wow

it's been a really long time, and i've been horrible at keeping up so i'll try to make up for it by making a longish boring list of all the stuff we've been up to! Brandon and I celebrated our three year anniversary in style (thanks to his parents) in our concierge suite at the park city marriott, we felt pretty ritzy for three wonderful fun filled days. we rode the alpine slides, the coaster, and went on a 20 mile tandem bike ride. gracie spent her first trip away from us and every night we went to bed talking about all the things we missed about being away from her. im serious. she was happy as could be when we got home to her, and cried half the way home because grandma wasn't coming back to our house with us. we are preparing for a new adventure in san diego, staying with my family (woot woot) until octoberish when (hopefully) brandon will be going out to virginia for three months of officer candidate school (pretty much bootcamp all over again) he just picked up sergeant this morning on his way out to AT for three weeks. i am very proud of him, he has worked very hard to become a marine officer, and was one of two people selected from the county that had their applications even submitted past the first two boards. gracie is becoming such a lively lovely girl. she runs constantly and spins around and around dancing wherever she goes. she is trying to open doors now, which is sort of frightening and reminds me of that scene in jurassic park where the velociraptor opens the kitchen door by itself. when she becomes cranky i just ask her if she wants to go nigh nigh and she nods and we lay her down and she goes to sleep. she is a sleeping champion. not sure who she gets that from... :] i am packing like a crazy lady and trying to get as many tips from pinterest as possible for cleaning a rental apartment. two weeks ago i accepted a job as a water aerobics teacher at the orem rec center, and i've loved every second teaching there but sadly we have to leave! i wasn't expecting to have to go so soon!!!! my favorite class is my prenatal hour, those girls are so fun and full of life (literally) ive been a baking machine as well, ive finally found my perfect pie crust recipe... and i've been experimenting with different birthday cakes. yesterday the family had a july birthday month party and i brought a chocolate cookies and cream filled cake with jimmies on top. i wish i'd gotten a photo of the decadent dish. grace is just babbling up a storm, she sounds like an indian turkey or something, gobbly gooking as she walks from thing to thing telling you exactly what she thinks of it. some of her new words are, baba, baby, buddy, nighnigh, and moo. she is growing up so fast! my mom is coming into town on monday and i am thrilled! she is going to help me move this entire house into storage, pack up my clothes, gracies, and all our important things and fly back within a week. when brandon gets back he will finish up with a few of the bigger things my mom and i cant lift and then pack his things and check out! if the officer canidate school doesnt work out utah can expect us to return for the fall/winter to see if brandon can take the GRE and get into BYU's MPA program for public administration. both paths are exciting and take us to new experiences and we are grateful for every one!