Life Lately

It's only been nearly 6 months since my last post...no big deal!  I don't even know where to start. We've been keeping busy with work and school. Spencer finally graduated!! WOOT WOOT! Technically he has one summer course he's taking but then he will officially be finished. Either way he won't be a full-time student any longer and we can already feel the relief. Other big news...we're expecting our second child in August....more on that later.

We decided to try a membership to the Aquarium this year. It's a nice change of pace and Leone is loving it! So are Spencer and I really. We've seen how they clean some of the tanks and feed some of the animals. Leone's favorite animal/exhibit is the Octopus and the Shark tank (complete with a tunnel!). They also have a 4D theatre that plays two different cartoons for children. Seeing one of the videos was Leone's first 3D experience and she was in awe and kept trying to grab the fish that seem to swim away from the screen.
I enjoy most the option of not having to push through the entire aquarium in one go. It's easy to go when we know we can come back any time. We still haven't made it through the full South America exhibit.

We met my parents in Colorado to return my sister's stroller and car seat she loaned us when we had Leone. Both of my sisters (and two of my sisters-in-law) are pregnant as well! It's going to be the summer/fall of grand-babies! We went during Spencer's Spring Break and made a weekend of the venture. We toured the Celestial Seasonings factory and survived the Peppermint Room. We also did a small hike in Rocky Mountain National Park. We swam in the hotel pool and ate lots of yummy food! It was a long drive but Leone was a champ and we enjoyed getting to spend time with my parents. Leone especially loved all the attention.

 As you wait for the tour to begin they give you small tea cups to sample some of their tea and fruit infusions.

Small children aren't allowed on the tour so my Dad hung out with Leone while my Mom, Spencer, and I took the tour. Something new I learned is that a drink is only called tea if it actually has tea leaves otherwise it is a fruit or herb infusion.

The weather in Colorado was glorious and unseasonably warm as has been the case in Utah. We aren't complaining! Most of Rocky Mountain NP was still snowed over but we managed a short hike around a lake. The ranger at the visitor's center said there shouldn't be much or any snow on the hike...we encountered quite a bit of snow but it didn't stop us from enjoying the fresh air.

Leone picked out her Easter dress this year (it's not what I would have picked for her but that's why I'm glad I let her have a say, she has such style and it's quite different from my personal style). The look on her face says it all. Leone is interested in anything and everything these days. As usual ballerinas are a common topic of conversation and play but she also loves animals, rocket ships, and playing outside. She is still very much into babies and a new interest is Mary Poppins.

We colored eggs for an egg hunt and I had the urge to bake a Hummingbird cake over Easter weekend. I'm not crazy about cake but I really  wanted to make one (that was probably the pregnancy talking. I just get an idea in my head sometimes and I have to see it through)...I think I had one bite and Spencer and Leone had a slice or two but the rest we shared with family and neighbors.

Our Easter Sunday was blustery but Leone really got the hang of it this year and found almost every egg on her own. For weeks after she would talk about the Easter Bunny and for a while every time she wore her dress she thought it meant she'd be looking for eggs. She seems to have sorted it out now. That weekend we enjoyed watching General Conference and we all ended up catching these monstrous colds that lasted no less than four weeks!! Leone caught it first the Saturday of Easter weekend (looking at these pictures now I can see how puffy her face was). I thought it was just us but I later found that people at work and church were experiencing the same type of cold. It was miserable. For a while I forgot what it felt like to feel healthy and wondered if we'd ever come out of this fog. We're better now and we steer clear of sick cousins and are cautious of anyone who says "it's only allergies".

Spencer was selected to attend the National Conference of Undergraduate Research that was held in Spokane, WA this year. Leone and I tagged along and we enjoyed seeing an area of the US that we had never visited before. Our hotel was right on the river so anytime we weren't at the conference we strolled along the river and took in downtown Spokane.

The park along river had quite a few attractions. We went down a slide that was built to look like a Radio Flyer wagon. It is so large that the handle of the wagon is the slide. There is also a sculpture of a goat welded by a local nun. The sculpture is called "The Suction Goat" and you feed it garbage and the goat "eats" (or rather sucks) it from your hand.

 

One night we had dinner at an Irish Pub. Typically we probably wouldn't have eaten at a restaurant like this but it advertised it was family friendly so we decided to try it out. The food was yummy as well as comforting and it was early enough in the day that there wasn't a crowd so we felt pretty comfortable having Leone there. 

On our way home we stopped in Montana for Huckleberry shakes. They are a family tradition! Spencer and I first had huckleberry shakes on our honeymoon so anytime we're in Montana we stop for one.

 

En route to Spokane we spent the night in Missoula but on our way home we decided to try to push through on home. I took us on a detour to Rexburg to show Spencer and Leone around BYU-Idaho. So much seems to have changed since I was last there five and a half years ago! One thing that has remained the same is the delicious Thai restaurant downtown. We stopped there for dinner and it was everything I remembered, even the coconut rice and mango dessert. 

Leone is such a good and brave eater. She eats what we eat every day and she will try just about anything. It makes life so much easier to not have to provide different food for her. We've never really provided separate meals for her (unless something was very spicy) and I believe that is why meal time is never an issue now. 

(our navigator)

Finally it was time for graduation! 

 The U offers the option of something called a "stole of gratitude" as part of the graduation regalia. I'd never heard of this before. Apparently the graduate can wear one in honor or recognition of someone(s) they are grateful for. Spencer surprised me by wearing one and writing a little note to me on it then giving it to me after the ceremony. He said "I owe it all to you." I was so touched. I was seriously on the verge of tears the entire morning...I'm not sure why (well, obviously being pregnant plays a large part). I think it was a mixture of pride, excitement, and relief.

 Spencer made a good friend during the last year or two of school. Hussein is from Kuwait and has a little girl just a few months younger than Leone. They had a lot to bond over.

Spencer's parents were able to attend and his sister Tricy was there for a portion of the ceremony. Spencer's oldest sister Ashlie was busy at the hospital with her first baby, our new niece, who was born that same morning. Quite an exciting day!

Spencer graduated in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Utah. It has been a long hard road but we are so proud of him. Engineering is not easy and I have a new found respect for that field. Spencer has been working as an intern for a private engineering firm that specializes in transportation (roads, bridges, intersections, round-abouts...)called Avenue Consultants since January. He will continue to work for them through the summer and they have offered him a full-time position in August once he has finished his Senior Design class. We feel so blessed! 

It will be a busy summer with Leone turning three, Spencer being Scout Master, and preparing to welcome baby #2 early August. We're looking forward to more time together (especially in the evenings). I haven't had much time to really mentally prepare or get ready for this baby...at least not as much as I did with Leone, but I'm planning to turn my attention to Leone and the new little one as soon as school is out (which is in two weeks). 

This will be my last year of teaching and it has been more difficult than I expected to close that chapter of my life. I've been teaching since I graduated in 2009 (even earlier if you count student teaching and practicums). I want to be at home but I've never really been able to put myself completely into one role. I've always felt I was playing Mom/Teacher or Teacher/Mom. This year, however, has had many challenges that make it less painful to say good-bye. I realized during winter break that perhaps this was the Lord's way of helping me know that being at home is really where I want to be, where I belong. That realization didn't really make dealing with the challenges are work any easier but I'm glad I'm still learning, even on my way out.

That basically sums up the major events for us as of late. I'm sure there is something I'm missing (like our trip to Oklahoma for Christmas) but this post is long as it is and without pictures I'm having a hard time jogging my memory (pregnancy brain is a very real thing). I'll write soon about this pregnancy...it only took me reaching my third trimester to get the news up here!