I can't believe it took my parents this long to
write on the blog again.

It's been about 3 months since we last blogged and, as always, a bunch has happened in the gap. Andrew has the summer off from school but is going back in fall to tentatively continue studying comparative literature and cultural studies at the University of Utah. Emily is also planning on returning to school this fall to continue her studies in business and accounting.




We've been doing a lot of work on our house including painting and remodeling the railing around our stairs (as you can see in this picture). The new paint looks great and thanks to Jesse, the new railing looks awesome!  We are currently borrowing a piano from Ashley and Brandon Bickham while they
don't have space for it, and it looks great in our home--
even if it is horribly out of tune. It is finally summer time and that means 2 things: First, yard work. We have a ton to do on our yard this year and Andrew has been spending a lot of time trying to move the dirt around to level it out. When they dug out the basement of our house years ago, they just left the dirt in the front yard. While they may have had a plan with the dirt later, for us it is just a mess! AND full of weeds. With the help of some family, we are making it look loads better. We are excited to show you the pictures when it is completely finished.

The second thing that summer time means is ROCK-CLIMBING!!! Earlier in the spring we left Sterling with mama and papa Smith and went on an awesome climbing trip. We spent a day in Maple canyon, near Ephraim, and did lots of lead climbing and top roping on the cool conglomerate rock. The next morning, we left to go to Joe's valley which is a couple hours east of Ephraim. For those who don't know anything about Joe's valley, it is pretty much a mecca for climbers in Utah and around the U.S. We spent two days there to boulder and it was a total blast! We cant wait to go back and try the problems we were unable to finish soon.

Where did all my blocks go?

Ahh duh duh duh!!

Sterling is super happy and healthy which makes us super happy! He is growing SO fast, it is hard to keep up with him. He is about to turn 9 months and seems to be about on schedule. We will find out for sure when we see Dr. Carter next week. He spends his time rolling around and trying to figure out how to crawl. His favorite things to do right now are play with his drumstick (which he bangs on everything including his parents) and blocks--keeping the blocks where he can reach them has been a struggle for him, as you can see in this pic.

Thanks everyone for all that you have done and continue to do for us! We appreciate all of you more than we can express :) Thank you.