Hi Everyone! Okay we made it out to Vermont safe and sound. We were a little tired and going nuts from driving so far in a moving truck with a cat and a bird, but we survived. We had lots of breaks on the drive since Caleb’s family drove out with us. We made a trip out of it and saw all the church sights and Niagara Falls, it was really fun.

We got to Vermont on a Saturday night and within 10 minutes had about twenty members, who were med students living in the same area, at our house helping us unload the truck. I guess they had been watching out for our truck all day and as
soon as someone saw it they called all the others. It was amazing, because we had the truck unloaded in about 40 minutes. They are all super nice, married and most with one or two kids. It has been a great help to have so many members around that make you feel comfortable and welcome. In Caleb’s class there are 8 LDS guys; four in our ward and four in the other Burlington ward. Their wives are all really nice (although there are only two others besides me who don’t have kids yet). We have already gotten to know them pretty well.



Burlington is a cute little town, right on Lake Champlain and with a really cute old downtown on the water. There are actually lots of little towns that make up the Burlington area, but they are all right next to each other, so it all feels like one town.

Caleb just had his first week of real school. The first week we were here he had orientation, but this week he has had classes all week. He is studying quite a bit already, and reading tons. So far he stays on Campus from 8:00 to 5 or 6, so it is like a full time job. It is nice for me because he usually gets most of his homework and studying done on campus before he gets home, but we’ll see how long that will last :O) He rides the bus to and from school, and has of course made friends with all the LDS guys really fast since they all ride together and study together. So Caleb is enjoying that association. He drags me out to different activities and parties, which it is very good for me and making friends.

I have mainly been getting the house put together and looking for jobs. I got a temporary job at the college bookstore for the next three weeks. It’s lower pay then I am used to, but will give me something to do. I also applied to substitute teach at two of the school districts here, and they pay well and apparently are desperate for teachers. They say you pretty much can work full time. It is nice though because you basically just pick your own hours. They call you and ask if you can work and if you’re sick or have another job, you just say no. I am also hoping to get a lot of tutoring jobs out of it, which is mainly what I want to do.


As far as our house goes, the area we live in is a converted army fort and is used as the student housing for UVM and St. Michael’s College. It is a nice community with lots of parks and green space. I already found a great running track around the main park, and the town has lots of biking which we have already explored and got lost on (for 30 miles :O). I miss the ocean though and the weather is very different; the leaves are already changing colors!! In relief society everyone talks about winter and how it gets dark at 4:30, and in January it rarely gets above negative 10, and you get ice storms often. We’ll see how that goes, but it should be okay. They that you just have to make it through January and February before it’s enjoyable again. We both survived Russia, though, so I am sure we’ll do okay. I just don’t know about Figaro.

Anyway, we are doing good and still adjusting. We miss everyone very much, and are
looking forward to coming out at Christmas. We love you all very much, and hope everything is going well.