fall semester 2016

Jake started grad school in the fall of 2016, and M started kindergarten. It was a very busy time, but a good time. Jake was extremely busy with the demands of being in grad school. He had his core classes of the program, and had his core team. They basically met together every day, and worked together on their group projects and assignments throughout the semester. He was always very busy with recruiting for a summer internship. 

M loved going to school each day as a kindergartener. He had a wonderful teacher who was strict but really made school fun for the kids. She really helped him learn and grow a lot!

M played rec soccer. Miss J enjoyed playing with the soccer ball on the sidelines. 

He had his first field trip. They went to the police station, the fire station, the library, and the park. Miss J and I went to help out. It was fun to see him interact with his classmates. He is in the gray shirt/jeans in the picture below. 

Spraying the hose at the fire station. He patiently waited his turn. When he was up, he confidently took the hose and sprayed it towards the sky. That's my M...

Miss J playing at the park after the library.

M had his "fun run" at school. 

M played rec basketball. His favorite part of sports so far are the treats at the end of the game! 

Miss J and I enjoyed a beautiful, crisp, clear morning on the beautiful BYU campus.

Jaker's Pumpkin Patch

Jake went to the National Black Conference in Louisiana--basically like a big job fair for MBA students. He got so much "swag" from all of the different companies that it didn't all fit in his suitcase. He thought the kids would enjoy it all, so he mailed it home in a box. The kids were pretty excited when it arrived in the mail! 

Halloween trunk-or-treat party with MBASA (MBA Spouses Association). Jake and I were contestants from The Price is Right. M a referee, and J a pirate.

Semi-annual sugar cookie making!

M and Hamster Bugsy...need I say more? I don't think I've shared much about Bugsy on the blog, but he was basically M's pet. Like, literally his pet. He would tell his classmates he had a pet hamster, but forgot to mention the part about it being a stuffed hamster. He would write about it in class, ask me for food to feed him, etc. HA! He's been lost time and time again, yet always shows back up. Currently he's been missing for about 5 months, so we'll see what happens!

 Jake and I had the chance to go to an etiquette dinner for students on campus. They had alumni mixed in with the students at every table. During the dinner, a lady spoke about manners and etiquette. It was really a neat thing to attend and we learned a lot! I love learning about that kind of stuff. 

 Visit to see Dad on campus. This was in the MBA lounge. 

M watching the high school state volleyball playoffs with Papa at Utah Valley University. 

"Golden Girls" dinner with old college roommates at the Cheesecake Factory. Love these girls! 

Playing with "the boy cousins" up north. M and J LOVE these guys!

Right before Jake's first week of finals in grad school, all 4 of us got so sick! I forget now exactly what with, but I think it was the flu. All I remember is Jake and I being on the couch for most of the day, in and out of sleep. I think the kids may have had a cold, they didn't seem as bad off as Jake and I. They watched a lot of TV those couple of days. Anyways, I walked into the living room at one point and saw this scene--everyone on the couch looking miserable. I thought I better take a picture to remember. 

Visiting the campus bookstore at BYU. 

It was a great fall!

moment of arrival

Hi again. It's been awhile! So much has happened since I wrote last, but I'll play catch up later. Right now I'm going to jump ahead. I want to remember this moment of time in our lives.

Back in March, Jake received his acceptance letter into the MBA program at Brigham Young University. To say we were excited is an understatement. This was something that we have been working towards for years.

Here is the acceptance letter when it arrived in the mail (we lived in a basement apartment, so our upstairs neighbors would slide our mail under the door...)

A few days before the actual letter came, he received an email telling him that he had been accepted. I was at my parent's house when he saw it. He called and told me to check his email. I knew it had to have been something about school. When I read what it said, I couldn't help but shed a few tears. WE HAD BEEN ACCEPTED!

Long story short: Jake had his last day of work in July, we moved closer to campus, and now he is full-swing into classes.

I am so proud of Jake, and all of his hard work and sacrifices to get here. They have been endless. We feel incredibly humbled and thankful to Heavenly Father for helping us, and providing the way for us, to be at this point. 

I have been thinking about how we each have our own journey in life--a journey that is so individually unique. With these journeys, there are these sweet and awesome 'moments of arrival.' Moments that have been worked for, sacrificed for, waited for, and prayed for. The last couple of weeks have been one of those 'moments or arrival' for our family.

Two weeks ago, Jake started orientation for the MBA program. It was so fun to have him come home each day and hear how the day had gone. A couple of times as he was telling me what he had been learning , I had to hold back tears. I was just so excited and in awe of the reality of what was happening, at this 'moment of arrival.'

Classes started this week. We knew it was going to be hard and busy, and already, we are feeling that. There are many experiences ahead (good and bad), but we are so thankful for the opportunity to do it here at Brigham Young University.

I'll end with the video they sent Jake with his acceptance email. This was from an orientation a couple or so years ago.