5 Years!

 

It's been over 5 whole years since this day happened on May 4th, 2007. Crazy! I guess time has just flown by because of how much fun we've had. Ha! Cheesy, sorry.. But really, I wouldn't choose to be anywhere else or be with anyone else than with this hot guy! He is my best friend and I wouldn't be who I am today without him. Love you babe! You are an awesome husband!

We have a tradition of going out for an awesome steak dinner each year for our anniversary and this year was no different! Except for the fact that I forgot to take a picture. Oh well! Just know that we did get a babysitter and celebrated our anniversary with a great dinner date. Then after dinner, Sam actually surprised me with a brand new watch! It's a Michael Kors white ceramic one and I am in love with it! He did an amazing job picking it out. AND finding it at a Saks outlet store so he avoided paying full price. I've taught him well. hehe.. I had lost my nifty little wal-mart digital watch in our move and have wanted a new one since then, just wasn't expecting anything like this. I've never had a nice watch before. He said he thought I deserved a nice gift of some sort for our 5th (we normally don't do gifts, he even said he didn't want me to get him anything). I am so spoiled! Thanks soo much babe! Love the watch! Love you!

Ivy's first birthday bash

Can't believe my baby girl is turning a year old already! Isn't she a doll in this pic?! I just looove how all her 1 year pics turned out, taken by my awesome friend Allison who lives in the area (more to come later).. Anyways, if any of you happen to be in the area next Saturday, we'd love to see you! Let me know if you are thinking of coming and I can give the address to our place. (I just wanted to blur it out for safety, of course)

Mesa Temple

The first Sunday we were here, we decided to take a drive that afternoon out to see the Mesa Temple. I don't think I've ever seen a temple like this before in real life. It was pretty cool. 

Checkin' out the flowers around the grounds:

 Ivy decided to park it in the shade and eat some leaves. 

Yeah, I know. She's cute. ;)

Early Birthday with Mema

My mom actually flew into town when we were still in Utah and was a big help with packing and driving down to Arizona and then unpacking. She helped make things go very smoothly, especially with Ivy. Thanks so much Mom! Anyways, the day before she left AZ, we decided to go to lunch and do a little mini birthday celebration for Ivy since my mom was going to just miss her birthday. I think it was good practice for Ivy, hehe. She was not afraid to get her hands on that yummy cupcake mommy had made just for her...

She devoured that thing in mere seconds. She just loves her sweets. A girl after my own heart. ;)

Thanks Mema for the fun toy! She loves it!

Hello Arizona

We are here in Tempe, AZ these days which is half way in between Phoenix and Mesa... Said goodbye to Utah (indefinitely) and made the drive down a few weeks ago. So far, I like it. We now are able to enjoy warmer pool water, Bluebell ice cream, Trader Joe's, and Jack in the Box, all while still being able to have the same things we enjoyed in Utah- dry heat, no mosquitos (yes!), cool breezy evenings, and Paradise Bakery. Some extras include being able to visit many friends who just happen to live around this area that we haven't seen in a loong time.. But that's for a another post. For now, just know that we are here, safe and sound with Sam into the full swing of selling and me busy planning Ivy's first birthday. and taking Ivy swimming almost every single day, of course. Fun stuff. 

Stopped at the Glen Canyon Dam on the way down. We will see you soon, Lake Powell. Counting down the days...

Miss Ivy loves her pool floaty. probably more than her turtle.. ok maybe not. Best $20 purchase made this summer thus far, though, that's for sure..

(yes that is a big fat scratch on her nose, yet another story for a future post)

Sam's Graduation

Well, our days at BYU have finally come to an end. I can hardly believe it! Sam is finally finished with everything in his undergrad career. When all was said and done, he received his Bachelor's degree in Economics, Minor in Business, and completed all the prerequisites for medical school. It's not really considered any sort of degree but I think it should be one because there are so many credits for it! What I mean to say is, my husband pretty much rocks. Not only does he have mad math skills for Economics and business but he really found his niche in all his science classes. He loved them. That can only mean he is headed in the right direction. :) ANYways, here are some pics from the festivities over the graduation days. Sam's mom came into town for the event as did my mom (to also help pack and move). We were just missing Sam's dad and Trish who had to stay home for some medical reasons. :( Commencement was on Thursday April 19th, then Convocation was April 20th..

On our way to Commencement. Elder Oaks was the speaker. I spent most of the time in the hall chasing down the 11 month old with too much energy but I heard it was good. Haha:

Afterwards, gotta have the pictures with family.. Sam's cousin Jenny was graduating too:

Dad, get this thing off of me...

Convocation the next morning.. It was at 8 am and we decided to leave Ivy home with Mema so we didn't have to worry about getting her ready so early or having to chase her around once we were there. I'm glad we did. I ended up going at 7am with Sam to get a good parking spot and to save a seat for Mom R. Plus it made it much easier to get pictures. Thanks Mema!

I wasn't able to get a good pic of Sam getting his diploma because I took a video.. My camera wasn't fast enough to snap a pic after he walked off the stage but thank goodness for texting.. I had him turn around real quick for a shot. :)

Gotta have the photo shoot on campus...

Here is Sam with his very generous graduation gift from his parents. He is one happy guy! We were moving the next day so we just had the piano movers (from the company they bought it from) move it right onto our moving truck. You better believe Sam got in a few songs before we loaded the rest of the boxes:

Thank you Mom and Dad!! And to Dad- So sorry we couldn't have you here with us! Hope you are recovering well! We missed you but glad things are better now!

Graduation party with the cousins for Sam and Jenny... It was nice to be able to say goodbye to his cousins before leaving Utah indefinitely...

The lovely Jenny (good thing she is already married, hehe JK!), and Sam with my rice-krispie-treat-covered daughter. She was quite the sticky mess but so darn cute: