Lots of Updates...

Hello family and friends!

Sorry it's been a while since the last update. Lots of things have happened....

1) We were able to spend 4th of July with our family in Evanston, WY. All I can say is you have NOT experienced the 4th until you've gone to Wyoming. Non-stop fireworks from 7pm-3am... It's insane. A few weeks before that, Colter's parents came to Evanston for Rick's bikerace. We got to spend the whole weekend with them. It was so great spending time with them, we miss them so much.

2) Colter found a job working at a Country Club in Draper! He started Wednesday and he works most nights. Its great, but it does mean I now have my evenings free... not much to do...

3) Colter got his calling to be a Gospel Doctrine teacher. His first sunday teaching is tomorrow and he's pretty nervous. There's probably 50 people in our class and he's used to teaching 10 Elder's Quorum guys... :)

4) School is going great for the both of us. We finished up taking our midterms and so far, so good. Colter is staying on top of all his readings, which I gave up doing a long time ago. I hate reading when it's required....

5) Tueday night we made a pretty dumb decision to stay up till 3:30 in the morning going to the Harry Potter premier. The movie was really good, everyone should go see it right now. The only bad thing is that we're still recovering from being in line for 5 hours and staying up till the early hours of the morning.... We had tons of fun though. Colter was the only guy in our group. We went with my old roommates, Monica, Christie, Jesi, and Jaci (Jesi's sister). We had such a good time making fun of all the crazy people dressed up. But who's to judge when we're in line 5 hours early...?

I know there's a ton more stuff, but I really can't think clearly right now. I'll have to keep a notebook near me and write down what I need to put up here. Here are pictures of what we've been up to!

A shout out for Fathers...

I know Father's Day was a couple of weeks ago, but in my Family Foundation class, we studied the importance of fathers. It struck me so hard how essential fathers are.

Nowadays, about 33% of children do not have a resident biological father. That's 1 out of every 3 kids! I couldn't believe that. Also, 38.7% of babies are born to unwed mothers. Almost half! These statistics are staggering. I never knew how many people do not have fathers. Fathers are vital to a healthy, happy family. Children who do not have regular contact with their fathers are 5x as likely to live in poverty, 2x as likely to commit a crime, and 2x as likely to drop out of school. Fathers are soooooo important!!!!

After learning all these heartbreaking statistics, I am so grateful for all the fathers that I know. My professor (who extensively studied fatherhood) has concluded that the number one thing fathers can do for their children is to BE THERE. Be there to read bedtimes stories, to go sledding, to make smores, to build a fort, or to protect your daughter from the scary spiders. :) I have to thank my dad especially for this. He was always there for me and is the best dad's I know. I want to thank all fathers I know for being there.

2 Month Anniversary!!

Colter and I celebrated our 2 month anniversary yesterday! I can't believe it's already been 2 months. Time flies! I made sour cream enchilada's and I think Colter doesn't mind that he married me anymore since he's getting fed now :)

Things have been going pretty well. Colter is keeping on top of all his schoolwork, and I'm procrastinating as usual. (In fact, he's a whole week ahead in one of his classes) Reality is a shocker and I'm not sure I like it. Both of us are gone pretty much all day and the only time we spend together is a night, when we are both doing our homework. Oh well, that's life, right?!

Happy fourth of July! We hope everyone has a wonderful, safe, and fun holiday! We're heading up to Evanston tomorrow and lighting off fireworks (first time ever for me). Colter has a job interview on Saturday so everyone be sure to keep him in your prayers!!!! Have a great holiday and sorry this post a little boring...;)