Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Busy June and more to come...


































What a great and crazy month it has been! And we are not even all the way through the month. We have had some major milestones in this month-mostly that Tyler was able to finish out his year long residency at Kaiser San Francisco! We are so grateful for this wonderful opportunity and for all of the people he worked with-we love them all and will miss them. With the ending of one job-it is always a blessing to have one that we are super excited about. Tyler's new position is more of a transfer-we will be moving to Sacramento July 2nd where he will work at the South Sacramento Kaiser Hospital. He is excited to not only be a full time (non student) employee, but also to be driving his own car! We actually have so much to look forward to with this new move. We are anxious to move on from our 500sq. ft apartment and sharing a room with Grant to hopefully owning our very first home. Well these are all things we are looking forward to in the very near future. This entry is actually is documenting our wonderful road trip/wedding/family visits around the western states-Nevada, Utah, Idaho, and So. California (although our camera died the last day we were in ID but our video camera was rolling!)
I picked up Tyler from his last day at work and we made it all the way to Reno,NV (our goal!) We drove the long, hot drive from Reno to Orem making it to Aunt Dawn's home with only a small 1.5 hour delay when we saw a small amount of smoke coming from our steering column and a burning smell. We were greeted with the best homemade dinner and best company- Dawn, Cousin Erica, and her most darling Rainier. We fell in love with him-and are so glad we could see everyone and visit-even though it was too short.
Saturday was the great event-Lindsay and Adam's sealing in the Manti temple and reception later that evening in South Jordan. Tyler made the great sacrifice of waiting outside the temple to watch Grant so I could be there. We did have Erica and Shauna (one of my best friends and college roommate) volunteer to watch Grant so we could both be there but we figured the day was going to be pretty long after a really long journey to get there so we decided that we should all just stay together.
As soon as I saw Linds, I just broke into tears-she is absolutely stunning! We are so happy for her and Adam!! It was such an honor to be there and witness the beautiful sealing and great words of their sealer. It was also so wonderful to see Lindsay's family-who I haven't seen in a really long time. They have always been so welcoming and loving-I love them and it was so great to see them and we were in awe when we saw how much older all of the kids were!
We pretty much turned around from Manti to go to the reception center in South Jordan where we were able to see Shauna and her beautiful family and our roommate Michayla. It was great to catch up with them and hear about their life adventures. Grant and Tyler also made a few friends from the crowd. We are so glad we were able to share in that special day and see so many people we love.
We made our way up to Idaho Falls to see Aubrey and Scott. We had another amazing dinner of homemade pizza and played Frisbee golf at the most beautiful park located on the Snake River. Every night we played Settlers of Catan and were humbled by our younger siblings! We went on a hike to the lower Mesa Falls (about 13 miles from West Yellowstone), fed Wild Trout, went to Bear World and saw so many cool animals, fixed our "car problem", had more yummy food compliments of Aubrey, ate chocolate cinnamon bears, and almost watched the entire first season of Lost. It was such a great mini trip and we were so grateful for their warm hospitality and especially for their love of Grant!
We made the trip from Idaho Falls to San Francisco (also stopping in Sacramento to see our realtor and a couple of homes). The next morning at 5, we woke up to catch our flight to see Mom and Dad Oakes. Mama Sha aka Nana (or Nawna if you're Dad Oakes!) picked us up and we were able to tour Dad O's new office and meet his co-workers. We are so grateful for these job opportunities and less stress!
During those two days where Mom and Dad were working, we slept! And it was so wonderful!! In the afternoon and evening, we released Grant into their care and were so happy to hear the squeals of a excited baby coming from outside the door:) We were able to see Grandma and Grandpa Oakes and eat a wonderful Lemon Meringue pie our first night and the second night, we had dinner at Grammie and Grandpa Willardson's home. On Saturday-we went on a pretty walk, cleared some of Tyler's things from the storage unit, and then Grant went to his first baseball game at Petco field in San Diego to watch the Padre's v Braves. Grant loves his grandparents and great grandparents-it was so fun to watch them all interact. We were also able to play some fun card and dice games. It was the perfect trip!
We were so happy with our drive back and Grant didn't even cry once. It was a very hot day-with "AC" on high and many cups of ice for eating and cooling.
We are so happy we were able to take this time and visit family and loved ones. We wish we could have spent more time with everyone. This will be our last entry from San Francisco-next stop-Sacramento!! We have loved our time here and will miss our ward friends-luckily, we are close enough to see everyone and we will definitely do so soon:) Also-I should mention, we want to congratulate Tyson and Natalie on their newest bundle of love-Elijah Bergeson Teeples. We can't wait until we get to meet the newest member of the family:) Babies are the best!

Monday, May 16, 2011

Tyler's Big Day!

What a wonderful trip we had to Arizona! We had a great time with everyone and we were able to celebrate Tyler's graduation from Arizona State University!! Yay Tyler! The only bad thing about the trip was that it was way too short. It started off by arriving at the airport late on Wednesday evening-and being greeted by the two grandma's (moms) at our gate. What a treat! We were picked up by the grandpa's (dads) at the curb and all rode together to Mesa. Unfortunately for Grandma Terri, who volunteered to take Grant for the night, all of this excitement woke Grant up and he was full of energy most of that night! We are so grateful to Aunt Donna to allow us to stay with her and for her wonderful meals! We had a delicious breakfast and were able to relax that next morning before going off to Tempe for Ty's graduation. At noon, we carpooled to the University Club on ASU's campus to a very nice catered lunch and a more intimate gathering of Tyler's department (fellow students, faculty, and family members). He received his white coat and a pinata (sp?), as requested, and he gave a wonderful speech. After that we went to the Graduate Level Graduation where we entertained ourselves (before the ceremony of course!) by chatting, reading the interesting dissertation choices, and playing I-Spy in the Wells Fargo Arena. When it came time for Tyler to walk and receive his honors, we were the loudest cheering section ever! After the ceremony, we continued our celebrating by having dinner at Texas Roadhouse:) It was just as good as we remembered! Our trip just went by so fast because we had to say good-bye to Mom and Dad Oakes that night who had a very early plane the next morning. The next day, we played lot's of games, watched Grant play and eat, and had the opportunity to go to Grandma Gerry's where were visited with Grandma, Jack and Pauline-who brought us all ice cream sundaes! Grant was getting a little toasty outside (note the rosy cheeks and looks of confusion!) and so we had to put cold water on his head, arms, and legs! We loved visiting and we had so much fun-we almost missed our flights. We just want to thank everyone who came and made this such a special occasion and supported Tyler. It was so wonderful of Donna to allow us to stay in her home, give up her room, make us delicious food, and playing games! We also want to congratulate the other graduates in the family-Dan, Sharee, and Tyson! Hip Hip Hooray! We are so proud of you all and wish we could be there to celebrate with you too! Love to all of our family and friends~