Its official!

Jarom is going to be a Naval Aviator just like this one... We are going to move to Pepsi Cola, Florida

which is right here

The move won't happen until next year probably fall so you've got us around for a while.

Jarom and my fall break

You're lookin' at the next g-unit:
next to a life sized bull made out of red bull cans, made by an 18 year old kid
by an octopus,
a little New York love,
and you can't forget good old bobby the robot.
The Solar Decathlon was being presented on the mall that weekend. Maybe not the best day to try and sell America on solar power...
I never got to go to the top of the Washington Monument when I went on my internship and we thought it would be fun to go. Right when we got inside everyone was yelling and telling us they are NOT getting back on that elevator. Apparently the elevator wasn't working properly and the people started to not feel very comfortable with it knowing they will be going up about 555'5". We decided we would risk it.Luckily we made it to the top and back to the bottom.
The WWII memorial and the Lincoln memorial could be seen out of this window. a little foggy, but still visible.

The Life of a Midshipman

This is what they do everyday at lunchtime. They have a formation and march into lunch. There are 4,000 of them so this was way cool to watch. Once they all went inside I got to go eat lunch with Jarom and his crew (aka company). I was the only person there with my hair down and not in a uniform...so I didn't really fit in and got a lot of stares. The next time I went into lunch I tried to wear black to blend in a little better, but Jarom just laughed and said, "nope still don't fit in". I wasn't meant to be cut out for the Naval Academy. They have lots of fun traditions though and I got to be a part of them. I 'rated' a plebe. A plebe is a freshman, and I rated him by asking how long he has been in the Navy. They have all these little jigs (or poems, but I am sure they wouldn't call them that there) and when you ask them a question they have to give you an answer. On Fridays they have joke days where you bang on the table to get everyone's attention and tell your joke. I unfortunately lost my voice so Jarom told my 'your mama's so fat joke.' Its a good one. Because Jarom is a 'firstie' (or a senior, I had to learn this whole new language so bear with me as you learn too) he can walk by the windows where there isn't a lot of traffic to get to his table. This is one of the many privileges you get when you have been at that school for three years. He gets to wear his khaki uniform since he is a firstie while the other midshipmen have to wear their dress blues, which is their black uniform.

The midshipmen before eating lunch. This is part of Jarom's company at lunchtime. They ate in 15 min flat! I wasn't even finished with my lemonade before the whole table cleared out. That's how efficient they are. The are served their meals and they leave their plates at the table to be cleared off. It sounds like the best way to eat a meal. They are called The Princes of the Navy...

I tried to get a picture with him in each of his uniforms that week.
This lounge area is for midshipmen and their guest only. There is red rope cutting off the outside world from the midshipmen which reminded me of the red rope in restored homes like Washinton's, where everyone stares as the walk by. It was a privilege to be on the other side of that red rope where we just looked back!









We tried to get the Utah flag in the background, but ended up getting Texas...figures, everything is bigger in Texas.


We went to the museum at the Naval Academy and we saw class rings starting from the early 1900's and dating to today. There was also ships made out of bones prisoners would make in their free time (which they had a lot of).




This is what Jarom does, aeronautical engineering. Wow...ya know what you are thinking. That is hard to say and spell let alone do. He's very smart and even helps me with all my basic physics, which is a piece of cake for him. This is a wind tunnel where they test their models.


The Naval Academy is beautiful. This is a picture I took on the bridge that overpasses a river.

The adventures in Pennsylvania

Do you think Fisher knows we aren't his parents?
We all matched this wonderful Sunday afternoon. Rachel is the best and her photography skills are on a professional level and I have to give her credit for the fabulous job she did!
Riding on the handle bars. We have been practicing this one for months now and glad we could finally show it off.









This is Fisher and his Grandma sitting in the living room having a good time. Jarom brought Fisher close to the edge of the water and then he wouldn't get anywhere near it after that.

We went to the world class pretzel factory. They have really good chocolate covered pretzels. This pretzel doesn't do it justice, especially with the salt and bread that looks a little black.


Who looks better, Fisher or Kellen and Jarom?

All the guys went for a ride while on the east
coast
The "official" pose
While we were in Pennsylvania Seth, Eugena, and Fisher let us stay over. It was a lot of fun I learned how to beat Jarom in a game called sets, make ice cream, and pick basil. Combine all of that and more with the Gunderson's and it was the best weekend ever (Eugena I think one day I would like to play a game over the webcam)!

Bear Lake

My family went to Bear Lake this weekend.

Katelyn's form is amazing! She has been much much better on her back handsrpings especially considering two years ago she couldn't do one.

I was lucky to be able to bring Jarom up with me. He came down to see me this weekend.

Allison and Nick got engaged this weekend! Congrats! They are way cute together.

Nick had a great idea to make eclairs by the fire. Jarom made one for me and it was delicious.

This was me before I went out to the fire. I got strep this weekend so I tried to enjoy it as much as I could. It wasn't the ideal weekend to get strep, but it did get me out of working on Saturday.