Our Family

When we moved, I hoped that Briggs would find a buddy. Guess what is so awesome? There are tons of kids his age. He is loving life! There is always someone to play with. At the park the other day, they all marched off to find ladybugs, then came upon a huge tree that had fallen. What do you do with a fallen tree? Lift it. Move it. Grunt.

Matthew, Cameron, Briggs, Brig (yes! So fun for B to have a twinner-named buddy!), and Zack: the muscle-men.

Carwashes are a mixed blessing. They give me time to quickly clean the inside of the car, text, pay bills...etc., but Chanel can make things interesting. She gets really excited/scared/crazy whenever we go into a carwash. She's really afraid of it, but we turn it into a game. I'll pretend that I'm scared too, and this was her reaction to the game:

She is ALL PERSONALITY!!!!!!! Goodness! She makes us laugh all of the time, unless she's making us crazy! We love her!

I wanted to write down a couple of quick things about Briggs...

My friend, Sheri, was the primary chorister for Briggs in our last ward. She reminded me of something funny that B said in primary once. When the kids were asked, "what is the daddy's job?" Briggs raised his hand and said, "to keep the mommy happy!"
This morning, Briggs explained to me that our dog, Charlie, had a "dried-up piece of cow" in his mouth. It was one of those raw-hide pieces. Ewww. Hearing it described that way made me sort of vomit in my mouth.

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.