aRe YOu SerIoUs??

O.K. Brooke....I'm asking myself...,"Are you bloody serious?" Last June I'm apparently all talk because I said that I was gonna start writing on my blog, and here it is in March and I'm just getting to it. What the heck? Well June was so regular last year....the kids were in nature camps, YW camp for me, swimming, Parker's birthday, etc. Then July happened.....I had gone to the ER because I was puking and had this crazy pain, and then we found out it was a 12 mm kidney stone. It was too big to pass, so they had to go in and blast it into lots of pieces and put a stent in so they could eventually pass more easily. As we were in the ER Matt broke the news to me that he had received an answer to prayer on what direction we were supposed to take in life. He looked like a deer in the headlights and right then I knew that some big change was about to happen and it would involve moving. I just knew it. He then proceeded to tell me that he was supposed to be going to Med School. I about fell out of my hospital bed. I couldn't believe it. I secretly thought that I would just try to talk Matt out of this and then this "situation" would pass....just like my kidney stone...hahaha! I didn't want to believe that this was real at all. I knew that I had to pray about it as well, just to get confirmation that this was the road our family was supposed to me on. 3 days later, after much prayer, sleepless nights, and EVERY thought running through my mind, I knew this was right for us. I didn't want to face it, but I knew!

It was my 32nd birthday and on your special day you are happy, laughing, celebrating. Instead I was calling friends/family or they were calling me, and I told them of our plans, and I was crying, sobbing, and so so so sad. After all we had lived in St. George for 7 years and developed so strong friendships and bonds with people and our ward. There was my workout buddies that I ride with, our home that we brought home 3 out of 4 babies to, our widow neighbors that needed us, everything that was familiar and easy, and our best friends, the Stewarts. I couldn't imagine not seeing them 4-5 times a week like we were used to.

The month of August was definitely TRYING!!! Packing a whole 2700 sq. ft house with 4 kids was just plain wretched. Oh by the way, we were moving to a basement apartment in Highland, Ut that was only about 900 sq. ft. It's Matt's parents second home and they offered for us to live there rent free....what a blessing! Although small we are LOVING our home and feel so comfortable and blessed to live in this cute, wonderful home and neighborhood. It is just perfect for us. O.K. back to August...since we were moving to a smaller place we had to get rid of lots of stuff, take things to storage in my parent's storage units in Cedar City, and then store stuff in Matt's brother, Michael's tow yard in Provo. The funny thing is, is after packing up our huge moving truck I realized that all that stuff could disappear and I probably wouldn't blink and eye, well maybe once, but not twice :). The important things were with me and that was Matt, Parker, Cam, Rowan, and Jonas!

O.K. this next section will hopefully be quicker now. So we moved and 4 days later I competed in a Half Ironman Triathlon. 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike ride, and a 13.1 mile run. I LOVED it and was so grateful to be able to participate in one. Matt started school at the University of Utah, and the kids started their new school at Mountainville Academy, a charter school 5 minutes up the road in Alpine. Since then we have adjusted really well and have been blessed with many miracles. The kids are loving the neighborhood and making lots of friends. Parker is in basketball and scouts, and Cam and Rowan are getting ready to start soccer for the second time.

We just got back from St. George. I did a 105 mile bike ride to Zion and back, and while we were there Matt, the kids, and I got a little homesick, but realized when we got back to Highland, we were home. We miss the "easier" life at times, but we also cannot deny the wonderful experiences that we have had here. It is because we are on the right path and we now our Heavenly Father is blessing us and watching over us constantly.

I forgot to mention Matt's schedule as well...this semester he is taking chemistry, biology, and calculus. He has 2 labs and discussions for those classes, he volunteers at the ER, he volunteers and the cancer wellness center, and he participates in research for MS. Talk about sacrifice...at least I still get to teach spin, get my workouts in, play basketball, and most importantly get to be a stay at home mom still, but Matt's life has been CRAZY. He wakes up at 5:20 every morning, and some nights doesn't get home until 8:30-10:30. He works so very hard, and gets all A's, so I am so proud.

That is what we've been up to since last June, so hopefully I will be better at this and write more often.

hugs and kisses, Brooke