Carlsbad Caverns

This is the last of May photos that I am posting and the last bit of connection to our life in West Texas. The day before graduation we visited Carlsbad Caverns. It was the first time for my parents. What a pretty time of year to go. Everything was so green because of our wet spring. The last time we went, it was so hot and dry. We carried both kids down. Maggie walked the whole big loop when we got to the bottom. Sam wanted to try, but it was causing me a bit of anxiety when he is trying to escape past the chains and there are landmarks called "the bottomless pit" around.

Grandma's Visit

This blog post is all the photos that my mom took when she was out watching our kids while we were on the cruise. My mom is the best. The kids had a blast. Since I wasn't there for the events, I thought I would have Maggie narrate what this pictures are about. 

"Sammy painting his picture at the art museum."

"Me putting stickers on at the art museum. Look, I can see my jellies and black pants."

"Me and Sam and Grandma. Hey, that's your mommy! Aiden was right by me."

"That's Sammy driving the car at the Dinosaur Museum."

"That's Sammy doing blows and the turning thing. He's not turning it."

"Sam playing in the water. The water splashed."

"That's Maggie. I got googles. I was putting them on. I was silly."

"That's me as a doctor. I was checking doggies."

"That's Sam. He is looking at doggies. The ones he likes."

"That's me and Sammy. I was sitting and making a show for everyone. And I was talking up there about people."

"That's Sammy. I don't know what he is doing."

"That's me at the park. I was swinging."

"He is going down the slide on his belly."

"He is crawling in the tunnel."

"That's me painting a picture in my Anna Elsa apron."

"That's the sand. I was making cake."

"This is the library" (it is actually the Ranching Heritage Museum that the kids liked running from house to house)

"I just want to look at the pictures now." I guess that is all of the commentaries. Maggie still talks about when Grandma babysat them and all the things they did. We Love you Grandma Price!!

Graduation

Graduation. I haven't wanted to do this post because this day was the last time we will see some of our best friends for a long time. With that said, it was an incredible day, so full of joy for the accomplishment, reverence for the duty placed on Mike for serving his community, and excitement for the future. We couldn't have asked for better people to celebrate it with that both of our parents. Everyone got in on Tuesday (my mom was already there because she was so kind in watching on kids will we vacationed with friends). On Wednesday, we played around town, visited a few museums, ran errands, ate Texas food. 

Ranching Heritage Museum

On Thursday, we drove down to Carlsbad Caverns (I have to get the photos from my mom still). And Friday was graduation. It was really special for Mike because his dad was able to hood him. I am going to brag about Mike for a bit because I think he is awesome, but he was recognized for receiving both AOA (the highest academic honor society you can get) along with Gold Humanism Award (being recognized as a humanistic/emphatic/compassionate doctor). There is not many who received both. So not only is he a really smart doctor, he is also very kind. Along with our wedding and the birth of our children, this will go down as one of the happiest days of our lives.

These are all the LDS guys in his class that has made this experience the best: Mike (going to Ogden), Austin Cope (Derm in SLC), Ryan McClellan (peds in Phoenix), Brian Fisher (Ortho in Dartmouth), Brad Evanson (Derm in Temple), Steve Cowles (OBGYN in Phoenix), Greg Anderson (Ortho in Mayo), and Steven Wilding (Ortho in Hawaii).

These guys are also the best dads. I love how they not only pushing each other to be the best doctors, but they also encourage each other to be really involved dads (in their own quiet guy sort of way of encouraging).

The whole gang. We kick ourselves for not taking a Pre Med School photo, but who knew that we were all going to be such good friends. We started off with 6 kids in the group and ended up with 17 kids with one on the way. Yikes!

 And because let's be honest, they wouldn't be here without us.

I didn't get a good photo of me and Brooke, because honestly I was in denial the whole time that I was going to say goodbye to these friends. She has been one of my best friends. She would hang out with me 6 days of the week because some weeks were too tough to do by ourselves. I pray that Sam marries Bailey so that we can always stay connected.

 We have done a lot with this couple and I am so grateful that God put us in their paths for as long as He did.

 Mike is on the big screen!!!!

The sign doesn't lie. That makes me a doctor as well.. .just kidding.

The after party reception at the stadium.

Grand Canyon

I didn't know where to put this photo, but it is really precious to me. This is Maggie with my grandma Peggy, Margaret, who we named Maggie after. She was so sweet to Maggie, gave her a classic cabbage patch doll and all the candy a little girl could eat (or at least what her mother would feel comfort with). She has been the grandma I have known the longest and am so grateful for her love. 

We ended the trip with camping at the Grand Canyon. I have to say that I wasn't the most thrilled about this, but it has been on Mike's list, so we went for it. I was impressed. We went at the right time of year when all the vegetation was green, the sky was over cast, and the red rock popped. We met up with our friends, the Potters. It was Sam's first time camping and it was a horrible night. Mike ended up driving him around until he fell asleep and they both slept in the car. Maggie crawled onto the air mattress with me and ended up pushing me for unto the floor. I guess camping is a learned skill.

The next day we hiked down to the first look out. All the way down, we joked about flash floods. The moment we reach Ooh Aah Point (yes, that was the real titled), black clouds rolled in and dumped on us. As you can see, our children were not dressed for the hail and rain. We tried to make it back as fast as we could, but the lightening was getting so bad that we would have to hide under the cliffs until it calmed down a bit. Sam did okay because he was in the Ergo, so my body kept him warm. Maggie was in the hiking carrier and was turning blue. A kind stranger offered his jacket to her. Of course, the moment we got to the top, it stopped raining. We ended up scraping our PB&Js and got chili and hot chocolate from the cafe.

**What a ham**

Can you see the black clouds coming?

They survived, barely.

We were planning on staying another night, but we figured it was only going to be colder at night (it was 37 the night before) and our kids sleep horribly, we packed u our stuff, walked around the rim one more time, and drove half way home and stayed in a hotel. We all slept amazing, got to go swimming in the morning, and thankfully got home an hour before a horrific flood in Lubbock.