2007-07-08 Brian's Update

This time, the update is from Brian. Hello.

We just completed a long weekend of "Vacation at Home." I took Thursday and Friday off work to give us a very long weekend from July 4th until today. So here's what we did:

July 4th -- Natalie and I planned the First Fishers' Ward Annual July 4th Breakfast at a park near our house. We were proud of ourselves because 80 people showed up and seemed to have a good time. We spend the rest of the day at 2 different barbecue parties and then went out on our boat with another couple to watch July 4th fireworks over the lake. Ava fell asleep 5 minutes into the boat ride and so missed the whole event. Elsa, on the other hand, thought the fireworks were beautiful.

On July 5th and 6th, we rested in the morning and went boating in the afternoon. On Friday, Ava surprised us by volunteering to go tubing with Elsa. As soon as the boat sped up, Ava ducked her head inside the tube so it looked like only Elsa was out there. As soon as the boat slowed, however, Ava would pop her head up like a mole with a big smile on her face.

On both Thursday and Friday we tried to get passports for Elsa and Ava for our driving trip to Niagara falls. On Thursday, we learned that while a burka is acceptable in a passport photo (for religious reasons), a hair bow could be concealing a weapon of mass destruction and is therefore unacceptable. On Friday, we arrived 15 minutes after they stopped accepting passport applications, but 45 minutes before the Post Office closed. So, we've decided to not apply for passports. We'll harbor our 2 little hairbow-wearing terrorists securely in the United States. Tough luck, Canada.

On Friday night, we set up the tent in the backyard and continued our "Vacation at Home," with "Camping at Home." It was great because it cooled down at night and we were all very comfortable. The only difference was that we were sleeping about 35 feet away from where we normally sleep.

On Saturday morning, a 4-year old neighbor had a birthday and her parents arranged for a petting zoo to be set up in the front yard. Elsa and Ava had a great time riding a pony, hold a bunny, a chick, and petting some goats. Ava was sitting right outside the fence of a small pony and narrowly escaped being DUMPED on.

We spent the afternoon swimming at the pool. Elsa, our social butterfly, jumped in the middle of 4 older boys and taught them a couple of games in the pool. All the parents were either amused or amazed at her social and organization skills and said she would grow up to either be a CEO or a cruise director. I'm thinking that cruise directors probably get great discounts for family and friends. Elsa is turning into quite a swimmer and thoroughly enjoys the pool.

Ava, who likes to be naked, surprised us one morning by coming into our room with nothing on but her frog tube. I edited the picture so it is appropriate for viewing. She is a firecracker lately. She is either completely hamming it up with silly faces and funny sounds or scowling at anyone who approaches her.

We miss you all and hope to see you soon,

The Heaths

2007-07-08 Michelle's Update

July 8, 2007

Hi Everyone,

It's been a little bit of a whirlwind week. I don't feel like I ever sat down. I don't like to be that busy with stuff. We were able to fit in trips to the park and pool so most of it was fun busy. It has been really really hot here and so all I feel like doing outside is sitting in the pool. Which is why I love the pool we go to. Justin is happy to get in and out of the side and it's shallow enough he can do that safely. We went camping this weekend down by the royal gorge, which was beautiful, but once again, for me, too hot. We ended up leaving before everyone else. We had a great time with all the dirt bikes and four wheelers. Hans has the bug to buy a bigger, more powerful dirt bike, but I think after watching the pursuit of happiness last night it scared him a little J It's been frightening to be giving up a nice and secure income. Hans went to lunch with the other dentists on Thursday and gave them all his business card and officially gave "notice" on Friday. He is waiting to hear back about working two days a week for them after the 90 days is over, but he is doubtful. He is following two other leads for part-time work. Hopefully something comes through. It is the practice that keeps me stressed and busy. I finally got our "coming soon" web page published to the web. I've realized I'm underqualified to be doing the web design, so I have put in way too many hours already. I thought this wouldn't take quite so much energy. I am working on the regular page, but feel like I am at a standstill. I have a friend who is willing to help me, so hopefully I can get her over here soon. I am also working on postcard mailers, which is much pricier, but much easier. It's basically picking a template and wording and paying the money. They address and stamp, etc. We're sending out a ridiculous number. We both have been passing business cards out, but still no phone calls. I think that October sounds too far off still in July.

The kids are great. Justin is getting so verbal. He's a cute age. He loves to go outside and see the dogs and stands at the screen door pounding on it yelling dog over and over. He also points to the sky when he hears an airplane and says dog. And birds he calls dogs. I think anything he thinks is living that makes noise is a dog. He has perfected saying "up, please" and "down." He can say Ashley, which is a very staccato "Aaaaeeeee." But he knows what he is saying and so do we. He thought sleeping in the tent was extremely exciting. He wasn't too much of a hazard around the fire. Everytime he would walk towards it he'd say "hot." I'm not sure he knows what that means though.

Ashley had a fun birthday. I can't believe my baby is 5. We had 11 kids for a water party and did a craft and ate cake and ice cream and lunch. She was spoiled. She got 3 ponies, which she loves and is currently washing them and blow drying their hair. She's into her ponies and babies. She got a lot of crafts so we are planning on working on those this week. I am busy trying to buy her uniform stuff and school supplies for school, since apparently if you don't do it early in July everything is sold out. I have a hard time believing it, but I don't want her to be the only one without the correct stuff so I am trying to fit that in too. Hans worked with her on her solar system last night, which has been a great learning project. She asks me things like, "How big is Mars?"

Katelyn is our thrill seeker and the one who enjoys the dirt bikes and motorcycles. She would ride them all day. She also loves her ponies and has cut all their hair off, maybe to match hers, I'm not sure. She's anxious to start pre-school, thank goodness, since she still has no interest in other activities.

Hope all is well,

Michelle

2007-07-01 Michelle's Update

July 1, 2007

It's hard to believe it is already July 1st. I love the summer. We still have yet to use our air conditioning. It's this time of year I like Colorado Springs the most. We spent the last 10 days in Utah where it was unbearably hot. Bear Lake was beautiful, but Kaysville was hot. Especially for me at almost 6 months pregnant. We had a great time with cousins and just wanted to send the pictures.

Included are pictures of decorating bear lake shirts, riding Melissa's tandem bike, in the wagon with Sara, at the beach, on the waverunner, and more, I am sure.

There are a lot. Enjoy.

Michelle

2006-06-25 Natalie's update

Hello All,

The girls are practicing their letters, so I have a few minutes for another update. It was a busy week. On Monday, we brought pizza to Mik and Tif Rinne (Mik was one of Brian's mission companions) as they packed and prepared to move to Boston. It is a shame we didn't see more of them while in Indiana these past two years. You wouldn't think that 45 minutes would be that limiting, but with family, church, and work responsibilities, as well as other things like travel, time just slips away. Elsa and Ava had a lot of fun playing with Kai, their 2 1/2 year-old. They especially enjoyed wrestling with each other and jumping from the packed boxes marked
"fragile." Hopefully, nothing was damaged with their antics. I left from their house to the airport to pick-up my friend, Natalie, and her daughter, Tennessee. They came for the week just for a visit. We had lots of fun. We went out on the boat Tuesday evening, spent Wednesday at the zoo, Thursday running through prinklers and eating popsicles, and Friday at the Children's Museum. On Saturday, we all went to Cheesecake Factory for lunch before taking them to the airport to return back to Utah. It was lots of fun to have Natalie here. The girls, especially Elsa, loved playing with, or more like mothering Tennessee. Ava was more disturbed by having her constant playmate taken as well as her toys. Life for a three year-old can be a bit dramatic. We had lots of late nights, which meant late mornings. We are still in slow-motion mode.

The only downfall of Natalie's visit was the timing. Brian had been in Barcelona the week before her arrival. Then he left at 4:00AM the day after she left. He is currently in Boston trying to raise money for Mitt Romney's campaign. Fortunately, the timing worked well for Brian since he needed to be in Boston today and tomorrow doing focus groups for Eli Lilly. He was able to get his flight out one day earlier and so Lilly is paying for his travel and accomodations. He is a little nervous about being able to raise the committed amount for fundraising. Be expecting phone calls!!! Brian continues to go non-stop, even when he is home. Last week he headed up an BYU Philanthropic fundraiser for the BYU alumni living in Indiana. Sadly
enough, there were only three people in attendance, Brian, the host, and one other individual. It was disappointing in addition to taking away another precious evening. Brian was able to make up for it by taking a couple of friends waterskiing Friday night. He loves to be out on the lake as much as possible. Ava always wants him to take her out on the kayak, which doesn't seem as exciting for Brian.

What else? Elsa has been really interested in learning to read. We've been getting books at the library to start teaching the simple words. She starts writing super long words that don't mean anything. She asks what they mean and when I ay "nothing," she seems a little disappointed. She is still interested in the human body. She wants to know the name for each body part, asks about blood, arteries, bones, the brain, etc. Over the past couple of months, we've checked out every book in the library on the human body. I finally went to Barnes and Noble and bought a basic book of her own. Now she can look at the pictures anytime she wants. She is also in the process of memorizing the 13 articles of faith as well as other primary
scriptures. She really enjoys being obedient and wants to do what is right.These are precious attributes that I want to encourage. She makes my days a lot easier because I know I have an extra set of eyes to help me. Saturday evening she wanted to cut with scissors. Our rule is that either Brian or I have to be in the room with her. She waited so patiently for us to come downstairs to be near her. When I told her she could go ahead and I'd be down in a minutes, she responded,
But Mom, that is not the rule. You need to be right there." She is so obedient.

Ava just continues to become sweeter and more stubborn at the same time. She cracks me up constantly with the things she comes up with. Lately, her matter-of-fact response for anything is, "I just don't." This is in relation to getting dressed, sharing toys, being nice, eating meals, going to bed, and on-and-on. She also has used Grandma as the reigning authority. She'll say, "Daddy says 'no, no,' Mommy says 'no, no', Grandpa says 'no, no', but Grandma says 'yes, yes,' so I can do it!" I have to remind herthat when mommy says "no, no" that is the final answer. She continues to randomly come up during all times of the day to give big hugs and say "I
hove you." Ava replaces a number of words that begin with consonants withan "h," like hove=love, hite=right, hike=like, even words that begin with vowels get an extra "h" sound like "hover there." Her "v" is still a "b" sound. She'll say,"Let's hatch that mobie again." (Let's watch that movie again.) It only takes a minute to dicipher her language. She'll even ennunciate "like" by saying "l-l-l-hike." She may end up in speech therapy like Elsa. For now the therapist has said that it is nothing to worry about. That is about all the excitement around here. We have swimming lessons tomorrow and a couple of playdates scheduled for the week. Lazy
summer days continue...
We hope you're all having fun. We miss you.
Love,
Natalie

2006-06-16 Natalie's update

Hello All,

It has been a few weeks since our last update. We've enjoyed great weather,
which is great for being outside. Unfortunately, we're in a drought. It
has been over two weeks with no rain. The water company has requested that
people don't water their lawns for a week. I am not being "green" in this
matter. Our grass already struggles and that is with frequent weeding,
watering, and seeding. It is work to make our yard look nice. It is worth
the effort. Our garden is growing, which makes me excited. I especially
can't wait for the fresh garden tomatoes and cucumbers.

We took the boat out for the first time on Monday, June 11th. JUNE 11th!!!
We were all excited to finally get out on the lake again. I waterskiied and
Elsa tubed. It felt good and reminds us that summer is really the best time
of year to be in Indiana, at least where we live. Ava is still timid about
all things water. She doesn't like riding in the tube, and she prefers
lying in the lawn chair at the pool or watering the flowers with her little
watering can. She has forfieted swimming lessons and doesn't even like
getting in the pool with me or Brian. Oh, well. She is our diva for now.
She sits with her hat and sunglasses on the beach chairs with all the moms.
It cracks me up. They all think it is funny too.

Elsa finished her last game of spring soccer on Thursday. She did a great
job running and hustling for the ball. In last weeks game, she kicked the
ball all the way down the field without any obstructions. She is a fast
runner! She was so excited about her success. At the beginning of the
season, she was timid to go after the ball if someone else had it. As a
result, she would end up chasing the ball or the person with the ball or end
up playing with a blade of grass. She is getting a little more aggressive
about going for the ball (see the pictures). It is fun to watch her advance
in her soccer skills. She was more than thrilled to get her trophy. She
held it for the rest of the evening and now has it next to her bed. She
told me as we were driving home that the reason she wanted to play soccer
was "to get a trophy and to get exercise by running." If those were her
goals, she accomplished both. Elsa started up swimming lessons again this
week. She loves to swim and is the first to put her swimsuit on and head out
the door. Lately, she has been riding her bike to the pool, which she also
loves. She is our very active, physical child. She is pretty sweet too!

Ava had her three year well check-up this week. She grew 3 1/2 inches this
last year. She is tall and lean, as the doctor said. Her umbilical hernia
has grown in, so we don't have to worry about that anymore. She is healthy
and strong. We are blessed to have healthy children! Ava is quickly
becoming more stubborn, which I am remember is typical three year-old
behavior. She challenges me almost every morning with putting on clothes,
which makes leaving the house a big chore. (She likes to be a "naked bum.")
Fortunately, there are only two days a week that we have to be out of the
house by 9:00am. Ava is just particular and it cracks me up. For example,
she does NOT like kisses. Which is sad because she is so kissable with her
full cheeks and sweet face. Whenever you kiss her, she dramatically wipes
the kiss off and distinctly says, "I do not like kisses, only hugs." She'll
then proceed to give you the best hug ever. I'll take the hugs and sneak in
kisses when possible. She continues to LOVE her animals. Each room in the
house has some sort of animal collection, whether it is Little People
animals, Schleich animals, My Littlest Pet Shop, Barbie Pet Shop, Stuffed
animals, and even wood magnet animals. We have them all. We rented a movie
on bird migration, so our latest "animal" adventures have to deal with
birds. We rounded up every type of bird we could find from all the
different collections. Now I find birds all over the place - behind
cushions, under chairs, and in shoes (my favorite). Ava is our animal
lover.

Ava really wants a dog, and Elsa really wants a baby. I went to my friend
Noelle's house yesterday who had her baby a week ago. I spent two hours
just holding her newborn girl, Hazel. It was so fun. Elsa and Ava loved
holding her too. While Elsa was holding Hazel, she said to me, "Mom, I know
babies take a long time to come but it is worth it." It almost made me cry.
Elsa is so sweet with babies and little kids. All the moms tell me that she
is the best helper with their kids and that she is going to be a great
babysitter. I agree. She is loving and responsible.

I am now headed to the pool to meet up with Brian, Elsa and Ava. Brian
returned home last night from being in Barcelona for the week. He was tired
from all the travel and jet lag, but it didn't stop him from waking up at
6:40 to meet up with the EQ for softball. Unfortunately, he spent the rest
of the morning cleaning the church since one of the families didn't show up.
He is constantly serving. I think it is one of his best qualities. Brian
and I did a babysitting swap last night, so we are going out tonight. We
are going to ride our bikes along the Monon Trail and grab dinner at one of
the restaurants along the way. We are excited to ride our bikes together
without the girls. (Not that we don't love them, but it is nice to ride at
our pace and without the comments of "I'm thirsty." "I'm tired." "I want
to go home." You know what I'm saying.) Enjoy your weekends. We are
enjoying ours. Happy Father's Day to all you dads and husbands. We love
you all.

The Heaths

2006-06-15 Michelle's update

June 10, 2007

Hi Everyone,

It's now June 15th. I must have gotten busy on the 10th:)

Things are well here. My pregnant belly is growing. We had the ultrasound last friday and everything looks good as far as they can tell. It's always nice to hear that. The doctor only gave me two pictures of the skull and drew the eyes, nose, and mouth on it and now it looks like a graffitied (spelling?) picture. I was slightly bugged. Hans thought it was very funny. He still laughs about it. What in the world was she thinking? Among other reasons I've decided to switch OBs. I feel good about it. I have an appointment with the new one next month. For some reason I was just so emotional over the whole Drs appointment and talking to him and stuff. I think it just brought back memories of the physical pain I endured with Justin. Don't know if I am quite ready to feel all that again. The dr won't do my c-section until October 11. I'll be 39 1/2 weeks. He says it's the altitude and small babies, etc. but I think it just works better with his schedule. So I am excited to see what the new Dr will do. I tried convincing him that I wouldn't make it that far and he wouldn't listen. I could go on and on about that appointment. I was in tears and MAD!!

Other then that I am great. I am still running and lifting weights, but have had to stop doing the power yoga. Too many akward poses with my belly. So now I get to do prenatal yoga and connect all the love in my heart to the love I feel for my baby. It's nice:)

Hans is good. He is so busy. I always say this. I think every night this week he was home late. He has short meetings at lunch and then after work with various people. Everything is moving forward nicely. We have a business phone now and I designed and printed 1000 business cards. I was proud of myself. I already started passing them out. I also activated a business cell phone for myself to answer and left a cheesy greeting about Cordera family dentistry. I feel very proud of Hans when I see the business card with his name nice and big on it. It makes it all so official. The architect has completed his portion and now we are waiting on permits, etc. Hans officially receives the keys to the office today after work. He'll put in notice at small smiles on June 1 or so, meaning his last day will be October 1 so we can have small smiles insurance through the end of the month to help pay for the c-section. I am working on designing a website, which I am excited about. I'm waiting on the business credit cards to come in the mail so I can pay for all of it with that. I can't wait for the first random person to call me so I can set up an appointment. Very exciting.

The kids are great. Justin is recovering from hand, foot, and mouth. I am 3 for 3 on this strange virus. It has hit Justin the least severely. This is the thing that landed Ashley in the hospital at 9 months with dehydration and then me a week later with dehydration. I was worried the hospital staff would think we were just looking for attention. Justin is so cute. I have a special place in my heart for him. He is talking a lot. He says daddy, mommy, ball, pancake, bottle, milk, uh-oh (this whenever he drops anything out of his crib on purpose), ba-bye, yeah, and I am sure there are more I am missing. He says yeah to every question. So cute. He has such a pretty voice too. It's very high and girly, making his daddy proud. That and his obsession with Katelyn's shoes. He is running at full speed now and has great coordination thanks to running in circles around the trampoline while his sisters jump. He is extremely blonde and tan and just pretty. I can't describe him any other way.

The girls are busy. I bought Ashley some soccer cleats and shin guards and taught her how to play and she is really really great at it. She is a good runner. I can't wait for her to be old enough to go running with me. She is doing soccer camp next month and playing in the fall. She starts up ballet again in July. She is growing up. She will be 5 in a couple weeks and is excited for her slip n slide party with a pinata. This is all she wanted. We've invited 10 of her friends. All of which she couldn't do without at the party. It will be nice and crazy.

Katelyn is as fun as ever. She still does crafts from morning til evening. She loves to wrestle with Justin and chase him around. He loves to play with her as well. I'm grateful they are beginning to be good friends. It gives me hope for when Ashley is at school everyday. Katelyn has no body fat making it not too much fun to be at the swimming pool. She just lays with a towel on her and I feel SO hot for her. She says she's cold. I can't get her to stay in the water for long, but if you ask her what she wants to do this weekend she says, "take daddy to the swimming pool." I guess to have someone to sit with her by the side since he has no body fat either. She is into soup right now and had a bowl of chicken noodle soup for breakfast since she didn't feel like eating her pancakes. She especially loves barley. Interesting tastes. She has no interest in taking ballet, soccer, or swimming lessons. She just would rather stay home and hold me. She is sweet and affectionate.

This is getting rather lengthy, so I have to say I am proud of those who made it this far:) I'm grateful for all of you and excited to see who I can while in Utah next week.

Love, Michelle

2007-06-14 Melanie's update

It has been way too long since I have written an update. I am feeling guilty because the kids are reading their baby books and journal entries and the entries have gotten shorter and shorter the last few years. We are so much busier and life is happier and more complicated and wonderful and I have no excuses.

So here goes. I ran the Salt Lake half marathon in April and got 1:39, for which I was so proud despite the entire run from mile 1 on being completely miserable. I did yoga 2 days later at the gym I work at and was standing in a simple tree pose when I felt my right foot snap. I had to limp out and limped for the next week before seeing an orthopedist. I fractured my os perineum, a bone which only 15 percent of the population even has. I had to wear a boot for a little over 3 weeks and now my foot is healed and I am running again. One benefit to the fracture was that Jeff and I both bought road bikes, which we are thoroughly enjoying. Jeff has been riding to work a couple of times a week--it takes him 30 minutes to drive or an hour to bike. He is still working out the kinks of showering, packing clean clothes and walking into work in tight bike clothing. Jeff started a new job at the Flying J about 3 weeks ago in their IT department. He is excited for the change and the best part, he tells me, is that he gets to grow a beard.

The kids are doing great. We had everyone's preschool graduations and then went to Park City for a weekend with some friends over Memorial Day. The following week we went to Lake Tahoe with my mom and dad, which was beautiful and fun. Now we are looking forward to Michelle coming, Elizabeth's birthday and our week at Bear Lake with all of our cousins at the end of June.

The kids are growing and learning. They are very busy and keep me moving. By the end of the day I feel exhausted most of the time. Andrew is almost done with T-ball, which Jeff has coached. When I ask him if he is ready for T-ball, he says "No way." He gets bored when he is in the field, but he really likes hitting the ball and running around the bases. Every time Andrew bats, he chooses the pink bat, much to Jeff's dismay. Andrew graduated from Suzuki Book 1 and we are almost done with Book 2. He learns a couple of hymns from the simplified hymn book a week and he loves playing them. I love listening to him playing and singing the hymns. I am always impressed with his sight-reading and word-reading abilities. I heard him play a really high note and then in his falsetto sing, "Love" at the top of his lungs. I need to get it on video camera. A couple of months ago he came home from preschool and told me that he needed to teach me a new song, so he sat at the craft table and wrote me the music--he drew the staff and notes. I played the song and it was the Clean up, Clean up, song. He had the music right on. Andrew still lives for caterpillar season in the fall. He collects bugs and leaves and keeps them in a shoebox for when he can catch a caterpillar. He takes very good care of his pet dog Droozy and would very much like an animal.

Elizabeth turns 4 next week! I can't believe it. She is still a socialite and it isn't uncommon for her to play with friends for 6 or more hours a day. I prefer it in smaller doses, but she is lucky to have 4 year old girls next door and across the street from us. They ride their bikes around the neighborhood in their princess dresses and can play house for hours. My biggest job is keeping her fed. She is very hungry and particular. Her favorite food as of late is snap peas, which makes me feel like an excellent mother. We went to a friend's house yesterday to run through the sprinklers and she told me she was hungry and our friend offered her some animal crackers, and she said, "no, I want snap peas." I had to smile. Elizabeth is brave at Cherry Hill this year and will go down the water slides by herself. She likes to swim around the lazy river without any floaties and tubes and I spend my time chasing after Andrew and Elizabeth making sure they don't drown. Elizabeth has no fear in the water.

Anna has grown up so much. She is talking all the time. She answers all of my questions. We switched her to a big bed and she loves it. She comes running into my room in the morning and gives me a big hug. I ask her how she slept and she always says, "good." She is very attached to her black lab stuffed puppy, Ally and carries her everywhere. When we need to go somewhere, she says, "Ally come, okay?" She used to say "fanks" for thank you every time I did something for her, but now she says, "hank you." We went to see some baby kittens today, and the whole time Anna was holding one, she said, "He likes me!" with a big grin on her face. She greets Jeff at the door with a jumping dance and a big hug. She loves Dora and she loves singing. She brings lots of smiles to our house.

I will send pictures later.
Hope you are well,
Melanie