time's a flyin'

Holy moly, these past few weeks have FLOWN BY! After a long-awaited arrival, my in-laws flew into Salt Lake on General Conference Sunday. Gabey and I met them at the airport (surprising my mother-in-law), and then joined them in Park City the next day. We didn't plan on staying in Park City, but I-80 ended up being CLOSED that night because 18 stinkin' inches of snow fell. 18 INCHES! It started when I was driving up the canyon to get to Diana's (my MIL's sister), and it didn't stop until later on the next day. Luckily, Diana is a grandma and had a pack'n'play that Gabe could sleep in. It was fun spending the extra time with my extended family, but it was stressful nontheless... I had no idea when I would get outta there! It took Bruce, my father-in-law, an hour to clear a path to my car when I had to leave, but we got off the mountain safely and finally got on the road to head back to Rexburg. Julia, Ross's youngest sister, came with me to help me prepare for the festivities (and to help with Gabe). We were able to get the house cleaned by the time everyone else showed up Wednesday, which was just in time for Ross's senior recital. My mom and Aunt Vilate made a Costco run before heading up to Idaho, which SAVED ME! We ended up having around 30-40 people stay for refreshments after his recital, so I was very happy and VERY grateful to have their help with the food. Thanks Mom and Vilate! As for Ross's recital, he was awesome. He's such a ham (as most of you know), but it made for a very entertaining evening. His voice stayed strong for the whole recital, and he really made me proud. His voice teacher only had good things to say about his performance, and for all of you who know Kris, her compliments mean a lot more than most. She's as professional as they come, so we take what she says to heart. Good job babes!

The day after Ross's recital was another big day, as Ross had a few finals and Catherine (my other sister-in-law) had her recital. Ross and I both sang duets with her, so it was another big night filled with more singing, more friends, and more food. She did a great job, and it was fun to have a Jazzy touch to a recital (which are usually more Classical/Romantic/Baroque). Friday was Ross's last day of finals, and Saturday was graduation! We all joined together for Commencement, and then each college met to celebrate the graduates from each of the different colleges (i.e. College of Performing and Visual Arts, College of Business and Communication, etc). I was so proud as Ross walked across that stage! He had a huge smile across his face, as did I. He has worked so hard and music is NOT an easy degree. Okay, so he technically doesn't graduate until December when he finishes student teaching, but he walked because his entire family would be here and it was his final semester of classes. Either way, it was a great day to celebrate! Here are the pics...

FINALLY! He's got a degree to go along with all that hard work! Good job baby!

Shaking hands with our friend, President Kim B. Clark.

Ross, Alan, Bro.Linford, Brady, and Katelynd. These people are fantastic and SO talented!

Ross and Gabey after the convocation ceremony.




The whole Graham fam (minus Yours Truly... but somebody had to take the picture).




I couldn't help but post this. He's such a goofball!

This next set of pictures is from a FFFN (Fun Formal Family Night) we had with some friends of ours. Brady and Chelse Hodgson are some of our best friends here in the 'Burg, and Chelse had the grand idea that we needed to put our wedding dresses to use one more time. We invited some other good friends, Katelynd and Ben Blake, to join us at the local bowling alley for our FFFN. We got some looks from most of the people there, and a few even asked us if we were just married (which was funny because our babies were with us...). It is NOT easy bowling in a wedding dress, lemme tell ya! My petticoat that fluffs it up underneath is in Utah, so it was kinda droopy and really long. Chelse and I had to be creative when it came to the actual throwing of the bowling ball since we didn't want to rip our dresses, but it was still a lot of fun. Ross wore his tails and Brady bought a groovy cream-and-brown tux from D.I. for $4. I don't know what got more looks that night, the dresses or that tux. We took lots of pictures, and we'll have fun memories to look back on when Chelse and Brady are at Florida State. We love you guys!

Can't you just tell it's a bowling alley by the gorgeous wall in the background?

Chelse and I sportin' the wedding dress 'n' bowling shoes look. Very fashion-forward.

And the tux and multi-colored shoes are quite the statement. Look at that form!

Ross is now out of school and we're packing for our move to Utah on Friday. I wish I had a magic wand or some Mary Poppin magic to get my house in order! Packing is my least favorite past-time, so it's always slow-moving getting things ready to go. I love unpacking though (it's much less A.D.D. for me), so I'm chomping at the bit to settle in down in Alpine! Check back soon for pictures of our new home!

*T