As Per Usual, It's Been Awhile

Explanation (aka the part where Will makes excuses)

Social networks have taken the place of blogging, journaling, and other personal long form writing in recent years. In my opinion this isn't necessarily a good thing. I blog about my professional life from time to time  over at Munn & Done http://blog.dubmun.com but this personal blog has suffered. Meri has kept it alive with posts on MunnKEY Moments sometimes and I should as well.

What's New Happening (aka the overview, overview, overview part)

We moved back to Utah (only over a year ago) and are now living in Draper on the south end of the Salt Lake valley. Meri and I actually miss Texas desperately and really enjoyed living there. We are adjusting nicely to being back in the beehive state though. We've been blessed to move into a really awesome neighborhood that sits just above 6000 feet. The people here are amazing and so are the views. We also have the privilege of enjoying significantly cleaner air during the nasty inversion months of December, January, and February. Those of us with sickly lungs are very appreciative of that!

 Will & Meri (aka the boring part)

I'm enjoying working at my new company which is also in Draper and this means super short commutes by Utah standards. Enough of my life has been spent driving to and from work already so this was one of our criteria for selecting a place to live. Work is going pretty amazingly, the company is doing very well because because a) it's an awesome company and b) we are in the health savings account business which is booming. I work with a team of very talented people who believe in making a difference with the software we write and in improving the state of healthcare in the U.S. I've also been speaking and teaching occasionally at work and at local user groups and conferences. This is my small way of giving back to the community that has been so good to me.

A session I recently taught at Utah Code Camp.

Meri has been homeschooling a couple of the kids and I'll let her talk more about that. She is, of course, an awesome mom and goes to a lot of effort to make sure all the kids have everything they need and spends considerable time shuttling them around to all of their commitments. I'm sure she can't wait until the boys are driving. Just to clarify here: I CAN wait. Did I mention she's amazing? Of course I should also mention that she's amazing. AM-A-ZING! :)

Meri and I at a Jazz game in the VIP booth that my work sent us to.

Chris, Mason, Kassie, & Emma (aka the interesting part)

I've been involved in Chris's schooling some and have been teaching him about programming and websites. This has been good for both of us I think. He's also taller than me now (but not meaner). Chris has been doing odd jobs around our neighborhood to earn money for a nice mountain bike and has been doing very well. He has also started back in Tae Kwon Do and has relearned all of his black belt knowledge in a VERY short time. The master of the Dojang has just invited Chris to be one of the instructors!

Chris with "the Captain" after the concert we went to with the boys.

Mason is busily creating a language to use in the novel he is writing (ala Tolkien) and has made a lot of new friends here. He's basically a social butterfly?! He is also spending time teaching himself the Italian language and hopes to expand to other romance languages once he is fluent in this one. Finally, we were able to have Clint's old guitar fixed up and gave it so Mason as part of his birthday this year along with Rocksmith (an awesome guitar-teaching game). He has been practicing regularly and can already play a couple of songs pretty well!

Mason and I at a book signing with his favorite author, Brandon Sanderson.

Kassie is a really good big sister. She and Emma are together a lot and Kassie is very kind, patient, and helpful. She's a smart girl and has read several chapter books. One of her amazing talents is singing, she must have inherited some of Grandpa Loren's genes because she has a natural ear for music and sings out quite loud. She sings around the house a lot and whenever she is singing with the kids at church you can always hear her distinctive little voice above the crowd. Kassie is also taking Tae Kwon Do now and had the only perfect score of the group during her last test.

Kassie receiving her Yellow-Stripe belt after her perfect test.

Finally we get to Emma. She is such a little smarty. She's reading quite well and learns very quickly. She's a kind and thoughtful girl and loves her family. Emma has been involved in acting in a couple of plays. She had roles in Annie last year and now is rehearsing for a performance of The Wizard of Oz (which Kassie is also in). Emma keeps us all on our toes and often is good at reminding everyone else in the house what "the rules" are. She is also a pretty singer and loves to snuggle her mom.

Emma in "Annie" (on the far left).

The End (aka the finished part)

That's all I have for now. I'm sure I've left out about 2130287309 things because it's been so long. I'll try to do better in the future. Oh yeah... and the Seahawks won the Superbowl ;)

W