AdveNtuRes iN ouR NAtioNs cApitoL

we had the BEST week in DC! our friends emily and james moved out there this year for school and invited us to come visit. since dave was on break from school, we decided to brave the cold DC winter (record colds last week, btw) and go see them. it was SO great to see them and hang out with them in our nation's capitol! they were the best tour guides and we miss them already. they live down the street from the capitol building and we were able to do/see so much of the city! the pictures are a bit out of order, but you get the idea...

the bureau of printing and engraving, where they print like 900,000 dollars a day! CRAZY! super funny though, in one of the rooms they had a sign hanging that said "how do you think i feel!? i just printed my salary in a few minutes!" they don't let you take pictures inside, but the people working were super funny. kept holding up money to us like they were offering it to us.

the longest escalator in North America - 2nd longest in the world...so we hear...the DC LDS Temple. SO pretty!

the Constitution! crazy!

the Lincoln Memorial...

dave's first ride in the subway...

our super cute hosts/tourguides. :) we also got to hang out with my cousin mandy! she has such a great place out there and it was so fun to get to see her! it has been forever since she and i got to hang out! she took us to mount vernon and to the pentagon and stuff and put up with the FREEZING wind with us. :)Ford theatre...(the booth where President Lincoln was shot is behind us. it's a working theatre and they keep that booth decorated in his honor) Fun at the Air & Space Museum. i LOVE how all the museums are so interactive! so much to learn and explore. our heads hurt by the end of the day...outside the capitol

dave with his great-great-great grandpa inside the capitol rotundaemily on the spot that marks the center of DC...it's in the crypt of the capitol. i just love this picture of her!

outside the white house...
and inside the gates... my friend Lauren's dad took us on a tour. we also got to eat at his family's restaurant... he's such a great guy and we were SO grateful he took the time to show us aroundlincolns top hat at the smithsonian. i love that he was SO tall and still wore top hats. and kermit was there too. :)Did i mention it was Restaurant Week out there? Yeah, we explored a few of them, and yes, they were DELICIOUS!
overall, we had a week of amazement and inspiration. to walk the halls that incredible people have walked and to feel the reverence in those places. it just amazes me how much we have and we both walked away more grateful for those who have gone before us. ironically, there was so often in our trip when i felt a sense of sadness for not knowing more. as we went through the smithsonian museums and saw the planes and the history of the world wars, i was sad that i couldn't call my grandparents and ask them about those times from their perspectives. i wish i had thought of that before...younger... but alas, thus it is. and we will just have to take the smithsonian's words for it... i'm glad there's someone out there preserving all that history for generations to come. :)

chRistmAs come ANd goNe...

we had a great christmas! to start off, dave woke me up Christmas morning at 5:30. He said "do you wanna open your present!?" and then laughed and rolled over and went back to sleep. holy smokes. i was up. so we started early... i had to get up and get ready before i woke dave up to see what santa brought us. He brought dave a mr potato head (he really wanted one...)

and we had to take a picture by our tree before heading off to the families for the day...We spent the morning with Dave's family. They traditionally do eggs benedict for breakfast and it was SO yummy! then Glenn read us the story of the birth of the Savior from Luke. It was a great reminder of the One we were there to celebrate. We opened presents with them and had a ton of fun. Then we headed over to my parents house and hung out with them and then ate dinner. It was so neat to be able to see both of our families. we are constantly grateful to live so close to our families. the only people missing were the simpsons. :( but at least we got to see them a few weeks ago.

The day after christmas is Dylan's birthday so we got together with Dave's family again and played Wii bowling. Dylan kicked everyone's trash - at 8. yeah, can only imagine it's gonna get worse for us old adults...

The next day, the Heimback family all came down to have a Christmas party. we had SO much fun with everyone! We were missing a few, but it was so neat to get so many together. It is so cool to see the family stick together through the deaths of both grandma and grandpa in the past year. and super entertaining to see how similar we all are when we get together. sometimes it's frightening. :) we have a ton of pictures from family gatherings at the Heimback house posed around a couch just like this. it's fun to see how much our family has grown!

A bLoggiNg hiAtus...but with ReAsoN!

Phew! what a month! On Thanksgiving, my grandpa H passed away. He was such a great man and will be very missed, but I'm going to dedicate a separate blog post to that. The funeral was a week later and it was good to get together with family. Funny how as we get older, it seems that the only times we really all see each other are at funerals! I hate how that happens!

all the heimback kids grown up...

jordy and all the great grand kids at the gravesite

all the family minus chip and jay (who still had finals...)

since my sisters came down for the funeral, they stayed for a few weeks so we've had a lot of Simpson/Sugu time.

We've been celebrating birthdays...

and just hanging out ...

then my friend Kirsten and her husband Dallas came into town for the week. It was so fun to spend time with them in SD! I took Kirsten to the Wild Animal Park... Then we went to see the lights at Hotel Del. GORGEOUS! I love Coronado Island!

Then I took Kirsten and Dallas to the Zoo... (apparently it was a yellow day...)

Kirsten is one of my greatest friends from the Provo days and it was so great for Dave and I to get to spend time with her and her husband. There are some friendships that you can't describe in words...and the one I have with Kirsten is one of them.The family also got to watch Jordy's all-star tournament and it was a long, but fun day together.

Then we had a family christmas party before Chex had to leave. Poor dave got called to work. :( and missed it. dangit! we ALMOST got all of the Heimback side in one room!

lia got the coolest present in our gift exchange...
and, of course, we are just loving finding time together amidst all the other adventures going on this time of year. we sure do love being together. what a blessing to be married to your best friend. :)
Funny, being this busy has made me feel a little crazy... like this...

but i'm so grateful for the time to spend with such great people. We probably won't see these UT kids for quite a while since everyone's so busy with Master's programs and I miss my sisters so much when they're gone... so what a better way to spend December than with people you love...celebrating the most wonderful time of the year! We are so blessed to get to live so close to both of our parents and so much family. It makes these special times even better!

We hope everyone is having a merry christmas time!

whAt i did pRe-thANksgiviNg eAtiNg

just gotta post this because i was so proud of myself. On thankgsgiving morning, I got myself up at the crack of dawn to participate in this...

WHAT A GREAT WAY TO SPEND THANKSGIVING MORNING! it was gorgeous out! i ran around oceanside and ended up running the last leg of the 5K on the beach. this is definitely something i will do again and again.

the best part is that i ran the whole thing. there was a day when this would have been no big deal for me, but anyone who knows my anaphylaxis stories and how i haven't ran more than 2 miles at a time since then will understand. i fully intended to walk it. i was just excited to be up and about at the beach on such a glorious day. right before it started, i decided "i'm going to run this. the whole thing." so i moved up to the running section. no, it wasn't my fastest run ever. and no, it wasn't really that long of a run. but i was SO proud of myself. there was a moment when i thought i wouldn't be able to do it, but then this lady i passed had a shirt on with the scripture on the back "i can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." yeah, that's a paraphrase. but it reminded me that i can! so i kept running despite all of the fears rushing through my head, and even picked up the pace for the last mile. as i sprinted through the finish line, i totally cried. yup. i did. i was so proud of myself and SO grateful for a body that is stronger than i give it credit for.

So here's to being grateful for all that we are and pushing past the walls that hold us back from all that we can be.

oNe of my fAvoRite thiNgs

one of the best things about living here. getting to spend my saturday watching thisdo thisand win this.

congratulations jordy. number one team in town. now on to all-stars. it was an AWESOME day! and i'm SO glad i got to be there to watch you outrun everyone. we're super proud of you. (sorry the last picture is bad, my camera was dying and the flash wouldn't work!)