It's that time again

Time for an update. Let's start in May -

Jon threw me a surprise party the night before I graduated. Such great friends and family! Everyone was asked to think of a famous philosophizer/counselor and bring words of wisdom or advice for me. It was a fun Island theme in honor of our Pacific Island cruise this fall!

I graduated the next day with my Master of Student Counseling degree from the University of Phoenix. I cannot believe that 2.5 years has gone by. I have learned a lot from the program and will miss my classmates! You'll notice that Jon is wearing the 'Stole of Gratitude' after my ceremony. I could not have gotten through this without him. I am so grateful for his love and support and encouragement. I'm even grateful that he never gave into my pleadings and begging for him to write some of my papers. :)

While Em was here we took the girls to Hogle Zoo. I picked up Alex on the way and he and Eden became instant BFFs. They loved riding in the wagon together, the merry-go-round, and sharing Eden's cotton candy, which Alex called "coffee candy" until Eden corrected him. Then he called it "coffin candy." :)

Now onto June -

Jon coached 3 all-star teams for the Utah Rugby Union this spring. We were in California one weekend with the U-19 and U-17 boys and two weekends later Jon took the U-19s to Colorado for another tournament. I am happy to report that the U-19s won both tournaments and the U-17s were probably the best team there, but didn't quite make the cut. Jon had such a great time coaching them and the boys instantly connected with him. He has done such a great job as the President of the Utah Rugby Union and I know they will really miss him when we leave!

While Jon was in Denver I got to take some pics of this little munchkin. Brinley is already 7 months and I just can't get over how cute and chunky she is! Love her legs and wrists and just about die when I look at her HUGE brown eyes and long eyelashes!

Jon just ran the Wasatch Back Relay Race and had a great time! In his van were his brother Mike, brother-in-law Wade, friends Trent and Jess Perry and Jordan. They shaved 3 hours off of their time last year, despite the rain and some last minute injuries. I'm so proud of him!

Also, during all of this we decided to rent out our house and try to finish our basement in four weeks! Thankfully, our marriage survived and so did I! We have a few last minute things to wrap up at the house, but I am amazed we got it done! And now we live in Draper in Jon's parents basement (yeah....another post for another day) and have booked our cruise down to New Zealand, which leaves on September 23rd. We are getting so excited to go and look forward to getting as much time as possible in with family and friends before we leave. We're heading down to Lake Powell for the weekend and I can't wait to get some much needed sun and Vitamin D in me! :)

And finally... I'm a brunette! I was so sick of the upkeep with the blonde, that it was time for a change. I don't have any good pictures of it yet, but so far I'm loving it! It's growing on Jon and I think he likes it a little more each day. :)