May 2014

May was an especially busy month for us.  We made ourselves a list of things to do before we left Charlottesville and we slowly chipped away at it.  It was fun to visit with friends and go visit some of our favorite restaurants and places in the area.  The law school families got together for a BBQ at a lake park for our last activity before graduation.  We had a great time visiting and the kids ate hot dogs and played on the playground.

Grayson enjoying a smore.

 One of our stops was to spend a day in Richmond one more time.  We went to our favorite mall and we got to ride the train which Grayson thought was pretty cool.

Then we went to a game store we love and picked up a few more board games.  It was a great afternoon.

Trevor's family got into town first for graduation.  We spend a morning at Montpelier, exploring the grounds and having fun.  The house was beautiful and the grounds were equally so.

Grayson found a lion statue in the garden to pet and he especially liked seeing the horses out in the field.

Trevor's family rented a cabin about 30 minutes outside of Charlottesville.  It was in a really pretty area and we had a BBQ there with my family and Trevor's family. We got to walk around the lake and feed some ducks and enjoy a delicious meal. 

Hanging out with Uncle Tanner

The day of graduation finally came!  We went to the first hour of church and then headed back to our apartment for lunch.  Luckily we didn't have to worry about finding parking since we could walk to the law school.  The Grandpas went up to the law school first and found some good seats for us.  Grayson was able to rest for a while before we headed up for graduation.

Playing with Uncle Tanner.

Games with Grandma Swenson.

We finally headed up and got some decent seats in a little bit of shade.  It was so fun to see all of our friends and their families.  It was such an exciting day!

Happy graduates!

I had to get a picture of Trevor with the law school sign.

Grayson's friend AJ was excited to see him.

Grayson was a champ and was very well behaved through the whole ceremony.  

On his way to cross the stage!

He's official!

We tried to get the boys to wear their dad's graduation caps, but that did not work out so well.  So, the mom's put them on instead.

Playing in the chairs after the ceremony was over!

I was so proud of Trevor!  He has worked so hard over the years to get through law school and take care of our family.  I am so lucky to have such an amazing husband!

The day after graduation, my parents picked up Grayson early in the morning and took him with them back to Alabama.  Then Trevor's family came over along with a few of our friends and they all helped us load up our moving truck and get our apartment ready for our move.  We got everything done so quickly, we were lucky to have so much help.

We had some friends drop by to say goodbye, then Trevor and I got dinner at one of our favorite Cville restaurants and slept on an air mattress in the living room.  We packed up the last of our stuff in the morning and drove the moving van down to Huntsville.  We had an uneventful drive and things went really smoothly.  We met my mom and Grayson at our new apartment complex and picked up our keys.

Grayson helping us unload the truck.

We had a lot of help unloading the truck.  A lot of people from our new ward (church congregation) came to help us unload the moving truck.  They were so fast and efficient that I had to just stand in the hall way of our apartment and direct everyone where to put the boxes.  Grayson spent one more night at my parents' house and the next day we were able to get our room and Grayson's room set up so we could all sleep in our own beds.

We had fun exploring our new home.  There is an awesome little hiking trail on the apartment complex property. 

Grayson helping dad hang up a picture.

Grayson found ants on our back porch and he loved watching them.  He also ate one, but hey that's pretty normal for a kid right?

Exploring our new playground!

A butterfly landed on Grayson's shirt while we were playing.

He really loves to swing!

Did a little fishing at my parents' cabin.

It was fun to have some time to spend with Trevor before he had to start studying for the bar.  On one of the days, we went to the Botanical Gardens as a family.  It was a lot of fun.

Grayson in the butterfly house.

It has been a fun but wild ride and it is hard to believe that our time in Charlottesvville is already over.  It went by so fast!  We have been lucky to make so many life long friends and have some great experiences.

April 2014

I know I have been absolutely terrible about keeping updated on our blog, so let the back posting begin.  It is going to take me a while because we have been very, very busy for a while.

In April, Trevor was finishing his last semester in law school and in the middle of finals, so we usually only saw him in the morning before class and at dinner time.  Grayson and I did our best to keep ourselves busy and entertained and also worked on getting our apartment packed for our move to Alabama, that's right, if I didn't mention it before, Trevor got a job offer with the firm he interned with last summer.

One of the new things we tried was to go visit the Children's Discovery Museum in Downtown Charlottesville.  I had heard about it from several friends, but we had never gone before.  It was a fun little museum and Grayson had a great time playing there.  

The had a boat to play on complete with slide to go down and some puzzles and other fun things in the toddler room.  They also had places where you could build your own cars and race them down ramps, a play store, vegetable garden and a real beehive to mention just a few things.  We spent a couple hours there and had a great time.  

With our packing, I emptied out the ottoman and so Grayson liked to bring his books into it and sit and read.  Sometimes he would request a pillow and a blanket as well to 'take a nap.'  

In the month of April, we got to enjoy watching General Conference.  Twice a year, our entire church has the opportunity to listen to inspired messages from modern day prophets and apostles for a weekend.  We have started some fun Conference traditions which I think Grayson likes.

I like to put pictures out of various gospel topics that are most likely to be addressed during Conference weekend, then when we they are brought up, we can point at the pictures that match.  He found the pictures of the apostles and prophets in the middle himself.  He was looking at the Ensign (our churches published magazine) and he kept saying, "look mom prophets, prophets!"  So, we added it at the center of our 'board' and when a new speaker would come up, he would find their picture and we would put a sticker on them so we know who talked.  Then Sunday morning, we make a really big brunch with our friend's the Funks.  We have been making sausage and buttermilk biscuits and some amazing french toast with cinnamon chip bread.  It is all so so so good!

Grayson watching Elder Holland speak

When I was packing things up, I found a box of my old toys from when I was a kid.  I pulled them out for Grayson to play with and he absolutely loved them.  Of course, the Star Wars toys were the biggest hit and since that day, he has played with them almost every single day.  He is a big Star Wars fan and I only had to 'nudge' him a little bit!  

On another day, we met a few of our friends and hiked the Monticello Trail one more time.  It is a really fun trail, especially on the way down hill, you can get going really fast especially with a jogging stroller pulling you down.

On the way up, we let the boys get out and run a lot.  It was helpful to wear them out and they had a great time.  

Grayson and I stopped at the lake on the way down to feed the geese and ducks and have a picnic.  I brought some bread for the critters, but as usual, Grayson ate most of it.  And then watched me throw some bread.

Grayson is really into super heroes and he a got a new super man shirt, which he wears religiously.  We have had to ban super heroes from the dinner table, so we don't spend the whole time dodging webs, arrows and blaster shots.

We got the chance to also meet with a large group of friends to do an Easter egg hunt at one of the girl's house that had a big backyard.  Grayson thought it was a lot of fun. 

The best part, was when he realized there was something inside all of the eggs we were picking up.  Also, I then learned, quite quickly, that he can now unwrap chocolate candies.  He definitely ate his fair share of Easter candy.

Grayson made quite the hall for Easter and kept asking about the Easter bunny the night before.  I have to admit, there are some aspects of holidays that are just more fun and enjoyable when you have kids.  Everything is so fresh and new to them and they are so delighted by so many things.  Being a mother is teaching me much more about what the Savior said when he taught that we all need to become as little children.

Some times we would go for walks up to dad's school and go see him and where he studies.  Grayson always liked that.

We also got the chance to go to a birthday party for one of Grayson's friends.  It was a super hero theme, so of course Grayson was ecstatic!

Knocking down blocks with Captain America's shield

Dressed up like a super hero!  It took him a while to warm up to the mask.

Grayson got a special lunch one day and he absolutely loved his hamburger!  He hadn't really tried one before, but he loved it!  Ate the whole thing.

Grayson 'helping' with packing.

Playing at a park

Having a snuggle with dad.