Branson 4th of July

I was able to go out and visit Jaren in Missouri over the 4th of July holiday. I was able to "pin" him with his new first lieutenant rank. He's no longer on the bottom of the officer chain, he's one step up. We went to Branson to spend the few days we had together.
While there we went on a river cruise on a paddlewheel boat. Along the river I found my dream home!
We found a cool train in town we wanted to ride but when we were there the tracks were being worked on so we just took a picture in front of it.
We did a bit of window shopping in the old down town Branson and found a leg lamp like the one on A Christmas Story ("You'll shoot your eye out"). What a nice picture of Jaren next to it! We watched the fireworks in a dinky country town that was shooting them off. Definitely not Fort Vancouver fireworks but it was still fun. The traffic in the whole area was awful so we took all kinds of detours to get around it. It was nice being able to see each other. Saying goodbye again was VERY hard! At least we made it through. -Emily

Jared & Jen

Jared (Jaren's best friend) and Jen tied the knot on May 30, 2008 in the Salt Lake temple. I flew down and stayed with the Armstrong's (Jared's family) for the few days of activities. The sealer said some awesome things and in general it was a beautiful sealing. It was fun to be with all of their family and I enjoyed being a part of it all. We all missed Jaren but he did get to call and give both Jared and Jen some last minute marital advice. I was a little emotional since Jaren had just left but I only really cried when they played the "couples" dance at the reception. I had to just stand on the side of the room without my husband. All in all it was great to be there and I think Jared and Jen are a cute couple. Jaren and I wish them the best! - Emily

(Ignore Joel's little comment on the back of the car)

The Beginning

Well, this is a start to what I hope will be a way for family and friends to stay updated on how Jaren and I are both doing. For those who don’t know, Jaren is deploying to Iraq for 400 days so I have moved back to be near mom and dad in Washington. I do live in my own little apartment down the road but spend most of my time at their house when I’m not involved in other things. Jaren has been gone a grand total of 22 days which leaves approximately 378 more to go…if all goes well. He is training with his unit right now but will fly to the Middle East soon. He has been able to call me about every other day and seems to be doing well with only a few issues that generally arise when people from all different parts of the country and different backgrounds come together to work as a team. I am keeping busy with my new calling as the Ward Camp Director in the Young Women’s program. I have several other things to keep me busy during the summer and plan on going back to college in the fall. Jaren and I have endured separation before but never for this long. We are both trying to have a positive outlook on the situation where we hope this next year will provide us the opportunity to grow individually and as a couple. Please keep Jaren in your prayers and be mindful of others around you who may be in the same situation we are. They can always use the support! - Emily