Today I went to my nephew Brayden's birthday party for his 3rd birthday! 
He got a lot of presents. We gave him a water gun and bubble blower. 
Grandpa Mark and Deborah gave him a Toy Story Slip 'n Slide, which the boys absolutely loved. They orginally had on diapers, but they got really full of water and were falling off, so the boys decided to just take them off completely. So here is a picture of them sliding around naked! 
Jennika's mom Paula was in town and it was really nice to see her- it had been a couple of years. 
(Rilan, me, Brodie, Brayden, Jason, Mark, Paula, and Jennika)
He got a lot of presents. We gave him a water gun and bubble blower. Grandpa Mark and Deborah gave him a Toy Story Slip 'n Slide, which the boys absolutely loved. They orginally had on diapers, but they got really full of water and were falling off, so the boys decided to just take them off completely. So here is a picture of them sliding around naked! Jennika's mom Paula was in town and it was really nice to see her- it had been a couple of years. (Rilan, me, Brodie, Brayden, Jason, Mark, Paula, and Jennika) Brodie grilled hamburgers and we had a fabulous Oreo ice cream cake for dessert. Wish James could have been there :( Still had lots of fun though!
Then this morning we went to a fabric store to look for curtains for her living room and then to lunch at Pluckers. I had the best salad there! I can't remember what it was called though. I love love love Austin and can't wait for us to live there one day. Loved my visit and am excited to be able to see these guys more often!
We spent most of Saturday evening hanging out outside with all of the dogs (there were 5 there at one point: our two, their two, and a friend's dog they were watching). 
We also played lots of Tetris on the wii, went swimming, went to church, cooked some burgers on the grill, and I made a fabulous Banana Pudding. 
We had all planned on going to watch the fireworks in Sugar Land Sunday night, but the boys were getting tired. So James and I stopped at the church parking lot on our way back home and watched them. 
I did NOT want to take the girls out to potty in this. I knew Giselle could hold it for another couple of hours, but Lily HAS to go out first thing. When we adopted her, her information chart said that she was pad trained. I've left them out for her before when we've been gone just in case she wanted to use it, but she never has. So yesterday I thought I would try to work with her to use it so she wouldn't get wet outside. I put it outside on our balcony and tried and tried to get her to use it. But this is all she would do with it. Obviously she is not pad trained. 
Since the weather was so bad I stayed home and cleaned and watched the Nadal/Murray match. I love love love Wimbledon! It's a personal goal of mine to be there in 5 years. 
*Liz, Cecile, Mandy, and I had our last Girls Night Out-so sad! We went to dinner at Carraba's and then we went to Spark for "drinks" and more food-loved it! I'm so happy that Liz was able to move back to Utah just in time to see me before I left. 
*The next day Cecile and Justin blessed their third child, Hudson, at church. There were 5 baby blessings in their ward that day! After they had a brunch at Justin's mom's house. The food was so good! I got this great recipe for a Chile Cheese Puff that I'll share later when I make it. 
*I had my last hair appointment with Elise :( I don't know what I'm going to do without her! She told me that she's coming to Houston in August though, so I don't have to worry about finding someone else 'til after then. 
*So I took my last final on Thursday morning, June 17. James was supposed to fly in at 12:53 pm, and then we were going to pick up the truck, load it, and leave Friday morning. Well James' flight from Houston got cancelled and he wasn't going to get in until 7:15! So Mandy, Eric, and I had to pick up the truck. I was frantic about who was going to load it, and I'm so grateful that our friend Ben volunteered to come help! He and Eric (and a couple of wonderful missionaries passing by) did a fabulous job-we could not have moved without them! And none of our stuff was broken! After the boys loaded everything (in only 3 hours!), Mandy and I picked up James from the airport and headed to Sean and Alexa's house for a Going Away BBQ. It was good to see them before we left and so nice of them to feed us all! 
*So the next morning we headed out at about 8:30. The drive was uneventful. Oh, except for the biker convention that was going on in the city we spent the night in! Don't worry, there were only like 100 bikers outside of our hotel all night revving their bikes and partying. I was terrified and so worried about someone stealing the Penske with all of our stuff! I woke up probably 3 different times to look outside and check on it. We got to Austin Saturday evening and went to dinner with Sally and Tag. Then Sunday morning we drove to Houston and met up with James' Dad and his clan for brunch for Father's Day. After the brunch we headed to our new home and Brodie (James' brother) helped us unload everything. Thanks for spending your Father's Day helping us Brodie! I LOVE LOVE LOVE our apartment-James did such a fabulous job picking it! We have a garage and a little front yard for the girls to go out-I really couldn't be happier with it. 
*Since we've been here I've been getting the house set up (which I love doing) and looking for a job (which I hate). On Monday I spent the day with Brodie and Jennika. We went to the mall closest to me since I hadn't been there yet. It's a really good mall, fyi. And then for dinner we met up with James at On the Border. I'm excited to be close to them again. 
This weekend we're going down to their house to celebrate the 4th. More about that on Monday!
Mandy teaches preschool and she and Houston got along so well when he came to visit. 
I also got to have a girls night with some other friends from Florida. I made dinner and we just talked for hours and hours. It was so fun and really good to catch up with these girls.
On Thursday we had the Commencement, after which we went to Cafe Rio and this little frozen yogurt place. 
This is the dress my mom made for my graduation. I love it! I think she's going to make another similar one for me in a light coral. Can't wait! 
James and my mom were making fun of the fact that it was so easy to pick me out of the crowd because of my big blonde hair. Can you find me?! :)
After the Convocation (where I actually walked and got my diploma cover) on Friday we went to Rodizio's. It was fabulous. 
On Saturday morning we all got up and hiked the Y. After that we went to Magleby's for french toast and pancakes! We ate a lot over these few days! 
Also while my family was here we discovered that Lily loves be in purses! If you lay one down she will find a way to crawl in. It is the most adorable thing I have ever seen! 
