So much has happened since my last post (imagine that). Here is my attempt to give a recap and update. Only the good stuff of course...

Graduation from grad school! WAY TO GO JEFF!!!

While overshadowed by the fact that we still didn't have a job and moving in to Jeff's parents' basement wasn't exactly how we envision coming out of grad school, graduation still seemed like a major accomplishment to me. Our time at BYU really flew by. We have both learned a lot through this experience and even though there were A LOT of tough times, the good times definitely outweigh the bad and we were able to become good friends with a lot of amazing people. I already miss the friends and fun activities...Jeff's still too busy to miss homework (okay, I don't think that ever happens).
We also survived the graduation ceremony and if you can survive that with small children you can survive anything! I love Drew's face in the bottom left picture...I finally let him run around at the very end.

FLORIDA!

Some of our good friends from the program invited us to stay with them at their parent's BeAuTiFUl beach house in Florida. We had a great time soaking up the sun by the pool and beach and enjoying being with our friends. Our kids LOVED being able to walk out to the beach every day and play in the sand or swim in the pool. One of the best parts was while the younger kids napped we'd turn on a movie for the older kids and then play games, swim in the ocean or just hang out by the pool. And when the kids went to bed the grown ups partied playing pool, watching movies, playing games and just talking...it truly was paradise!

Merry Christmas

We had a great holiday break. I think the best part about our Christmas was spending so much time with our families (and Jeff). Our kids really enjoyed spending time with their cousins, uncles and (and aunts) as well as their Grandparents. I really felt like I was on vacation because there was always someone for them to play with or eager to do whatever they wanted...we were all spoiled by that :) Chrirstmas morning was great and Ella was especially fun to watch. She isn't nearly as annimated or enthusiastic as Andrew but she enjoyed all the new toys, especially her new stroller and baby. She has been SUPER attached to babies lately. I had bought her a Premie Cabbage Patch Doll and was planning on giving her that since she loves babies so much. A few nights before Christmas we had to make a last minute trip to Toys-R-Us on our way home from a party. It was late and our kids were sleepy, but Ella would not stop crying for all the babies. I finally stopped in front of the Cabbage Patch Dolls. I showed one to her and asked if she wanted that baby, much to my disappointment she looked at it and said in a pout, "No..." Then Drew chimmed in, "That is one fat baby!" Needless to say there was a different baby under the tree Christmas morning. We are happy to be home (with all our Christmas stuff stored away for another year and no pressing errands to run in the snow) but our house seems very quiet and we miss all our family...and Jeff. :) It's a good thing we have preschool!
PS One of the things we did over the break was clean off all our pictures and transfer them to external hard drives...the only problem is now I don't know where most my pictures are...hopefully Jeff does...so this is a random sampler!