Oh What Do You Do In The Summer Time?

I think we should report a bit about what happened during our summer, since we weren’t the most faithful bloggers during that time. In April I graduated from BYU in Marriage, Family and Human Development and had to leave my early morning BYU campus job. I had already been rejected from one grad school at the time, and no word from the other, so we prepared to bunker down in Provo for the long haul. I found a new job supervising mentally handicapped teenage boys that included three graveyard shifts during the week, and Courtney continued to work making missionary nametags. I discovered several activities to help me stay awake during those night shifts that included watching many movies, playing video games, and reading Clive Cussler.

Then I received an acceptance letter from Eastern Washington University, and so we began to get things in order to arrive in Cheney Washington towards the end of September. The imminent move and high gas prices made us put all our grand vacation plans on the back burner, so we had a few picnics and watched 4^th of July fireworks from the grounds outside the Provo Temple.

Mid august arrived and Courtney and I left our jobs in time for the Andersons to come down, for the second time that summer, see Michel Anderson graduate and then caravan with us back to their house. We had everything packed into boxes and Mama Anderson meticulously packed our over-large truck. We then made the trek up to Pasco where Courtney and I were going to be in limbo for a few weeks until our new apartment was ready in Cheney.

We had a wonderful time with the Andersons. Conner and I played many games of guess who and worms, and we designed a few killer roller coasters. We tagged along on a trip to Silverwood amusement park and rode every ride in the park before it started to hail on us. We puttered around most of the rest of the time, we got to see the new house and read a few library books; I finished the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and started The Count of Monte Cristo. Courtney and I celebrated our first anniversary by going out for dinner, swinging on swings and eating blizzards and year old cake. It was pleasant not having to work and being able to spend time with family, and Courtney and I felt that that passed for a wonderful vacation.

But all good things must come to an end, we packed up all our belongings (again) and drove them all up to Cheney. Two new ward members arrived to help us move in, so we made them carry all the heavy stuff to our second floor apartment. After a day or two of steady unpacking we were pretty much settled in, and we spent our time orienting to the town, searching for a job for Courtney and watching movies and playing games.

Courtney celebrated her birthday last week and the Andersons came up to party with us. We played a rousing game of apples to apples and guillotine. But the summer that seemed so long was bound to end, classes started again, and Courtney found a job working at a local day-care center that she is trying to like. So in answer to inquiries, we had a wonderful summer and are looking forward to another great year.