Well, Justin made it and is officially done with his MBA from BYU! Friday was the convocation and he didn't want to go, but I made him and I was his sole supporter :) The entire ceremony only took 1 hour so that was nice and then we went to an after graduation party at one of the student's home in Pepperwood. It was a fun day and we're grateful to Rusty and my Mom for babysitting our kids.
Here are some pictures:
Well, I thought I would write some good news about my parents. After almost 2 years of hurt, pain, and a tough divorce, my parents have both found happiness. They are no longer together, but have both moved on with their lives and found significant others that make them happy.
I will start with my Dad first. My parent's divorce was finalized in July 2009 and in December, he went on his first date with a woman named Kari to my brother's Octappella concert which I happened to be at. I know they met through an online dating site, I think it was eHarmony.com but I'm not 100% sure about that. They apparently hit it off right away because they were engaged by February with plans to be married this summer. Because of some financial issues, their wedding is being postponed but they are still happy and planning to wed in the future. Kari is a very lively woman who is very passionate about politics and I hope to get to know her better as time goes by. She has 7 kids whom she cares about a lot.
As for my Mom, I didn't expect her to move on very quickly and did not expect her to date someone so seriously so quickly. In March of 2009, a few months before the divorce, my mom started to work for her Dad at Martin Door Manufacturing. A dealer named Dennis Roberts came into work and started talking to my Mom. They have known each other a little for years and Dennis even worked a little for my Dad when he worked there. They had a nice talk and she found out that his wife had just passed away a few months before. He wanted to ask her out and asked my mom's brother, Mike if he could but Mike told him that she wasn't divorced yet and still having a rough time. Well, he waited (or she waited) until she was divorced for a year and then they went on their first date. He happens to live down in Wales, UT, about 100 miles south of where she lives so it's quite the distance!
On their first date they went out to Indianola and drove around on his 4 wheeler, and she came home telling me she had a wonderful time. Then a few weeks later he had several things in SLC and so they ended up seeing each other like 5-6 times and she brought him to Sunday dinner with our family. I met him and he is a very kind, patient and sweet man. He thanked me for allowing him to date my mom and I really liked him. He has 8 kids and they are grown and living on their own.
I must admit I am glad to see my parents happy instead of constantly arguing with each other and I'm glad they have each found someone that makes them happy. If they both marry these people they are dating, I will have 15 step-siblings. Wow, that's another post altogether! Anyway, seeing my parents happy makes me happy.
I went to the Days of 47 Parade yesterday with my kids. We have a foreign exchange student here from France and he decided he wanted to go boating so Justin took him water skiing with his family and I went to the parade with my kids.
When I was on my way to the parade I called my mom to see where she was sitting and she told me she wasn't there yet. Since it was already 8:30 AM, I knew we would not get great seats and have to park far away but I asked my kids and they still wanted to go so we went anyway. After parking and walking (0.7 miles, I googled it!), we came up to the corner of 500 E and 900 S. I saw a fairly open space, not right on the curb but just behind some kids and decided to set up. However, I quickly realized that the spot was not taken because it was very wet and muddy. I didn't care, so I set up anyway and when my kids kept stepping in the muddy water and complaining, I decided to set my blanket down in front of me just for walking purposes although within minutes it was pretty soaked through.
Well, there was still a small space in front of my blanket that could easily fit a few chairs but I figured it wouldn't be taken by anyone because of the wet grass. In a sense, I was right but on 3 different occasions throughout the parade, people decided it was a great place to just stand! I mean, seriously, you are going to come to the parade after me and proceed to stand in front of me? I really could not believe it! The first people to stand in front of me was a family of 4. Eventually the family next to me got tired of seeing them standing in front of us and them, so they cleared off some of the curb and gave them seats. I thought it very kind of them since they slept there overnight and had their blankets on the curb for their own kids. Then another lady proceeded to come and stand right in front of us, it really irked me but I didn't feel like saying anything to her. She kept turning around and looking behind her like she was looking for someone and kept talking on her phone and finally after 20 minutes or so, her friend came and she left. Seriously, you couldn't stand to the side of us or behind us? She knew exactly what she was doing but did it anyway, you could just tell by her body language.
The last lady appeared over by us because her daughter saw a spot on the curb and sat down, therefore she felt it her duty to stand behind her daughter, right in front of us again, aaaaahhhhh! Now, her daughter was not small, probably 10 and would be fine if the lady moved just a bit!!! She did eventually squat down and then she stood again kind of off to the side, but all in all, I was a bit surprised at how many people thought it was okay to come and stand right in front of someone who has chairs set up. I have to say though, they probably would've sat down, maybe, but the grass was gross.
Anyway, I thought the parade was nice, albeit hot, and we stayed until we saw my brother play his trumpet in the Salt Lake County band and then we left. It was nice to do something full of pioneer spirit and enjoy the fun floats.
Then we went back to my mom's house for a BBQ and it was fun with family and tasty food. All in all, a pretty decent day!!
This year has been the first year I have attended Sunday School in 3 years due to callings in the Primary. Now, in the past, Sunday School has not been my favorite meeting and I was often glad to stay home with sick kids or teach in other callings that took me away from Sunday School. I also used to try to talk Justin into going to the Gospel Principles class instead of Gospel Doctrine because the class was often taught by old men who were gospel scholars and I had a hard time relating to them. He usually talked me into going to Gospel Doctrine though because we really should be in that class.
Well, that has all changed! I went into the Gospel Doctrine class at the beginning of the year and knew that we would be taught by two teachers who are young and interesting and really enjoyable people. The first is my neighbor Kim who is just lively and interesting and opinionated and just fun to listen to! The other is a really humble cop who is married to a wonderful woman and has 5 going on 6 kids. Both are probably in their 40's and I can definitely relate to both of them.
However, the teachers are not the reason I have enjoyed Sunday School. The reason has to do with some advice Kim gave at the beginning of the year. She told us that she too had not enjoyed Sunday School in the past but decided the classes would be more interesting if she read the lesson ahead of time and was prepared to discuss the topics in class. I took this advice to heart and started reading the assignments for my evening scripture study with Justin and it has made the biggest difference! I now look forward to going to Gospel Doctrine (especially with no kids and Justin with me) and the classes are full of discussion and conversation that I have missed out on in the past. I am really enjoying the whole experience!
The funny thing is, Justin is now trying to convince ME to go to Gospel Principles because it is held in the R.S. room and has soft chairs, ha ha ha!
I haven't been very diligent in updating my blog so here goes! At the end of May, I had another piano recital for my 5 students. I currently do recitals at the end of the school year in May and again at Christmas time. Here are some pictures:
Allie fell asleep on the way back, so sweet!
Justin and I celebrated our 7th anniversary on June 7, our golden anniversary! The Saturday before, Justin and I went shopping to buy me a gift. I really wanted to get golf shoes/ ladder ball and I had a $10 off $20 coupon at Kohl's plus a 15% off coupon so we headed there. We found it and instead of it costing $25, it was $13, woo hoo!
On Monday, I told Justin I was going to switch snow tires to regular tires so I could have his car for the day, but really I had made an appt to get his car detailed for my gift to him. I got it detailed and barely had time to switch out the snow tires and made it home 10 minutes before he got home! He liked it, but feels his car is still old.
We got a babysitter and went out to eat at Applebee's, we love that place. Then we drove over to Boondock's and went miniature golfing (the course was not that impressive, cool scenery but lacking as a golf course). We were going to go bowling also but earlier in the day Justin cut his finger on the metal track in his work desk drawer so bowling was out. We drove around and checked out new homes that were being built and then headed home and watched Runaway Bride.
Overall, it was a nice day but I kept having to wrap my head around it being a Monday night instead of a Friday or Saturday :)
Happy Anniversary Justin, I love you! Here's to another 7 great years!!
This post has been something that has been on my mind a while and I want to preface it by saying that I don't mean to sound judgmental in any way, I am simply curious.
I have several friends from my past that have decided to not live gospel standards any longer. Many of them were really good friends in elementary, junior high and high school and some even past that time. Now, while I don't agree with the choices they are making right now, I still love them and want to continue being their friends. However, many of them seem to feel that I will judge them and have distanced themselves from me. There actually haven't been very many instances where they have ignored me, but there have been a few pointed times. I just wish they would understand that I would like to be given a chance to still be a good friend, even if we have different values now.
Anyway, that's all for now. Have any of you ever experienced similar experiences with past friends? I hope not but if you have, I completely understand what you're feeling!
Justin was fortunate enough to go to the Middle East for school and was gone for 17 days. Because he was gone for so long, I decided to break up the time and go on my own vacations. The first vacation was to Zion National Park with my Mom that I blogged about already. Then I was home with my kids alone for a whole week and then I went to San Diego with my sister-in-law Liesl for 4 days. It was a great trip. Here's a run down of our trip:
On Monday, May 10th I dropped my kids off to my sister-in-law Andrea and went shopping. I bought some cute skirts at Maurices and my sister Liz took me to the airport. Liesl and I flew to San Diego, got our rental car (I highly recommend Midway Car Rental in Cali) and drove out to La Jolla. We walked along the beach and ate at the Poseidon Restaurant. Good food but a little fancy for my taste. Then we checked in our hotel and watched "When in Rome" and laughed a lot, what a good movie!
So, I am vacation with my sister-in-law Liesl in San Diego and this trip has been great but right now I am feeling down. My poor kids have had a very rough week and have not been easy for my sister-in-law to take care of. Timmy has refused to eat most of the food she has made, had issues going to the bathroom and Allison is throwing up today. Then I read an article about this couple that abused and ultimately murdered a 4 year old boy and my heart just feels so sad! Especially since I have a 4 year old boy that I can't imagine doing anything bad to and love so, so much!
I miss my kids, I miss my husband who has been gone for 14 days and won't be back for a few more. This trip has been nice, but I am ready to go home and have my family all back together again.
This weekend I was fortunate enough to go with my Mom to Zion National Park. We left on Thursday afternoon and stayed in Springdale just outside of the park. We actually had a trip planned to Bryce Canyon but realized it was going to be highs in the 30's and snowing so the day before, we switched trips! I called and transferred out nights in Bryce to August and got a hotel on Priceline.com spur of the moment!
We did all of the easy hikes along the main bus shuttle line and it was fun. When the kids napped, my mom was able to go shopping. The kids were really fun troopers and really did good hiking until the last hike of our trip and the kids had to take turns while I gave them piggy back rides. We really could have taken a stroller on the last hike but we forgot! We even saw some ward members there and it was really funny seeing them when it wasn't even a holiday weekend.
On Sunday I was going to take my kids to my mom's ward but Allison had a pretty good sized cough throughout the night so we just came home. When we got home, our house was freezing because I turned the air off. It was 54 degrees and now after a few hours, it has warmed back up. I love vacations and I have another vacation coming up soon to San Diego with my sister-in-law and without my kids, yay!
(My mom took most of the pictures since I forgot my camera on day 1 but here are the few I took on day 2.)
