Elder Macdonald

My brother Kyle left on his mission to Nagoya, Japan on June 13. He is doing very well and working so hard! I am incredibly proud of him :) We all are! Kyle says that after just two weeks in the MTC, they are only speaking and practicing teaching in Japanese! But despite the hard work, he says he is loving it and knows he's in the right place. He is such a good example to us!

Kyle flew up to Utah day day before with his friend Trennon who happened to go into the MTC on the same day. My grandparents picked him up and held a small open house for UT family and friends to visit. Kyle said it was great seeing so many familiar faces again!

 Preston will be on his way to the MTC soon!

 Brianna and Lilly

 Quinns

Pat and Frank

 Ortons

 Lambs

 Pastrami burgers at Crown Burger before MTC

Grammy and Grandpa

Elders

At the drop off

Last shot!

I know Kyle will be a fantastic missionary. He is a hard worker with a strong testimony. The people of Japan are very blessed!

I'm a terrible blogger

My mom pointed this out to me yesterday :) But she's right! I always feel like I have nothing to post, but honestly there has been plenty going on this past month!
At the beginning of May, we were in California for Janis and Kevin's wedding. It was a wonderful, but very busy weekend. Their sealing was Friday morning. It was a wonderful service and so many of our family members were able to be there! We then took pictures with family at the temple (San Diego Temple!!!) and then headed over to the luncheon. Maybe if Janis Shoemaker updates her blog too, you can see the pictures here :). (at least I'm not the only horrible blogger!)
After the luncheon, we all jumped in the car and raced back to AZ to finish setting up the wedding reception for the next day. Fortunately, we have a great home ward who helped TREMENDOUSLY.
Saturday was just as eventful. We were back at the church that morning, putting on finishing touches, printing wedding pictures and, oh yeah, Graduating!

As luck would have it, my graduation was scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on the same day as my sister's wedding reception. Fun! But my parents were great and very willing to come and support me as well. I'm very thankful :) Completing my Masters degree is so important to me! I am very proud of my achievement.
Then it was back to Chandler for the reception. It was a great day, and night!

SO that was the beginning of the month. Since then, I have also gotten a job!! I will be teaching next year for Benjamin Franklin Charter School, likely fourth grade.

 I'm so excited!!! I went to Franklin as a student and I can't wait to return as a teacher. I actually got the job before I graduated and as I sat in the arena looking at the thousands of other graduates, I was immensly grateful that I would not have wait in anticipation like so many others. We have been very blessed :)

And even more excitement is coming up in the next few weeks. My brother leaves on his mission to Japan in just 4 days. I can't believe it... more to come.

Bridal Shower

Janie's wedding is in less than a week! But her shower was on April 14th. Because of her love and shoes and her new last name becoming Shoemaker, we themed the shower appropriately...

Janie's favorite food is bagels and cream cheese, so we of course had that at the shower as well :)

Instead of playing the usual groom answers, bride answers game, I instead interviewed Janie and Kevin and asked them to share their version of several important events in their time together. I also made them think hard and remember what shoes they were wearing so I could match the story to the shoes. It was no problem for Jans of course!

 Can't believe it's coming so soon! We leave for California in 4 days...

 On another note: Thesis is passed, Student teaching is completed, job applications filled out... I graduate on Saturday!!!!!

California!

Over Spring Break, we were able to go with my family to visit CA for a week. We sailed for 3 days, then spent the last 4 in Newport Beach.  The oldest of my brothers, Kyle, went through the Newport Temple while we were there. It was a fantastic trip!

 (Oh, this was the birthday cake that Janie made for Logan. He is a pokemon fan and we found this on Pinterest. I though the fire-breathing dragon was cute!)

 Newport Beach

 It was cold! but there was lots of sun.

Catch up

In the three months since I last posted, life in the Baxter house has been its usual busy!
I am student teaching this semester and writing my "thesis". Well, it's not exactly a thesis because I don't have to defend it or be passed off by a board. Yay! I just have to make my presentation to my committee. Student teaching is going well. I'm still at Humphrey Elementary and enjoying it very much. I am counting the days until I graduate on May 5!
Also May 5 is my sister's wedding! And a month after that, Kyle leaves on his mission. It is busy busy around my parent's house! There are so many exciting things going on. I'm glad that we are close enough to be a part of it all :)
Austin is doing well this semester. He is still working full time and going to school a few days a week. His design classes are going well and he is really thriving with all of these architecture projects. He builds models and creates site plans over and over and over again, but still claims to love his program! We will find out sometime this summer if he is accepted into the full program for the next three years.

Merry Christmas Card!

Merry Christmas from all of us current and future Sun Devils! We will potentially have family members there until 2024! (You can click on the image to read the sidebar text)

Happy Halloween!

So despite the fact that Halloween is a pretty pointless holiday, I do admit that I love to dress up and I love all of the fun decorations! Note my emphasis on fun: if it's creepy, drippy, gorey or otherwise gross, it's not my thing. But I do have some fun figures up around the apartment :) Yes, I "borrowed" them from my mom. She has wonderful taste :)

I grew up with these guys around my house and now I'm happy to have them in my own!

This cute project is another idea of my moms and in a rare crafty moment I actually made something for us (besides food)!

Although our actual Halloween weekend was taken over by MOUNDS (no joke) of homework, we went to a costume party a couple weeks ago and dressed up as some of our favorite characters. I chose Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter and Austin chose Sheldon Cooper from the show Big Bang Theory. The budget is tight and we had a lot of fun figuring out these costumes on a dime!

Can you see the resemblance?

At the party, our friend Chelsey put in hours of work and made some delicious treats for us! I especially loved this plate full of chocolate and carmel dipped items. Used Q-tips anyone? ;)

She is so creative!