School has started

Aaron's school year has officially begun. He quit both of the jobs he was working over the summer so he could take a bigger class load this semester. He is quite busy with homework, and it will be busier later on in the semester. We still enjoy having him home every night. Joseph is starting to enjoy having him home more often, and is taking advantage of more Papa playtime. Aaron has also started teaching seminary this semester. He teaches seniors and juniors from the surrounding area. It has been a challenge getting up so early, but he's doing great! He just received his assignment for observations. He'll be going to a local middle school to do observation hours as part of one of his classes. It should be fun!

Great news for Julie's schooling! After starting a Math class, we found out that Julie did not need to take it! Julie was extremely excited because math is her least favorite subject and after one day of starting her math class she was already frustrated! All we had to do was fax Julie's SAT scores to BYU, which would fulfill her math requirement. It took about 3 faxes, but we finally got it done and Julie officially has ONE class left! She's getting close to her halfway mark in her one class, HUM 202. It's not too bad. She just finished HUM 201 over the summer. Our goal is to have it finished before Christmas. It is getting harder and harder for Julie to stay motivated, but she is determined to finish and have her bachelor's degree done!

Joseph is doing great. He's stretching out quite a bit and we're starting to notice that he's getting skinnier...finally! His vocabulary is skyrocketing. It's so fun. Just yesterday he finally said "milk" instead of "mum" which is what he used to say. He is just getting the "k" sound. He learned it from "Frank" in the movie "Cars". Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Burnham. He watches it once a day. Only because we won't let him watch it more. Thankfully he's starting to want to watch other things. We don't really have much, but at this point Julie will take anything other than Cars. After 2 months of Cars everyday, anything is better than hearing Cars.

In fun news, Joseph has gotten pretty good at having Family Home Evening with us. We started playing "Find Jesus" a few months ago. We have a picture and we'll hide it in a room and he goes and finds it. He really likes it. We also started reading scripture stories from a scripture picture book. He really likes to look at the pictures of Jesus, and baptism. It's so sweet!





In outside our family news, Julie's sister Heidi is due to have her baby girl Carly September 30, but is feeling like she'll be the first of her babies to come early. We can't wait to meet this precious little lady. Aaron's mom had an emergency surgery over the summer which has put her in recovery at home for a few months. It's been tough not being at school teaching her third graders, but she's keeping her spirits up.

Oh, and in old news, Cyrus moved away back in August. Julie hasn't taken many pictures lately, so we just uploaded the pictures from her camera of his last day. His dad is finishing up his med school in Seattle. Joseph sure does miss him, but luckily he only asks for him every now and then. It would be so sad if he asked for him everyday. But Joseph and Olivia are getting along great! She recently got over an ear infection and ever since she started her antibiotics she has been a new girl. Julie's job arrangement couldn't be smoother. The kids love each other and both take great naps at about the same time. It's awesome!

All the best news

Joseph is now a full-fledged two year old! We had a really fun party with his friends here in Missoula at a really fun park with a carousel.

We had a great time. Joseph really got into opening his presents. It was all-around fun!

We were also able to have a party in Kalispell with Aaron's family the 8th of August. He loved seeing his cousins. We were even able to take a day off to celebrate our 4th anniversary and Diane watched Joseph for us. We think he had way more fun with Grandma than he would have had with us. He just adores her.

Joseph's getting so big. He is talking more and more. He speaks in 4-5 word sentences most of the time. He's learning to be sweet and endearing and that it will get him what he wants more often. He's also been sleeping like a brick lately. 13 hours at night and a minimum of 3 hours at nap time. We don't know what old lady we helped cross the street in a past life, but we're grateful for it!

Julie has some great news. Up until a week ago, she had two classes left to finish her bachelors. One was Humanities 202, the other Math. She started the math class one morning and was already hating it. That afternoon Aaron got to thinking and knew that she should have had it waived. So we started researching and found out that her SAT Math score was high enough that the class could be waived. She just didn't submit her SAT scores when she transferred. So now we're just working on getting a refund, and getting her SAT scores posted on her student record. That means she only had one class left to get her bachelors degree! We're very excited and know that it won't be long now!

Lots to catch up on!

Tons has happened since our last post. We'll take it one week at a time.

First is the Fourth of July. We went to Fort Missoula where the Stake put on a pancake breakfast for the community. It was great. Aaron helped out with the food, and Julie took Joseph for a tour of the sights. The sights included a train, tractors, fire trucks, and lots of dogs. Aaron's parents came down from Kalispell to spend the day with us. Later on, we had a BBQ at our place (courtesy of Aaron's parents. They supplied the BBQ.) Aaron's brother Josh was able to come and hang out too. Then that night, Aaron still had to go to work (and worked a grueling shift until after 1 a.m.) so Julie, Joseph and Aaron's parents went to the local mall to see fireworks. Joseph had been such a trooper the whole time, but still didn't make it for all the fireworks. He fell asleep right in the middle. But it was a great time!

Five days after such fun, the hillside (which is right outside our apartment) was on fire. To make a long story short (and due to the fact that the entire story was written out, but then accidentally deleted when our internet buckled) this is what happened. The hillside was set on fire by two kids playing around. Aaron went to work. Julie and Joseph went out to look around. There were tons of people out watching the fire and fire fighters. A helicopter came around. No one knew it was going to land. Julie and Joseph ended up running for their lives, so as not to be landed on. A family friend came by (Thanks Justin!) and helped Julie get Joseph out of there. (She was dragging the stroller and carrying Joseph while running down a hill) Joseph is deathly afraid of helicopters now if he's outside and not next to someone. But we're all safe and the fire didn't go on too long. The whole experience was unsettling, but helped us get our emergency preparedness gear all ready, and beef up our 72 hour kit, just in case!

Last but not least is by far the more boring stuff, but still our stuff nonetheless. Julie headed an Enrichment Activity with the Relief Society. Borrowing from Claremont 2nd Ward, we did "Edible Arrangements". Julie picked a bouquet and then taught everyone how to make it. It turned out to be a great activity. Julie also finished up all her classwork for her Humanities 201 class and is now waiting to take her final exam (it has to be mailed up here from BYU). She already ordered Humanities 202 and is ready to start once she gets her textbook in the mail.

Lots of news. Hope you enjoy our little updates. Look for more soon. Joseph is turning 2 tomorrow!

Stuff from before vacation...

This is some stuff we forgot to post before we got wrapped up in Julie's family coming. Mainly there are just some pictures. Enjoy!

The Burnhams come to Montana!

Well, it was mostly Simpsons, but they came! Julie's sister Stacie, her two boys Riley and Nicholas, and Julie's parents all drove up to Montana about two weeks ago. Their driving trip was about as long as their stay, but they made the best of it and we all had a great time!

This slideshow was made especially for Stacie, because you can stop it and look at each picture for as long as you like. :)

We had a great visit. Aaron was even able to take a day off work and take the Greyhound up to Columbia Falls where we stayed to visit with us for a day. We enjoyed the beautiful timeshare, rec center, white water rafting, and visiting Aaron's family in Kalispell. It was a great trip and by the last day the boys were getting along great, and we were all having a great time. We only wish the trip could have been longer. But now it's our time to visit!

Outside of this wonderful visit/burst of sunshine into our summer, nothing new is going on. Aaron continues to work hard at two jobs, allowing Julie as much time as possible to work on her Humanities 201 class. We are happy to say that Julie is making significant progress and will hopefully be ready to request her midterm by the end of the week. (They mail it to the University of Montana's testing center where she takes her test) Joseph is doing well. He thoroughly enjoyed his visit with his cousins, aunt and grandparents. It was funny to see him at his Denney Grandparent's house. We told him to go to Grandpa and he wasn't quite sure what to do. He's still growing (aren't they supposed to slow down eventually?) and we anticipate that at his 2 year check up they will tell us he is going to be a very tall boy. He continues to love organizing, cleaning, doing dishes, jumping, and playing cars (playing mostly entails putting them in different linear configurations.)

Up and coming for us, we are anticipating Aaron's parents coming down from Kalispell for the 4th this weekend. Then we won't have much else going on until Joseph turns 2 on July 24th!