fall semester (part 1)

The semester must be winding down if a post is finally gonna make it out alive! And yes, the semester has winded down. The 13th -16th was finals week and we really were suppose to be done, but now it looks like Cass will be done by the end of April plus a summer internship, but Ty will be done by December pending on his math final!

As of August 25th, fall semester started with both Ty and Cass taking six classes (each). Grades don't come out until the 23rd and we'll get those posted if they are good.

August also brought new phone upgrades with our contract! We had all ready decided not to get smart phones, but of course they sucker you into a good deal and bam! We each are now the proud owners of the LG Ally, complete with Google Android!

Well it finally happened! I made it (via help of my most loved family) to one of the longest running musicals (on Broadway) in my life-CATS. Tuacahn’s production was really fun and all of us (me, Ty, Mom, Dad, and Shand) enjoyed it. In fact, I liked it more than I remember liking it in the past (from the video). It was funnier and I think I picked up more thanks to Matey. Thanks everyone for making it happen-it was a lot of fun. (I got a picture with Mr. Mistoffelees, but it was pretty blurry and fuzzy so I used Tuacahn’s Rum Tum Tugger pic instead).

Ty needed one last hurrah before starting school, so he begged Kevin to get the Fat Man's annual hike underway. Once we got down to St. George, Kevin surprised us with an ATV outing! I had never been before and it was so much fun! The boys went off to Fat Man's the next day and the girls did something fun....I'm sure. Fat Man’s Misery is about a 13 mile hike stating in Zion National Park and ending up ‘in the middle of nowhere’ as Ty put it. Lots of water (look closely, this is where they filmed the garbage escape scene in Star Wars Episode 4: A New Hope, where Leia, Luke, Han, and Chewy escape from the Storm Troopers), swimming, rappelling, and cuts, scratches, and bruises.

Fat Man’s (courtesy of the A to Zion YouTube channel)

I won't ever forget the beginning of this semester, Ashley and members of the Oliver family, our hearts and prayers are with you in your time of loss. May you find comfort and peace from our Heavenly Father and Savior.

Well it was bound to happen, fall semester was slated to start, but at least Maria kicked-it off with a fun BBQ party! College kids can never turn down free food!

After all the fun and excitement of starting a new semester, we finally got into the routine of school.

Cass: Media Ethics Small Group Communication Argumentation Anthropology of Mormonism Mormon Cultural Studies Power Yoga

Ty: College Algebra Web Languages (JavaScript) Mass Communication and Society Authoring for the Internet (Flash) Digital Broadcasting Power Yoga

So there you have it. August passed by just as such. I will use the "getting use to school" as the excuse for not posting that month! I will leave August with a quote form Elder Lewis:

(August 16, 2010)

"Yes, hump day has come and gone. It felt weirder than I thought it would, ... I´m taking advantage of this critical moment to make some "New Year´s" resolutions. For instance, I´m reading an entry in my journal every day from one year before to see progress and help me know what will be interesting to put in their from now on. I´m going to see how things go!"

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And onto September!

September always brings Labor Day and this year we tricked an unsuspecting friend in coming down to St. George with us to go boating! It was quite the adventure! Mieka must have been feeling adventurous because technically this is the last boating trip we getting to on (due to school), and the lake is crazy busy!

The end of September marks Matey's birthday! So we attempted to take him up the canyon and get some pictures! The canyon was very beautiful with the leave just starting to change colors. However it was not Matey's favorite outing. He liked being outside, but he didn't want to pose and look cute in pictures-he would rather just flop down in the dirt under a bush. We'll just leave it at that.

Besides school the only other regular thing is Elder Lewis' letters. So many of September's letters were amazing. It was very hard to pick just one quote, but what can you do? Here is an update from him:

" Yes, the Lord is the author of this work, and he constantly reminds me of it. Each time we try to venture forth alone, we fail. When we rely on and work with the Lord, miracles happen. It really amounts to just that. "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths." And he does. The Savior leads us, guides us, walks beside us and helps us find the way - based on the simple conditions of obedience and love. Yes, if we do all that He teaches, we will live with Him someday. To put it simply, it´s true. It´s all true." (September 13, 2010)