AND OUR SUPER EXCITING NEWS IS...

We're expecting a baby!!!

I'm 13 weeks along and our due date is August 2nd.

We are so excited for this wonderful opportunity to be parents. I can hardly believe that it's real, but my disappearing waistline reminds me that it is:). We had the opportunity to get an ultrasound a month ago to figure out how far along I was. It was so surreal to see the little human growing inside of me and hear its heartbeat. I'm so excited to almost be through the first trimester. It's been rough with the constant nausea, fatigue, headaches, food aversions, etc. but I just know it will be worth it. I'm sure Brad will be glad when I start feeling better, too:). It's been a while since I've cooked him a decent meal. Thanks for bearing with me, honey!!

So I just wanted to let you all in on our exciting news. If anyone has advice on dealing with the symptoms of pregnancy, feel free to include it in your comments. Oh, and yes I am showing already. I'm so short that there's no where for the baby to go but out:). Maybe one of these days I'll post a pic.

Some Pictures from Christmas...Finally!!!

Brad and I had a nice time on our Christmas vacation. We were able to visit each of our families for a few days. We had a fun time at both homes and fit in some much needed rest and relaxation. Thanks to both families for your hospitality and for taking such good care of us!! Here are some pictures from our trip:

After arriving in Idaho

Brad helping Ashlie work her way through the scavenger hunt on Christmas Day to find her special gift.

Maylie, Brianna, and Ashlie sitting on Santa/Grandpa's lap

Aren't they precious!?!

At the Roper home on Christmas Eve, just missing Alan and Colin

Brad's dad thoroughly enjoying his adorable grandkids, Hunter and Madeline. We enjoyed them, too!!

Having fun on Christmas Eve in our new matching pajamas. They are so comfy!!

Doing the can-can:)

Quick Update

The holidays are generally a busy time of year. This year feels a bit busier than usual and a bit busier than I like. So that is my excuse for slacking off on the blogging. So much to blog about, no time or energy left to do it:).

We had the chance to visit my family the weekend before Thanksgiving and then we visited Brad's family over Thanksgiving. We had a great time at both places. Lots of good food and great company. And we got to see a movie at each place: in I.F. we saw New Moon (I thought it was great) and in Logan we saw Blind Side (this is a good show, I recommend it).

Brad's been busy finishing up the semester, preparing for the GRE, working, and getting ready for the ward Christmas party. And I've been busy with various church, work, friend, wife obligations. I won't bore you with all the details:). Just a few. We had fun going to another Jazz game last week. I love sitting up in the suite and eating and talking with co-workers, etc. It's a definite perk of this job. Otherwise I don't think we'd make it to any Jazz games. Plus our future boss was there so it was good to meet him (he'll be joining us next week and we're looking forward to the extra support and help). Another highlight last week was singing in the chorus in a program for the Relief Society Christmas dinner. I also helped throw a baby shower, despite the fact that the mother had the baby the previous evening. It worked out alright. Last but not least we had Stake Conference last weekend which is always inspiring. I got to sing with the Stake Choir during the Sunday session.

This weekend is the ward Christmas party so hopefully all goes well with that. Then for me, dress rehearsal and a couple of performances this weekend with the Stake choir of "Sing Noel". The conductor is great and she has us singing some really nice songs so this should be a good experience.


Here's a couple of pictures from our trip to Idaho (sorry, none of Brad...he wasn't around during the photo shoot)...

Dad and me

Jules and me

I'll try to be more motivated and keep up with the blog better so that my posts aren't so boring:) Hope you are all having a nice holiday season!!!

Halloween Fun!!!

We had some fun for Halloween at work. We always look for excuses to party:) On Thursday we all wore orange and black and had treats and played games. Of course we had a great time. Elise and Heather were gone on Friday, so it was just me, Meegan, and Betsy left for the call center. There are other people that work in our office and last year we all got dressed up and took a bunch of pictures on Halloween. Well, I missed the memo that they weren't dressing up this year. At least Betsy missed the memo also and she dressed up a bit too. I didn't care too much because I had to dress up for our ward trunk or treat that evening anyway. So I was all ready to go!

Meegan: a call center employee

Me: a stylish witch

Betsy: a dinosaur trainer (her dinosaur does some cool things, I'm not kidding!)

Sassy pose!!!

After cleaning up from the ward party. Brad used his coveralls from work and was a mechanic. Not quite as festive as me, but I was just glad he dressed up:)

Brad is the ward Activities Chairman and I'm on the committee. We had an awesome turnout for the Halloween party. Way more people than we were expecting. It was a chili cookoff, trunk or treat, and costume contest. Thankfully we had more than enough chili and people seemed to be having a good time. It was a relief when it was over, though! Now onto the ward Christmas party...

Jazz Game

It's that time of year again...basketball time! My company has a suite for the Jazz games. My department was invited to go to a pre-season game this week. It was Jazz vs. Trailblazers. It was a good game, but the Jazz were ahead the whole time and of course, they won. I always enjoy going to these games and hanging out with my co-workers, eating good food, oh, and watching the game. Brad loves this perk about my job:) We're both hoping they invite us to one more game this season. Here's some pics from the event.

The Jazz player by the 3-point line is Wesley Matthews. Brad went to high school with him!

Soaking up all the fun and excitement!!!

Baby Shower

Yes, yes...I know I'm way past due for another post. So I'll tell you about what we did today at work, in addition to working of course:). My co-worker, Elise, is going to have a baby boy in a few weeks, so we threw her a little baby shower today. We had a brunch, which was delicious by the way, and played some fun games. I won some yummy lotion (don't worry, I didn't eat it) . Thanks Betsy! I can hardly believe that our little group is about to change again (Paula left us a month ago...I miss her, too!). I will miss Elise, but I'm excited for her to get to stay home with her new babe. She's going to be a great mom! I can't wait to see what the cute little fella will look like. Elise, you better come back and visit us!

Birthday Fun!!

A couple of days ago was my birthday. I am the ripe old age of 25. Do I feel 25? No, not really. I still have a lot of growing up to do:) I had a very nice day. My awesome co-workers decorated my desk so cute, gave me a card, and made me the most delicious brownies. How did they know brownies are my favorite? Okay, I might have given them a couple of clues:)

Betsy, me, Heather, and Elise
You can't really see all of the decorations in this picture but it was really cute! Thanks for making it a special day, girls!

Betsy, me, Lorene

I just thought it was so funny that all three of us had orange shirts on with cream shirts under them. I had to get a picture of it:) Our shirts looked closer in color in real life.

The evening was fun, too. Brad took me to Bajio's and we each got our favorite: I love the chicken green chile salad and he loves the chicken green chile quesadilla. YUM!!! Then we headed back home to open presents. Brad surprised me with a new tennis racket! I love it and I am so excited to get out on a court and try it out. We are going to play tonight. Ready to get schooled, Brad? Just teasing, of course:) Oh, and I also got my very own Nalgene bottle so now I don't have to steal Brad's everyday. Thanks for the great gifts honey! Very thoughtful, practical, and fun.

Getting a feel for the new racket. She's a beauty, isn't she? The racket, I mean.

I appreciate all the gifts from family, as well. You are all so very generous. Thanks for making it a special day everyone! I guess you only turn a quarter of a century once, right?!