ANOTHER trip to Utah (Part 2): Missing Provo...

Being in Provo to drop Macy off at the MTC made me a little homesick... I miss Provo... I miss BYU... Keaton and I, along with Hunter, Maddie, and Brooklyn made a quick visit to campus and it made me really wish I still lived in Orem, that Justin was still a BYU student, and that we could still be enjoying all the great things that the Provo/BYU atmosphere has to offer. Some people might think I'm silly to feel this way, but I lived in Provo/Orem for 8 years and after that much time in one place it really starts feeling like home. Besides, I truly loved my/our time at BYU and will always look back on those memories fondly.

Justin's racecar that he worked on his last 2 semesters at BYU is now being displayed at the Hinckley Alumi building and since we moved before it was put on display I really wanted to go and see it with Keaton and the kids. (I wish Justin would have been with us to see it too!) It is really a nice display and it was fun to see all the pictures and info about the race that Justin's team was a part of.

We *heart* BYU.

Back in May (Friday, May 11th) my cousin Tad and his wife Heather came to Orem to visit us for a bit and Heather took some cute family "BYU" pictures for us on campus. She did a great job and I think they turned out super cute. Here are a few of my favorites...

I love the silly face Keat is making. :)

And, of course we had to get a few pictures of Keaton driving daddy's race car!

I have a pretty cute little family, don't ya think. ;)

And the winner is...

Yep, that's right, after many, many months and hundreds of hours put in the BYU hybrid race car team's hard work finally paid off- they won 1st place at the international competition that they were a part of in New Hampshire during the first week in May! (These pictures are from a media day that was held on May 10th that Keaton and I decided it would be fun to go to.)

Justin has devoted so much of his time and energy into this project and I am so very proud of him for working so hard and never giving up!

Justin's professor Dr. Todd, takin' to the wheels!

What a great accomplishment for Justin and the rest of the BYU hybrid race car team! Go BYU!!!

My little minion.

Well, it's the moment of truth- Justin left today for New Hampshire for the BYU hybrid race car trip. Please keep your fingers crossed that all goes well for him and his team and that all Justin's hard work, long hours, and lack of sleep, pays off! Good luck babe! We will sure miss you while you are gone!

But, in the meantime it will be just me and my little buddy hangin' out.

(Isn't this shirt just sooo cute?!)

You're super jealous aren't you? :)

One week later... Graduation and Justin's surprise!!!

Go BYU! My favorite BYU treat (mint truffles)! I decided we needed to have a few around the house for the big day. :)

Justin's cap and gown hanging out to de-wrinkle. Justin was so busy the week of graduation that he almost didn't remember to pick up his cap and gown. Poor boy hardly got any sleep the week of graduation!

April 19th- Commencement ceremony. Look at all those graduates!

Keaton sitting in between the bleachers at the Marriot cente- eating Honeycomb. :) He thought graduation was pretty boring.

After, it was such a nice day and we got some pictures outside. Keaton wasn't lovin' the picture taking thing and this was the best one with him in it that we could get.

Justin and Kevin. Great job you two!

Justin and his parents.

I love this picture! Ha, ha, our little graduate. :)

April 20th- Engineering convocations ceremony.

Can you see Justin's name?

A blurry Justin getting his diploma. I am so very proud of my wonderful husband! Good job babe! You did it!

 My cute little family, right after graduation.

To my great surprise, Justin gave me his "stole of gratitude!" (It's the white sash around my neck and is meant to be given to someone that has been a help to you towards getting your degree.) I never imagined Justin would give it to me! I couldn't help but cry. :)

Justin and his parents. (They were the only family who came to both commencement and convocations.)

Justin's grandma and grandpa Norman and Justin's grandma Hunsaker.

My family. (Don't stand too close to Maddie, Hunter!)

 After the ceremony we all went to see the race car that Justin has been working on almost 24/7 the last few weeks! And, Justin's professor, Dr. Todd was there and we were able to get a picture with him.

Then, we headed to Los Hermanos for lunch. Keaton would have rather headed home for a nap though, I think. :)

 After lunch, it was time for Justin's surprise!

Drum roll please..........

I got Justin a few BYU things- like shirts and a car magnet and a Pez dispenser... but, I was most excited to give him this pile of treats... which expressed my love for him, told him how proud I was of his accomplishment, and gave him a few little clues to the best part of the present... which is,

***A 7 day Carnival cruise to the Mexican Riviera!!! We leave May 12th and don't come back till May 20th! And, we are very excited to say the least. :)***

Sadly, this little guy won't be coming with us, but I am sure he will have a great time with both sets of his grandparents while we are gone. :)

My family and Justin's family were all there to see Justin open his presents, and then afterwards I had made these super fun "Y" cookies for everyone to enjoy... although that plan kinda blew up in my face... the cookies turned out strange and tasted funny. Hunter could hardly even swallow his he thought it was so gross! :( Sadness. Oh well, I guess.

My graduation day decorations. :) Along with the balloons that I had a picture of above. It was such a fun couple of days. Congratulations babe!

But, like all fun things it all too soon came to an end and only minutes after opening his presents Justin needed to head back to the school to keep working on the car!

So, it was just me and Keat- who was completely worn out, (we both were- I haven't been sleeping great lately and had stayed up late- or all night- with my last day of work and then getting Justin's surprise and making cookies and cinnamon rolls- for breakfast- needless to say our WHOLE little family was overdoing it a bit...) but by this time things wound down it was too late for Keaton to take a nap so, he just had to stay up a couple more hours till bedtime. So, we enjoyed watching some Little House on the Prairie together.  Ha, ha. Seriously though that is what is on the tv that Keaton seems to be so enthralled by in this picture!

He seems completely addicted, right? But, no worries this is the first time I have ever seen him do this. And come on, don't we all just LOVE Little House? I know I do!

Goodbye job, project apartment redecoration round 2, and scrub a dub, dub!

This morning I worked my final shift as a phlebotomist at UVRMC. It was surprisingly bitter-sweet. I have really enjoyed my job, it has been such a good and growing experience for me, I have had the opportunity to work with some really great, fun people, and yet, I am so very excited to not have to worry about working "on-call" anymore, AND, the greatest part is I now get to be home with Keaton again ALL THE TIME. :) It's very exciting.

My tray. All stocked up and ready to go. Tubes, needles, syringes, bags, tourniquets, transfer devices, gauze, alcohol wipes, and tape, etc.- the works.

If ya look closely you will see a repeated symbol on many of the products on my tray- BD! Yep, Justin has been an intern for and will soon be a full-time employee at BD Medical, which ironically makes most of the products I have used as a phlebotomist for the past [almost] 8 years (8 years!? Can you believe that? Never thought that would happen- my college job becoming my somewhat "career" for the past 8 years?! Weird. And, a little sad? ish?)!

And, since I was once again up all night my only tactic for staying awake during the day to take care of Keaton was to clean- clean like a mad woman! The perfect sleep deprived activity. Ha, ha. And, I gave our apartment redecoration a 2nd shot. So, after some creative thinking I was able to find a much more realistic set-up for our family room. Don't ya think?

Justin still hasn't seen it yet, but I think he will be pleased. Plus, since we will be having family over the next few days for graduation I thought it was a good idea to have not only a clean apartment, but a normal looking one as well? Ha, ha.

And, well, I normally don't scrub the tub each time I clean, but since there is a good chance Justin's parents will be staying the night with us tomorrow night and using our bathroom to get ready Friday morning, I decided it was high time to do some deeper cleaning in the bathroom. The tub/shower was NASTY. Sadly, and honestly it's the truth.

And, even more sadly, after taking these pictures and uploading them to the computer I have realized that they make the tub look even dirtier than before! (If that is even possible?!) So, out of the irony of how much I scrub-a-dubbed our tub I decided to post these pictures anyway. I was thinking it would be fun to post how proud I was of how clean our tub and shower looked... oh, well! Such is life.

Like always, it feels AMAZING to have a nice, clean home. I LOVE it. (Probably a little too much, actually... Shh, don't tell!)

Anywho... Justin has big graduation events both tomorrow and Friday. Super exciting! I can't say enough how excited and proud I am of my most amazing husband!!!


So, Ani, (probably the only person out there that might actually read this ENTIRE crazy, silly, most likely to most people- incredibly boring post) thank you for being THAT kind of friend. :) And, can we please get together multiple times a week now that I no longer have to worry about work and especially since Justin will be gone for a WHOLE week starting next Friday for the hybrid race car "stuff," pretty please??? I am feeling like I am going to have loads of free time! Oh, and p.s. when is your final theatrical presentation for school? I want sooo badly to be there!




[It's 1 a.m. now. Keaton has been asleep for hours and I am exhausted. AND, Justin is still at the school. Of course. Wow. Wow. Wow. I REALLY need to get some sleep. I think I am going C.R.A.Z.Y.! Will this post even make any sense in the morning? Ha, ha. Goodnight!]