Our Trip to B-ham

Last weekend our family traveled to Birmingham, AL to visit our friends and see a DMB show. It has been a year since we were last there, but we haven't seen most of our friends since Brody was 6 months old (4 years ago), so we were really excited to catch up with everyone. We stayed with good friends, Eric and Kelly Smith, who we also went to the concert with. The Smith's have three boys too-Eli, age 7; Brandt, age 5; and Asher, age 2.

On Saturday Draven & Brody participated in a track meet that the Trussville, AL Track Club was having. Our friend, Kelly, created the track club last year, so we had an in with the staff to get the boys signed up! They each ran the 50 meter, 100 meter, 200 meter dash, and 200 meter relay. They also had the opportunity to participate in the Shot Put and the Long Jump, but we missed the announcement for the Long Jump so the boys only did the Shot Put. Draven really enjoyed running and "getting exercise," but his inexperience hurt him a little. He came in 3rd, 4th and 5th in his events. He got better as the day went on, and worked really hard. Brody was the only boy in the 4 and under group, and they awarded the top boy and girl, so Brody won all his races! He really did win the 50, and would have won the 100, but he stopped half way through. We think he got confused and thought he should stop at the same spot he did for the 50 even though we explained it a couple times! The 200 was half way around the track and Brody lost some steam on the longer distance-I think he was 3rd overall. Brody has been wearing his medals ever since. It was really fun to have the boys participate, and Kelly's boys, Eli & Brandt, were participating, so boys had fun cheering them on too.

Sunday we attended church in our old ward and got to see lots of people! It doesn't seem like we've been gone from there very long, but when we saw the youth it seemed like we had been gone half a life time! The boys I used to sing with in Primary were passing the sacrament! Pierce enjoyed giving the Alabama fans a hard time about Coach Saban, and they did the same about Coach Kiffin. After church our friends, Aaron and Jordan May, came to the Smith's and we grilled hamburgers and let the kids play until we heard a tornado siren and we all came in. Luckily the tornado warnings were south of us so we didn't all have to huddle in the basement while we were eating!

Monday we visited our old house and had lunch at Nikki's Authentic Southern Restaurant-one of Birmingham's best eateries-before going back to rest up for the concert. Draven still talks about our "old yellow house" sometimes and seeing it made us all a little homesick for it.

I'm pretty sure Pierce feels differently, but if it was just up to me, we would still be in Birmingham. I love our friends and family that are here, but Birmingham, and the memories of our family there, have a special place in my heart. Brody was born there and our family grew so much, as a family, while we were there. I never thought I would say I miss Alabama, but I do!