Catch up time!

I know! I know! I am a slacker! Fine. Whatever.

Here is a lil' update. First off: I must jump to the important thing. I am now running in the Ragnar Relay with my family! (24 of us!)

"Bahhhh!", you say? Well, for those of you who know that I am a Diet Coke addict who HATES exercies of any kind: SURPRISE! I guess that's not who I really am anymore! Ha Ha! Gotcha! Okay, enough of the dramatics. Let's just re-cap...Mandy called me a week ago. She told me that her brother, Ben, wants us to run in the race, since there are only a couple spots left. I thought I was being PUNKED, but nope: this was real! Mandy, the bestest friend ever, who convinced me to audition for A.I. (American Idol for those of you who don't live in this world)....anyway, Mandy is theeeee ONE who forces me to live my life. We all need a Mandy.
She convinced me that I could run a minimum of 12 miles (split into 3 legs over 2 days time) in this crazy relay in June. Whaaaaaaaaaaaaat? Yes. Me. (Sarah! I know what you're thinking!: Heather won't stick to this...she'll be begging to be back in the DC co-op asap). Guess what???? I haven't had a caffeinated beverage in over a week! How do ya like them apples? I have only wanted water. Weird!
However, I am committed. I have been running right on the training schedule for the Wasatch Back, suggested on their site ragnarrelay.com . I am so excited about this, that I am jumping out of my skin! I can actually run for 35 minutes straight without vomiting! I have shocked myself. Today was the hardest run so far. I ran straight up a hill for about 15 minutes without stopping. Me. ME!!!!!!! Needless to say, I am very proud of myself! I cannot believe that I am a runner now! Wednesday is a 50 minute run...but Saturday's will be 80 minutes!!!!! Yikesters! I am loving me some "Gu" and my new running shoes! I listen to Coldplay's "Prospeckt's March" album every time I run. It's the perfect mix.

By the way...my disclaimer: I am vying for THE EASIEST SET OF RACE LEGS AS POSSIBLE: RUNNER 7.

So, there are other members of our family. oh!

Jonathan has been coerced (by me!) to also run in the race! He already is a pro. He ran 9 miles on Friday like it was a stroll on the beach. Nutty man! I am very excited to run with him. He's a machine!

Okay...on to the fun: PICTURES!

This is lil' man Briggs. Such a good boy! He's been really sensitive lately, which is sometimes cute and other times: annoying! However, he is all boy and very friendly to everyone he meets. He loves all of his buddies out here in SS. Zack (a.k.a. "Zacky") is his fav. They are little explorers.


Nelly with her Snow White toy. She is really being cute lately. I think she's pulling out of the terrible 2 phase. We laugh at her every day. She is really into singing, and does it very well (phew)!

In their element: at the cousins' house! Joseph, Nelly, Dax, and Briggs

Nelly's new bestie: Savannah. They are 5 days apart. Our front doors face each other (well, at least until someone builds on the lot on the corner that separates us).

At Gardner Village last week. The kids were so cute! I watched Lisa's kids while she met with her designer for an hour. They played and ran and giggled the whole time!

Check out these best buddies! Joseph and Nells.

Joseph is full of animation! Excitement, enthusiasm, and happiness...

Briggs, Joseph, Nelly and Will

Briggs

Watching the ducks and fish

Will was perfect the entire time! He's such a sweetie.

There goes Joseph again! ha ha

Joseph on his horse

Nelly in her comfort zone....thanks to Grandma "Horsey"!

Yee-ha!

Briggsy the Cowboy!

Okay, here's the thing: Wal-mart + Oversized Barbie on sale = trouble. Barbie is Nelly's dancing partner, movie buddy, and friend. They dance a lot. Especially when that Barbie movie is playing.

Drum roll please.......................................................

We went to WICKED!!!!! I have hated all of you who have seen this without ME! Now, I don't hate you anymore. We saw it and were blown away. The traveling cast was out of this world good. Talented beyond belief. I was brought to tears many times, with an overwhelming shock at the gifts these singers/actors have. Whoa.

It didn't hurt that Kyle Korver was there! Hallelujah! He's so cute. He wore a maroon colored sweater over a crisp white w/ thin stripes button-up shirt, dark flat-front chinos, and adorable white (hip! ;) "I'm too cool to be 'completely' dressed-up" shoes. Awwwwwww!

I tried to get a paparazzi shot, but too many peeps were in my way! Argh! And, I was a little nervous to talk to him...so I chickened out.

Okay. I loved this pic, until Faith pointed out that there is a nose-picker in the background! Dangit! What a nerdy dude.

Blurry shot at BOONDOCKS for Briggs's friend's party. Nelly was awesome.

Riley and Briggs: break-dancing.

Aw-yeeeeeeah!

Nelly outside of Boondocks

Daddy and Briggs after the bumper boats: they were soaked to the bone! They had a blast!

There they are!

This was the funniest thing! Nelly put a token into a machine and hit the jackpot! It was one of those silly machines that just steal tokens, but her token hit the thin line on the jackpot! 260 tickets came flying out, and she was trying to keep them off the ground. I was laughing so hard, I almost fell over! People were staring and laughing too. Nelly loved every minute.

Brigham on our driveway, busting a move on the scooter.

Nelly on her scooter!

I know! She's growing up! Sooooo crazy. This was at B's school, while we waited for him to come out.

Look at her HAIR!!! She HAS hair! Yippy!!! We love our goose!

Brigham's 5th Birthday!!!

Dax is so happy for Briggs! He knows all about the Wii!

Happy Birthday!

Boston and Briggs

Sweet kid...a little overwhelmed with gifts, but still sweet.

The party! Family from both sides came all the way out to our house to support Briggs!

Grandma Karen lovin' on the birthday boy!

Tyler, the awesome cuz.

Daddy-O

All the healthy food...

Brooklyne

Nothing bonds mother and daughter like a big yummy chocolate cupcake.

Jared is at his usual (and appreciated!) post: the BBQ grill. Mens corner out on the deck.

Cute preggy Bridget and preggy..., um, Dad. Just kidding, Dad! Love you!

Daddy gives Briggs a boat toy on his birthday morning.

The criminals. Nelly and Joseph.

Awwwww!

Hahahahahahahahaha!

Cuties.

Chockies bobbies. (Chocolate milk)

Best buddies

Fun pics

Here's Nelly with an "ow-eee" on her hand, eating lunch with Mommy at Kneader's...yum.

Here's Nelly posing. She's a lil' show-off. I don't know where she gets it from...

Snuggles!

Motorcycle at "Cookie Cutters"...waiting for Briggs to get his hair cut.

More snuggles. This was our last Sunday at our Alpine ward. We will miss all of our sweet ward members and neighbors!!!

Snuggles again. We are loving this new phase for Chanel. She finally is nice to us. No, I'm serious. She was a mega-beast up until the past month or so. She now can have a tickle war while giggling the whole time. She used to laugh for about 2 seconds, then find something insanely dangerous to throw at her opponent, while growling and screaming. We are holding our breath on this one. Let's just HOPE she remains a sweetheart!!!! Pray for us! Ha ha.

At Cookie Cutters. Briggs loved it. He sat in a race car and had suckers and balloons...nice touch. Sorry it's all out of order. It does that when I get pics off my iPhone.

This was an adventure: stuck in the McDonald's drive-thru. Why? You ask? Well, I had nowhere to turn, after finding the note on the board that stated, "Our system is down, thank you for your patience". The problem: it was 11:45 am. Brigham has school at 12. I was trying to get a "quick lunch", so he wouldn't starve through school...by 11:56, we were finally at the ordering window. I saw an opportunity to cut right, so I bailed. I hurried to B's school, fed him a piece of bread that we found in the car (I'll admit: it had a teeeneeeey lil' bit of white-ish mold on it). At this point, I was desperate, okay? Anyway, he is still alive, and I made it to lunch with my friends.

One more story. I went to my first girls night out with some Saratoga Springs friends, which was totally awesome. They are all so fun and nice. Some silly things happened though. Crystal, my adorable neighbor, planned for us to go to a musical at the Scera Shell Theater in Orem. It was called "Bugs". I was really excited, because I love musicals. I hadn't seen it before, but was ready for something new and fun. All 7 of us sat in our seats, and waited for the show to begin. A teenaged girl came out and welcomed us to "Bugs", and thanked us for supporting this kids, and announced upcoming summer camps. We all looked at each other, and put it all together. This was a childrens theater group. I got the giggles, and couldn't stop laughing (as quietly as possible). Poor Crystal! She thought this was a normal musical, since the man on the phone told her that it was a wonderful show, and well worth our $6. We could barely contain ourselves. She kept saying, "I'm soooooo sorry! I'm so sorry!" I thought it made the night even better than if it had been a normal play or musical. The kids came out on stage, wearing really shabby bug costumes, and sang their lil' hearts out. It was ironic, since many of us like girls night out for the fact that we get away from children for a couple of hours.... We sneaked out at intermission, laughing our guts out.

I was so excited to meet another Heather, who was in Latter-Day Celebration (the same choir Jonathan and I met in) the year before me. We had a ton in common and tons of people we both knew. It was great. Well, we went to Chili's, because we were starving. I ordered salmon. Bad idea. I ended up with a fishbone stuck in the back of my throat! Ewww! I went to the bathroom, to see if I could see it, and pull it out. It looked like a white sliver stuck back behind a tonsil. Yuck. It was so creepy! I was a little scared, so I called Jonathan. He said he had the tools to take it out (my cute EMT). By the time we got home, though, it was gone. Weird.

Well, things are off to a fun start, I know! Ha ha!

March went out like a lion

Hi friends and family!

I wanted to update all y'all on what's been going on for our family for the past month. As I said before, we have moved. Love it! Saratoga Springs is beautiful and we have fallen in love with the people already. We have adorable neighbors, who have stepped it up to help us out a lot. We have a few old friends out there who are wonderful too.

On moving day, we had an army of people who showed up to help. What a nice surprise! I cannot believe the amount of time my friends put into our move. Some spent well over 10 hours packing, driving, organizing...etc. Unreal!!! Listen, you Alpine-Nay-sayers: there are many amazing, solid, Christ-like people from Alpine. I love my Alpine friends.

The house that we moved into is so fun. It is very open and roomy, light colors, lots of windows...we feel at home already. We didn't have to buy any furniture, because it all just sort of works! The only thing we're saving for is a big ol' flatscreen TV. (whatever, Jonathan!)

We have planned out our yard, and are begging for the weather to change so we can start digging. My first goal is to put in a garden. I don't even care about the grass as much as the garden. So, we'll have to get it all piped and plumbed and built...but I'll be happy if I can have a full-blown garden this year. I'm really excited about it!

We have felt very welcome in the stake and ward. There was a new stake formed, called the Saratoga Springs South Stake, which we are a part. The stake conference was amazing. We were surprised to find our kids were almost perfect for 2 whole hours. The spirit was strong. Most of the talks were testimonies, since many were the newly called presidency members. The ASL translator was fabulous. We watched him most of the time, especially during the songs. Wow. He was so expressive and awesome. Jonathan bumped into Jason LaRue, an old mission buddy. That was cool, because Jonathan went and stood by him when we sang "Called to Serve", as a surprise. They hugged and had a lil' moment. ;)

Our Bishop came over the other night, and we chatted for about an hour. He is so cool. The next day, he called us to ask us to speak on Easter Sunday. Mixed blessing! I have already loved studying for my talk, but can't put it all together. I am speaking on Christ's Ministry on the earth. Jonathan is speaking of the Atonement and the Resurrection. Kinda big topics, eh? I'm thinking of focusing on the Savior's power to heal. I hope I don't bawl through the whole thing!

So, the kids are adjusting well. Briggs is in the same preschool, but at their Saratoga Springs location. He loves it. And I love it, since it's $35 bucks cheaper every month! ?????? I know. I guess I didn't realize how expensive the other location was...oh well!

Thank you to all of you who helped me so much! You have made this move soooo easy and fun. And I feel blessed to have kept so many good friends, even through all of my ups and downs. I don't deserve you. xoxo