College Graduate

I'm a college graduate.

Woah.

That's crazy.

Sometimes I think "I graduated.  No big deal."  But when I really sit down and think about it, it is a HUGE accomplishment.  Not only did I graduate from one of the most difficult bachelors degree programs, but I got married, had a baby, and completed 35 weeks of my second pregnancy.  It was tough, but we did it!

I say we because I couldn't have done it alone.  I don't know how to express my thanks to my family and friends who supported and helped in any way they could.  I especially don't know what I would have done without Husband.  He put up with a lot.  He sacrificed a lot.  He is my number one.  My one and only.  I love you, Husband.

The Snowflake Temple

Husband and I set a goal to visit three new temples this year.  All of a sudden it was April and we hadn't even visited one!  So we decided it was time to fix that.  I mean, just look!  Baby isn't gonna wait much longer, I'm running out of time for travel, and road trips without children get exponentially more difficult when there's a newborn in the house.

Luckily, the Snowflake Temple is only a few hours away.  Little Boy spent the day with his aunties and uncle and Pops and we took off on a little adventure.  It was great to just chit chat and enjoy one another as we drove.

I hadn't been to the Snowflake Temple since the open house in 2002.  I had forgotten how much Native American influence was incorporated into the interior of this temple.  It is truly unique.  I loved having Sister Flake as one of the temple workers.  Husband loved the distinctive water feature.  We also realized how difficult it was to get a good picture of this temple due to it's situation at the top of a very steep hill.

We also realized how terribly difficult it is to take pictures in the blinding sun.  We laughed and cried (mostly out of pain) at how awful these turned out.  But hey, this tradition is all about making memories and taking pictures at Snowflake will always stand out.

After a temple session and pictures, we were starving.  Unfortunately, fast food in Payson didn't appeal to us, so we decided to tough it out and eat once we got back to Mesa.  Of course, a buffet sounded like a perfect idea, hungry as we were.  The Chinese buffet we went to was great, until we were done eating and we felt miserably sick, either from eating too much or just eating what we did.  Needless to say, we're going to stay away from Chinese buffets for a while.

We are so grateful for temples.  We are grateful that we've had the pleasure of visiting 15 of them now!  It is so much fun to see the differences in architecture and design, yet to feel the same Spirit and know that we are in the Lord's house.  We are excited for the arrival of the Gilbert Temple and the Phoenix Temple.  "A marvelous work is about to come forth among the children of men..." Now we better get busy on our family history!

Hyrum's Favorite Books

Hyrum and I love the library.  We go for Story Time.  We go just to get books.  We go to play.  We go for special activities.  It's a good place for a mom and her boy to go when they want to get out of the house.  Yesterday we went and Hyrum was beyond excited about the bugs, beetles, and crickets they had preserved in little plastic cubes.  He could have looked at them all day.

Over the last month or so, I've been collecting a list of some of Hyrum's favorite books.  We always check out three to four books to bring home.  Most often, I just find these books by skimming the book shelf, but that can be a pain and I don't always pick out ones he likes.  So, I thought that some of you might appreciate a toddler book list.

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie  by: Laura Joffe Numeroff  Illustrated by: Felicia Bond
Rules of the Wild: An Unruly Book of Manners  by: Bridget Levin  Illustrated by: Amanda Shepherd
Hugless Douglas  Written and Illustrated by: David Melling
Art  Written and Illustrated by: Patrick McDonnell
And the Train Goes  Written and Illustrated by: William Bee
The Wriggly, Wriggly Baby by: Jessica Clark  Illustrated by: Laura Rankin
The Firefighters  by: Sue Whiting  Illustrated by: Donna Rawlins
Once Upon a Potty Written and Illustrated by: Alona Frankel
We go together! by: Todd Dunn  Illustrated by: Miki Sakamoto
Driving my Tractor  by: Jan Dobbins  Illustrated by: David Sim
What to do if an Elephant Stands on Your Foot by: Michelle Robinson  Illustrated by: Peter H. Reynolds
Split! Splat! by: Amy Gibson  Illustrated by:  Steve Bjorkman
10 Little Rubber Ducks  Written and Illustrated by: Eric Carle

And don't forget that local libraries have summer reading programs for all ages!  What's better than reading? Reading and getting prizes!

Hyrum Turned Two

Hyrum Joseph turned two!  He had a good birthday, too!  His actual birthday was on a Friday.  He got to spend the day with Mom.  We made number two shaped pancakes for breakfast.  Other than that it was a pretty typical day.  But on Saturday he got to have a party.

Some of his very most favorite people came over.  Grannie.  Pops.  Keila.  Sydney.  Leslie.  Brooke.  Hayden.  We ate waffles with strawberries (Hyrum's favorite!) as well as eggs, hash browns, and sausage.  We opened presents, just hung out, and had a good time.

Hyrum got some really great presents.  Grams and Papa sent him a set of Disney board books.  Mom and Dad gave him a pound-a-peg, Lightning McQueen camping chair, and Lightning McQueen swimsuit.  His very most favorite present, though, was the Tow Mater remote control truck Grannie, Pops, and the kids gave him.  He's getting to be pretty good at it too!  He knows (mostly) to stop before crashing into walls and he even figures out how to get him to turn from time to time. ;)

As you can tell, he was a fan of the strawberries.  This is where we found him later on that morning...pilfering leftover strawberries!

We love our little two year old!  He is the smartest one we know--and the cutest too!  He brings so much joy and laughter into our lives.  He's our best bud and he's going to be a fantastic older brother!

Little Things

I haven't blogged in too long, so I think it's about time I catch up on the "little things."

The other night, Husband and I were reading the scriptures together.  He read, Jacob 4:6 

"Wherefore, we search the prophets, and we have many revelations and the spirit of prophecy; and having all these witnesses we obtain a hope, and our faith becometh unshaken, insomuch that we truly can command in the name of Jesus and the very trees obey us, or the mountains, or the waves of the sea."

Wifey: "What about weeds?  Can we say 'Get thee hence, weeds!' and they go away?!"
Husband: James 2:26 "faith without works is dead"

Needless to say, our yard has been overrun by weeds and we're a little overwhelmed by them.  We've got two weeks to clear them out.  Two weeks before the in-laws come into town and we suffer from utter shame and embarrassment at our lack of yard care skills.  Unfortunately, it's getting hot, so we spend a couple of hours in the yard each (hopefully) morning to try to chip away at it.

Speaking of two weeks!  Graduation!  I am beyond excited.  I think of those times when I just wanted to quit.  I had a newborn.  Classes were hard.  It just didn't seem worth it.  Now I can say that I stuck to it and I'm a college graduate!  Not only that, but I will soon be a registered nurse.  I have paid a bunch of money and sent in my application to the State Board of Nursing.  Today I finished the last of my assignments for school and registered to take the NCLEX.  Best nap time EVER!

Little Boy Hyrum turned two!  We'll have to post an update with pictures of his birthday bash, but needless to say, we have a full grown toddler on our hands.  He is so super smart!  He can count to ten, mostly.  Today his favorite number is 8, so when you try to get him to count he just tries to skip to 8, 9, 10!  He talks and talks and talks and talks.  He is enthralled by babies.  We're excited to see how he blossoms as a big brother.

Other than that, we're just trying to figure out what comes next.  Husband is looking for jobs and applying for his project management certification.  The Morgans come home in August.  We're not sure where we'll be living or what we'll be doing by then, but we know that the Lord has a plan for us.  He has always taken care of us in the past and will continue to do so.  We just have to be patient.

1 Nephi 2: 19-20

Culture Pass: Children's Museum

Last week Hyrum and I got a Culture Pass from the library and went to the Children's Museum for FREE!  We spent the whole morning there and had lots of fun.

Hyrum didn't really want to make pizza at the pizza kitchen, but he loved wearing the camo apron.  He didn't want to take it off!

This time he was big enough to ride his little bike through the car wash.

We spent lots of time in the "three and under" room.  It was his favorite place.  We even went back again after we took a lunch break.  It must have been nap time, though, because he and one other little boy had the whole place to themselves.

I sure love my Hyrum.  I love being his Momma.  I am grateful for the time we get to spend one-on-one.

I'm grateful that I was able to listen to General Conference this past week.  Sister Rosemary M. Wixom's talk "The Words We Speak" particularly stood out to me.  It made me want to be a better mother in so many ways.  Particularly, I want to make my home a safe place to learn and to make mistakes.  Maybe that's why I said, "Oopsies!  Guess we'll have to clean it up" when Hyrum spilled his second cup of milk at breakfast this morning, instead of screaming and pulling my hair out, which is how I really felt like reacting.  Oh what patience you learn as a mother!

The Easter Pageant

Of all the nights they had the Easter Pageant this year, we could only make it on the very last night.  Knowing it was everyone's last chance to go and a Saturday night, we showed up two hours early so that we could stake a claim on the prime grass seats.  Brown Family tradition required a stop at Pizza Hut on the way for the once-a-year-spoil-the-dad stuffed crust pizza.

While we think we had some of the best seats in the house, going two hours early with an almost-two-year-old meant distraction.  We spent some time in the Visitor's Center.  Hyrum loved seeing the Christus and kept saying "Big Jesus!"  He also paid particular attention to "Jesus Feet!"

His favorite, though was the reflection pool.  Oh how badly he wanted to get in the pool.  He kept asking me to take off his shoes and his clothes.  "Water!" was the word of the night.

We survived the wait and enjoyed the pageant.  Hryum sat quiet and attentive until he finally fell asleep near the end (it was past his bedtime).  I love the Easter Pageant.  I love learning about the life of Christ and of living prophets today who testify of Him.  I know He lives!