Okay, well May was a bit of a crazy month for us. Lots of good things happened.
Let's recap...
We sold our red Nissan 300ZX - Phoenix, for those of you who knew and loved him. Jonathan was sad...
...until he found this:
We bought a 1999 Supercharged Toyota 4Runner. It's a sweet car, we love it. We can't wait to take it camping, hiking and possibly boating this summer!
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One of the boys in Jonathan's primary class played Rooster in his school's production of Annie, so for date night we went to support him. The kids did a great job, and Morgan was fantastic. We had a great time sitting in the gym auditorium with all the other families and their little kids watching the play. Definitely a memorable date night!
"Easy Street"
"You're Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile"
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Since the beginning of May I've been doing an externship with MacArthur, Heder & Metler in Provo. I've learned a lot, done lots of research, gone to court a couple of times, and sat in on some client meetings. I've enjoyed the chance to get into a real work setting and see what I already know and what I still need to learn.
One perk of externing at a law firm? My own spacious office.
I love the windows and big trees outside my office. But there is one pesk that keeps bothering me:
This yellow bird likes to tap on my window. Constantly. My mom said that birds do this sometimes when they are nesting. They see their reflection in the window, think it's another bird, and so they attack. Here's a video of what I got to listen to all day. If you listen closely, you can hear the tapping up the window. I thought it was hilarious that the bird would tap on one window, then fly around to another and do it again. Silly bird. Sorry the video is sideways:
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On May 24th, it snowed. A lot. This, I feel, is unacceptable. I've reluctantly gotten used to the fact that it snows in April in Utah. I don't want to get used to snow in May. Here's Jonathan being a great husband and scraping snow off of my car... the one time I didn't park under our covered parking.
What did we do to console ourselves? We went to Starbucks for hot chocolate.
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Lately, we have been meeting at our house for mutual. Here's what Tuesday nights usually look like:
This particular activity we were making a card and some origami for a family in a neighboring branch. The two daughters are in our stake and combine with us at girl's camp. Their father just passed away a few days before after having been sick for a long time. While it was a sad ordeal, we had a good conversation about life and the Plan of Salvation while we discussed what to write on the card. We are all grateful to have the perspective on life that we gain from the Gospel.
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On Thursday, May 27, my brother Garrett returned home from his mission to the West Indies. I drove up Wednesday afternoon by myself. Jonathan had to work Thursday and Friday night, and his sister AnnaLisa and McKay, one of his former young men, graduated from high school on Friday and he wanted to be there for that.
Thursday I spent running errands with my mom, Grandma and Aunt Karen. Then my siblings and I spent the afternoon decorating a sign to hang over our front window.
What can I say, we're talented. Obviously.
Before we left for the airport, Justin came over to hang out and eat some of my amazing chocolate chip cookies (his favorite). We had a lovely chat about life, love and Lord of the Rings (more specifically, The Silmarillion - he and my mom always have to talk about it when he comes over). At one point, he asked, "I've been trying to figure this out. Do I call you my little sister because I'm taller than you, or my older sister because you're a few days older than me?"
We settled on twins.
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Garrett's plane was scheduled to land in Boise around 9:05. We got there early and waited. Can you see the anticipation on Devin's face?
My parents waiting for the return of their son.
Can't wait to have Garrett back!
My aunt and cousins holding the signs they made. The Dutch sign says"We love you!"
Amanda, Cameron and Devin holding the Suriname flag. It's actually a quilt my Mom and some others made. It came in handy later... Garrett was freezing when he got home. :)
And there he is! He definitely looks and acts older. But he's still the same old Garrett.
Look at that handsome young man! :)
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The next day, Friday, was Devin's 18th birthday. I always love being home for family birthdays...and not just because of the yellow cake and chocolate frosting birthday cake that is all of our favorite. :) Man, my siblings are all growing up. It's weird... but really fun. We have a blast together.
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Saturday morning Cameron drove me to the airport to pick up Jonathan. Cam has his learner's permit, so he can drive with an adult over 21. He was pretty excited to show me his driving skills, which are excellent. It was so nice to have Jonathan join us. He was definitely the missing piece of the puzzle most of the weekend. He worked Friday night, and then had to go to the airport after work, and got in to Boise around 11. Poor guy, he was incredibly tired. So he slept while we went to Devin's Centennial High School graduation!
It was the first high school graduation I had been to since my own (I missed Garrett's because I was in Paris at the time). It was a bit odd to be in the same place watching someone else do what I had done exactly 5 years ago. Lots of memories came back. But it was a lot of fun and we were all very proud of Devin. He will be attending BYU-Idaho this next year.
Later that night we had an open house for Garrett. We had lots of family and friends from the ward over, and even some of Garrett's mission companions. But I don't think anyone took pictures. Epic fail. Oh, and my favorite part of the night was talking to my good friend Eric Malmgren's little sister Olivia. She called Jonathan a codfish. Haha! We both thought of Peter Pan and laughed.
After the open house, Jonathan and I snuck off to go see Prince of Persia.
We actually both liked it. A lot. Except for the snakes. Eww.
We were a bit skeptical of Jake Gyllenhaal going into it, but he pulled it off. We would both recommend it. Good date night movie.
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Sunday morning we met with Bishop Day so Cameron could be ordained a Priest. It was neat to have his two older brothers and Jonathan in the circle along with my Dad. We've got some good men in our family. As the ward young women president once said, "Girls, hook yourselves to the Schroath train." :)
In Sacrament meeting, Devin received his Duty to God award. Yay Devin! And then Garrett spoke. We all loved to hear the stories from his mission and listen to him bear his testimony again. He set a great example for my brothers to follow. We are already looking forward to Devin receiving his mission call... even though it's about a year away!
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Monday morning we had family pictures taken. The last time we had nice professional family photos taken (besides my wedding) was probably about 8 years ago. These were long overdue.
We took them down in Eagle next to the river. It rained a bit, and the ground was soggy, but not too bad.
The boys and Dad
The Schroath family
Devin - Garrett - Cameron
Amanda - Mom - Jessica
The kids
Goofy brothers
Cute sisters
That afternoon we had a family bbq at my Aunt Lori and Uncle Jim's home with all of the family. Again, no pictures. But the food was delicious! And then Jonathan and I had to head back to Orem to work the next day/night. We always love our time in Boise and spending time with family and friends. Someday we'll make it back there to stay... if we ever finish school!
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Now we're 10 days into June and I've got a lot to look forward to. Youth Conference starts tonight and goes through Saturday. New milestone episode of SWAC this weekend. Last day of externship next Tuesday. My 23rd birthday a week from today. Leaving next Saturday for a whole week of vacation in southern California going to Disneyland, Sea World, Universal Studios, and the San Diego Zoo with my family. Hanging out with David & Darcy, our good friends who we miss terribly, while in CA. And finishing off the month with Stake Girls Camp.
I heart Summer.
