Ragnar-Nar and Other Goodies

I have to start out by mentioning that my mom is pretty much the coolest person alive and also my hero. Last weekend she rocked the Wasatch Back Ragnar Relay Race. If you aren't familiar with this, it's a huge run for teams of 12 people that goes from Logan to Park City - up and down mtns. - about 190 miles. Each runner takes 3 legs of the relay ranging from 3 to 9 miles. She had one of the hardest legs on her whole team, and she averaged less than 8 min. miles the entire race. Basically it's a really big deal. Like I said, she's amazing.

Here are the pics to prove it.

Warming up for her final leg - so cute

Stretching out

You would not believe how she was passing EVERYONE on her route

I ran a few hundred yards along side her to keep her company

Aaron's #1 weakness... Little kids' lemonade stands - he ALWAYS has to stop

Handing off at the finish line of her final leg

Aaron got out and ran along side her too for a while on her run from the top of Snow Basin down to the bottom of Trappers Loop. He was in flip flops and my dad and I got in the truck and left him. He ended up running about a half a mile. He could not walk the next day. Once again, the Bells are NOT runners!

Way to go mom! We are so proud of you!

Besides runner extraordinaire, my mom is also one of the most talented gardeners ever. She, my niece Bug (Melissa), and our cute neighbor Sierra came over to help me get my drip system all set up for my garden. How sweet.

My pretty garden and garden helpers

Mom and Bug setting up the drip hose - and my pretty tomatoes

Bug (the tall one) and Sierra - they are the same age - I know what you are thinking... yes Bug gets her height from me

Pretty tomato plant nice and warm in his wall-o-water

And FINALLY, the weekend before last our friends Casey and Alexis came up to visit. Aaron and Casey fought a rain/hail/wind/thunder storm all day Saturday. But they stuck it out in their float tubes at the lake and also in 2 different rivers. Sunday we got up bright and early and were on the river by 6:30 am. It was one of the prettiest scenes ever with fog laying low on the river and everything was so peaceful. We were finally able to bring in some fish that morning and return back for breakfast by 9:30. What a good time with good friends!

Aaron in heaven

Casey landing his first fish on a fly rod

It turned out to be a monster hahaha (can you even see it there in the picture?) but it didn't matter, we were ALL so happy just to be out there

All This Baby Stuff is Confusing... And Expensive...

Okay everyone. I know you ALL have experience with babies, either your own or someone you know. (Unless Aaron is reading this, he is the only person I know with ZERO or a negative number baby experience.)

SO, in the midst of gathering/registering/stocking up I have come to realize there is a TON of stuff out there. Most of which I am HOPING is useless or unnecessary. This is where I need your help! What are the BEST things you purchased that you could not have survived baby without? What was absolutely a ripoff or not needed or crap? Include BRANDS! Would you please leave me a comment listing some of your favorites? (Or for the babyless - what you have HEARD are people’s favorites!)

What do I absolutely NEED before Baby B’s arrival? (The books’ lists are pages long, and you can’t possibly need ALL that stuff, right? They must secretly be receiving kickbacks from Babies R Us…)
HELP!

The Really Long One About Hawaii

Well I finally got around to posting some pics from our vacation. I am sorry there are SO MANY. I feel like I left tons out too. Probably because I did. But here are a bunch anyway.
It was seriously the perfect vacation. Except when we had to take poor Whitney to the emergency room for pnemonia and I had to yell at the nurse who got her feelings hurt and went and told the head Dr. whom I also had to yell at. But it all worked out. :)
Too bad I didn't get a picture of Aaron singing Karaoke to Total Eclipse of the Heart. We rocked it.
But enough talking, now for lots and lots of pictures.

Just landing at the HNL airport.

The rental jeep. So Fun.

First stop - the beach.

One of the lagoons at the resort where we stayed.

Bishop Museum.
My great great great uncle Charles married the Princess of Hawaii and this is their museum.
Very cool. They treated Aaron and I like royalty.

All 7 of us would ride this one golf cart from the condo to the lagoon several times a day.
(If you can't tell by the face, Aaron doesn't like being squished.)

I had to take a pic and blog about this because I found out Aaron has been hiding a hidden talent from me all along. Turns out he is an insane hand-stander and can walk unusually long distances on his hands. After 5 years this is the first time I have seen this. Weird.

I also found out that he can throw a football. He has NEVER played football around me before.

However, his palm tree climbing skills didn't surprise me at all.

Oooh pretty sailboat.

Chicken fights.

Playing in the water. That's Aaron floating (or something?) off to the right.

Heading out to surf. This is about 6:30 am.

Aaron and some local guy.

Prettiest sunsets.

Belly profile.

Jumping off the rock at Wiamea.

Aaron jumping. It was so high.

Laie point.

Mmmm Fumis shrimp shack.
Really delicious shrimp from the most unappealing places (like abandoned busses).

Banana Pancakes.

The temple at Laie.
It was closed for renovations so we just walked around the outside and the visitors center.
This cute little sister missionary from Korea pointed at my stomach and said,
"Is that a baby in there?"
hahahaha

Hiking to a waterfall. So LUSH.

The waterfall.

Drying off after snorkeling at Sharks Cove.
Didn't see any sharks but saw two HUGE sea turtles.

K- so the last 2 nights we went camping on the north shore on this private beach that this guy's friend owns. We got there and set up camp in the dark, went to cook our delicious food, but it was frozen. So we had to go down to the coral cliff water and try to thaw our food. We were starving! Did I mention it was pitch black?

Mmmm, thawed steak and shrimp.

Cooking it on the grill. Oh it was so yummy!

Our campsite at about 6:00 am.
Yep, no trees for a 7-month-pregnant girl that pees every hour to squat behind.
Good times.

Polynesian Cultural Center.

Whit, Ash, and me. Awe, best friends.
Ash hooked us up BIG time over there with all her family connections.
We couldn't have done it without her.

Birthday Week Kickoff, Mother's Day, and Nursery Update!

Just a quick post before I head into work this morning. Memorial Day weekend was very productive. Since we have been out of town for pretty much the entire last 4 weeks we needed to work on house stuff. We got TONS of yardwork done. Aaron's parents came up and helped us weed, get the garden ready, and more. They also kicked off what Aaron likes to refer to as his "BIRTHDAY WEEK CELEBRATION" (this is a large improvement from his old thinking of a "BIRTHDAY MONTH"). We also celebrated Mother's Day, visited graves, and of course played a little bit too.

The way to Aaron's heart... Home Depot Gift Card!

Celebrating Mother's Day: brunch at Market Street Grill.
Mmmm Yummy!

And finally for step 2 of nursery conversion.....
The painting is done and the crib is set up. Thanks to our awesome parents that share all their talent with us. (Aaron's dad painted, my dad makes awesome friends like the guy that gave us this crib for FREE, and my mom handmade the crib bedding.) There is still tons of decorating to do, drapes, glider, and my changing table is still getting it's makeover, but the process continues!

Work Before Play

The day before we left for Hawaii (I'll be posting that soon, promise! I just have like 400 pics to sort through.) Aaron was sweet enough to go up and help my parents do some ditch work on the ranch. He is so patient and always works so hard up there. I wasn't allowed to help so I just drove the 4-wheeler around, brought drinks out to them, and took pics. Here are some pics of another hard working day on the ranch. Thanks Aaron! We all love you!

Aaron and SuzieQ setting a culvert -

More compacting -

Thinking hard about something...? -

BigO doing what he does best -

Dad loves his tractor -

Finn testing out the culvert improvements -

Good dogs helping check the ditches -

Finn got a little muddy, he LOVES being at the ranch -