Honor our Grads

Our ward has a tradition of Honor our Grads, which was started by Bryan based on a tradition in his ward growing up.  Since Courtney and I were flying back from Virginia that morning, I sent her table decorations up to the Church with another YW leader.  I think the table turned out really well.  The blanket is made from her old jerseys from when she was little.  Then there were her first cleats and her personalized cleats along with pictures.  It turned out really well.

We have 6 YW and 1 YM graduating this year.  One of the girls couldn't attend.  But it was a nice night with a slideshow, dessert, and pictures.

Washington DC day 2

We woke up, checked out of the hotel, and drove into DC.  We had a parking spot saved, which was nice, but we were early for our tickets to Ford's theater.  We decided, since we had time, that we would walk to see the White House.  Unfortunately, you can't go to the front of the White House very easily, there was a long line. So we went to the back and took pictures.

We did a little more meandering. It was neat to see all the buildings.

We then went on a tour of Ford's Theater, the museum, the Petersen House (where he died), and the history center on Lincoln.  It was cool to hear about the history.

We went to the National Mall and made our way to the Smithsonian Museums.  

We went to the National History Museum and Courtney got to relive her Night at the Museum dreams.

When it was time for lunch, leave it to Courtney to find a Chick-fil-A.  It was in Chinatown but that was cool to walk around.

We ended the day at the Holocaust Museum.  We were pretty tired so we didn't spend as much time there as would have if we had started there.  But it was interesting and very sobering to think what happened to all the Jews.

We then drove back to Richmond for our flight the next morning.  When we got to Richmond, we had time to go see the temple before it was too late. The open house had just finished that day and the dedication would be taking place in about a month.  We were too late to get on the grounds but it was beautiful from far.

Washington DC

After the tour, we drove the 3 hours up to Washington, DC.  We went to the Lincoln Memorial and then checked into our hotel.  Courtney wasn't impressed with the Lincoln Memorial.  It was probably because it was prom night and all kinds of kids were having their pictures taken there.  And they were all littering with their corsage boxes so it was a mess!  I was really disappointed in their behavior and how the monument was being treated. It was also raining so it made it kind of a mess to visit.

We got dinner, checked into our hotel, and then went to bed.  It had been a long day.

SVU tour

Courtney and I decided to go out to Virginia to take a tour. We flew into Richmond and landed late.  We rented a car and drove over to Buena Vista (about 2 hours) to the hotel.  The rental car had horrible windshield wipers and it was raining really hard but we made it safely.

After a good night's rest, we woke up and drove to SVU to take a look around.  We were early for the tour so we drove around the little town.  There really isn't much there! The counselor had told Courtney that Buena Vista was about half the size of Ivins and he was right.

The campus was beautiful. There were 5 students and their parents on the tour.  The advisor took us around, explaining all the buildings and what they have to offer.  They have a 100% acceptance rate right now because they want everyone who wants an education to be able to have it.  I was impressed by their philosophy and Courtney loved the old buildings.

We had some time after the tour and before we met with her counselor, so we wandered around the little town.  We got lunch at Subway, the only other restaurant in town besides the Mexican place, and then went into some of the shops.

When it was time, we went and talked to her admissions counselor to find out more about the school. Courtney is really excited. 

We already got her in the dorms so we were able to drive by and see what they looked like.  Originally, we had her in a 2 person dorm room with a community bathroom.  But some other girls who will be attending SVU contacted Courtney through Instagram to ask if she wanted to be roommates.  So the housing office switched Courtney to a 4-person room with a private bathroom. 

Each student received an iPad, pen, and keyboard.  The whole campus is set up as an Apple campus, meaning their professors can airdrop them any materials they may need.  It is a great concept.  At the end of our visit, Courtney was given a shirt.

Homeless week

Ethan had to be out of the dorms at BYU a few days before he was able to move into his new apartment so he came home to hang out with us for a while.  They call this "homeless week" at the college because they don't have any place to live.  Students can pay extra to move into their new apartments but Ethan took advantage of the time to come home and relax. Ethan got everything in his car.

Snow Canyon Overlook trail

We had never been on this trail before.  It was going to be a longer hike so we took sandwiches and a lot of water.  It wasn't a hard hike, just long. There were boulders to hike around and, as we got close to the end, there was sand.  Courtney had a photography assignment for school that she needed to do so she brought her camera. We stopped quite a bit to take pictures. The view was amazing!

YW walk to the temple

I was left in charge of a YW activity so I decided we should do a walk to the temple.  If you start at Dixie Rock it's only about 1 1/2 miles downhill to get to the temple.  It's actually a pretty straight shot. We parked the car at Dixie Rock and Bryan met us at the temple.  He took Courtney back up to get the van so we could drive all the girls home.  It was a great activity.

Courtney's hiking Hokas

Courtney needed new hiking boots and, after some looking, she decided to get Hoka hiking shoes.  She was pretty excited about them.  She got the brightest ones she could find and she loves them!

Owen's Loop Trail

We went on another hike. We hadn't been on this hike before even though it is close to Dixie Rock.  I had seen people there before but hadn't been on the trail before. The view was really nice and there weren't many people on the trail with us. I enjoy exploring St George.