How Sweet It Is

Jeff took his boards on Friday. We’re still awaiting the results, but we still found reason to celebrate. I don’t know who enjoyed the chocolate covered strawberries more, Jeff or Emily.

Fun In The Sun

I decided that in order to survive the heat (as well as a long day with Emily) I should pull out the swimming pool. I invited Stacy to come down and play. Jackson is a HUGE splasher and loved jumping around. Emily mostly sat there with her tupperware containers and dumped water back and forth. Once I pulled the swingset over though Emily just lit up. She was going down the slide as fast as she could and didn't seem to care how much water got in her face (which is pretty unusual). Lucy was as cute as ever and just sat there in our arms. It was a fun couple of hours and Stacy and I enjoyed watching them play. It was nice to have some adult conversation and to not have to entertain Emily by myself all day.

Best Cousins

Emily and Jackson are only five days apart. They have always played well together and enjoyed each other's company. But since returning from our 10 week stint to Virginia, they have become inseparable. They completely light up when they see each other and love being together. Quite often they are found walking around holding hands or giving each other hugs. We are so glad Emily has a cousin so close in age. If only my brother would move in next door... these two would be in heaven.

Summer Wedding #2

Per the request of a friend, here are a couple pictures of this week's wedding.

Lesson Learned?

On Monday Jeff and I decided that for Family Home Evening we'd make cookies for some new neighbors. All was going well till Emily decided to help with the eggs. She picked one up and before I could tell her to be careful she stuck her thumb right through it. Jeff handled cleaning Emily up and getting her new clothes while I worked on cleaning the egg up all over the carton and the counter. Then while the cookies were baking we decided to play Candy Land since Emily is learning her colors. It wasn't so much of a game as it was naming all the colors on the cards, but Emily seemed to enjoy it. I'm not sure what lesson Emily took away from the night - It's nice to serve others? Be careful when holding an egg? Or don't play games with your competitive father?

(Emily modeling her choice of outfit after the egg incident)

Notice:

My lapse in posting has not been for a lack of things to write about. It seems like since we got home I’ve barely had a chance to catch my breath. So for those that care to know what we have been up to since arriving back home, here’s a few highlights:

Dr. Holbrook

The biggest event since coming home was definitely Jeff’s graduation. On April 30th Jeff had his class graduation – aka his hooding ceremony – and then the College of Health Convocation on May 1st. Jeff was able to catch up with his classmates that he hadn’t seen since Christmas and pretty much say his final goodbye’s as they are all spreading out and taking jobs across the country.
Both ceremonies were nice (although I enjoyed the hooding ceremony more since I wasn’t chasing Emily around for it). I am so proud of Jeff and all his efforts. It’s been a very long road – of course it will be when you change your major a dozen times (it was actually only 10) – but I’m grateful for the experience and the opportunities we’ve had the past few years. I know it was a lot of work on Jeff’s part and I admire him for all of his effort. I appreciate his desire and determination to pursue his education and his willingness to provide for our family. It’s hard to believe that we’re finally at the end of this road. Welcome to the real world now.

Back to Work

Our next big event took place this week. Jeff’s cousin Emily got married on Thursday and I had the opportunity to do the flowers. It was a beautiful wedding and everything turned out well. I’d had a few months off because of our trip back East so I had a bit of a hard time getting back into the wedding mode. But thankfully Em chose great flowers and colors so I was able to get excited about it and enjoy doing it. The reception was at Le Jardin and was of course amazing. If I could go back and do my wedding over again I would definitely pick that place. My little Emily loved it and ran around the whole night picking rocks up off the path and sticking her hands in the water fountains. She of course enjoyed the dessert table too since she is now tall enough to reach everything that was on it. All I can say is thank heavens for grandparents and their willingness to help out. It was a very long couple of days for me and as fun as they were, I’m glad I have a few calmer days ahead of me (at least till next week’s wedding).

"Leaving On A Jet Plane"

Our good friends and neighbors left this week. Fred accepted a job offer in Anchorage, Alaska. Wednesday they stopped by for a final goodbye before heading up to the colder weather. We’re sad to see them go and we hope they can make a trip back home soon. Emily keeps asking about all of them and doesn’t understand that next door is not “Ella’s home” anymore. Hopefully we get some great neighbors again … and soon. I’m a little uneasy not having Sara as my backup grocery store anymore.

Home Sweet Home!

We’re home! It was a long day of traveling (and one I’m not ready to repeat any time soon) but we got back safely last Saturday night. Our home looked just like we left it – minus the full fridge and freezer (Thank you! Thank you!). It was like Christmas for Emily. She went from one toy to the next, not quite knowing what to do. It’s taken a while to get back in to the swing of things. It’s amazing how much you have to do when you come back from being out of town for 10 weeks. It’s been rather tiring. It’s nice to be home though and Emily has adjusted well. She is very into ‘Emily’s house’ and asks about it whenever we leave. We have to reassure her that we are going back and she gets very excited when she sees it again.

It’s been fun to see all of our family and friends again. Emily got to play with all the Newman cousins last Sunday. She of course loved Lucy and wanted to hold and kiss her all night. She was thrilled to see Sam, Ally, Sara, & Jackson again too. I’m so glad she has cousins that live close to her. It’s fun to see them play and get excited to see each other. (We already miss that about Ella).

It’s been a long week (I can’t believe it’s only been one) but we’re thankful that we’re back home. We enjoyed our time in Virginia and all the things we were able to see and do. Thanks again to all of our family for taking care of our home, coming to visit us, and another big thank you to Brad & Heather for putting up with us for so long.