My Turn

I did it. Those three simple words truly sum up how I feel about the past year and a half of hard core school work. Endless nights of working from 8 p.m. after Kate went to bed until 5 a.m. when I could finally get a few hours of sleep before I started the day again. Student teaching, when leaving Kate would actually make me physically sick some days because I missed being with her so much but yet I loved making a difference in my students lives. Then the final portfolio with over 100 pages of written work regarding teaching one unit to a 6th grade class. Whew.....I did it.

So being that I worked this hard to get this degree, there was no way that I was missing my graduation, even if it was being held 4 days before my due date. July 14th, I was able to walk (waddle) across a stage in front of hundreds of people and accept my degree in Elementary Education. My school was incredibly supportive of my wanting to attend the ceremony and even had paramedics on standby just in case I went into labor. Apparently there were even bets going on if whether or not my water would break or if I would start contracting during the ceremony. I assured them that I was a week overdue with Kate and would most likely be a week overdue with this baby (I was right). Still they made wonderful accommodations for me such as seat placement so I could easily walk out to use the restroom during the ceremony if needed as well as a chair while waiting to enter the Huntsman center before the ceremony as it would be a little wait. 

My family was also amazing with this as they came to cheer me on, I loved that Kate was there to watch me graduate as well because she was now able to see both of her parents complete their education, which I hope will instill in her the importance of getting an education in the future. I love that both Bobby and I are done and I love that we did it together, encouraging each other to push through all of the papers and tests and of not really seeing each other because we knew that one day it would be worth it and guess what? We were right. The relief of not only having my degree in case I need it, but knowing that I have accomplished this in my life and watching Bobby accomplish such a huge degree as well so that he can support his family  have totally made all of those difficult moments worth it. We did it!

Just to show how big I was at the time, that gown made me look HUGE

Moving

After about 3 years in our condo/apartment in Birkhill, it was time to move!  We didn't have enough room for both kids for the next year because we want them to have their own rooms, plus we were ready for something different and bigger. We were looking around for town homes to move into by July when my sister came to me with an offer. My sister bought a new house and wanted to rent her old one to people, so they offered us their house for a year with an amazing rent. The house is in Taylorsville, has 4 bedrooms 2 bathrooms, and a HUGE backyard with mature trees for plenty of shade and a a really nice playground. This house has also been completely re-done on the inside so it's really nice, I love it! So obviously we agreed  and moved in at the end of June. Bobby had to do a majority of the moving being that  was 9 months pregnant but I made up for it with unpacking everything. After what seemed like weeks, we finally got settled in and unpacked. Kate loves it here and I love the room.I used one of the extra bedrooms as a toy room and it is so nice having somewhere to put all of Kate's toys so they are finally out of the way. Kate's room will be downstairs in her "big girl bed" and Ella will move to the room next to ours when she is older. I absolutely love living here, so many changes for us this year!

Taken from the living room of the entry way and partial kitchen

Kate's room, I still need to get a bed rail and decorate but we are making progress!

Toy room

Dr. Nunley

Doesn't that name have a nice ring to it? BOBBY DID IT!! He graduated with his Doctorate in Pharmacy (PharmD) and is now a pharmacy graduate. It feels so nice now that we've made it through the long years of school. Bobby worked so hard to get this far and I couldn't have felt more proud as I watched him walk across the stage to accept his degree.

Before the graduation Bobby had a graduate dinner that his school organized at La Caille! Eating there has honestly been on my bucket list and it did not disappoint! It was absolutely gorgeous there and the food was delicious. Such a great night! The graduation was held at the Kingsbury Hall at 9 a.m. Bobby's mom, sister and her husband, dad, grandparents and uncle came as well as my oldest brother and mom and sister so Bobby had a lot of fans in the crowd for him. It was a huge help having my sister there as she was able to take Kate out when she got fussy so that I could record and be there for Bobby.

Good thing was that Kate was actually pretty good so she was there for a lot of the ceremony. I loved having her there, I know she won't remember it, but it felt good for her to see her dad accomplish such a huge task as this degree. The cool thing is that she gets to witness both her parents complete their education and share this experience with us and hopefully one day make an impression on her of the importance of an education as she saw both parents finish theirs. An interesting thing about the ceremony was that the key note speaker at the ceremony, was the doctor that actually delivered Bobby. It was also so neat to watch Bobby repeat the oath for pharmacy and just feeling that sense of accomplishment that he did it and now looking forward to the opportunities that lie ahead.

After the ceremony, Kate was actually afraid of Bobby because he was in his graduation attire and I guess that just looked so odd to her that she wouldn't go to him until he took it off. Once his family was able to congratulate him we went to City Creek to eat lunch at Cheesecake Factory, it was delicious! After that is was more of a relaxed day followed by swimming later at Jo and Dave's house.

The following Monday I threw a graduation party for Bobby and Murray park and invited all family and friends to attend. So many people came to congratulate him and it was just so fun visiting with everyone. My goal for the party was to correlate all of the treats with graduation and then I of course forgot to take pictures of my creations so here are just general pictures of what they were:

I made these cupcakes but most of them I put little Recess cup graduation caps on them shown in the other picture

Swiss Roll Diplomas

 

I may have been a little cheesy with the theme treats but it was fun to make treats like that, I also did sugar cookies and decorated them to look like pills, it was fun! I'll have to do more things like that.





   

Bobby with his dad and mom standing next to the speaker Dr. John Nelson, the doctor who delivered him 

Three generations, Bobby, his dad and grandfather 

Kate having a ball at the fountains in City Creek

Kate and Lennox having a great time and getting drenched

                Such a great day and accomplishment,
             Good Job Dr. Nunley, I'm so proud of you!!