Today is a special day -- the birthday of TWO of my sisters-in-law.
First up is Heather, who married my older brother, Spencer, in 2000. It's hard to believe she willingly consented to join our loud, crazy family but we're sure glad she did!
Just a few things that I love about her:
She is DO-er. I think it was an adjustment for her to join such a big, crazy family that pretty much does nothing. We have what you might call, "homebody tendencies." But Heather has always been there to help nudge us along, help us make plans, and get us out the door. And if she's unable to get our lazy b-u-n-s off my mom's glorious couch (that I think I've decided I want to be buried with, at least one section of it), she's still happy and content to just hang out, Smith-style (aka sit around and watch the brothers berate each other in German, humiliate ourselves via Karaoke, and eat and eat and eat. We're not THAT gluttonous ... okay, maybe we are. Thanks for loving us anyway Heather!).
Heather is quite the athlete and takes risks. For example, she signed up for a co-ed soccer league with Spencer -- she's never played soccer. Sure, she was a star track athlete in high school and college but picking up another sport to play, in front of and with other people? You can count me out. I even played high school soccer but most likely would not enter a co-ed league with Scott because I'm that big of a wuss. 
Heather can SLEEP like nobody's business. And I'm not sure why, as I feel it's a bit of an injustice, but the Lord blessed her with a child that SLEEPS IN! Excuse me? I didn't even know they existed. When we were at my mom's house a few months ago, one morning Heather and Ava slept in until 11 a.m. Secretly -- or maybe not so secretly -- I was consumed with jealousy.
She's got great L'eggs. Seriously. Shortly before she married my brother, my dad made this comment, "I have to say, and I mean this in no perverted way, shape, or form, it'll be a sad day for mankind when Heather has to cover up those legs" (all you other Mormon folk know what I'm talking about). I took this picture while in Vegas last month and here she is over six months pregnant and still sporting the stunning, sculpted legs! As far as I'm concerned, this is a form of cruel and unusual punishment ... at least to leg-of-mutton peeps like myself.
Well, as Dr. Phil would say, "It's time that I start gettin' real." Heather not only has great legs, she pretty much has a bangin' bod all around. (Now what, pray tell, is the deal with all of my sisters-in-law? Seriously -- all three of my brothers' wives and both of Scott's sisters have incredible bodies. Not sure how this happened but I think it's the tiniest bit unfair ...) Here's Heather with Ruby on a beach on Maui. Um ... yeah ... my arms and shoulders totally look like that.
Heather has what I like to call, "Mom smarts," it's kind of like street smarts but specifically related to running a household. If you ever have a laundry question, call Heather. If you ever want to know how to decorate a house, call Heather. If you ever want to learn how to style your child's hair, call Heather ...
Or there's this fancy 'do ...
Kidding. (I only joke because I need an excuse to put pictures of Heather's little girl up. Basically, Ava is one of my favorite little kids of all time. Even when her hair isn't crazy, she puts a smile on my face every time she walks in the room. I sure do love me some Ava!) But seriously, her Mom Smarts are killer. Here's one of my favorite tricks I learned from her -- to remove a pesky stain from clothing, try washing it and then drying it in the sun!
Heather is one of those people who can always see what needs to be done and just jumps in and does it. Try as I may, I am NOT one of these people. I finally catch on to a project that needs to be done when people like Heather have already completed about 90% of it. Even at my mom's house, she's always the one helping with the meals, cleaning up after dinner, picking up the toys, etc. And my favorite example: when we were getting ready to move from Idaho, she called me and asked if she could fly up with Ava and ... help me pack! Seriously? Who does that?
And I could go on and on, but as you know, I'm doing two posts in one day, which is a record for me, but finally I'll say, Heather has always been such a good friend of mine. I still remember meeting her for the first time at Utah State at Spencer's house. I thought she was so nice and such a darling girl. One of my favorite memories is right before I went on my mission (Dec. '00) I was crocheting a scarf. I asked Heather's input (due to her impeccable taste) about the colors and design and she helped me create a "cute" scarf (as "cute" as my mediocre crocheting abilities allowed me to create). Christmas came just a week after I left on my mission and she opened her present from me and guess what it was? You guessed it Sherlock Holmes -- the scarf. When my mom later told me Heather cried when she opened it, I cried too. I've always loved Heather and am so glad she is part of our family!
Happy Birthday!
2 comments:
Happy Birthday Heather! I, too, am totally jealous of the fact that Ava sleeps in. When they were down here in St. George, we all went to dinner for Kim's birthday and Spencer was telling Cam about how Ava sleeps in. We were like... WHAT?? We are of the family of early risers so we just don't quite understand this either. 11 AM? Wow, my daughter is already napping before Ava even wakes up! And those are some pretty nice legs and 6 months prego.. I am jealous again! What a cute tribute to your sister-in-laws, You have some good ones! LUCKY YOU!
Happy Birthday Heather. Geez Cels, I'm counting down the days to my B-Day. Talk about having some great post material come October.
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