Coby's BYU Graduation 4/25-26/2013

On Thursday night Coby graduated from BYU.  We were blessed with perfect weather.  There were two graduation ceremonies. One for the whole graduating class at BYU and another for the students who graduated in their college department.  We had everyone in our family come on Thursday  night except Colton.  And on Friday Matt, Colton and I were the only ones who could come.

Coby's name in the very thick program for all the graduates

The keynote speaker for graduation was Elder Tom L. Perry!  He did a superb job.  

6,001 students graduated from BYU

After his graduation we went out for dinner at Old Towne Grill---yummy!  If you can believe it, BYU and UVU had their graduations on the same days.  So it was a zoo all over Provo with everyone celebrating.   It was fun to see so many happy families with their graduates, but it was also INSANE!!!  

Right after the graduation

Coby with his boss of 4 years where he worked as a Research Assistant of German documents

Matt and I with our 1st college graduate child

Yummy food at Old Towne Grill

Coby ringing the bell--there was a long line of other students waiting in line.

Right before Friday Mornings graduation

 On Friday Coby's college department had graduation at 8am.  We left our home at 6:50 to be able to be in our seats by 7:40.  I thoroughly enjoyed the Friday graduation. It was a much more intimate setting and they had a wonderful keynote speaker named Robert King.  He gave a great talk about how choices and the forks in the road that we each experience.  He talked about how up to this point, a college students life was laid  out before them.  He quotes some stats they were surprising to me.  He said between the ages of 18-44 most American will have had, 11 jobs.  He also said between the ages of 20-39 that 24 percent of youth will live with their parents.  WOW!!!

Coby graduated in Middle Eastern Studies/Arabic · International Development · German Literature. He has been very busy, and has traveled many miles to graduate in his majors.  The caliber people at BYU, and in his major is incredible.  They are so INTELLIGENT and AMBITIOUS.  They had the students raise their hands and the majority in his group spoke at least 3 languages and some knew up to 5 languages.  It is a pretty small major because of it difficulty which made me so proud of my son and his achievements. 

Coby and his close friend Seth

Coby in front of where he will be moving soon

Coby wanted to go inside his college departments building, where he spent so much time and take pictures.  Here are a few of them. 

We are so proud of you Coby Matthew Vail and we are excited to watch you continue to excel in life!

Multitasking 101

A week and a half ago I went with my brother Mark to hear my niece Layla perform at the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point.She has an amazing voice.

Later that evening I met Matt for dinner. Coby and Spencer had given us a gift card for dinner at

Christopher's Steak and Seafood.  It was delicious!!! 

On Saturday my friend Linda and I went out for lunch.  She came over to my home, it is hard to believe she has never been here before, but we always usually meet for lunch.  So it was fun to show her where I live.

The rest of Saturday was spent running errands.  It seems like I spend a lot of my Saturday's doing that now that I am working.  Kara spent all day at Bingham helping the various schools who came for the Theater Dance competition.  She went to parties both nights and Spencer went to Moab.  It was mostly Matt and I home, too bad he had to work all day Saturday.

Coby has had a some winding down activities since he is about to graduate for BYU. It has made me very reflective as I think of all he has accomplished in his short life.  I am happy for him, but I have certainly shed some tears when I contemplate that he is moving to Turkey in just a couple weeks.  He has a lot of exciting times coming and I am so delighted for him.

Above is a picture of Coby and his friend Seth meeting the Mayor of Provo at one of his closing events!!!

Last Tuesday Matt and I went to Provo to join Coby for a very nice dinner and to hear the Governor Herbert speak. 

On Wednesday my nephew Johnny and his roommate came and stayed with us.  It was fun to hear how his adventures at BYU-Idaho are going. Johnny is the one in the middle in the dark shirt and his roommate is standing on the right side.  After visiting Matt and Johnny went to a late night movie.  Spencer was kind enough to make dinner for our  whole group.  He is quite the chef.

 

On Thursday Kara went to BYU for a German Foreign Language event.  She competed in a singing event.  She sang in front of several judges singing in German.  Coby helped her with pronunciation and she got awarded the Best of Fair for the German Language which means she got 1st place out of all the German contestants. 

Matt and I celebrated our 26th wedding anniversary on Monday. We have been so busy that it was very low key.  But Matt had a pretty flower arrangement delivered to my work. He then came to my office and brought me my favorite kind of sandwich and we ate lunch together. I love the simple things!

Below is the Graduation Announcement I made for Coby's graduation.  It a little more creative and not as much money as the traditional kind.  We are excited for his graduation in a couple of days. 

I am experiencing  more good days than bad days, but I am still a more emotional person than normal and than what I want to be. 

 Today Colton took a ton of placements tests.  We are meeting with his vocation counselor to discuss the results and make a plan.  He has been so busy going to events or como plays.  He likes so many things that I  have no knowledge about. However, he goes to Institute each week faithfully and that I understand. 

Spencer got a recognition/award at work.  He is such a hard worker.  He has made it a goal to go to the temple every Wednesday.

Tomorrow Kara takes her driver's test.  I am excited for her to get her driver's license, but terrified of thinking about her driving all by herself.  

Our life seems to be in continual motion.  Someday it will slow down and be a semi slower motion, but for now I am trying my best to enjoy the journey!

Things I have learned: 

Don't get too bent out of shape when things don't go  the way you want them.  I seem to be learning this lesson over and over again.

You can accomplish a lot if you wake up every morning between 1 and 2 am.  This has become my new waking up time, and I can't figure out why, but it is driving me crazy and of course it makes me so tired.

It doesn't help to be angry at someone/ some people.  Especially if they don't know even know it because  it just makes you  feel unhappy.

It is hard to see your children be treated unfairly.  My Mother Bear comes out very ferociously and I want to defend.  As my sister in law says,  "Everyone needs a momma bear, but heaven help the person who crosses one."

My husband is AWESOME!  He cleaned out the whole fridge, reorganized the pantry,  put in new mulching in our front yard and he went grocery shopping this week!  WOW, what would I do without him?  

Temporarily shutting down your facebook page creates a lot more time and your phone doesn't vibrate all day long, but you miss seeing what everyone is up to.   

This last week.....

I won my Pick 6 Challenge Contest last week.  I was happy.  Yesterday I started a new Pick 6 Challenge.  I am aiming for 1st place again!!!

The last week at work seemed to exhaust me mentally and physically.  I feel completely overwhelmed and I  don't feel like I am learning everything quick enough.  I know I really am learning, but there is SO MUCH to learn and understand that it is daunting.  I had a pity party  this weekend and felt like I should quit, (there were a lot of factors I don't want to get into here)  but after going today I am feeling better. I am just so hard on myself and I want to learn everything NOW.  I really didn't believe my brother or my boss when I was told that it would take me up to a year to learn everything, but I am realizing they are right.  I believe if I think with that kind of mentality, that I might actually learn things quicker.


Meli's mom sent us more pictures of her and her family.  It is so amazing to feel like you are getting to  know someone who lives so far away.  Kara has been talking to her on the Internet too and has been delighted with Meli's cute personality.

 Coby is graduating from BYU in a little more than two weeks.  We are so proud of him.  He is a very kind soul who I learn from with every encounter.  We hardly have any time to spend with him before he leaves to go to live in Turkey on May 9th as he is swamped with papers and finals until then.   He is planning a trip to Seattle and a trip with friends so I am hoping we can have at least one family day, with everyone before he leaves.  It seems way too complicated to do with everyone's work schedule.

I am trying to plan a family picture and I haven't found one day available, but I am determined to not give up.

My aunt got home from the rehab last week.  And I have been so grateful to my sister in laws, Annette and Suzanne (pictures below) for going to Oregon to go and help her.  It is a sacrifice for them to do it, but I am so grateful.  I feel bad that I haven't been able to take a shift, since I started my job. She has been doing remarkable well. And my Aunt Traci has been so helpful driving everyone around and going and visiting my Grandma each day at the Care Center.

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Matt's dad also had a scare with his health in the last week.  I don't know too much, as they are still doing tests, but we are hoping that they will find some answers and help so he can prevent any more problems.

Colton has been dating a cute girl frequently and they go on the most creative dates.  I am impressed with the things he come up with.

Spencer didn't end up singing with the choir during the Priesthood session.  They had too many young adults and not enough music so he kindly stepped aside, much to Kara and I's sadness.   Spencer, I have learned he a very good chef.  Since I started working I have given each of the kids a night to cook and Spencer has impressed me every single night he has cooked.

Kara got another 4.0 this last quarter.  She finished her driver's ed class and is just waiting on her driver's ed instructor to give her the driver's test and then she will be an official driver.  I am excited and completely scared for her all at the same time!

Kara also got into Theater 3 at school, which is very hard to get into.  She had to memorize a LONG dialogue, and then present it in front of a panel with a lot of expression of course.  WOW.

And Matt has all of his bosses in town for the next two days for a huge dealer presentation.  I hope it  is going well for him (it is going on right now). He has been working so hard and is such an excellent boss and employee for their company!!!!

General Conference was wonderful.  I must admit I didn't have the best attitude, but I did enjoy. My favorite talks were both in the Sunday morning session and were by President Uchtdorf and Elder Holland.    I am going to have to listen to all the CD's  as soon as they arrive in the mail!!!

Happy Things.....

I love  the month of February!!!!! Even though it is winter, I love that so many people I love have birthdays in February and Valentine's day is one of my favorite holidays.  I love putting up Valentine decorations.  I LOVE hearts, like, crazy love them. 

 I love going to lunch with friends.  Last week I met Julie at the temple and then we went to lunch. I love talking to Julie and even though I moved, I am so grateful we are able to get together so frequently.  In case anyone didn't know they remodeled the  Jordan temple and they did it QUICK!!!

Last weekend, Kara spent it at the Utah Theater Association.  She loved it.  She saw a few musicals, she went to many classes and had a wonderful time.  She went for three solid days and came back renewed. 

 Also, last weekend we had planned to go to Coby's girlfriend Colleen's mission farewell, but the weather was HORRIBLE.  Coby's car was broken and they had a lot of people who wanted to go to Las Vegas for it.  So Matt rented a car for Coby, that was 4 wheel drive and was an SUV.  The ride home was a little scary, my words not Coby's, but it took a lot longer.  There were accidents everywhere.  I was worried sick.   And over the weekend, Matt fixed Coby's car.  He was pretty happy that he was able to fix it for Coby.  He is a great dad!

 I have been worried about Coby. I feel grateful his girlfriend is serving a mission, but it is hard on Coby to be away from her for 18  months.  I hate seeing my kids suffer.   She leaves this Wednesday, February 6th, and she is going to Thailand.  She will be a phenomenal missionary!!!  I really adore this girl and I am crossing my fingers that things will work out, and I am praying really hard too.

 On Tuesday night Kara, Coby and I went to see the Phantom of the Opera.  My friend Mindy got our tickets for us and I gave them to my two children who would enjoy it as a Christmas present. 

 The weather was so bad, that I was worried about driving there. So Kara and I drove to Provo with Mindy and family. Luckily, Brent, is an excellent driver and their Suburban does really well on the roads. 

 Above is a picture of Coby, Kara and Tianna. After we left him at 10pm, he was going to the library to study.  He usually stays until midnight and then walks all the way home, in the freezing, dark weather.  It makes me sad, that he does this practically every night, but he is a very dedicated student and he says if he drives it takes him almost as long to find a parking space.

It took us forever to come home from Phantom, but it was AMAZING!!!  The freeway was an ice rink.  It took us so long I was seriously worried, I wouldn't get my 7 hours for my fitness challenge and I didn't, but I came home from work on Wednesday and took a nap for less than an hour, even though I didn't have time, crazy, what a contest will do.

Yesterday I went to lunch with one of my best friends, Diane.  She is lives in Layton and we usually see each other at least every 3 months.  It was great to catch up with her.  Love her.

Friday night,  Matt planned our date. We went and saw Warm Bodies.  There really isn't any words I can use to describe it.  Very strange.  But he liked it.

On Friday afternoon I had a great visit with my friend Ann.  Even though we live in the same neighborhood, I hadn't talked to her like, I like.   She also let me borrow her Downton Abbey Season 3.  I have almost finished watching it. Thank you Ann, you are always so generous!!!  I won't even comment on my thoughts on Seasons 3.

 We planned a family activity for today with everyone, but plans changed.  Spencer had to work, Kara was sick with a bad sore throat and felt miserable, so it was just  the rest of our family.  We went up to the ski resorts, that Coby or Colton  had never been too. It was so yummy.  Coby and I both had the fish tacos and they were delicious and I probably used most of my calories for today, but it was worth it.

 Yesterday Coby told us that he got offered a job.   He told us about the opportunity a few weeks ago, but we didn't  know for sure if he would get it or not.  Well, he found out yesterday that he did.  He is moving to  ISTANBUL, Turkey. 

It is a wonderful opportunity and he is getting paid very well.  The company he is working with is providing free housing and several of his friends are going to work there too.  I think it is a good opportunity for him.  I am excited for him.  He is such a hard worker.   CONGRATS  Coby!!!!!!   We love you, and we will miss you terribly!  He will leave right after he graduates from college this April.  

Colton graduates from high school!

Colton graduated from high school on Friday, May 27th at the State Capitol.  The reason they could have it at the capital is because Colton only had a graduating  class of 90.  It was a beautiful day and the service was beautiful. Colton was so excited to graduate. 

Matt's sister Melissa and family drove all the way from Washington to be here for Colton's graduation.  It was so nice of them.  After Colton's graduation we went out to dinner at Olive Garden. It was so yummy.  After that we came home and Herb and Melissa had bought a yummy cake in honor of Colton's graduation!

On Saturday, May 28th we had a party to celebrate Colton graduating. My brother Matthew and family came and joined Melissa and family and a couple of Colton's friends too.  We are so proud of Colton for graduating.  We know great things await him now and in the future!