A Lot to Celebrate!

It was a weekend of celebrations around here.  It all started on Friday morning with the graduation ceremony for graduates in the College of Education.   What a proud moment! 

We figured Emma was old enough to know what was going on but we did take Abigail to daycare for the day.  

Andy's cohort and 2 of their professors...

This was Andy's group for their BIG, final Capstone project...

We just had to go to The Pie for pizza!

Saturday was Abigail's 3rd birthday party.  I cannot believe she will be 3 years old tomorrow!  Slow down the time!  Since Abigail is pretty much obsessed with Peppa Pig, it only made sense to just go with it...

Along with celebrating Abigail's birthday, we also celebrated Andy's graduation from the University of Utah.  

My mom made these adorable dresses for the girls.

Abigail with her friend, Hailey...notice the "muddy puddles" around their mouths...

Abigail with her friend, Francie...

After the party (and the rain finally stopping), we took advantage of the later evenings and got our for a walk.

These girls love the puddles.

For Mother's Day, we went out to brunch with Andy's mom.  It was another rainy day so we didn't get to do much outside today.

Abigail filled her time with playing with her new birthday gifts.

Emma decided to do some chores around the house.

And, finally, just a few photos of these silly girls...

She gravitates towards puddles.

A Whole Lot of Happenings

I have a lot to share on this post, and it's going to be a hodge podge.  Before we get to the photos, I have one BIG announcement to share~Andy is DONE with graduate school!!!!  He did his final presentation for his Capstone project on Thursday.   Graduation is next Friday but it is still so nice to know that we are done with furthering our education...for now.  After 3 1/2 years, 10 semesters, 20 classes, 140 weeks, 280 hours of commuting, and countless hours of reading, writing responses, working on projects, meeting with groups, we now both have our Master's degrees.  We can get back to "normal" in our family and it feels so good.  We are proud of all that we have accomplished in these past 3 1/2 years and, I'll be honest, there have been tears, laughter, frustration, excitement...a whole gamut of emotions through this whole process. Enough of my emotional rant...on with the photos!

My dad and aunt came to town over our Spring Break.  Of course we had to make a trip to the zoo.

Who doesn't like to ride their bike on the deck with gardening gloves, a dress, and snow boots?

My dad got to see the girls ski while he was in town.

Our weather has been crazy lately.  I am so ready for spring to come and stay.

While Andy was at class, you just never knew what could happen at our house?

Just one of the many photos we sent Andy while he was at class.

Kim is back in town until mid-June.  The girls are giving her a little check-up.

Our friend's daughter turned 5 so they had a rodeo birthday party.

This was pretty typical at our house on the weekends.  Not anymore, though!!

Ben had his annual crawfish boil.  These two...

We love that it stays lighter longer in the evenings.  We can actually get out on walks after school.

Our go-to has been a walk to these big, muddy puddles.

We've had some visitors recently.  We call her Grandma Moose.

Emma's kindergarten teacher is AMAZING!  The kids earned a movie night in the classroom.  Not many teachers would do that for their students.

Abby and I worked in my classroom for a bit and then decided to join in on the fun.  Abby scored~pizza, popcorn, and a cupcake.

These stairs were completely free of snow...until winter decided to return again.

The girls and I on our weekly stop at the library.

Emma made Andy this card for him on his last day of class.

She came up with the writing all on her own.  Congratulations Dad!  We are proud of you.  Have a spectacular last day of class.  

Finally, here is the latest writing from Emma.