Our New Graduate!!!

Today we were able to celebrate with Jared as he graduated with his Master's degree in Secondary Education! Sometimes I think I forget how hard and time consuming going to college is - especially graduate school. And not only has Jared been doing that, but also completing his first year of teaching as well! Needless to say, he has been super busy, but has done such an amazing job with school, teaching, and being a great husband and father!!!

As most of you know, an actual graduation ceremony isn't the most stimulating thing in the world. I was so glad that we had a few things along to entertain Tori! Other than a few crazy incidences (Tori decided, after eating a whole bunch of chex mix, that she didn't like it anymore and spit it out all over her dress and chair, and looking over to see pee running down her legs - apparently her diaper was saturated and couldn't hold another drop, resulting in an emergency diaper change right there in the middle of graduation), Tori did awesome! This is how she spent most of the graduation:
Sadly, I missed when they read Jared's name. But I did catch his dedication and actual hooding!!!

Here is Jared getting hooded by his professor Dr. Kathy Maars!

Hurrah for a fun graduation family photo - too bad Tori was a little done with the whole thing by this point!!!
Here is Jared (and Tori) with Dr. Maars - she is such a fabulous professor and has been a huge help in guiding Jared through the past 4 years of his education! We have been very blessed to have her in our lives!!!

Here is one very happy graduate!

Happy graduation Jared - we are so proud of you and all that you have accomplished!!! Love you tons and tons!!!



I Love to See the Temple

I think my love temples started very early in my life. I was blessed to live with a temple nearby and found it such a comfort that the temple could be seen from pretty much any spot in Cache Valley. As I moved to Florida and then Indiana, I have learned to love having a temple within a couple of hours of where I am living. Which is wonderful, but there was always the hope every conference that a temple would be announced for Indianapolis - which happened last October! Talk about an amazing announcement!!! Since that time, we have learned that from the announcement of a temple to the actual dedication is about three years time. But it is still so exciting knowing that the temple is coming along! A few months ago, the temple site was announced and now there is an official website to show the progress of our temple!!!

If you would like, check it out: http://indianapolismormontemple.org/

What a huge blessing it will be to have a temple right here in Indianapolis - we can't wait!!!

Princeton's Palace

Since we are still in the middle of potty training Prince, his domain is pretty much just the kitchen! It may sound like we are being restrictive (which I guess we are), but I think that Prince likes his new residence! It has been fun watching him discover his favorite places to hang out!

He loves being under the table - I think it helps him feel safe when Tori has been pestering him too much!!!

He loves to sleep on his back - almost anywhere!

And a new spot from the past couple of days - right in the corner!

I think that Prince is digging his new palace!!!

A Girl and Her Puppy!!!

Over the past few weeks, it has been really fun to watch Tori and Prince get use to each other and being in each other's space! Right from the start, Tori has loved Prince's kennel - and has even tried to climb in a few times:

We keep telling her it is Prince's bed and not hers!

It has been really fun to watch Tori get more brave and start to pet Prince!

And to enjoy playing with him!!!

I think this is one of the sweetest pictures of the two of them together!!!

Okay - this one is pretty cute, too!

A few nights ago, Prince discovered the tunnel part of Tori's ball pit! Jared and I had a blast watching the two of them play together - I think they could have gone on all night long!!!

Tonight, we let Prince join Tori for bath time - talk about a big hit for both of them!

Who knew it would be so fun having Prince in the bathroom with us?

I just love the smile on Tori's face!!!

I think these two are well on their way to becoming inseparable!!!

A Very Neat Meeting!!!

Yesterday Jared had the opportunity to attend the announcement of the next cohort of Woodrow Wilson Fellows. Now that may not sound like much, but the announcement was made by the Governor of Indiana in a press release downtown at the state building.

Here is Jared with Governor Mitch Daniels (a very cool guy and a great governor)

After the press release, Jared was interviewed by a reporter from the Indy Star and was quoted in an article today! Here is the link to the article:
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011105100336

All-in-all, it was a very neat experience for Jared - I am so proud of you!!!

Big Girl Bed

Jared and I decided that today was the day to take one of the sides off of Tori's crib. Our goal is to hopefully have her ready for a real big girl bed around her birthday in August. I think we were both a little nervous when bedtime rolled around this evening. But there was no need to worry - Tori literally jumped right into bed!!! And as long as she had her binky, Puppy, Bear, and Freckles - things were just dandy!

All ready for a great night in a big girl bed!

About a half hour later we heard her playing, so here is take two of going to bed:

Jared and I were so proud of Tori, we only had to put her back in bed that one time. The next time we checked on her, she was peacefully sleeping. Hopefully this transition will continue to be so easy!!!

One Spoiled Mom!

It's kind of funny that last year I had a really hard time on Mother's Day, but this year - it was completely amazing!!! I felt spoiled the whole day and loved every second! Jared delivered another perfect, tear-jerker card and some beautiful figurines representing our growing family!!! Dad (and Mom) Allen sent me this beautiful corsage to wear to church!
We all loved being able to talk with our Moms (Grandmas) today and let them know how much we love and appreciate all they do for us!!!
My most favorite gift of all was this one from Tori- my very first Tori-made Mother's Day gift!!! (For Tori's first time using stickers, I think she is a natural!)

I am so lucky that I get to be this girl's Mommy!!!

Pell Mell!!!

This afternoon, we were able to play outside as a family! My most favorite part was watching Tori show Jared her new fun thing to do in the backyard!

Every time I see her run down the yard, the thing that pops into my head is - she is running "pell mell" and loving every minute of it- even when she turfs it!!!

Our Little Fashionista

To me, a fashionista is a person that sets trends with their clothing, someone that isn't afraid to go out into uncharted waters with how they dress. And if that is the case - we definitely have one of those in our house! Tori has recently been discovering the art of dressing herself. I think her favorites are socks and shoes.

My favorite is when she puts either Jared's or my socks on!

Definitely a fashion statement!!!

Anther fun Tori trend - to wear as many clothes on your legs as possible!

It might take a bit for this trend to catch on!!!

If this keeps up, we are going to have to start doing laundry a lot more often!!!

Happy Birthday to Me!

I am finding that birthdays become interesting the older I get. I no longer count down the days until my birthday - sometimes they even sneak up on me. Which is kind of what happened with today. I knew my birthday was coming, and I knew that Jared was really busy with work and wouldn't be home until late, so I wasn't really planning on much. But then fun things started to happen right from the start! A sister in our institute class totally surprised me by bringing a cake and flowers to our class this morning!!! The cake was so yummy and I was truly touched that she was so thoughtful to even remember it was my birthday - definitely a good way to start out the day! Then Tori and I were able to go to lunch with Molly and Brooklyn - another unexpected addition to the day! It was so nice to get out of the house, to eat some great food, and best of all, to spend time with a fabulous friend! Thanks so much Molly - I loved every minute!!! This evening Jared also surprised me with the perfect card and some very sweet gifts - yep, I even got a little teary-eyed! And then there were the numerous texts, phone calls, cards, and messages from my dear family - thank you so much for all of them!!!
So for a day I almost forgot about, it turned out to be spectacular! Thanks for all of you that helped make it that way!!!