Master Brock, P.A.

Dave graduated with his Master's Degree on July 25th. We are so super excited! He's been in school all of the 7 years that we've been together. This will be a change for us to have him out of school. What will that feel like to actually make money??

The graduation ceremonies were held in the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia.
Dave and a couple of his good buddies.
It's official! Documented proof!
( I have nothing to say about this picture...actually I do, but it would only be negative so I'll just pass on making the comment. But I will say that Dave looks good.)
Ow! Ow! Quiet the model. I thought he was very handsome in his hood. They let him keep all this garb, so I'm sure it will be making special appearances at different family functions. Look out.

I'm disappointed with how the pictures turned out. Hopefully we can get better ones from friends. Oh well. Thanks for looking! And thanks to those who are making comments!! It encourages me to keep this blog going.

One Last Day in Philly

We had one last day in Philly before Dave's graduation. We figure that we'll have no reason to return to Philadelphia, so we made one last stop to our favorite or unseen sites. (I can't figure out how to take off the underlining. Sorry.)

This is my favorite place to get a Philly Cheesesteak. Oh how I'll miss them!!
Dave never made it to the museum where Rocky ran up the steps. I finally showed him the site. You've got to see the video footage of Dave running up the steps and jumping around like a boxer. Classic.
Here's a shot of us at the top of the steps, overlooking the city.
We thought it was funny that this dog was memorialized. Who knows why. I guess we should have read that plaque on the ground.
At the end of the day we attended a dinner and dance hosted by Dave's school. It was pretty fancy. One of those dinners that used all the utensils. Minus my double chin, I think this is a cute picture of us. It was a fun night, especially since I didn't have to cut anyone's food into little pieces and threaten to take away dessert if they didn't eat. I guess that will come later as Dave ages. :)

Dave's Graduation Dinner

So I tried to surprise Dave with a graduation celebration, but I failed in the finish line. No biggie. All our family in Utah met at the restaurant and Dave and my Dad met us there.

The handsome grad.
Jeff, Katherine, Brian, Camille, and Elizabeth.
The "other" Utah Brocks. He he. :) Cute family, huh!
Marie, Dallin, Jayden. (Cousins) Crazy Mother in Law... :)
Jayden and Stephanie. Somehow Stephanie ended up sitting on the kids' table. She's a trooper.

Yes, the sun was in our eyes.

Fun at the Scera Pool!

We spent a few hours at our community pool today. Only $8 for the boys and I to go! Wahoo! We met my sister and her boys there.

Taylor was funny about the waterslide. The first time he got to the top he chickened out. The second time I had to hold his hand. But after that he was unstoppable! He went over and over for about an hour straight. He had no interest in any other water feature or the pool. It was pretty funny.
This was bad timing. The lifeguard standing by the slide was distracted and Taylor slipped at the top, which caused him to crash into the kid at the bottom. Opps. And I was the distracted mom with the camera! No major damage...all's good! :)

Derek loves his cousins!
My sister, Stephanie and her son, Landon.
After the swimming the boys sat for a few snacks. Yum!

I thought this was a cool shot with the mountains in the background. But I had a hard time getting a picture without unmodest sunbathers in it. This was close enough. :)

No Kids + No Expenses = A Great Trip

Dave had an interview down in St. George on Monday. The doctor invited me to dinner as well, so we left the boys with my sister and drove the 4 hours to Dixie. We had such a great time together. The best part...they paid for our hotel, food, and gas! On the way down we drove past the remains of the Milford fire. (For those who don't know...it was the largest wildfire in Utah's history.) I tried to get a good shot of it, but it was difficult and this picture doesn't capture the charred smell! It was black for miles and miles. So sad.

So anyway... Monday was a strange day for me, since I was all alone. I woke up when I wanted to, I ate breakfast when I wanted to (and at a slow pace), I took a shower before noon, I went shopping, I ate lunch when and where I wanted, and then I sat and read a magazine to kill more time. It was so crazy to me!! But it was lonely and I missed the kids. It was fun for one day, but I wouldn't enjoy being so self centered for a long period of time.

I picked Dave up after lunch. Dave's interview went well and we'll see if they give us an offer. The major downside to living in St. George is the heat! It was an intensely hot day. We drove around for a couple hours looking at different areas and housing. We still had some time before dinner, so we stopped at the temple and looked around the visitors center. While we were there the power went out and we heard through missionaries that the whole county had lost power. A wildfire was burning around the county's only power cable supply. (We actually saw the fire on our way out of town.) So needless to say, the doctors cancelled our fancy steak dinner and we drove home. Dave and I had a blast driving home alone!

Derek's New Bike

Derek has been asking for a bike for at least a year and a half. I mentioned this to my mom and it just so happened that later that day she found one at the DI for only $10. It pained me to give it to him for no reason, but grandparents are supposed to "spoil" their grandkids, right!?

So here's a few pictures of the inaugural Batman bike ride.
Derek is so in LOVE with his bike. We don't have training wheels for it yet, so he props it against the dryer just so he can sit on it.

Of course Dave and I had to get into the action. Dave was much better skilled than I was.
Thanks Grandma for the great treat!!

Happy 4th of July!

We hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July! Here's a little of our day:

Derek was set on seeing a parade so we decided to brave the crowds to grant his wish. We went to Provo's Freedom Festival parade.

We were lucky to find a front row spot, however as you can see, those across the street were even more lucky to get the shade! It was a hot day and the kids were melting, but they insisted on staying until the end.

After the parade the boys played in the neighborhood wading pool with some friends. Then a group gathered outside and let off about $100 worth of fireworks. Derek was quite the looker with this stylish glowstick glasses and headband look. After our neighborhood fireworks we walked across the street to an open field and watched the Stadium of Fire fireworks in the distance. It was a long but very fun day!