Happy G-Day

Glenn graduated from Graduate school last Saturday. He is not officially finished with school because his thesis is not completed yet but he is through with his classes and took part in the grand ceremony. Glenn's mom, Heather was in town from Thursday to Tuesday so we were able to spend a bit more time with her. We went down to Congress Bridge to see the bats on Thursday. Not an incredibly successful bat-watching trip but we did see a few. And of course we took a trip to the Alamo on Friday. She's a real history buff so it was fun to take her there. Tate was happy just to find and carry around a stick. And we made a brief stop at the beautiful riverwalk for lunch.On Friday night Glenn's dad and brother Seth came into town. They spent Saturday with us and then left early early on Sunday morning. It was so great to have some of Glenn's family here for the big day. It meant a lot to him to have their support and to be able to share those moments with them. On Saturday Glenn took us on a grand tour of campus. He showed us around the Geology building, stopping for the occasional discussion/lesson. Here we are learning about core samples.We took some pictures in front of the longhorn statue and the University tower. It was a beautiful and VERY hot day. I felt bad for Glenn in his long pants, shirt, and black robe. We were a very sweaty bunch by the end of the afternoon.
The graduation ceremony was at three and Tate was one tired boy by then. He was wiggly and noisy during the ceremony which was, I thought, incredibly quiet. I think he was the onlhy kiddo in there so it just felt like every noise he made was super loud! Poor boy just couldn't sit still. Luckily Grandpa Art was around to snug and read books to him. And Uncle Seth let him watch games on his IPhone. Glenn walking in the procession.
Of course, the "hook-em horns" sign. Gotta have one of those.
The graduation ceremony was amazing. I felt such a feeling of accomplishment to see him walk across the floor, receive his graduate "hood", shake some hands, and pose for pictures. We've spent two years of our lives here and it really hit me at that moment how fast it has gone and how much has happened here. So many good memories.

I'm proud of my husband. I'll be even more proud when he's "officially" done after he finishes his thesis. But seeing him graduate just made me so proud of how smart he is and how hard he has worked to be able to finish a quality education and to be able to support our little family. It was nice to have a whole day to celebrate Glenn and his accomplishments. So proud. Happy G-day honey.

Ew Gross

Dinner tonight: Glenn invited a couple over and made a nice big meal. He doesn't cook much, but when he does, it's a huge deal and it's always delicious. After dinner Tate is walking around the table and has something mysterious in his mouth. Glenn grabs him and digs it out. He pulls two big black chunks out of Tate's mouth and after inspecting them he says, "Yep, it's a dead fly". Our female guest gags across the table. Oh my freaking gross.

Welcome Home Mallory

Tate and I spent the last week and a half in Utah to welcome my sister, his Aunt Mallory home from her mission in Rome. It was a wonderful trip. Glenn decided at the last minute to fly out for a few days as well. It was wonderful to be home with my whole family again.

Mal was supposed to come home on Friday the 8th but because of some mechanical problems was stuck in Paris for the night (poor poor her), and arrived home late on Saturday.

We spent the extra day without her cleaning the house. Tate even pitched in.

And decorated the house and yard for her return.

Then we drove to up to the airport to wait for her. Finally, after days of travel and delays she made it. Just as lovely as ever. Here is Mal meeting Tate for the first time. I was just a few months pregnant with Tate when I saw her last.
Tate and Mya took a few minutes to warm up to Auntie Mallo. I love that in these pictures they are both staring at the camera with wary expressions.
Getting some Auntie Mallory snuggles back home the next day.
Mal and I had a great time doing TONS of shopping for her new, post-mission wardrobe. It was a blast. Shopping, talking, trying things on day after day. We did some serious catching up and it was perfect. We were joined on different excursions by Aubry and also Mom and Kenzie. So much great girl time.

Mal and I also went on daily jogs together. I'd forgotten how nice it is to have someone to chat with and to keep you going. Very nice. I was awful bored with just my ipod again this morning.

Tate spent plenty of time with Nanna, Grampa, Auntie Kenzie, and of course, cousin Mya. He got so excited when she would come over. He'd run down the hall saying her name over and over. Two different mornings he woke up and the first word he said was, "Mya". They played so well together. They played with marbles, danced to Auntie Kenzie's music, and just chased each other around and laughed at each other. It was so much fun to watch our kiddos enjoying each other.
Of course, I enjoyed loving up my two littlest nieces. I mean, who wouldn't love spending time with these two precious faces.

It was so fun to spend so much time with Mallory last week. She is so sweet and fun to be around, and it's just wonderful to have my sister back. Now at least I can call her whenever I want. It's great.

Thanks for another fabulous trip family. We miss you all!

Words Words Words

Tate has hit a stage of speedy development again. Just in the last few weeks he's started talking and copying us so much more. It's fun to hear him try to say what we're saying and watch him figure out what things actually mean. He repeats a lot of words we say, and then one day he'll point to something and say a word and we realize he's made the connection. "That's right Tate, that is a birdie!" It's fun...and a little scary at the same time when he hits these stages when he figures out so much, so fast. It kinda freaks me out. Slow down little man. I'm in absolutely no hurry for you to grow up.

There are a lot of words he says that he doesn't know the meaning of. But these we think he has these figured out. I wanted to record the words that he knows before there are too many.

- Mommy and Daddy of course

- Tate-0, that's how he says his name.

- Ball

- Truck (accompanied by a tongue rolling sound. That's the sound trucks make.)

- Rosie (Wohfie)- Socks (thockth)

- Shoes (shoeth)

- Light

- Baby

- Lego

- Lizzy - a friend in the ward

- Sully (Suwee) from Monster's inc. He has a bath toy shaped like Sully.

- Nemo (Memo) another bath toy.

- Puppy

- Kitty - said when a cat food commercial comes on the TV, or when we go to the pet store.

- Go - said emphatically when he wants to get down or go somewhere you are not taking him!

- Fishy

- Duck

- Turtle (toto)

- Birdie

- Stick

- Nose

- Blanket (bedit)

- Book (budt) - Bevo (beebo) - That's the name of the University of Texas longhorn mascot. A student Glenn works with made this for Tate when he was born. Kenzie taught him it is named BevoWowsers, that's a lot of words. Too fast baby boy. Too fast

Sadie Ann

Allow me to introduce you to my new, beautiful, teensy niece. Her name is Sadie Ann. I just wanna kiss her little face through the screen right now.My sister-in-law Aubry had my little niece on Thursday evening. She weighed 6 lbs. 11 oz. That's over two pounds less than Tate weighed when he was born! I can't wait to get my hands on my new precious little niece. Lucky for me, I'm heading to Utah next week. Mallory is getting home from her mission in Rome and I get to meet my little Sadie too! It's going to be a great trip.
Aubry, you look fabulous. If I didn't hear it from other sources, I wouldn't believe you just had a baby from the way you look in this picture. You look wonderful my dear. Welcome to the world little Sadie. I love you so much already and can't wait to meet you. (Seriously, I looked at one-way tickets just to see if I could get there earlier. I guess it would be more responsible just to wait. Curse you grown up sense of responsibility!)

One Year

Last week a year ago I was in Disney World with my family and my little 2 month old Tatie. It was a wonderful trip. Glenn called at the end of the week and told me that he went to a doctor (while I was away so as not to worry me), and there was a possibility that he could have testicular cancer. When I got home he went to a specialist, was diagnosed, and scheduled surgery the next day. That was April 22nd. A whole year ago. Then we spent a week with me trying to make Glenn take it easy and recover, and waiting to hear what type of cancer it was and what the next steps were. Man what an awful week it was.
We celebrated yesterday. Minimally, because we had a really busy schedule yesterday. But there was lunch out, and flowers, and cards, and good conversations.
A whole year later and it's almost like it never happened. Glenn is hard at work on his thesis, has a job offer, and is in fantastic health. Last year at this time we weren't sure if life would ever be normal again but it is, surprisingly so. There is just a little something that sticks with you when you have an experience like that. Something that changed forever when I had to think about the real possibility of my honey being really sick or worse. Something in the back of my mind that makes me appreciate what I have more and helps me try to focus on the positive more than I used to do. Because, at the end of the day, we're all together and healthy and so happy and what more do we really need? Happy one year honey. I love you.

In the Heights

For Valentine's Day Glenn got us tickets to see In the Heights. Our tickets were for this Tuesday and it was awesome. I forget how powerful it is to listen to singers who perform an entire show without missing a single note. Without a single crack or being a tiny bit off key. My jaw was on the floor the whole night. It was phenomenal. I've been listening to the sound track for a long time and was so happy to finally see the show. The actors who played Nina and Benny were way better than the sound track and were my personal favorites. The show is about a Latin American neighborhood in New York. The characters are from the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Cuba and they're all trying to figure out how they fit in here. For the younger generation, coming to the US was not their choice and they wish they could go back to where their family came from in hopes of fitting in there. It's about finding where your home is and what it means to be home. The music, the rhythm, the sass...I was wishing I was Latina, or black...or just some other color than my own light peach all night long. It's not a serious life-changing message like Les Mis but it was one of the most fun shows I've seen in a long time and it also made me think about my own situation and what it means to be home wherever you are.

After the show Glenn and I waited at the stage door and got autographs and pictures. Yep, just like a little kid. I'm glad we did. It was fun to see them in person. I felt like a giant next to the tiny actresses. They looked small on stage but wow were they ever tiny in person.
Thanks for a fabulous date night honey! And thanks to the Jenkins who watched Tate-o so we could have a fun date night!