Memorial Weekend

GOOD NEWS..... this month I got suprised when my National Physical Therapy Exam results came back sooner than expected...and I PASSED!!! It was one of the most difficult and exhausting tests I have ever taken and I am so thankful I never have to take another one again! Also my first PT license also went through quicker than I thought and so I was able to start my first real job on June 1st at St. Joseph's Villa. It has been an adjustment working with a new company, but I am learning to love the residents and listening to their life stories.

Before I started working, we enjoyed our last holiday weekend, Memorial day/weekend by first going to Topaz Mountain with my family. The picture below is exactly what it looks like...the middle of nowhere (well, some place past Delta).

You may wonder why in the world would anyone go here? Well apparently Topaz Mountains are known for the hidden Topaz gems in these hills. We headed up for these hills with hammers, chisels, and buckets to find the gems, but we forgot to find out just exactly what the topaz is supposed to look like. So we spent the afternoon randomly whacking rocks in half trying to find gems.....needless to say we weren't too successful so we decided to go to a place nearby to discover trilobites since we knew what they looked like. That began a whole new adventure...
with my dad getting pulled over for "stealing" gasoline from the gas station below.

A cop pulled my dad over and stated he had stolen gas when in all reality he had tried to pay for gas here 2 times with his debt card although the machine wasn't working and he had no idea. So we had to drive all the way back and work it out, therfore we didn't make it to the trilobites.

Then we decided to call it a day and go home, but our adventures weren't through....
we were just outside of Utah Lake when again, we hear the lights and sirens behind us. Again we rush to put our seatbelts on and wonder what it was for this time. Apparently my dad was trying to pass a trailer right when the road had double lines, luckily the cop saw my dad worked for Sandy Fire for years and let him off.

LAGOON:
We also went to Lagoon with my family. I didn't get too many pictures but we did have fun riding our favorite rides like Wicked, the white roller coaster, flying aces, and the ferris wheel. This was a beautiful peacock hanging out by the log flume.

Jeff and my Dad were the only ones to brave a water ride when it was 60 degrees outside and raining.

They claimed the ride doesn't get you wet, but they were drenched!

Introducing Dr. Mckinzy Bath

On May 14th I officially became a Dr and I graduated with my Doctorate in Physical Therapy(DPT) from NAU. I was lucky enough to have my family and both sets of grandparents attend my graduation in Flagstaff AZ.
This is the Health Proffessions building on campus and where I basically lived for 2 years.

We had to enjoy one last time at Big Foot BBQ before we left.

Since grandpa's knees were hurting him, my dad and papa P took the "special elevator" which went sooooo slow and they set the alarm off trying to get out.

A sunset over Flagstaff and sunset on that chapter of my life

In the limo my parents got for us after graduation. We rode up to the Snowbowl and then went to Olive Garden for lunch

I thought this day would never come! I remember thinking back when I was at Snow College and setting up my plan for schooling and remember how far 2011 was. I MADE IT!
Walking up to recieve my diploma

The pictures are out of order, but this is the part we get "hooded". I was hooded by Dr. Derosa our anatomy professor. The hood and 3 black strips on our arm represents at Doctorate degree.

My graduation was held in a huge circus tent in a parking lot due to the stadium being under construction.

The night before graduation, we had a class dinner banquet at the High Country Conference Center.

We also went down to Sedona to look around and feel the sun I am so thankful for all of the support I have recieved from everyone though my education. It has been a long 7 years of back to back school, stress, homework, moving away to AZ, and memories. On Mon. the 23rd, I took my NPTE exam to get my license....it was the hardest test I have taken in my life. I am crossing my fingers that I passed since I have to wait a few weeks to find out if I passed. In the mean time I will be starting work at St. Joseph Villa as an aide until my license comes in. I am nervous since this is my first job as a PT and I will be in charge of a few PTAs, but it will be so nice to finally have money.

In the chaos of leaving for Flagstaff, Shannon made the 5A state championships for girls golf at Riverton High (she is on Varsity even though she is still in Jr. High). Way to go Shan! We are proud of you.

Jeff's Graduation and the Tulip Festival

On May 5th we were able to celebrate Jeff's graduation from Salt Lake Community College with his AAS in Construction Management. He even got to wear honor cords for his good grades. I am so proud and excited for him getting his degree....its been a long road between starting at Snow College in 2004, leaving for a mission for 2 years, attending SLCC for a year and getting married, moving to Flagstaff for 2 years, and moving back to finish up his last year! He is still debating if he is going to continue for his BS.
He had to pose with his tools because of his degree!

Waiting for the ceremony at the Mavrick Center with 4,000 other grads.

I have more pictures from his actual walk, but they are on my mom's camera :(

Jeff and I both had the day after his graduation off so we decided to take a drive up to Park City

For mother's day my mom, shan, and both grandma's went to Thanksgiving Point for lunch and to see the flowers at the Tulip Festival. It was nice to have a girls afternoon.

The rest of the pics are a few of my favorite varieties of tulips. The colors were amazing and just couldn't be captured in pictures.

Grandma P in all her picture taking glory!

2011 AMA Supercross

To celebrate the end of my schooling/internships, Jeff (with his crazy luck) was able to get free tickets to this year's AMA supercross at Rice Eccles Stadium at the U. Jeff got the tickets (which were worth $50 each) from X-96 the Radio station. I was really excited because growing up I always wanted to go and knew everything about the riders, but never had anyone to go with. Despite the freezing (literally 30degrees) temperatures, it was worth every freezing minute.

A close up of the finish line
James "Bubba" Stewart (one of the only black riders) and one of the more popular riders, although he ended up taking lots of crashes.

Last year's champ, Chad Dungey

At the start of the race the announcers interviewed the top racers since this race was the last one before the Championship in Vegas. #22 is my favorite rider, Chad Reed. You can also see the winner of the night in the green, Ryan V.

Interviewing Chad Reed

This is always my favorite part of the race....seeing who gets the Holeshot