The next few years made up for the downer experienced in 1958. They were able to build their first home in Columbia Heights - a 2- bedroom, 1 bath home (no garage) which was supposed to have cost $12,000 but ended up costing $12,700. Noel attended the University full time and Jan worked as a secretary to the President of Foley Manufacturing Company. Weekends were spent at Jan's parents' home on the lake in Sauk Centre. Golfing, fishing, bowling and swimming were welcome respites from work and study. Noel also drove taxi and worked in the parking garages at the University to help pay living expenses.

Their first child, Randall Alan, was born at The University of Minnesota Hospital on May 11, 1960 and their second, David Larry, was born at The Swedish Hospital on November 1, 1961. Noel graduated from The University in May, 1962 and went to work for Control Data Corporation as a Technical Writer. Shortly thereafter, Noel switched jobs to Donaldson Company and Jan went to work as an executive secretary with Control Data. They then built their second home in Bloomington and spent the next few years happily standing outside in the cold weather watching their boys play hockey and, later, watching them play indoors when they became "Silver Stick" players. This was a very fun part of their lives in which they shared their time and interest with the many close friends living on the "Beard Road Cul-de-Sac". On September 25, 1969, their third son, Bradley John, was born. He was dearly loved by his older brothers until he started getting in their things. All in all, life in Bloomington was great.

The Stenoien children were blessed with great Grand Parents! Grandma Stenoien spent a lot of time with the boys as they were growing up and she was always able to respond to their frequent requests to: "Tell us another story Grandma." These stories centered around her real life experiences in moving from West Virginia to the North Dakota homestead and she was a master at creating word pictures for their inquisitive minds. The Sorenson farm located on beautiful Long Lake near Sauk Centre was the kids favorite weekend and summer destination. How fortunate they were to have caring Grand Parents plus this wonderful environment. Of course, their parents never were fully aware of all the potential trouble that their crazy cousin Bobby led them into! Sliding on rubber ice on the lake before it was safely frozen, walking the hay mow ridge in the barn without falling and breaking their necks, etc., etc.

Randy was born with a lactose allergy which was not discovered until he was over one year old. This caused constant stomach pains and frequent asthma attacks which nearly killed him. More than once, Jan & Noel had to rush him to the hospital where adrenalin and oxygen were able to save the day.

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