In our new home...

*It has been really nice to have people SO close to watch Abbie when needed.

* I love that I don't have to drive very far to get to everywhere I want to go. 

 

This past week has been an adjustment living in our new home. Abbie got kind of thrown off with the move, and with having more people around. We are practically back to our normal schedule except that she has been waking up earlier in the mornings.  

 Abbie has loved being so close to her grandmas and aunties. They sure do spoil her. Here she is playing with magnet letters with Breanna (nana). The funniest part is that she pants like a dog as she runs.

We have gone down to the new City Creek Center downtown twice already. We sure had a blast!

During Abbie's nap today I made this bow holder.  It was super easy to make and not very expensive. I found the idea on pinterest and then added the hooks to it so that it would hold headbands as well.

And it actually holds all of her bows!

(I've attempted making a couple in the past but they were too small)

Even though she is spoiled and has attention from several people throughout the day, she is still pretty good at entertaining herself. Her recent thing is to fill up shoes (anyone's shoes) with toys.

So, basically things are going good. Brandon is still working for his law professor and has a new, very promising, prospect for a job.

Back in Salt Lake

Last Saturday we moved to Magna, into Brandon's parents' basement apartment. A lot of our family came down Saturday morning to help us. We reserved a truck about a week in advance, unfortunately when we went to pick it up that morning they had the wrong info. In the end we had Brandon's dad pick up the truck in Salt Lake and bring it down to us. 

Thankfully we had most of it packed up in boxes previously so that the actual loading and unloading of the truck went quickly.

Abbie enjoyed having lots a people around to play with.

We are still slowly unpacking/ organizing a few last things, but otherwise we are pretty much settled in.

I love being back in Salt Lake so close to family! Our new place is pretty nice. We now have a washer and dryer which I absolutely love. The only downside is that it is only 1 bedroom so we have to share with Abbie- so far I am not a fan.

Doctor of Law

Yay, Brandon graduated from BYU Law School this past weekend! Thursday before graduation we went and took pictures by the famous sign. Unfortunately the weather was threatening rain so the pictures are a little gloomy looking, but at least we got them.

I love this picture. Notice Abbie sporting her BYU attire.

Thursday afternoon we went to commencement. Elder Oaks was the speaker. Brandon had pretty much the best seat you can get- front row on the comfy floor chairs. We (my mom, Amanda, Abbie, and I) ended up sitting on the very top bench behind the speakers- not the best seat to watch, but it was pretty good for Abbie because she could move around more and talk.

Friday, the law school had a brunch party with delicious Kneaders french toast (by far the best french toast I've ever had). 

Convocation was at 5pm that night in the DeJong concert hall. This time all the guests had comfy seats and the grads had hard chairs to sit on.

The hooding ceremony was by far the best part.

Here are all the awesome people that came to support Brandon :)

And last but not least our little family. Brandon and I were both very excited for this moment (not taking the picture). However, I am not quite sure what Abbie was thinking.

Afterwards, we went to Pizza Pie Cafe to celebrate this special occasion. You can bet that we were all starving by this point.

I am so proud of Brandon! He sure put in a lot of work over the past 3 years and certainly deserves it. Now all he has to do to be official is take the Bar exam in July.

My made up spring break

Last week my family had spring break. They planned a family vacation to Las Vegas and St. George. Abbie and I decided to join them, unfortunately Brandon could not go because of school. 

We left early Monday morning heading to Las Vegas. It took us a good part of the day to get there, with lots of stops along the way. Abbie was actually very good in the car considering the amount of time we spent in there. She played with toys, read books, ate food, and slept.

That night we went and saw my uncle at the hospital and then just hung around the hotel.

Tuesday we spent most of the day on the strip. Our first stop was the Bellagio gardens. It was really pretty.

Then we headed over to Caesar's Palace. This is one of my favorite places in Las Vegas.

Abbie was able to conk out after a long day of sightseeing...

...and then enjoyed a swim in the not so warm pool.

Wednesday morning we checked out of our hotel and then did a little more sightseeing on the strip before heading to St. George. This is the awesome pineapple looking tree close to our hotel room.

There are tons of escalators on the strip. Abbie loved them. We would go several times consecutively.

M&M world

Coke factory. We were able to try 16 different cokes/coke products from around the world. Some were disgusting, some were ok.

The drive to St. George. The cup she is holding is full of ice. She LOVES eating ice!

We got there in the evening, grabbed dinner, and then hung out at the hotel. Haha, Abbie was fascinated by the mirror on the wall. I guess I should mention that she was actually a really good sleeper too. We took a portable crib and just set it up in the corner of the room. Once she fell asleep at night we could turn the light on and talk without waking her up (what a relief!).

Thursday we spent the day at Zion National Park. We had a lot of fun riding the tour bus and doing the mile walk/hike to the Narrows. The weather was fairly nice, but by the end of the day it was a little chilly. I guess that was better than being too hot.

Abbie is fascinated with rocks. She loves to find them and play with them. So, of course her souvenir was a bag of shiny, pretty rocks :)

Friday morning before we headed for home, we stopped by the St. George Temple to walk around the grounds. I can't believe how white the temple is. It is beautiful against the red rock and blue sky.

Well, those were the highlights of the trip. I'm sure there is more that I am forgetting but oh well. We sure did have a lot of fun. I think Abbie loved having lots of people around all the time to entertain her. I think we also ate way too much food, but hey I wouldn't expect anything less on a vacation :) The only thing I would have changed would be to have Brandon with us, we did miss him!

She's too young to drive!

Lately Abbie has been obsessed with her car. She is a pro at getting in and out of it by herself. It's even fun to play with in the house when its too cold to go outside. 

We normally keep it outside our apartment near the stairs. So, when we got home from dinner tonight, she ran over and pulled out the car. Neither Brandon or I wanted to push her so we just went inside expecting Abbie to follow. Nope, she got in the car and was just waiting for someone to push her. It was super cute! So, of course we took a short ride.