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!

Memorial Day Weekend

We were originally planning on camping with Aaron's family on Holland Lake. However, the weather did not look promising, so we cancelled the reservation and went up to Kalispell. In the end it was definitely the right decision.

We spent the weekend playing around with Aaron's family. Joseph is absolutely infatuated with his Jared's girls, his beautiful cousins. He asks for them constantly, saying "Nana, JD". It is very cute. We were able to enjoy playing games, eating camping food (which had already been purchased), going to a Memorial Day Parade in Whitefish, and just having fun. The video is from the parade. We were walking to the cemetary and were next to the fire truck. Watch it. It's hilarious! Aaron had Joseph on his shoulders and we were going uphill, so the truck would break every now and then (it was following an ambulance which was following all the people). Aaron started to hear him mimic the fire truck everytime it's brakes made a sound, or it would also make a sound kind of like "choo". He did that one too. It was too funny.

We also put together a slideshow of pics from this weekend. Enjoy! We had a great time and look forward to our next trip this summer: Columbia Falls with Mike, Eris, Stacie, Riley and Nicholas.

Click To Play

Two down...

To update Julie's school status: two down, three to go! Julie finished her first Independent Study class last month with an A grade! She also finished her New Testament class and got credit (not sure what the final grade was). The credit is being transferred to BYU. She already jumped back on the bandwagon and ordered her next class, Humanities 201. This one should be a bit more challenging, but she's ready for it. She is just waiting on one more textbook and she'll be ready to go. Wish her luck!

Aaron just started a second summer job to fill the hours and the bank account. He is working at the Greyhound Station again like he did when we first moved here. Their schedule is flexible enough and the people easy to work with so it will work well with out schedule. Aaron's work schedule is set up to allow Julie to work for an hour in the morning and in the late afternoon. Plus all the time she can work on her class during nap-time. We're hoping to get as many classes done over the summer as possible. Julie thinks she can do at least two. Keep your fingers crossed!

Joseph is great, as usual. He's been enjoying the awesome weather we've been having. Earlier this month Aaron's brother Josh graduated from the University (Congratulations!!!) and the family gathered for the event. We think Joseph is finally comfortable around Jared and Anita's three girls. He says their names all the time now. At first "Nana" was all three. Now he says JD, Nana, and some form of Cadence. We will be seeing them again this weekend and I think he is really excited about it.

We are also extremely excited to see Julie's family coming to visit next month. Stacie, Riley, Nicholas, Eris and Mike are all driving up to Montana to visit us! We are so excited. We'll definitely get some great pictures to share from their visit.