Happy Halloween!

I lost a month- part 2

Ok, so now that July is almost over I can continue what happened in May! After my parents left Jared's parents came to visit a few days later. They came to see Jared graduate from medical school. It was really fun to show them around some of our favorite places in Michigan.

Eating lunch at a really yummy sandwich restaurant

We rented a wheelchair for Cathy because she broke her leg a couple days before they came to visit us (seriously, she is such a trooper!) 

This is just Shad making a mess at lunch on our way to Detroit to see a Tiger's game. I think he's cute.

While we were at the Tiger's game Shad was totally flirting with the girl sitting next to us. He kept doing silly things and then looking over to see if she was watching. This boy!

This is Jared's first official picture as a doctor that I took after he became hooded as an MD!

Daddy and Shaddy

Unfortunately this is the best picture we have of all three of us after Jared's graduation.

Jared and I celebrating our graduations!

I can't believe that 4 years already came and went and that Jared is now known as Dr. Jared Smedley, MD! He has worked so hard and I am so proud of him!


As soon as Jared's parents left we packed and packed until I felt like throwing up, and then we packed some more. The last week of May we loaded up our truck and drove almost 2,000 miles across the country to our new home in Phoenix, AZ. My amazing dad flew out and helped us drive, I don't know what we would have done without him!

Jared drove the truck himself the entire time. Ick!




It took us a lot longer each day than we had planned because the truck was maxed out at 65 mph, so we got to our hotels each night around 1 or 2 am. Jared and Shad fell asleep on the couch the first night while I was setting up Shad's pack n play.

While we were driving we stopped at a little town called Shamrock, which is where they got the idea for "Ramone's" shop on the movie "Cars"(which happens to be Shad's favorite movie).

 Shad really did pretty well considering he was cooped up in the car for 14 hours a day three days in a row! I was proud of my little buddy.

We finally made it to Arizona on May 31 (with bugs on the windshield from 9 different states). Hallelujah!

Wedding, Blessing, Sealing, and Christmas!

We went to Utah for about 9 days for Christmas and it was the most action-packed week we have ever had there! Shad and I got there on Tuesday evening. On Wednesday we went shopping in Farmington with my mom and Alex and got outfits for my brother Andrew's wedding and then had lunch at Zuppas. Yum! Thursday we went shopping at Target with my sister Holly and her sweet Olivia, and we met my mom there for lunch. Shad and Olivia loved riding in the cool cart.

Friday was my little brother Andrew's wedding in Brigham City and we added a new member of the Grose family: Megan! She is a darling girl and hopefully one day she can teach me how to have such cute style!

That night was their wedding dinner in Ogden, it was quite the party! Shad definitely busted out some sweet dance moves:

Shad and me

They had a photo booth instead of a signature book to show that you came to their wedding. Cute idea! Here is our little family of 3:

Afterwards, while we were waiting for the happy couple outside, we lit sparklers and floating lanterns. 

Shad and I also started getting sick that day with really bad coughs and sore throats, and I lost my voice completely for about a week after that. But that didn't stop us from having an amazing vacation!

The next day on Saturday we had the opportunity to be sealed to Shad in the Bountiful temple. The drive there was crazy in a blizzard and we passed 5 car accidents on the way, witnessing two of them, and Shad was really sick and did not look well. We were really worried that it might not be a good day. But we made it safely and when he entered the sealing room all dressed in white with his hair combed he looked absolutely perfect and angelic. It was the most spiritual experience I have ever had. The happiness and joy I felt is beyond words and I am so so grateful that Heavenly Father placed him in our family forever.

It was too cold to take pictures in front of the temple, so we had to settle for taking some pictures inside the rotunda area. My best friend Sierra came to his sealing and took these beautiful pictures for us. 

Is this not the most angelic face you have ever seen?! And those eyes!

 My sisters and parents, and Jared's parents

 My parents

 Jared's parents

Sweet Grandpa Grose

 The Masons

 The beautiful and talented Sierra (click on her name to see some of her amazing work!)

It was an absolutely perfect day and we wouldn't have had it any other way.

The next day was Sunday and we blessed Shad at his parents' church. Sierra came again and took a few more pictures for us. She really is the best!

Besties

The next day, Monday, was Christmas Eve Eve, my mom's annual Christmas party complete with the nativity. Shad was a shepherd and left the thing on his head for all of 1.5 seconds (if that). I love that my mom does this every year so we can always have all the siblings there at the same time. 

Tuesday was Christmas Eve, and we spent it between my Grandma's and Jared's Grandma's house, but we only stayed at each for a few minutes because Shad had a fever of 104 at this point. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of this day. Shad and I were both feeling pretty awful still so we went home and slept for almost 12 hours.

Christmas day was nice, we spent most of the day just chilling at my parents' house. This was our first Christmas together as a family of 3 (Shad joined our family on December 27th last year!)

Shad opened some presents and then went back to sleep for another few hours. He got his very first train set. It was so much fun even though he's still a little young to realize what was going on.

The next morning we left early in the morning to go back to Michigan. It was probably the most exhausting yet the best Christmas vacation we have ever had (well I guess you could say it's tied with last year's Christmas vacation when we came home unexpectedly with a baby!)