Brianne the Graduate...oh, and I'm now 28

I promised I'd upload pictures of Brianne the graduate. Turns out, I only have a three of them. Oh, well. Enjoy anyway!

First up, this is Brianne crossing the stage, right after receiving her "diploma" (really just a case for it...she won't get the actual one until sometime in August or September). We were really far away, and though I tried to time it so that I got her just as she shook hands with the Dean or whoever that is, she was just too quick for me. Oh, well. Trust me, that's her:Aww, sisterly love:We left Joshua with a babysitter during the ceremony--good thing, too, since it was over two hours long. But anyway, here's Brianne with her favoritest sister and brother-in-law (sorry, Kirsti and Rich--you weren't there =P):Congrats once again, Brianne! Good luck with grad school this fall!

Oh, and I turned 28 on Wednesday--28 on the 28th! Hah. That day also marked four years since I graduated and five years since I left Brazil. Cool. It was a nice, quiet day. Here's my cute family before Cody and I went out to dinner that night:

Family!

My parents came to town last week because my sister, Brianne, walked for the April graduation ceremonies at BYU (she still has two classes she's taking spring term and will official graduate in August). It was good to have them visit, even though we had tons of things to do and it didn't seem like we got much time to just enjoy each other. I know they really loved playing with Joshua, who had so much fun with "Papa," "Keesee," and "Bran". Still working on getting him to say something for Grandma. Too bad they had to go home already!

Anyway, I really should have taken more pictures, but you know me, slacker as always. I did get a few on my camera, but it's at home. I'll post them later. Happy Graduation, Brianne! How crazy to think that my little sister is (or will soon be) a college grad. She's starting grad school in the fall, so she'll be more educated than me. Great. =P

Hopefully we can make a trip down to CA sometime this summer. I hear the beach calling my name...

On a lighter note...

Thanks to everyone who read my venting post from Sunday! It's good to hear others' thoughts and I really appreciate all your insight. Here are a few pictures that I probably find a lot more amusing than you will, but I'll share them anyway. First off, here is where I found Joshua Saturday afternoon: Secondly, Cody texted me this picture yesterday morning. Since Cody had worked both Saturday and Sunday nights, he was pretty tired Monday morning and fell asleep on the couch. Joshua then proceeded to organize all his toys along the top of said couch (notice they're all facing the same direction):

I love that kid.

1pm Sacrament Meeting = Oy...

VENTING TIME! Be forewarned. If you don't want to read my ramblings, then please come back another time when I'm in a better mood. For those who enjoy reading rantings and/or want to offer any words of comfort or advice, I invite you to read on.

I'm going to assume you are familiar with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. If not, then suffice it to say that we have a 3-hour block of meetings on Sunday, and this year our ward (congregation) meets from 1pm-4pm. I used to love having church at 1pm. It meant we could sleep in, have a leisurely morning, take our time getting ready, and all that fun stuff. But since our ward now meets at 1pm and we have to deal with a 2-year-old, I've begun to re-think my preference. I now cannot wait until next year when we should be meeting at 9am. I think most of you know exactly what I'm talking about.

This is the problem: during the week, Joshua takes his nap from around 1-3pm. It's hard enough to try to keep him busy and quiet while still trying to pay some attention to the talks during sacrament meeting, but to try to do it when he's tired and cranky is 10 times worse. And now that he's talking more, he asks for milk, Mommy, or a number of other things over and over and over. He jumps all over the place, crawls under the benches, and throws the hymnbooks around. We bring books, which he'll look at for all of 5 minutes, and then cast them aside. I don't like pumping him full of milk and snacks the whole hour, but sometimes nothing else works. Nursery time can't come fast enough.

Today was especially difficult. Joshua was being really noisy, and usually the people around us are pretty good-natured about it because they can see we're trying the best we can to keep him quiet. I got a little upset today when a woman in the row behind us today thought it would be a good idea to "shush" Joshua. That really irked me! Couldn't she see that I had been trying to keep him entertained for the past hour already? Why did she think that her "sshh!" would make him calm down, when I'd been doing that off and on for the entire meeting? It made me even more flustered, and I soon after that took Joshua out to the foyer as he proceeded to throw the mother of all tantrums. Ai, ai...

Anyway, I really understand now what our home teacher said when we first got married: make sure you have a testimony before you have kids, because once you have them, your ability to pay attention in meetings basically goes down the drain. He's totally right. I love Joshua, I really do. I just wish he were a little less rambunctious, and I really hope we're able to have a calm sacrament meeting at least once this year...

Disappointment...

Many of you know that I went to an open casting call for The Biggest Loser a few weeks ago. I didn't get a callback, and so I went ahead and sent in a video. I was told that, if I advanced in the casting process, I would be notified by today. Unfortunately, it's now 10:18pm and I really don't think I'm going to get a call. It's a little disappointing--I thought I had a pretty good chance. But hey, I can't sit around waiting for something like The Biggest Loser. I have to start battling now. It's going to take a long time, but that's okay. My life is worth fighting for.

Oh, and I plan to apply again the next time they're casting. Who knows, maybe persistence is key =) Thanks for all your support!

Obituary

In case anyone is interested in reading it, here is the obituary for LaVell. He was a great man and will surely be missed.

O death, where is thy sting?

On this Easter Sunday, we commemorate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Almost 2000 years ago, He broke the bonds of death and rose from His tomb to live again. Knowing that this occurred has brought me much comfort throughout my life, and I'm sure it will continue to do so for the rest of eternity.

Cody's grandfather, LaVell Brown, passed away this evening after a long battle with cancer. He essentially was the main father figure in Cody's life, and his passing leaves an absence in our lives. Though I have only known LaVell for a few years, I grew to love this strong, caring man who was such an influence on my husband's life. I'm so grateful that he was able to participate in Joshua's baby blessing. I'm blessed to know that he has gone on to the spirit world, where he has been reunited with friends and family that had already passed on. I know that death has no hold on him, for one day he will live again.

This is LaVell holding Joshua for the first time.
Goodbye until we meet again!