April 2014

In April....

We moved!

And because we got a smoking deal on strawberries, I was making jam and freezing strawberries the first weekend we were in our new apartment. I'm not sure I recommend that.

Anyway... we like our new place. It is a block away from where we've lived the past 4 years. With rent and utilities, we figure we'll be paying about the same as we were. But we gained a second bedroom, more windows, and a larger kitchen!

I finished Couch to 5K again, with my friend Denise. We've been pretty good about running 3 times a week!

I tried out another Bountiful Basket.

Those bananas never ripen to a normal, edible state. That mini watermelon was pretty good, though. And our second try on a spaghetti squash was a better experience than our first (though it's still not our favorite).

We had a lovely Easter.

I made hot cross buns.

We made a veritable feast for Easter dinner:

Deviled eggs, roasted carrots, gefilte fish, matzo ball soup, roasted lamb.... YUM.

We went to dinner with Thomas' friend from work and his wife and daughter:

And Sarah stayed with us for a couple days in between moving and traveling :)

oxox

March 2013

The past month in Provo we have had really lovely weather. We've been able to get outside a bit and take some walks. It has been so nice!

The first weekend of March, we went back to where Thomas proposed along the Provo River.

 

 Here are some other things we've seen as we've gotten a little fresh air and sunshine.

Rounded-off ice chunks under the bridges along the Provo River

Cute neighborhood cat that visits sometimes. He used to have a collar but wasn't wearing one when we saw him this time. He is so pretty.

Looks like a good place for a nap!

I do not know what this is.

The Y

Among other happenings, we were released from our calling in our ward's Sunday School. Thomas now has a Priesthood calling (he is a counselor in the Elders' Quorum) and I have a Relief Society calling (I am an assistant secretary to the presidency). It is a change of pace for us (weekly Sunday School lesson preparation has been replaced by more meetings for Thomas, and I am working on a photo directory for the Relief Society) and will allow for personal growth in new areas! We are happy serving the Lord wherever He inspires our leaders to assign us. We enjoyed teaching the youth in our ward, but we are enjoying these new callings, too.

I had a birthday and we celebrated our anniversary, but I will post about those separately.

For Easter, we sang in our ward choir and then had our friends the Gates' over for dinner. It was a nice, simple way to commemorate the life, atonement, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Unfortunately we forgot to get a picture of us and our guests...

oxox

The Busy Beginning of April

On March 31st, my sister and her friends came into town. They spent a couple nights with us before heading to Idaho for their spring break. They were lots of fun. We watched General Conference together on Sunday:

I'll have you know, girls, that I used this picture because you were all looking at the camera, even though the other picture was better of me ;o)

They played silly games together. We just watched.

That weekend, Thomas' dad, cousin, and a few friends were in town as well. We all went out to Tucano's for dinner before the friends had to fly home:

In addition to all of those visitors, Thomas' brother Robert and his family were in town later in the week, for various events for Camille's family:

I even got to hold Abe for a little while :o) I actually held Ian, too, but we didn't get any photographic proof...

On Easter Sunday, we went up to Camille's family's ward for the twin boys' blessing day:

Bradshaw & James guys

Thomas' cousin, Anna, is a brilliant photographer.

Last week I had my last classes for the semester. I got a chance to really clean our apartment and on Saturday I took 3 of my 4 finals (and turned in a take-home final). Hello freedom!

oxox

Happy Easter! & Thomas is a BYU Grad!

We are so thankful to know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He died for us and was resurrected! What a wonderful event to get to commemorate and celebrate!

To turn our thoughts to our Savior, we started out the week with a small Seder at our house with a couple of friends. We talked about the symbolism and the traditions of the Jews. It was a bit tight space-wise in our teeny kitchen, but it was enjoyable to talk and eat with our friends and experience something new together. I even roasted a little bit of lamb, to remind us of the Lamb of God.

Grigsbys, Childs, Bradshaws

On Tuesday and Wednesday, Thomas and I finished up our finals and gladly ended the semester. While I still have several semesters to go before I attain a degree, Thomas is officially a BYU graduate! He's now on the hunt for full-time employment and is glad to be done with school (at least for now). He decided not to walk in the commencement ceremony, and instead we hiked the Y on Friday afternoon.

Lisa and Thomas on Y Mountain

The white in the center is the Y

We saw several paragliders - we actually watched 2 take off, starting about 20 feet above the Y!

Hiking the Y (and beyond, at least a little bit) is something we like to do once in a while when the weather is nice. Although the trail is steep and is a physical challenge for sure, we both enjoy getting out of the house together and seeing Provo from a different perspective. Sitting up there, you can see the entire BYU campus, the temple to the north, and my workplace to the south. Even when it's smoggy, you can see Utah Lake and other landmarks. From the top of a mountain, it is much easier to prioritize and put day-to-day life in perspective!

Lizard we saw while hiking

Y from above and to the south. You can see the Provo temple in this shot, on the left about centered vertically.

Orange moss

BYU Campus. Stadium (north) on the right. Utah Lake can be seen in the top 1/3 of this photo.

Here are some pictures from a walk we took earlier in the week:

Those are ants....ew.

It's hard to tell, but this is a branch of a rose bush that extended far above the rest of the plant - it was probably 7 ft tall with many thorns.

Can you spot the bird?

Friday night, we had the pleasure of babysitting our friends' cutie-pie infant daughter. We found out just how strong her lungs were, but managed to get her (almost) back to sleep before Mom & Dad came home. We got to attend her baby blessing last Sunday. Saturday night they had us over to dye Easter eggs! They are getting ready to move out-of-state for a few months and we are sure going to miss them.

Ellie

Eggs!

Ellie, again. She liked being in the spotlight!

some of the eggs

some more of the eggs (do you see any secret messages??)

Saturday we had the opportunity to take Christ's counsel and do some service. We were reminded of the importance of doing so as we attended the Mountain of the Lord (Provo Temple). We felt particularly thankful today for the opportunities afforded us in the temple because of Jesus Christ's atoning sacrifice. The covenants and ordinances that are so important to us are available only by, through, and of Him.

We hope you remember the Redeemer in your own way today!

oxox