TheMattBlack

Check out this great interview featuring my brother, Matt. He's so talented. I wish I could tap into some his creativity and perspective on life. My favorite line from the interview:

"Something magical happens in almost every bit of mundane life..."

Some of his work is featured along with the interview, but to see more check out Matt's video sketchbook here: http://www.themattblack.com/

Service in Fishing

Jeff, being the good man that he is, volunteered to be a judge in the South Platte Carp Competition in Denver. Did you know that there is a major river that runs right through the city? Yep. And there are carp in there. Big 'uns.

The event was organized to raise money for clean up of the river and to encourage fisherman to use the river as a viable fishing spot.

It was a long day for Jeff and I think he found it annoying to watch decked out rich guys who couldn't fish very well. (Posers!) But I think he was glad to be a part of the fishing community at large and enjoyed meeting most of the people involved in the organization.

Personally, I think carp are purty nasty.

Boulder Weekend

Jeff had an Executive Retreat the past two days in Boulder. Lucky for me, the spouses were invited up Friday night for dinner and invited to spend the night at the St. Julien Hotel (where they pow-wowed for the last two days.)

These pictures are from dinner at La Frasco. (Or something like that.) It was a delicious, four-course meal. It is always great to be in the company of the people Jeff spends so much time with during the work week. We love these people! They have become great friends and we spent a lot of time laughing over dinner.

Todd (CEO) and Toni

On the left side is Chad (you can just make out his profile) and Jenn (COO)

Megan and Kevin (CFO)

Erica (CNO) and Josh

Me and the Administrative Fellow

Labor Day Breakfast

For the Black/Sollis families, Labor Day is traditionally celebrated in the mountains over pancakes and eggs. Unfortunately in Colorado, you have to fight the crowds up and down the mountain side. We opted to steer clear of the four hour traffic jam made our way into the city for breakfast.

Lucille's is a Louisiana style Creole restaurant. It was busy, but lovely to sit out on the grass in front while we waited for seats. They provide grass mats for guests to sit on (brilliant!) and it was superb people-watching conditions. When we finally made it in, Anna was beyond pleased to receive Mardi Gras beads from the waitress. She couldn't believe that they just gave away such "beautiful jewels."

It was beneyes (spelling anyone?) and chocolate milk for the kids and rich southern goodness for the adults. I think Jeff had some sort of Andoui (anyone?) sausage omelet and I had creamed spinach with poached eggs and hollandaise sauce.

Colorado State University

Last Saturday we drove to Ft. Collins on a whim. We mostly checked out the CSU campus. They had their annual flower gardens in bloom. The were so pretty. The colors were so vibrant.

Then we walked to the University Center for the arts to check out Andy Warhol's soup can. It was fun to see such an iconic piece of pop art. Anna kept complaining that she couldn't see the soup inside because it was too tall.

We tried to go see the stadium and take a picture. We wanted to send it to Ethan and Tanner since they are huge BYU fans and follow the MWC faithfully. (At least as much as a three and five year old can.) The gates were locked, unfortunately.

Park Days

One of our favorite activities of the summer have been our weekly park days. Once a week a play group meets at a park somewhere in the area and the kids play. It's been a great time for Anna and Isaac to play with other kids and I've enjoyed the chat time with other moms. These are the only pictures I managed to take all summer long. I think this was the first time I was able to get shoes on Isaac's fat feet and when did Anna get such long legs?

I Burned the Enchilada Sauce

I was distracted...

Don't tell Jeff. We're not supposed to jump on the couches.