THE QUILT

Sara decided now that we are done with school and bored out of our minds that she would take up quilting.  Her mom gave her a bunch of old levi's so she decided for her first quilt she would make a levi rag quilt.  Now most people when they first start quilting might try making a baby blanket just to get their feet wet and practise a little before they move on to bigger quilts.  But not my Sara.  She decided to make a CALIFORNIA KING sized quilt.  So we got online and found the demensions for the quilt and found out that it was 110 inches by 96 inches.  So then she started cutting.  It took a bout a week to cut 265, 8 inch squares out of old levi's. 

And here they are all laid out.

It is huge!!   Now most people for their first quilt would be satitsfied with a normal plain back side of the quilt perhaps a good plaid pattern but not my Sara.  She did some searching online and found a levi quilt with an American flag pattern for the back and she had to have it espesially since it is memorial weekend and all.  So we went to walmart and bought some red, white and blue material for the back side.  She then cut out those and made them into an amerian flag.

  Here is a close up of a couple of the red and white materials

Here it is all sewn together.

So she has got the backside all sewn together and as I type she is sewing the last row of levi's together.  And she just started to cut out the levi's last Saturday.  She is freaking amazing.  

I will post more as it comes along.

Family Photos

Our parents wanted to get some family photos taken before we left so here they are!  A very nice lady that Stephanie works with took our pictures and then Josh edited them in photoshop.

The Carpenters

The Carpenter Girls

Mom and Dad Carpenter

The Macklins

Mom and Dad Macklin

Macklin Girls

Tessa Boo

I really like the black and white with one thing colored!

SUU Graduation

Well we did it! We finally graduated from college. Both of us got a Bachelors in Biology with a minor in Chemistry. I did it Magna Cum Laude (which I guess means that I had pretty good grades). The day was made even more special because the keynote speaker at the morning commencement exercises was President Thomas S. Monson of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints! He gave the most amazing speech about learning from the past, preparing for the future, and living in the present. It was a very humbling experience to be so close to the prophet and to hear him speak to us on such a personal level. We feel so privileged to have the opportunities that we have had while at SUU. We feel that we did get a quality education and that we built many lasting friendships with the faculty and with our peers. We were very close to many teachers at SUU and we will miss our interactions with them. It will be strange not to head back to the halls of the Science building come fall. The school is actually adding on to the current science building so after this summer it will no longer be the way we remember it. We had a lot of stress and frustrations over the years but also a lot of joy and rewards because of our diligent efforts. We will definately miss the blooming trees along the sidewalk of the science building and the beautiful aroma they gave off. The campus truly was beautiful and we were very lucky to live in such a magnificent part of the world. We are moving on to bigger and better things and are looking forward to what the future has in store for us but there will always be a special place in our hearts for our alma mader Southern Utah University!! GO T-BIRDS!
After graduation Rick and Stephanie had a great BBQ at their house and so many of our close friends and family came from near and far to be there for us. They were all so supportive and helpful to us and we feel so blessed to have the families that we have. There was good food and good company and we had so much fun. Thanks Mom and Dad Carpenter for the fun night!
We also just want to thank everyone who came to celebrate this important day with us. To our parents, thank you so much for all your sacrifices, love, support, and friendship as we were working towards this moment, we could not have done it without you! We love you so much!


this is our most favorite teacher, Rachel Smetanka. She is the most amazing person and we love her!


This is us with my family right after we graduated! (Tess, My daddy, Mama, me, Josh, and Grandma Macky(my dad's mom).


Here we are with Josh's 2 grandmas, Grandma Noza(stephanie's mom) and Grandma Carol(Rick's mom)


here I am with the Dean of the College of Science, Robert Eves, and one of the SUU trustees getting my diploma.


Josh shaking hands with the trustee after getting his diploma.


(I have lots of cool pictures but for some reason it won't let me upload them so sorry its boring!)

Birthday Weekend and Unlucky 21

I remembered to take the camera with us on all our adventures but forgot to use it so this will be kind of boring. Friday My mom and Josh had a big yard sale and then she made my favorite dinner and cake. Saturday her and I got up early and went to St. George for the day. We went shopping and got some cute summer clothes and an outfit for graduation and my interview for hygiene school. Then we went out to lunch and to costco and after that we both got hour long massages. We came back to cedar and were going to get our nails done but decided we will wait until this week so they will look good for graduation. We went out to eat at brad's for dinner and then her and my dad bought me this super yummy German chocolate cake from the lady who made our wedding cake. They lit the candles and sang happy birthday and then my mom and I worked on some craft projects for my interior design final. Then sunday morning (my real birthday) Josh brought me breakfast in bed and we just spent some quality time together. Then we got ready and packed for Mesquite. We drove down and thats when the bad luck began. I put some money in a slot machine and lost it all, put some money down on red and lost that too, played bingo 3 times and got really close but never won. I was seriously bummed and sick that I had just lost all that money! And to top it all off, while I was playin my $5 from the virgin river rewards card, my flip flop broke and they were the only shoes I had. We were right next to the gift shop so we went in and there were only some ugly green ones for $15! I was very depressed and cried most of the night. Luckily I have a wonderful husband who was super patient and sweet. My parents came and had dinner with us there and then we went to the liquor store and bought some grenadine(fruity flavoring for Shirley Temples, our favorite!). We stayed at the Eureka hotel and the room was really nice. We had fun spending the whole day together. Being 21 isn't all it was cracked up to be!



Me and My mama at the end of a long and very fun day!


My beautiful and delicious birthday cake. Thanks Mom and Dad, and Thanks Liz for making it!

Graduation Surprise!

I received a letter in the mail from SUU today. It says " we are extremely proud of your academic success and are pleased to announce that you will be designated as graduating with honors at the Southern Utah University Commencement on May 2, 2009. In recognition of your academic excellence, the university will provide you with a medallion. The medallion is to be worn around your neck with your commencement gown so that those attending the ceremony will recognize your outstanding achievement." I am pretty excited, I wasn't really expecting anything so it was kind of a shock. I am so happy to be finishing up and to have this behind me. I'm working on applying for hygiene school right now. I got the application in the mail and got my personal statement written and am working on getting all the letters I need. I think its coming together really well and I have a good feeling about it. I'm looking forward to my interview and hearing back. There are 30 spots so I'm counting on one of those seats! Thanks to all our friends and family and all your love and support as we have been working to achieve our goals. We love you all and are looking forward to seeing you in a couple weeks!

"Faith in God includes Faith in His Timing" -Neil A. Maxwell

We spend the weekend dreaming of the house we found in California. Our real estate agents got us pictures and we showed our families and envisioned all the things we could do to fix it up. We prayed and prayed and could just hear them telling us we got it....
Today they called and said we didn't, but we are the back up offer so if anything falls through with these people, we got it. So there is still hope but we are definately bummed :( I had just called to give my parents the news and was talking to my mother in law stephanie while I thumbed through the Desert Book ad. I found a page of cute quote stuff (my weakness ) and found the best quote by Neil A. Maxwell, "Faith in God Includes Faith in His Timing". What a perfect lesson for that moment. I needed to remember that and know that God has a plan for us. We are so blessed and have been give so much thus far and we know that things willl work out. They always do. The lord is still trying to teach me patience. Keep praying for us. If this house doesn't work out I'm sure there is something better out there. Anyway, Just wanted to share that with you all. Hopefully you were as touched by that thought as we were. Love ya!

Jazz Game!!!!

We had the opportunity to go to the Jazz vs Golden state game yesterday with Danica and Derek. Danica's little sister's dance group was dancing before the game and we got a good deal on seats. We got there at 5:30 and were able to watch the players warm up. Then we got to sit court side and watch them dance. While we were waiting we walked over behind the basket and Ronnie Brewer was signing autographs. We had bought jerseys before the game and Josh had his. So he took it off and was waving it around and Brewer saw him and was like "hey, do you want me to sign that?" so josh tossed it to him and he signed it on the number! There were so many people and we weren't really close so we didn't think we would get it but we did! What a nice guy! so then after the girls danced, they met 2 of the Jazz dancers and then we were all walking to the elevator to go up to the nosebleed section and someone said "Hey look its president Monson!" So we all turned and ran back and low and behold there he was in the flesh close enough to touch! Josh said "President Monson, We are graduating from SUU this month!" and he said in his usual manner "Oh I'm going to be down there" and Josh patted him on the back and I said "we will see you there!" hahah I was in shock and couldn't come up with anything better to say. Everyone got off the elevator to talk to him and then when he got in no one got back on we were all just too astonished. It was pretty amazing I can't even describe how cool it was. SO then the jazz lost and were totally disappointing and just walked off the court with 10 seconds left! what losers! But after the game we were waiting for Shannon to find her shoes and we saw Thurl Bailey and Pace Manning doin the post game show. The producer told josh and derek and a bunch of other people to go in and they got to be on TV! Josh was all decked out with his jersey and head band and stuff. He was the loudest one! So then we were just hangin around watchin them and during the commercial break Thurl waved us over and we got to shake his massive hand! I was so retarded I just had this cheesy grin on my face and shook his hand but couldn't say a word! Derek found out he was related to Pace. so they were all talking sports and family and what not! it was unbelieveable. Then when we were walking back to the hotel, Matt Harpring came flyin around the corner and almost hit us in the cross walk! and as we started walking another Jazz player pulled out and gave us 2 beeps! Josh swears it was Ronnie Brewer so we will just say it was. It was pretty much the most amazing day ever! We had such a great time!

Here are some pictures, not really in order but bare with me here... it's taken 3 days to post this haha

Danica and Derek and here cutie pie little brother Dane


So stoked for the Game in our sweet new jerseys


Paul Millsap and Brevan Knight warming up


Kyle Korver warming up....mmmhmmm


Jazz vs. Golden State


Shannon and Dance Magic showin off their moves


PRESIDENT MONSON!!!! YEAH THAT PART WAS FOR REAL!


The backs of our sweet jerseys...Before!


AFTER!!


Me watchin the boys warm up! How cool


Joshy on cloud 9. Can you tell he was excited?

Ronnie Brewer signing Josh's jersey!


that guy, Pace Manning and Thurl Bailey!

Totally bummed that the Jazz got whooped at home :(

Josh and Derek right before they were on TV! Joey Decker is the cute one in front # 47 it was his 16th birthday! He is so funny!