S-O-L-D

For the first time in 15 years we are officially underemployed. We SOLD Sled Shed and Sticks and Stones to our former employee Charles and his brother Joe. It is so hard to know what to think about this decision because it is what we know and LOVE. You ask, what are you going to be doing now? That is the exciting part. Brian will be building his custom titanium frames FULL time. We have a couple other things on the back burner, but for right now this is what he will be doing. I am excited for Brian to be chasing his dreams. You don't hear of many people following their heart, but this is his passion and we are stoked for the opportunity. We are heading to Utah in the morning to deliver one of his bikes he built for a girl living in Salt Lake City. This trip will include visits to bike shops, material supply manufacturers, business meetings, and maybe a little bit of FUN. No more 80 hour weeks for my husband. No more restless nights thinking about what bikes you need to sell. No more HUFFY fixing. No more putting up with BYU-I students complain about everything. No more leaving town just to worry about what is going on with the shops. We can finally go out of town and not have to stress about what problems will be left for us when we get back. NO MORE, NO MORE, NO MORE. Don't get me wrong there are so many amazing things that have happened to us the past 15 years, but for right now we are excited for the new happenings to come.

It is snowing outside right now. The Ashton road is closed! Tomorrow is MAY!

TAGGED

I have been tagged by Whitney and she is going to get it! Do you think I have time to tell you about all of my many many quirks. Alright, there are just 6 that I can think of so here we go.

Here are the rules:
1. Link the person who tagged you.
2. Mention the rules in your blog.
3. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours.
4. Tag 6 following bloggers by linking them.
5. Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger's blogs letting them know they've been tagged.

Quirk #1 I have trouble completing projects. If I paint I will leave a small spot untouched....just because. If I start scrap booking I get flustered and put it all away. If I read a book I get half way through and never look at it again. Why is this? What is wrong with completing a project. I need serious counseling. Please someone....save me!

Quirk #2 I am a punctual person. Ever since I can remember I thrive on being on time. I had a good friend growing up who was complete opposite. Whenever it was time for her to drive we were always 30 minutes late and it drove me CRAZY!

Quirk #3 I have to wear gloves when I do pretty much anything. Working in the yard, cleaning my bathroom or even doing clean laundry I LOVE LATEX! Brian makes fun of my Michael Jaxon one handed yellow latex glove. It's a sanitary thing.

Quirk #4 I spit on my hands. Alright, I just told you how much I LOVE latex and now I am admitting to you that I spit on my hands. Let me explain. When it is hot and my hands are completely dry or have nasty dirt on them I do exfoliate by spitting mucus on them. It sounds a little disgusting, but seems to cure my dry problem for a while. What a lady I am.....NOT!

Quirk #5 I have to be up, dressed, and ready for the day by 8:30am everyday. If I am not ready I feel like I have wasted half the day and have not accomplished anything. Even when I have no where to go. So I am usually up by 5:00am, exercise, get kids ready for school, make breakfast, get showered and dressed all before 8:30am.

Quirk #6 It drives me completely crazy to just be sitting around doing nothing. I don't like watching television, reading books, or doing crafts because I have to be moving. Oh heather, just sit down and relax for a moment. I think I get this crazy quirk from my dad who NEVER stops moving.

Alright so there you have it. Why did I admit to you so many dramatic quirks. Oh well, we all have them and at least I came to terms with them today. I am now tagging the following bloggers.
Magan, Rochelle, Kate, Rach, Holly, Cindy

BOSTON

One of my bestest buddies is running the Boston marathon today. Oh, how I wish I could be there with her. Good luck Jennica! There is a whole slew of women from around Rexburg running it this year. You people are TRULY amazing. I will stick with my 5 milers for now.

p.s. don't forget the GU, and salty peanut bars....YUM!

ALRIGHT ALREADY

Good heavens I can't believe how popular I am. The 4 of you readers think that I need to update my blog every now and then. Alright, already! Here are a few happenings of our world the past week.

• Carson makes the honor roll.

My little boys have been thriving since moving to Ashton. They smile more, laugh more, and are doing great in school. Carson recently made perfect attendance and the honor roll. I am so proud of my boys.

• Kelton lost another tooth #8.

Kelton came home from school the other day and was eating a delicious apple. Out came the tooth. It wasn't even loose. Kelton is in training for some serious event this summer. He has packed his waterpack with rocks weighing about 50 pounds and heads off for a run. What a tough little dude!

• Cooper learns to WALK - (video coming soon)

As many of you are aware Cooper has the most amazing scoot. We call it the "Coop Scoot". This is his own true style of what normal people call the crawl, but not Coop.....he wants to be different. Here is a good pic of him doing the "Coop Scoot" photo by Grandma Berta. Little buddy is taking his first steps. Right now I am treasuring every moment of it. I was thinking the other day how lucky I am to be able to see his first steps and hear his first words. There are so many women who CHOOSE to work, or HAVE to work in order to survive. I wouldn't miss this growing up stage for the world. I owe it all to my hard working husband. Thanks Bri.

• Brian is making some sweet bikes - pics to com

Brian has so many orders for custom bikes. He is finishing a frame right now for a girl living in Utah. We will be taking a trip down to Utah next week to deliver he bike. It is SWEET!

• Heather gains 9 pounds of MUSCLE......just call me "Hulk Heather"

At the beginning of March I brought our spin bikes from the shop up to Ashton. I have been teaching 4 spin classes a week. I enjoy meeting new people and getting paid to exercise. I have also been involved in the wellness program at Dr. Zollingers office. I have been eating good and exercising so I was excited to go in until I found the battery to the scale and weighed myself. Yup, I gained 4 pounds in 3 weeks. THIS SUCKS CRAP! I want to loose weight. Well, come to find out that I dropped my body fat 4% and gained a total of 9 pounds lean muscle. Alright, I will throw my scale battery out the window.

• Last snowboard day of the season.

We were fortunate to head to the mountain at Targhee one last time. It was kind of a last minute decision, but well worth it. It was a beautiful day and the boys were so excited to take make their first full run from the tip top of the mountain. They kicked my trash. I was so impressed with thier snowboarding abilities that I almost started crying. Well, crying because my legs were screaming in pain while going down the cat track. We had a great day. Special thanks to Mom and Dad for meeting us and watching little Coop. We are so greatful!

• Many walks
• Smashing ping pong matches -

Griffin had a ping pong table at his work that he needed to find a place for so Brian and I were happy to get it off his hands. We have been having a few marital bouts due to the smashing matches that we have after dinner each night. It has been so much fun watching my husband torture himself over a game of ping pong. Each couple needs a ping pong table in their living room it is good marriage therapy.......until you smash each other's heads in with the paddle.

CHASING A DREAM

1st GRADE SWIRLY

I went to pick up Kelton from school the other day. I noticed his teacher walking beside him. I thought that was a little different, and was wondering what kind of trouble little Kelton got into. "The situation is being dealt with." Kelton's teacher said. At recess Kelton went into the restroom and apparently was approached by a bully 1st grader. He wanted to give Kelton a toilet swirly and was not leaving until he dunked him. Well, as you can imagine I was a little peeved at the whole incident, but didn't let Kelton think I was. "Oh how fun, I have always wanted a swirly." Did those words actually come out of my mouth? Back to the story.........Kelton was saved by some hero of a 2nd grader. What a good little dude to save my buddy from the nasty urine/poo poo toilet. They all returned to class but not for long. Kelton kept his mouth shut (bad boy), but the 2nd grader did not. He went to tell his teacher what had happened and soon showed up to Kelton's class to tell his teacher. Soon the 1st grade toilet bully was EXPELLED for two days. Why is it that kids don't want others to know when they are hurting or need a helping hand? Why won't they tattle tell? Both Kelton and I learned an important lesson about talking to each other and how important it is for kids to talk to an adult when a problem arises. The swirly issue didn't seem to bother him much.....he was back at school the next day. I did teach him a quick lesson in kung foo! HAAAAYAAA!

SPRING HAS SPRUNG

click on pictures to enlarge

Alright, so you could say that I am a little desperate to see some beautiful tulips blossoming in our yard. There is still only about 4 feet of snow and 3 feet of mud. I think it will melt and dry up by October......just in time to snow again! Anyone want to go in on a condo in Mexico or somewhere REALLY WARM?

The boys have invented a new winter sport. It is called SNO FOOTBALL. They have been having a hay day playing out in the yard. I don't think that the tulip issue is bothering any of them.
Cooper has been able to enjoy the snow a little bit. He loves putting his face in it and licking all the hair and nasty dirt off of it. I just cringe my teeth and smile. Yum.

A few hundred feet from our home is a canyon draw. This place is a child wonderland. The boys went out to play with the neighbor boys and had a great time. I was so surprised at the splendor of this specific area during the winter months. It is just AMAZING.Brian is still keeping busy with all of his adventures. He goes into the shops in the morning, comes home to snow plow all the neighborhood in the afternoon, and then builds his custom bikes in the evening. Every now and again he gets a chance to ride his own bike. He works SO hard for our family. We are thankful for his efforts!

APRIL FOOLS COOKIES

I worked today at the hospital and all day long I was trying to think of some fun practical joke I could play on the boys. After work I stopped by to pick up a pizza so I didn't have to worry about making dinner when I got home. Sitting in front of me at the pizza place was some pre-made cookie dough. "That's it......I will botch the cookie recipe." I took it home and secretly dumped half the cookie dough out. I then placed about 1/2 pound of salt (more or less) into the dough, and began putting it onto the cookie sheet. About 10 minutes later there was some yummy smelling cookies that were coming out of the oven. 1/2 of them were yummy, and the other half were completely NASTY. I made sure I got one of the yummy ones, and that Carson, Kelton, and Brian got the NASTY ones. I almost peed my pants watching their faces as they took huge bites of their chocolate chip cookie. YUCK! YUCK! YUCK! was all I could hear from the three of them as their heads were hanging over the sink spitting uncontrollably. I DID IT! April fools! I ended up sharing with them a couple of good cookies over a fun filled night of ping pong.