Major family update

It's been awhile since our last blog, so here is a little bit of what has been going on in the Sumpter family:



1. We're having a baby!!! This is probably not a shock to most of you, but we are VERY excited to be expecting our first baby on June 30! I am now 13 weeks along and doing very well. I had a rocky couple of weeks at first with bad morning sickness, but now I am so happy to be feeling great with a healthy baby inside!



2. We are moving to Connecticut! As we have mentioned before, Phillip has loved his insurance consulting job in Rexburg that he has been working at for almost a year now. As an added bonus, he was offered a position with the firm in Connecticut for the next couple of months. It is a great opportunity in which the company will pay for a furnished apartment and groceries. Phillip is really excited for the opportunity, and I am excited to enjoy the east coast for a little bit. We are leaving around January 5th in our trusty jeep and driving across the country. We are planning on stopping along the way in places like Nauvoo, and of course Delaware to visit Phillip's family. It is going to be so fun to be closer to them! (only about 4 1/2 hours away!) I will move back to Utah in May, and Phillip will come back in June. The entire journey will be such a fun adventure for us!



3. Phillip is on his way to law school! After deciding to wait a year before going to law school, we are very excited to be applying again for law schools across the country. At the beginning of December, Phillip took the LSAT again and did awesome! He scored a 161 (85 percentile)! We have already applied to BYU (our #1 pick) and are now trying to decide where else we would like to apply. He will start in the fall.



We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and hope you enjoy the new year! We will be sure to keep you updated on all of our adventures! (pictures will also be added later)

Robin the orchestra teacher

It's true! I have officially been offered my first job as a middle school orchestra teacher! I will be teaching 30-40 6th graders who have never touched an instrument in their lives how to play the violin, viola, and cello. I am SO excited and nervous at the same time, and my first class is on MONDAY. I can't believe that I am qualified enough to be an actual teacher! Wow diplomas are amazing!

A typical day at the Sumpters

Hey everyone! So here are a few things that have happend over the last couple of weeks:

- Phillip's brother Dallin returned from his mission in Los Angeles! After spending 3 short days with the family in Delaware, he moved here to Rexburg to start school. It is so fun to have him living so close!

~Dallin arrives!~

- Along with Dallin, 3 other cousins moved to Rexburg to start college- Barbara, Mary, and Austin. We love having so many family members close by! ~Mary, Barbara, Dallin, and Austin~

- Phillip is loving his job more then ever. He is known as the "office clown" with his easy ability to always make everyone laugh. Lately, he has enjoyed sending emails to a coworker marked from the "boss." When the coworker opens the email up, it is a shocking picture of a big hairy man! Needless to say, Phillip is loving what he does and the people that he works with- and yes, he IS working very hard.

- I, surprisingly, am adapting well to not having a crazy schedule. I have kept myself busy lately with scrapbooking, organizing, cleaning, and baking! I have successfully made 4 loaves of delicious homeade white bread as well as 4 loaves of pumpkin chocolate chip bread. If anyone has any good recipes... pass them on!

~Fresh homeade bread!~

We are looking forward with anticipation to January when we will get to leave and travel the country for Phillip's job.

Happy fall everyone!!!

Hoopla! (a new sport invented by the Sumpter family)

Equipment Needed:
1 badminton net
2 or more "hooplet hammers" (badminton racquets)
1 or more "hooplets" (glow-in-the-dark stick connected at the ends to form a circle)
1 package of glow-in-the-dark sticks

Set up:
1. set up badminton net in an open area
2. wait until dark
3. crack several glow-in-the-dark sticks and weave them into the top netting of the badminton, illuminating the top of the net
4. decorate your hooplet hammers by weaving cracked glow-in-the-dark sticks into the strings of the hammer (suggestion: do not weave sticks in the center of the hammer as it may impede your ablity to hit the hooplet)

To play:
Divide into equal teams and hit the hooplet over the net to the opposing team with your hooplet hammer (suggestion: the lighter you hit the hooplet the better as hooplets have a tendancy to fly very far distances)

~ Phillip and Matthew strumming on their hooplet hammers as they wait for it to get dark~

Summer 2008 Vacations

Delaware!
For our graduation present, my parents gave Phillip and I tickets to go and visit Phillip's family in Delaware for 2 weeks. We had such a fun time!! While we were there, we went to the beach, played tennis, rode bikes, played badmitten (and "hoopla" an extension of badmitten that we made up. Look under "hoopla" for details), went swimming, went miniature golfing in Lancaster, visited Salisbury Maryland, shot guns, made movies, and played many games as a family. Everyone in the family was there except for Dallin and Charles who are happily serving missions in Los Angeles and Albuquerque. It meant so much to Phillip and I to spend this time with his family. We only hope they had as much fun as we did!! ~The family at Tower Beach near Dewey~

Sun Valley
The day we returned from Delaware, we made the journey to Sun Valley, Idaho to have a family vacation with my family. Though the trip was only 4 short days, we had a wonderful time. Some highlights of the vacation include horseback riding, paddle boating on Red Fish Lake, ice skating, watching Fred fish, and swimming. Everyone in the family was there accept for Jon, who sadly had to work. It was so fun to have to whole family together!

~Phillip and I in Sun Valley~

Quick overview

In an attempt to keep everybody updated on our crazy, often unpredictable life, Phillip and I have decided to start this blog! To start, here are a few quick updates:

Phillip going to Law School
Though Phillip had the opportunity to go to several different law schools this fall, we have both decided that BYU is the right place for us. Therefore, he will be applying to BYU's law school for fall 2009. Until then, we will be living in Rexburg, Idaho. Phillip will take the LSAT again this December and until then will be studying hard in preparation. We are very much at peace with this decision and excited for what awaits us.

Phillips current job
Phillip is working at an insurance compliance firm here in Rexburg. He loves his job and who he works with. Starting in January, Phillip will have the opportunity to travel around for the firm and meet and consult with various insurance companies throughout the country. I, naturally, will be going with him.

Robin's current life
I am more than happy to be a graduate and am enjoying spending more time with Phillip. I am currently trying to find a job for the next 4 months before we leave for Phillip's job in January. At that point, I will happily follow Phillip on an adventure around the country. What I will be doing while he works, however, is still a mystery. Being that we will be moving to a new state every 6 to 8 weeks, finding a job (or opening up a violin studio) doesn't seem to be an option. If anyone has any suggestions, PLEASE let me know!