A day at the Zoo!

Grammie Bean came to visit! Yay! Calvin's favorite adventure with her was our trip to the

  Phoenix Zoo.

On the morning of, we met up at my brother Chris's apartment to eat breakfast and depart from there to the zoo. However, I forgot to pack SHOES for Calvin (strike 1). But I remembered sunscreen, snacks, lunch, a change of clothes, diapers, wipes, water bottles, toys, books, his favorite blanket, Hobbes...doesn't that matter? Nope. I still failed.  So, because of my lapse of judgment, we made a quick stop at a nearby Walmart for some Calvin size sandals.

We arrived at the zoo and I realized that I didn't pack Calvin's STROLLER (strike 2). I panicked. But my Mom reassured me that the zoo probably has strollers we can rent for the day. She is so wise. 

Calvin had the BEST time running around the zoo (not really using the stroller after all) and looking at all sorts of animals. 

And I had fun playing with my Christmas present: Canon EFS 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS II Telephoto Zoom Lens

When I opened this present on Christmas day, Jake said something like, "Now you can take awesome photos of soccer games!" I haven't had the chance to use the lens for sports yet, but the Zoo was a great opportunity to practice.

I am super impressed with how much I could zoom in while maintaining the integrity of the shot. I'm in love with this lens.

Back to the zoo. First we visited the birds.

Calvin LOVED watching the fresh water otters swim and wrestle...

...He thought these otters were giving kisses.

One of Calvin's favorite words to say right now is "turtle." When we spotted these REAL LIFE turtles, he was so excited that he literally jumped for joy. As for me, they were the most boring animal we encountered. They literally looked like statues instead of real turtles.

Calvin got antsy to see the BIG animals. So off we went to see the giraffe!

Calvin was in awe at how big the animals were compared to his toys. He pretty much gazed at each animal like this until we pulled him to the next animal. If we didn't move him along, we would've been at the zoo for a week!

Then we got to see the BIG CATS!

Once he saw the sleepy lion, he was getting pretty sleepy, as well.

But then he heard that we were going to see the monkeys next, and he was up and ready!

This colorful monkey came right up to Calvin's face SUPER close. He LOVED it.

This monkey's face looks so odd to me. What an odd shape, right?

Calvin's favorite animal to see in person was the Orangutan. Calvin intently observed the orangutan:

swing from ropes, 

climb the walls, 

walk on all four limbs, 

pick at the bugs on his arm, 

and lick the bugs off the floor.

As we left the orangutan area, Calvin decided that he wanted to BE an orangutan. He crawled on all four limbs, tried to climb the walls, picked at his arms looking for bugs, and licked the pavement...all just like the orangutan. We tried to get him to walk, but he refused. He kept saying, "Monkey!"...he just wanted to be a monkey.

Eventually, Calvin became a real boy again and we were ready to go home. We wish we could have stayed to see the rest of the Zoo (all 125 acres) but Calvin was way too tired....as evidence by this photo below.

Overall, we had a great day! Thanks for coming down to visit, Grammie! 

Jake's Graduation

Phew! Jake did it. Jake graduated from Brigham Young University! He graduated with a bachelors of arts degree in Spanish and he minored in Business. 

Day 1: Commencement

The main speaker was Ronald A. Rasband
(Senior President of the Presidency of the Seventy of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)

I was so touched by his speech it brought me to tears.  Here is his entire speech. But below I've extracted some of my favorite quotes:

"Your degree is much more than an honor hanging on the wall or a memory to recall with perhaps a sigh of relief. It is a statement that you have persevered and achieved, knowing that your purpose here fits into the Lord’s plan for your life."

"We chose to start our family shortly after we were married, having confidence that we would be blessed in our temporal matters if we put the Lord first."

"Jon said to me he was not interested in me because of my academic credentials. (I don’t think he ever knew my grade point average. That was a good thing!) He told me he was interested be-cause he felt significant character traits he saw exemplified in my life would work well in his busi-ness—character traits such as a strong work ethic and the ability to balance all the life-challenging priorities we were faced with at that time."

"...There is a masterpiece within each one of us, and when spiritually nurtured, carefully mentored, and loyally engaged in building up our families and the Lord’s kingdom, all things are possible."

Since the Commencement occurred during Calvin's nap-time, he was quite grumpy! Luckily, Grandpa Bean (a.k.a. the baby whisperer) walked Cal around for a bit and got him to sleep pronto! He slept through the whole thing.

We are so proud of you, Jake! We're your biggest fans.

Grandma and Grandpa Green enjoyed every minute of it. And they definitely helped us out getting comfortable seats in the handicap section.

Jeff and Jill are so proud of you, Jake! I think my Dad got a little sleepy with Calvin.

Calvin: a grumpy mess. But your parents are SOOO proud of you! 

Our little sleepy-guy didn't want to leave Jake's arms.

Day 2: Convocation

This is the day where Jake lined up, waited his turn, moved his tassel to the other side, listened for his name to be called, walked across the stage, shook important peoples' hands, and officially graduated!! 

This is the part where the speaker asked the graduates to stand if...
1) They lived in another country during college years

2) Can fluently speak another language

3) Got married during college years

4) Had a child during college years

...you are so accomplished!

Jake had a fun time walking with his lil sis.

Calvin was a bit unsure about what was happening. But he saw Jake walk! And Calvin was really excited to spot out his Dad in the sea of blue people.

Jake's proud Grandma and Grandpa Green!

Even though I already walked in April with my Dietetics Program, I dressed up again in my cap and gown and took pictures with Jake! Yay! We've graduated! We're done!! ...well, with our undergrad degrees.

Big shout out to our loving parents. Who helped shape us into the people we are today. Thank you for your love and support.

And thanks to our goofy siblings :) We love you!

Our college experience would not have been the same without our dear friend, Justin Norman. He was Jake's roommate at King Henry when Jake and I continued to date after his mission, then we got engaged, then we got married, and we practically adopted Justin into our family. We morphed him into an amazing soccer goalie/player--family initiation.

Also, he's Calvin's Godfather.

School would have been easy-peasy without this little-guy distracting us so much. But we wouldn't have traded it for the world. Thanks for entering our life, Calvin! We love you so much!

...And one day, you'll be graduating from BYU. Meet us back here in a couple decades. Can't wait to watch YOU walk!

Apparently, this is the spot where Charlie took a photo with his Dad when he graduated from BYU.

The is pretty much how the story goes:

Charlie's Dad drove out from Oroville, CA to Charlie's graduation in Provo, UT. He attended the convocation ceremony (about 2 hours long), took one picture with Charlie afterwards, and then drove back to Oroville, CA. Talk about a short trip! I guess Charlie's Dad isn't a warm and fuzzy kind of guy, but making the effort to come out was a pretty big deal! 

Later that day, we went to a BYU soccer game. Going to BYU soccer games was our FAVORITE activity to do as students. Attending our last BYU soccer game during Jake's graduation was a nice way to say "goodbye" to our student life. 

As we looked out, there was a gorgeous sunset on Jake's favorite building on campus: the IPF (Indoor Practice Facility). We played many soccer games in that building with family and lifelong friends. We'll always have fond memories there.

This is our favorite sign on campus. "Enter to learn. Go forth to serve." That's exactly how we feel about our experience at Brigham Young University. We learned so many things academically and spiritually. Now we are taking what we learned out into the world with the mindset to work hard and to serve others.

Phew! We're done. We are BYU graduates of 2013.