My Story: Courtney: January thru June

FEBRUARY

Courtney skipped the first night of our trip because she had the Valentine's Dance. Nick had school on Friday, so she babysat him that night and got him out the door the next morning.

Can't believe how old our kids are getting!

Courtney just might be able to out-ski her Dad. And that makes him so proud!

MARCH

Our Relief Society has a tradition of presenting a quilt to each graduating senior girls as they transition from Young Women's to Relief Society. We had to make the quilt at home and then at a Relief Society Enrichment night, the ward Sisters all worked together to tie the quilts.

To get our at-home job done, we called in the expert... Aunt Marge! Marge taught us how to iron and pin the pieces and then sew them together to make it big enough. She also joined us for the tying night!

Oh how I love these girls that Courtney has grown up with!! (And their moms! We are blessed!)

Jazz game in the box!

This winter and spring was filled with expectation as we waited for acceptances and denials from colleges. She had early acceptance at Fordham. It was a good feeling to be accepted at a school she was excited to go to -- Whew! Next she got Accepted to BYU, which was anti-climatic since she'd already decided she'd prefer to go to Fordham out-of-state. She also got accepted to Virginia Tech.

The next was University of Washington (foreshadowing!) and an unexpected scholarship and pre-acceptance into their engineering program. And all that time we thought her first choice was still Fordham in New York!

She got wait-listed at UCLA and William and Mary, which quite frankly, we were surprised about. And then lots of Denials... MIT, Penn, Columbia, Berkeley, Stanford. Which we were not that surprised about. But still, it was fun to hope!

On the last day of school before Spring Break, the New High School was officially opened. A celebration was held with balloons, school song and cheers. Students (and volunteer PTA parents) got to explore the new building, gyms, classrooms and facilities. It was beautiful!

APRIL

Courtney Spring Breaked with friends at St. George AND Lake Powell.

So much for getting the quilt done or getting our Vespa licenses.

But how could I say no to fun?

I did make her stay up until 1 or 2 a.m. the night before she left making a pros and cons and questions lists for our upcoming visits to Fordham and U of Washington.

Courtney, Dan and I visited Fordham. While in New York we dragged Dan to Newsies (it was awesome!), took a run in Central Park and ate at Josie's and Max Brenner's. Dan went home after our visit to Fordham but Courtney and I stayed one more night. We were exhausted so after a nap, we decided to just order room service and watch a movie. Dinner arrived without a hitch, but then the movies wouldn't queue up. Soon after the power went out and of course the elevator went with that. And then the water got turned off.

We watched Modern Family episodes on my iPad until the battery ran out and rationed what water was left in our water bottles. When we woke up in the morning the power was back on but not the water! It all turned out fine and we did get water in time for a shower before our flight. Anyone who had spent the night on the town had to go sleep at a neighboring hotel because they couldn't get to their rooms with the power out! Word to the Wise: When The Palace has great rates, it's probably because they're under construction.

The next week we headed to UDub. Nick came with us because he was out of school that Friday. Marty stayed on his own for a couple of nights and LOVED it. Courtney LOVED U Dub. It rained non-stop so we got a true representation of the climate. Said Courtney, "So great! I'll get lots of cute rainboots and I'll never have to do my hair!!"

World's Largest Book--on display at the library at UDub

Walked down to the pier and found "that place that dumps all the crab and corn on the table." A Seattle fav! (Okay, only been there once before, but I have a feeling we will be there lots more in the future!)

The final result was that she Loved New York and liked Fordham. She'd thought she'd always wanted to go to school in New York, but realized she wanted to live in Manhattan. Fordham was the Bronx and it simply doesn't feel the same.

After stepping foot on UDub's campus, she knew it was the place for her. They even have a club lacrosse team she wants to try out for, she's excited for the football games and also the brand-new dorms!

And ending the month was Courtney's Birthday! 18!!

Courtney's friends planned a surprise party up the canyon. The best birthday EVER!

MAY

I almost forgot about Lacrosse! At the end of the season, Courtney's coaches honored her with "The Most Dedicated Player Award." Never misses a practice, always has a great attitude and works hard, and encourages the players around her. If all our players were as dedicated as Courtney, we'd make it to the State Championship!"

Sr. Prom with Nate M.

Lots of graduations and transition events! Aside from Young Women's to Relief Society Transition, they also had Seminary Graduation.

And of course, High School Graduation.

I got to be the driver getting these 7 gorgeous ladies to the Huntsman Center on time!

It was surreal to be there with one of my best friends, Carol, and her daughter.

Can it really have been 25 years?

I'm in the back with the glasses. Carol is falling over in the front!

Celebrating with the whole family at Grand America.
Chris didn't come because he didn't want to miss the last day of Elementary School.
Nicholas came to graduation but skipped out on lunch for a friend's birthday party.
But Aunt Marge came, and Grandpa and Diane, as well as
Jo Ellen, Kory, Vi, Baby Claire and Ryan. Party!