Back Ground

Several years ago I decided to make a career change. I had been roofing in Phoenix AZ for many years and did not feel like I was fulfilling my destiny. I decided to go back to school and become a nurse. And so with my wife Kendra by my side I embarked on a remarkable journey , a journey of changes foreseen and unforeseen. When I began my schooling, nurses in Phoenix were in very high demand, hospital census was high, and sign on bonuses were the norm. Not so when I graduated. So after three months of fruitless searching in AZ, Kendra and I began to research compact states, and decided to apply at Rapid City Regional Hospital in Rapid City South Dakota, where I was eventually hired. The result of this hire was the unforeseen change, we had talked of moving to another area after graduation but did not imagine SD would be where we would end up. However, we fell in love with the area on first arrival. The Black hills essentially began right in town, Deadwood, Lead, Spearfish, the Badlands, Hot Springs, Sturgis, and Mount Rushmore are all just a few miles away. Also, we are fortunate to have a congregation of 70 in Gillette Wyoming, which is only 150 miles west of us.

Monday, January 2, 2012

   Tuesday after Christmas the Kuoppala family from AZ arrived in SD. The house felt comfortable and full of people. Just how we like it. While they were here we did many fun activities including shopping, site-seeing, and much visiting. One of the places we went to is Art Alley in downtown Rapid City.

  Art Alley has some fantastic art under the more recent tagging by the less talented.
   The kid's enjoyed hanging out with friends. Kids always like having overnight company, they lay in the bedroom whispering till late at night. Oh well, that's how memories are made.
   Drew holding Dustyn K. All the kids were infatuated with him, wanting to hold him and give him his nuk whenever he made a peep. The hand in the bottom is Morgan bringing Dustyn his nuk.
     Guests are always welcome and much appreciated.
Posted by at 1:47 PM

2 comments:

  1. AnonymousJanuary 2, 2012 at 6:36 PM

    Hi, looks like everyone is having fun sightseeing. Can't wait to come there for a visit. Happy Holidays and wishing you's a prosperous year. Dan and Mauri

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  2. AnonymousJanuary 4, 2012 at 11:12 PM

    the kids (and us) had so much fun seeing their cousins! Can't wait to come again. Art alley was quite interesting. Some good art there! Would have loved to spend more time browsing the shops downtown...but not so practical with 12 kids in tow! Thanks for the hospitality!!
    Jenny

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