SUMMA CUM LAUDE

BYU Class of 2012

Scott really finished school back in December '11 but the ceremonies for his graduation weren't 'till last Thursday and Friday (April 19th and 20th). Since we ultimately decided against going back out to Utah to see him walk, I felt bad that it was going to be "just another day" for him and I wanted him to feel special, accomplished, and proud--like anyone should graduating in the top 1% of their class. So last Friday, I pulled my family together for a little graduation ceremony and party of our own.   

The

"ceremony" took place in the front yard after dinner, where some neighbors were perfectly placed outside to be a part of the audience. Scott felt ultra cheesy but I loved every minute of it, and so did he. 

I had Scott put on my robe and gown and even let him use my diploma as we sang the graduation theme song loudly for all to here and he received the diploma from my dad. 

 These were some serious ice-cream sundays; so serious, it did THIS to Melissa.

It was a pretty sweet graduation--Just the right kinds of food (can't go wrong with DiGiorno supreme pizza and ice-cream sundays), just the right length for an otherwise lengthy ceremony, and just the right amount of fun and games. Thanks, everyone, for a fun night. We only wish our family from TX and Utah could have been a part of it. It was a cute little evening.

Syd knows how to represent. GREAT JOB FOR ALL YOUR HARD WORK, SCOTTY! IT HAS PAID OFF SO FAR AND WILL CONTINUE TO!!!

THE BIKE TRAILER
My dad has gotten Scott into biking while we've lived at their house--and that right there folks is Scott's "new" bike. Saturday it was a 60-mile ride, today it was 50; ya know, the norm. I guess once you've gone over the 30 mile mark (I went 20 as a kid once..psh, it was nothin ;)), then you can officially call yourself a biker.

Last week Scott found this bike trailer to tote Sydney along (on the non-extremely-long bike rides) on Craigslist. Retails at about $300...and he found it in practically brand new condition on Craigslist for only $50. What a STEAL!

One moment it's a bike trailer.....

...and the next it's a jogging stroller!!

 Last Saturday night, I let Scott have a good 2 hour break after his 60 miler, and then we went out on 12-mile a ride as a little family. Mi madre came along too. And my dad, he followed us in a car, as we were meeting up at the local Bass Pro Shop and he was OK with biking only 60 for the day.

 Fishies!!!

 LOVE glass elevators

And just so you know, Sydney DID do all of her chores before we left. 

What a good baby. :)

Happy SPRING!

I have slacked off on going to my sister Mel's house to get the "real" family pictures she took for Easter, but since Michelle was off to the side taking these, and because she emailed them to me, these ones get to go on the blog. I figured these are cute even though we are never looking in any of them. Maybe someday soon I'll get the intended pictures from the photographer herself and share them with you. Hope you all are having a great spring! 

A Few Projects

FREE MOPED

So we were at chick-fil-A a few Saturdays ago (for breakfast...fat) with my sister Mel and Mike and the kids and Mike's friend called and said he was putting his scooter out on the edge of his driveway with a "For Free" sign and if he wanted it, he should come get it. Mike already has 4 (much nicer) mopeds filling up his 3rd car garage so he declined but we quickly accepted the offer!

Mike and Scott spent the better half of that Saturday afternoon putting the yellow shell back on the bike....WITH PLASTIC YELLOW PULL TIES!! HA! All it needed was a new battery to get that beauty hummin'. What a perfect thing to have on an island! And a great way for Scott to drive to school.   

Not too bad (from far away), eh?! You would never know it was free

We were glad we were at the right place, at the right time with the right people. 

Sydney thinks her (Grammy's) bike is cooler cuz it's not tied together with pull ties like daddy's ;)

SYD'S CHAIR

Every little kid needs a chair their own size, so we were excited when Scott's sister Rachel and her 3 girls started the process of refinishing this little chair they had to give to Syd. They did a great job sanding it down and mud puttying in the gaps and sent us back to KS with some white paint which Scott and I finally got around to a few weekends ago.

It's been a while since I've done this kind of thing, it must be the fact that I'm not home all day by myself anymore. I'm sure I'll get right back into tons of crafting projects once we move to our own place again and Scott is gone at school all day again. 

This was for a baby shower I went to this week....I took the template for the elephant off of a baby gap box and traced it onto fabric, cut it, ironed on, then sewed. Made the bow to match and sewed on some ribbon.

It's the same elephant as the rocking chair

HOME HUNTING

It's been very exciting and also very frustrating these last few weeks as we are preparing ourselves to move our lives down to Galveston. I have spent every hour at work, and many at home looking mostly for a house to move into. Four years is a long time and I want to be happy where we end up, whether that means buying or renting. It's very frustrating being so far away. But when we see a home we actually like (which is far and few between), it is very exciting. We are so new to the home buying/lending process that there are so many unknowns to us and we have a lot to learn. But who knows, maybe we'll end up renting after all. 

MILITARY..?

We have been leaning toward doing the military again lately. It is just feeling better and better to us mostly because of family life. There are MANY factors to consider and trust me, we have been considering for months now. We have yet to make a final decision but as to the way things are moving, we'll probably be in the military come August, when school starts.