August

So August was a crazy little month for us. I finished up my job at Culver's. Really, I cannot say enough good about that job. In some very personal and literal ways, it saved me. I found friends. I was stretched. And I felt a part of something good. I really miss Kristin, my boss. She is just amazing. 

Ok, so after that, we packed. And then my family came into town for our Biggs Family Reunion. It was a little bit crazy hosting and packing and leaving for a trip all at the same time. But we did it. One of the very first things we did was that my sister Tracy and I ran our very first 5K. We trained all summer for it, her in Indiana, and me in Utah. We wish it could have been some official race, but schedules just didn't work that way. So thanks to my nephew Ryan's awesome watch, I was able to map out our own course. I had also really wanted our family to be there at the end, but it just didn't work out that way. Joe and Brek were there; Joe was our timer and Brek was just playing on the playground. It was really great to do it with Tracy. All summer it was nice to compare our runs with each other, and help each other stay motivated. I have always hated running, and waking up early to exercise has NEVER been my thing. But with work and everything else going on this summer, I did it. I trained. I almost totally stayed with the training schedule, but made it up when I got behind. I even kept training while on vacation in California and in Wyoming. We ran the whole way. I hit my roadblock at about mile 2, but having my sister there really helped, and we kept each other going. I believe we finished in 38:40 or something to that effect. I really thought it was going to be longer, so I was really happy with the result.

A few hours after our run, we got all my family together for a Sesame Street Birthday bash for Brek and Rori. Initially, we had wanted everyone in character shirts, but that also didn't work out, so we just wore bright colors. Well, our family was all in Elmo shirts. I got the idea for the veggie/fruit plates off of Pinterest. I made smaller versions, which was actually a lot harder than I expected, but I think they turned out awesome. So in light of Pinterest, I nailed it!

Anna and Rori

Our 2-year-olds
Anna, Rori, and Brek

My beautiful nieces. Love these girls!
Amy, Heather, Adelynne, and Katie

Here's the cake. I forgot to get a picture from the front. Not that it was anything special. Chocolate cake and white frosting. In the center is an Elmo figurine holding his goldfish Dorothy. Rori was our "Dorothy". We got the candles lit and sang

Brek was a champ blowing out his candles

Then he blew out Rori's too.

From the party we went up to my family reunion. I didn't take many pictures at all. I'm really not so good at that. But we had a blast. Love all my aunts, uncles, and cousins. I was surprised that I was able to not panic and think about moving too much while we were away.

Brek hanging out on Adelynne

Luckily, my cousin Mel got some shots and I had her send them to me. First, here's Uncle Marte, Aunt Diana, and cousin Mel, with Brek as we're all gathering for the huge family shot. I love our shirts this year, btw.

This is my dad and all of his siblings

The goofy siblings shot. Even Uncle Willy has a funny face.

Joe chilling with Max

And here's my family. I just got this one printed off to go on my wall.
 Uncle Willy and Aunt Lanea are in the background.
Back Row: Joe, Grandpa, Grandma, Mark, Eliana
Middle Row: Me, Brek, Dustin, Tracy, David, Anna, Cody
Front Row: Adelynne, Amy, Rori, Heather, Colby, and Katie

Joe, Brek, and I left the reunion Friday night. Saturday morning we got the moving truck, loaded up our storage unit down in Provo, and then came back up to our apartment in West Jordan. When my family got back from the reunion, they helped us load up the truck. We had thought people from church were going to come help us too, but only 1 person showed up, so I'm glad my dad and brothers insisted on loading up as much as they did. My family is awesome! Then I took them all out for Culver's before they all headed on their way, some home, and some to see other family or friends.

On Monday we officially made our drive. We left the state of Utah, and made our way to Nebraska. I had Brek with me in our Jeep, and Joe drove the moving truck. We made lots of stops. I'm not so good at driving long distances, and I get really antsy being awake in the car for that long, so stopping a lot helped. Brek did pretty well; he mostly just watched Elmo movies.

We actually drove up to the wrong house. (Gps and mapquest told us we were going to a different house - oops.) But the lady at the house we thought was ours, plus 2 guys from our new ward that were already waiting for us to help us unpack, directed us to this beauty:

Our First House

Well, we're just renting, but still. We've always been in apartments (minus living with Joe's mom, and our first 2 months house-sitting for Joe's brother), but still, you get what I mean. This is the 6th move we've made since we've been married. The house is pretty old and has lots of character. High ceilings. Old doors that thankfully, Brek can't open yet. Nice big open front room. Very thin and long closets, especially Brek's. Ceiling fans, plus heat and air conditioning. Nice kitchen with lots of cabinet space. New fridge and new flat top stove. Tons of closets. Basement that isn't very functional but *maybe* might one day become a play room. Noisy floors. :)

We had 10-12 people show up and help us unload the truck. They are all from our new ward. It sure didn't take long, and they set up our beds for us so we could at least get a good night's sleep. The next day the Relief Society presidency made us dinner and brought it over. Our new neighbor also brought us over cookies and let us know that she "knew all about us and who we were." They are really sweet neighbors, and have the most beautiful yard.

Brek spent the first night in his crib, and then after that decided he wanted to sleep in his toddler car bed, and he hasn't turned back. It's pretty awesome. If he gets out of bed and comes to the door, we can just tell him to get back in bed and we hear the pitter patter as he runs and jumps back in bed.

The first few weeks we would hang out on the front porch in the evenings, and people would say hello and wave has they walked/rode/drove by. Super cute little town life. Everyone knows everyone. For the most part, we walk everywhere here in town.

Joe had his first day of work on Friday, his birthday. He officially had students the following Wednesday. For his birthday we drove into Scottsbluff and had dinner at Chili's.

Joe's new job has a lot of "new" aspects. He is just teaching band, no orchestra. The high school band is small - about 10 kids, but that is pretty norm for Joe. He has a junior high band (which he can't get to stop talking), and a 5th grade and a 6th grade band. He also helps teach the 4-6th grade choirs. The choir teacher has been a joy to work with. Such a friendly, nice, and helpful guy. He's always getting treats for Brek at the games, and has lots of guidance and advice for Joe. Joe is also teaching drum line, which he feels like he knows nothing about, (but really, he's doing great.) Joe also gets to help do lunch duty for the young elementary kids, and I sure enjoy hearing his stories about what the kindergartners said or did at lunch time. And all the kids in town let Joe know when they see him out and about in town, especially if he has Brek with him.

Brek is loving have a yard to play in, 2 parks close by, and lots of running room inside too. All the school kids think he is just totally awesome, and they will even play with him at the park when they are there.

I guess that really sums things up for August. I'll just end with this awesome "risky business" shot of Brek. He sure is a cutie!

May

In May we had a Flat Stanley from my friend Betsy's school in northern California. We took him to the aquarium. 

I know the turtle is blurry, but I still think it's a pretty cool picture, and it captures Brek too. 

Here's a good picture of one of the sharks. 

And I love this picture of the otter. They are so fun to watch!

Joe and I took a really fast trip to Wyoming for a job interview. Thankfully Brek was able to stay with Grandma Jensen and I got off of work for it. He didn't end up getting the job, but better things always come. :) We almost lost Flat Stanley in this next picture because of the wind, but Joe wanted to capture this gorge.

 Brek really loved Flat Stanley.

 
Got my Mother's Day pictures. (I sure gained a lot of weight. oy!) But I love my son no matter what I look like and even on the really hard days, I'm still so thankful to be his mother.

This one is my favorite.

At the beginning of the month we were able to go and cheer my cousin Tammy on as she ran a marathon in Provo.

First time we saw her, a little over 1/2 way done.

Someone gave Brek a balloon while we waited for runners to come in. 

 

Here comes Tammy!

All done! And so exhausted!

Just a cute picture of the boy. Can't have too many of those.

At the end of May, we were able to go out to Nebraska to visit Joe's sister and her family for Memorial Day weekend. One of Joe's brothers and his family was also visiting at the same time. Brek loved his cousin time. On Memorial Day we took a drive up to Mount Rushmore. Cousin Mara was being so sweet with Brek. Brek loved the flags, and it was pretty windy and they were going crazy. He was quite fascinated. But then when we came through the flags and saw the mountain, Brek pointed and started laughing. He thought the faces on the mountain were hilarious. We all got a kick out of that!

Pointing to the faces on the mountain.

With cousin Mara

Took a cousin shot as we were entering. Missing 2 that were already hiding from the wind.
L-R: James, Jessica, Rachel, Brek, Sara, Mara, Jensen, and Jonathon

We stopped for ice cream on our way out, and I couldn't help myself with this shot.

We had a wonderful visit, loved being with family, and Joe was able to interview for a job out there in Nebraska, so we got to see the town and get a feel for life in Nebraska. Joe ended up getting the job, and we are super excited about the new adventures ahead of us! Go Huskers!