Bye to the Branch :(

Today was a sad day for us. We have to leave the branch and go back to our regular ward for church. I know, that doesn't seem so bad but it is amazing how fast you can get used to a 30 minute sacrament meeting! In all honesty, the past 8 months have been so good for Jerrick and I in our church callings. Getting called to the medical branch is so great because you are serving for 4 hours every Sunday! I'm pretty confident that if the Savior were walking the earth today he would be caring for the sick and afflicted. To stand in place of him and serve the spiritual needs of patients in the hospital has been such a blessing for me. It is such a testimony to see individuals going through so much pain and heartache, yet have an unyielding love and appreciation for the Savior. I grew to love the other members of the branch and I will really miss them! Today there was a little branch breakfast after church. I like to think it was just a good farewell for us :)

Here is a picture of a good part of the group. Those who were still there at the end of the breakfast.

President Smith doing his thing... He was pretty much a professional french toast chef and they were so awesome!

Leah and Mary and me... most of our Relief Society Presidency. I will really miss these awesome ladies! They were so fun for me to work with.

Jerrick and most of the Branch presidency and our High Council Rep. I think working in the presidency really gave us a greater appreciation for the calling. Also, working with the rest of the presidency taught us a lot! I usually enjoy change but this I am a little sad about. We will truly miss everyone but hey... callings await elsewhere and I'm sure we will grow to love those as well.

Summer Break

So, Jerrick and I are both taking classes and working this summer. Not much of a break if you ask me! Therefore, our summer consists basically of this one week vacation between the spring and summer semesters. We went down to Phoenix to spend some quality time with my parents and the sunshine :) Here are some fun pictures from the trip.

We went to Old Scottsdale and mixed right in with the locals...

One night we met up with one of Jerrick's old mission buddies and some of his friends for some good ol fashioned bowling. I love the shoes in the front. PS the girls totally whooped the boys. I have to admit, not on my account! The other two ladies were awesome. When we were clearly winning the boys pretended they weren't trying and goofing off... yeah they couldn't handle the loss! It was fun to see Jared again. One night we also met up with mine and Jerrick's old room mates from Tucson. They happen to be dating now! We must just bring people together! It was so good to see them I miss the good old days in Tucson. I don't have any pictures but they are really awesome people. Love you Paige!!

mmmm... yes those are bacon and cheese flavored CRICKETS!! on the right. The left, hard candy surrounding what was once a scorpion. We didn't buy them to say the least. I'm just not daring enough.

It was so nice to spend a couple nights grilling on the patio and watching the golfers go by. This was burger night and I'm pretty sure my dad outdid himself! I wanted to take a picture so I could remember what he was going to try to get his mouth over! 

So, we basically had a fabulous time and I can't wait to go back down! My parents treat us like royalty they are very giving... says the somewhat spoiled princess :) I love them so much. Hopefully one day we will live closer... can you tell that I love arizona?!

Almost There!

Ahhh... I am not acutally done with my Bachelor's degree until the end of the summer. However, walking in comencement today was great! It makes all the hard work seem worth it and even though I wish it meant I was done, it still is a great reminder that I'm almost there! I feel so loved to have such wonderful family members supporting me today. It was fun considering there were 1400 names to read in the undergrads alone... they have a system down to get you through pretty fast though! We had a great lunch afterward at Market Street Grill yummmmm :) Here's a few pics from today!

My AMAZING parents. I wouldn't have made it without their support. p.s. My Daddy got me the roses :)

Jerrick and the In-laws. They are wonderful! They drove up from St. George and we were so excited to have them with us!

My sisters and best friends! Also my Bro in-law Josh, Katy's hubbie.

My sis in law came with one of her daughters and cute new baby boy! What a woman to bring them just to support me. Kids and a boring ceremony probably don't mix well. She's awesome!

AND last but not least my dad's parents made it. They are the sweetest people in the world and have been so great my whole life. They even let me live with them for three weeks after I moved up here before Jerrick and I got married. I love them so much!

I wish we had a big group picture but I just love everyone so much I had to have a picture of them all... so you get a bunch of pictures!! Okay... now I just have to make it through 20 credits and 30 hr/wk of work this summer. I guess I will plan on relaxing and seeing the sun some other time... BUT people, I can do this!!

Bowling

We had a great time last night bowling with my sisters and their hubbies. The dance music and lights were awesome. However, the girls vs guys in two seperate lanes didn't turn out so well for the ladies... We still had fun though and everyone managed to get a couple strikes :)

Here's a pic of just me and my sisters Katy and Kim. We turned off the flash to show the amazing lights :)

Haha. This is Katy with her joke shoes. Josh asked for a huge size for her, just making a little joke about her somewhat big feet (Sorry Katy) but these shoes were an overstatement. She isn't too happy about putting them on for me!

A fun shot of the whole gang! So much fun, I love my sisters and I love getting together with them even though we don't get to often.

Oh Lovely Student Apartments...

So, Jerrick and I live in student apartments where we are lucky to have a very diverse group of people to say the least. Well, out by the dumpsters people put anything that they no longer want. It is simply a Good Will out there and when you come home, there is often a pile that a moving family has left behind. Now, this is actually a hot commodity which people are very happy to pick up and put in their home. I just needed to give you a little background before I explained this little picture...

Okay, possibly the freakiest sculpture I have ever seen. Jerrick and I saw it on our way out a few days after Easter, so I'm guessing the colorful eggs might have something to do with that? But come on... can we please take a closer look at the freaky bird/man and his tiny bird with a human baby face?! Yes... I laughed for quite awhile. In the end, we ding dong ditched our neighbor friends and left this on the doorstep. I think they got a kick out of it :)

Welcome Baby Jaxson!

Jerrick and I had a beautiful baby nephew born recently.They named him Jaxson and he is just so precious! I had to post a few pictures as proof :) We are so excited for Jerrick's brother and his wonderful family. With two daughters this little baby boy was just what they needed! We love him so much. Congratulations you guys!

I just loved this little scowel. He didn't really know what to make of my face...

Spring Break

So we thought we would take advantage of our Spring Break and go to St. George... even though we had to be back Monday for work. It was still nice to get away last weekend and see some real sunshine! The 80 degree weather was pretty tough to leave. It was great to see Jerrick's sister and her four cute boys. I know the picture is deceiving... it looks like a family photo and that we suddenly have children. Not quite :) They sure are cute though. We saw Jerrick's parents, a few more siblings and some great friends from his high school.

Jerrick was really excited to see his dog Sisco. No, not after the thong song... he says that song ruined her name forever. Anyway, he gave her quite the little bath treatment. I caught a nice action picture :)
She was so cute Jerrick couldn't resist taking a bunch of pictures of her...

Oh, and of the cat that his dad is obsessed with. I don't know what he would do if it ran away it is so cute.
This is a reinactment of Christ and the lamb over his shoulder. What can I say, I love it! I had to share it.
That was our exciting Spring Break!! Work for the rest of the week but hey, no classes and I got to see my hubby quite a bit more than usual. We actually got to spend a couple WHOLE DAYS together! Now, I'm just postponing the work that I need to do for Monday. Apparantly break can't last forever...