since i walked with chase in this school of business instead of my own college, i decided i didn’t need my own picture with his dean so we did a doublie.

graduation tricked me into thinking i was at hogwarts.  lots of different old and young people wearing weird robes that are in all shapes and colors.

and my cousin walked out of the ceremony and said “you can’t tell me that we’re not a cult”.  haha graduation ceremonies are SO WEIRD.  {oh hey, “so weird”.  anyone remember that old disney show?  that was one of my favs}.

i hate having to wear tall platform shoes just so i can still end up being 6 inches shorter than most people.  it’s lame.

i have a ton more photos that i want to put up…because i mean, what is a graduation post without the traditional jumping and throwing our caps picture? 

but last week we graduated and it was awesome to finally be done.  we had so many family members come to support and luckily it was a very short ceremony since it’s in august.  it was a great day!

we just got back from an 11 day trip to laguna beach and it was fantastic. there really is nothing better than spending a week with your sweetheart away from work and school.

we spent the first day in yorba linda with chase’s brother brady and his wife and twins–nicki, ella and talmage.  it was so fun to see them since we don’t get too very often.

then we headed to laguna and had three days to ourselves which we filled with good food, fun bike rides and just enjoying some time together.

then sunday rolled around and the whole smith family showed up.  we filled the week with beach days at emerald bay, an angels game, family pizza parties, midnight strolls next to the ocean,  long runs and bike rides together, the aerosmith concert, shopping, great food, catching up with family, building ginormous sand snakes, paddle boarding from main beach to emerald bay, and plenty of sunburns to go around.

it was such a nice week, but i’m glad to be home {even though we came home to a broken air conditioner and i feel like a swamp creature with how much i’m sweating}.

chase and i are finally graduating this august.  it feels like it’s been a very long time in the making, but then i remember that i’m only 21 and i even took a whole year off, so it can’t have been that long.  but the point is that we are so excited and i am looking forward to the changes that are coming at the end of august.

friday night i drug chase along to the living planet aquarium in sandy so that i could lust after the little penguins.  and oh my, they did not disappoint.  we had a fun time looking at all the creatures {even though there were too many fish and not enough ‘exotic’ things, in my opinion}.

i think that the miniature seahorses and penguins topped my list.   i could’ve spent a few hours just watching the penguins waddle around and belly flop into their pool.   it would be so cool to someday have pet penguins wandering around in my backyard and pushing each other into the pool.  a girl can dream, i guess.

anyway, these pictures aren’t the best, but it’s all i could do with the dim light in the joint.

that sting-ray was super slimy, i wasn’t expecting it and i might’ve let a quiet scream escape when it grazed my hand.

afterwards we tried this awesome greek place in salt lake called Aristo’s.  i think it’s a new favorite and we will be going back all the time.  they had the best chicken gyro that i’ve ever had.

saturday night we went with the schaerrer’s to the smoking apple for some bbq goodness and then to comedysportz.  it was a lot of fun!  {wish i would’ve taken pictures}.  we haven’t been there since our first date three years ago and i had forgotten how hilarious it can be.  i’m sure the audience loved hearing my foghorn laugh {i’m so ashamed that it has returned, i have got to get that under control}.  we even had the winning raffle ticket and won a free ticket to come back, so now we have no excuses not to plan another date night there.

and on an unrelated note, we are loving the summer so far.  we are just finally finding the time to get out and enjoy the sunshine.  i’m hoping the next few months stay warm so that we can fit a million more boat outings, camp trips and barbecues in.

this weekend was a lot of fun.

it started out great with me getting to leave work 2 1/2 hours early on friday {which is always a HUGE blessing}.

then friday night was filled with visiting with some friends, eating some yummy cupcakes {if i do say so myself}, then eating some even yummier curry, my cousin’s wedding, family gossip, freedom festival where i bought way too many sunglasses, and it ended with chase and i cuddling and watching about 5 episodes of How I Met Your Mother {we are so addicted}.

brookie was a beautiful bride, and her wedding was very fancy and delicious.  i really like jake and am so happy for them, but mostly i think i love this marriage because now her name will be brooke cook.  i can’t help it, i’m a sucker for names that rhyme.

saturday morning we woke up early and hit up the theatre to watch Eclipse.  i know it was rude of me to drag chase along, but he has a pretty good time making fun of everything that happens in each scene, so i don’t think he minded too much.  plus i bribed him with getting breakfast from gandolfos afterwards and watching some of the Tour de France after the movie.

then we just ran errands and took naps {what a blessed saturday!} until it was time to head over to the Yorks for the Stadium Of Fire fireworks.  we grabbed some BBQ from the Smoking Apple {they have the best sweet potato fries} and spent the night hanging out with awesome friends and watching the fireworks. and of course, we ended the night with more HIMYM.  it’s practically a nightly ritual now.

sunday we headed up to Logan to spend what was left of the weekend with my family.  we watched more of the Tour, made cupcakes, visited my favorite children of all time {the whites}, had a yummy BBQ and took some summer night walks.  it was a really nice day.

monday chase and i went shopping at Al’s so i could get me some new running shoes.  i love me my new nike frees!

afterwards we loaded the boat up and headed to hyrum dam to catch some rays.  it was the first time that the water had been high enough to jump off big-toe since i met chase, so it was his first time taking the plunge.  and of course, my little bros had to do it too. {once in high school was enough for me}

it was a very fun weekend and felt like summer is finally here!

and just because:

sunday afternoon naps are the highlight of my week (most of the time).  and this week didn’t disappoint.

i woke up from my own nap to see chase and baxter cuddling together.  sometimes i forget he’s a dog because of how much he acts like a baby.  i mean, he even curls up on his side and can nap for hours on our tummies.

oh man, i need a baby.  or at least to start treating my dog less like one.

so far this summer we’ve done a few races (which i still need to post pictures of) but we haven’t really had a lot of time to kick-off our summer, which has been shameful.

but this past weekend we finally started enjoying the sunshine.  we packed up on friday night and headed up southfork canyon for an overnight camp-out.  we hiked about 20 minutes into the trees (and it was so beautiful) and set up camp.  we enjoyed ourselves some campfire dinners and smore’s, exploring the woods with baxter and pushing him into the stream, watching the sunset in our hammocks and just relaxing.

i’m really looking forward to going on more camping trips during the next few months.

so….let summer begin!

the little sister finally graduated from high school (even though she’s already been moved down to provo and attending BYU for a month already).

she is “so over it” so she wouldn’t take any pictures in her cap and gown with me, so this is the best i could do.

also, for those of you in my graduating class (2006), remember how painfully boring it was?  i can’t even remember anything but how long aaron fronk’s speech was and how i wished that one more person would’ve blown up a beach ball so that devil-woman sheri would’ve shut down the whole thing so we could get out of the boringness.

well, this one came pretty close to putting me to sleep several times.  but she did it and i’m so proud of her!

love you tay tay

chase and i thought we would start to sneak our way into the positions of favorite uncle and favorite aunt amongst our nieces and nephews.

it’s going well. i’m almost positive that in a few years, my nephew parker {who is currently 11} will be coming to talk to me about his girl problems without feeling embarrassed because i’m already starting to bug him about it. same with maddie.

but for our fun outing, we grabbed sophie, parker, christian and maddie and headed to pirate island to play games and chow on pizza.

little did i know that there was an arcade. or that the whole place felt eerily like pirates of the carribbean ride at disneyland. naturally i was in heaven. and i wasn’t the only one. christian and sophie thought the arcade room was the best thing they had ever laid eyes on.

it was a really fun time and the food wasn’t too bad either. it was kind of like an amped up chuck e cheese {i wouldn’t know i’ve never been, but so chase tells me}.

we thought it couldn’t get any better, but then they announced it was karaoke night. parker had so much enthusiasm about singing to journey, so we signed them up and let me tell you….the brammer family won’t be winning american idol any time soon.

the photo above shows just how enthusiastic parker turned out to be when he was in front of everyone singing. oh wait, he didn’t sing. not even one word. he just stared at the crowd with big eyes and looked like he was going to puke. haha it was incredible. he won’t ever live this down.

so, it was up to chase to carry the song. and if anyone has heard chase sing, you already know that it wasn’t pretty. however, sophie carried the show by babbling into the microphone. everyone clapped and loved her. it’s my opinion that she is a total rockstar to be.

and here they are in all their glory. maddie and i were not brave enough to get up on stage, so we were the designated photographers {of which all my pictures were taken on the iphone so they are terrible quality, my apologies}.

and for christian? well it’s hard to list all the places he was during this song–the little tazmanian devil! he was in the arcade room, then eating pizza, then the jungle gym, then the photo booth, then climbing up the stairs to the pirate room, then back to eat pizza and it goes on and on.

but the most important place that he went was up on stage for about 30 seconds where he decided that it was appropriate to kick chase in the shins over and over while he was singing. the audience got a good laugh out of that one.

oh man, i love being an aunt. however, it was the first time i got a good idea of how having a family of 4 would be on my energy and patience. it was hard to keep them still for even 2 minutes, and the little ones kept running away.

it almost made me regret all of my jokes and criticism about parents who use leashes on their kids. almost.