Spencer & Jenell

November 25th - December 16th 2012

In October we had a friend (Rick) ask us if a newlywed couple could live with us.  Complete strangers but in LeRoy's mind they were practically relatives.  LeRoy and Rick both served missions in Oregon but were never companions though they were roommates at Ricks College when LeRoy and I got engaged.  Rick remained friends with a family from the mission (a family that LeRoy had never met) and 24 years later (2012) their daughter is getting married.  A daughter that wasn't even born when they were on their missions.

Spencer and Jenell were getting married right after Thanksgiving but Spencer still had three weeks of the semester to finish and they were unable to find an apartment for just three weeks.  They did have an apartment arranged for January but needed a place to finish the semester and then they would spend the holidays in California and Oregon.

Spencer and Jenell were married on the Saturday morning after Thanksgiving, had their reception Saturday night in Oregon, left Sunday morning for the thirteen hour drive to Idaho and by Sunday night were moved into our guest room.  It was a bit awkward at first.  Spencer would take the car to go to school in the mornings and Jenell was left with complete strangers for the day.  At eighteen, home-schooled, never having lived with roommates (or anywhere away from home) and with no school or job to keep her busy she was a bit unsure of herself.

However, after about a week we all became accustomed to each other's schedules.  By the second week we were blending very well together for meals, church, fhe, evening stories, movies and other craziness.  At the end of the third week we were sad to think that it was over.

During the second week they told us that the apartment that they had a deposit on was not going to be available (the couple decided to stay longer) so they began looking for another apartment.  When it was time for them to leave for California they still didn't have a place.  So, as of now they still have all their stuff in the guestroom, are looking for a place online during the holidays and hope to have an apartment by the time they come back in January.  If they don't have an apartment by the time they return to Idaho they will stay with us until they do.

As Justin said, "we were just getting to really like them and they're leaving". We are all okay with them staying for a while longer.