good time to make a change for our childcare. We've decided to switch to a daycare center. It will save us a TON of money which is definitely enticing but also we feel like Levi would enjoy being around more kids and having a bit more structure to his day. Also with a daycare center we would be able to spend more time together as a family because Eric and I would be able to both leave for work at the same time so Eric would be able to get home earlier in the evening. So I've been calling around to a lot of places and I've got four tours to go to this week. Unfortunately, most of them have somewhat long wait lists (like November to Januaryish) but one place does have an opening now! So hopefully we like that place when we go check it out!
So yeah, lots of good changes and excitement happening around here. I've got two more weeks left of my old job and Eric and I are planning on taking Levi camping this weekend! And then my sister and parents are coming up here in a couple weeks so we've still got lots to look forward to. Sometimes I look at all the fun things that are happening and I can barely believe that this is our life. I feel so blessed to have such a great family and such a bright future ahead of us.
Here are some other random pictures of our life here at home over the last 6 weeks. As you can see, we spend a LOT of time at the park :)
Someone left our bathroom door open so Levi had a lot of fun taking all the toilet paper off the roll. He was sooo proud of himself haha.
Levi showing off that he can fit an entire half a banana in his mouth at once!
Levi's new favorite thing is to "drive" my car. He will often throw a little fit if I put him into the car without letting him drive for a while first!
Playing at the park with our friend Lincoln
And our other friend Liam. All these L named baby boys!
One of the Saturdays we were home we went to the Robinhood festival in Sherwood. We tried out a petting zoo with Levi but he was a little terrified of the animals and refused to touch any of them or let us put him down! But he wanted to stay close to them and watch them.
Levi takes driving very seriously haha
He beelines it for any water at any park we go to!
I just love my silly boy!
