Ryan

I found out that a friend of mine from high school passed away today. He was killed in a car accident. (While driving to an assignment for school-he was a journalism student-he was stopped on the highway for construction when he was hit from behind by a semi-truck that did not stop in time. He was pinned between two semis and he died at the scene). It's been a really rough day, but he was an amazing person and a really good friend :)

One of my favorite memories of him, although not directly related to me, was when Ryan and our other friend, Grant, spray painted Jessica J.'s lawn with a picture of the devil...Her nickname is NATAS, which is satan spelled backwards...long story dating all the way back to middle school...The problem was that homecoming was a couple of days away and we were all going to Jessica's for pictures...JJ was NOT happy and so she made Ryan and Grant come back over and mow the lawn-twice...It wasn't good enough so now 6 years later I have pictures from homecoming of Ryan and Grant's handy work...I thought it was classic and loved it...JJ has come around and now it's a funny story that we love to recount...

Ryan was always a fun kid who had hilarious ideas/pranks that we all were able to share a good laugh over. We'll miss you, Ryan.

Graduation Day one!!!

Well, it happened! I graduated! Not that anyone really cares, but here are pictures from the big weekend!

My parents
The two graduates from the McLane Family: Kiera & Jamie
Outside the Marriott Center
Walking to the Marriott Center
It's the "graduation" walk
Nana & Oma came!
Cute boy!
Tori, my sister!

There are more picutres with more family from day one, but they are on another camera, but we had TONS more family there! It was so great! Thank you to everyone who made it! More pictures from day two to come in the future!

Babysitting

This post is basically for Robin and Daniel so they can see what we did when we babysat Diego last week! The Adlong's trusted us enough to let us watch Diego one afternoon while Daniel was finishing up his last final. We had so much fun with him and so we could not resist posting pictures from our fun time together! We miss the Adlong's now that we've moved!

Diego and I played together for a bit
He was having fun looking at pictures
Josh fed and burped him
He loves the camera
Josh and Diego then took a nap together...It was super cute!
He even held his own pacifier while he slept!
I mean, come on, isn't he just so cute!!!!

More updates!

Our finals week was very busy and Josh and I were super stressed, so in order to lessen the tension of studying I got Josh some fun treats...Plus, we went bowling with our good friends, the Adlong's...It helped us relax as we got close to finals!

Milk Duds- so he knew that he wasn't a "Dud" and that he would do great on his finals
Whoppers--SO he knew he would do a "whopper" of a job on his finals!
Junior mints- to know that he is worth a "mint"!
NAtional Treasure DVD--so he would know he is my "treasure"!
Josh got my goldfish because he knows I love them!

I suck at bowling so I roll it...It works...

And then there's Josh who looks like Spiderman when he bowls, but he did a really good job!

Robin looking like a pro! Having a good time!Robin and Daniel both look normal when they bowl--they did a good job too!
So, basically we all suck. The Wii tricks you into thinking you're going to be a great bowler...but that's all right! We had a great time!

Diego was cheering for his dad!

He looks so cute!

He was so excited to see his mom just roll a strike!! WOW!

Josh was holding him and dancing with him! It was pretty darn cute!

The time has come to update!!!

Here are the pictures from Easter--I know, we are huge slackers!!! They are here now though!!

Our annual Easter picture
This is the Easter Basket that I made for Tori and Bianca out of an old fast food cup holder
Bianca, Tori, & Kiera dying Easter eggs at Nana's House
Nana dying Easter eggs too
Kiera & Josh Dying eggs
Yummy Swedish Pancake breakfast!

It was obviously an early morning!

It took a long time to find the last egg, but Kiera finally did!

We love our Nana!

We had a lot of fun spending Easter with Nana. We will miss her this summer while we're away!

I'M FAMOUS!!!!!!!!!!

HAHAHA! So, I'm not really famous but I was on KSL radio the other day. I was interviewed while I was standing in line for graduation. The radio guy asked me some questions about my future and then it was on the radio the next morning--it was part of a montage of different people talking about graduation. My parents heard it as they were driving to my graduation! haha! So, there's my little claim to fame!

Done and Done!!!!!

WE ARE DONE!!!!!! YAHOO!!!!!!! I finished my last final today and now I just have to take the last couple of math tests (I got an extension on that class so I didn't have to cram it all in this week) and Josh just has to write a paper before Saturday, but all of our finals are done!!!!!! YEAH!!!! I am so excited to be graduating!!! It is such a great feeling!!!! WOHOO!!! Can you tell I'm excited?!?!

Good Quotes

My mother-in-law sent me these good quotes....enjoy!

A home is much more than a house built of lumber, brick, or stone. A home is made of love, sacrifice, and respect. We are responsible for the homes we build. We must build wisely, for eternity is not a short voyage. There will be calm and wind, sunlight and shadow, joy and sorrow. But if we really try, our home can be a bit of heaven here on earth. The thoughts we think, the deeds we do, the lives we live not only influence the success of our earthly journey, they also mark the way to our eternal goals.--Thomas S. Monson

"They may forget what you said --But, they will never forget how you made them feel!"--Carl W. Buehner

"Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any one thing."--Abraham Lincoln

Getting closer!

Well, Josh has completed three finals and is taking his last test tomorrow. All he has left after that is a paper and then he is done! Isn't that exciting?!!? I have finished two finals-a test and a research paper and I have two finals left for Monday and Tuesday. I was able to get an extension on my Math class and so I will take the last test for that in California in the next week or two! I am so excited to be finished! It's such a good feeling. The end is in sight!!! FUN! We are excited that we have tons of family coming out this week to visit! It's going to be lots of fun! Good luck to everyone finishing up finals--you're almost there!!! To everyone else missing out on the exciting times of finals week, enjoy your week!

Fun times!

So, I got accepted into the post-baccalaureate program at BYU for next fall! That is exciting for me because I can take the non-profit organization classes I've been so wanting to take!!! It's going to be interesting going to school next fall even though I have already graduated! Haha! It should be really fun though!

Josh is doing great on his finals! He has been studying so hard! He's been super busy lately, but handling it all really well. I start my finals tomorrow-I am going to take my Business Marketing final first because I have a 96% in the class going into the final, so it's my least stressful one; that's always a good way to start the finals week :).

Well, that's life for us...I am downloading pictures from Easter and other things that I will post soon. Good luck with everyone who has finals!

Love this song! Pause other music!

Love this song--pause other music!

Good song!--pause other music!

Update

Well, Josh and I are in full finals mode....Josh has his first final tomorrow-wish him luck!!! I start my finals on Friday...Fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun!!!! Josh has three finals this week! Oh boy!! He's studying super hard though so he should do wonderful!

We're having a blast in the 81 degree weather we are enjoying today! It's hard to be inside and studying, but we did play a little bit earlier today. It's supposed to be cold again tomorrow and Wednesday so we have to take advantage of it while we can!

Anyways, just a quick update...Life is good! School is almost over (for good for me!!!) and we're enjoying warm weather! Can life get any better!?!?!?

Let the countdown begin!

I graduate in 15 days!!!! I could not be more excited! More updates when I have more free time!

General Conference

So, I am pretty sure that everyone who looks on this blog is LDS, so most will know what I am talking about. This last weekend we had General Conference. I am sure that you all will agree that it was an amazing experience. It was so wonderful to hear from our new Prophet and from the apostles and other general authorities and leaders of the Church. Josh and I were able to attend all but one (Saturday afternoon) session at the Conference Center. It was amazing to hear the words of our leaders. I just wanted to share a couple of thoughts that I took from the conference.

Elder Ballard

I loved Elder Ballard's talk! I thought it was so great! I am not a mother yet (no, I'm not even pregnant), but I loved his inspired words! I loved that he said to "focus on the children in the short time you have with them". I thought that was so great. It is true that time flies, but before you know it, kids have grown up. I hope that I can cherish the moments I have with my children. I also loved that he said that mothers need time for themselves. They need to pick a couple of things that they want to learn, become a hobby, expand a talent, and them take the time alone to cultivate those habits/talents. I thought that was great wisdom!

President Monson

I also loved President Monson's final talk. He spoke about honoring your wife and husband. For the wives, we need to express kinds words to our husbands and need to let them know how grateful we are for all they do. He also said that we need to make sure that our children know we love them. Also, we need to go to the temple often. I am going to work to be better at these things!

Elder Bednar

I loved Elder Bednar's talk about praying with faith! Prayer is nice, but praying with faith is what is going to get us answers from our Father in Heaven. He said that "every sincere prayer is heard and answered by our Heavenly Father". What wonderful assurance that truly is!!!

Elder Wirthlin

I loved Elder Wirthlin's talk. He is so sincere and kind and truly exemplifies charity. He spoke about how everyone is different and how we should praise our differences and not shun those in the Gospel who may be different from us. The analogy he used was, that there is no sign on the front of our meeting houses that says, "Restricted Entrance: Perfect people only". Isn't that wonderful!?! We're all imperfect and that is why we need the Gospel! I hope that I can remember not to judge others because I have not walked in their shoes and I do not fully understand their situation. I need to love everyone and praise everyone's individuality!

Elder Holland

I truly appreciated Elder Holland's talk. As Josh and I walked to and from the conference center for the different sessions of conference, there were protesters on every corner yelling that Mormons aren't Christians. It was soooo sad to hear and see. I admit, that I cried almost every time I walked pass a protester that was yelling at us and telling us that we were not Christians. Elder Holland addressed this "not Christian" idea in his talk. He went through a couple of points that make us different from other Christian religions and why those other religions might think that we are not Christian. He also talked about continuing revelation and how the Lord said, "My words never cease". The Lord speaks to us today! He quoted Ralph Waldo Emerson who said, "God is-not was; He speaketh-not spake". I loved that! It helped to reaffirm my testimony that I know the Gospel of Jesus Christ is restored to the Earth and that we are led by prophets who receive continuing revelation from our Savior for us today! I love knowing the Church is true and knowing that the protesters on the side of the streets are not correct. We are Christians, we love the Savior and we worship Him, and we know that the atonement is real, and it is only through the atonement that we can be saved and return to live with our Father in Heaven again.

I am sorry that this post is so personal. I just had a wonderful weekend and I learned so much and I wanted to share some insights with all of you! Have a great week!

So, I currently have two angry (haha not really) sisters who are mad at me for posting "unattractive" pictures of them...I really thought those pictures were cute, but I was apparently very wrong....haha!
So, in order to restore peace and love to my family I am posting these BEAUTIFUL pictures of them so they will not be mad at me anymore! haha! I am sorry about the pictures, I thought they were cute!

Any better? I had a hard time finding pictures with you guys in them!!! You need to be posting more pictures of yourselves!!!

April Birthdays!!!

So, I can't believe it's already April!! WOW!!! We want to wish everyone a happy birthday who is celebrating one in April!!! We especially want to say happy birthday to:

Kerry Blonquist--Happy Birthday on the 21st! We hope you have a great day!!

Gary McLane--Happy Birthday on the 27th. We hope you have a great day!!

Katie Kirkham--Happy Birthday on the 28th! Have a great birthday!!!

Happy Birthday to April Blankenship!!! I can't find a picture of you on my computer, so I'm sorry! We hope you have a great birthday though!!