Thanksgiving Surprise

Matt had a whole week off for Thanksgiving (woohoo!) and we were deciding what to do for that week.  We settled on going to Nashville to celebrate because it is only 3 hours away and I have family there.  A little over a week before we were planning to go Matt talked to his dad on the phone in Austin about their plans for thanksgiving.  They weren't going out of town or doing anything super exciting (I was listening to the conversation from the other room).  When Matt got off the phone with his dad we both said to each other, "We need to go to Austin for Thanksgiving!" Matt's dad had not met Yvonne yet and because we had a week off for Thanksgiving we decided to go for it!  I think it was really what we were supposed to do for Thanksgiving because the trip had no hiccups.  Finally a trip that went well for Matt Bonner!  And even better-it was a total surprise for the whole family.  We told no one that we were coming! I love surprises!

We left on Tuesday morning and drove through Jackson, Shreveport and then once we got to Texas it was just a diagonal shot to Austin.  We drove on country roads that went through all of these tiny towns.  Each town had a gas station and a donut shop and that was about it.  It was a pretty drive but Texas is HUGE and kind of painful to get through.  It took us about 13 hours total.  Yvonne did really good until the last hour, when we were all going a bit crazy.

We knocked on the Bonner's door at about 7:30 pm and it was a great surprise!!!!

While we were there we celebrated a birthday, went bowling and played pool, played Frisbee (Matt and his dad's special bonding activity), ate Thanksgiving dinner and of course let Yvonne be snuggled by everyone.

Matt broke the Frisbee he gave to his dad a few years ago.  Now it is a best friend token.

Yvonne hanging out in the hammock.  Thanksgiving break in a warm place is the best!

Aunt Ingrid, Grandpa Bonner and Yvonne relaxing after Thanksgiving dinner

The whole family! And yes that mountain man in the back is a senior in high school:)

We drove home on Friday so that Matt could have time to get some of his school work done before his last week of school! I know we just got back from Thanksgiving break, but I want more! It was so nice to spend time with Family.

Merry Christmas! Er..I mean Happy Holidays! (33 Christians and one Jew).  So much awkward in this class photo including my freakishly tall husband. And UAB's mascot is not a reindeer in case you are wondering.

Date Night

The last couple weeks have been filled with rain and sickness.  Poor Yvonne came down with her first cold! It has been breaking her parents hearts! She had a low-grade fever, snot coming out of her eyes and nose, a cough and a couple of spouts of barfing.  Yvonne and I have basically not left the house in the last week. We have both gone through a lot of laundry though. I think in one day I changed my outfit 5 times due to throw-up or the snot on my shirt that looked like snail tracks from Yvonne wiping her face on me.

True Love! My arm was dead, but I didn't want to wake her:)

We are now seeing the tail end of this fiasco.  Hopefully!!Praying!!

You have to pay to live in a really green area.  It has rained for the last two weeks.  There was a tiny break last Wednesday when it was still pretty cloudy but no rain.  I took advantage and headed to Red Mountain State Park with my friend and her baby.  We did a hike to one of the many tree houses they have in the Park.  It was a cool view of the Birmingham area.  That was the most recent enjoyable memory I have.  It was such a nice time.  Then, more rain!! Matt said it is like we are vegetables in the grocery store...constantly being misted.  Yesterday afternoon the sun all of a sudden shone through our living room window. I jumped off the couch and just basked in it.  It was so wonderful!

The weather forecast predicts sunshine for the next week.  Woohooo!  

Today on my run I did see the swim team practicing in the OUTDOOR recreation center pool.  The rain will pay off in very green summers:)

It is still warm here but I miss the desert sunshine too!

Rewind to Halloween weekend.  Matt and I had the best date ever! It was our first time (since being here) having somebody watch Yvonne while we went on a date and it was the BEST! We left for our date after 7 pm, so we had already put Yvonne down for the night.  The babysitters just had to watch TV and listen for Yvonne-it worked out great! 

Matt's couch-surfing friend, Don, got us symphony tickets to the movie Psycho.  It was really cool what they did.  The symphony played the score of the movie (all the music in the background) live while the movie was playing on a big-screen behind them.  It looked like a lot of work for the conductor!  We could see that he had 3 TV screens in front of him with the music, the script and the movie playing.  He had to keep time the whole length of the movie so all the climaxes were played at just the right part.  I had never seen psycho and I thought I would get scared watching it after my sister told me about the time she saw it.  She actually watched it with Matt and got so scared at one point she dove across the room and mauled Matt.  Matt said. "Yeah she wasn't even sitting by me....and she gave me scratch marks."  Sorry Kim, but that movie: not scary! It is a classic though.  You can't go wrong with Alfred Hitchcock!  It was at the Alabama Theatre-similar to Capital Theatre in SLC. Not too many pictures this post:( But gotta keep y'all updated!xxoo

Trunk-or-Treat and other Tricks

Trunk-or-Treating is the cool thing to do instead of trick-or-treating these days.  We decided to participate in this Halloween festivity.  It was actually our first time because trunk-or-treat probably became popular 10 years ago or so.  Since then I have not been participating in the candy giving or receiving. My rating of trunk-or-treat on a scale of 1-10 would be rated around a 4...Positives might include that it is safe, kids get candy, and you can decorate your trunk.  It's pretty lame because kids just run around in a circle getting as much candy as they want without having to work for it, there is suddenly no option of actually giving out a "trick" instead of a "treat", and it is over way too quick.

We decorated our trunk like a birthday party! Really cool Glow-in-the-Dark balloons that I must have for my next Birthday Bash!

Inside the church during the Halloween Carnival
We are dressed up as my favorite thing: A BIRTHDAY PARTY! Yvonne is a cupcake with a candle on top, I am a pinata and Matt is a birthday present!

Yvonne is changing on us! It seems that Yvonne kind of does the same things for awhile and then all of a sudden Matt and I say to each other "Yvonne is different!" She is growing up and it is too soon! We were leaving for church and our neighbor was talking to us as a fly flew up in Yvonne's face.  Our neighbor Juanita said, "Oh that fly comin' to steal some of yo' suga'!" while waving the fly out of Yvonne's face.  She is changing but still as sweet as sugar!

Yvonne practicing sitting up

She can only sit up for so long before she tips over! But she has fun doing it!

Yevvie is so animated and giggly these days awwwwwe:)

There are a lot of different suggestions on when to start solid foods for babies...Yvonne is almost 5 months and seemed interested in food, so we gave her some ice cream because it is my favorite! 

Just joking...it is only rice cereal.

First bite of rice cereal

From this picture it looks like she has still not taken any bites of rice cereal...

Yvonne can do a lot of cool tricks and I have been working on my own.  I have been really getting into Yoga lately!  It has been good for my body, soul and mind.  I have always had some anxiety issues (remember when I cried the whole way in and out of Coyote Gulch because I was so afraid of heights?!?).  Now I worry about much more important things such as being a new mom, moving to a new place, dealing with A LOT of bills.  So I practice Yoga.  I still run, which has also been a major de-stressor in my life, and now I love Yoga too! Matt sometimes does Yoga with me.  It is not only a girl thing.  At first women can really excel in yoga through flexibility and men can really excel in the strength area in yoga.  Then ta-da, if you practice a lot you can get stronger and more flexible in body and mind. (sorry about the yoga plug! but try it! you will like it!)

A warm up move

Grasshopper!! I have been practicing this move for a couple weeks and I finally did it!

 Matt is in the Young Men's presidency in our church and he got to go on a campout! Everyone was in hammocks and he didn't even need a coat in October! Two things that wouldn't happen in Utah (I still love you Utah!)

Matt's new office at work

We went with some of Matt's classmates to Moss Rock for a little hike:)

Earth Family:Tie-dye, tribal headbands, and those shorts Matt wears every single day

Oktoberfest

The previous two Octobers were spent being so sick I could hardly enjoy them!

October of 2013 was the last month before I went gluten free.  I had serious stomach issues and a skin rash mostly on my legs and arms.  Luckily after some self-testing and experimenting I found that the culprit of my problems was from the gluten.  By mid November of that year I was feeling a lot better! 

Last year, October of 2014, was spent with morning sickness! Work during that time was especially horrific (some events I don't even want to be known....) that made for long, exhausting, sick days.  The dry-heaving and/or vomit was brought on even more by the constant aroma of squash roasting in the oven (you folks know who you are)! 

 YAY for an October I am enjoying!!

We had a few friends over for an Oktoberfest celebration.  Matt lived in Germany for a couple years and was not really able to explain the purpose of Oktoberfest.  So we just kind of did our own thing.  We had some good brats with sauerkraut, ketchup (not really German), and Dijon mustard (German!).  We listened to German music and Matt taught us a few German words, i.e. haus.  We made soft pretzels.  They turned out great and I did not know that the key to making them was to put the pretzels in a baking soda water bath before you cook them in the oven. We had Rootbeer tasting and floats to end the night off.

Brezels und Rootbier!
The ones on the ends are Amy and Jake.  They are our doppelganger (German word!)-short and tall! The couple in the middle is Zach and Megan with their cute babe Navie.  Both couples are in our ward.

Matt is really loving the trails out here.  There seems to be more trail races than road races! Matt ran a 16 mile trail race that the Birmingham track club put on.  So he got a free race entry! He also won it and got some $$ in a gift card.  Definitely worth it.  We only paid 18$ for the both of us to be in the BTC and it sure has been fun being a member and totally paying back.

Matt as overall winner! Mr. Tosch who has gorgeous hair!! The picture doesn't give it justice!! oh and he directs A LOT of trail races down here.

While Matt was taking first place Yvonne and I took last place in the 4 mile loop... But it was a great hike! We hiked to a lake and saw some great views.  The leaves are changing a little...can you tell?

We have a huge counter in the master bathroom.  In the mornings while I do my hair and make-up (o.k. let's be honest...when I actually do my hair and make-up) I plopped Yevvie down in her Bumbo in front of the mirror and she is as happy as can be.  I especially like this picture because it shows her with bedhead!! She has enough hair to get it messy:)  She will have a pony-tail in no time.

Getting ready for the day

One outing we like to take sometimes during the week is to Bahama Bucks! I swear I didn't like shaved ice until this place.  We meet our friends, Brianne (a wife of one of the guys in Matt's class) and Caroline (her daughter who is a month older than Yvonne).

Looking on Point for our outing!

Matt just got introduced to the movie "Heavy Weights", a classic I thought everyone knew by heart! Also a movie that will not be redone anytime soon because it is not "politically correct".  I think it is hilarious and very quotable.  Matt has been rehearsing the lines from the movie constantly (you know how well Matt does impersonations) and has been making me laugh so hard.  In Tony Perkis' voice, "You have been a good girl Yvonne...fair...strong...Your mother would be proud."

Random and kind of related to the movie...I made Matt eat the following plate of  food for dinner after he told me he ate 5 or 7 Krispy Kreme donuts (people always want to introduce us to these donuts here because they think they haven't made it to the west yet??), several chicken 'n biscuits, and a big hot dog.

Quinoa Salad, Salad, Sweet potatoes (they are so yummy!!! I'm not sure if it is because they are from Georgia or if it is how we have been cooking them but they are my favorite food right now!!)

We are the Running Family

Some of you might know us as "the running couple" ha ha ok totally kidding!! But our friends Chris and Karley did make us this wonderful magnet featured below.  And yes it is on our fridge...to help us remember who we are...he he 

 

 

They admitted to stalking our social media accounts to obtain these photos.  But we love the magnet and more than that-we love them! It is true Matt and I both really like to run.  I would even dare say that running is what brought us together.  My younger siblings, Kim and Kyle, were on the SHS cross-country team together with Matt and it is through them that I met Matt.  We have made it a goal to always stay active and running is our favorite way to do that! 

 

Coming to Birmingham has been a new running experience!  I have been getting back into running since after having Yvonne (I totally did not run the last trimester of pregnancy!) So I have been getting used to that.  When we first got here the humidity and hills killed us!! Utah has mountains but when you are in Utah Valley-it really is a valley! Our neighborhood is full of rolling hills.  Every run felt like hill training.  We are getting a little more used to it now and we have found more route options.  I really like the humidity and the glowing skin it gives me.  Running in humidity is wet.  Real wet.  Matt was running with some friends and he thought it was raining.  Nope-it was just the  sweat beads flying off of the guy next to him:)  When I ran my pony-tail would act as a windshield wiper on my swack (sweaty back).

 

Matt signed us up for a running club.  They have runs twice a week with water stops along the way.  Matt usually goes every Saturday morning for their longer runs (10-15 mi.)  He really likes it!  Saturday we decided to both go out and do it.  It was the Vulcan 10k race course with chick-fil-a after.  How could you say no to that?!  There is about 100 people that came to the run and we saw two other running clubs downtown! The Black Men Run Club and the Black Girls Run Club (only in Alabama).  We were the only ones with a stroller.  I liked it because it slowed Matt down considerably!  Yvonne was a happy baby during it:)

 

 

First time as the running family.



Matt running through the Rainbow tunnel downtown Birmingham.  The city put those lights up to keep the homeless out (so they don't sleep?? IDK)

 

 

Friday we had date night at a restaurant suggested by a classmate.  Not my favorite place to eat but I loved this kid that stared at us the whole time. The food was not memorable (sadly) but this boy was! 

 

The boy in the corner...

Yvonne has been kind of a stinker lately with the whole sleeping thing.  I thought once a baby sleeps through the night you are good-to-go! Well that is not the case...Yvonne used to be the best sleeper So it has brought us to experiment with different methods.  We are still swaddling her.  She likes it!! There are so many opinions on the internet about when to stop swaddling... We decided that no one really knows exactly how to parent...you just have to do what feels right for you and your babe.  We are most recently letting Yvonne cry and put herself to sleep.  She did good the first and second night! The first night it only took 20 minutes of crying.  The crying was probably worse for mom and dad (super sad!).  We played a game of Bananagrams (trying to take our minds off of the crying) and we had our timer out.  We checked on her every three minutes.  After six times of checking on her (patting her belly, telling her we loved her, cheering her on) she was finally asleep! Then she slept 'til 7 am.  Yay! Hopefully it just keeps getting better.



Dad and his professional bundling skills

Cosplay!

I'm not into Comic Com I swear! I didn't think I was into Cosplay until I read an article about a guy HERE His low budget costumes are hilarious! I couldn't help but laugh! Plus he is Thai...so maybe that makes me like him even more.  I looked up more and more pictures of him doing his thing and loved his creativity. He even has about 350,000 facebook followers on his page "Lowcostcosplay"  Now that Matt and I are trying to live "low cost" I thought that doing Cosplay on-the-cheap might be a fun idea for date night. Here's what we came up with:









The picture I wanted to recreate



I looked at a lot of disney characters and was trying to think of household items I could use for the costume.  It was hard! This made me realize how darn creative the Thai guy is!  I came across jasmine and I thought that her earrings looked like spoons, so I decided to dress up as her.   





Me as Jasmine!

Here's my outfit! It was hard finding colors to match her clothes...I've got on a light blue shirt, a belt as a necklace, spoon earrings, black eye liner, black towel for the hair and I used Matt's blue ties (he was hesitant to let me borrow at first) for the headband.  I also thought this blanket my sister-in-law Natalie crocheted for me was perfect for a magic carpet!

 

Matt pulled out his creativity (which is coming to him extra these days because he watches Cycle 22 of America's Next Top Model with me he he) and this is what he came up with.



The real Quasimodo

Matt as Quasimodo

 

 Matt complained that we have nothing red in the house (sorry! not my favorite color!) but he did find a red shirt of his for the hair.  Matt's usual Sabai pants worked great paired with a green top.  Crocks for shoes, a bowl stuffed under the shirt for the hunchback.  And that lump is an egg with eye liner on it...taped to his head.

We are big dorks...

 

 

Things are picking up for Matt in school.  He has a lot of group projects (hardly any tests). One group project he is currently doing is about the governance in the Health South Corporation (one of the nation's largest providers of post-acute/rehabilitative healthcare services).  They met with the COO of that business and learned all about what the administrative team does within the company and how they work with the Board.  

   

Matt's Group

Matt has homework.  But sometimes I really think all the money we are spending on school is actually just being used on a really expensive lunch club....At least once a week Matt has "lunch and learn".  The class has lunch and some Health Administrator comes and talks about how much money he makes...er...I mean how much he loves his job and is contributing to society. Last week was especially filled with food and networking/schmoozing (whatever you want to call it)! Thursday and Friday Matt was able to help with the preceptors conference where several health organizations come to UAB and meet/speed date/interview (again, whatever you want to call it) for residencies.  The people were here for the class above Matt (Matt will be the one interviewing this time next year!!?!).  He helped with the set up (6 am!) and he drove one gentleman (CEO of the Tampa general hospital) to the airport.  Matt chatted with a lot of people and came home and complained of eating too many chicken and biscuits from breakfast.  Must be nice! 

 

Where part of the conference was held

Class 51 (Matt's Class) at this year's Preceptor's Conference

On the Momma side of things...

Yvonne's first trip to the Zoo! We went with another mom and babe in the ward.  When Yvonne is really enjoying an outing she shows us she likes it by falling asleep.  The Zoo was not different, she slept for a lot of it.  But she was awake to get a picture with the elephants (her mom's favorite animals).  There was a petting zoo section and Yvonne really like looking at the big Black pigs.



My favorite things: Yvonne and ASIAN Elephants!

We had four elders over for dinner.  Our Ikea table is so tiny Matt thought it would be fun to sit on the floor and have dinner Thai Style! I made curry and a stir-fry beef.  One elder dumped on the Sriracha sauce-very impressive!

 

 

 

We are trying to stay outside as much as possible.  We love the weather here!  For FHE we went to the Jemison trail and went on a nice walk.  The golden hour that night could not be beat!

 

Rollin'

The weather is still so nice.  Very nice.  And it is still very green here and we are taking advantage! Labor day we went to a pool party with Matt's class.  We grilled some good fish and shrimp and basked in the sun.  We wanted to swim a little more but they don't make swim diapers small enough for Miss Yvonne:( Next summer...Or maybe even October if the pools are still open!

We had a picnic at the Botanical Gardens with some friends. A group of 8 plus 2 babies got together for it.  We stayed out until the sun was going down and the fire flies in the Garden were really beautiful and plentiful! On Saturday we went to the Art Walk downtown Birmingham.  I went in with little expectations.  I have been to "Art Walks" before and usually they are just O.K.  This Art Walk was big and pretty cool.  They had probably 200 artists set up around down town spanning 6 blocks or so. Some of the art was set up in the streets, others were set up inside different shops along the way.  We saw some talented stuff! We also saw some weird stuff.  There were a lot of food trucks around and a couple live bands playing.  We spent a lot of the day checking everything out!

Just one pic from Art Walk.  Those are army men!

We had a guy in Matt's class and his wife over for dinner and they just loved Yvonne! Later that week Jim came up to Matt and said (in a sweet southern accent mind you) "My wife just loves Yvonne so much she went and bought her one of them Bumbo things...hope you don't think it's weird.  She just thinks she is so sweet."  So kind of them! Yvonne thinks it's pretty great too!

She is mobile!

Matt attending the symphony with his couch surfing friend Don

Matt and I were asked to speak in church yesterday.  Our topics were baptism and the Holy Ghost.  We thought it might be a good missionary opportunity ...So Matt invited his class to come watch him give a "sermon" and see what an LDS church meeting was like. 10 people came! It was great!  Our talks went well too. A few of them had some questions after.  We've got to plan our next move... This week we are having the missionaries over so hopefully we can get in on some more missionary work.  

yvonne's birthday

I had the intention to write this post on Yvonne's 3 month birthday but...

I wanted to document one of the greatest moments in my life.  When I became a mother.  Yvonne's estimated due date was May 30.  I had an uneventful relatively easy pregnancy.  I was able to do some form of exercise through out it (usually just walking during the last trimester).  I was able to keep working full-time with out any problems there either.  I was really blessed during my pregnancy.  Through my pregnancy I practiced meditation and read a lot about natural birth.  I was hoping for a natural birth, which did not happen, but I am really happy with how everything went.

At 36 weeks I went in to the doctor starting my weekly checkups and I was 3 cm dilated and 70% effaced.  Woohoo! I was for sure I was going to be going into labor early. 37 weeks I was measuring the same.  38 weeks I was measuring 4 cm dilated and 80% effaced. So close.  I thought for sure I would go into labor any day.

I finished my job at Trinity by then but I wanted to stay active.  Matt and I were in the process of moving to Springville to live with his parents for a couple months until we moved to Alabama.  I spent a lot of my time packing, cleaning, and walking.  I hiked the "Y" a few times.  Once with my sister-in-law Linda who had never done it before!  39 weeks and still measuring the same.  I continued walking and even did some running.

40 weeks pregnant.  Oh my goodness! I wanted the baby to come so badly.  That week I tried it all! I busted every single myth someone would suggest to me.  I tried curb walking, spicy food, jumping, running, eggplant Parmesan (strange I know-but there is a website full of testimonials), red raspberry leaf tea, squats, hiking, relaxation, swiping membranes, pretty much I tried it all...except castor oil.

It was Friday night June 5th and my sister Kim came to town and I was really hoping I would go into labor while she was in town (sadly didn't happen) and I was really hoping I would go into labor before I had to be induced (gladly did happen).  The following day was Saturday and I would officially be 41 weeks pregnant and I told myself that if I was still pregnant in the morning I would run the Art City 5k.  I woke up the next morning and I was still pregnant....

Matt PRed at this race and I made a new record for myself of the slowest time ever but I did it! I saw my doctor at the finish line and he said "if this doesn't put you into labor I don't know what will!"

This race did not put me into labor... just extreme soreness for the rest of the day.  Later that night we went to the Payson Temple celebration and the next day we went to the dedication.  I'm glad I got to go to those things!

Sunday night the 7th after dinner at my parents house and after my sister and her husband left back home I kind of felt like something was going to happen.  Or it may be the same feeling I had felt the past 2 weeks.  Matt and I were heading back home and I suggested we walk the Bonneville Shoreline trail in Springville.  While we were walking I felt a small gush of liquid come in between my legs.  And then a little more, and a little more.  "Matt I think my water is breaking."  So we turned around and headed back to the car.  Luckily I had a towel to sit on in the car! 

We waited back at the house to see if contractions would start.  They started and we timed them.  I did my nails and ate Outshine Popsicles (so yummy!).  When contractions were about 3 minutes apart we decided to head to the hospital.  My water broke about 6:30 pm and we were admitted to the hospital about 9:30 pm.  

When we arrived at the hospital I could tell one of the nurses didn't believe me (or she has had too many false "I swear I am in labor!" arrivals.  She asked me: "How far apart are contractions?" "Are you sure your water broke?" "Is this your first baby?" "When is your due date?" "Have you tried to be admitted before for labor?"  

With a quick check they assured me I was in labor (I knew that...that is why I actually came to the hospital...).  My actual labor and delivery nurse was awesome!!!  I started out doing ok with the whole "natural labor" thing.  The nurse did some great counter pressure on my back and knees.  Matt and her were super encouraging.  There were some positions I wanted to rest in but the monitors were telling me that it was affecting the baby's heartbeat ("oh, baby doesn't like THAT position!"), so I would have to change positions:(  As labor progressed I told Matt that I wanted the epidural.  Matt and the nurse were willing to keep helping me if I wanted to continue the natural route but when they checked me and I was dilated to a 6+/7 I told them No Way!!  My doctor had arrived about 10 pm and was just hanging out for whenever I was ready to push (he was really great!).  

So I got the epidural about 11 pm.  And I would totally do it again.  No regrets.  Seriously if it is there-why not.  And Yvonne is still a chill sweet baby even though I got an epidural!  At midnight I was fully dilated.  My doctor (when the lady has an epidural) likes the patient to rest and let the baby descend a little while before pushing starts.  Matt called up my mom and sister-in-law Linda to come on down to the hospital because "Heather is going to push soon."  That's all he said-I found out they were in a panic getting to the hospital because they thought they were going to miss it! 

Mom, Linda and ...Dad (!?) came into the delivery room.  I was so surprised to see my dad! But he assured me that he would be waiting in the waiting room.  At 1 am I started pushing.  My doctor warned me that I could be pushing 30 min-2+ hours because this is my first baby.  I did not believe him.  I thought "I'm in pretty good shape I think it will go a lot faster."  Nope! It took me a full hour to push that babe out. Pushing is a lot of hard work but in between contractions there was a lot of talking and joking going on. 

2:03 am baby was born! 6lbs 13oz and 19in.  She started crying immediately.  Finally we met our sweet baby.  I was able to hold her for an hour on my chest before they took her down for her bath.  Mom and Linda held her too.  Dad was excited through the whole thing even though he was in the waiting room.  Matt was so happy to meet her and he changed her first diaper.  It wasn't until later that morning that we decided on her name.  Yvonne Liffy (spin off of Lifferth-my maiden name).  

Testifying, Winning and Swimming

Our first Saturday morning in town was spent at a laundromat, which was pricey! It cost 7$ to wash a large load of laundry (water is an expensive utility here).  We knew that was going to add up quick so we got on craigslist and decided on a used washer and dryer set.  Luckily our water utility is included in our apartment rent (woohoo!) plus we have the hookups for a washer and dryer.  Matt picked out the set online and called the guy who was selling them.  Super nice guy named Bill.  He even offered to bring us the set for a little extra cost and install it for us. And he did just that and when he left he told us to let us know if we had any problems with the machines.

The sad part of the story is that we did have a problem with the dryer:( It was working just fine and then all of a sudden halfway through the first load it stopped working.

The glad part of the story is that we had a great missionary experience come of it!  A lot of students in Matt's classes are religious and talk about religion and Christ often.  Matt has a gospel discussion with a person in his class pretty much every single day-it's pretty cool!  This missionary experience was with Bill who came to fix our dryer.  Matt called Bill and told him that we were actually having some troubles with the dryer and Bill insisted on coming to our apartment to fix it.  Bill started talking to us about the church because he asked where we were from (Utah=Mormons right?).  He told us that he lived next to two Mormon churches and then we realized he was talking about the Birmingham Temple and the church that is right next to it.  So he asked us the difference of those buildings.  I think the spirit got really strong when he asked about Joseph Smith.  Matt told an explanatory but simple account of the first vision and bore his testimony.  I think we all felt the spirit and Bill was really grateful for the knowledge he gained from it.  We offered to send him a Book of Mormon-but he didn't seem like he was wanting that quite yet....hopefully we can have more problems with our dryer;)  It was a great missionary experience and we are hoping and praying to have more!

I'm trying to limit my use of exclamation points.  In the MTC my sister Kim thought I was on crack because I used so many exclamation points in my letters home.  But I just get excited about sharing the gospel!!!

"If it's free its for me!" is usually my motto.  Except when I attended free Yoga at Railroad Park.  It was a really cool park in ghetto area birmingham (the city is trying to give face lifts to several areas downtown) but pretty lame Yoga...

Friday we checked out the Birmingham Botanical Gardens, which was free and for me.  They are sweet! 67 acres of different themed gardens and we only went through 1/3 of the park.

Alabama Woodland Garden

Japanese Gardens

Bamboo!! 

There are a lot of statues throughout the gardens

I refused to believe this area of the park were really the "Japanese Gardens" until I saw Koi fish...well I did!

The ladies in the Rose Gardens

Yvonne loved the roses

Southern Living Garden

Saturday morning Matt did a 10.5 mile trail race in Oak Mountain State Park and took 2nd! The winning guy was a sponsor at the race so he gave Matt the winners prize.  It is 5 sessions at a chiropractic clinic to do normatec treatments.  I think Matt will really like the prize because he babies his feet haha.

Matt and this guy came in together as friends...The race director (who had beautiful hair that looked like George Washington) made the boys chose who took 2nd and who took 3rd place!

Our southern babe waiting for Dad to finish his race

After the race we met up with another couple in Matt's program at the lake in the Park and hung out there.  Yvonne went swimming for her first time and seemed  to like it.  The lake was really warm and it was a hot day=perfect for swimming.  I am not in the photos because I forgot my swim suit...typical mommy brain:(

<3