We are alive and kicking!

So today Justin takes his last two finals EVER!!!! Then tomorrow and Saturday he takes his National Boards! It has been a stressful week of packing, cleaning, tests, and studying, but we are almost there! I don't think I will ever shout as loud as I will at this weeks graduation ceremony!!! It has been a long time coming, and we couldn't be more excited than we are now! We are still a little in denial, but are trying to prepare ourselves for our new life as a funeral director and funeral directors wife!!! It feels really good to be where we know that we are supposed to be in life, doing what we need to be doing. I thank Heavenly Father that after these six long years that we have this great blessing of knowledge! Now upward and onward!
 

  Our sweet baby Brigham Dyal came home for just a few days before being taken to Washington DC! Candace and Adam came down and enjoyed one last hang out night, and thinking about it makes me cry! I have been rooting for their family the entire time we have lived here. Brigham was in the hospital for something like 6 weeks after having open heart surgery just days after being born. He is so sweet, and I am so thankful that he has been born into such a loving home! We miss our friends already, but we know that they are enjoying Washington DC on their internship! Can't wait to see them this weekend when we drop off a bike!


I can't believe Megan was ever a real baby. Although she was never as small as cute Brigham!

I present you my Lylia! 

Lylia loves to dance and twirl. Thank you to Jennifer who gave Lylia this dress! It has become one of her new favorites! Although she usually wears a shirt under it for modesty.

 On Sunday we got just a few pictures of people we loved. Irv is one of them. Irv holds Meg for us on Sundays. He lost his own sweet family in a fire, and so he helps love our kids. He is a really sweet guy that we are so grateful to have become friends with!

My sweet beautiful friend Liz! Doesn't she look so cute!? Liz was one of my few friends who quilts, and who I wish I could have quilted more with. She introduced me to the dinosaur fabric at Jo-Anns and it made a cute quilt for the Dyals. Liz has been such a great friend to me while I have been here. She invited me over for lunch, which I have to thank her for. Her friendship was much needed! Yesterday she took Lylia to the park for 2 hours!!!! I couldn't believe that someone could love me that much! Truly it means the world to me. Thank you Liz!! 

My sweet friend Bonnie! Bonnie played the piano while I tried to conduct the music in Relief Society. Her and her husband attend different churches, and so we got to drive her to the Lutheran Church after our services so she could be with her husband. She always has amazing comments, and just feels too shy to share them. I am so thankful we became dear friends. I will miss Bonnie's smiling face! 

So on Labor day we decided to have a BBQ with the Waits downstairs on our amazing porch, along with our two favorite missionaries! I got a call from Candace that I had been waiting for for days! It was so good thanks to Laura, who graced us with her amazing potatoes and corn. All I made was fruit salad and bought a little pound cake with strawberries and cream. They are the best! I really am going to miss them. Laura has become a dear person to me. She is such a loving caring person. When she asks you how you are, you know she really wants to know, and that she isn't just going through the motions. I am thankful for those days she came and sat outside with me while I repainted my desk and other projects, and would tell me when a color didn't look right! Thanks to Laura's super clean apartment, I have decided to streamline my life, and hopefully get rid of more things when we get to Reading! 

 Elder Lucio, Elder Van der Spek, James and Laura Waite and Lylia and I! 

We have been privileged enough to spend a lot of time with these missionaries doing service and at dinner every Wednesday. We have seen great blessings in our lives because of them! I will miss them a lot! But look forward to our next set of missionaries in Reading, and hopefully helping the kingdom grow there! 

Doing the cool handshake that you explode at the end. Lylia didn't get the whole thing, but the exploding part she is good at! 

It was such a beautiful evening for a bonfire! lol. It was so nice sitting on our steps just laughing and having a good time with the Waites just one more time before we move. Living in apartment life really does have its benefits! We lived next to two wonderful families, that we will miss! I hope they come visit us!

James and I share a love for history, and had fun talking about all the things you can see and do around the East coast! 

And lastly Megan has a new trick! The doctor said yesterday that she is ahead of her age! And Justin and I love when the doctors tell us our children are smart! She can roll over, crawl backwards, and can go from her tummy to her bottom!!! Good thing we are moving to a cleaner carpeted apartment! Just in time for a baby crawler!