Class of 2008

This last Thursday I ventured down to Provo, UT, for a rather special event. My little sister, Rachel, graduated from BYU!! There are four of us kids and she, being the youngest, is the first to graduate. I am so very proud of her. She worked really hard to stick to a four-year plan and she did it!

After I arrived in Utah (after driving through rain/snow), we went to the Marriott Center for the Commencement. I am SO thrilled we did because one of my favorite people was the speaker- Elder David Bednar. I have a hard time not calling him 'President', since I went to BYU-Idaho when he was the school's President. I try to correct myself... anyhow, it was amazing to be in his presence once again, except he is an apostle now! He had a great message- that we all need to learn to love learning. That our knowledge can continue to grow and we can learn and serve others.

I tried to take decent pictures, but my camera wasn't really liking the lack of light since we were WAY up- but we didn't have to sit on bleachers, thank heavens. And can I just tell you that I HATED climbing the steep stairs in the MC in heels and a dress? Yeah, I should've remembered how steep they were.On Friday was the real graduation, which was held in the Wilk. ballroom. We were able to get there early enough to get front row seats and had Rach walk right by us before she received her fake diploma. I almost started crying- I am so emotional! But I held it back. This is of Rachel accepting her diploma. I was lucky to get it at the right moment, though maybe not the best angle. Almost all grown-up...Craig, Rach the graduate, and me posing. I kind of accidentally wore Cougar colors. My sister gave my parents her stole of gratitude, which is in honor of their support of her years in college.

After all the pictures, Rach and I hopped in my car and headed north to Rexburg. The weather did a nice change and it was basically clear skies all the way back. We were able to have ALL of the family together, which will be rare indeed in the upcoming years. We took some family pictures in front of the Rexburg Temple on Sunday, but those will be on here later. They are on my parent's camera.

When we got to Rexburg and got settled, we headed over to Sam and Linzi's place to hang out. Rylee is a grandpa's girl- she calls both grandfathers "Papa" and when he is around, there is no way to compete for her attention! It was great, though tiring, having my family here for the weekend.

It was cold one night so I wore my beanie, which Rylee fell in love with and insisted on wearing. I finally got a good shot of her with it on.For dinners we were over at my apartment and Rylee LOVED our little make-shift bed for Rachel. Though we found her doing almost-somersaults in my hallway and well, it made a dang cute picture.

Now, after a semi-chaotic weekend, I am ready to rest for a while. Though I don't get to, really, because I get to keep job hunting! Wish me luck- I hate looking for jobs and I am praying that something will work out for me. I miss having a job- it's been too long! Now I have to get my apartment back in order so I can take some pics!