Mar 7: Grad Party

Steven threw me a little grad party for Family Home Evening. He made lots of food and invited over our 'grand forks family'.

Some of the food.

I didn't take any pictures during the party except:

There was lots of good food and even better company. The question I got asked most frequently was, "How does it feel to be done?" My answer: "It feels like a giant weight that I didn't even know was there is lifted off my shoulders".

We are truly blessed to have good friends here. As we told everyone it was Family Home Evening, we thought it best to have some sort of message. I shared this quote:
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, A Prayer for the Children (Apr 2003 CR, 90)
“Live the gospel as conspicuously as you can. Keep the covenants your children know you have made. Give priesthood blessings. And bear your testimony!11 Don’t just assume your children will somehow get the drift of your beliefs on their own. …
“Nephi-like, might we ask ourselves what our children know? From us? Personally? Do our children know that we love the scriptures? Do they see us reading them and marking them and clinging to them in daily life? Have our children ever unexpectedly opened a closed door and found us on our knees in prayer? Have they heard us not only pray with them but also pray for them out of nothing more than sheer parental love? Do our children know we believe in fasting as something more than an obligatory first-Sunday-of-the-month hardship? Do they know that we have fasted for them and for their future on days about which they knew nothing? Do they know we love being in the temple, not least because it provides a bond to them that neither death nor the legions of hell can break? Do they know we love and sustain local and general leaders, imperfect as they are, for their willingness to accept callings they did not seek in order to preserve a standard of righteousness they did not create? Do those children know that we love God with all our heart and that we long to see the face—and fall at the feet—of His Only Begotten Son? I pray that they know this.
“Brothers and sisters, our children take their flight into the future with our thrust and with our aim. And even as we anxiously watch that arrow in flight and know all the evils that can deflect its course after it has left our hand, nevertheless we take courage in remembering that the most important mortal factor in determining that arrow’s destination will be the stability, strength, and unwavering certainty of the holder of the bow.”

A Long Overdue Update- Fall Version

See, I told you I would update about Fall too!

September--

The highlight of September was our trip to North Dakota to visit the school there. It makes me laugh that it was the highlight. It was much prettier in September, and we can't wait for this summer!! I don't feel the need to post pictures about it...just wait a few months and they'll all be the same!

Also in September, was my Mother-in-law, Becky's birthday. As in all things involving boys, the highlight was playing with fire...The boys were having a contest to see who could let their matches burn down the furthest before burning them out. Keith joined in too...Boys.

October--

To start off October, we went to First Fridays at the Phoenix Art Museum. We rode the light rail and saw lots of cool art! We didn't have to ride the light rail very far, so when we were done, we just kept riding it...and when we got off, it was kind of in a sketchy area...hence Steven's face.

It was also Andrew's 14th birthday. He picked Texas Roadhouse for dinner. Becky and I went to Ladies Night at Deseret Book and met the boys for dinner after they were done with Conference.

He got to sit on the saddle...he clearly enjoyed it.

And the most important part of October- I GRADUATED!!! Well actually I just finished the courses, graduation is in April. Everyone told me I couldn't finish my last semester the way it was scheduled, and I did it anyways...so HA! Anyways, I came home from my class very late (it was in Chandler) and I came home to a beautiful dinner made by Steven and flowers too!

The following weekend, we went to Prescott for a graduation trip. It was BEAUTIFUL and such a nice break. We went to the movies, went and hiked, ate lots of good food, went shopping, slept in- all things I had been neglecting for the past few months.

Here is Steven in our hotel room--we got a sweet deal on this hotel that was becoming a resort...the only downside was all the new furniture in giant boxes in the foyer. It was a steal!
Steven by the lake we visited...I'm pretty sure it was something original like Prescott Lake or something.
On our nature walk...notice the leaves behind us? It was truly FALL!!

We also celebrated our friend Raf's graduation from Surgical Technology school. It was an interesting ceremony to say the least...This picture pretty much defines their relationship...

Halloween- As far as Halloween goes, I was in charge of 18 different costumes...10 for work (see the sashes-we were princesses) and 6 beehive costumes (we were Bees) and mine and Steven's (he was a pot of honey). It was fun but I will not be volunteering to make costumes for awhile.

The sashes after the first coat of puffy paint...all those outlined letters!
Our parent's ward trunk-or-treat
Me with two of my beehives...we didn't get a group picture of all of us!

At our ward trunk-or-treat!


November--

In November, I went to Kayley's state Band Competition. It was clear out in the East Valley. I actually saw several of the planes from Steven's school flying over it--but none were him. Kayley's band did very good, despite their rating. Here is the fan club :)

And the only other thing that happened in November was that we went to Utah for Thanksgiving break. We spent a lot of time with family. I was up there for a whole week (5 days without Steven!) working remotely and Steven came up after classes with my mom. I got to meet up with some friends from college. It was a fun reunion! We also got to see the lights at Temple Square twice! And we spent a lot of time shopping the day after Thanksgiving...we got most of our winter clothes though! And my little brother broke his ankle and we had to push him around Temple Square in a wheel chair...which made for a lot of fun stories! Ha love you bro!
We were freezing! Steven loves his new coat, so feel free to comment on it...


And December was a busy month, so it will get it's own catch-up post, we'll call it the winter update!

Dear World,

(or the three people who read this blog)

I am one 5 page paper about the importance of background and reference checks in employment staffing (which is nothing compared to yesterday's 13 page and today's 7 page)
and one 10 minute PowerPoint presentation (about said paper) away from a college degree.

And then, life with free time comes again and maybe I will update my blog regularly...maybe

PS.. I just text this news to Steven (He is trying to spending as much time as possible away from the house for these last few days of school so as not to distract me)...
his text back: Boom sha ka laka
<3