An Anniversary to Remember

1 Week 3 Days

So yesterday was Joey and Emily’s 1st anniversary (awwww) :) and Joey asked Brother Abu if there was a restaurant nearby that he could take Emily to. So when Brother Abu told him there was and that he would take us all there today to celebrate, we honestly thought it would be, at the most, in the next town.

DEFINITELY WASN’T! We got into the taxi probably 10 minutes before 5pm and didn’t get back until well after 8pm tonight. It took at least an hour, if not a little more to get travel there and back. It was awesome! The taxi just kept driving… and driving… and driving… and the 4 of us crammed in the back seat of the cab had NO clue what was going on. We went through village after village and then through a couple towns with actual banks in them, we dodged/survived hundreds and thousands of potholes (I only wish our internet was fast enough to post the video I took out the window of the backseat, you’d realize I’m not even exaggerating.) and not a moment too soon we finally arrived at the bustling, roadside restaurant called Linda Dor – and not 5 minutes after we sat down the rain DUMPED on us.

This restaurant really is more like a very large hut – but a millionaire’s hut. It was very nice, but other than the roof and some cement pillars, the whole restaurant is open. It’s raised a little bit though, with drains all along the sides so that the rain doesn’t flood in – which is exactly what would have happened had they not been there. Remember my post about the rain Emily and I got caught in? This rain was actually worse! It was crazy! I had to take a picture of it, even though it doesn’t quite capture the whole effect.


Anyway, the food was wonderful! Spencer even got the burger and fries he’s been craving! It was such a great time and a fun trip for us to take. Love this place!


Brother Abu, Joey, Emily (on the bottom, Spencer and I (on the top) at the restaurant. Happy Anniversary Joey and Emily! Glad you could spend your 1st one with us!!!

So much to be grateful for :)

1 Week 2 Days


Picture of all the Utah State Ghanaians

Opportunities like this in life make you extremely grateful for certain things. This is what we (as the Utah State SEED “obronis” in Ghana) have decided we are grateful for:

1. Milk – good ol’ hometown milk straight (or relatively straight) from the cow. We don’t care if it’s whole milk, 2% or skim, we will never take it for granted again. The only milk you can get here is evaporated milk or UHT (Ultra Heat Treated) milk – not the greatest for drinking or even eating cold cereal with.

2. Cheese – they just don’t have it. Luckily for us, Joey and Emily had heard that it’s non-existent here and they actually brought some. The only problem is that it’s so hot here and the refrigerators aren’t cold enough to keep it “hard”, so eating slices of it is completely out of the question – it can only be used in food where it melts – so that is still something we’re allowed to miss.

3. Brownies, cakes, doughnuts, muffins – ANYTHING with flour in it that is sweet and baked.

4. Ice, slushies, ice cream, popsicles or anything that we would LOVE on a hot, sweaty day. It’s basically unheard of to find something REALLY COLD here.

5. Smooth, dry skin, and really, just DRY! Everything is wet and sticky. Pretty sure we haven’t had a time here where we don’t have a couple drops of sweat somewhere… GROSS! And if that wasn’t enough, the bug spray makes the clammy humid feeling STICKY. YUM!

6. Not having to worry about cultural norms. At some point we’ll figure out the African culture completely… hopefully.

7. A blow dryer and straightener – both of which we COULD use, but do absolutely NO good!

8. Texting… (from Lindsie) – a sign of a social life and an easy time waster.

9. Paved, smooth and working roads. We won’t ever complain about the crack in the road or even the Utah construction anymore.

10. Drinkable tap water – what a luxury!

11. A shower curtain or shower that you can actually stand up in. Our shower has no curtain and the cord to the shower is too short to be able to stand up and reach your head, so you have to crouch.

12. English – American English – (all grammar included) – ‘nuf said

13. Washer and dryer. We actually DO have a washer here, but it leaks like crazy, and then there’s no dryer, so it all has to hang outside until it dries and you have to pray it doesn’t rain while you’re waiting.

14. Snow-capped, rocky mountains. A sign of cool weather.

15. Blending in – we don’t have a prayer!

16. Air conditioning and really, anything that would cool you down. Don’t think I’ve ever been so hot for so long in my life.

17. Power. Consistent, reliable, anytime, cheap power. The last 2 days we have been powerless for who knows how many hours. Today it went out at 10am (while we were at church) and didn’t come back on until after 6pm, and yesterday was about the same story. It was the worst at church though – I’ve never gotten so hot and tired so quickly – those fans are a definite MUST! And anytime it rains or even threatens to rain (which is also quite often) the power also goes off. So basically, you have to take advantage of the power you get.

Anyway, these are just a few of the things we are so grateful to have in our lives. We may not have them right now, but knowing they exist and someday will have them back makes us even more thankful for them.

But no worries – we love it here. It is such a wonderful opportunity for us to be here, and we are grateful for the many things we have been able to learn. We know that God has had a hand in getting us here and know that He will be with us the whole way.

An Unexpected Party!

1 Week 1 Day

Yesterday, I was a little worried that I’d get bored today… Boy was I wrong!
The guys had their meetings today with 2 people who have wonderful business plans. The first girl already had her plan written up. She wants to start up a catering business/restaurant. She has already built the building for it and knows exactly what she still needs to get it all up and going. The other guy already owns a brick making factory, but he has run out of money to make the bricks. He also would like to start a transportation business, but he needs to buy a car first.

So already it seems like there is way more money needed than even close to available. It seems that business ideas here require a lot more money than Spencer and Joey have (so far at least). These people really have little or no opportunity to get loans from anywhere. There are banks and loans available in Accra, but it’s 3 hours away on public transportation, and a lot of the companies require weekly payments for first-time borrowers, and they have no way other than traveling to the city to make the payment – which is not very feasible – even if they have a great plan and the ability to pay it back. But I think that Spencer and Joey will really be able to find some great people to help!

Anyway – while the guys were having their meetings, the house was crazy busy with food preparation for our visitors this evening. Stephen Jr., Peggy (another Abu daughter), her husband, Alex, their 2 kids, a girl from Canada and the 2 USU students who are in Accra, Lindsie and Josh, came to visit! We made Fufu (pounded casaba and plantain dough), eggplant soup with dried fish, peanut butter soup with chicken, rice balls and jollof (spanish looking rice - My Favorite!)

All of the food on the table - it was a lot!

So when everyone arrived and we had all eaten, we attended the biggest party I’ve ever been to.

A FUNERAL!

Who would have guessed that one!? It was so cool! It was like a massive community event. EVERYONE came. It went from 1 to 6:30pm today. There were actually 4 people who they were commemorating at the event, which was held at the community square for celebrations and funerals. They just had pictures of each of the deceased persons and the family sitting behind the pictures with a box for donations to the family. Everyone is dressed in black and red.

And that’s about where the mourning stopped

As you drive up all you can here is this POUNDING DANCE MUSIC, and all you see is the crowds of people jamming to the music. The kids are running around and laughing and it really is just like a big party. Every once in a while there is a sort of shout out and they call certain people out to come dance. It’s awesome! They even gave all the “obronis” with “Master Appiahne” (Stephen Sr.) a shout out to come and dance. It was so much fun! When we went out there and actually started dancing the people all started clapping and shouting for us. They were so surprised that we could dance. We kept hearing, “you dance so well!”



Spencer and I made the mistake of walking out to the middle separately, so girls completely surrounded him. Especially one girl, Charity, definitely chose him as her favorite. Even after she found out that I was his wife she still clung to him and kept telling me that he was HER friend. I just couldn’t stop laughing. Mostly because Spencer’s face was unforgettable. The poor kid looked so uncomfortable I almost didn’t want to go save him. I just wish I could have gotten a picture of it! At least I have a picture of him with the girl somewhat close. She's the one who's a little hidden on his left.


Anyway, if you’re looking for a party here in Ghana, just ask for the closest funeral, you’ll never forget it!

A WHOLE WEEK!

We’re Officially Off the Ground!

1 Week in Abomoso

After 1 full week, here’s what we finally accomplished today:

We got our first REAL batch of groceries.

We walked down to see the river for the first time.

I attended the large market day (held on Tuesdays and Fridays).

Emily and I taught a class without a translator (quite the feat – they understood the writing of the “B”s and the singing, but we’re not so sure they understood much else.) (Oh, and who would have thought they would have no idea what baseball is? I guess that’s what you get when you have no TV and don’t live anywhere near the US)


Singing the “B” song with the kids

And finally, Spencer and Joey started their first business classes! They had their first introductory class today. At first they planned on starting this coming up Tuesday and announced that in church, but then decided to do the introductory class tonight. Trying to spread the word AFTER church proved to be a little hard – but even with the inability to inform everyone of the change, they still had 34 people show up tonight. It was incredible! We imagine that even more will definitely show up Tuesday.


This was at the beginning before more people showed up.

The first class really seemed to go well. The people who have come so far seem really driven to improve their way of life. The guys even have 2 consulting appointments tomorrow to go over some business ideas with a couple people from the class tonight. They are working so hard, and I really think these business classes are going to be good for the people here, and I have no doubt that through the classes, the guys will find some great people who will be able to receive the available loans and pay them back. It’s going to be great!

Our first day of school!

Abomoso Day 7

Emily and I started teaching school today! We only have 2 classes right now – but starting Monday we will be teaching 2 more classes at another school.

The school we started at today is called Presby, which is a Presbyterian school. The funny thing about that, is the principal is the branch Elders Quorum president – so he got us the hook-ups there teaching 1st graders. They are actually very smart kids – their speaks to them mostly in English already and they understand her! The problem with us though, is that we don’t have African accents, so a lot of what we say doesn’t make sense to them and has to be translated. The two teachers we’re working with are really great though and with the principal, they were a great help today.

It was really funny trying to get all the kids to warm up to us. When we first asked them to participate it was kind of like pulling teeth getting them to say anything to us. It was like they were scared of us “obronis” teaching. It wasn’t until we started singing and making them move around that they warmed up and stopped worrying about embarrassing themselves.

Luckily for us, the guys came along to observe us because when we came here, we were only planning on working in one of the World Joy schools that actually has a little electricity and a DVD player where we can play a CD. But the Presby school doesn’t have ANY electricity and definitely not any CD players or computers, so we needed to rig something up. The speakers we brought this morning (which we thought would solve the problem) were not even close to loud enough, so luckily, Joey was willing to run to for the computer, which made things SO much better. That’s when we were finally able to get the class working with us.

Anyway, they were so much fun! We’re excited to finally have something to do here, and especially excited to get the other 2 classes (which are going to be kindergarteners) going.

We only have a couple pictures for now of one of the classrooms and us teaching, but I definitely plan on getting some fun pictures of the kids dancing around. They’re great!

Gloria's Baptism!

Abomoso Day 6

Gloria, who is living in the Abu’s house with us got baptized today! Her fiancé, from her home town of Tema, is the member who introduced her to the church. Then a month ago, when Gloria came to stay with the Abu family here in Abomoso she started meeting with the missionaries. So imagine our surprise and joy when we meet her our first day and we are told about the upcoming event.

It was a nice, cool day because of the freak rainstorm that hit this morning (which Emily and I had to walk home in)

SIDE STORY: It was crazy!!! Emily and I went to observe two of the classrooms we’ll be teaching in, and not two minutes after we walked in the class it suddenly got REALLY dark (there is no electricity in the classrooms, so they rely on the sun from the window holes and doors) and the wind flew through the classroom dismantling the teacher’s desk as she ran to close one door and the kids all ran to close the other. Then suddenly the rain dropped. It was like a waterfall dropping out of the sky. You couldn’t hear a word the teacher was saying because of the tin roof, so basically the teacher, kids and us just sat there, waiting patiently for it to stop so something could get done.
Then Emily and I decided to walk home, because we didn’t know how long the rain would last, and we’d already set up our class times, so observing the class during a rainstorm was doing no good. We were a mess when we got home! I had forgotten to change from my flip flops to Chacos before we left, so I was flipping mud all up my leg (because all the inner village roads are more like dirt walkways that could probably wash away at anytime) and we were just getting soaked. Here’s our picture to prove it!







Anyway, back to the baptism – it was so wonderful! She was so happy and smiley all night, and I am just so excited that we got to be a part of it! Her fiancé baptized her, and Spencer was asked by the missionaries to be one of the witnesses. It took a few tries for George, her fiancé, to remember to get her hands under the water too, but when it finally went right everyone was so excited.

There were so many people there to support her, and it was really great to see how excited all the branch members were to be there for her. The people here are so great, and there is so much that we will be able to learn from them. We are learning from them every day, and I am continually more and more excited that we have 2 ½ months to get to know them all better.

Here is a picture of all 4 of the great people we live with here in Abomoso.
Left to right: Sister Margaret Abu, Gloria (just after she was baptized), Brother Stephen Abu Senior, and Nana.

We love them all and are lucky we get to spend so much time with them!

A Day on the Farm

Abomoso Day 5

Life on the farm begins around 6am. The roosters are crowing, the men are up to head to the fields, and the women are up to make breakfast and begin their household chores. The kids go to school from 7:30 until 3.

After the men and children leave, the women usually take a trip to the market to get some daily goods and spend basically the rest of the day making food. A Ghanaian meal literally takes hours to make, so when they’re preparing for lunch AND dinner, it takes a good chunk of the day to accomplish. (Their meals don’t even consist of three or four courses, they have one main item that they make, like spaghetti, rice, yams, plantains or fufu and then have a sauce or soup to go with it – on a good day there will be chicken too.)

The casaba and plantains need to be peeled; any sauces need to be puréed, which they do by hand. Spices need to be grated, because all the spices they use, ginger, peppers and whatever else are ALL grown here, so you just buy the plant and prepare it yourself. Then, all soups or veggies are boiled outside on a charcoal bowl, with a charcoal pot set on top of the hot coals. You have to fan the coals with a plantain leaf fan to keep it hot enough. It all seems rather tedious work to one us lazy Americans – but they do it every day. It’s amazing! It’s good for us to learn how to live more simply.

Anyway - The men come home sometime after 4pmp and dinner is served between 5 and six. After that, it’s social hour! Visitors come knocking, friends come to chat, and until it’s dark everyone stays outside and enjoys the cooling of the day. It doesn’t take long though after dark to empty this place out, and even though there are still tons of people at the village market still, the Abu home goes to bed not long after 9. This leaves the four of us Americans burning the “midnight” (or 10 o’clock) oil, and by 11pm even we are asleep.

Now, this schedule is not really “our” schedule here – Emily and I are working on setting up our English classes at one of the local schools – we’ve spent quite a bit of time exploring – and Spencer and Joey have been very busy putting together their business classes curriculum together, and setting up their plans to take this village by storm with the micro-loans. So the consensus so far: Abomoso is a pretty great place! Here are some pictures of the farm!


Right off the tree coconut! It was wonderful!



The baby puppies when they were only 3 days old



I told you the goats could do the Irish jig :)



Loved this little chick following it's mother around.



Even the pineapples are babies right now

Amsterdam!

Abomoso Day 4

Blast from the past!

So I decided that today I would go back and post a little about our short, but sweet trip to Amsterdam.

So when we got to the airport and realized we had well over 6 hours to kill and that it only took 20 minutes to get to the main city center, Emily, Joey, Spencer and I jumped on the opportunity to take a look around.

We didn’t know much about the city, but for everything we didn’t know, we sure felt good about all we got to see.

We walked the streets (I loved seeing Spencer next to this car), tried some bakery items, bought a delicious French hot dog (even though we were in Holland),



Tried to visit some pretty big churches and buildings but they all cost money


Emily, Joey and Spencer in the main square


Enjoyed the canal scene





And at least got to the see the outside of all the great buildings and cool statues



It’s obvious that we didn’t REALLY get to experience the life and culture of Holland, but we did get some fun pictures and I would rather kill my time in a Scandinavian city than in the drab airport anyday!

Abomoso Day 3

Our first day at church!

Some surprises: Some came from church, others are just in general, but I hope you enjoy them

The district president couldn’t have been a day over 30 years old. (The branch president can’t be any older either)

The number one language of speech – Twinglish – of which we only understood the English part. But even then, it seemed to be one phrase in Twi, one phrase in English and so on until you were so confused as to the topic it was hard to pay anymore attention.

The church is more like an open yard once you get inside the gate. Every door leads outside.

Everyone, especially the men, were really excited about the business classes Spencer and Joey will be starting next week. We were told that it would be mostly women who participate, and weren’t sure how well the classes would go over, but it was actually all men who have approached them in excitement, and it seems that there are quite a few people who will be coming. YAY! Good news for the guys!

Apparently, lectures on modesty, which we received today, don’t take women and their children into account. Don’t know if we’ll get used to that one.

When the sun goes down, you can’t even sit in the house without being swarmed by bugs. Our room isn’t quite as bad though.

With all the heat and humidity, there actually CAN be a breeze in the church, and it feels good!

If you wave with only your fingers, you are telling all the little children to “come”. I guess that might explain the masses that have followed us everywhere thus far.

Baby goats can jump really high and know how to do Irish dances! I promise!

Ghanaian food is quite a bit like Indian food. LOVE IT! (So far) 
It can start raining at ANY time. Beware!

When trying to ask a child where the missionaries live, she might just take you to the meeting house instead. I’m thinking we should learn a little more Twi.

Here’s the picture of our discovered meeting house yesterday and some of the kids who followed us. Definitely don’t think the missionaries live here 

"We are here to build business and love handles"

Abomoso Day 2

“We are here to build business and love handles.” –Stephen Abu Junior

And boy is this true! When meals are made here, there are massive pots set in front of us and the four of us don’t even have a prayer of finishing it. While we aren’t forced to eat a lot, just having so much food in front of us is an inadvertent way of telling us to keep eating and make sure it’s all gone when the pot is picked up. Good thing for us, the food has been wonderful so far. But after only two days it’s a little hard to go wrong, and luckily it’s all very low in fat



Can you find the two "obroni"s? They don't stick out at all :)
And while the boys were working hard playing soccer, Emily and I were fighting off the masses of boys who are still too young to play with the older, more skilled boys. So everyday they come to the soccer field and watch the older boys play. They were really funny, constantly looking for our singled-out attention by doing whatever they had to to make us look. The only hard thing is that they always speak in their native tongue, Twi (pronouced tree), and speak only a little English. That was a surprise to us!

Day 1 in Abomoso

Abomoso – Day 1

We left Accra, the capital city of Ghana, yesterday at about 11:00 am. We took our ride across the countryside (much of it dirt roads with many pot holes) and arrived in Abomoso (also spelled Abomosu) just after 1pm.

Upon arriving at the house of Stephen Abu Senior, we were promptly fed lunch and placed in rooms. Spencer and I have our own room and full size bed, with a ceiling fan. Oh how excited we were for the ceiling fan! Literally, it was our saving grace as we tried to sleep last night, otherwise, I don’t think we would have slept a wink.
Anyway, Brother Abu then gave us a tour around his farm, which is incredible! He has dozens of little goats and chickens that wonder around the property, and just 4 days ago, his dog had 4 little puppies. They are adorable! Upon seeing this, I realized that my little sister, Sydnee, would be in heaven here. All the little baby goats and chicks and dogs would keep her happy for life. So Sydnee, your next stop is not Abomoso, Ghana! 

We also got the tour of his gardens, orchards and nursery. He grows pretty much anything tropical you can think of. There are little pineapples all over the place, he grows avocadoes, bananas, plantains, mangoes, some weird potato-like things, yams, cabbages, oranges, and coconuts! When we got to the coconuts, he decided to cuts a bunch of them down so we could drink the milk and eat the meat inside. It was so much fun! I’ve never had such a soft coconut, or such sweet milk. The pineapple here is so sweet there’s almost no sour in it. I could probably eat a whole one by myself without my mouth even starting to get raw. The mangoes are amazing too. I’ve never had such soft and juicy mangoes – I didn’t even really like them until I got here! But I think it’s gonna be fun to have so much fresh fruit around us.

Spencer and I then got a tour around the town. Wow! This was when we really saw how they live here. It’s such a simple life, but they’re so happy. Everyone was so kind to us, and as we walked around we had a following of little kids yelling, “Obroni! Obroni!” which means “White Person! White Person!”. It was really quite amusing how excited they were to see us. And when we got back from our tour, a huge mass of children were waiting for the chance to meet and play with us. Emily, Joey, Spencer and I ALL had massive circles of kids surrounding us, touching our skin to see if we really were white, teaching us their language and hand games and jumping all over Spencer and Joey.

The little girls’ first desire for Emily and I was to play with our hair. I think our blonde hair is quite foreign to them, not to mention how soft and easy it is to do. They had fun just touching it, and before long, we both had our whole heads braided.

Once it starts to get dark, everyone, even the kids, begin to retire home for dinner and bed. I think everyone in the town was in bed and asleep by 10, no joke. This house was completely dead. And then everyone’s up around 6. It’s a wonderful life here. We are definitely going to have to adjust in many ways, but I am grateful for the chance we have to live here and be with all these kind, wonderful people.

Here are a couple pictures from today. I hope to post one or two every day, along with a new story or adventure here.

AFRICA!!!

We made it to Ghana!!!

Here we are just after we got off the plane and onto the shuttle bus which took us to the baggage claim. I can't believe we're finally here!


It's absolutely wonderful here! Nothing like home, but still wonderful! We haven't yet made it to Abomosu, the town we'll be living in, we stayed the night here in the capital city, Accra before we head out there.

Now, I have a lot to catch up on as far as the blog goes. I have a ton of pictures from my family's trip to Playa del Carmen, Mexico, which I plan to post, but I'm not on my computer right now. We have yet to set up the internet here and we have been permitted to use the internet here, so, while I'm the only awake at the moment, I decided to do a quick update. :) I also have pictures from our layover, where we got to spend a couple hours in the city of Amsterdam! It was so much fun, and I can't wait for you all to get a glimpse.

I still don't know much about Ghana, and because it was dark, we haven't seen much either, but I am excited to get to know this place better and get to know the people expecially. We have already met the most amazing people, and everyone here just seems so welcoming and giving. This summer is going to be incredible! And hopefully, when we get our computer set up with the internet here, I'll be able to continue to post pictures and write about all the great things we'll get to do here.

Here we are at the Accra, Ghana temple. After getting some much needed sleep I am so glad we got to stop by and see this on our ventures through Accra.

GRADUATION!!!

So everyone, I'M OFFICIALLY GRADUATED!!! It was kind of a weird experience honestly. I woke up yesterday morning and I felt the sudden anxiety that hits when you're anticipating something really big. My chest kind of felt like it had been hit by a truck or train or something big like that. I realized that I was actually done. It's a totally weird sensation, and hopefully I'm not the only who's ever felt it.
For most of you who know me really well, you might think it's kinda weird because I really didn't have classes this last semester. Because I was working on getting my Gerontology Certificate, all I had left to do was my practicum (internship) and my research paper. I was still working toward something for school though, but now I just feel weird. Maybe it's because I really am going to miss school and learning and that I don't want to enter "real" life and find a "real" job - or maybe it's because Spencer and I are headed for the adventure of a lifetime this summer in Ghana, and I just don't know what to expect. So this combination of factors has kinda thrown me for a loop. But you know the great thing about it? It's coming! Life will continue to move forward, and we will hopefully be able to continue to move one step ahead of it.

But anyway, all this "feeling" stuff and is a little too much for me. I'm ready to go! So here's some fun pictures of the ceremony and all the amazing people there that day.



As I was racing to find a restroom before the procession of graduates into the Spectrum I ran into one of my best friends, Stephanie Smith! We went to high school and started up at Utah State together. We both served missions at the same time, and since we've been home we've spent a lot of time in gerontology classes and events together. This all made it so much fun to see her just after she'd finished with her ceremony! It was perfect!

Here are some random pictures of the procession and of me sitting on the floor with all the graduates and then walking and getting my diploma cover (they actual diploma is not really in that little cover). I actually got to sit by Sarah Fassman, the wife of one of Spencer's really good mission friends. I was so grateful to have someone I knew with me :) (There are some pictures of her in there too)








Here are all the wonderful people who supported me and cheered for me there



A day of 2 for 1's! My brother-in-law, Steve graduated from my same college! This made it much easier for family to feel supportive.
(How about those awesome Chacos on my feet!? We moved out of our apartment on Friday (the day before graduation) and my parents ended up taking my packed suitcase - with my nice sunday shoes - home with them. So I only had one option of shoes if I didn't want to wear my tennis shoes. So even though I kinda felt like a hobo - Chacos it was!)



All of the parents together! (Spencer's dad wasn't able to make it. He was appointed as a delegate to attend and vote at the state convention, so we rightfully excused him, and hope that all went well for him there)
This is the only picture I have of Marilyn, I wish I'd gotten more, but I'm glad she was there for this one!
My amazing mother-in-law (Marilyn) is like Super Mom/Grandma, and she is always just so happy and has the most amazing positive attitude. It makes you feel good just to look to at her! :) I'm really glad she got to be there for BOTH Steve and I.



Grandma and Grandpa Cox may have come all the way from Idaho for my brother Josh, but when they heard that graduation was timed perfectly in there, they were so excited that they could support us both, and I was so happy that they would take the time to do so!



Even my friend Jake Reed (who I met way back in the Summer of 2002 when my family participated in the City of Joseph Pageant in Nauvoo, Illinois) was able to hit the 2 for 1 special on this wonderful day! His friend from the mission, Natalie, also graduated with me, so he actually finished all of his finals flew out from TEXAS to be there for it! What a great friend! It was so good to see him again!



Grandma and Grandpa Smoot made it too! They have been so incredibly supportive of all of their grandchildren. They attended 3 different college graduations in the last week. That's dedication! I didn't expect them to come at all, but I am so grateful that they did. It is always so wonderful to have them around!



And of course my parents have been my biggest fans all along! I am so lucky to have them in my life! They have been my greatest examples and I am so grateful that I was blessed with parents who love me and have given me so much in this life. They are the best!



And last, but absolutely and positively, not least, my amazing a wonderful husband Spencer! This picture was taken in the car on our way home, but I had to include it here. In my personal opinion, he is the greatest person EVER!!! I just love having him around, and I'm so grateful to have an eternal companion who loves and supports me in everything I do.



Here's all of my grandparents, parents and Spencer and I together! I feel like I am the most blessed person in the world to have so many amazing people around me. I love you all and am so grateful for what you've done to help Spencer and I get to where we are today. Thank you!

Aimee and Porter's Graduation!

Isn't is weird how quickly life sometimes goes so quickly? Take my niece for example - She'll be two years this month! I can't even believe it! It seems like she should still be a little infant, but with how big she's grown and how much she talks now, she's definitely in the toddler stage. WEIRD!!!
Anyway, I bring this up because her parents, my sister and brother-in-law graduated yesterday from Utah Valley University!!! I am so excited for them!!!


What a cute family!!!

How cool is it, that with a two year old, they were both able to still get their degrees? I don't know if I would have been that diligent with a baby... which is why God gave THEM the child :)
So, instead of going to their graduation like a nice supportive sister, I babysat their daughter :)


Oaklee and I fighting the wind after a day of bonding together. She loves me!!! :)


You see, I graduate next week, and I don't even want to attend my own graduation, let alone make anyone else attend it. So by watching Oaklee instead, neither Aimee nor Porter will feel obligated to come to Logan next week for mine. I thought it was a great plan!

But back to the beginning when I was talking about how time flies so quickly - I just can't believe that Aimee and Porter have graduated! I can't believe that I'm graduating! It's just such a surreal feeling. When I graduated from high school (which seems like it could have been last year), I thought that if I ever graduated from college (because that was something SO far distant in the future, there was no way I'd ever make it there!) I would be so much older and wiser and that I would know... basically EVERYTHING! Well, I guess it's the general trend now (at least in my life) that as you get older, no matter how much education you have, the less you know. I must say that I never really expected that. I mean really - try telling that to a high school graduate who's on top of the world! There's no way that concept would have grasped. But maybe that's what an education really does for you. It makes you realize that there's really not much you will ever completely understand, and that's just gonna have to be something I deal with!

So... on and on with life I go! 6 years after high school graduation, and being out somewhere around $25,000 for this education - I am technically receiving a bachelors in History and a certificate in gerontology - but I like I am actually getting a diploma in being "historically" illiterate, and a certificate in not having a clue about "aging". But you want to know the real kicker about it all?

If I did it all over again - I would definitely go back and spend even more money if I had to, just to learn nothing ALL OVER AGAIN!!! Getting an education is worth EVERY Penny!!! (even if you come out feeling like you know less) :)

Congratulations to me and everyone else who's graduated this year!!!!