Graduation/ Family Reunion

Warning: tons of pics for the family

We made the trip up to Iowa for graduation this past week. Overall, it was a great trip. It is an 18 hour trip. The kids were amazing travelers. I don't think there was any whining or fighting. A M A Z I N G! :) After the first 5 hours, we told them how well they were doing and let them play a little bit at McDonalds as a reward. Then later that night, we complimented them again and let them go to McDonalds again. It was a good reminder of how they thrive on positive reinforcement. On the way home, they got to pick out a candy bar. They colored and watched movies the majority of the time. It was funny as we were driving closer to Iowa. The weather had been so nice the whole way and then a few hours from Iowa it was cold and pouring rain. The next day was so windy all day. That's Iowa for you!!! It was the main reason we decided to stay in Texas to finish school. The majority of the clothes I brought for us all were shorts and short sleeved shirts. no jackets. We had some time to kill, so we went to the outlet mall. The girls found matching High School Musical III hats and magic scarves ($1.00!) to help keep them warmer. They were so cute and they loved them.

We stayed at an indoor waterpark. It was perfect for the kids. Emma and Lily loved the waterslides. There were 2. The green one was lighter and slower. The red one was dark, fast, and curvier. When we were about ready to go down the slide, they really wanted me to go down the red one with them. I told them I thought it was too dark. Lily turned to me and says teasingly with her head tilted, "Mom, are you afraid of the dark?" It cracked me up. However, Lily had a really bad nightmare about it. It took about a half an hour to get her to snap out of it. I tried to ask her about it... she'd say "THIS IS A VERY BAD DAY! THIS IS AS VERY BAD DAY" She said that it was so scary. Talking about the slides.

We met up with Joe and Nannette' family, Jayne and Ken's family, Nana and Bampy, Grandma and Grandpa Frost, and Kaytie and Jason's family. We are so grateful they made the trip to celebrate all that Austin has accomplished! ... A HUGE THANK YOU!!!

The morning of graduation when we opened our eyes it was really bright outside. It looked like 9 a.m.! "oh ****! " The only times that bad words fly out of my mouth are when we wake up late for something very important or when I see the kids getting hurt. Luckily, it was only 7:00 a.m. and it was just really light in the morning. Graduation was nice. It was an incredibly windy day. Austin said it was such a moment and felt so good to have his family there and to look out to see them. It meant a lot to him that they were there. He also said it was quite a moment when all the graduates were standing and he could just see the professors clapping so proudly for them. It is still crazy that he is DONE with school. However, he is already back to going to downtown everyday and studying for the bar exam. It's going to be a hard 2 more months. It's been a road that we've been on since we've been married - almost 8 years. It's been a long chapter of our lives that we've grown closer through. Lots of memories of what we've gone through.. Austin working graveyard shift at the BYU Wilk center, Austin almost missing Emma's birth to keep his paper route job, Austin coming home for dinner and heading back to study 'til wee hours in the morning, the STRESS of exams, feeling like a widowed woman of 2 kids, Austin working at Walgreens night shift with gout, moving almost every year, living in trailers, basements, and apartments, THREE kids to raise. Oh.. the list could go on... :) But, even with great bumps along the way, it's really been an awesome 8 year journey full of blessings, love, and fun. We're excited for our next chapter in life though ! :)

Graduation night, we traveled out to Kalona to eat dinner at an Amish woman's home. I thought it was neat and I thought the food was awesome. Her home reminded me so much of my Grandma and Grandpa's home. The smells, the look, the carpet, the food, the china, etc. I love their simple, self-sustaining way of life. I really enjoyed it... but that's just me.

It was so great to see everyone! We love you all so much. We hope you had a good trip!

After everybody left on Sunday we got to spend some time with the Engs. I've missed them! The kids played for like 6 hours in their room. I didn't hear them at all. They were busy creating money and a pet store. Albert and Rachel were so nice to make us a yummy pork chop dinner. It was so great to visit with them. It was just like the good ol' days and like the last year of being away never even happened. We had such a great time together; watching Survivor, staying up telling funny stories, going to watch Rachel be the cutest soccor mom of 3 year olds ever, eating pizza, photoshopping, talking 'til 1 in the morning, etc. Monday morning, I called some other friends to meet us for lunch at Panera Bread. I LOVED seeing them all. I heart my Iowa friends! :) Austin golfed ALL DAY with Chris and had so much fun. Although, Texas is treating us good, we both left Iowa wondering if we made the right decision to leave early.



William wasn't too happy about being in the water.. it was a bit cold.

A little bit of basketball

So much fun with Nana

I was sitting on this lawn chair with William. When I got up to take a picture of him, he wasn't happy!

This was my first time meeting little Ben. What a pleasure! You just want to keep looking at him... he's such a cutie!

pool fun with Dad

Do you think if I post this, I'll keep getting these kinds of faces? :) gotta love it!

Jayne... it's always so great to be with you!

First time meeting Jason too... you guys make such a lovely family! :)

Nana and William

Grandma and Grandpa Frost

It was a sad moment when we realized that the reason her floaties were deflated was that there was a hole in it. "The mean life guard" had just told her too that she was to small to go down the slides. Her fun for the day seemed doomed!

they could go down these all day long

We got a kids suite thinking that it'd be a bigger room. It wasn't. It just had a wall with bunk beds and a kid's desk. The girls thought it was great though.

The hat and scarf purchases.

Nana and Bampy with kids


The family (without spouses). Sorry Nannette... I don't know how I didn't get any pictures of you!

cousins

The very long car ride


graduation

Lily with the graduation programs

Yep, there's my name for JD and law review. phew.

This is just 1/2 of our row.

Emma.. a proud little girl

Jayne

Grandpa Frost

Ken and William

Tyler and William (Tyler liked playing with William and was a great help)

Kayti and Jason

Nana and Bampy

Austin walking down the aisle

What a handsome graduate!

so happy

s
almost time

He got from robed from one of his favorite professors

YOU DID IT!

The girls had a great time with Megan

It was SO COLD afterwards. The kids gathered around Nana to keep warm.



Dad and Austin

Austin and Joe

Steve, Joe, Austin, Mom

celebrating

Lucy, Austin, Dad

Jayne "looking up" to Austin!

We graduated

I'm so proud of you! Thank you! I love us! :)


Kate and Austin

Jason, Kate, and Austin


cute pics of Jason and Kate

Our blessed family

Austin and Reuben

Ahhh... you feel so free!

Emma was a profess photographer taking these. She was clicking away and tilting the camera and everything.
Here I am... an unofficial "graduate" of completion of being a "law graduate's spouse"

HOORAY!