WE ARE ALIVE :)

Well hello everyone from the Anderson family. Yes we are still alive but we have been super super busy. To start things off, Star is finally done with her first year of pharm school, YAY!!!!!! She didn't have to take any of the classes during the summer so it is super good times. We are going on 3 months left and counting until Alexander K Anderson is born, and Star is able to sleep hopefully once again. I finished my spring semester of school about 2 weeks before Star and was really happy with my grades. I am still working at the hospital as an orderly, and I somewhat got accepted into the echo cardiology program up at Weber State. I started shadowing some of the techs over at the Central Utah Clinic to get some time shadowing under my belt but am still waiting for the Doctor to give it the ok for me to do my clinicals there, so we are crossing our fingers.
Star and I moved to Springville during all of this chaos, and now live 1 block away from mom and dad Anderson which we love. The new place is so nice and quiet compared to the interstate noise that we had at the other place. We just have to worry about the robins and the bird choir at 5:30 in the morning waking us up (loved Julies idea of putting a fake owl out there). We are really loving the new place though, a big back yard with a play area, a lot of kids around, really quiet, and just a perfect place to start our new family. It really feels like living in the country.
After we had both finished school and before Star started her internship at the Walgreen's (working 6 weeks for 40 hrs per week), we decided that we were going to take a vacation for a week to relax and hang out with each other before the chaos started again.
The vacation started off with boating with Max and Jewel and the gang at Utah lake. I tried to go tubing on a small tube and just ended up drinking a lot of nasty lake water and getting very sore arms. The next day we slept in and relaxed and then played games with tom and Julie and dad Salmond (we are not big fans of battle star galactica!!). The next day we went and fed some ducks over at a pond in springville, there were some monster fish that came up and starting eating the bread and Star jumped up. It was so cute, Star was worried about the little ducks and that they were going to get eaten by the fish. So so cute. Then on Monday we went fishing up American Fork canyon, and got onto our raft that we bought last year and yes it still floats. I was scared out of my mind that there was a hole or something in it but star was like "lets do it!!!" Super fun, and no there wasn't a hole, and no we didn't catch any fish but we did play go fish. The last day we decided that we would go to the zoo with mom and dad Salmond. We did a scavenger hunt where we got a list put together of things that we wanted to see. For example two young people in love, the tongue of a Giraffe, a kid picking his nose, an adult picking his nose, etc. We got most of them besides the kid and adult picking their nose. It was really fun to go with them and to get away from the world for a little bit. Overall it was a great vacation and much needed and although we are worried about our relationship changing with a new little baby, its times like this that bring us closer and we hope we always find the time to get away and enjoy each other as best friends just out having fun.
We are getting ready for Alex (xander to Star) to be born in September, and star is (in my eyes) really not looking pregnant but she would tell you other wise (note from Star: ummmm I have gained a CRAZY 25 lbs already....WHOA!!, yeah I can only think of 2 shirts that fit me before and still fit, not so fun. We thought about posting star's big pics, but I really hated that idea, so sorry for all you guys that don't get to see me in my fatty state :P) . Star is still trying to get used to the positioning that is most comfortable for her for sleeping at night, and with the weight gaining thing, but we just have to keep on remembering that it is a baby and that all this is worth it in the end. We are really grateful that we are having a baby, and are both really excited.
Star is learning a lot at her internship at Walgreen's, but is missing her friends as Costco. She is actually going to start working at Costco next Thursday and is not excited about working almost 50 hrs a week but is happy that she will be getting paid for her time and that she gets to work with the girls again. She has picked up the Walgreen's system in 4 days, and is able to help out the customers, and get the prescriptions into the data base. She now has just 5 weeks left of the internship and then will continue to work at Costco, working toward her 600 hrs needed by the state for her pharm license.
We got a DVD made of the ultrasound today from the lady that I am shadowing at the echo place, so now we can watch Alex whenever we want (the clips are SUPER fast though but its really super cute to see Alex sucking his little thumb and waving and bringing his foot up to his head) .
We really hope everything is going well for you guys wherever you might be and hoping that you are safe and healthy. Much love-Mike and Star