Making it Happen March

   This is titled "Making it Happen March," because I wanted to share how we "make it happen" moving across the country into a "foreign land" without knowing anyone here. This is especially for me, because I have never lived outside of Utah & Rexburg, Idaho.  Well, two things will summarize it all (even though they really go hand in hand).... The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints & friends!!
   A few of our ward members/friends live here at the Marquis apartments and are going through the same thing we are.  So we all rely on each other, and it is so fun to get to know other families and support each other!  So anyway, here are a few things we do with some of our local friends.

-Stroller Running (Sad I don't have a pic of this yet.) Stephanie, Whitney, & I caravan our children in strollers around the neighborhood!  Best way to get out the door and go, and to distract the hardness of running, is enjoying the company of the others!

-Cleaning/Getting whatever we need done Swap-Stephanie and I have expressed many times to each other how hard it is to keep up with the house sometimes and how we could use just a couple hours to get a little ahead of things so we can function with the kids again!  So every now and then we call each other up and swap the kids for awhile and wow, life is refreshed!

-Girl's Nights- Us girls have needed a few Girl's Nights where we enjoy some fondue, do crafts, and just have fun talking!

-Family PotLuck Meals- About once a month we've gotten together for this.  We bring our own meat, then a side to share, socialize... it's good:)

-Monday Yoga Night- Wow, I've never really done yoga much before, but our dear friend Anna is amazing at it! We get together at her place Monday nights (& sometimes Thursday nights too) for an hour of Vinassa(prob spelt that wrong) Yoga!  It is just the right balance between strength & flexibility building, which I love, and my body has needed!  I am usually trying to keep up with back/core exercises ever since I hurt it my Junior year of High School, and this does the trick.  I haven't had a sore  back at all since I've started doing Yoga- so I will probably not ever stop doing it!

-Visiting Cicero-  Cicero is our neighbors, Leslie & Greg Macfarlane's cat. We get to visit him a couple times during the week & sometimes when they go out of town.  One of the kids favorite outings of the week:)

























-Date Night Co-op- . A few of us families were able to work out a babysitting co-op in which 2 couples would watch all the kids (3:-6:pm) and feed them dinner, while the other 2 got a date night!  It was splendid and fun for the kids and good for us to get dates in!  Jadd and I still like to pass the football and pepper on our dates most often:) (The pic below is when we were watching the kids- the boys playing.  The girls would not hold still for a pic- they are always off going to the North Pole, or Camping, or having Tea Parties)

Jadd's Serving on far side

-Men's Tennis-Jadd has enjoyed getting together to play tennis with one neighbor Greg Macfarlane, and also with this group of guys.  Team Pete (Pete Hoyt & Mr. Pete- one of our very nice neighbors) vs. Team "Ja" (Jason Staheli & Jadd).  The kids and I love watching them play!

Dane's Hero:)

Another favorite activity we do in our neighborhood is visiting the LaVista Park. We usually run there once a week and stop to play.  Also, we often walk there on Sundays as a family for a little bit.  Many who have visited have joined us at this park.)

Braelynn's Monkey Swing

Fearless Climber Dane

Last but not least, Atlanta has great Story Time programs.  There are sessions for different ages.  So we typically attend one for Dane on Monday mornings at Dunwoody & another for Braelynn on Tuesday mornings at Chamblee.  Dane and Braelynn love them.  During Dane's story time, Braelynn brings Maximas, her kitty, and does the songs with him.  During Braelynn's story time, Dane mostly runs around the back of the room sucking on his binkie.