we have internet again!
3 weeks without internet in our home was tough.
even though we have smartphones.. so it shouldn't have been hard at all!
but it was.
we have just had a billion things we have wanted to google since we moved,
and i have had a billion things i have wanted to blog about..
and a phone just isn't as easy for that stuff.
we actually found ourselves at mcdonalds on a few occasions using their free wifi.
[congratulations mcdonalds on getting us in your doors with such a clever little scheme.
worked like a charm.]
worked like a charm.]
i hate falling behind on our blog.
but falling behind during some of our most eventful weeks really stinks.
but falling behind during some of our most eventful weeks really stinks.
now i don't know where to start.
i guess at the beginning makes sense?
we had a crazy couple months leading up to graduation.
matt especially.
he was finishing up his final semester and working,
matt especially.
he was finishing up his final semester and working,
and at the same time he was galavanting around the country interviewing for jobs.
los angeles, dallas, minneapolis..
and that left me alone with my kids over night for my first time.
no joke. i had never ever spent a night alone with my kids until then.
in the past, if matt had to go away i would plan to go away too. or have a visitor.
in the past, if matt had to go away i would plan to go away too. or have a visitor.
so i was nervous. but i survived.
and matt survived his adventures too.
and matt survived his adventures too.
we learned something important from all of it - that neither of us want matt to have to travel a lot for his job.
matt's interviews went well.
really well, actually.
really well, actually.
his charming personality, top notch grades, and wicked resume got him written offers from every single company he interviewed with.
and that was nice because it eliminated the stress of not having a job offer.
but it made it tricky because we had lots of decisions to make.
matt had offers in both canada and the US.
but we decided to stay down in the US for a while, so that eliminated the canadian options.
and, since all the offers would be good experience for matt, we were left to decide between lifestyles basically.
one offer was much more lucrative then the others, but it meant our family life would be kinda crappy.
and, although i had just decided that i didn't want matt traveling at all, i all of a sudden found myself thinking being alone 90% of the time would be alright.. for the right price!
greedy little thing, huh?
eventually we decided on what we thought would be the best offer for our family.
and matt is now working for a company called PCL.
he is working out of their glendale, CA office. his projects will be in the LA area.
his first project is on the UCLA campus, where he is a field engineer.
matt tells me UCLA is quite a snazzy campus. and that his project is really high tech.
i'm excited to see it one day.
one week before graduation [and one week before we had to move out of our rexburg apartment] we flew down to california to look for a place to live.
talk about cutting it close, right?
we only had 3 days to search and, if you hadn't noticed, the LA area is big.
the trip was overwhelming.
but we ended up choosing a place in woodland hills.
and we are so pleased with our decision.
the complex has lots of fun amenities.
and and it is within walking distance of a target, a grocery store, and a park.
which is important because we still only have one car [that matt takes to work] so i walk/bike around with our boys.
we are also within walking distance of porsche, ferarri, and lamborghini dealerships.
so, when we are ready to purchase a second vehicle, we won't have to go far.
the neighborhood right beside our complex is gorgeous.
we love spending time perusing around it.
we also live in a great ward.
and we are only about a 30 minutes from the beach [through the topanga canyon].
when we got back from our speedy trip, matt finished his classes and we packed up.
on april 10th matt took his last exams.
on april 12th we attended the graduation ceremonies.
and on april 13th we started the drive south.
the main graduation ceremony was held in the BYU-I center.
there were almost 1900 graduates in total.
the guest speaker was the presiding bishop, bishop gary e. stevenson.
we took chet and holden to that ceremony. they were good sports.
the part where matt actually walked across the stage was held in the taylor chapel.
i teared up at both ceremonies. happy tears:)
the morning after the ceremony, we finished loading up our moving truck and cleaning our way out of our apartment.
rexburg is known for its wind, but that morning was the most unbelievable wind i have ever endured.
we were so grateful that we had done most of our loading the day before.
as we stood in our apartment for the last couple minutes, it hit me that we were really moving on to a whole new chapter.
it was sad.
i was asked to say a prayer before we started traveling and i basically sobbed through the whole thing.
i don't care what anyone says, rexburg is a really special place.
we have made a lot of memories in that city.
chet and holden have spent the majority of their lives there.
it will always be a special place to us.
we broke the drive to LA up over 2 days.
the first day we made it to cedar city.
then on the 14th [my birthday] we drove the rest of the way.
talk about a great way to spend your birthday!
the whole day i kept teasing matt about how lame my birthday was.
but looking back i can see that it wasn't a lame birthday at all. i was spoiled as usual. let me explain:
a week before our move, my mom came down to rexburg to help with our kids and packing.
then my dad came down the day before graduation to load the truck and attend the ceremony.
my mom headed home and my dad drove our moving truck by himself from rexburg to calfornia.
[through crazy wind and crappy traffic.]
when we got to our new home, matt's parents were there waiting to help us unpack and get settled.
matt's dad had even organized the missionaries to help with the move.
my dad stayed just long enough to help unload our entire truck, then he flew back to calgary.
matt's parents stuck around for a whole week after that.
and they spoiled us. rotten.
they helped us unpack, watched our kids, and treated us to a ridiculous amount of fun activities and meals.
it was such a treat to spend all that time with them.
how did we get such great parents?!
and how do people with not such great parents get through life?
i don't know what we would do without ours.
we have moved way too much these past few years.
and every time we have moved we have had at least 1 set of parents on at least 1 side of the move.
moving isn't fun.. but it would be much harder without family.
so ya, there is absolutely no way i could complain about my birthday.
i honestly couldn't have been more blessed.
we love our family.
matt also bought me a cupcake before we left rexburg and hid it in the car so i would have it for my birthday.
i thought it was pretty sweet.
chet wanted to steal all my frosting. unfortunately that is my favorite part too.
i still have soooo much more to catch up on, but i think that is enough for now.
how about some pictures?
but it made it tricky because we had lots of decisions to make.
matt had offers in both canada and the US.
but we decided to stay down in the US for a while, so that eliminated the canadian options.
and, since all the offers would be good experience for matt, we were left to decide between lifestyles basically.
one offer was much more lucrative then the others, but it meant our family life would be kinda crappy.
and, although i had just decided that i didn't want matt traveling at all, i all of a sudden found myself thinking being alone 90% of the time would be alright.. for the right price!
greedy little thing, huh?
eventually we decided on what we thought would be the best offer for our family.
and matt is now working for a company called PCL.
he is working out of their glendale, CA office. his projects will be in the LA area.
his first project is on the UCLA campus, where he is a field engineer.
matt tells me UCLA is quite a snazzy campus. and that his project is really high tech.
i'm excited to see it one day.
one week before graduation [and one week before we had to move out of our rexburg apartment] we flew down to california to look for a place to live.
talk about cutting it close, right?
we only had 3 days to search and, if you hadn't noticed, the LA area is big.
the trip was overwhelming.
but we ended up choosing a place in woodland hills.
and we are so pleased with our decision.
the complex has lots of fun amenities.
and and it is within walking distance of a target, a grocery store, and a park.
which is important because we still only have one car [that matt takes to work] so i walk/bike around with our boys.
we are also within walking distance of porsche, ferarri, and lamborghini dealerships.
so, when we are ready to purchase a second vehicle, we won't have to go far.
the neighborhood right beside our complex is gorgeous.
we love spending time perusing around it.
we also live in a great ward.
and we are only about a 30 minutes from the beach [through the topanga canyon].
when we got back from our speedy trip, matt finished his classes and we packed up.
on april 10th matt took his last exams.
on april 12th we attended the graduation ceremonies.
and on april 13th we started the drive south.
the main graduation ceremony was held in the BYU-I center.
there were almost 1900 graduates in total.
the guest speaker was the presiding bishop, bishop gary e. stevenson.
we took chet and holden to that ceremony. they were good sports.
the part where matt actually walked across the stage was held in the taylor chapel.
i teared up at both ceremonies. happy tears:)
the morning after the ceremony, we finished loading up our moving truck and cleaning our way out of our apartment.
rexburg is known for its wind, but that morning was the most unbelievable wind i have ever endured.
we were so grateful that we had done most of our loading the day before.
as we stood in our apartment for the last couple minutes, it hit me that we were really moving on to a whole new chapter.
it was sad.
i was asked to say a prayer before we started traveling and i basically sobbed through the whole thing.
i don't care what anyone says, rexburg is a really special place.
we have made a lot of memories in that city.
chet and holden have spent the majority of their lives there.
it will always be a special place to us.
we broke the drive to LA up over 2 days.
the first day we made it to cedar city.
then on the 14th [my birthday] we drove the rest of the way.
talk about a great way to spend your birthday!
the whole day i kept teasing matt about how lame my birthday was.
but looking back i can see that it wasn't a lame birthday at all. i was spoiled as usual. let me explain:
a week before our move, my mom came down to rexburg to help with our kids and packing.
then my dad came down the day before graduation to load the truck and attend the ceremony.
my mom headed home and my dad drove our moving truck by himself from rexburg to calfornia.
[through crazy wind and crappy traffic.]
when we got to our new home, matt's parents were there waiting to help us unpack and get settled.
matt's dad had even organized the missionaries to help with the move.
my dad stayed just long enough to help unload our entire truck, then he flew back to calgary.
matt's parents stuck around for a whole week after that.
and they spoiled us. rotten.
they helped us unpack, watched our kids, and treated us to a ridiculous amount of fun activities and meals.
it was such a treat to spend all that time with them.
how did we get such great parents?!
and how do people with not such great parents get through life?
i don't know what we would do without ours.
we have moved way too much these past few years.
and every time we have moved we have had at least 1 set of parents on at least 1 side of the move.
moving isn't fun.. but it would be much harder without family.
so ya, there is absolutely no way i could complain about my birthday.
i honestly couldn't have been more blessed.
we love our family.
matt also bought me a cupcake before we left rexburg and hid it in the car so i would have it for my birthday.
i thought it was pretty sweet.
chet wanted to steal all my frosting. unfortunately that is my favorite part too.
i still have soooo much more to catch up on, but i think that is enough for now.
how about some pictures?
chet always thought it was appropriate to wear his backpack when we visited campus.
graduation was no exception.
our last few pictures in rexburg.
our bean made the journey to cali too. safe and sound.
i had this really great idea to take pictures of all the signs of the states that we drove through.
but then i pushed the wrong button at the nevada sign.
and i almost missed the california one.
but here's what i managed to get.
we stopped in a lovely town called baker and played at a park named after chet. sort of.
