10th Anniversary

Dem and I have been married for ten years. That's right, ten years together. It's been a wonderful time. Our life is certainly different than we expected it would be (we figured we'd have about four kids by now), but different is good and exciting.

To celebrate, we went to Midway and stayed at the Zermatt Resort. For those who don't know, which is pretty much everyone, Midway was settled by Swiss immigrants and has kept quite a lot of its Swiss roots. Even the buildings, including individual homes, are made in Swiss tradition with Swissy facades. Here are a couple pics of the resort.

I'm not exactly sure how the bear playing-a-musical-instrument statue figures into things, but it's certainly unique.

We had dinner at the Blue Boar Inn. Ultimately, we ate too much and spent too much, but we had a good time doing it. Ultimately, we had a wonderful celebration of our marriage. We're so thankful to be able to be together as a family for the rest of time and eternity.

Greek Festival

While Demaree diligently studied on Saturday afternoon, Elliot and I went to the Greek Festival here in Salt Lake. A lot of our time was spent in line waiting to buy food, but after that, we watched some classic Greek dancing.

And, as you can see, we weren't the only ones there.

There was also a load of bouncy castles, slides, and such as well. Elliot had loads of fun for about half an hour until the rain and lightning began.

In all, fun couple hours.

Cecret Lake

Being Labor Day, we had the day off work and school. We decided to spend part of our day hiking in Little Cottonwood Canyon. Specifically, we went to Cecret (pronounced "secret") Lake, which is a couple miles above Alta Ski Resort. Fun, short hike. This summer's been a bit nuts with Dem going to Italy and Elliot being gone, so this is actually our first family hike. Oh well, there will be time for many, many more.

Family Update

It's been a while since we've given an actual update to our three friends who access this blog. Well, we will not keep you in suspense any longer.

As you know by now, Dem performed Cinderella in Rossini's "Cinderella" this summer. Her program was located in the Emilia Romagna region of Italy, which, coincidentally, is where I served my mission. She sand wonderfully, and I was lucky enough to visit her the last couple weeks she was there.

While Dem was away, Elliot spent some quality time with the grandparents. He loves his nonni and abuelos (their respective collective monickers), and had a great time with them.

We returned home at the end of July and I got immediately got back to work. Dem prepared for the upcoming school year, and Elliot enjoyed his summertime.

Dem started the second year of her doctorate program at the end of August. This first semester, she's taking performance classes and a theory class. For her graduate assistantship, she's signing in a University quartet presently named "The DMA Quartet." (They need a better name. I have suggested "The Hot Quattro," but that suggestion has met with mixed results.) The quartet is an outreach vehicle for the University that is designed to increase interest in the university's music program. A professor has also asked Dem to put together "Amahl and The Night Visitors," presumably so the university can put it on during Christmas time.

Elliot is back in what he calls school. It's actually day care, but he prefers to call it school so he can be like mom. As always, the boy's a stud. He's healthy and social as ever. We're frightened at the thought of him going to school in the not-too-distant future, but time rolls forward, no matter how much you will it not to.

As for me, I work. The firm is growing, thankfully, and I'm always looking for new revenue streams. Some days, I would prefer opening a pizzeria to being a lawyer, and that might actually happen when the student loans are all paid off. Other days, I really enjoy my work. We'll see what happens.

So, that's the quick update. Talk to you soon.

Elliot & Lily Sittin' in a Hires Big H

Elliot has a good little friend Lily. Elliot and Lily have a bit of a love hate relationship. Elliot doesn't like to be bossed, but he's too young to always play well with others. Lily is just little enough to want to boss Elliot around, but old enough to know she shouldn't, so she only bosses sometimes.

We went out to eat at Hires Big H the other day, and Elliot and Lily decide they wanted to pose for the camera after eating some fries.