Hello Again...

So I know it's been a while since I've posted anything. We were gone for half the month of August, visiting both families on the east coast. There's so much to say so I'll be writing multiple posts of all our summer adventures.

Currently, we're back in school and getting used to reality. Blaine is taking 2 classes this semester due to some complications with the business school (long story) and I'm taking 4 classes. So far, I like all of them. Clinical Phonetics and Hearing Tests & Measurements are probably my hardest classes. My most enjoyable class is ASL 102. It's been a while but with just 2 weeks of class a lot of what I knew before is coming back to me. My teacher is a super sweet deaf Asian. He is a great teacher. He's funny, understanding, and his bright smile makes me feel more confident in my signing! My goal this semester is to due a temple session in ASL and feel comfortable with it.

Our ward now meets at 8:30 AM. It's a big difference from 2:30 PM. But I like it. We just have to get used to not going to sleep super late on Saturday nights. Blaine taught his first Sunday School lesson today. He was nervous but did a great job. A lot of commentary was given by the students and I definitely felt the Spirit while he was teaching. I love observing him in situations like these. It makes me feel so grateful for the gospel, the mission he served, the knowledge that he gained while he was serving, and the powerful priesthood that he holds. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world!

Labor Day weekend was a fun one. We had Stace, Chris and the kids in town. Friday night we ate dinner together at Rumbi's (Provo's yummy Polynesian restaurant), went to the Creamery for some ice cream, and just hung out in our apartment. It was a neat experience having family visit us. We're the ones always traveling, being housed, fed and taken care of. Saturday night, Chris and Stace went to a friend's wedding in Salt Lake while we babysat. It was so much fun. We took Miles and Tyson to Chuck E. Cheese for pizza and games. Tyson used most of his tokens on a cute, little car while Miles wanted to ride everything he could possibly ride. At night, they got a little crazy but as soon as we got them in their pj's and started reading, they calmed down. I loved reading to them. The best part of it all is that they actually listen and have fun when they're being read to! We ended with a prayer and both kids were so good at folding their arms and being reverent. I have seen Stace and Chris teach them about prayer for a while now. It is so neat to see how, as young as they are, they are really learning the importance of prayer.

So Tyson got a little sad that Mommy and Daddy weren't "home." He was yelling "Mommy, Daddy - come home!" over and over until he passed out. Miles was a little excited that he was sleeping over our house, so it took him longer to go to sleep. One of his concerns was that there wasn't a smoke detector that he could see in the area he was sleeping in. We explained to him that our apartment is small and the smoke detector in our room is enough for the whole apartment. He seemed to accept our explanation but he still felt (in his own words) "unprotected." This a 3 year old that we're talking about here. I couldn't believe what I was hearing and felt bad that he didn't feel safe! He had a rough night, waking up several times, crying every once in a while. By some miracle, Tyson didn't wake up at all. By the 5th time Miles' woke up, we put him in our bed to sleep with us. It's amazing how much space a little 3 year old can take up! Blaine and I now understand why people have king-sized beds. Blaine was exhausted by 9:00 PM that night, after having worked since 6:00 AM. We finally went to sleep around 1:00 AM and woke up at 6:00 AM by cute kids asking for Mommy and Daddy. We got a glimpse of what parenthood was like and look forward to the day when we have our own kids. Cutest thing that Miles' said to Blaine was "Uncle Blaine, I want to keep your house." Blaine was a little confused by this and asked him some questions to see what he meant. Basically, he said that he wished he could take our house and put it in his house and then he can have us there forever. Seriously, this kid is so so sweet.

The next day we went to sacrament at our ward. It was obvious that Miles' had a rough night since he slept the whole time. I felt like a bad aunt and babysitter! After, we had a humble lunch at our place (I was so unprepared) and the Culvers' headed home. It was so nice to have them over. We had just seen them in Delaware that Tuesday but we can never get enough of family! Now I'm just counting down the days till Damaris visits us for General Conference :) I am so so excited!

After the Culver's left, we went over to visit Michele for her birthday. I made her some flan and we sang "happy birthday" to her. My mom would sometimes make me a flan instead of having a cake on my birthday - candles and all. That's how much I like it. Michele loves my mom's flan so I gave it a try but it wasn't the same. Hopefully with practice I'll get better. Monday, we went to Salt Lake City with Michele. We hung out at the Gateway, Blaine checked out iPad accessories, and we ate at our favorite Thai restaurant - Thai Lotus. It was nice having a little break to relax from the craziness of being back at school and vacation. Our next day off isn't until Thanksgiving break!

All in all, everything is going great. We got back into our routine of hanging out with our good friends, the Stevenson's, this weekend. Together, we watched the BYU football game that we unfortunately lost by 1 point. Next weekend, we play Utah and we better win!