Mr. Magorium/Don't Be Shy

Hoover Dam

The Hoover Dam is this enormous thing built seemingly in the middle of nowhere and very amazing. Just outside of the city of Boulder and along the border of Arizona, it truly is amazing. I had a lot of fun just walking on top and looking out on the rocks. I didn't actually go on any tours or go into the visitors center because it cost a lot of money, and we really didn't want to spend our money on it.... Monica had a little too much fun making dam jokes such as, "This dam escalator is small" or "This dam wind is going to blow me over" and such....

If you make these pictures bigger, I am on the Nevada-Arizona state line, two different states at once :)
They are building this massive bridge so that you can cross the border between the two states without having to go over the dam, and this is what it looks like now. You can click on the picture to make it bigger, and believe me, it is huge! I don't remember when it is supposed to be done, but they have been working on it for a while.
And nothing like some glasses from the gift shop to have some fun....

Yogurtland

The most amazing thing for me in this life has been ice cream...ok not exactly, but it really has been a love :) I have discovered a new love, and that is for frozen yogurt from yogurtland. Here's the deal, you go through, as you can kind of see in the picture, and choose what flavors you want and actually fill your cup yourself. Then there are all of these toppings that you can put on top of the ice cream, including different types of cereal, which you can also see from the picture... Then you take it up and you pay for it by the ounce. So, it's 33 cents an ounce. Whoever thought of this was a genius and obviously needs to open one wherever I may live.... I have definitely gone back there a few times....

Vegas

I figured that it is about time for a blog update, and what better way to spend my birthday but to listen to some new music I just bought and write some blog entries?
So, after Shawn and Marci's wedding, Monica and I headed out for Vegas. We flew into SLC and took a shuttle down to Angela's house in Provo, where we met up with my car. Our first randomness of the car ride was seeing this on the freeway......

We laughed pretty hard at this one :)
After this little adventure, we got into my car, had to take it through a car wash because it was so nasty, and then headed out on our ride to Vegas! We were in four states in one day. Oregon, Utah, Arizona, and Nevada.

We were quite excited to be in Nevada when it finally rolled around. The drive was pretty boring, especially though Utah. When we hit Arizona, it was fun to be driving through the canyons instead of mountanious green that I usually drive through in Oregon. It was way pretty, a little boring, but still a little different scenery. When we first saw Vegas we were very excited. I must admit that it wasn't as impressive as when me and my roommates were coming back from Utah and saw it at night. Holy cow does Vegas look much bigger at night than during the day, especially from afar. So, anyways, once we found our way to my apartment, with some help from the handy dandy GPS, I was so happy to be in there finally. It was probably at least 110 outside, although I would guess that it was even more than that. I checked in and we unloaded my car while poring sweat in the heat.... My roommates were way nice when I first met them, and I was genuinely excited to get to know them better and to be here in Vegas for a new adventure.
After spending a few days moving in, we decided it was time for a little fun in going to the strip. We went to the M&M factory and the coke store, which is basically just like walking into a store. Oh, and the coolest part is the fact that in the M&M store, they totally spray the smell of chocolate, so it smells like chocolate in there all the time...
At the M&M world, we saw a 3D movie, not as exciting as the ones at Disneyland, but not too bad either...



Here we are showing off our purchases....Monica took some pretty amazing pictures, and we had a lot of fun. We walked up and down pretty much the entire strip, half in one day and the other half in another. Here are some more pictures of what we saw....Lastly, we saw the Bellagio fountain show. So amazing! It comes on every 15 minutes after 8, so we were able to see it three times. It was way amazing.

Visits

I went to Angela's house for a week after my graduation. I had fun playing with my nephews and holding my new nephew who was just two weeks old. We took them bowling and I playing the Wii with my older nephew, he loves playing the monster truck game. We also went to the temple open house in Jordan, whose name I can not for the life of me remember. At least, I remember it but don't remember how to say it, the Oquir mountain, and yes, I know that is probably not how you spell it :) This is the second temple open house that I have attended, the first was the Rexburg temple open house which I also was able to volunteer at. I love walking through the temple and can't wait until I can one day go through it myself. I know that it truly is the house of the Lord, and I am grateful to be a part of this gospel where I am able to look the the Lord to help me and visit His temples.

Graduation

It's true, I have graduated, although it isn't complete graduation because I still have my student teaching, but I walked this last semester. So, I am excited to be done and moving on with my life after college. My mom and dad came up for the ceremony, and the took about a million hours of video (OK, not that much, but a lot) and I loved having them there. I also had Amber and Mike come and see my walk and I was excited that they were able to be there for my special time. I loved attending BYU Idaho and I know that it was the place to be. I loved my teachers and the people that I met. I learned so much from others experiences as well as from my own. BYU Idaho is such a wonderful institution where I could feel the spirit of the Lord everyday in my classes. There are wonderful leaders and everything you learn is tied in to the gospel. I know that BYU Idaho was the right place for me and I am excited to take the knowledge that has been entrusted with me into the world. I don't know where I will go from here, but I am very excited to move on with my life and find a career. I love and am thankful for all of those who helped me to get through college, especially my parents who helped me financially and who also encouraged me to keep trying my hardest and to keep going with my dreams.

Life as I know it....

So, I have had a lot of craziness the past month or so. I finished up school, went to Oregon for the fourth, went to Utah for my nephew's baptism, and have been packing and in the midst of moving.....so much fun....thought I would share with you a few pictures :)


At J.V.'s baptism, my nephew, doesn't he look so handsome??? Lucas, my nephew, and I, this is in Utah of the same weekend. We were trying to keep him out of Amber's family picture with grandma, and I ended up with a picture of him!
My new nephew, Spencer, and I. When we went to my cousins wedding, one of my other cousins was walking around with this tiny baby. I was thinking, well that is a cute little baby! Come to find out it was my new nephew :)

These are my other super cute nephews all together at my cousins wedding, making mischief and playing in the water...

My brother Alan and sister Amber at the wedding, along with Mike and Isabel.Fourth of July FIREWORKS!!!!! OK, so I had so much fun over the fourth of July and Isabel was super cute... I thought that this was cute with Isabel.

Another of our whole group, minus dad, at the fireworks.
We were in the bird atrium at the Zoo, she looks half scared, half interested...hahaha...I like this picture:)