OHIO STATE???

We have a little bit of catching up to do now, don't we? 

Here are some quick updates from our summer...

Shannan was Amelia's nanny for a good portion of the summer. We had a blast with her up here and got to do a lot of fun things. 

I work for Larry H. Miller and they own the Bee's stadium up in Salt Lake. Every year they do an employee night and we go to a baseball game. It was Amelia's first game and she loved it. She loved clapping with the crowd.

Brayden and I finally made it to a Zac Brown Band concert this summer!!! We love Zac Brown Band! It was so much fun. 

I finally got to go to Girl's Camp! It was hard being away from Amelia for a week, but so worth it! I got called into YW as the 1st counselor in July of 2013. I just barely missed Girl's Camp that year and then I was pregnant with Amelia in 2014. So I was really excited to be there with the girls this year. I have seriously learned so much from these girls and I admire each one of them with their individual and unique qualities. I cried like a baby when I had to say goodbye last week :(

Mike and Sozelle came to visit for a good couple of weeks and we had fun fishing, hiking, chatting, and hanging out!

We made it up to Idaho while Mike and Sozelle were up here and I am so glad we did! We had fun fishing, playing with cousins, slip-n-sliding, garden looking, and wandering around!

On July 24th we celebrated Amelia's 1st Birthday! I can't believe she is almost a year and a half old now. Mike, Sozelle, Shannan, Mark, Kirsten, Trey, Coby, Lindsey, Caleb, Emily and Jonah joined us for the party. Then Amelia decided to start walking 2 weeks after her first birthday.

While my family was here we had a good time at Seven Peaks, Bridal Veil Falls, City Creek Center, and lots of yummy places to eat! 

Brayden found a really awesome place called Joe's Valley Reservoir down in the Manti La Sal mountains. We went to a cabin there with our good friends Troy and Leah and their little girl Audrey who is just 3 weeks younger than Amelia. It was a great time!

We decided we couldn't just go there once, so we reserved the cabin again and went with Cody, Breaelle and kids. That time we went out on the lake with the Eddington's boat, and it was perfect weather (I say perfect weather, but that means perfect weather for Utah, Arizona still has better weather for boating!). We got really lucky and had such a fun time!

There were plenty other adventures this summer, but those are some of the highlights. 

Once the school year started, the dental school interviews started as well. I got to travel with Brayden for his interview at Midwestern (in Glendale, AZ) and his interview at University of Colorado (in Denver). (Pictures below) Caitlin and Dallin were so awesome and hung out with Amelia for the 3 days we spent in Colorado and Amelia was well taken care of :). Brayden and I enjoyed having a weekend together. 

Here are some photos of some other fun adventures we had this summer/semester--

For Thanksgiving we headed down to Snowflake to spend time with the Flake family. We had a wonderful time exploring, riding the quad, eating delicious food, playing flag football, and spending time with family. Amelia loved having so much land to run around on.

We have been in Tucson for Christmas since the 19th and have split the time between my parent's house and Brayden's parent's house. Amelia has had a blast playing with cousins, visiting museums and the zoo, and playing with all of her new toys. She was spoiled rotten this year! Thanks to all for her gifts :)

Brayden and I also celebrated our 4 year Anniversary. I love this man so much!

Amelia update: She is talking like crazy! She learns new words every day. My favorites right now are "all done/all gone" "purple" and "apple." She can pretty much repeat any word you ask her to and I think she is enjoying life much more now that she can communicate her needs clearly. She loves her baby dolls and says "WAH, WAH" when she is looking for them. The little boy she used to play with in Utah rubbed off on her a little bit so she also loves trains, cars, and planes. Finally, puppies are the most exciting objects to Amelia. There were 4 dogs at my parent's house and Amelia was in heaven. She learned all of their names and chased them around every morning. Poor dogs. :)

Now onto the news of the next chapter of our lives!

Let me start off by saying that I am so grateful for my husband. He is truly an amazing man. He continues to get excellent grades while fulfilling his calling, taking care of Amelia and I, helping around the house, and going to multiple dental interviews. He finished his undergrad at BYU last week with a Bachelors in Physiology and Developmental Biology. Now, I get to brag about him a little more :)

We applied to 12 dental schools this past summer. Brayden was rejected by 1, decided not to complete the process for 2, hasn't heard back from 2 (which 1 is Texas and the chances of getting in are very slim as a non-resident), and was invited to 7 interviews. We turned down the Oregon interview as we knew that wasn't the best place for us and he had already received some acceptances and he attended the other 6. 

Of the schools he interviewed at, he was accepted into 5 (Midwestern, Case Western, UNLV, University of Colorado, and Ohio State) and is an alternate at Roseman. We originally narrowed it down to Midwesten and Ohio State and decided that Midwestern was where we would chose as it is close to family, but we were still scared knowing that we would be in so much debt going to a private school. Then, Ohio State called Brayden and offered him a $32,000 scholarship for the first year of school which essentially gives him the price of an Ohio resident. 

So, we are going to The Ohio State University! I am scared, and nervous, and anxious, but SO excited. Sometimes the easiest route isn't the best route, and I am grateful to know that the Lord leads us where our family needs to be. We are excited for a new adventure and can't wait to get started with dental school!

Before moving to Ohio, we are going to head down to Arizona for a little bit. We sold our condo in Provo and will be living with Emily and Caleb in Gilbert. They have been so kind to us! Brayden will be working with Caleb temporarily and Emily and I will be playing all day :) Just kidding, but really. Ha! My last day of work at Mercedes-Benz was the 15th of this month and I am going to be a stay at home Mom at least while in Arizona. I sure am going to miss my job. I have met so many wonderful people and I am so grateful for the long lasting friendships this job has brought me. 

I have to give a big thanks to both of our families who have been so much help as we have been here in Utah and made this change. We are so lucky to have 2 wonderful families that always look out of us and are so kind, caring, and loving. 

We are excited for this new chapter in our lives and can't wait to meet new people, be in a new place and create more memories! Until next time...