Into the Abyss...

We've had a pretty adventurous past week, which is probably fitting considering that the new Indiana Jones movie also came out this last week. After Arches, our next adventure was Timpanogos Cave. The caves are another amazing Utah wonder that Garrett hadn't seen yet. The downside of being the only one in my family who hadn't been on the tour was that we made Garrett pose for an embarrassingly large number of pictures.


Lanna was great on the hike, both the 1 1/2 mile trek up the steep mountainside and the 1 1/2 mile run down in the pouring rain. Her strong little legs and cheery attitude confirmed our suspicions that she is at least one fourth mountain goat.

We all really loved seeing the cave formations. They have such a delicate beauty, and I think Garrett enjoyed the cave even more than he thought he would.


This is the heart of Timpanogos. At 5 1/2 feet long, this stalactite has only grown about 3/8 of an inch in the last fifty years. Imagine how long it must have taken to grow! I learned on the way down the mountain that Garrett has just such a large and steady heart (how was that for a cheesy transition?!). It had been just one week since I left my nose (pride, and reputation for sure-footedness) in Arches, and Garrett was so worried that I would fall on the way down that he held my arm, switching sides on every switchback, all the way down the mountain in the pouring rain just so I wouldn't impale myself on a sharp, wet rock.
So now the countdown to Costa Rica begins and in one week I'll be leaving on a jet plane. Do you know the way to San Jose? Hopefully Garrett won't be too sad all by himself. Ha, ha, ha.

I left my heart (and my nose) in Arches Nat'l Park

This weekend, Mom, Lanna, Garrett and I went on a weekend trip to Arches National Park. Garrett had never been there before, and we decided it was a shame to live in the same state as this beautiful world famous geological marvel and not enjoy it. I think Garrett was a little surprised by all the people from different countries. We heard French, German, Russian and some other languages. But with over 2,000 arches, there really is nowhere in the world quite like Arches.
However, for all my praise of Arches, I think I was a bit too enthusiastic while I was there because I ended up getting pretty beat up. I was so worried about my nose getting sunburned that it seems a little ironic that I ended up falling and scraping a decent amount of skin off my nose. What is even more ironic is that at the time, I was wearing my "Bleed Red" t-shirt from the U blood drive. I really was bleeding red.


I love this picture of Garrett and Lanna standing underneath Delicate Arch. Somehow the license plate doesn't seem to do it justice. It is so big, and it is both a humbling and terrifying experience to stare up at it.


We also made a point of seeing Landscape Arch because we don't know how much longer it will be there. Even though this picture doesn't really show it, this arch is longer than a football field. They don't let anyone stand below this arch because a little more than 15 yrs. ago, a 72 ft. long piece fell from the arch. Now the top part of the arch is only 6 ft. wide, and there is no knowing how long it will be before the top falls.


So now we're home, Garrett is back at work, and I am home taking Ibprofen and trying not to bend my knee or ankle, put pressure on my three blisters, touch the scrapes on my hand or scratch my nose. But we had a great time, and we can't wait to make it to the next national park (Yellowstone is next on our list).

Garrett's Graduation!

Garrett graduated last Friday!!! It was so exciting to see him receive his degree during the College of Humanities Convocation ceremony. Garrett's parents, his grandparents, my mom, sister and I were all in the Huntsman Center cheering Garrett on. Lanna was especially excited and drew a cute picture of Garrett in his cap and gown with stripes on his sleeves for when he gets a doctorate degree in the future (according to Lanna). I think Lanna thinks that everybody goes on to get stripes on their sleeves because of the programs Heather and I are in. When we told her that Garrett was graduating, she asked where he was going to school next. I love that Garrett can be such a great example to my sister and show her how important education is.


The day after Garrett 's graduation ceremony, we had a fabulous graduation party for him. Garrett's aunts, uncles, parents, cousin, grandparents, sisters, brothers, nieces, nephew, friends and in-laws all came to support him. Mom made Garrett a funny red velvet graduation cake that was so delicious! If you can't read it, it says, "No more tuition! no more books! no more parking services' dirty looks! Congrats Garrett!"


We also decided to do something fun for the kids, so we had a graduation piñata. Garrett, as official "Graduation Boy," got to go first (blindfolded, of course) and all the kids got to take turns next.


It worked out pretty well, until we got to Kaden. He was so cute blindfolded, but he was drawn to me like a magnet, swinging the stick as hard as he could. We decided to un-blindfold him before I lost any limbs. What a cutie!


Then Garrett went again and cracked the piñata wide open! I'm sure all the kids ended up with enough candy to last the weekend, at least. All in all, it was a great party. So many people came out to support Garrett. We are so proud of you, Garrett!

It's been a while...

So...it's been a while since I've posted. As I'm sure all of you have guessed, Garrett and I are smack dab in the middle of finals. Garrett actually had his last test yesterday, but he still has a paper due next Thursday. I, however, still have three more fabulous four hour finals to go. I'm glad Garrett can see some light at the end of the tunnel. He is so excited to graduate! Now we just have to make it through the rest of this week and next week so we can finally have some time together. We're hoping to go on a camping trip with my family before I leave for Costa Rica in June. Hopefully everything will work out...after so many days inside studying, I think we could both use a little sun and outdoors.

Lanna trying to carry Toby

Here is a picture of Lanna trying to carry her new dog, Toby. You can tell Toby is a really fabulous dog just by how he lets her haul him around. Toby is a silver miniature poodle Mom adopted a few weeks ago, and we all love him so much. He is a great dog, and in the short time Mom has had him, she has already taught him to sit, shake and fetch. He was already perfectly potty-trained and is so nice with Lanna. I think Toby is probably the perfect poster doggie for adopting rather than buying a brand new puppy. I think my favorite thing about Toby is that he has this strange quirk where he won't play with any toys that aren't brown and fuzzy. He doesn't like balls or bright colored toys, but he loves his little teddy bear and a great brown squeaky toy Mom bought him. And he is really good at making that toy squeak! Here is a cute sign Lanna put on Toby's door (and considering she's only six and had no help, I think her spelling is pretty good):
For those of you who have a hard time reading six-year old, it says: "Toby's Room. Miniature poodle. Feeders only. Ask!"

Happy Birthday and Happy Easter!

These past few days have been pretty busy. Since I posted last, I have celebrated my 24th birthday, completely failed to soak up every minute of Spring Break and eaten too many jelly beans. My birthday was actually pretty fabulous this year. Garrett bought me a beautiful purple pearl earring and necklace set which I love so much. And a big THANK-YOU to all you great people who sent me birthday money. I used it to purchase some sturdy luggage to take on my trip this summer (and hopefully on many more trips to come!). I also had a great birthday dinner date with Garrett at Little America, a great night of Disney and dessert with Garrett's family, and really yummy lasagna at my mom's house-all for my birthday. Now I think I've had enough birthday to get me through another year.

We also had Spring Break all last week. I had fairly lofty plans for the break, but you know what they say about the best laid plans... Instead of all the ambitious goals I had planned for my week, I got to hang out with cute Lanna, who was home from school with pink eye. I've decided that there must be some better way to treat pink eye than eye drops. Getting those drops into Lanna's eyes involved a lot of tears and struggling, but at least it's clearing up now. What was really entertaining was Garrett's absolute paranoia of getting pink eye from Lanna. As soon as we picked her up, we had to cover her hands with anti-bacterial gel. Every time we touched her it was time to de-germify our hands. I am pretty grateful for all of Garrett's precautions though. Neither of us have pink eye. Unfortunately my mom ended up with the pink eye instead. So while I didn't get tons of things done this week, it was really fun to get to hang out with Lanna Banana (except for the eye drops).

For Easter, we had a great time. We ate breakfast at my mom's house while Lanna modeled her beautiful new Easter dress. The Easter Bunny brought us too much candy, and I got to have yummy deviled eggs for lunch (which Garrett doesn't actually care for, so I don't get them very often). We also had a good time celebrating Garrett's mom's birthday. I brought a tres leches cake, and it certainly added to my over-sugared feeling. But my favorite was watching "Enchanted" at my cousins' house and holding cute baby Jason who is getting so big!

Now that you're all caught up, I suppose I'll have to return to regular life tomorrow. No more birthdays, breaks or holidays for a while. At least we'll have Garrett's graduation to celebrate in May!

It's Official!

I'm going to Costa Rica! I've just found out that I've been accepted to the Santa Clara Law Study Abroad Program in Costa Rica. Garrett and I are so excited! This will be such a great opportunity, and I am so thrilled to be able to go study Human Rights and Refugee Law in Costa Rica this summer. These two classes should be fascinating, and as part of the program, I'll be able to visit the Inter-American Court. I'll also be living with a Costa Rican family while I'm there, so I'll get to use my Spanish quite a bit. What a great birthday present! This is one of the places I've always wanted to go, particularly because of the Inter-American Human Rights Court and also the amazing beauty of Costa Rica. Heather keeps laughing at me because I really want to see some monkeys. Heather says that monkeys are mean, but I don't want to get too up close and personal. I just think it would be really neat to see some animals in their natural habitat instead of at the zoo. And I will have access to the internet while I'm there, so all you fun people who are reading my blog should stay tuned this summer. Also, be sure to give Garrett a call while I'm gone. He'll be holding down the fort here, and although he's probably going to relish the opportunity to become a Playstation pro, he could probably use some time hanging out on the weekends with friends. Fortunately we won't be apart for too long, and this is a really great opportunity for me to gain a unique experience that will definitely benefit my legal career. Yay!