Aug 10, 2002	Back From Scout Camp by J
	I can't say how glad I am that Karen didn't have the baby while I was gone! A couple of other leaders and I took 10 Scouts and Varsity Scouts on a week-long high adventure in the High Uinta Wilderness Area in Eastern Utah. We backpacked about 4.5 miles in from the Grandview trailhead (near the north fork of the Duchesne River,) to Lodgepole Lake in the Grandaddy Lake Basin. I didn't catch any fish, but I guess you have to spend more than 15 minutes if you really want to catch anything. Another leader and many of the other boys caught some good-sized, tasty trout. We spent the week hiking, rock climbing, rolling boulders off cliffs, swimming, fishing, playing frisbee golf, orienteering and eating good food. And yours truly now holds the course record of two under par on our frisbee golf course. I throw a mean frisbee. :)
Jun 12, 2002	Argentina knocked out of the World Cup by J
	We went over to our Argentine neighbors' place to watch the big Argentina vs. Sweden game and to enjoy some delicious choripan sandwiches (a delicious grilled sausage sandwich from Argentina). Unfortunately, Argentina was unable to convert more than one of their many scoring opportunities into a goal and the game ended with a tie. That means Argentina will not be going on to the next round. What a bummer! I was hoping that this would be their year. Oh well, we'll all cheer for Team USA now.
May 4, 2002	Short Idaho Vacation by J
	We left Lauren with Grandma Smith and drove to Idaho early yesterday morning to attend the wedding of Karen's freshman-year roommate, Kelsey. It was very nice and we are so happy for Kelsey and her new husband, Ben. It's nice when my wife's friends marry people that I like so I'm not bored when they come to visit. Ben is at BYU majoring in Electrical Engineering, so we can talk geek stuff when he and Kelsey come to visit. :) We stayed overnight in Boise then drove back this morning.
Apr 27, 2002	County Convention 2002 by J
	In an effort to help a family friend, Claude Richards, be re-elected as County Assessor for Utah County, I attended the local Republican Party caucus meeting for my precinct and was elected as a county delegate representing our precinct. The county nominating convention was today and I attended to cast my vote for the various candidates. It was a fun and educational experience, and got me more excited about our country's political process. The only two races that I cared much about were not decided, so be sure to vote in the primary election on June 25th if you are a Utah County Republican!
Apr 19, 2002	JK1 Finally Gets Broadband at Home by J
	Today all the folks at JK1.net are smiling. No more dial-up for us! A medium-sized 2.4 Ghz long-range parabolic-dish antenna is sitting on our roof sending and receiving 802.11 packets to and from our new ISP, GriffLink. We get speeds as high as 1000 kilobits/sec to the rest of the Internet! That's much better than the 30 kilobits/sec that we were getting over the modem. :)
Mar 7, 2002	New Baby Page by K
	Once again JK1 is proud to present another fabulous webpage created by the combined talents of J and K! We have a fun, interactive page about the new baby. We hope that you enjoy it!
Feb 23, 2002	Paintball Campout by J
	We took the scouts camping to a neat place near the town of Elberta that we call Bubble Rock. One of the leaders owns several paintball guns, so we decided to try them out the next day. The large, irregular boulders made for excellent terrain for hiding and sneaking around. It was really fun, and I'm glad that we didn't find out until after we got back that the BSA prohibits paintballing on scout activities. Ignorance is bliss. I guess I should count myself lucky that I made it back alive without any welts.
Feb 20, 2002	It's Official - I've Graduated! by J
	That paper that cost me almost $20k came today. I guess that means that I'm officially graduated! I was a bit disappointed that it doesn't say anything about my program of study or my math minor on the diploma. Oh well, I guess it doesn't really matter, I just thought they would be on there for some reason. And it case you were wondering, I will *not* be donning the robe and cap to walk in April. I'd rather just stay at work, thank you!
Jan 1, 2002	Back from Arizona Vacation by J
	We used the marriage of our friends in Mesa as an excuse to take a vacation and celebrate school being over. We left on December 27th and drove all day, going through Las Vegas. We stayed with my aunt and uncle and family and had a great time there. I even got to see an old mission companion and meet his new family. We listened to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone on the drive down and then went to see the movie with my cousins. It was wonderful to take a break from the worries of our lives to just relax for a week. I'll try to get Karen to post some of the photos that we took.
Dec 25, 2001	Merry Christmas! New baby on the way! by J
	Merry Christmas to all our friends and family! Karen and I gave our parents a newborn diaper, small bib and a calendar with August 28th circled to break the news of the new baby on the way. We're so excited to have another little one around and for Lauren to have a new little brother or sister. Check out our baby page to read the latest and to suggest baby names for the little one.