Nine Years Later

Depending on when you ask me, I might tell you that the last nine years have seemed to last forever. Or else I might say that I can't figure out where the time went. Either way, they've been nine mostly excellent years. Where were we nine years ago? I'm glad you asked.

Matt & Tricia Nine Years Ago
We were both in school at BYU. I had been home from my mission for a short six months. I was working for my brother-in-law and his partner at a company called Grandway, handling the shipping/receiving in the warehouse. Tricia was working at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi, handling most of the money that came in and out. We had one car (Tricia's little blue Chevy Cavalier) and frequently took off for a few days after work on Friday. We traveled all over Utah camping, hiking, and doing pretty much whatever we felt like, whenever we felt like doing it. We had callings as Primary teachers in the ward, teaching the 5-yr old sunbeam class. We lived in a basement apartment that belonged to Tricia's uncle and aunt.

Matt & Tricia Today
We're both out of school. I've graduated from BYU with my Bachelors Degree in History. Tricia was within a semester or two of graduating when she left, expecting our fist child. We have three great children: Olivia, Anna, and 'baby' Jarom. Each is an invaluable part of our family, and we love them all. I'm working for Cheetah (an off-shoot of the original Grandway), and running the office and operations. Tricia gets to stay at home being a full-time mom, maid, cook, chauffeur, and chief financial officer. She's obviously working harder than I am... We have two vehicles now: my 'commuter' Jeep, and the family Chevy Tahoe. Both are much bigger and more expensive than our first, but both are more useful, too. We hardly ever leave the house (unless you count going to work, church, the library, or Wal-Mart), and especially not to go camping or anything like that. Once or twice a year is more than enough for us. It just takes too much effort for it to be exceedingly fun anymore. We both still teach in church, only I teach in the Sunday School and Tricia teaches in Relief Society. Please give us the 5-yr olds again! And we're living in a modest home in West Lehi, with plenty of yard-work and other projects that need to be done.

And where have we been in between? Well, we've been on two cruises to Mexico/Central America. We've been in the Cub Scouts and in bishoprics. We've been in the Emergency Room with sick/hurt kids. We've been in plenty of arguments. We've debated everything from baby names to paint colors, and just about everything in between. We've been in shape and out of it (mostly in lately--good work on the running Tricia!). But mostly, we've just been in love. For nine years.