Memorial Day & Utah Bar Admittance

Today is Memorial Day and Jake's family has a tradition of going to Jake's grandparents' graves each Memorial Day. (Check out the first picture of Jake's step-grandma (Feikina), Jake's grandpa Jack Schipaanboord, his grandma Irene Carling, and his grandpa Grover Carling with us at our wedding.) This year Jake's parents were on vacation and his sister, brother and Grandpa went yesterday but we still wanted to go. So after the kids' naps we headed up to the Salt Lake City Cemetery, where Jake's grandparents and great-grandparents on his dad's side are buried. I love this cemetery. It is very beautiful and has a great view of Salt Lake. Many church leaders and their family members are buried there (Pres. Hinckley, Hunter, Grant, Kimball, Lee, McKay, Woodruff, Taylor, etc.) The picture below is of Jacob "Jack" Schipaanboord's and Jane Hart Schipaanboord's grave. I never met Jane, Jake's grandma. I've seen pictures and videos of her though and I know we would have been good friends. She was very kind and loving, always in a skirt and had a way of getting her kids' attention by just clearing her throat. I did meet Jack Schipaanboord, Jake's grandpa. I knew him for about 3 years before he died. I've been told I don't know the real Jack because he started going downhill around the time that I met him. He was very sociable and sweet. One of my favorite memories of him was playing the piano at Christmastime and having him come up right behind me and sing the songs. He had a very good voice and I could tell he loved music. I was honored to sing at his funeral in January 2004.

After visiting the SLC Cemetery, we headed over to the Memorial Estates Cemetery, where Jake's Grandma Carling (his mom's mom) is buried. As you can see, it was pretty bright when I took the picture. The kids had to squint or close their eyes when I took the pic. I knew Irene Carling for about 1 1/2 years before she died. I've been told she was the one always willing to help those in need, passing out fudge to neighbors, making a meal whenever it was needed. I remember the first time I met her was at the Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert in December 2000. Jake and I were nearly engaged and we went with his family to the concert and I sat next to Irene. She was a talker and by the end of the night I felt I knew her very well. :) It was hard to see her get so sick over the next year and a half... and then it was even harder to see Jake's grandpa go on without her. Grandpa Carling lives at Jake's parents' house now and we see him every time we go over there. I'm glad my kids know who their Great-Grandpa Carling is and hopefully they will always remember him.


On Friday Jake was admitted to the Utah Bar. The ceremony was short and sweet. I brought Ben and Emma and we cheered dad on (my sister-in-law, Katie, watched Josh for me... thanks, Kate!) Afterward we had lunch at the Olive Garden to celebrate. I asked Jake if this was as monumental as the first time he took the bar in Oregon and his response, "Sure." :) We are excited to have that behind us and now Jake can officially practice law in Oregon AND Utah! He has been talking about maybe taking the Nevada bar too because his firm has a branch there and does quite a bit of environmental work in Nevada. He's going to ask one of the partners if this is something they are wanting him to do. I know taking another bar is not exactly Jake's idea of fun (to say the least) but at least the material would be fresh in his mind from just taking it a few months ago. Also, I'm pretty disappointed in myself. I used my camera earlier in the day and forgot to put it back in my purse, so the only pics I got at the ceremony were taken with my cell phone. I haven't figured out yet how to get them downloaded onto my computer (I'm assuming I need bluetooth but I'm not sure.) Maybe someone computer savvy can help me. Anyway, the day was great and I'm again, very proud of Jake. I'm so lucky to have such a smart and HOT husband!