Well,  to say that we have had an eventful summer is a huge understatement. We are exhausted! Here are a few pictures to sum it up . . .                                                                                                               



Tina graduated form Utah State University in May, and will begin teaching English in the Granite School District in a few short weeks. It was so great to have family and friends in Logan to celebrate Tina.

 Michelle and Kristina moved into an apartment in Murray and are both much closer to their work. So glad Michelle doesn't have to do the commute anymore. They are having fun(?) being roommates and being crazy.

 David graduated from Provo High School and already has plans to attend Utah State University when he returns from his two year mission to Durban South Africa. He earned a four year full tuition and fees scholarship, and a research fellowship, that will both be waiting for him when he returns.

 The huge event of the summer was Joseph and Erin's wedding in June. Everything was beautiful and they are blissfully living here in Provo. Thank you to everyone for your love and support of these two.

 We had the one hospital stay of the summer on July 17-19. Brent's Hickman Tunnel IV line became infected. The big worry was that the heart would be infected like it was before his open heart valve replacement. After many tests, an ECHO and a TEE, the heart showed no infection. The bug that cultered was unidentifiable, so they started him on three different broad spectrum IV antibiotics. They also had to remove his IV lines and put in a PICC line. Brent makes fun of me when I turn on my Momma Bear roll, but I had told the Dr.'s from the get go that Brent would be at church at 1:00 on Sunday, and it wasn't an option. David's missionary farewell talk was that day, and he was not going to miss it. So many of David's events (birthdays, etc) have been ruined because of hospital stays. They discharged Brent from IHC in Murray at 11:00 on Sunday. :)  He made it home in time to shower and get to the church. He is still on the three IV antibiotics, and is hooked up to his IV six different times throughout the day, plus his TPN for 11 hours. Hopefully this won't have to last long.

So, yesterday morning we took David to the airport and said our good-byes for two years. He and other Elders left on their journey. This morning, 21 hours later, they arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa, which was actually about 4:30pm there. Hopefully they can get some rest before officially reporting to the Missionary Training Center tomorrow morning. Though our hearts are heavy and we have shed many tears at his departure, we have much joy and comfort knowing that he is doing what he wants to do, and that he is where he should be right now at this point in his life. He was so very excited to finally be going and he is excited to begin teaching the people about their Heavenly Father and Savior, Jesus Christ. We look forward to his letters and emails.

That is our summer. We haven't really had any time for normal summer fun, like camping, or Dennis and Jan's cabin, or fishing, but our summer has definitely been full of meaningful family events. We have drawn closer as a family and realize that that is what it's all about. Building relationships and memories. Thanks for being a part of it.