For those of you who aren't family, we write a letter each month to give an update to our family members, this is that letter except it includes about 3 months worth of stuff.
I don’t think you have heard from us since our meeting at Grandma’s Funeral although many of you have seen us more recently than that. Well this is going to be a combination submission of content and photos. We had a great time seeing all of you in May but our family was worn out just the same afterward. When we came home we had about a month before our due date and planned lots of slower family activities before baby was born. Instead of celebrating Heidi’s birthday with a party and presents we did stuff together and filled the month up. We went out to the movies, we went to the zoo, the splash park, and went out to eat several times.
The third weekend in June we drove to Burley to attend a Luke family reunion for several days. The next week we kept hoping and praying for baby to come so that he would be here before I had to leave to go to scout camp. And behold, we were blessed.
Ever since Heidi’s recovery from Hyrum’s birth Heidi has been doing research and educating herself more and had decided that she wanted an un-medicated birth. We took some hypnobabies classes to provide some instruction and coping methods that we ended up using very successfully with the assistance of a midwife.
Josiah was born on the morning of Saturday June 23rd without mentionable complications. We are very excited to have him in our lives. Even before we left the hospital we knew this was going to be a big change for Hyrum but he has proven to be a great older brother so far. He is a little disappointed that baby Josiah doesn’t play like Hyrum wants.
The next weekend we had Hyrum’s Birthday a few days early so that I could be there before I headed off to scout camp. We felt fortunate to have so much family support over the next few weeks. Mom Luke cam down for two weeks with 2 of Heidi’s young brothers so they were there starting the weekend of the birthday party along with Bob and Julie, Heidi, and some Luke cousins. After Mom Luke left we had so much help from our ward while Heidi finished up checkouts for the semester and started ED Week.
I had a great summer up at Treasure Mountain. I didn’t shoot nearly as much as last year because I was trying to be a little more frugal this year. It was a crazy 6 weeks but it helped me understand better how to work with youth. I don’t think I will be going back next year unless it somehow becomes a senior internship. I got off one day early so that we could leave the next day to drive to Washington. This is almost a repeat experience to last year’s summer vacation. We spent a few days camping with the Luke’s up by Rainier and then a few days with all the Prosser Potters swimming, playing, going to the temple, and blessing Josiah in the Rattlesnake Mountain Ward.
Since coming home we have been trying to organize and deep clean our home. We are having a combined yard sale next week with several other families the same time as we will be having new check-ins for the semester. After all that school starts my last year here. We have a long way to go but we are trying to get out of debt before we leave Rexburg. We think that it would make our lives simpler and more provident. We appreciate all the help and support all of you are. Thank you for your life examples and your advice. We wouldn’t be where we are without having others to follow.
We will be updating our blog more frequently this semester due to an journaling experiment so you can follow our happenings more closely there.
