The Photographer & The Musician

Blog?

2010-12-08T18:08:00.000-08:00

Who blogs anymore really? Boring. I'm into TV now (they are flat these days! crazy!) but I called and they wouldn't post any of my pictures so I guess I'll do it here. Weak. Since I said I post pictures of the Kitchen I guess I will...

- Adele White Cabinets from IKEA
- Brushed nickel hardware from LOWES
- Gray Quartz Counter tops from NORTH SALT LAKE MARBLE AND GRANITE
- Farmhouse style sink and faucet from IKEA
- Butcher block island from TARGET

Other upgrades include an over the range microwave and a disposal... fancy.
Backsplash, recessed lighting, new fridge and stove still to come.

The Fort / Playroom

2010-07-22T23:22:00.001-07:00

Now that we have our kitchen torn apart and are in the middle of a big remodel mess again, I thought I'd post a couple of shots of the playroom we finished a few weeks ago (well it still needs base boards and cupboard doors but it's pretty much finished).

I turned a closet and a storage cubbie that was under our stairs into a little fort for me to play in. Got my army guys and my blocks down there so it's pretty sweet. Our nieces and nephews seem to like it too.

We got these castle blocks a year or so ago at a street fair in Southern California so every now and then i build myself a little castle. This one turned out pretty awesome.

I'll post some stuff from the kitchen soon hopefully.

Our Little Lemon

2010-07-13T09:13:00.000-07:00

Lately our informative baby emails have been describing our little squirt as a variety of fruit. So I thought I give an update on what our baby looks like. enjoy!

(Let's just hope in a few months I'm not posting a picture of a watermelon.)

Something New

2010-05-26T09:10:00.001-07:00

Here is a picture of the sun setting from the beach at Dana Point in southern California where the finish line to the L.A. Ragnar Relay Race was. Although I was injured and wasn't able to run my last leg of the relay, it was a great experience to be on a team of 12 people who ran 200 miles over a day, a night and a day.
I was invited to do the race by Brooke's sister, Kara. She ran her parts with a stress fracture in her leg... miserable. (She didn't know it was a fracture at the time)

The Race was in April, which was also the month that Brooke spent in Arizona. We were drawn to Arizona by a place called The Reproductive Health Center. The clinic was fantastic and we were able to accomplish our procedures at nearly half the cost of what we were going to pay here in Utah. With all the stress and worry and costs involved leading up to and also after the procedure, we have been out of the loop a bit. (thus this being the first blog post in months). But so far it's all been worth it. We had ultrasound appointment on Monday and emotions ran deep as we saw the tiny beginnings and heard the beating heart of our future child. We can't express our gratitude for this little miracle, and for all those who helped us realize it. Thank You.

We also saw some beautiful country while in Arizona.

We have spent quite a bit of time over the past month or so, working to get our yard back in shape for the summer. The wet spring has been great to keep everything beautiful and green, but has also put a damper on the time we've been able to get out and work and enjoy it.

Inside the house we have finally finished our "Fort" under the stairs and as I write this the carpet is being installed on the stairs and in the play room. (pictures to come).

Spring also brought us a long weekend in St. George with my entire family. We rented a nice big house with a pool, and spent a few days in the sun. We hiked in Snow Canyon, and in Zion National Park. We swam a lot, ate a lot and played games. It was a great trip.

So, that is what is new around our house. I would say that life is back to normal, but what is normal anyway? Life is just life and we are living ours.

Thank You!

2010-02-05T15:28:00.000-08:00

Thank you so much to everyone who came to support us (or gave their support from afar) and worked hard to help us have a wonderful night! The night of the event we raised almost 5,000 dollars! And together with all of our other generous donations we have raised nearly 8,000 dollars! What amazing people we have in our lives. We can't tell you enough how much this means to us to have this opportunity to move forward with our plans to have kids! May you all be blessed in everything you endeavor to do!

We love you,

-Matt & Brooke

More Benefit Info

2010-01-28T08:21:00.000-08:00

It's almost here so make your final plans to come to the show!

This Saturday night at 6:30pm at the Salt Palace Convention Center.
We've had hard working individuals who have rounded up some great prizes for you to win! Your admission enters you into the raffle where you could win an awesome retail or restaurant gift card, spa treatments, jazz tickets, a free night stay in a hotel, an iPod shuffle, and so much more!

And don't forget, there's free Chick-fil-A for everyone! Not to mention two great musical performances. (all this while you donate to a great cause.)

For those of you not familiar with the Salt Palace, below is some helpful information:

Parking
The Salt Palace Convention Center offers two convenient covered parking garages with great customer service staff to help you with your needs. They have 24 hours a day, 7 days a week security at the Salt Palace Convention Center. One garage is located at 200 South 185 West (south end has 600 stalls) and the other garage is located at 50 South 300 West (north west end has 400 stalls).

Please be aware that Parking in the garage will cost 7 dollars. Street parking is free downtown after 6 so if you can find a place on the street nearby it will save you the parking fee.

You will most easily find the Ballroom that the concert will be held in if you enter in the South-East entrance Below is a floor plan where you can see where you need to go.

double click image to enlarge

We can't express our thanks to all of you who are coming or have donated time, money, and more to our special cause.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts and we'll see you Saturday night!

Family Growth Benefit

2010-01-04T12:40:00.000-08:00

All are invited to come enjoy an evening of music, food and fun, while at the same time helping us to have the opportunity to grow our family.

Last January, after several years of trying to have a baby, we were given the disappointing news that we can't have children naturally. For the past year we have been saving and planning, we applied for a family growth grant which was denied and finally realized that with the high costs of the procedures we need, we were years away from being able to start a family.

That's when we decided to put this event together and create a way where we could provide a great night out for the people we love, and the proceeds from that event could help us overcome these seemingly insurmountable medical expenses.

This has been a humbling and amazing experience thus far. Already we've had so many people who have been willing to donate their time, food, talents, rooms for the event, prizes to give away and so much more. We are truly blessed to have such wonderful friends and family and beyond, even people we don't know have been so generous to help with printing media and have given freely of their own money. It's been an extraordinary peek into the good that's inside of people just waiting to be discovered.

We don't want this to be a burden or for anyone to feel any obligation to this, we really just want people to come and have an enjoyable night out. Please feel free to invite anyone else you might know who would like to come.

Here's the info

What: Family Growth Benefit Concert in Behalf of Matt and Brooke (Bevan) Dennis. Featuring music by Greg Simpson and Matthew Dennis, Food by Chick-Fil-A, plus chances for everyone to win tons of cool prizes.

When: Saturday, January 30th, 2010 at 630pm - 900pm

Where: The Salt Palace, Ballroom, 100 S. West Temple, Salt Lake City Utah 84101

How Much: $20 dollars admission for adults (all children can come enjoy the night for free)

If you can't make the event and still feel like you'd like to help out you can do any of the following.

Donations may be made at any Zions Bank to: The Matthew G. Dennis Donation Account
Donations can be mailed to P.O. Box 540037 North Salt Lake 84054
If sending a check, please just make payable to either Matthew Dennis or Brooke Dennis so it can be deposited in our donation account.

We also accept smiles, hugs, friendly conversation, game nights, and Twinkies.

We can't express how much your love and support mean to us. May you and your families be blessed with all that you need.

Love,

Matt and Brooke

Holiday Greetings

2010-01-02T14:39:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year Everyone. We hope your past year has been a great one. As it often does, the new year brings with it new and exciting opportunities for all of us. In the near future, Brooke and I will be asking for your help to make a dramatic change for our family. Keep watch for more information to come on how you can easily be a part of this upcoming event. Thanks for all your love, friendships and support that you've shown us over the years.

Wishing you a prosperous new year,
Matt & Brooke

3rd World but Not 3rd Rate

2009-10-27T11:22:00.000-07:00

Brooke and I recently had the opportunity to travel to Central America and visit our great friends Heather and Kory in Nicaragua. Never having been to a developing country it turned out to be an amazing adventure.

Map of Nicaragua.

Heather and Kory both serve as Peace Corps Volunteers and teach health education in their site. They have lived in the country for nearly two years now and both speak Spanish very well. It was great to have them to communicate for us when we needed them. A couple of days in the city where they live(La Dalia)showed us how people get along in the poorest country in the Americas. Most people have a very small house either made of cement, cinder block or wood. Some houses have more than one room, but most have simple wooded dividers or just blankets or sheets hung up to divide the room. only the nicer dwellings have cement or tile flooring, mostly they are hard packed dirt floors. Dogs, cats, chickens and pigs roam the neighborhoods and provide the soundtrack for the town with the occasional car, truck or motorcycle rumbling by. Dozens of kids played games and walked in the street. Soccer and baseball seeming to be their favorites.

A closer look at our travels.

Typical Bus Terminal Scene

As we toured the country in old school buses painted all sorts of bright colors, Brooke held small children on her lap, people crowded onto the bus until there wasn't a place to stand, then more people got on. Vendors yelled in the windows to sell their wares, small boys stood at the front of the bus and sang for money. Women and men got up and preached about God or Vitamins. The "Cobrador" or man in charge kept track of who had paid and who hadn't (not sure how) while hanging out the door trying to recruit more people to ride his bus.

Volcano for a skyline

Looking out the windows we had grand views of distant smoldering volcanoes and sweeping mountain scenes where at any moment we expected to spot the long neck of a brontosaurus peering out of the trees or watch a pterodactyl swoop by. But instead we would see a group of construction workers taking a break in a field to play a game of baseball.

Very cool Cathedral in the middle of Leon.

In the colonial city of Leon we walked around huge cathedrals built over 200 years ago. Sat in a restaurant with one other person and listened to a local Nicaraguan play and sing traditional folk music on his guitar. We slept in romantic private cabins with only a bed enclosed in a white mosquito net. The Nicaraguan Sun shone hot and bright on our us and our backpacks as we walked from Bus to Taxi, or from Hostal to Market. The humidity soared and made us feel damp and sticky every moment of the day. We swam in the pool or laid in the shade in a hammock. Played card games and ate sandwiches bought from a Mediterranean restaurant across the street.

Another sweet church in Leon

La Playa in Las Penitas

On the Pacific coast we checked into our private bungalows directly on the beach which faced the ocean. At high tide the water was a mere fifteen feet away from the swaying hammock that adorned the front porch of our cabin. Stepping out the gate, our feet were scorched by the soft hot sand and we took refuge in the 80 degree ocean. Perfect surf crashed and chased us up and down the beach and we collected seashells of every size and variety that you would only find otherwise in a novelty souvenir shop for tourists. Only a few local fishermen spotted the otherwise empty paradise we found ourselves in. We dined on pizza and fresh squeezed lemonade in the loft of a small restaurant. Sitting under the palm leaf roof we watched, through an open air window, a lightning storm that made it's way from far out at sea toward the coast. Back at the beach the storm finally brought rain and lighting right to where we sat. The lightning put on a show for us that lit the night time ocean like it was dawn. In our rooms we were lulled to sleep by the ocean laping at our doorstep and awoke the next morning to what may have been the most beautiful day that earth has ever seen. We swam, dove, body surfed, and crashed into the waves. We played Frisbee and climbed on the rocks that cropped out into the ocean where watched the sea beat itself against them.

Shells, shells and more shells.

We truly had such a magnificent time that it cannot be explained in these few paragraphs. Our travels once again opened our eyes to the rest of the World outside the United States. There are so many wonderful places to still see and people to meet. Thanks so much to Kory and Heather for giving us such a great opportunity to explore Nicaragua. Can't wait for our next adventure.

This is the Hostal where we stayed on the coast in Las Penitas. "The Oasis"

P.S. There were very few chances for us to take photographs while we were there. Because of the poverty level in Nicaragua, valuables such as cameras can bring about dangerous situations and thus were kept hidden throughout most of our trip. We did get a few pictures and I'll try and post more of them as soon as I can.

New Song

2009-10-27T01:11:00.000-07:00

Thought maybe the "Musician" ought to finally share some music. Here's a song that I recently wrote. Jake, my younger brother happens to be a cracker-jack recording engineer and helped me produce this.

Main Vocals: Matt
Acoustic Guitar: Matt
Electric Guitar: Matt
Bass Guitar: Matt
Drums: Matt
Vocal Harmonies: Matt
Additional Percussion: Jake

Not to toot my own horn, just saying that if I had one I could probably play it.
(I'm kidding of course.)

Click Here to listen.

2009-09-18T14:12:00.000-07:00

Although September and October may be the very best months of the year here in Utah, I'd have to say that I'm saddened by the retreat of Summer. July was a blur of heat and emotion when I nearly lost my Dad. August may as well have not existed (I can't remember anything of note). Then a week in Phoenix to record some music the fist part of this month and here we are closing the gap on September. I guess as you get older, blocks of time (like a summer) become a smaller percentage of your overall life and seem to pass more quickly.

In the near future I see lots of carwork, yardwork, housework, a week in Nicaragua and hopefully lots of good weather and good news.

Brooke has been getting a kick out of an old Polaroid camera we found at the D.I. for a buck. But don't be fooled, the film is quite pricey to have too much of a trigger finger.

Pictures from Yellowstone and Photo Booth

2009-07-06T14:44:00.000-07:00

I posted the pics from our trip over here.

Also, we are suckers for the photo booth. Which are becoming harder to find in this the digital revolution. Luckily we still have an old one similar to this at the K-Mart near our house. Often when we are bored we will grab a couple bucks, drive over to K-Mart, pull the curtain closed and commence making stupid faces at the camera. This is our latest shoot. I have to admit that the top picture was inspired by Kory and Heather and their angry picture on their blog. In the bottom pic we are trying to do our best Daniel Craig face... very sexy, I know.

Catching Up

2009-07-03T11:48:00.000-07:00

Every June since our Honeymoon in '03 we've taken a trip somewhere to celebrate our anniversary. Going through the pictures from our trips I thought it might be nice to do a little recap and see how much we've changed the past six years. We've seen natural wonders, man-made wonders, hiked and biked many trails. We've been on planes and trains, on trolleys and ferries. We've been lost together, and across oceans together. And we haven't even scratched the surface yet. There is still so much more to see and do. Really I just can't wait 'til next June because it seems we just get better looking every year. I'll post a few pics from Yellowstone soon.

Any suggestions for next year?

The Summer of Meat

2009-06-09T15:10:00.000-07:00

When I was 18 I got a job in the kitchen of Ruby River Steak House. I learned to cook just about any sort steak to any temperature you like, although I have a hard time cooking anything to Well Done. Ever since my eight months on the grill at the restaurant I've usually been the one with the tongs and spatula in my hand when BBQ is concerned. I'm no great chef by any means but I've been known to cook a tasty steak or put beautiful grill marks on a burger. So with June in full swing and already several tasty meals under the belt I thought it appropriate to have a little meat on hand for the summer.

Oh, wait, did I say a little meat? Excuse me, what I meant to say was a truckload of meat. 1/3 of a cow to be exact. My freezer is full of it as you can see. So let the summer of BBQ begin. Come over for a T-bone or a Ribeye or some Short Ribs.

Here's the spoils from one of our most recent cookouts.

"A Path! A Path!"

2009-05-29T14:41:00.000-07:00

After robbing enough flagstone from Big Cottonwood Canyon, we were finally able to finish the path from our driveway to the front porch. This also accomplished cutting our front flower bed... ahem... I mean, weed-bed, in half. It's much more manageable now. It's nice beautiful gray-slate flagstone, making a perfect little walkway. It's nearly exactly what Brooke drew a sketch of a few months back when we were trying to think of a way to rearrange things up front. Summer has come and the yard is calling. Only a few more big projects until we are at the "maintain" stage. Speaking of... I'm off to mow the grass.

Tri Again

2009-05-27T12:26:00.000-07:00

We spent our Memorial weekend in Fillmore, Utah where Brooke and Liz competed in a small-town Triathlon. While the event wasn't extremely organized, it was very relaxed and enjoyable. We had the pleasure of camping out at the KOA with the Lee family who are extremely pleasant to camp with. We spend some quality time playing horse shoes, riding quads, and sittin' by the fire. We had a great time even though we cut our weekend a little short on Sunday morning because Brooke had developed strep throat and needed to get some anti-biotics in her system.

The girls did great in the race, holding a steady pace through each event. here's a few pics from Saturday:

The Swim

Transition 1

The Bike

Transition 2

The Run

The Finish

Ashley drove up to watch and cheer on the sidelines and show support for her athletic friends. All in all a successful event.

So. CAL Pics

2009-05-05T18:20:00.000-07:00

Here's a quick photo update of our weekend in the greater San Diego area. We went down with our good friends Jason and Jessica to eat at Phil's BBQ and Hoodads Burgers. Both were excellent. We also spent some quality time at the beach and at at Balboa Park. We enjoyed a fantastic street fair in Encinitas on Highway 101 and then to top it all off we saw the grunion run on our last night. Nice little get away.

Riding cruisers at Pacific Beach

Excited to see the ocean

Below the bluffs in Encinitas

Street Fair on Coast Highway 101

The Grunion

Our Camp at the State Beach Campground

A Glimpse into our Kitchen's Future...

2009-04-11T17:26:00.000-07:00

Awhile back we were discussing our options for our kitchen remodel and decided that our best option was to visit our new European megastore, IKEA. First off I'll just get this complaint out of the way: "Hey IKEA, your little rat maze showroom floor idea? Stupid. If I'm there to look at kitchen cabinets I don't want to have to have to walk to entire store to find what I'm looking for."

Anyhow, we found a nice simple white style of cabinet and decided it was very close to what we were envisioning for our house. Not having the budget to order all the cabinets that day, we decided to order a much needed pantry cupboard and a smaller cupboard to go under where our new breakfast bar will be.

Nearly everything IKEA is "self assemble" which isn't that big of deal and usually goes smoothly but can be time consuming. Everything went fine except when it came to getting our pantry doors to line up correctly. Even with all the adjustment that are built in we just could not get them to look right (I seriously spent hours trying.) After measuring the pre-drilled holes and finding that they were a little off, Brooke had 6 or 8 frustrating conversations with IKEA personell trying to get new doors ordered. (Apparently it's a month long process to return and get new doors). Never finding it very convenient to drive 30 minutes to IKEA and wait a month with no doors on our pantry till they shipped the new ones, I decided to take the hinge brackets apart and make some adjustments of my own.

All in all we really like how they look. We finally got some harware on them and I got the moulding on the top of the pantry to finish it off. We still have a ton of work to do before our kitchen is done but it got us excited to see what we have in store.

It's too bad I had to buy a new engine for my truck... would have rather spent our money on cabinets.

Escape to Death Valley

2009-03-11T11:28:00.000-07:00

There is something very calm and spiritual about the desert. There is a peace that I feel there that I don't get anywhere else. This especially rang true on the sand dunes in Death Valley where we ended up for a long weekend camping trip to escape the coldness of Utah.

It worked out perfect as we drove through snow flurries all through northern and central Utah on Friday afternoon. After a sleep-over with Ashely and Jared in Las Vegas, we pulled into the Stovepipe Wells Campground in Death Valley National Park on Saturday with temperatures in the seventies. This made for excellent hiking whether for the next three days as we explored the different canyons and landscape that make this seemingly desolate place so beautiful.

As you can tell by the pictures posted, the highlight for us was the Dunes but we also hiked four different canyons, all of which were surprisingly different, each having a unique look and feel. One even had a spring-fed waterfall which flows year round.

Lizards are our most common and frequent companions on our trips to the desert. We are always trying to capture them in our photos along the way. We got a great picture of this guy (the biggest one we've seen to date). He was getting some sun on a rock and ran back into his hole when we walked by, but after a moment he poked his head out and then came out for a picture.

All in all a fantastic little road trip to California. But we are back in the cold and already wanting to head south again.

Brooke Scores Again

2009-02-16T14:47:00.000-08:00

In our remodel plan for our upcoming kitchen, we decided on a small island to give us more working space when preparing meals. (Really it's just another place for keys, cellphones, iPod, mail and other various items to gather). We hadn't really thought about getting anything any time soon, but Brooke found this sweet little butcher block at Target for 50% off and if I've learned anything from Brent and Jeff Williams it's this: Never pay full retail for anything. We just couldn't pass it up. So mark up another great find for Brooke, she's like a magnet for good deals. It'll match much better once we get our new cabinets but it's nice to have it now in case I want to chop up some meat. Now I have an excuse to go buy a big cleaver.

Our Other House

2009-02-12T01:00:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I forget that I have a basement. Most people have never seen it since there has been renters living in it pretty much since we bought the house. Not that we really need any more space than we have upstairs, in fact, I'm glad I can't go down there because I'd probably just want ot remodel or buy a bunch of furniture. But I found these pics and thought that people might like to see some of the rest of our house.

Before Digital

2009-01-29T14:16:00.000-08:00

Brooke found this little gem in a box of mine. Obviously it'll mean more to those who are in it, or who are friends with this little crew. Ah... pizza and Frisbee in the park... Don't get me wrong, life is good now, but life was good in 2000 as well. or maybe it was 2001. Kind of made me want to dig around for some other old pics so I might post some others if I find any. Can't wait for warm weather.

Fire Place Brick EXPOSED!

2009-01-28T14:34:00.000-08:00

Slowly I've been trying to turn our house into a high rise penthouse loft apartment like I've seen on TV in San Francisco or New York City. And, while I don't have a view of the bay, or central park, I think the exposed brick in the kitchen has put me one step closer to entertaining local celebrities and politicians.
(side note* You can see the lake from my two upstairs bedrooms.)

The removal of two major walls and three doorways was the first step to a more open layout. And then removing the carpet and putting in new hardwood as well as refinishing the old was the second necessary step. Exposing the brick happened to be the biggest beast of them all.

Steps included:

- Removal of mesh and plaster with a hammer and chisel. (about 6 hours)
- Cleaning off remaining plaster with a wire wheel attached to a power drill (about 10 hours)
- Scrubbing brick clean with soapy water and scrub-brush. (about 3 hours)
- Putting sealer on brick with brush and roller. (about 4 hours)

not to mention all the time cleaning up the messes that each step created.

So, while I am enjoying the finished product, I don't recommend the process. I do still need to add the moulding around the edges and ceiling, but for all intents and purposes, the brick project is done. Now, if I can just figure out some way to vault the ceilings...

Auld Lang Syne, whatever that means.

2009-01-02T10:58:00.000-08:00

New Years Eve:
- Brooke
- Matt
- Scott
- Cami

"Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
And auld lang syne"

Thanksgiving... Holiday Party's... Christmas... Birthday... New Year's... man, it's been one nonstop celebration since late November. I feel like I haven't slept ever since Santa Claus interrupted my long winter's nap on Christmas Eve. But alas, a new year is upon us and the future is wide open for plenty of afternoon slumbers.

The Holidays (birthday included) were an outpouring of love and generosity. We were the recipients of so many wonderful presents. I hope our family and friends know how much we love and appreciate them. Being able to spend so much time with everyone really makes a great way to end the year.

We are looking forward to what 2009 will bring to us. Happy New Year everyone.
And now, for all you Alice in Chains fans out there, here are a couple of pictures of me in a box.

There's a Certain Feeling You'll Remember

2008-12-07T10:50:00.000-08:00

The holiday season is off and running or, more accurately, off and sprinting. I'd prefer to take this time of year at nice leisurely stroll but to no avail, I usually end up doubled over trying to catch my breath on January 2nd.

We kicked it all off as usual with a meal to trump all meals. Everyone put in a helping hand of preparation and Thanksgiving dinner (weekend) turned out to be a delicious, happy, relaxing experience filled with music, games and gratitude.

In preparation to this busy time of hosting friends and family at our house, we decided that it would be a good idea to get some chairs for our table. This has been a long time coming. In five years of marriage we've never had a table and chairs for more than two people. But, with the help of our good friend R.C. (that's Mr. Willey, not Mr. Cola) we finally found some that matched our table well enough. So don't be surprised if you get invited over for dinner.

Our house (inside and out) is dressed for Christmas. Including our tree which we ritualistically cut down a few weeks ago in the Oquirr mountains. Brooke took the time to string the lights (which I hate doing) and did most of the decorating. I had the honor of fastening the star to the top.

During this holiday season I hope each of us remembers how blessed we are to have the things we cherish, and that we can extend a charitable hand to those who are less fortunate. Merry Christmas everyone.

"At this festive season of the year... it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the poor and destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time. ...We choose this time, because it is a time, of all others, when Want is keenly felt, and Abundance rejoices."-- Charles Dickens

Popularity Contest

2008-11-17T10:12:00.000-08:00

Here are some simple steps you can take to help Matt and Brooke get a new kitchen...
Follow this Link to the music showcase website. Instructions are posted below to help you cast your vote.

Some might say "shameless self-promotion", but really I am actually quite ashamed so let's move on and win this thing. There are some pretty silly entries in this contest, but "content" doesn't matter until the finals. Right now it's just "how many friends do you have that will vote for you?" Well, I've got a lot.

You can vote as much as once daily. Whether you can only vote once, ten times or every day for the next month, every vote helps so thanks for your support.

The Office Manager & The Server

2008-11-10T23:30:00.000-08:00

So maybe you've been asking yourself,(you being the average reader of this here captivating web log): What's the deal with the misleading and downright pretentious title of this blog? I mean who are you trying to convince really? The "Photographer" and the "Musician"? Um, pretty sure you haven't posted diddly squat about either of those two subjects... ever. You don't even have a music player on your site, and the only pictures you post are the crappy point and shoot pics that Matt(not the photographer) happens to take. Why the hypocrisy?

Well, to that I might reply: "Don't worry your pretty little heads about it." Take comfort and rest assured that Matt continues to write and play heart-felt music on a very regular basis. Even extending himself as someone put to "transcend genres". Brooke takes what might be award winning photographs just about every week. She shoots families, weddings, infants and children, and has started doing custom requested artistic photographs to match specific areas of peoples homes. So, while we still have other jobs (for now), at our core we are still "The Photographer & The Musician.

Maybe sometime we'll get some pictures and music posted and legitimize our title but for now you'll just have to take our word for it.

If you'd like some new music to listen to, might I recommend one of these:

Can't Top This

2008-10-29T15:43:00.000-07:00

I would say that as far as classic Halloween costumes go, the top five are probably as follows:

1. A Ghost (made from old sheets)
2. A Witch
3. Dracula
4. Sexy Devil (Female)
5. Nerd/Geek (Male)

Others in the top ten might include a skeleton, superheros, a princess, movie villains (e.g. Jason, Freddy Kruger, Mike Myers), a zombie and popular celebraties, dead or alive.

My point being this: Who wouldn't want to be Number One for a night? So Brooke stripped our bed of it's sheets, cut some holes in them and then took to the sewing machine to make some nice dark, yet transparent, eyeholes. Top left you can see how it turned out. I'm the taller one of course if you couldn't tell who was who. I did take the liberty of cutting off our legs so we would seem more realistic and "ghost-like".

We will continue our new stolen tradition of a big fire in our drive-way this coming Halloween night and anyone who would like to come eat smores and scare the trick-or-treaters is welcome to join us.

Happy Halloween everyone.

Progress... kind of

2008-10-22T15:05:00.000-07:00

Although we are far from finished with our improvements (like years), we have made some good progress over the past couple months. So rather than waiting until we were completely done (when blogging is a thing of the past and we can all just read minds) I thought I'd throw up a sneak peak of our living room. Hopefully there will be more to come but this will at least appease the masses who have been patiently waiting for a house update.

The main things we've been working on are:

Removal and refinishing of two bearing walls - 100% finished
Side Entry - 90% finished
Laundry Room - 80% finished
Living Room and Dining Area - 90% finished
Kitchen - 10% finished

So, we are on the home stretch of everything except the kitchen, we'll put more serious effort into that after the holidays... did I really just say after the holidays? Holy crap this year is ga-ga-ga-gone.

The Real World: Carlsbad

2008-10-20T10:45:00.000-07:00

This is what happens when you take 20 real people and put them all in one house together in southern California. See what happens when people stop being nice and start being real.

Well, actually, everyone turns out to be quite nice. And what happens is they go to the beach, and to Disney Land, and SeaWorld, and Knotts Berry Farm, and have a fantastic time. We also hit the San Diego Wild Animal Park, and of course, In-N-Out a couple times. We had a nice big house in Carlsbad where everyone had there own room and plenty of space for us all to hang out, eat together, and play games. We traveled everywhere in a caravan of three mini-vans. We had a great pool and Spa right near our house which we took advantage of. It was nice to get away for a week and see the ocean again.

We split our time at the beach between boogie boarding and jumping up in the air. Both very fun. Although it was easier to catch air than catch a wave.

We did have one Stingray incident where Bruce got stung on the top of his foot. Ouch.

There was an excellent Sand Castle Built which I'm sure someone got great pleasure in stomping on after we left.

I'd have to say that it was one of the best trips to southern California we've ever been on. And thanks especially to Bruce and Kathy for making it happen, you're the best.

This is American Culture

2008-09-09T19:04:00.000-07:00

You know that summer is ending and fall is on the way when get to spend an evening at the Utah State Fair. What a strange and wonderful place it is where people choose to dress like this lady. Where you gorge yourself on Corn Dogs, Gyros ,and Funnel Cake and then climb into a portable spinning contraption and try and keep from throwing up the thirty dollars worth of food you just consumed. Thus the reason why the only ride we went on was the Big Yellow Slide, (a fair favorite). Grab a potato sack, climb the stairs and race to the bottom.

We had a very enjoyable time, it was a beautiful night and we had great company in our friends Liz & Kenny, and Jodi & Brant. Jodi was somewhat disappointed that the world's smallest horse didn't make it here this year but I was glad to see him free from his life as a freak show attraction and prisoner to State Fairs. Although in years past I've always been impressed with Hercules, the World's Largest Steer. He's Unbelievably Huge, really. Other than that I think we all had fun. Everyone seemed very easy going and relaxed. Maybe there is something to be said for that down-home, country atmosphere. I especially enjoyed Liz and Kenny's oldest, Kylee, who was insistent on riding with me down the Big Yellow Slide. (We were the first to the bottom and the winner of the annual slide race.)

It seems like not very long ago that we were doing the same thing with Kory and Heather... how quickly the year has past. The fair runs until September 14th. Put on your boots and check it out.

Here's a little song about the fair that I used to sing as a kid:
"We went to the animal fair
The birds and the beasts were there
The big Baboon, by the light of the moon, was combing his auburn hair
The monkey he got drunk
And sat on the elephants trunk
The elephant sneezed and fell to his knees and that was the end of the monk"

What's Behind Door Number Two?

2008-09-05T14:04:00.000-07:00

There's nothing behind door number two because door number two doesn't exist. My real "Labor Day" came the day after on Tuesday when I went to work sealing up the door from our living room to outside. When we took out our wall between the kitchen and the living room, this door became obsolete. The outside of the house is going to be a challenge considering I don't have the bricks from 1955 that our house was built with, but we'll see what we can do. The inside looks great.

I enlisted the help of my good friend Jason (pictured below) to help advise me on how to accomplish this project. He also does fractions very well, can drive the hell out a nail, and cheerfully helped with the heavy lifting. couldn't have got it done without him.

While Jason and I made one less door in my house, a wonderful craftsman named Steve layed our new hardwood floors and patched our old ones where we took our walls out. He did a fantastic job and the floors look really good. All I have to do now is re-finish everything. We still have a lot to accomplish before we are done but this was a big step. We'll have a big party or something when we're finished... if we have any money left for a party.

East Canyon Resort

2008-09-04T12:36:00.000-07:00

Camping and the outdoors are usually our staple for entertainment and relaxation during the summer but somehow this season has passed us with only two camping trips: Once over the fourth of July and once over Labor Day weekend. Sad really. We did, however, have a great time this past weekend up at East Canyon. Adelle and Cord were the only other family willing to camp so it was mostly us four and their two girls. The rest of the Dennis clan came up on Saturday for boating, tennis, shuffle board, and tinfoil dinners and of course, Brooke's favorite: Smores.

The past three summers have been dubbed by Brooke as "The Summer of Tennis" but it wasn't until this year that we actually started playing. We played twice on Saturday and once on sunday. Here you see my "singles" photo. No, I wasn't really the Tennis Champ of 2008 but it's my blog so deal with it.

The only thing negative that happened over the weekend was the loss of my spectacles (glasses). I decided to let them take a ride on the wheel well of the boat trailer on the way back to our campground and somehow they found their way onto the road and under someones car tire. Brooke found them smashed and mangled on the side of the road. So I spent the rest of the weekend all squinty faced trying to see. But thanks to the speed of my friends at Lenscrafters, I have a shiny new pair on my face once again.

"Forget" You Taco Bell

2008-08-22T14:00:00.000-07:00

They say: "When you haven't got your health, you haven't got anything.". This rang true for me most of the past week after a late night run to Taco Bell caused ultimate pain and anguish and there was weeping and waling and gnashing of teeth. "Hey Taco Bell, here's a business tip: Don't serve poison." If you would please join me in a month long boycott of Taco Bell and it's Partners.

So it's been a pretty mellow week around our house and our yard is a bit overgrown. Partly because of me not feeling so good and mostly because it's been so bloody hot for the past two weeks. But I can't put off the yard much longer or we'll just have to move.

I did manage to get in some early morning wake-boarding on Tuesday. My brother Ryan and bro-in-law Art recently purchased a used ski boat and we've been trying to get our fill before the summer says goodbye. So I met them and my buddie Troy at Pineview at sunrise and we pulled each other around the lake for a couple hours.

Brooke has been busy with work and photography stuff. She had a few hours with some of her friends at a baby shower for Sadie on Wednesday night. Ashley was in town and Jodi joined to make it a foursome. From what I hear, a good time was had by all.

So life is pretty regular here at the Dennis residence. But the weekend is upon us and I'm sure we'll spice things up a bit. But for now it's just me and the lawn mower.

P.S. We layed our flagstone in our rose garden and it looks ultra fabulous.

Flagstone - at all cost (except for actually paying for it)

2008-08-06T20:51:00.000-07:00

This is the area of our yard that we designated for our fire-pit patio. We decided that it would look best if we layed some nice flagstone. Brooke took the task of calling the local stone-yards to price out our little project. To her credit she found the best price, but when she told me how much it would cost I thought to myself... "hey, how 'bout a nice dirt patio instead?" But my mind was made up, I was set on flagstone. So I opened my computer and connected to the "Internet", which is this big network of computers all hooked together to share information, it's sweet, check it out sometime if you want at: theInternet.com

Anyhow, the Internet told me I could collect flagstone myself at a state-run pit for like 25 bucks. So I got my permit at the Bureau of Land Management, along with a map to the site and off I went to the corner of northwestern Utah. I took my brother along who also wanted some rock and we each drove a truck with a trailer on the back.

Two days later after hours of driving, one over-heated truck, one flat truck tire, one flat spare tire, one flat trailer tire, seven hours of hauling, digging, hammering & chiseling, we got our rock. Well, most of it, my brothers trailer is still on the side of the road just outside of snowville. I am proud to say that I got five or six hundred bucks worth of rock for a hundred bucks in gas and a lot of manual labor. You can see my results below.

A closer look...

Sadie Hawkins

2008-07-30T22:51:00.000-07:00

Getting dressed in our seperate rooms on sunday, when we saw each other both of us said: "you have to go change." But neither of us did so we spent the day matching all to well in our blue denim and grey. Super cute, I know.

Also we got a new Patio Set. Let's BBQ.

I Want to Live Here

2008-07-17T23:40:00.000-07:00

We Recently traveled to Reno, NV and surrounding areas like Lake Tahoe and the Yuba River. We stopped at a place on the river and came upon this River-side cabin/home. For the past year or so I've had the idea in my mind that I (we, family, friends etc.) would benefit from a mountain cabin retreat. I've looked for pictures and other visuals that represent what I want and this has come the closest so far. Not necessarily the exact layout, but the placement and scenery are perfect. I'll let everyone know when i get one of my own and we'll have a little get together.

I See London, I See France. . .

2008-07-16T23:11:00.000-07:00

I really wish I had a picture of me in my undies right now... Guess you'll have to settle for these pictures from our trip to Europe. It was our first visit so we did the major cities: London, Paris and Rome.

The most common question we've been asked is where we enjoyed the most and I'd have to say it was a pretty close race, but if you just had to have an answer then I'd say Paris. Although I did sing karaoke in Rome, which was awesome - (Yes I sang in Italian).

We stayed in some very cheap, but fantastic hotels found on Hostelworld. (Brooke did an amazing job planning our travel and lodging). Our little room in Paris was on the second floor with a big window that opened and overlooked a great little street with all kinds of shops, very quaint. Our place in Rome was in a little resort called "Camping Fabulous!" and it really was. It had little trailers to stay in with all the amenities of a hotel room (minus television, oh darn!). And the pool/pools were something else, complete with slides and soft squishy bottoms for maximum comfort when lounging in the wadding pool.

We saw all the cool sites, I'll name a few: Windsor Castle, Tower Bridge, Stone Henge, Oxford, The Tower of London, Eiffel Tower, Arc De Triumph, Versailles, Notre Dame, Vatican City (Yeah, the Pope was there, we saw him), The Mediterranean Sea, The Colosseum, and so much more in between. So much amazing architecture and beautiful parks and gardens and Ruins.

So I guess I'd call the trip a raging success and recommend to all getting over there some time. We'll definitely be returning.

More Highlights were: Renting bikes and riding with traffic in Paris, The 17th Century village at Marie Antoinette's Estate at Versailles, Exploring the ruins of "Ostia Antica", an ancient Coastal Roman City, Seeing the Pope address the people gathered at St. Peter's Square in Vatican City, Watching the pandemonium of traffic at the Arc De Triumph that is the "free-for-all" round-about where seven or so very busy streets converge, the topless sun-bathers at the beach in Italy, and the music festival in Paris on the longest day of the year... bands on just about every street corner in the whole city.

Here's some more pics...

Heros

2008-06-10T21:01:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd share a few quotes from some people I admire. Also, I've got Ten Bucks for the first person who can name every person in the picture correctly.

1. "Ask and it shall be given you; seek and you shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you."
2. "I can't wait for tomorrow, I get better looking every day."
3. "If my life is of no value to my friends it is of none to myself."
4. "The promises of this world are, for the most part, vain phantoms; and to confide in one's self, and become something of worth and value is the best and safest course."
5. "Neither a lofty degree of intelligence nor imagination nor both together go to the making of genius. Love, love, love, that is the soul of genius."
6. "Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God."
7. "Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds."
8. "If God had commanded me to do all things I could do them. If he should command me that I should say unto this water, be thou earth, it should be earth; and if I should say it, it would be done."
9. "That which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good continually; wherefore, every thing which inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to love God, and to serve him, is inspired of God."
10. "Being engaged in such a work as we're engaged in, I don't think death would have any terror for me."
11. "This above all: to thine ownself be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man."
12. "That some achieve great success, is proof to all that others can achieve it as well."

And the Winner is...

2008-06-10T16:43:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update on the contest... The votes have been counted and I guess I won this year (finally!) Thanks to everyone who voted for me. If you buy the issue I think there are some good ones of me inside with my shirt off.

Going Green

2008-06-05T12:22:00.000-07:00

No, we didn't buy a Hybrid... if only... $4.00 dollars a gallon? Are you freaking kidding me?

We just put in some new sod around our patio. Now I don't make a dirty muddy mess when I water and I don't have to pull any more weeds! Lot's of work still to do in the yard, and in the house. We did pull up our carpet in our living room. Now we just have to refinish the floors.

We are doing well and leave for Europe on the 16th. Maybe that'll give me something to write about besides home improvements.

By the way, everyone was saying that the new Battlestar Galactica is so worth watching... We rented the first disc and watched it and I'd have to say... thumbs down on the mini-series debut, does it get any better?

2 1/2 Months in the Making

2008-04-17T23:43:00.000-07:00

I know what you're all thinking, yes all three of you who read this I mean you. You've just clicked on a link that has brought you to this page and when you saw that "Bringin' Down the House" wasn't the title anymore your mouth came open a little bit and you thought (or said quietlty under your breath) one of three phrases: "Halelujia, something new." or "What? No Pictures? I'm not reading this crap" or "It's about f'n time." (f'n could mean freakin' or friggin' or whatever)

I will say in my defense that yes, we are still bringin' down the house thank you very much. We've removed more walls, pulled up tile, pulled up carpet, replaced moldings, taped, mudded, sanded, re-routed and rewired electrical outlets and switches, refinished laundry room cabinets and replaced hardware, build new caseing and door for the fuse box and started exposing and cleaning the brick on our chimney in the kitchen. I'm sure I've left out a few things but you get the idea. We're remodeling and it's taking lots of time. That's why the ol' Blog has been neglected so. (well... that and the fact that we started watching LOST on DVD and are already almost finished with the thrid season... I hate the OTHERS so much!)

In other news... we have booked our flight to Europe for Mid-June. We'll be visiting Big Ben, The Eifel Tower and the Colluseum. We had our lawn Aerated today. I went golfing (I'm a golfer now). Brooke had chinese for dinner. I worked at the restaurant and then watched Late night television.

That should bring you up to speed. Check back in a couple months.

Bringin' Down the House

2008-02-05T21:43:00.000-08:00

1. Pre-Demo

2. Half-way through

3. Down to studs

4. Beam installed

As you can see we have been doing a little remodeling. We love our house but we didn't love how separate the kitchen and family room were. I am happy that I can say "were" separate. I am not happy on the other hand at the dust that this remodeling business produces, it is ridiculous. Matt has really shown his handy man skills...he has done everything...I really have been impressed with his skills. When #3 says "Down to Studs" it doesn't just mean the 2x4's. There is more remodeling to come so stayed tuned for more before and after posts.

These pictures are from the first sanding session. In order to keep the dust to a minimum in the rest of the house we taped up plastic creating what I like to call "the bubble". Minimizing the dust in the rest of the house, in turn, maximizes the dust inside "the bubble". Seriously check out the amount of dust in Matt's nose, I couldn't help but take a picture. That is with a mask on...out of control.

Holiday Highlights

2008-01-08T21:45:00.000-08:00

Sub-for-Santa: Every year my family does a Sub for Santa. It is one of my favorite things we do. We get together go shopping, wrap it all up and then some of us get to take it over to the families house. My little nephew Max was our shopping buddy this year and he was so cute. He helped us pick stuff out and was so good about it. Matt was able to go to the house to drop the gifts off. He said it was a pretty neat experience and was grateful for the chance to do it. I love that the holidays give us the opportunity to do things like Sub for Santa.

Our Christmas Tree: Christmas was pretty low key at our house. We tried to spend our time focused on others. I always enjoy putting up the decorations...I love having all the lights off except for the tree and garland lights.

Christmas Eve Jam: We had a sweet Jam on Christmas Eve. All the grandkids took turns on the drums. Parker was awesome...he seriously had rythmn. Kara dusted off the old guitar and joined Dad & Matt, she did a great job. We went on a hay ride that night too. We sang Christmas carols...greeted and waved to everyone we saw...it felt very festive. The kids were tracking Santa all night and couldn't wait to get home...it was hilarious.

Christmas Day: We went to Matt's parents in the morning and had Christmas Brunch with them. It was good to be with Matt's family...we had Cindee and Jake in town...I love when everyone is there. We had to make it to my parents that afternoon to talk to Jesse...who by the way comes home in February! Yay! After Jesse's call we did presents. My parents totally spoiled everyone. We just hung out the rest of the day, playing games, building awesome castles and towers out of the blocks that I think were for the kids, but the tag said everyone and we throughly enjoyed playing with them and the train.

Birthday - New Year: Between Christmas and New Years is Matt's Birthday. This birthday was a big one! Matt is 30! I wanted to make his birthday special...so with help of our fabulous families and wonderful friends...I pulled off an awesome surprise party! We bowled our little pants off. I really am so grateful for everyone that helped me, it was so fun to surprise Matt. I am super sad I didn't get a picture of his face, you will just have to take my word for it, he was SURPRISED! Matt and I hung out, just the two of us, on his actual birthday. We had a couple's massage, went shopping, went to dinner and saw and movie. We spent New Year's with my family. Food, Fireworks, Games, Wii...good times. Everyone slept over and we had BIG Breakfast in the morning. Overall we had a wonderful holiday season.

Gingerbread Houses (made from graham crackers)

2007-12-11T20:16:00.000-08:00

Yeah, we did something pretty Christmasy (like that's a word). Gettin' into the spirit of things by making some little candy houses. And a darn fine job we did. A few details to notice are the wreath and the flagstone path on Brooke's house and the mailbox on Matt's. Merry Christmas Everyone.

December Snow

2007-12-06T13:50:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd post these pictures even though the snow is practically melted now. I just had to share the cool thing the snow does off our roof. We have a metal roof, unlike most shingled roofs, which allows the snow to slowly slide, glacier-like, off the edge. It makes a very nice overhang curl. As it gets warmer, the snow comes off the roof like an avalanche in great big sliding chunks. Exciting huh? I thought so.

O Tannenbaum

2007-12-03T23:23:00.000-08:00

Into the Oquirrh Mountains we trudged up and up in the cold until we looked up and suddenly the angelic choirs sang and the sun shown down upon the Dennis Family Christmas Tree. The tree hunt is the day after Thanksgiving tradition that allows us to bring a piece of the forest into our living room. It does make it smell nice, I'll give it that. It's up and decorated. That means Christmas is coming soon. I guess I'm okay with that. Actually, only if I get lots of presents. And cookies.

Croc Reef?

2007-12-03T00:35:00.001-08:00

A bit behind on the posts. November cruised by in normal holiday fashion with December hot on it's trail. Early November we drove to Las Vegas to visit Ashley and Jared and Porter(who was blessed that weekend). We checked out the aquarium at Mandalay Bay called "Shark Reef". Ashley also introduced us to a sweet nature preserve called "Red Rock Canyon". Next time we're down there I'm sure we will be doing some hiking. All in all a great little road trip.

Dia De Los Muertos!

2007-11-09T20:42:00.000-08:00

So Brooke turned out to be a champion pumpkin carver as you can see by the very original "old lady in glasses" jack-o-lantern.

We had a couple Halloween parties to attend so we had to bust out the gang-banger costumes from last year. For the annual Kory & Heather party we procrastinated our costumes until just hours before and were rescued by Jenny at the last moment with a classic Witch costume and a sweet home-made Skeletor.

On the actual night of Halloween (Oct 31st) we had a nice bon-fire in the driveway and made smores for the trick-or-treaters. Which to my surprise was quite a hit. All in all it was a pretty festive October.

Dennis Sister Day

2007-10-13T15:41:00.000-07:00

We took some photos in our backyard. Pretty sad attempt by most on the bird face picture

Each year the Dennis Sisters & Mom & Grandma gather for a day of fun & shopping. Park City has been the location of choice the last few years. We hit the outlet mall..which we discussed today is border line outlet...many of the stores are just regular..it really needs to change it's name to Tanger Mall, not Tanger Outlets. We had a lot of fun shopping and having lunch. I really do have wonderful inlaws!

The Homestead

2007-10-11T11:44:00.000-07:00

Here's a few more pictures of our house. We've been in North Salt Lake for six months now. It's been a long Summer of yard work (with so much left still to do). We have made alot of progress though and have so many ideas for our yard. We are hoping for a long warm Fall to give us time to keep working on it.

K-mart Photobooth

2007-10-10T23:58:00.000-07:00

4 Photo's For A Buck!

Here we have:

- Brooke making fun of glasses
- Matt being indifferent
- Two fantastic thumbs up
- A couple of buck-toothed beavers

Was blind, now I can see

2007-10-10T15:19:00.000-07:00

So I was sick of squinting at the television and not being able to read the hymn number from the back of the chapel so I got me some glasses. So lets go ahead and get all the nerd and four-eyes jokes out of our system shall we? Just wanted everyone to know so if you see me on the street you don't ingnore me and pass me by... not that I ever see anyone on the street anyway, but whatever.

Hike up Mt. Ogden

2007-09-27T00:13:00.000-07:00

Took a fall hike to the top of Mt. Ogden and down over the other side to Snow Basin. There we caught the gondola for a much easier trip down. The leaves were changing colors and putting on quite a show for us. It's about a six mile hike to the top with some long desolate parts. Some great views of the valley and surrounding mountains.

The Utah State Fair

2007-09-26T21:07:00.000-07:00

A yearly tradition. See the animals, ride the big yellow slide, check out the photography exhibit, watch the rodeo. Corny? Yes. Fun? Always! (by the way, the worlds biggest steer is always worth the buck!)

Our Road Trip to Seattle

2007-09-06T23:03:00.000-07:00

Matt and I drove to Seattle to help move some things for his little brother and to visit some friends. We spent time in the city, at the market(where I got to meet the throwing fish guys) we went hiking, we went on a ferry, saw the salmon running and to a Mariners game. We had so much fun! We love Seattle.

Farmington Canyon

2007-08-21T11:35:00.000-07:00

Friday August 10th we went camping up farmington canyon. Great spot with lots of deer and some really cool beaver dams.

Brooke's Triathlons

2007-08-03T13:50:00.001-07:00

My sister Kara and I did my first triathlon in Lehi in April. Then just barely I had another in July in Coalville at Echo resevoir. Matt has been such a great support and my little personal photographer, documenting every step of the way.

Escalante, Grand Staircase

2007-08-03T13:38:00.000-07:00

Here is the canyon we hiked before we got lost. Also some other pictures from that weekend.

Hawaii

2007-07-20T11:19:00.000-07:00

Beautiful hawaiian sunset, together at the top of Diamond Head and us with our surf instructor, We totally surfed!

Our First Home

2007-07-20T11:01:00.000-07:00

I will post more pictures of it. This is before we even moved in. So it doesn't look that cute. We are doing lots of work on it. Never ending projects. But we love it!

First Entry

2007-07-20T10:56:00.000-07:00

I am going to play a bit of catch up on this first entry. 2007 has been a great year so far. In March we went to Hawaii and had a blast! In April we bought a house and have been working our butts off ever since. I also had my first Triathlon in April. In May we went to Flaming Gorge. In June I went to Vegas with Jodi to be with Ash, we went to Escalante and got lost in the dessert, and had a Dennis Family Campout at East Canyon Resort. Which brings us to July and we had a Bevan Family 4th of July. I had my 2nd Triathlon, first open water one. And new neice in July, Kalli had her first baby, an adorable little girl.