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Well some might think I've gone dark given my two month absence from the blog. To the contrary, I've been quite active and productive. In support of this assertion, I submit the following.


This is the wooden shelf in the garage I refinished while Mandy and the kids were away. I wish I had a before picture. It was pretty nasty - dirty, paint chipping everywhere, and some of the shelves were loose. I tightened all the shelves with new screws, cleaned and sanded everything, applied two coats of paint, and put new hardware on. And then I hung the black tool pegboard.

Our garage needs a lot of work, as you can see. Our next projects in the garage are (1) patch and paint the walls, which are pretty beat up, and (2) do something with the floor. The floor is bare concrete and it is stained worse than a second grader's mattress.



This is another garage project I completed in the girls' absence. For most people hanging a piece of wood on the wall would not be difficult, but I managed to struggle with it. Finally I got it level and stuck up on the wall with some glue and screws. It's very sturdy, unlike most of my projects. The black door on the left leads to the backyard, where a wealth of projects awaits us.


I bought my first barbecue. I found a good deal at Lowe's and couldn't say no. It's nothing fancy, no side burners or stainless steel. Just a simple black grill. I successfully assembled and used it without exploding our house or burning the chicken.



I purchased a used gym I found on craigslist. It's in "like new" condition, like everything else on craigslist. This gym really is in great shape. I'm proud to report that I paid $50 for it. It was quite a chore loading it into the CR-V and then getting it into the basement. I had a friend from work help me unload and assemble it. It's a beautiful piece of machinery and I am thrilled about it. You will not recognize me the next time you see me, I'll be buried under muscles. Once we get a treadmill we'll have our own little Gold's gym in the basement.

I thought the gym would come with weights but it didn't. The day after I brought it home I advertised on craigslist that I needed some weights and a few hours later a guy called telling me I could have all the weights I wanted. Another craigslist miracle.

So that's a glimpse of what I've been doing. The bulk of my time has been spent researching caselaw and writing legal documents in my office. If someone wants to see a picture of that, I'll have my secretary take one and post it. But I think you can imagine how exciting it is.

Riley Goes to West Jordan High School Homecoming!

Last night was West Jordan's Homecoming Dance. Riley asked a cute girl named Lexi to go with him. The date started out with a day date where they had KFC at a Bluffdale park, followed by games like whiffle ball, football and croquet. Sounds like they had a good time and the weather was perfect. The night date consisted of dinner at the Spaghetti Factory, the dance and pictures, and finally an outdoor fire and movie at Corbin's house. Here are a couple of pictures of the handsome young man! Please take note of his strategically placed arms which highlight the amazing French cuffed shirt topped off with even more amazing cuff links which belonged to Great-Grandpa Larry, a former railroad worker. I believe Riley takes after his brothers more everyday! He says he just happens to love cuff-links. Did I mention how handsome he looked?

Dad and I saw Riley off and then sat on the front steps and pondered where the time had gone. We were seeing our last child off for his first big school dance. Time flies by, it wasn't that long ago that we were doing the very same thing with our first. Not wanting to dwell on the fact that we will soon be all alone...We took Bauer for a walk and then decided to go downstairs and play ping pong. Now, I know that you all think I am the competitive one in the family, and maybe there is a little truth to that, maybe a little history proves that out, but have you played with your father? So, everytime we play ping pong together it goes like this...we first begin by just hitting the ball back and forth, just a nice little rally, we do this for a while, then he says, "You want to play a game?" So of course I have to agree, thinking maybe this time we could just play for fun. Then I get get my first point and he says 0-1, then I get another and he repeats, 0-2. I'm thinking, hey I'm hitting the ball pretty well today and then he gets his first point and he says, 1-2, then it's 2-2, then 3-2, then it's 4-2, 5-2, 6-2, 7-2... you get the point. Here is the thing that kills me, it's that he has to say the score loudly every single time, have you ever noticed this? He can't just quietly say it in his mind, or repeat it every couple of scores, but no...he says the score loudly each turn --all the way up to 21-2. Every single time. I think some of you out there know how I feel, you that have lost to him in golf, basketball, tennis and now ping pong. How do you like the score being flaunted at every turn? He says he is not competitive, but the way he pumps his fist and mutters under his breath, "I love to beat them" is proof enough, even when he beats ME. And now... Riley and I are the only ones he has around to beat up on all the time. Am I a bad loser, probably, but come on...does he have to repeat the score every single time?

I'm crafty.

Hey guys! So, for the past year or so I've been working on a stitchery project. If mom were doing this, she would have been done one year ago. It took me a while, but I finished! I stitched the pattern, painted the frame, sanded the frame (to give it the rough look) and then put the stitchery in. Mom was an amazing help, even though she wouldn't let me sand the frame inside the house. This project is now triumphantly hanging above my bed at school. Also, take into account that these photos were taken with my phone.

School is taking over my life. I practically live on campus. I woke up with a sore throat and stuffy nose so I better take it easy before I get sick. Or before it gets worse...

Thank goodness this week is over, it has been quite stressful. I hope everyone is doing well!

A Post for Riley

A while ago, and sorry it's been so long, Riley left a comment on our blog that said: "stacy, i have a question, i want to make a post on the family blog and no one here will help me. would you please tell me what needs to happen? Muchos gracias."

Since nobody wants to help Riley, I'm leaving instructions for him.

So, Riley, send me your email address. I'd love to add you with your own account, I just need your email. Once I send you an email about the blog, follow the instructions on how to log in. Once you are logged in, click on "New Post" and a page comes up that you can type whatever in. You have a blog too, so you can probably take it from there.

I realize it's been a while since Matt and I have posted anything on here...maybe more to come. Stay tuned. : )