John's Graduation

WE did it!!

I mean, HE did it!

Well actually, I do mean WE...it was definitely a joint effort.
On Friday the 6th, John graduated with his MBA from Indiana University with his major in marketing and his minor in finance. We are so proud of him, and all of the time, effort, and energy he has invested in school these last two years. It has been challenging at times, but has also been a period of growth for each of us individually, and as a family. It has also been a really happy time, and I am surprised at how sad I am to see it come to an end. But this post is all about celebrating, and we are SO happy for John and his accomplishment!



Walking across the stage, and shaking the Dean's hand.

John was also honored with the student selected best public speaker award. We knew that he was nominated as one of the top 5 students for this award, but didn't know he had won until they called his name at graduation. I was a very proud wife :)

Both of our parents came to Bloomington to take part in the celebration, and we are so grateful for their efforts in making the journey. It wouldn't have been the same without them.

John's Parents (His dad is holding his public speaking award)
My parents
Pointing to a squirrel up in the trees. Much more exciting than graduation if you are an 18 month old.



Our future graduates

The Little Mermaid

John's parents came into town last weekend for John's graduation, and brought with them the cutest Little Mermaid costume for Makenna. She was so excited about her new gift, and didn't waste anytime trying it on for us.

John bought Makenna a Little Mermaid necklace a few months ago during a trip to NYC, and ever since she has been asking for a Little Mermaid dress to go with it. Thank goodness for Grandmas and Grandpas to make a little girl's wishes come true!

BYU Women's Conference

I had the opportunity to fly out to Utah last weekend for BYU Women's Conference. I met my mom, sister, and sister-in-law there, and I was so excited to see them. We had such a wonderful time, and although my trip was short (Thurs- Sat) I was so glad that I was able to go. I haven't spent much time in Provo since I graduated in 2006, so it was really fun to be back and spend some time on campus.

The conference started on Thursday morning, but since John still had classes on Wednesday, I didn't leave until Thursday. I left VERY early (3:45am!!) to drive to the airport, and arrived in Provo by early afternoon, to catch the afternoon classes. All of the different classes we attended were so wonderful, and I really felt spiritually fed. We had such a fun time together, and are already planning our next trip!

All 4 of us
Amanda and I at the Marriott Center

In a class in the JSB auditorium (American Heritage anyone??)

We also did plenty of shopping at the BYU bookstore which was fun.

Friday was filled with more wonderful classes, and then I was able to see two of John's brothers and their wives on on Friday night, which was so much fun. I wish that I could see them more often; they are awesome.

On Saturday after women's conference was over, we drove up to the Provo temple. It had SNOWED on Friday night, so it was fun to take some pictures with the snowy temple in the background. Then after a quick trip to IKEA, it was off to the airport for the trip home.

Eating breakfast at the Cannon Center

The Snow!

More Easter

We really did have so much fun this year with all of our Easter celebrations.
Our first big activity was the MBAA's Easter egg hunt, where the kids met the Easter Bunny himself! Since it was pouring rain, the egg hunt was held at the MBA school, in the lounge. The kids didn't seem to mind one bit, and were happy to crawl under tables and around cords to find their eggs.

Hudson managed to find a few eggs as well.

Makenna LOVED the Easter Bunny, and gave him (her?) no less than a half dozen hugs. They also danced together which was pretty fun.

Another highlight of the Easter activities was the Sunday afternoon neighborhood potluck that was moved to the church building last minute because of the rain. (We've had a very wet and cool spring.) The food was delicious, and it was so great to be able to celebrate this special day with friends since all of our families are far away.

The kids had their own table which they loved.

Our final big Easter activity, happened after Easter, and was a dinner/craft/egg hunt put on by the Kelley Kids MBA club. The kids made Easter Bunny ears, which turned out pretty cute. We also had a small break from the rain (miraculously), and were able to enjoy an outdoor Easter egg hunt!

The egg hunt was momentarily broken up by the appearance of a cute, little puppy, which my kids immediately flocked to. They both LOVE puppies. I don't think it will be too long before we add a puppy to our family.

Favorite Easter Pic

I just downloaded 96 pictures to my computer from all of our Easter activities!

96!!

We had a busy, fun weekend celebrating. Here is a breakdown of all of the fun: 2 Easter egg hunts, an encounter with the Easter bunny, a big Easter potluck, finding and going through Easter baskets, dying Easter eggs with friends, making bunny ears, eating lots of candy, making and delivering sugar cookies, and eating lots more candy! I will probably do a longer post later, but since I have an early morning tomorrow (I have to wake up at 3:15am!!), I just wanted to share the funniest picture from the 96, which also happens to be my favorite.

This picture was taken after church on Sunday. You can see all of the "grass" from the Easter baskets all over the floor. Hudson somehow managed to get out of his pants and vest, and then put on Makenna's Cinderella shoes. He was pretty happy stomping around in those things.

Happy Easter!

Incredible India

Last night John and I had the opportunity to perform for the Asian MBAA's

Incredible India night.

Our good friend Adam (a first year MBA, and friend from BYU) was asked to put together a Bhangra dance for the event, and since Adam and I danced together at BYU (and performed a Bhangra dance), he recruited John and I to join. It was really fun to dance and perform again; it has been awhile.

The night started with an authentic Indian dinner (red dots included).

Then we got into costume before the show started.

We were able to watch most of the show since we were the finale. There were several other dance numbers, some singing and instrumental performances, an Indian dating show (that was hilarious), and some videos and skits. I was quite impressed with how much work went into the show.

One of the other dance numbers

We had some help with our make-up and accessories during our final prep for our performance. I guess Bhangra dancers grow beards, so some of the other Indian performers painted them on the guys in our group.

Adam and John in their awesome make-up

Since we were the last number of the show, the audience had thinned out a little (we didn't perform until 10:40PM!!), but everyone seemed to love it. In fact, we missed our entrance because we couldn't hear the music with everyone cheering so loudly. It ended up being a really fun night, and I'm glad that we were able to be a part of it.

John's 30th Birthday!

Thursday was John's birthday, and he turned the big 3.0. Good-bye twenty's, hello thirty's. Luckily I still have 3+ years in my twenty's (I'm not ready to be 30 just yet) but John was excited to turn 30...guys are weird sometimes.

We had so much fun celebrating John's birthday this year. We started by decorating the house while he was still sleeping, and then as soon as he woke up, Makenna was ready to give him the Dora card she picked out for him, and the book we made for him. As his gift this year, we made a book that included lists of 30 reasons that we love John. It included a list from the kids, a list from me, and also lists from John's parents, my parents, and a list from one of his brothers.

We decided to have a fondue party that night with some of our friends, and so we spent the afternoon running a few errands, and getting ready for the evening. We also had a dance rehearsal for a performance coming up on Wednesday, and then afterwards went out to dinner with the kids. It is always interesting to keep the kids entertained during a dinner out. Mixing drinks seemed to do the trick this time.

I hadn't originally planned on making John a cake this year since we were having the fondue party, but since we were going to be having the party after the kids were in bed, I decided that we needed a small cake so that the kids could sing happy birthday, and be a part of the celebration. Makenna picked out a nice pink Easter cake for him, which he of course loved ;)

After the kids went to bed, we had a few friends over for a fondue party. John and I were given a fondue set for our wedding (almost 7 years ago) and this is the FIRST time we have used it! It has stayed with us from UT to WA to NE, and now to IN, just waiting for us to use it, and we finally did, and it was so much fun! We had a chocolate fondue, and a cheesy pesto fondue. Both of them were really yummy!

I decided to surprise John by having our friends come to the party dressed in their "Elderly Best". It was great to see John's reaction when the first couple (Andy and Amy) showed up. Andy even had toilet paper hanging out of the back of his pants, it was great!

This picture is a little blurry because I was laughing when I took it. Mike played the role of an old man SO well, it was hilarious! Mike and Anna won 'Best Dressed' for the night, and were given some Depends for their prize.

Mindi showed up with a large, somewhat saggy balloon chest! We all laughed so hard at her costume! We also had a several other guests that came straight from a school meeting, and so weren't in costume.

Of course John wasn't in costume at first, but after everyone showed up, I gave him a robe and glasses that I picked up for him at the goodwill. John and I also made up a 30 question true/false quiz all about John for everyone to do. Most of the things were pretty funny, and it led to some good stories, and lots of laughs. We even laughed about the winner of the quiz, she being the one who we would have guessed would have known the least. It ended up being a great night, and we had a lot of fun.