Fire at Baumgartner!!!

We decided to go camping to our favorite camp spot the last weekend before school started up again. We invited our good friends, Krystalyn and Neil Bird and their little 3 year old, Tyler.

Bird's couldn't get up there until Friday afternoon so Justin and I got to spend most of the day together just chilling out and really doing nothing...it felt great! Friday afternoon rolled around and they showed up. The weather was beautiful outside, not a cloud in sight and a perfect 90 degrees for awesome swimming!

That night as we sat around the campfire talking there was a sudden flash of lightening. As we looked up we realized that even though there had been no wind, the sky was now covered with dark clouds. We hurried to get everything under the tarp before it started raining.

Just as we were finishing there was another bright bolt of lightening with an incredibly loud thunder accompanying it simultaneously. The rain POURED for about 5 minutes and then stopped just as abrubtly as it began.

As we walked out from the tarp and looked up at the sky, we could see the millions of stars again and not a cloud in sight. Our eyes traveled from the sky down the mountain where we noticed that the whole hillside was on fire!

The lightening had struck a tree on the mountain very near our campsite. We were evacuated along with all the other families that were camping near us. This basically involved throwing all of our belongings into the back of both rigs and hoping that nothing got ruined. It was about 1 in the morning at this point.

We drove across the river and down the road about a mile or two, figuring that if the fire spread that far we would be notified again.

Because it was so late we didn't really want to set up camp again. So we just cleared out the back of our Land Cruiser and the back of their Suburban and each slept in the back of our respective rigs. I highly discourage anyone from doing this unless absolutely necessary...especially when you are pregnant!

I hurt SOOOO bad the next morning. There just wasn't quite enough room to spread out lengthwise or width wise. It was super uncomfortable. Our poor dogs had to try to figure out how to sleep on the front seats with all our crap. I will say, though, that I am happy that we had the rig and we didn't have to try to sleep in bucket seats in a car! That would have been way worse!

The next morning, we went back to the campsite. They had completely evacuated from our loop clear to the swimming hole. They had about 3 spaces left in the first loop that was not evacuated. We set up camp in one of those for the remaining of our little trip.

Unfortunately, although we got to stay there, the hot tub that makes the campsite so wonderful was closed because the fire was directly above it and they were still putting it out for the next 24 hours. Also, we couldn't get to the swimming hole from the camp side of the river. We had to drive clear out and around to the other side for the same reason.

Oh well, it is always an adventure and as long as everyone is safe it just makes it that much more enjoyable!

Last First Day of Undergrad Classes

Well, today officially marks the last first day of undergraduate classes for both Justin and me! Who knows what the future will entail, but we are definitely looking forward to this semester and the years to come. Hopefully all the hard work, long hours, and money will pay off!

Jason & Jeremy Ni

We had the opportunity to have Jason and Jeremy Ni from Taiwan come and stay with us for just about a week this summer! They are the 15 year-old twins of a lady that Justin taught the gospel to while on his mission. We stayed one night with their family when we were in Taiwan earlier this summer.

Sister Ni wanted the boys to come and learn the gospel in English for a while. It was really nice having them here. Their English is awesome and they are just outstanding boys. I am sure that they were on their best behavior for their mother, but seriously, I have NEVER seen 15 year old boys do housework WITHOUT being asked!

I hope that they had fun while they were with us. They went to Roaring Springs with Adam and Chase. We also took them to a rodeo in Rupert that Adam was riding at. We feed them deer, elk, and bear too. Ha ha ha! It was great!

They did get to experience an American LDS wedding as well. Lots of work from everyone as they helped out with Tony and Monserrat's wedding and reception.

We would love to have them come and stay again anytime!

Tony & Monserrat's Wedding

What a crazy weekend!!!!

Tony and Monserrat were married on August 8th in the Twin Falls Temple! It was absolutely beautiful! I got to watch Carter on the temple grounds and hang out with Mary, Jake, and Joe (Justin's cousins). Justin, his brothers, and the Ni boys, who were staying with us, went to help Grandpa DeGiulio and Aunt Cindy with the lasagna and then set up the tables and chairs for the luncheon.

Unfortunately, just before everyone came out of the temple Justin called me with bad news. Grandpa had somehow ended up on the stage in the gym with the lights out and didn't realize it. Walking toward where he had seen the boys go out the door on the other side of the gym, Grandpa walked right off the stage and landed on his side. Justin rushed Grandpa to the hospital where they learned that he had broken 5 ribs!!!

I had to break the news to John without letting anyone else know that I knew what was going on because Grandpa specifically wanted John to tell Merena, Serena, and especially Grandma.

The luncheon turned out great, even though the rain started to pick up. Justin and Grandpa didn't make it to the luncheon (Justin opted to stay with Grandpa in the ER).

The reception the next day went really well! Candice and I had the funniest task to put together a display with a bunch of seemingly mismatched this and that items that Merena had picked up along the way. Ha ha ha! It was quite the challenge, but it was fun and I think it turned out just fine.

Carter started walking on his own at the reception! That was super cute to watch and great to have the whole family there to be able to witness.

Grandpa was able to come to the reception. We just had the boys bring one of John and Merena's recliners from the house down to the church and he got to sit it in it the whole evening. I'm sure it wasn't the most comfortable way, but he was mostly concerned with being there.

Of course, Justin and the boys took it upon themselves to decorate Tony's truck. The funniest thing was Tony parked a ways away from the church in hopes that no body would find the truck. Ha ha ha! BIG mistake. Jordan spent about 20 minutes driving around Rupert looking for the truck and successfully found it.

Monse's grandparents thought that the decorating was really funny!

They seem to be really happy and we are really happy for them!

Here are some pics from the wedding...