Christmas & New Year's Pictures

Here are some pictures of Christmas & New Year's Eve that I finally found.

Brennan and his new ice axe. (He also got some sweet crampons to go with it, the lucky duck!)

Jared and me on Christmas morning.



Jared and me on New Year's Eve (He had to work so I went and hung out with him there.)

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

For Christmas this year, Jared and I went to Boise to stay with my mom and Glenn. It was so nice to get out of Rexburg (and away from the sub-zero temps and icy roads) and relax for a few days. We had a really nice Christmas and we received some really nice gifts. Thank you to everyone for all of the great presents!

Also while we were there, my mom threw me a baby shower, which was so much fun! It was so good to catch up with everyone and I love all of the bibs and onesies that we decorated. I received some more great gifts and I just wanted to tell everyone thanks again! I am so glad that everyone could make it and I am so blessed to have you in my life.

We headed back to Rexburg on the 29th so we could go back to work (and reality). Jared had to work on New Year's Eve until 12:30, so I went to the Craze and spent the evening watching a movie on his laptop and shopping online until midnight. It wasn't the wildest New Year's, but I am glad that we got to spend it together. I am looking forward to many more New Year's together!

A Happy Anniversary!

Last Wednesday, Jared and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary. It is hard to believe that it has already been a year, but at the same time, it feels like we have been together much longer. I am so grateful for my wonderful husband and for our eternal marriage. I love him so much and I am so happy that we will be together forever!
Jared had finals last week, so we had to celebrate the big day in two parts. On Wednesday, we ordered dinner and just hung out at home. On Friday, we went to Texas Roadhouse and had dinner. Our waitress was really nice and surprised us with a free hot fudge sundae to celebrate. We then finished doing our Christmas shopping. It was a great anniversary and I can't wait for the many more to come!

Jared and the beautiful roses he got for me.

The happy couple!

All Is Well

We are still doing really well here in Iceburg (as it is very affectionately called). Jared has been really busy trying to finish up the Fall semester, and will probably get straight A's again! I am so proud of him for all of his hard work and dedication. He has so much going on and he is handling it all without any complaints.
I am still nannying, which I will do as long as I can. I also got my seasonal job at H&R Block back, which I will start in January. This will hopefully ease some of the pressure on Jared after our baby comes.
Speaking of babies, everything is still going well with Mr. Peanut. I went in for my 6 month check-up and our little boy is still healthy and big. I have also been doing SO much better. It seems like I am getting bigger every day, and I am so thankful for comfy maternity pants! I finally have an appetite and I am making up for being so sick by eating all of the time (right in time for holiday treats, hooray!).
This year, we are going to Boise for Christmas, and I can't wait! I am so excited to get out of Rexburg for a few days and just relax. This will be our first trip in a long time that doesn't include us having to be somewhere. We are going just to enjoy time with family and friends at our own pace. It is going to be great!

Here is a picture of our Christmas tree. It is our first one ever and every time I look at it, it makes me so happy. I am planning on leaving it up as long as Jared will let me!

A Great Birthday

Today is my birthday and it has been wonderful! Jared has gone out of his way to make sure this birthday was the best ever, and he definitely succeeded. On Friday night, he told me that we were going to West Yellowstone, MT until Sunday. He had arranged with my mom for us to stay in their time-share there, so we drove up for the weekend. It was great! The condo was really nice and we really enjoyed just spending time together and getting away from Rexburg for the weekend without having anything to do. Yellowstone is closed until the middle of December, so there wasn't a whole lot to do in town, but we still had so much fun!

The kitchen in our condo.

Jared having a face-off with a bison statue.

When we got back to Rexburg on Sunday, we went over to Jared's parents' house and had an amazing dinner. Mary Ann made some delicious lasagna and garlic bread, and then we had the most incredible cake. It was four layers of chocolate with a whipped, cream cheese frosting in between each layer and all over the outside. It was all so good! (I didn't take pictures of the cake because we ate it too fast.) While we were there, Jared gave me my presents. I got some much-needed maternity clothes, the new Pearl Jam cd, and Twilight on Blu-Ray. I was so excited for all of it. He is so good to me! After dinner, the Woodruffs came over and gave me some really cute baby clothes, and then the Kunzs came over and visited for a little bit.

As if all of that weren't enough, there was even more celebration today! I went to work, and Angie and the kids had decorated their house with a banner and balloons. They also gave me an Applebees gift card and a really cute baby book. She is the best boss and such a great mom! Later, she had the two-year-old call me and sing "Happy Birthday" on my voicemail. It was really cute. When I got home, Jared had flowers for me and a little surprise that made me laugh so hard. There were also flowers from my friends, Lex and Vanessa. I also got a really thoughtful card from my dad and some really sweet gifts from my mom. I am so lucky to have such wonderful people in my life! I love you all and I thank Heavenly Father for you every night. Thank you for making my birthday the best one ever!

Time to Shop!

We had a great trip to the doctor today! We got to see our little baby moving around and got to check on everything and get tons of pictures. We also discovered that we are having a BOY! We are both so excited! I am ready to go out and buy tons of little boy stuff and Jared is ready to go buy toys and "test them out" to make sure they are fun enough for our little guy.
I was really nervous at first because the nurse tried to look right away, but his little legs were in the way. I started to worry that we would have to wait 20 more weeks to find out what he was, even though it was nearly impossible to wait the first 20 weeks! After she took pictures of his head, spine, heart, legs, feet, and almost everything else, the baby moved around enough so we could FINALLY tell what he was. I think Jared went into a little bit of shock and I couldn't stop grinning!
We are SO excited to have a "Mr. Peanut" now and even more excited that he seems really healthy. He is a pretty big boy (14 oz already!) and he still has a great heartbeat (139 bpm). We just continue to pray that everything keeps going well and are now going to start preparing for the moment when we finally get to meet him. Hooray!

This is a picture of his cute little foot! (Probably the one he kicks me with all of the time.)


This is the proof that he is a boy. There is an arrow pointing to his little peepee (as my mom calls it).

This is a picture of his face. He still looks a little like an alien, but so cute!


This last picture is of him laying with his arms over his face. The nurse needed a few more shots of some things and kept poking my belly to get him to move. I think he was getting tired of the photo shoot and just covered his face.

So Excited!

The countdown is on! We only have six more days until my next doctor's appointment, which means only six more days until we (hopefully) find out what we are having. I am so excited! There is still time to get any guesses in, too!