BYU50

If anyone would have ever told me I would be looking through downtown for a box of BYU swag or getting excited about BYU football 10 years ago I would have laughed in their face and probably started singing the Aggies fight song.  But as luck would have it we are now the proud owners of the BYU50 Fort Worth big blue box! 

Right before football starts back up BYU goes around dropping these boxes all over the country and then posting a picture of where it is at.  BYU fans from all over decked out in their BYU gear come running to find it.  Last year we had some friends try to find it but missed it.  This year my dad reminded me in the morning that they were going to be dropping in Texas that today.  I was at a baby shower and laughed it off at first.  Later that afternoon we were getting ready to head to Dallas for a b-day/pool party and thought we'd try and look around downtown while we were driving through.  They had sent out a tweet saying that they were on their way to Fort Worth from Dallas, and then another saying that the Fort Worth drop had been delayed.  So we really had no clue when they would actually drop the box.  My two guesses were Sundance Square or the Water Gardens.  We drove by Sundance and saw a few other people in BYU shirts waiting for the drop there.  So we decided to head to the Water Gardens, all the while I kept refreshing my phone and switching back and forth between Twitter and Instagram waiting for their post.  We were almost to the Water Gardens when all of a sudden we saw THE BOX!  A guy in a BYU shirt was crossing the street to a parking lot on the other side of the Water Gardens and he had the box!  Jason immediately stopped the car and I jumped out.  The guy got into a mini van full of other people wearing BYU shirts.  This meant one of two things either that dude just found the box before they ever posted the picture OR we just found the box before the picture got posted!  I was about 15ft from the van while Jason parked and I kept refreshing my phone and just watching that mini van.  All of a sudden this photo went up:

I ran across the street to this exact spot but there was no box.  A group of other people also came running and when they didn't see the box they took off to the other side of the Water Gardens to look there.  I started heading back across the street to just go talk to the people in the mini van and see if they had already won the box somehow or what was going on.  On my way back across the street the same guy I saw earlier came walking over to me and said: "You Won!"  I called Jason and had him get the boys and come over.  I couldn't believe it! I couldn't stop laughing.  Apparently that guy had taken the picture of the box but there were too many people standing around that he wanted to wait a bit before posting it, so he walked back across the street with the box, which is when we saw him!

There was a group of people that soon found us, and some were less than thrilled that we already had the box.  Jason and I felt pretty out of place in our swimsuits while most everyone else had their BYU gear on.  Some of these people had driven far and been waiting a long time.  We were literally on our way out of town and just got lucky.

Jason and I couldn't stop laughing about our luck the rest of the day and for a few days after that actually.  The box was packed full of tons of different stuff: jersey, signed picture, flag, blanket, socks, gloves, water bottle, and tons more.
Thanks BYU!

Utah State, hey, Aggies all the way! 

The White Coat Ceremony

I was so proud of Jason.  I AM so proud of Jason.  He has worked so hard to get here.  It is crazy to think that we are really doing this.  Really in med school.  My husband is really going to be a doctor.  Jason is really going to do what he wants, help people, save lives, make a difference.  I know it is going to be long, and everyone has warned me that it is going to be hard.  We made it through the first week of just orientation classes, and we really missed him, I guess I'm not sure what to expect when real classes start on Monday.  But he will be incredible as always.

The White Coat Ceremony is when all of the first year med students receive their first "white coat" which signifies the beginning of their medical career.  They talked about how hard everyone has worked to get to be where they are at.  They talked about how everyone one of them was the top of their class and that they were all chosen to come to this school for a reason.  "There were over 3,000 applicants for the 230 spots for the class of 2018.  Feel special!"  and we definitely do.  Out of all the interview opportunities we had Jason knew this was where he wanted to be.  They only accept 8-10% of the incoming class to be from out of state, and the majority of those students come from BYU.  Jason even received a scholarship on top of that!  Ok, done bragging...

 

I think there was only one other person there more proud and excited than I was. 

So glad she was able to see her son follow his dreams today too.

2013

Recap of 2013

This is hands down one of my favorite pictures from this past year. 

Live: Alpine, Utah
Drive: BMW, and a Mazda6 (yes we got a new car AGAIN, it was an early anniversary present... more to come on that later). 
Work: Blue Lemon for Jen and then not Blue Lemon for Jen. Spring mobile for Jason and IHC working as an EMT up at Snowbird.

School: BYU for Jase half the year, then GRADUATION!
Church Callings: Jason got called to the Elders Qurom Presidency and is now serving as secretary.  Jen is still on the RS Activity Committee and also taught the 7 turning 8 year olds.
Pets: One goldfish.  Ash also thinks he is either a dog or a cat 50% of the time. 
Traveled to: Hawaii for Mom and Dad, Park City trip for all of us, plus another Park City trip just for grown ups.  As well as a big family trip to Florida.
Highlights/Big Events: Traveling firsts, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, the beach! Playdates with friends.  Graduation, completing and passing the MCAT, Med School acceptance(s).  Lots of biking.  Moving on to new adventures and being able to stay at home with Ashton all day every day.

Sent Stephanie off on her Mission.  Aunt Stephy was easily Ashton's favorite, she will be missed but Georgia is lucky to have her.

Lost Grandpa Joseph Beckstrand, who is now reunited with his love in the eternities.  He was not only a war hero and POW captured at Battle of the Bulge, but from everything I have heard he was a real world hero of a man that we are honored to be related to.  It was one of the most memorable and inspiring funerals I have ever attended.

Last Years Goals: "Play harder, laugh more, make it to the Temple, find time for each other even with our busy school/work schedules, try and drive the same cars all year long, take the MCAT, graduation, hug Ashton till he just can't take it anymore."

Well we definitely played harder, having a mobile child the whole year sure makes that more possible and fun! Ashton makes us laugh daily, sometimes I cry I laugh so hard with him.  He has the greatest laugh and cracks up any time I think somethings funny, which just makes me laugh harder.  We were able to attend the temple more, but not as often as we should/need to.  Going through the Temple with Stephanie this past year was a great experience as well as attending Alex's sealing for her wedding.  We almost made it with the same cars the whole year... so close! We can definitely cross off the MCAT and graduation and hugging Ashton.

Goals for 2014: Attend the temple more will probably always be a goal, I guess it is never wrong to want to go more.  Seek the spirit more often, church often turns into a blur with Ash, but now that he is in Nursery I'm finding more peace and light through even the littlest moments in primary.  I want to stay caught up on this blog and write more personally.  Not because I think anyone out there cares, but because I want to remember my thoughts and feelings and be able to look back on the moments that created our family.  Live in the moment.  I'm a planner, and tend to plan far in advance and forget about the now.  I want to remember the NOW, and live in the moment and cherish the days, hours, minutes, and seconds, with Ashton. 

2014 is a big year for us.  We are headed to Texas for the start of Med School.  A new chapter in our lives.  We are also welcoming baby number 2. 

 Little Brother is due April 26th!  

Class of 2013

Guess who graduated...

This guy and we couldn't be more proud.

It's such a big deal they make a two day event out of it at BYU

Thanks to everyone for all of the love and support that made this possible.  We were lucky to have all of our parents come join us.  Grandpa Snyder spent two days playing with Ashton around campus to make sure that I didn't miss out on any of Jason's shinning moments.

B.S. in Neurosience in three years.  Pretty impressive if I do say so my self.

Now on to the MCAT.

Another Awesome First

Jason has been in the Pre-Med Club presidency for the past three years at BYU.  For their end of the year social they reserved the Seven Peaks Ice Arena.  I couldn't get over the cuteness of the little Ashton sized skates.  He loved ice skating, and only got frustrated at the end because he wanted us to let go of him.  He thinks he can do everything already.