Clear Creek

Friends always ask me what I do over the summer now that school's out. Well, I work! Last summer, I was hired on to be a teacher at Clear Creek Summer Camp, which is basically a week-long outdoors camp near Scofield where we teach fifth-graders about the trees, flowers, animals, and the history of that area. It's a lot of fun, and I've learned a lot from working there these last two summers. My favorite part is catching pot-guts in homemade traps! My least favorite part is being away from Travis for the week. There's no cell phone reception, but there is a computer from which I can e-mail him.

(Don't worry, we only use the mouse traps to open
and close the trap's door...)

Last weekend, when Travis picked me up from camp, he surprised me with, lo and behold, another camping trip! My clothes were already dirty and still smelled like smoke from the long week, so why not? We met up with Rob, Kim, Colby and Kat around Payson Lakes. We always have so much fun together! I love this picture- it looks like I've been camping all week, and I love the difference in our sticks. I guess Teddy Roosevelt said it best: "Speak softly, and carry a big stick!"

Father's Day Fun

To celebrate Father's Day, I decided to surprise Travis with a canoe trip down the Provo River. We had a blast!

We rowed for a couple of hours down to Utah Lake and back, and had so much fun together! I am so grateful for Travis and the wonderful man that he is. He is such a strength to our family, and a wonderful influence to everyone around him. He'll be an amazing father one day!

Happy Father's Day! :)

Unemployed!

After working at the housing office for over 3 years as an administrator, Travis took the plunge and quit his job. Because of how this joint program is structured, he only has one year to work on and defend his thesis for his Masters in Mechanical Engineering. Quitting has definitely given him extra time to do this.

This has been a bitter-sweet thing for Travis; he's made the housing office advance in so many ways, not to mention saved them thousands of dollars each year by the things he programed and integrated for them. Everyone was so sad to see him go! I don't know what they're going to do without him. Our friends have joked with us saying that the housing office will probably cease to exist, and students will be homeless and wander aimlessly around campus.

That weekend, we took a small camping trip to celebrate. Travis cooked pasta for dinner. To be honest, it was the first time I've ever had pasta while camping. But it was so easy to make, and delicious!

When he went to school this week, he forgot he didn't have an A sticker anymore! Poor Travis didn't even know where any Y parking lots were located! Luckily, he found one empty spot in the nick of time. He'll get a G sticker starting summer term for being a graduate student...but we will miss the close parking! Travis also received a T.A. Fellowship for Fall/Winter semesters, so this unemployment won't last too long. We know that his job at the housing office has been a blessing in many ways to us, and for that we are so grateful!