February 2015

Our trip back from Oregon included an overnight stay at Thomas' sister, Elizabeth's place in Idaho. We got to see their brand new, just-a-few-days-old, baby boy.

Thomas sent me flowers :)

I got together with a girl in our ward and made sugar cookies. Way fun!

We went to a Valentine's Day dance. I didn't do a whole lot of dancing! :)

My darling visiting teacher threw a baby shower for me.

We borrowed a slide scanner from Thomas' brother and cleaned up some old negatives we found in the box of letters I scanned in January. Thomas scanned those for me.

I crocheted a baby cardigan and beanie.

We got to attend You Can't Take it With You, directed by Thomas' cousin.

We acquired a nice little chest freezer that I've basically filled with additional homemade freezer meals! It feels like quite an accomplishment to build up our food supply in this manner while sticking to our grocery budget. Plus, it feels great knowing that if I don't want to/have time to cook this next little while (particularly after the baby comes), we can just pull out homemade pizza, lasagna, quiche, egg rolls, chimichangas, etc. and have a home-cooked meal in a fraction of the time it would take from scratch! 

Anyway, we think we're about as ready for baby as we can be... Now we are just awaiting his/her arrival!

oxox

January 2015

January was my first month as a full-time homemaker! We are both excited about this and that our situation allows for me to be home (a) now to prepare for the baby and (b) as a stay-at-home mom when the baby is born.

I've spent my days working on various projects -- mostly things I've been wanting to get to before the baby is born. I finished scanning a box of old letters & other documents that belonged to my great-grandmother (a project I started about 3 years ago...). I re-finished the inside of a silverware box. I finished sewing a couple things for baby. I've gone through & tried to pare down a bunch of our stuff. I finally read Preach My Gospel. I've been putting together some freezer meals to have on hand.

We attended a wedding reception for my cousin Will.

Thomas' grandfather passed away and we drove to Oregon for a memorial with Samuel & Sarah. It was a whirlwind trip but we are so glad we were able to be there.

oxox

November 2014

In November, Elizabeth's family came down to Utah for a visit. We got to spend a little time with them at the cabin and then in Salt Lake with Samuel and Sarah.

For Thanksgiving, we got to visit Thomas' parents in Florida.

We toured old town Pensacola

We visited IHMC

I all of a sudden started looking pregnant :) My belly really popped that week.

The turkey: deep-fried & delicious!

We're glad we could spend time with family this November, especially getting to visit Thomas' parents where they live. We have much to be grateful for :)

oxox

August 2014

August was a bit crazy for us. Between visits from Thomas' dad, a summer party I was in charge of for work, etc., it seemed like we were always up to something!

We went to our ward campout:

The highlight, of course, was our trip to California when my sister came home from her mission.

My aunt, cousin & cousin's daughters picked us up from the airport. We got to play with my aunt's dog and it was a joy to spend time with these relatives I don't get to see very often!

The next day, we and my aunt went to a different airport to greet Morgan when she arrived:

That weekend, among other things, we had a special surprise homecoming/birthday party for Morgan:

Thomas & I got to spend an afternoon with Lanessa, hiking around Coloma:

After which we met my family at their ward luau:

We were finally able to go back to the Sacramento temple together (for the first time since our wedding!):

...which was a miracle in itself. The temple had been closed for cleaning/maintenance about 2 weeks prior to our visit (other visits we've made have landed us right in that window). The day of, we decided we had to arrive at a certain time for a certain session due to a commitment later in the day. We were running behind, but arrived with enough time to make the session. After dressing, we were informed we might have to wait for the next session because that one was so full (which would mean not being able to stay)! Miraculously, everything ended up working out. We were able to attend that (extremely full) session and get out in time for the later appointment.

All told, it was a great visit and fun to have Morgan home.

oxox

July 2014

July was a very full month for us.

We started off with a neighborhood Independence Day block party on the 3rd. Thomas invited a friend from work and his family, and we grilled hot dogs together and enjoyed the company of our neighbors and the early-evening festivities.

On the 4th, rather than stay downtown amidst the hullabaloo that is the parade (etc.) in Provo, we left home around 7 AM to hike Y Mountain in the relative cool of the morning. We'd hiked the Y before, but this was our first time going all the way up, around the east side of the mountain, and finally to the overlook at the top. It was a challenging, steep hike, but we thoroughly enjoyed getting out in quiet, quiet nature. The greenery and wildflowers were so refreshing! Ultimately, when we made it back down the mountain, we were utterly exhausted. After some rest, we went out for Orange Julius at the mall and window-shopped a while.

On the 12th, we drove up to Salt Lake area for dinner at the Clarks'. What a cute, fun family!

On the weekend of the 19th (you know, just after Bastille Day), we took a trip up to Logan. We stayed the night Friday, and then on Saturday we attended the temple and then saw Les Miserables at the Eccles Theater.

On Pioneer Day, the 24th, we participated in the Temple-to-Temple 5K (and I beat my time from last year!). Then, in the afternoon, we packed up the car to drive to Boise to visit Elizabeth & co. for the weekend.

Pioneer Day activity!

oxox