.yay.

.i am so lucky. my family is so close and i love it. i never really appreciated it until i met so many families who aren't. the holidays have been so great with melanie and jenny and their families in town and mike and jason and their families hanging out. and also. my aunt and uncle came tonight for a sleep over. it is so much fun. and i love them all so much and am happy that we get to spend so much time together.

p.s. lots of pictures to come.

.weehaw.

.this year for christmas i only wanted one gift. a bundt pan. and much to my surprise i got one in the mail today from syed. i was so excited. he also sent a pink wisk. orange measuring scoops. and a knife and spatula serving set. let the baking in style begin. oh and he also sent me my favorite usher perfume. yes i am spoiled. i know.

.it's beginning to look a lot like christmas.

.yowsa. i never knew it could snow so much in one day. i woke up in the midst of a blizzard and it continued through most of the day. my mom and i had to brave the storm to go christmas shopping. it was a pretty successful trip for me i just need something for my dad.
.last week my mom and i went down to st.george/hurricane to see melanie's new baby. (pictures will come). we also got to spend time with jenny and her family. it was a blast. and thanks lakey for giving up your bed.
.our family is growing by the minute.
.on december 2nd jason and angie had another little girl. justice kate. and on the 13th melanie and aaron also had another little girl. brooklyn arin. they are both so adorable.
.i can't wait for christmas and for all the family to be in town. i am trying to convince my sisters to come on christmas eve so the don't get stuck in the monster storm we are expecting christmas day. so jen and mel. if you are reading this. get packing.

.woot.woot.

.today my praxis II (teacher certification test) scores arrived.
.I PASSED.

.once upon a time i graduated from college.

.get ready for an extremely long post with a lot of pictures. last tuesday mom dad and i headed to hawaii so i could graduate from college. woot woot. wednesday night some friends and i got together to hang out before we all graduated. here are some pictures from the event.
.left to right. evelyn. tinni. jennifer. crystal. onita. and me.
.we were doing some funny pics. this one was a crack up crystal said lets pick whitney up. so i stood in front of everyone. evelyn grabbed my ankles and onita got my arms. then jennifer said. do i get the butt. we were laughing so hard we couldn't stop.
.thursday night we went to kaneohe. syed and vickie came with us. we got some ruby tuesday for dinner. it was fun.
.here i am at the graduation banquet. it was cancelled thursday because all the roads were flooded. we got 14 inches of rain on thursday! everyone was a little upset because the banquet was $20 and all we got was finger food. what a let down. it was still tons of fun though being with friends.
.left to right. urshla. me. hannah.
.crystal. me. jennifer.
.me and tinni. this was the singing of aloha oe. :(
.after the banquet.
.president eyring spoke at graduation. he gave an awesome speech. it was a really bitter sweet day. mom tried getting a picture of me shaking president eyrings hand but took it a little late. here i am about to shake the president of the universitys hand.
.the recessional. .me and my parents. thanks to them i went to college.
.leaving graduation..at the hotel with all my leis and gifts from graduation. and mom and dad gave me a hawaiian heirloom bracelet. not pictured here..sunday was the only sunny day. so we decided to spend sometime outside. this was the view from our room..me and syed at sunset beach..mom and i in front of the laie temple..i had such an amazing time. i can't believe i am actually a college graduate. it was so much fun that today i looked at graduate schools. if everything goes well i will teach next year and save some money and go for my masters in 2010.

.kids.

sometimes kids drive me nuts. kicking the seat. asking why this why that. making messes. screaming. but man life is so much more fun with them around. please kids come back and play.

.a very long catch up post.

.Once upon a time these two cuties decided to get married.
.they held their wedding luncheon at tucanos. it was delicious.

.The folks at tucanos embarrassed them a little bit and we all got a good laugh.


.Charley had a delicious slice of chocolate cake for dessert.


.Me and Kaitlyn at the reception.


.Cincy may or may not be up to something.


.My dad is a little bit silly sometimes.
This is a picture of the groomsmen. Jason. Mike. Broc.


.Mike and Kajsia's little niece. Looks like he's a ladies man.


.It must me a McCoy thing.


.After the wedding festivities we had a little fun with the family in town. Me. Mom. Jenny and the kids. Went to Discovery Gateway and played. The kids had a lot of fun.


.But not as much fun as Jenny and I.



.Aunt Carrie partied with us too.
.We played games all night and went and saw Mama Mia. .AGAIN.