The Final Countdown

December is finally here! I have been waiting for December for about 9 months. With it comes Christmas and all of the beautiful decorations, including our own Christmas tree, which we set up last week.

We made it through Thanksgiving. I spent it with my family in Idaho and Brian spent it in Texas with his family for our nephew's baptism. It was hard being apart for the holiday, but I think we both had fun spending time with our families. The most frustrating part about the break was driving to Idaho in a car that decided it didn't want to spray wiper fluid anymore. This made visibility very difficult with everyone spraying my with the salty snow residue as they passed me. I had to stop at about every exit to clean off my windshield so I could see.

Now back to December, I only have 2 weeks and 1.5 days of school left before my maternity leave and Christmas break. Brian only has 4 more days of class and then dreadful finals. We will both be very happy when this semester is over. We only have about 3 more weeks until my due date. I'm really hoping she comes about a week early so she will be here before Christmas and i can enjoy staying home with her for an extra week or so before I go back to work.

We can't wait for her arrival. She has clean clothes and blankets just waiting for her. I think we have everything ready, we just need her.

baby belly at abt. 37 weeks

Getting ready

With just 2 months left until our little girl arrives, we have been doing a lot of prep work. Last weekend I went to Logan for the afternoon because my mom and sis-in-law were throwing me a baby shower with all of my aunts and cousins. The drive was horribly rainy, but the shower was great. It was fun to get together with the women in my extended family. It was especially fun to be able to celebrate the upcoming arrival our baby girl. Thanks to the generosity of my aunts, grandma, cousins, and sis-in-law, I received a lot of great gifts to help us get started with our baby.

In other preparation, we got the crib. I was so excited when it was delivered that I had to set it up right away. Brian and I spent an hour putting it together. I really like it. I think it will be a great crib for our children. Now I like to go in to the nursery and just look at it(pics to come, when finished). With a crib in there it has become more real. I am getting really excited. I hope these next 2 months go by quickly because I am very excited to welcome our baby into our home and family.

Bear Lake

Last weekend we went to Bear Lake for a family get together with my mom's family. We stayed at my uncle's cabin. It was a nice relaxing weekend. The weather was nice, just not warm enough to go out on the lake. Brian was able to go on a nice 4-wheeler trip. They went up to the site of an old plane crash. I stayed at the cabin with my mom and aunt, just visiting and relaxing. The worst part about the weekend was driving home in my car whose AC doesn't work anymore. It was the hottest time of day too. Needless to say, it was a very long, hot, and loud (due to the open windows) drive. I came home so exhausted that I went right to bed at about 7:30 and I slept through the night.

My Birthday weekend

This weekend has been nice also. It was my birthday weekend, so I pretty much got to decide what we did. On Friday, we went to Borders so I could spend my birthday gift card from my mother-in-law. I was able to get 2 books that I wanted. Then we stopped for ice cream on the way home. On Saturday we went to the temple in the morning, which was a nice way to start the day. Then we drove to Salt Lake for my birthday lunch. I have always wanted to eat at The Cheesecake Factory so we finally did. The menu is huge. It's literally a book. They couldn't decide what kind of food they wanted to serve, so they serve it all. The food was pretty good, but the cheesecake was delicious. Next time I am going just for dessert. I got White Chocolate Carmel Macadamia Nut cheesecake.

Then we went shopping at the mall next door to help us walk off all of the food that we ate. We went in to Carter's to look at baby clothes. They had 50% off of all of the clothes, so I couldn't resist getting some adorable onesies and a pajama sleepsack. In our shopping trip I was also able to use my birthday money to buy some nice makeup. Meanwhile, Brian was a trooper and let me go in all the makeup and baby stores that I wanted.

It was a great birthday weekend!

Me with my birthday presents! An awesome jelly belly candy dispenser from Brian, a fruit bowl

to match my other kitchen containers from my parents, and the books that I bought with my

gift card!

My craving

I haven't really been craving much during my pregnancy, with the exception of cinnamon rolls. I always want one. After spending a lot of money for one at a bakery, I decided to make my own. They actually turned out pretty well, I'm sure I will make them again, maybe next week;) But I decided I needed to add about twice as much cinnamon and sugar next time, to make them truly fantastic.

Also, here is my 22 week baby bump picture, for those of you not on facebook.

The big news

The big news from this week, that most of you probably already know, is that we are having a girl!!! I am so excited because now I can actually buy the cute girl outfits I see in the stores.

The pic below is a closeup. You can see her yes, nose, mouth, and even fingernails!

This week I also had 2 days of training for the new math program I will be teaching. I will be going into school everyday this week to get things ready in my classroom. Teachers start back on Friday. My summer is practically over.

In other news, I learned Brian can pick a lock using a bobby pin and screwdriver. This discovery came when we somehow locked the lower lock of our house (the one we don't have a key for). After realizing that every single window and door were locked we knew we were in trouble. To make matters worse, our landlady is out of town for 2 weeks, so we couldn't get the key from her. Then Brian decided to try picking the lock with the one bobby pin I had in my hair. 20 minutes later he finally did it. We were able to get into our house!

Idaho/Wyoming family vacation

This past week we went up to Idaho to see my family. We had fun doing many activities. Brian and I went camping up Scout Mountain one night with my brother Weston and Sister-in-law Kirstie. We had fun roasting Starbursts and taking a night walk to see the stars. Our sleep, however, was interrupted by our neighbors who were up until 4 am partying it up with their children. The next morning we went on a nice nature walk that wasn't too long or strenuous.

Enjoying our campfire breakfast:

This bird was close enough to touch.

During our nature walk. Don't we look like we have been camping?

We also went bowling one afternoon with my family. I did very poorly. My highest score was a 77. Brian did much better than I did. I rediscovered something during this bowling trip. While bowling is fun, I enjoy playing pool a lot more. I think I am better at it as well.

The main event of the week was day trip into Jackson, Wyoming. We were a little disappointed when our plan to have lunch at Jenny Lake was ruined. We didn't know that they are now charging $25 a car to enter Teton National Park, which we didn't want to pay just to eat lunch there. Instead we found a campground with picnic tables. The highlight of this lunch trip was our run-in with a herd of wild buffalo. Brian was excited to be able to stop and get a lot of pictures. It was so crazy having them feet away from our car. After lunch we spent the afternoon wandering around gift shops. Then for dinner we went to Bar J Chuck Wagon grill where we were able to enjoy a big BBQ dinner of chicken, beef, or ribs and then a show. It was pretty good, but the benches got really uncomfortable.

During our scenic drive to Jackson:

The Jackson antler arches. You can't come to Jackson without getting a picture in front of them.

Family photo of siblings and baby!

Lovely western decor.

We drove back to my parent's after the show (9:30) and didn't arrive until 1:00 in the morning. I'm glad I didn't have to drive. I fell asleep pretty fast.

It was a fun week. It was nice to get together with all of my family. We are already planning next year's family vacation to the Oregon Coast with the baby!!

Carling get-together

Yesterday was the annual Carling get-together at my uncle's house in Logan. We drove up for the afternoon and enjoyed good food, games, and company. We played the traditional horseshoes and horsey golf, as well as croquet. Brian also played frisbee golf a few times since he really enjoys that. I however, sat out of the frisbee golf since I have no frisbee skills (or croquet skills for that matter, I was only halfway through with the course when everyone else was done.) We had a fun time seeing my aunt, uncle, and cousins that I don't normally see.

My aunt and uncle:

Wax anyone?

Normally I don't post about the random day to day events that go on in our lives. It would probably bore you all to death. However, the other day Brian really wanted to try these ear wax removal candles. You put one end in your ear and you light the other end on fire. The flame actually got pretty big, which made me a little nervous. Anyway you lay there while it is burning and then you can start to hear the wax getting sucked up into the candle. After the flame reaches a certain point, you blow it out. You can then open it up and see all the wax that was removed. I was amazed at how much it pulled out, it was really gross. I don't know if we'll do them again because they took quite a while to do, but they definitely work better than q-tips.

Manti Weekend

Last weekend my parents came down to visit us for the weekend. They came down Friday afternoon and then we all went down to Manti, Utah for the Mormon Miracle Pageant. I hadn't been since I was a kid, so it was kind of like seeing it for the first time. It was pretty nice, however we kind of felt that the audio was a little outdated. We finally returned home from that at about 1:30 in the morning. I don't remember much of the drive back because I was asleep in the back seat. On Saturday we went shopping at various stores and went out to lunch . It was a nice day. After dinner that night, we took my parents up to Bridal Veil Falls. The weather was great so it was nice walking the path to get there. We were able to get some great shots, including some of Brian climbing to the top of the falls.

It was a great weekend with family.

Oh nuts!

When I asked Brian what we had done recently so I could blog about it, he replied "we made cinnamon roasted almonds." Since they are super delicious I agreed. We had a lot of plain almonds that we weren't really eating because they weren't salted or anything, so we decided to fix them. Brian suggested cinnamon almonds, so he found a recipe that was very easy and we went to work. After 15 of pulling the baked nuts off the foil, we learned a valuable lesson, Do not roast nuts on foil, and thoroughly grease the pan. The finished product, delicious, just look at the picture.

Memorial Weekend

On the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend Brian and I drove up to Logan to meet my parents, Kirstie, and my grandma. We went to visit the graves of my great grandparents, grandparents, etc. This entailed going to 4 different cemeteries, all in the Logan area. We then had lunch and made our way up to Idaho. We had a nice weekend there, playing games, having a BBQ,a jelly bean taste test and spending time with my family. We also went to the Field of Heroes, where they had placed one cross for every soldier killed in Afghanistan or Iraq. It was unbelievable to see how many there were. It was a good Memorial Day activity, to remind us of why we celebrate it in the first place. While there, Brian was able to use his new camera to take some great pictures. Brian left on Monday because he had class on Tuesday. I stayed until Thursday. On Thursday, my mom, Kirstie, and I headed down for Provo. We had a girls' day out,going shopping and out to lunch. It was nice to spend some time with them, even if most of it was spent driving.

Leaving Logan

Field of Heroes. This is just a small piece of the field.

My brother's cute puppy.

Last day of school

Well, since the last post, I have finished school. The last day was on Friday the 28th. As is tradition, that day was spent mostly at the dance festival. This is where each grade level has made up and learned a dance that they perform for the school and parents on the last day. Our 2nd graders did a great job, even though someone unplugged the sound system halfway through their performance and they had to start over. After the dance we went back to class so I could hand out their class assignments for next year before their parents took them home. This scene was a lot different from last year. Last year they got their assignments and mostly just left without saying good-bye, those lovely 5th graders. This year, all of my students wanted a picture with me and then they each gave me a hug goodbye. I even had one girl, who frequently gives me problems, give me a big hug and was in tears because she didn't want to leave. It was surprising to me because I felt like most of the time she didn't like me very much. Overall I'd say this year was a lot better than last, as you can tell just from the differences in the last day. I really grew to love my students this year and am sad to see them go.

Brian's Birthday etc.

This last weekend was Brian's birthday. We had long planned on celebrating it by camping in Moab, Utah. Unfortunately, as the weekend drew closer the weather got colder. The forecast for the weekend was chance of rain and a high of about 50. We decided we aren't boy scouts so we didn't need to freeze. We decided to postpone our camp out to later this summer when the weather is nicer.

Instead of camping, we went to the Hogle Zoo in SLC. It gave Brian a chance to use his birthday present, a digital SLR camera. Brian got some good pictures of the animals, as you can see. It ended up being a nice day for the zoo. It's an okay zoo, but not as cool as I remember it being when I was a kid. And it was not nearly as cool as the Indianapolis zoo, which in my opinion is an amazing zoo. All in all I think Brian had a pretty good birthday, even if our original plan fell through.

This last week Brian started his Spring semester of school. Unfortunately it is full of Chemistry and Physics, but I know he'll do great. I have 4 weeks of teaching left until summer! We are both hoping that May goes by quickly.

Distant memories

Just last week at this time I was basking in the warmth and sunshine that Phoenix, Arizona provides. I hadn't been there since Brian and I moved from Mesa in june of 2008. It was nice to go back and see things that looked familiar, however, I would probably get lost there now. The best part about my trip was that it was a reunion with 3 of my best friends. We get together every year since we're all spread out. We had such a fun time, taking pictures, getting pedicures, watching movies, eating good food, and most of all, just hanging out, talking. It was so nice to catch up with them. I wish we all lived closer together so we could see other more often. I've been back for a week, but it seems like forever ago.

Most of these awesome pictures were taken by my "roommate" Tiffany, who is a photographer.

It was an irresistible event.
funny faces

The Fabulous Four!

I'm here!!

Spring Break is here!!!

This last week has been crazy with anticipation for spring break, on both my part and my students. I need the week to recover my patience. The weather, however, doesn't seem to know that it is supposed to be spring. I was able to ride my bike to school on Monday, before the cold weather and snow set in. Since then, I've just been looking forward to the warmth that my trip to Phoenix should bring. I am so through with winter.

Mad about stripes

This weekend I got the urge to do some sewing. While Brian was at his EMT class I went and got some fabric. I was unsure exactly what I wanted to make, but when I saw this zebra print fabric, I knew I wanted to make a purse (because every girl needs a zebra bag, right Kirstie? :). I'm actually pretty happy with how it turned out (not bad for my first purse). I even had fun playing with the different stitches my machine does (see first picture). Now I need to decide what my next project will be.