Merry Christmas!!!

Hello everyone! It is Christmas night. Peggy and John and Raimi and Jim and Caitlen and Josh came up for Christmas dinner and day, and it was just wonderful. We had wine, soda, pie, ham, and so many snacks it was crazy! They brought Godiva, and she was just thrilled to see our dogs! Jennie and I got up early and opened presents with the kids, and it was just wonderful. We had a great day! Josh is still here now, talking about family matters with Jennie. It is a nice time. A beautiful day. Great day of family and friends.

Now we are just hanging out, but I wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. More later. It's been really busy and I haven't updated this, but we'll get to it. We took a lot of pictures which we will share with you.

Soon!

Love!

Happy Birthday Ame!!!!

How exciting! Ame is 11 years old right now! Isn't that exciting? Happy Birthday. I'm about to head to DAys to pick up her cake, deposit Jennie's check, and .... and... hm... there was one more thing to do at Days.... dang... what was it? Big O tire! Yep, that was it!

Sunday November 29th, 2009

Hello folks. This Thanskgiving was a difficult one. I miss my mother. There is no doubt it was empty without her. We did however get to go to Jennie's Mom's house, and that was wonderful. Good food and family.

This morning took a walk with the five dogs and Jennie, and it was really nice. Jennie got a LOT of nice photos which you can see on her Facebook Page. I wish you could see them all and wish there was a way to easily link to them.

Today I cleaned, and relaxed a lot. Yesterday Jennie and I started Christmas shopping, and went to Happy Sumo, and she got her hair done. Tonight we all together as a family and watched Star Trek, which was fun. The kids just love spending time with us. Asher went running, and I put away books, and I finally put together Asher and Riley's beds.

Hm... there had to be more than that, no? No, not really. The walk was nice, the movie was nice, and oh yeah I did a lot of work. The games orders are really big this time of year. That is nice considering how hurt we were when we lost Magic the Gathering for a while there. What evil people they are at Wizards of the Coast.

Anyway, that's that. I will try and update you more soon. I'm helping Ame build her models for Warhammer, she's choosing the Dark Angels Space Marines. I did a lot of Tyranids too. I put my whole army together today and was a bit disapointed. It was smaller than I thought it would be. Asher and Riley are way ahead of me, but they are kids!

Okay, I'll go. If I can figure a way for you to see Jennie's photos of the kids and family and dogs I will.

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! This year kind of sucked. The first year without my Mother. It was a tough day for sure. Everything seems messed up. But... we went to Jennie's folks for dinner and it was so nice! I was grateful to sit back and have a Thanksgiving dinner like that. Very enjoyable. I thank everyone who helped. Jennie and I got up and cooked in the morning, and it was fun. She made Mac and Cheese, and I really liked it. Anyway, ending love and light out to all you who read our blog and follow the family adventure! Thanks!

Today being Friday as I write this we are all back at work. Jennie leaving to Salt Lake this morning, and me heading down to Heber from the new house.

Oh, Ben and B'andra came by last night, and it was really nice to see them. They only stopped by for a minute, but it was great to see them.

Dexter

Good evening friends! It has been a bit of a while since I posted. This weekend, Friday and Saturday, and Sunday, we did nothing. Well, not nothing, but not much. We took a much needed rest. It was upsetting on some levels, I think Saturday Jennie and I both felt moody. Friday night Riley had four friends over and they stayed nearly all day Saturday too. Asher is grounded for bad grades. Ame on Saturday went to ODP tryouts, that is Olympic Development Program tryouts for soccer! She doesnt' think she made the team, but I'm sure it was a great experience for her. Thanks to her soccer coach Mandy for taking her.

What did Jennie and I do? We watched Dexter. All 12 hours of it. Yep, season one of the show Dexter, which is about a serial killer with a code. I don't recommend this to everyone, but it is one of the best shows I have ever watched. Most well written... I just can't say enough. BUT... it's dark, and not for the faint of heart. Still, as a writer, I admire what these guys have done creating this.

Tonight (being Sunday) Jennie cooked Fried Chicken for us. WOW! It was good. And she actually cooked it. No proxy. We had a family dinner. We took the dogs for two walks. Asher and Riley took them in the morning, and Jennie and I took them tonight. Up here along the trails we just leave them off leash, even Figgy and Boo. Speaking of Boo, she has a rash and was sick all day Saturday. Better today. Anyway, on the walk the dogs just loved it. It was great. we saw LOTS of deer. They live in our backyard. We both reflected on how weird it is my kids haven't explored all the areas yet.

I'm reading my friend John Brown's novel, Servant of a Dark God. He got published before me. How about that? Cool for him. So far it is similar to the draft I remember reading a long time ago.

Jennie read Asher's Sun Sign to him and we were supposed to get together for dinner with Mike Aguilar at the house but he wanted to go out to dinner instead, and we didn't really want to do that since we had dinner cooked here. Riley helped with some orders on the computer.

Well... and we ordered some Graber olives.

Thanksgiving is next week. I can't wait. It was so good of Jennie to cook for us today, and I want to thank her.

Well, have a good great week!!!!

Oh hell, I almost forgot! We watched RSL win the MSL soccer cup tonight! OH WOW! Was that FUN! AWESOME! Salt Lake City has won it's first major professional sports championship! It was just awesome. LOVED IT!

Jason

Dinner with the Family

Hello everyone! This weekend Jennie's entire family (well... almost... we didn't have Paul and Jen) came up for Sunday Dinner. It was a fun time, I really enjoyed having them up, and the only bad thing was they left so early! :) Here are some photos of the time!

Josh got to spend some time with Churchill at the dinner table!

Jim got to spend time with Churchill AND Princess!

Josh reaching for some food!

The table, with a certain curious Boston Terrier checking out Peggy's Soup Bowl!

Jennie, John, and Peggy listening attentively to Josh

Jim says "I love you" to me AND Jennie, at the EXACT SAME TIME!

Churchill and Cinder are tired from all the excitement!

Asher samples a Strawberry!

Riley Escapes from it all for a brief moment on the computer....

Ame smiles for the camera while Peggy gets mauled by Princess!

Jennie, Caitlen and Raimi enjoy the November Sun!

Asher helps with the Enchiladas!

Raimi, Josh, Caitlen, Jennie, and John!

Jennie and John share a moment opening a bottle of wine!

However in this photo, Jennie is clearly doing something wrong with the bottle opener and John is telling her about it! (grin)

And we will wrap up with Ame cooking! It was a great time! And a very special thanks to Peggy and John for the glassware, we REALLY needed it, and to Josh for the wine and Jim and Raimi and Caitlen for the bread! Come again soon!

New Mexico Enchiladas!

Today Jennie's family is coming up to the new house for dinner! We're cooking our New Mexico Enchiladas... New Orleans style! Don't worry, they are very good. For the sause, you start by cooking the onions and peppers and garlic in a little olive oil adding beef broth as you go with a strong mix of seasonings, including New Mexico Chili Powder, Cumin, Coriander, and salt, pepper and garlic. You add some tomato paste and sauce, and after an hour of cooking you have a sauce that you blend. It tastes AWESOME! Anyway, we did that last night along with the tortilla soup! Today we'll make the other sour cream based sause for the enchiladas, and put them into the oven.

We also have a nice Salad to go with it.

I'll take pictures of stuff and let you see them! And all the guests who are coming. Meanwhile, a shout out to all my friends in Vegas for NEONCON. Hope they are having fun!

Friday Night

Hello everyone! I haven't written much in the last little while, but I'll do a quick update on things and I'll promise to come back and add some more stuff later. Last week was Halloween and we have some fun photos I would like to post!

Okay, first of all, tonight Asher and Riley ran a Magic the Gathering Tournament at the store. A Zendikar Draft. It was fun, and hopefully successful for everyone!

Jennie and I lost our little cat Bug about 2 weeks ago. She is very shy, so while we moved, she was trapped in the old house. One morning I finally got her. She's very upset. Well I brought her to the new house only to have her utterly disappear the first day. I've been praying for her and asking God where she is. We've all been worried sick. Well tonight I was in the garage unloading things and I opened a drawer to a dresser there and BAM Bug was in the top drawer! She climbed up into it!

She's now safely in Ame's room, with Cinder (her favorite dog) and food and water. I hope she's okay, but I will tell you I was worried about it and my prayers seemed to fall on deaf ears. It was a weird experience. I've worried over that little cat more than I should. I'm glad she is safe now. I hope she is able to get comfortable in the new house.

We lost little chili too the other day, she got outside and was gone for two days! Also Philo and Houdini went out one night and spent the night outside. They were on the front door howling at 5:00 AM! Houdini had actually fallen down a window well and was howling down there.

I went for a walk yesterday with Cinder around my new neighborhood and it was REALLY nice. There really are so many things I could tell you about. But that walk was just nice, and the neighborhood is really nice.

My Dad woke me up at 5:00 this morning saying he was light headed and dizzy and numb all over. I talked him down. He has panic attacks now, and I got him calm and he went back to sleep.

Oh, I forgot to mention that Peggy and John and Josh and Jim and Raimi and Caitlen are all coming up Sunday for dinner! I am debating between enchiladas and lamb, and I'm leaning toward lamb as more traditional, but enchiladas because I can make more of them. Not sure yet which way I'm going to go!

My Mother would like the lamb. But she would like the enchiladas too. Work has been good, and we finished moving everything from the old house today, except the christmas decorations. That is the only thing left. Of course our garage is filled, our basement is filled, and everything is not put away. Cause of consternation for sure! At least we have the kitchen and the livingroom and the bedrooms put away.

I cooked two recipes this week, New Mexico Tomato Soup, and New Mexico Potato Soup. Both were absolutely incredible. I call them New Mexico in honor of Jennie's friend Brandy, who hails from that far distant land.

Hm... well we found the cat! I am grateful to God! I am utterly humbly grateful. The fence is almost done around the house, though Tommy was suppose to finish it today but the gates mysteriously didn't get put on. He's off to St. George and all my friends are at NEONCON in Vegas, something I dearly wanted to do, but had to cancel due to the move.

Ame has Olympic Soccer Tryouts tomorow! Can you believe that? I have to get up at 6:30 to get her there on time. Yeah. Can you believe THAT? On a Saturday? WHEW!

I watched Mulan with Asher last night, on DVD. It is one of my favorite Disney Movies. Just a plain old good one. Haven't watched much TV lately except So You Think You Can Dance.

Okay. I have Halloween pictures, and Ame Soccer pictures for the next post. I might even download them tonight but probably post another day. I really want to put my house away and settle down. And spend some time in it! You know, make it a home that is filled with love and excitement.

Oh my friend Joe Ballsteadt called me tonight. We have to get together soon with him and Mike Aguilar.

Okay, I'm going now. That wasn't entirely boring was it? I didn't think so. You wouldn't have read so far if it was. You would have stopped way up there... yeah, 10 paragraphs ago!

Bless you all!

Love Jason

New Mexico Malibu Chicken

Yes... Jennie cooked tonight. By proxy... but she cooked. We cooked New Mexico Malibu Chicken and it... was... awesome!!! We broiled the chicken in some olive oil, seasoned it with salt pepper and fresh thyme, then when it was done, added ham and swiss cheese with mushed potatoes and it was an awesome dinner that Jennie made for me and Ame! It was really really good. I can't emphasize that enough. Good stuff!

Winter

I know you don't tune in to this blog to hear about the weather. But I'm here to tell you it's cold. WINDY and COLD. I hear California has some wind as well, but it's suddenly nasty 36 degree 40 MPH wind COLD. Just letting you know. For those of you in warmer climates!!!

Onto other news, we are in the house now 3 nights! Can you believe it? 3 nights. It's been good. Everyone is adjusting. We aren't fully moved in yet, there is a lot of stuff still back at the old house, but it's almost all non essentials, like books. Lots and lots of books back at the old house!

I have new pictures to put up, but I left my cameras at home. Tonight I hope to get a chance to put some up!

Tuesday

Not much happened today except! We got a mailbox, we hung our mirrors, I did some good work, and Wizards of the Coast asked me to reapply. Ame had soccer practice, and the boys are at the office for Game Night, which is every Tuesday night! Yesterday sucked. Today was better. Thank you! And... Good night!

Oh yeah...

Almost forgot...

AME SCORED HER FIRST GOAL IN SOCCER TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WHAOH!!!!

WAY TO GO AME!!!

Here team lost 2-5, but against one of the best teams in the league. They are definitely getting better! 1 game to go!

The boys played Warhammer.

Tarot

Today Jennie and I took a Tarot Reading class from Suzzanne Wagner! It was fun to learn about all the ancient history of the Tarot, and the archetypes. I was the only guy in a class of 10 women! WOHOO!!! We had a lot of laughs and it was a nice time. We got home to see our barstools delivered from RC Willey! I should take a picture of them right now. Should I? What do you say? You want to see them? Okay! I'll be right back. Hold on a second!

Here it is! Jennie is working on her facebook while I took the picture!

What? You say that isn't the picture of the barstools? Nope. That's Jennie in the basement sorting our board games on the shelves. HERE is the picture of her at the counter with the new barstools:

What do you think? Cool chairs, huh? I think so too. What? You want MORE pictures? Okay!

Here is a cool picture of Jennie at about 6:00 AM (from some time this last week)! She's been having a lot of fun with her new supervisor position as an excuse to dress in these really neat new outfits! This is one of them! I'll have to remember to take pictures every morning!

And now, here is a picture of Jennie at our Tarot reading class today!



I hope everyone else had a good day. We finished it off by blogging and watching Juan Williams get told to go back to the porch. God bless you all and have a great night!

Thriller

Last night Jennie surprised us with Tickets to the Odyssey Dance Theater's production of Thriller. Riley and I went down for dinner at Sapa with Peggy (Jennie's Mom) and then over to the show!

It... was... GREAT! What a fun production. I like doing things like that, but this better than most. It was just FUN. The dinner at Sapa was great, and Riley even tried fried shrimp (AKA, Calamari).

The show itself was SO FUNNY. It was a party atmosphere there, everyone laughing. It was just great. I can't recommend it enough for kids and adults of all ages. It was just fun fun stuff. There are some scary elements, that small children might not go for, and some inuendo, but overall I have to give a big shout out THANK YOU to Jennie for surprising us with that! What a great show. I REALLY enjoyed it!

And a BIG thank you to Peggy for buying us dinner! Once again, you didn't have to do that! Dinner on ME next time!!!!!!!!!!

Good Morning!

How was everyone's weekend? I hope it was good. Yesterday, Asher, Jennie, and I went shopping for the new house! We went to Park City, and got some awesome mirrors for all the bathrooms, and some towels. Then... we ate at the Hapa Grill, and Asher had Sushi for the first time. He started slow with a tempura shrimp roll but quickly got up to speed on crab rolls. He even tried the raw tuna roll, and ate it but didn't like it as much.

So we are all feeling the stress of being 'half' moved. The old house is half empty, the new house is half full.

So it goes. Anyway, not much else to report! :)

Saturday

Ame and I went the new house to make measurements of things, and then went to the office to work and ... and... play a game of Warhammer with Asher! My first game with him, and I managed to win! Lucky me! Asher was nice to let me win! Then Jennie and I went to RC Willey. We wanted to go to IKEA but ran out of time. At RC WILLEY we bought my Dad a new Washer and Dryer, because he needed them. Then... we wandered into the bar stool area and got three barstools... then... Jennie spied a strange red couch, sat on it, then bought it. Then she saw a nice new table, and bought THAT. Then as we were leaving she saw this crazy orange chair, AND SHE BOUGHT THAT TOO! Dang!

Then over to Brandy and Issac's house, where I was banished to the basement with Josh and Issac to watch football and eat Sushi from Sapa! There is never enough Sapa is there?

Really? Is there ever enough Sapa?

Good Morning!

Today is Saturday! We are obviously doing MOVING things! It's exciting. Last night Jennie and I went to our new house and... we watched TV! The couch is in, and I spent the morning with the Direct TV people so we have TVs and shows to watch.

Want to hear the schedule for newt week?

Monday - Air conditioners and Water Heater
Tuesday - Vacuum and a soccer game with Ame
Wednesday - DSL installation
Thursday - Alarm System and a socer game with Ame
Friday - Nothing planned so far
Saturday - Soccer Game with Ame

And yes, I WILL be working FULL TIME that whole week! How exciting!

Today's plan? Okay here it is: Jennie goes to the gym, I spend some time with the kids, then we drive to RC Willey to buy my Dad a new washer and dryer that he asked me to do, then on to Ikea for shelves and all sorts of fun stuff, then to Jennie's condo for stuff, then to Brandy and Issacs for dinner.

Hope all is well for everyone!

Oh HELL, I forgot to mention that Thursday night at 10:00 my Dad called me complaining of chest pains so I had to take him to the hospital, where they kept him to run tests on his heart. I didn't get home till 1:00. And up at 5:00 with Jennie the next morning. He ran tests all Friday, and I went and got him afternoon, and he was fine. They don't think his heart has any problems. So they are confused as to why he has heart attack symptoms.

Soccer

Ame's soccer team has improved a great deal! They came back two games ago and tied it at the last second! a TIE! I know that sounds crazy, but after losing games 10-0 to start the season, they have done very well to get back to this place. And last game they had a 3-2 lead until the last second, when the other team scored to tie! So a second tie, a heartbreaker, but dang they are playing better.

Ame needs to practice more on her own, but with the hell of cold winter weather coming it's not exactly great outdoors.

Hurray for Ame and her Heber City Storm team!

Furniture

So yesterday Jennie and I went shopping at Civilization, one of those specialized furniture stores that are super eclectic and super expensive. Why go there? Because they are going out of business. But are there really deals there? Really? Come on, we know how often people say it is a sale, but it actually isn't. Well... this WAS a sale. A big one. We got a Kitchen Table, this gorgeous cherry wood square with 8 chairs... and in a Mad Hatter kind of way, all the chairs are slightly different. Then... we got a long dining room table with 8 chairs around it, this is more dark wood and looks more stately, like a dining room table should. Then we got two persian rugs, and a beautiful leather couch. All of it will be here Monday, tomorrow! Except the couch which will be here in 4-6 weeks. And the deal we got was pretty incredible. Jennie is an AMAZING shopper. We also got a new Fridge, but that came from RC Willey and will be here Thursday.

Picture... at last

Sorry this took so long! I have a TON of good pictures coming on the realator page, but for now this is a few photos I took myself of the new house!



Here is the view from the kitchen/living room deck that covers the whole front of the house. Absolutely amazing view! The space below is open space and won't be developed!




Here is a view of it from the outside. You can see that the landscaping isn't done, which is something we are working on right now.



And here is a picture of the kitchen! It is magnificent!



And... I'm buying boxes for moving and heading to the big city to see Jennie's parents and buy FURNITURE! Refrigerator, kitchen table, mirrors, patio furniture, is on the list.

Stuff

So you are asking yourself, when is Jason going to tell me about the Chili! Oh yeah... it turned out GREAT. I'm surprised, I really am. but it turned out great. I can't argue. We put it on rice last night and it was just fantastic. I can't believe I pulled it off.

So you are also asking about the house? Well... we signed all the documents today! This morning! And got the keys to house and everything. The money is transfering and we'll hear final news tonight of the completion.

Meanwhile... here is a picture of ASHER. Jennie went shopping for him yesterday and picked out some cool clothes. Here he is this morning!

Now did you hear that my little Boston Boo threw up all over me the other night? Poor thing! Here is a picture of her sleeping on the bed... and YES... she sleeps with her eyes open. Creepy creepy creature.

And YES... I'll get photos of the house tonight! I hope! :)

New Mexico Red Chili

So growing up my Mom had two famous Chili Recipes. What I called Red Chili and Green Chili. Red Chili was usually too hot for me, but as I grew older I liked it more and more. Well, the other day I got my Mom's old cookbook, the one she recorded all her recipes in. She actually kept most of it in her head, but I opened the golden book and found her red chili recipe. Now she taught me how to cook this once long ago, so I remember parts of it. The recipe is... well... let's say inexact. I will quote a part of it: "Add salt to taste, garlic or other spices."

That's it. Just... "other spices..."

But I remember how she did it and so I'm forging ahead. And I'm going to give you the play by play here tonight. The first thing I did was take the New Mexico Chili Pods, already dried and in their package from Smith's, and put two packages in a big bowl of hot water. My Mom says soak them for three hours.

Meanwhile I cut up 2.5 pounds of pork chops (no bones) and put them into a pot and filled it with water. Then, just because I'm me, I added some Basil, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, and Paprika. Oh... and a salt and pepper. We'll see where this gets me! Right now I'm going to boil that and then let it simmer for an hour or so!

Still with me? Of course you are. You didn't just wait 2 hours between typing the above paragraph and starting this one. So we had soaked the chilis, and now we pulled the tops off and seeded them in the sink. Then we put them in the blender with some of the juice that we cooked the pork in (which has been simmering for 2 hours) and we blended. By WE, I mean me and Riley.

Then we dumped it all (with the pork) back into the pot, where it is simmering right now. Not sure when it will be done. It could cook all day for all I know. Of course it's 8:37 at night and we are hungry, so we'll let it cook 30 minutes and then see what is what. Will it need salt? More Cumin? Will it bee too hot (in which case the recipe says to add tomato paste to cool it down)? All those answers are 30 minutes away for me, but only on the next paragraph for you!

So it was too hot. We added some Tomato sauce and now it's still cooking. The pork is really tender, and it taste good, but... it's not exactly like my Mom does. Not sure if it will eventually turn into it, or not. But it's good. We'll see how it turns out when it's all done. For now, we are going to sleep and letting it simmer.

Jason

House

House Update

Moving money around in accounts, talking to people on the Architectural Committee about landscaping. Getting details squared away and explained, like insurance and so forth.

Morning

Here is Jennie reading the paper with her cup of coffee in the morning!

And here is Houdini after gulping down a gallon of Milk:

Ame

This is a picture of in Ame in her first home game (thus the white Jersey)! We like home games because sometimes the away games are 2 hours away in Tooele!

Figgy gone WILD

We took Figgy to Ame's Soccer Game, and... I got this photo of her. The grass makes her eyes red (I think she has alergies) and she looks just about like she's going to lose her mind and kill someone. :) Sweet Sweet Boston!!!

Weekend

How is it going everyone? I hope y'all are doing okay. I had a dream last night that I saw my Mom, and she was young and youthful, and I broke down crying to her, telling her I thought she was dead, but look, here she is young and youthful. She just kept smiling to me.

Yesterday Jennie and I went down to Salt Lake to get her car, but it turned out it wasn't ready so we had to come back. We saw our friend Suzzanne, and that was a great visit. Then we returned and she buried herself in the bedroom and refused to come out so she could study.

Riley and I went up to the new house to 'weed'. The yard is not finished, so it's a mass of huge and terrible brambles and sunflowers. Our efforts were met with stiff resistance. We got a new attachement for our weedeater, but that didn't really help either. We did what we cook, and it was a good time between me and Riley.

I forgot, friday night Jennie took me to Sapa, a cool Japanese restaurant with a great atmosphere and great sushi. Mmm....

Last night Tom Mecham invited me up to his cabin site up in Snake Creek Canyon. What a beautiful canyon! What a beautiful spot! The colors were all so gorgeous. Tommy has some work on that site before he builds his cabin, but it's going to be nice when he gets it done.

Ame went to her soccer game and because I was working at the new house, I missed her first game. They ALMOST won! Final score 3-2. It was exciting to hear her tell me about it, and we stayed up late together glueing models together.

The boys stayed at the office most of the day hosting an ArdBoyz Tournament at the store. Josiah (Riley's friend) stayed the night!

Oh, and Caleb, (Asher's friend from Scotland) stayed the night Friday).

It has been a good weekend. The Utes won too, so that was good!

Forgot

You was all waiting for photos weren't you? I forgot to take them. I'll probably head up to the house today and take them today.

BTW, Jennie started her new fancy SCHMANCY Manager Supervisor position over the MID lab today at ARUP laboratories. She doesn't have her office yet, but she has been spending time on the floor with the techs doing runs. I think she did a half run yesterday, 48 runs. They run all sorts of stuff, from blood, to well... EVERY bodily fluid you can think of. Quite disgusting!

PS - Sorry for the southern accent. Been watching that TrueBlood show about Louisianna Vampires and Sookie Stackhouse's accent is rubbing off in my writing. It's just so weird how that happens! :)

Tuesday

Yes, today IS Wednesday, but I thought I would tell y'all what happened YESTERDAY. I can't see into the future! So yesterday you are all probably wondering how the house deal is proceeding. We learned that there is a lein on the house for $2,800.00 because the Architectual Committee in the home owners association thinks we have too much CEMENT showing on the side of the house. Either fill it in with dirt or rock it. One or the other. It's a minor thing but it's the kind of thing that worries me about being part of an Home Owners Association. I hate little government entities, as you might know from reading some of my political rants, and these folks seem just like they type to constantly keep me in a state of agitation.

I went to Salt Lake and saw my friend Suzzanne and we had a nice chat about life and the kids. She's a great lady, and gave me lots of insights into Ame and Asher in particular. Afterwards, Jennie got off work at about the time I was done, and we went to the Bombay House for dinner!

My truck is in the shop for some ball bearings that are all shot, and I am driving my Mom's old Cadillac for a day. It's weird. It's HER car, but she's gone. I think it will end up hitting me later on. I miss her and love her, but I've been keeping myself busy which is what I got to do.

Ame had soccer practice last night, and she and the kids made a Pizza and a mess in the kitchen. we got home around 7:00. When I went to say goodnight to them, all of them were in their rooms reading. They are good little readers. It's a good trait I have passed on to them.

We watched Hell's Kitchen last night. I'm a big Gordon Ramsay fan. He's a crazy man, but he knows how to cook and work hard. I read his autobiography and was really impressed with what he's gone through and what he's done to make it. I don't think there are too many men who have worked as long and hard as him. He put in the time, and it's all paying off for him.

Well, that's enough RAMBLING. You 'ain't' got all day to read these posts, do you? I don't think so. It's 6:47 AM and I just finished cooking the kids breakfast and they are now showering and getting ready for school. I'm going to get ready for work!

House

The offer we made on the house was accepted. Because it is a bank in trouble they only accepted it on the condition that we close by the end of September. That's pretty quick! So we have to start doing our due dilligence. I'll take photos today and come back and let you see it. Who knows, we might not do it. It's expensive, even though it's a deal, and a lot could go wrong. But we're proceeding right now to see how it goes.

Jason

Soccer and Friday

So yesterday I made an offer on a new home. It's a heck of a deal, but we'll see if it goes through. It's up above lindsey's hill, about 1 mile past my current house, and has a fantastic view. It is a bank repo deal and it's a great deal, but it's still a lot of money. We'll see how it all comes down.

That night I took Ame to her soccer game in Sandy. We lost 7-2, but there was a lot of improvement! Tomorrow (sat) is our first home game up here in Heber!

My Dad spread my Mom's ashes up on Snowbird today and totally broke down.

I got back to work today and had a good day. Jennie is closing up shop in her lab getting read to move over to her new Molecular Infectious Disease lab, where she is taking over half of the lab as their new supervisor.

Tonight we went to the Bear Dance Cafe for dinner and got exiled to the upstairs room and had to wait hours for attention. When the waitress dropped the leftover boxes off she said, "Have great sex tonight!" I stared at her stunned, not believing she had said that. She walked away and I looked at Jennie. She shook her head, and said, "I thought she said that too, but she said snacks. Snacks. Have great snacks tonight."

Now we are home watching Glen Beck on Bill O'Reilly and cringing a lot. :)

Testing Word

So I am typing this in Microsoft WORD! It has this function where you can type a blog post, ostensibly using all the fancy gadgets that Word has, and then publish it right to the Blogger page! Isn't that neat? Well... it MIGHT be neat. We'll find out if it actually works. So here we go, without bloviating any more , I'm going to publish this test of word and see what happens!

-Jason

Tuesday

Today we got up early. After seeing Jennie off to work at 6:00 I lay down for a few minutes before getting right back up and taking Asher and Riley to school. Went to work where I survived the entire day until about 4:00 on Diet Coke. Went to my Mom's house and picked up her old cookbook with all her personal recipes in it. A treasure for sure.

Work was okay, and I got a lot done. Ame had soccer tonight, and confessed to me that she's not in good enough shape and needs to run more. Jennie and I went to the gym where my favorite bike was not working so I had to do the stairs. Yeah!

Then home to bed! Not very exciting, was it?

Sunday

So Sunday was wedding day. Yep Jennie's friend Brandy's sister Bobby was getting married and Jennie was part of the wedding as a photographer. It was nice for me to focus on something different. So Jennie and I worked out in the morning, then ran to Park City to do some 'backup' shopping. Wow! Jennie needs LOTS of things to get ready for a wedding! We got the cutest cowbow boots, a slip, some jewelry, and I got a nice shirt and a new belt. We came home and Jennie went to work. When I say work, I mean WORK! She worked on her hair for hours, then her face. She had bought the coolest dress about 2 months ago, it was and old slip from 50 years ago that some woman had taken and upgraded to a dress. It was REALLY cool. You are going to want to see a photo, and right now I don't have one. The whole ensemble came together so well. I am certainly no fashion expert, but let me tell you I can appreciate a beautiful woman dressed up in a classy and yet unique way, and Jennie was stunning last night. Truly.

So off we wen to the wedding, and it was a really nice experience, until the end, when I was just so tired, that I just wanted to go home and sleep. But that was me, not the wedding. I wanted to dance with Jennie, but when I asked her she said no. Later she said she wished I had asked her to dance and I was like... I did. We should have danced. Not that I'm a good dancer!

So... that was a very emotional and tiring weekend. God bless my Mother. I miss her. Thanks to all who came and supported us. Love you all.

Saturday

So Saturday we had a break. It was after the Funeral, and a day to kind of recover. I ended up sleeping in and then... Jennie spent the day studying for her Moleculare Pathology Categorical. I took Asher and Ame down to Salt Lake for Ame's first official STORM game!!! We found this school in Sandy, and watched Ame play a FANTASTIC game. She played hard, and she really tried hard and I just enjoyed watching her so much! She just played and ran hard.

Yes... her team lost 6-1. But it was a fantastic Game for Ame. She really dug down and played great Defense, which made Jennie happy, because is a defender in her heart and soul and played Defense all her years of soccer. It was a great game for Ame!

We picked up Tai food and brought it home to poor Jennie who was STILL studying! :) Then we watched some South Park Episodes and went to bed. It was a relaxing day.

Friday Funeral

Well... Friday we had my Mom's funeral. I was dreading it. I worked so hard this week to just keep busy, that I wasn't really ready to face it. We had a visitation at the funeral home where family and friends met. My brother Rick flew in for the funeral and he was there. I also saw my Uncle Dan and Vince. It was great to see so many people there, family and friends. All my friends came and it was really nice.

Then we moved over to St. Lawrence church. My Mom was not a practicing catholic, so they didn't do a Mass, the just did a service in the Church, having speakers from different denominations. I spoke, as did my brother Rick and my Mom's friend and caretaker Val. There were pictures of my Mom up, from her Military days, and one with her Lion. Jennie took especial care of Ame, who had to sit in the back she was so upset. They had to walk out of the church a couple times because Ame was so upset.

But... I will say it was a nice service. It was nice to see Claire and Louise, two my Mom's cousins. My friends Menges, Mike Aguilar, and Ben Larsen all stood up and spoke about my Mom, and they all almost got me to cry.

It was a beautiful service. Sad. But beautiful. I have to say again how much I love my Mom, and how much I care about her and believe the best for her is yet to come in the next incarnation. She loved me so much, and I want to honor her in this life by being a good man to my family as she was to me.

God Bless you Mom, I will miss you. - Love Jason

Tuesday

So today was a good day. I miss my Mom, but I still feel at peace. I'm glad she's not suffering, and I can say that with all honesty. I miss her. But I'm glad she's not suffering anymore. I believe she's happy and free.

Mike Aguilar came by today with his son Aiden. That was very nice of him. He's a good friend from a long time back. He looks like he will soon have his Sushi Maru restaurant back up and running. THAT story is a long one, and bizzare, and not for telling right now.

I spoke with Susie on the phone today, and she was very nice. Work went well, and I stayed late. Jennie has to get up at 2:00 AM (3 short hours from now) because she needs to get to work by 4:00. Ug!

I cooked Cheese and Ham sandwhiches for everyone tonight. That was fun. Ame went to soccer. Ame and Riley and I went to Smith's and got all the ingredients for Beef Bourginion. I don't think I spelled that correctly. It's from Julie Child's book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. My Mom was a great French cook (she was French, after all!) and so in her Honor we are going to have that tomorrow.

My Dad doesn't seem to be doing too well.

I organized some things downstairs tonight, staying up far too late. And now I'm telling you about this uneventful day. Work was work, and everything just keeps moving. When I die I guess it will be the same. We have such a fleeting time here, and it's best to enjoy it and do ones best. I take that from my Mother passing. I want to do BETTER. To live better.

Well, we'll see how much better life is when I cook my Beef Bourginion. I'll let you know how it turns out. I'm excited about it.

Jason

Sad Day

Two days ago, my Mother passed away. We have all rallied together, and it is humbling to see the love and support from so many people. I frankly don't know what I am going to do without my Mother, but I'm grateful she is out of pain and I believe she is in a better place. I feel that deeply, and it brings me great comfort.

I want to thank Jennie for supporting me so much at this time. I know I have not been easy to deal with, but she has been so supportive of me and the kids. Her parents, Peggy and John, took us to dinner last night up at Sundance, and we all enjoyed it so much. The kids were good, and it really made my Dad feel better. I am deeply grateful to them.

Today I went up to Cascade Springs to get out into the wilderness. Jennie came with me and took a picture of me on the bridge with Boo in my hands that I've ended up putting up on Facebook as my profile picture. It's pretty good.

I should included it here, no? Yes, I will do it. Anyway, thank you to everyone who has prayed to us. I honestly have felt your prayers. I am very clear and feel good, and I think that is in no small part due to the love and prayers of so many friends and families. I am humbled by it. THANK YOU.

Here is my new photo.

Dinner at the Ram

Every year the judges from NASCRAG get together for a dinner. Asher and I arrived early with Len (the founder of NASCRAG) to learn that they had forgotten our reservation at the RAM. This means that there are about 500 people vying for about 40 tables. They acknowledged they screwed up, and ended up making room for us. And then slowly, the gang of judges seeped into the place and we all hugged and talked and shared stories.

Then we ate.

Then... we left. And now I'm back at the hotel room. We did stop by the convention center to get our bag of swag, which is the free bag they give you to badge holders every year. I'll be honest, never has the bag of swag been so little. Very small. Very paltry.

But what are you going to do? It's free!

So now it's 8:00 and we are here in the hotel with no games to play. I didn't bring any because year after year we don't end up playing any I bring. This year of course proves the exception. We could really use a game to play.

Instead, I'll work. Why not? :)

Jason

The Gamers are Coming....

So last night there were a few gamers. Just here or there. But today... they are increasing. Slowly, growing. Their numbers in little clumps, sprouting up, are increasing as we speak. It's 4:29 PM. We've been to the convention hall. We found the Privateer Press room which is filled to the brim with tables and miniatures for there wargames. And when I saw room, I say there are at least 200 tables in the room. It is HUGE. There is the requisit folk band playing by the ticket counter, and there is the huge Serra Angel statue that people are taking their pictures by. There is an audible buzz in the halls and on the street. Though I haven't seen any games actually starting yet, I'm guessing there are some impromptu ones here or there, starting in the crevices and cracks of the hotel and convention center. In my hotel, the Marriot, the entire second floor seems to be taken over by the True Dungeon crew, which is a huge maze with puzzles in it that people get to go through and try to succeed by getting to the end. It has become one of the most popular features of Gen Con in the recent years. And yes......... I've kept my camera with me so I can take pictures of all the corsetted women and flowing robes of wizards that will soon flock all around. So far I have yet to see a photo worthy person, but these types usually wait till the Con actually starts before they unleash their costumes on the world. After all why waste a great corset on a few people the day before the convention? Tonight is NASCRAG dinner at the RAM. We will keep you informed of how that goes, and write tonight. Parker flies in tonight, and I think Greg does too. So it's starting to build. It should be fun. I'll keep you informed! Jason

The Gamers are Coming...

So last night there were a few gamers. Just here or there. But today... they are increasing. Slowly, growing. Their numbers in little clumps, sprouting up, are increasing as we speak. It's 4:29 PM. We've been to the convention hall. We found the Privateer Press room which is filled to the brim with tables and miniatures for there wargames. And when I saw room, I say there are at least 200 tables in the room. It is HUGE. There is the requisit folk band playing by the ticket counter, and there is the huge Serra Angel statue that people are taking their pictures by. There is an audible buzz in the halls and on the street. Though I haven't seen any games actually starting yet, I'm guessing there are some impromptu ones here or there, starting in the crevices and cracks of the hotel and convention center. In my hotel, the Marriot, the entire second floor seems to be taken over by the True Dungeon crew, which is a huge maze with puzzles in it that people get to go through and try to succeed by getting to the end. It has become one of the most popular features of Gen Con in the recent years. And yes......... I've kept my camera with me so I can take pictures of all the corsetted women and flowing robes of wizards that will soon flock all around. So far I have yet to see a photo worthy person, but these types usually wait till the Con actually starts before they unleash their costumes on the world. After all why waste a great corset on a few people the day before the convention? Tonight is NASCRAG dinner at the RAM. We will keep you informed of how that goes, and write tonight. Parker flies in tonight, and I think Greg does too. So it's starting to build. It should be fun. I'll keep you informed! Jason

Fasionista!

So my son Asher wakes up early here in Gen Con and heads over to the mall to go School Shopping. I'm a Levis and T-shirt kind of guy. He's in that stage where he thinks weird crap looks good, so he got blue shoes, black pants, and an Iron Maiden T-Shirt. Hard to fault the Iron Maiden T-Shirt, let's be honest, but the rest of it? :) I have extended to Jennie my deepest request to please take this kid shopping and help his fashion sense!!! She even had a psychic suggest the same thing, so for Asher's fasion salvation Jennie, will you please save his Fasion Soul? Here's the picture of his ensemble. He's very pleased with it, which is good. He's having fun:

The Worst Chili Ever

Asher and I just ate at the Steak and Shake. He proclaimed their chili the worst ever. I tried a bite and it tasted right out of a can. I can almost name can it came from. Hormel, or something like that. Here is an appetizing picture!

What is this Gen Con Thing?

Gen Con stands for General Convention. As opposed to General Conference. Much different, are those two things. General Convention, heretofore shown as Gen Con, is a gaming convention. Here for four days people gather to play games. All sorts of games. Role Playing Games, like Dungeons and Dragons. Board Games like Monopoly. Miniature games like Warhammer 40,000. And video games up the whazo! There are even live action role playing games. The place gets about 40,000 - 50,000 people a year.

It's been going for like 40 years now. When I was a kid, 17, Parker and me and Barry Memmot went. We drove my Subaru out there and had a lot of fun. The next year, 18, Parker, Ben, me and Josh went. That was the year we won the D&D Open Tournament. Our lives would never be the same! Why? Because it was such a highly competative tournament that it filled our young skulls full of mush with a huge confidence! :)

We planned to go back very soon, but didn't go back for many years. Finally, we ended up going back about 10 years ago? Maybe. I would have to think hard to figure out how many years I've been coming now. Maybe 10? Asher is on his third Gen Con. So that tells you something! It used to be in Milwaukee, but now is in Indiana.

Anyway, coming here we always entered as many tournaments as we could, being highly competative people. The biggest tournament in Gen Con is the NASCRAG tournament, and while I could go on and on and on about our heroics, I'll shortly tell you we won the tournament twice, and after that were asked to become part of the NASCRAG family and judge. Meaning we are now BEHIND THE SCENES! Lots of stories to tell you about that stuff, but I would be typin till next Month telling you them all so I will just keep it very short.

So this year, I will be judging for the third year! We are also writing a series, and hope our story will get to be played by the tournament starting in 2011. Let's hope!

Anyway, that's what we are doing here. We'll be judging, and going to the dealer hall, which is the huge room filled without about 500 booths of game sellers selling every game you can imagine. Big money in games, as you can imagine. I have some friends I'll be stopping by to see along the way.

So I will keep you all up to date on goings on along the way. And by the end of this little four day jouney you will undoubtably know more than you ever wanted to know about... GEN CON! :) Good gaming! We'll talk again soon!

Jason

Indiana!

Well, the flight was smooth and quick. I watched The Matrix Reloaded along with an episode of Arrested Development. There really, and I know you are going to find this hard to believe, is very little to tell you about the flight. It was fast. Oh, and I had a can of Tomato Juice. Not sure why, but on a flight, I will drink a can of Tomato Juice. No where else. Just flying.So we landed. I texted Jennie, she's at the gym, and I texted Ben, and then called him him and we talked about Gen Con, work, women, and life. Then the Taxi came and off we went to the Marriot. Landing here, we got our room, got our internet connection, and we are now enjoying the cool air conditioning. It's 11:00 here, but there is a famouse place down the road called the Steak & Shake. Not the best food in the world, BUT... it's open 24 hours! And when I say it's not the best food in the world, I can't emphasize that enough. But when you come here, you got to eat there, and that's just the way it is.So it's off for Asher and I to the Steak and Shake! Last year he ordered a shake and took it back to the room to eat later, where he let it melt, and never ate it. I do NOT plan on letting him make that mistake again. Oh, for the second year in a row, Asher allowed bellman to help us, thus insuring that we had to pay him. I made Asher pay him this time, after teaching him not to let that happen LAST year!So it is 9:11 SLC time, but 11:11 Indiana time. I'm going to go eat at the Steak And Shake, then read THREE Nascrag Modules (which I'll explain in more detail later) and get some sleep. I will call Jennie and see how the kids are as well.Don't go anywhere. I'll be right back.Jason

Gen Con Blog

Gen Con BlogAugust 11, 2009, Tuesday, 3:50 PMSo begins Gen Con 2009! And you all get to hear about it and how it goes straight from me, Jason, your faithful Dogstargames servant! Right now, at this very moment, as I type this, we are at the airport, waiting for our Delta fight to go through.Back at the store, things are in the capable hands of my son Riley. He will be sitting their doing orders and answering questions. If you need anything, contact him! Of course… I’ll be sure to pay attention to emails once I get there and I’ll be available.Of course the big topic is Wizards of the Coast and what they are doing with Magic the Gathering and Dogstar Games. I have yet to tell you about that, but I will on this trip. So look ahead a few posts and we will describe what this wonderful company is doing to your humble game store. It’s a crime, that’s all I can tell you right now.So this year it will be me and Asher going to Gen Con, along with Parker. The rest of gang couldn’t make it. Too much recession going on, too much budgeting to allow for it. So we will certainly miss Ben, Sheridan, Kelly, and Erin. It would be nice if we could all come. But maybe next year.So… sitting in my backpack are the three NASCRAG modules that I will be DMing while attending the Con for the NASCRAG tournament. Have I read them? You even have to ask? Good question. No I haven’t. Except for the first one, I am woefully ignorant of the modules. I’ve heard they are excellent, but I have no idea what is going on. Why? Well I didn’t get a chance to playtest them like normal, and I’ve been so busy I simply can’t see straight. Plus with this WOC problem hanging over us all like a hammer, there has not been much I can do.BTW, a great shout out to Jennie for watching Ame and Riley while me and Asher go on our yearly business trip. I hope to convince her to come next time along with Ame, and maybe even Riley, though who would run the shop if he came? We usually plan on playing some Magic the Gathering drafts while we are there, but I think I will avoid those due to Wizards of the Coast. We don’t want to help them at this point in time when they threaten to shut our entire business down for no good reason. ( I know, you are wondering what those reasons are, but you will have to be patient.)So I think we will do some Warhammer, checking out the tables and seeing what we can see. We also have a couple movies to watch on the plane. We brought the Matrix Trilogy, because it seemed like a good idea after Brandon and Jeanine on So you Think You Can Dance did a dance in the finale to one of the Matrix songs. JOkay, that’s enough for an initial post. We are here in Salt Lake City. Bye!-Jason

Been A While

So it's been a while but I am ready to give you at least a short recap of recent events. A few weeks ago Jennie and I went to her parents Cabin in Idaho, with her brother's Paul and Josh, and her father John (Dr. Stanchfield) and mother Peggy, and Paul's wife Jen. They fished, I called my old friend Clay Ryan Hunter and talked to him. Let's see, we went to Jackson. That's the short version. Next weekend we took the kids to Classic Skating, and saw FOUR movies! Harry Potter, The Proposal (funny movie), Coraline (great movie) and Knowing.

This weekend we saw Julie & Julia, which was just great. We also went to Cirque De Solei with Peggy and Ame. The boys and Ame earlier saw GI Joe.

It got unseasonably COLD. SON OF A GUN! Dang it was cold. We had a great breakfast with Peggy at Market Street though the service sucked, the food was fantastic.

Friday night we went to Tom Mecham's house for hamburgers and a bonfire in the back yard. That was a lot of fun.

So... I know, these catch up blogs are lame. In the movie Julie & Julia the character blogs and it made me realize I need to blog more. And be funny doing it. Not lame like these. Well, I should keep writing since Jennie is over on the other side of the bed doing her facebook thing. When she starts doing that she just tunes out. She's met a lot of old friends there. All the old friends I meet mostly live out of the area so I don't get to see them.

I bought Julia Child's famouse book yesterday, and I'm starting to read it. She has some great things to say about food. The woman loves food. It's impressive. I love food too. I need to lose weight, but that doesn't stop me from loving food.

I need a project. Only I don't have time for a project. Something neat. Something of an adventure. Work is so busy and life so unsure, I just think I need to DO something. Hm... I'll let you all know how it works out. Right now I'm not sure what. But I can say I want to move forward. Which is a hell of a lot better than saying I want to move backwards. Living in the past or the future is probably a bad idea. Try to live in the now. Jesus! Yes. In the NOW!

I'm sitting on the bed with three dogs. Bo and Figgy, and Cinder. Figgy is ripping some terribly bad smelling farts.

Oh, Ame's competative Soccer team played in it's first tournament. The girls will get better. Jennie and I coached them one evening, but only as fill ins. They girls played three games, and lost 10-0, 10-0, and 4-1. It was fun, and Ame had a good attitude about it despite the losses. For that I was proud of her.

I am reading a book that Jennie recommended entitled: Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters. It makes me realize how much Ame looks up to me and needs a strong father in her life. She's a good girl, so it's easy, but I need to do the right thing by her as well.

Oppps... Jennie is looking at me. She's done facebooking, so that means I have to go. BYE !

GRIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (That's for you Jennie!)

Painting Update

Yes, so much stuff has been happening, and I need to update you on it all. But... instead of doing that, I'm going to show you the last four paintings I did. You know, put my own ego ahead of your need to know what's going on in our lives. That's me. Call me an ARTISTE!

This picture below I painted with Asher watching. I felt good about this going into it. My confidence was high. I came out feeling like utter crap, and that I had made the worlds WORST painting. The next morning it wasn't THAT bad, but it was close. Asher liked the sky. That's something... I had to apologize to him for teaching him about 50 new swear words. He thought the whole thing was funny. Hey, maybe I can invent a new kind of art: Comedy Art.

So this piece was a recovery. Asher painted it with me, and signed it. We got a little better. Jennie saw this and said it was good. I still suspect that deep down I suck. But I get so much enjoyment out of it. It's like some sick black hole I'm getting sucked into. Bad art....



This one I did last night. A summer mountain. I had high hopes for this one, but of course they got dashed. I just wish I could PAINT!



Okay, here is tonight's painting, and Ame did a good bit of it. If there is any good in this one I guess you give her credit. For someone who has absolutely no talent in his body, I certainly do keep trying. I'm hoping one day it all clicks and I turn into a friggen genius painter. And people actually pay me to throw paint on a flimsy white piece of canvas. But until that day, I'll have to just go on pure flimsy hope. Notice the nice reflections. If only they were the right color.

Buck Fence

Asher and John built a fence! Photo of it below! Along with Princess running around like a crazy dog! This is cool!

Paintings

So you want to see my three new paintings? I did a mountain scene on a spring day with a lake, a winter sunset on a frozen bond, and sunset on the ocean. Here they are!

Here is my Mountain Lake:


Here is my Winter Pond:


Here is my Night Sea:

Family Updates

So, just to let you know what we've been doing (because, after all, you just NEED to know!), here is a bit of a summary. Last Thursday I took the kids to the first Band in the Park Concert. It was cold. The Monday before that Ken and Brandy visited and took the kids to a family reunion. This Monday Ame went to Lagoon with her friend Phoebe's family, and she forgot her soccer practice Tuesday and is now grounded for it. Let's see, Sunday we went to dinner at John and Peggy's, taking the Chihuahua's. Chihuahua's? Yes, the dogs my Mom got for Christmas are too much to handle for my Dad, so we are caring for them and potty training them before finding new homes for them. We had a great Lamb dinner down in Salt Lake for Father's Day, Peggy went all out and it was fabulous. There Asher was invited to spend a week with John up in Idaho building fences. Asher eagerly agreed, and he's up there. This last Saturday Jennie and I went to her friend Brandy's birthday party Saturday night. I took my Dad to Father's Day lunch at Sundance on Monday. Jennie and I took Boo into the vet Monday morning to get fixed. She came home at 2:00 and was wobbly. Jennie stayed home from work Tuesday and we had lunch up at Matty's at the Zermot Resort on a free lunch from my Dad. Last night, being Wednesday, I decided to paint, as I have felt the energy to do so, and Ame stayed up late with me and helped me paint one picture, and watched me paint the next. Jennie is in Salt Lake at her Condo. I then painted another one today, and Ame and Riley went to the Band in the Park while I stayed home and Painted. We went and saw my Mom and showed her some of the paintings we had done. Work is work, and I think that might very well be the most boring update I have ever written.

-Jason

Two New Paintings

Jennie and I did new paintings yesterday and today. Mine is entitled Mean Kitty, and hers is entitled Feral Figgy.

Painting

About three weeks ago Jennie made an offhand comment that she would like to someday do some painting. I used to paint when I was a kid, I have lots of oil paintings. So I thought, that would be great. So I surprised her, and got her a canvas and some paints. I decided to paint as well. She put her first painting up on Facebook, but here is my first paining in a long number of years. Following it, is my second painting, which I just did tonight. The first was a week ago.

Asher has been asking about painting lately, and he has been painting miniatures and doing a great job lately. So there is a some artistic talent in the family. Of course, I'm not that good. You can tell that immediately by looking at the paintings, but you can also tell that I enjoy myself, which is all that really matters.

So the first is Jennie's Painting of the Dogs:

This one is my first one, done last week, same time as Jennie's above:

And here is a small version of tonight's painting:

And here is a large version of tonight's painting:

Wood Floors

Here are the pictures of the new wood floors!

Ame's Grades 4th Quarter

These are her 4th Quarter, 4th Grade Grades:

Reading: A
Writing: A
Spelling: A
Math: A
Science: A
Social Studies: A

How about that? Straight As!

Very nice Amethyst! Next year she goes to the new school, Wasatch Intermediary School, for grades 5-6.

Photo Journey

Sunday Jennie and I went out into Heber on a cloudy day and we took pictures of old houses and farm equipment. Jennie got some wonderful shots, and I got a few good ones. Rather than just upload them individually here, I will be trying to find a way to upload them to Picassa and then give you a link so you can look at them. I will tell you that it was a challenging thing to do. A lot of pictures that you think are great, don't necessarily turn out great. But in the end I'll leave you to judge. So in the next day or two, I hope to have them uploaded to a website and you can click on a link and go see them. That's the plan anyway.

Additionally, Jennie and I went to Salt Lake City for tacos, and we watched 4 hours of So You Think You Can Dance and we watched the Clint Eastwood movie Letters from Iwo Jima, which was fantastic and highly recommended by both of us.

The kids had parties all weekend, as this was get out of school weekend. Oh I have grade reports to put up in a bit. But the kids did a lot of playing with their friends. Oh, and Riley got glasses! I'll have to take a picture of him in his new glasses and have them put up to you!

Okay! I'll do grade next if I can find them.

Wood Floors

This last week our life has been turned upside down (by many things, actually), but in this case it was that we ripped out carpet and put in wood floors in the living room, hall, and bedroom. Furniture was all over the place, and we were all forced to sleep in different areas and finally just get out of the house all together! I have pictures, which I will include at a later time. Yesterday we moved back in, got a few new pieces of furniture to compliment the look and... IT IS AWESOME. Really feels nice! Again, don't worry, I have pictures coming!

Storm

Both Riley and Ame played Rec League Soccer this year, and had a great time. Both wanted to try out of Heber City's Competative Soccer Team, called the Storm. They had tryouts Saturday morning at 9:00 and both Riley and Ame decided to try. Ame's coach just contacted me this morning, and SHE MADE THE TEAM! So she will be playing on the competative soccer team for the whole next year. It's exciting. She doesn't know yet, because she's in school, but she's going to do a backflip. After we the tryouts, I asked her what she thought, and this was her cocky reply: "Oh I made the team. I'm prett sure." Well she was right! Riley's team has 2nd Tryouts Tonight, so we'll see what happens there. He did well in the drills they gave him, but he's such a small kid he doesn't have much power in his kick.

Sunday Dinner at the Stanchfield's

John had surgery on his arm, and as he put it, he was 'pissed off' about it. So Jennie and I went down and visited. We had steaks and talked a lot. It was nice! Thanks again Peggy and John for having us down!

Here is Jennie and her Dad Cooking steaks!



Here is Jennie smiling


John relaxes in his easy chair watching the Utah Jazz get beat:


Jennie smiles in a picture with me!