Catch Up!

This past Memorial Day weekend, Molly sporadically decided to fly out for a visit. . . so my unplanned three day weekend became very full, very quickly-- here is the recap!

Every year near the end of the school year I let my class earn the chance for an ice cream party. I end up surprising them and we make the ice cream instead (perfect timing when we are learning about how things change from liquid to solids!) I wasn't sure what to do this year (and even considered buying them icecream instead!) because I always need at least one helper for an extra set of hands. In Utah, it was easy to drag a friend out to help, but here was going to be more difficult. So when Molly randomly decided to visit, she flew in Thursday night and came to school with me all day Friday, got my helper afterall!

The kids loved having her there, and the school got a kick out of having an extra "Miss Kelly" running around the campus. She was also a great help and I walked out on Friday with NONE of my Friday tests to grade. . . Thanks Mol!


Bryan flew into town late Friday night, so we ate dinner (Cafe Rio- where else??), went to Nelson's Custard Place, and played one round of cards before we were all beat and decided to call it a night. At 7 am the next morning, the three of us took off to California!

(Notice me in the back seat? The only times I ever ride in the backseat of my own car and sleep on the floor of my own bedroom is when both Mol and Bryan are in town-- come visit me. . . I am a good hostess!)

We arrived a bit before noon that morning, just hours before our big family bbq! We ate lots of food, went swimming, and our new weekend game was invented on that very same day-- Butts Up! Ok ok. . . so it is really not a "New" game, but it was definitely rediscovered this weekend. Here are my sisters playing.... it was a rare occasion to get an actual action shot before Bonnie stopped us all to invent yet another new rule to our game!


Below is a fun picture I got of one of dad's famous "hot water blocks." He lays across the top of the rocks while the waterfall is on so the water builds up and builds up and builds up then finally he gets up real quick and a TON of water comes flying over to those waiting underneath. We used to do it when the spa was heated all warm, hence the term "hot" water block, but on nice summer days, it is fun just to do it with the cold water! If you look close enough, you will see that both Cayd and James are actually under the waterfall. . . hard to tell huh??

It was a fun day to get together and see all the family at once. :)

Then on Monday, it was Aubrey's 10th birthday! Whoa. . . is right!! She had a friend party on Friday night, so on Monday, Bon, Aubs, Molly, and I all went and got pedicures done together. Not always my favorite thing to get done. . . but I LOVE my toes when they are done!


Then she opened presents, we had cake and ice cream, and eventually it was time to hit the road! I got her some cute running outfits to get her psyched about all the "fun" I have ready for them when I go home for the summer to watch them once again.


She is getting so big so fast! Here is a picture of her last "finger" picture that Bonnie takes every year. Happy Birthday Aubrey!!

Ships, Cars, Trains, and Motorcycles

You know the school year is coming to an end when Field Day approaches, which is exactly what occurred this past Friday. From the very morning, up until almost lunch time, the whole school participated in 23 rotations from water balloon tosses, to bubble blowing contests, to an obstacle course for just the teachers. We ate lunch, went on a school wide treasure hunt (popsicles were the treasure!) and got to watch a slide show video The whole day was pirate themed-- very cute! The day ended with a little assembly which Miss Kelly's little class got to perform at. It was long, it was hot, and it was hectic, but it was a great day to help close the school year.






After school I hopped into my car and drove north to Cedar City to meet Randi for the evening. She had to go to a wedding down at Zion's Park on Friday and because of the timing, did not want to drive all the way home to Salt Lake after it. So being that I am not too far from Cedar City, I decided to meet her there for a little girl's night. We caught up on lives (So much has happened in the two weeks since our last visit), went in the pool and hot tub, bought a bunch of snacks, then stayed up til the wee hours in the morning playing the train game. The next morning we hit IHOP for a late breakfast before saying our good byes once again.


This past week, I was talking to my friend Michael and mentioned my trip I would be making up to Cedar City. He started talking about how he has been wanting to take his motorcycle up to Zion's Park to drive through, since he has never seen it. In all seven years of living in Utah and now almost one year in Las Vegas (which makes me even closer) I have never been to Zion's Park either. So we decided to meet up and go! He drove up Saturday while I was driving down and we met up at a little gas station outside of the park. It was my first time on a motorcycle, so it was a bit frightening at first (Michael claimed I could take pictures while we were moving at slower speeds but once beginning the ride I discovered that would NOT be possible for me so the only picture I got while we were both on the bike was taken while we were not moving)


This seemed like a nice kodak moment right at the park's sign. Unfortunately I was with a boy who failed to mention that I had MAJOR helmet hair going on. Where are the girl friends when you need em??



After driving through the park, we stopped and had lunch, then took the shuttle up through the park where you are not allowed to drive. I forced Michael to get off the shuttle for one stop with me, Weeping Rock. I randomly chose that stop while we were still on the bottom just cuz I liked the name. Lucky for Michael it was the shortest hike I could have chosen being only half a mile round trip! They claim the water falling out of Weeping Rock begins at a puddle on the top of the rock and by the time it actually is falling, is 1200 years old! We didn't buy really buy that story though. . . I mean- really??

Graduation!

After two long school years of after school classes, and two summers of going to school, Last July I earned my Master's Degree in Education from Southern Utah University. Because it is kind of a tiny little school, they only hold a graduation ceremony once a year, therefore, I finally "graduated" just this past Friday.

I drove up to Cedar City on Friday morning and met Randi who had come down from Salt Lake. We played around the city (which really didn't have a ton to do) until everyone arrived which included my Parents, Bonnie and her family, my Grandpa, and my Aunt Gail. Having everyone with different cars and coming and going from different directions made things tricky at times, but overall everything was great.

The "big" ceremony was early Saturday morning. President Monson spoke at that one. Unfortunately I read the signs wrong and when it said "no purses, bags, or camera bags," I assumed it meant no cameras, which wasn't the case at all. So we didn't get any pictures in there. The smaller ceremony just for education was a few hours after that. So we took some pictures and the whole clan headed to that one. Though dressing up, and walking on stage to get your diploma seems, and is in fact very exciting, the whole thing can also be a rather bore. Sitting through 400 names can be very slow and hard on the bum, but we all survived it. It was definitely a nice finish to a few years of hard work. :)












My parents invested a lot in my education and I feel so very lucky to have family that supported me through so many years of college. I feel really lucky to have been raised in a family that values education and that expected us to continue going to school beyond high school. I was really fortunate to stumble upon this little program and though at times I would admit it. . . I am glad I took the opportunity to complete this degree. . . there really is a good satisfaction from knowing that I was able to accomplish this goal, that I never really had planned on ever pursuing. So thank you once again for all family and friends that got to come, and for my parents that are willing to do anything to help me in any whatever way they can. Thanks everyone! :)