Graduation Trip

To celebrate my completion of graduate school at Eastern Kentucky University, Ariane and I took a little trip out to the Ohio and Kentucky area to do some sightseeing and spend some time away from the kids.  I love my kids more than anything but there is nothing better than a childless vacation, especially when you are just sightseeing.

Ariane has family that lives in Ohio so we were able to spend a few nights with her aunt and some of her cousins.  She really enjoyed seeing them again and it was cool for me to get to know some of them.   We went with them to a Cleveland Indians game one night.

 

 

 The tribe managed to beat Oakland, but it does help when you hit four home runs in the game, pretty exciting.

While we were up in that area we decided to go see a few sacred sites like the church history sights in Kirtland and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton.

The hall of fame was cool, we got to see all kinds of cool football memorabilia.

Of course the highlights were the Denver Broncos stuff like the John Elway bust and jersey. 

The Super Bowl jersey of Terrell Davis and the rings from their two super bowl wins. 

There was some old Broncos stuff from their AFL days.

 

Arianes personal favorite was the jersey worn by Tim Tebow when he won that miracle playoff game a couple of years ago. 

 Probably the only time you’ll see anything that says Tebow in the Hall of Fame.

After our trip to the Hall of Fame we went up to Kirtland to see the church history sites.  We went to the Newel K. Whitney Store, where the school of the profits was held and many revelations were given that made up several sections of the Doctrine and Covenants.

We then went up the road to the Kirtland Temple, currently owned and operated by the Community of Christ (formerly known as the Reorganized LDS church). 

 

 It was really neat to be in that building where so many sacred things took place.

After a couple nights in the Cleveland area, the mistake by the lake as Ariane’s Uncle Dave called it.  We drove south to Cincinnati where we caught a Reds game. 

 

The Reds lost to the Atlanta Braves 7-4, the Braves hit a grand slam in the game.  I wasn’t to broken up about the loss since the Reds play in the Cardinals division and a Reds loss helps the Cards out.

After out night in Cincinnati we then headed across the Ohio River to Louisville Kentucky. 

 

We took a tour of the Louisville Slugger factory and museum; they make all the bats for major league baseball.

 

They had some cool stuff there like one of Babe Ruth’s bats that he used when he hit 60 home runs in a season. 

 

We got to hold some game used bats, like Mickey Mantles, that I am holding, and Johnny Bench’s, that Ariane is holding. 

 

 We even took a few swings in a batting cage, here I am using Evan Longoria’s bat, I even managed to foul a few pitches really hard.

They had a cool Lego exhibit there as well.  Here is a replica of Wrigley Field in Chicago.

While in Louisville we spent the night with an old friend of mine, Robert Valention.  He was kind enough to let us crash at his place.

We also checked out Church Hill Downs, where the Kentucky Derby is held, we were a week late for the Derby however. 

They even have former Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird stabled there.

 

Then it was on to Richmond KY, for graduation ceremonies.  This was the first time I had ever set foot on the campus of my school.

They offered a tour to all the on-line students so we took it.

 Here is the Johnson building, the main reception area for the university.

Students rub the foot of Daniel Boone for good luck when they walk by it.

When we got home and told Lucy all that we had done, she told us it sounded like a boring trip.  For us it was exciting to be able to listen to a tour guide, read all the plaques in a museum and sit through a baseball game and graduation without the kids bothering us because they were bored.  We’ll have to take them to Disneyland or Sea World some time to make it up to them.

Preschool

Lucy had her first day of preschool last week. She is going to my Aunt Jennifer’s preschool Little Feet. Lucy was really excited, when we got there she asked, “Can I go to school every year?” I told her, “You will be going to school for many years to come.” That made her pretty excited; we’ll see if she’s still excited about that in five or six years.

I think it’s really cute that she has to bring a back pack to school with her every day in though she never puts anything in it. Every paper and drawing she brings home can’t go in the bag because she wants to show them to us and hold it in the car.

Our little girl is getting so big.

Eastern Kentucky University

This week I have started graduate school at Eastern Kentucky University. No, this does not mean that we are moving to Kentucky it’s an on-line program. I am pursuing a master’s degree in Safety, Security and Emergency Management with an emphasis in Fire and Emergency Services. It looks like a pretty good program. I do two classes a semester each running six to eight weeks long, I do one right after the other that way I don’t have to take them concurrently. I should be done in two years.

This will be a really new experience for me. I only took two on-line classes while I was at Weber State, botany and a social work class, and I didn’t take them very seriously. Now to be doing two years worth of nothing but on-line classes will be a real change for me as well as the fact that I haven’t had a college class since 2006. I have some adjusting to do.

I choose this school because I felt that this degree could help me move with Church Security and with the Kaysville Fire Department. I liked the idea of doing a degree on-line so that I could attend class when it was convenient for me.

A little bit about EKU or “Eastern” as the locals call it. It is located in Richmond, KY and was founded in 1906. Its colors are maroon and white and the mascot is the colonel. I think he bears a little resemblance to the Kentucky Fried Chicken guy. They play in the Ohio Valley Conference. Some notable alumni include, Dan Patrick - Sports caster and writer, Laura Kirkpatrick - Runner up of “America's Next Top Model” Cycle 13 and Rex Ryan - Head coach of the New York Jets. I am in good company here.

If all goes as planned in two years I will be receiving my master’s degree in Richmond, KY.

Class of 2010

Last week Ariane received her Masters Degree in Music from the University of Utah. It caps off two years of hard work studying music and working with the band up at the U. I made the trip up to the campus for graduation along with Arianes parents, grandma, sister and niece and nephew. Ambassador John Huntsman Jr. was the speaker and it was a nice ceremony. Ariane conducted the band for a piece during the prelude.

What does one receive for getting her masters degree? You get a diploma with a red cover, a new gown that has some sort of fancy sleeves, a new hat, a brown tassel which is the color for degrees in fine arts and a hood (that’s the red and white thing hanging on Ariane’s back).

I am so proud of her for all her hard work and her passion for learning. She is a great example for my daughter.