Uncle Dan

Uncle Dan is my Mom's closest brother by age.



He spent a week with them in Belize.

We had brunch when with him when we drove thru Las Vegas this summer.

The last time he came to visit was about 10 years ago.

He came just before Christmas for a fun little visit.

He doesn't take to babies... when Maria would approach him with a doll he would tell her "No... I don't do babies"... but he liked her just enough to play horsie. Which was so great... she loved it.

Christmas in Idaho

My parents, Maria, & I headed over to Idaho to visit my brother and his family for Christmas. Maria rocked the headphones/movie for a while... it wasn't exactly a lifesaver, but it did keep her entertained at times.



It was so nice to see them all again. Hayden & Kayla were GREAT with Maria. Hayden got a book & blanket out one day and cuddled up to Maria and started reading to her... it was so great!



Maria had so much fun playing with them. Here they are playing with Hayden's toy soldiers.



Here are the three kids having some dipped pretzels for breakfast... yum!



Christmas Eve we got out Stephanie's Nativity and each picked a character and described what role they played in the birth of Christ.



Then we read a story and opened up pj's!! Kayla & Maria got matching pj's.



We got snow a few times while we were there... it didn't add up to a whole lot, but it sure was pretty. I love the snow in Idaho so much more than the snow in Washington. In Washington it falls in clumps, but in Idaho it falls in nice little pieces where you can tell that there are actually little individual snowflakes... I never knew that snowflakes actually looked like snowflakes until I lived there.



We had LOTS of yummy food.... swung by Florence's for some chocolates. We make our own, but we can't resist swinging by when we're in Rexburg.



Christmas afternoon my mom and I busted out the Costco Gingerbread House Kit and put it together.... and honestly, I think this is the way we'll go from now on.... its easier, and cheaper!!



We had a ton of fun even though Maria did get sick... I'm still not sure if it was an actual bug or if it's just from teething. It was great seeing TJ & his family again.... I'm hoping that we'll be able to go back this summer and visit. Maybe jump on the trampoline that Santa brought Hayden & Kayla!!

an early visit from Santa!!

Santa made a special trip to our house this year.



With Marco leaving Santa wanted to make sure that Maria's daddy was there when she opened up some of her presents.

Maria was a little afraid of him and wanted to stay with her Daddy.



But she warmed up just enough for Santa to read her part of a book...





Dear Santa-

Thanks for celebrating with us a little early this year.

We all appreciate it.... especially Maria's Daddy... He's going to miss her bad.

Thanks!

Decorating for Christmas

This year I wasn't sure whether or not we would be decorating for Christmas. We decorated for the ward Christmas party, and are spending the holiday in Idaho at my brother's house....

but last Tuesday morning we decided that we would have an early Christmas before Marco left for North Carolina the next day....



So we busied ourselves and set up a tree with lights and some ornaments.



We had a bag of balls that we had used for the Christmas Party... Maria LOVED playing in them.





She really enjoyed the lights and all the balls.





and here's our tree...

Home again...

Marco and I took of Wednesday morning.

We drove to Seattle and flew to Raleigh via Atlanta.

We had breakfast, drove by our old house (it still looks the same), swung by my old office (which is a LOT different), picked up some snacks for on the plane, said hello to dear sweet friends and their yummy little baby, and then headed to the airport.

Marco is safe. He'll be busy with work. Maria & I will miss him dearly.

I've only cried about 25 times... which is really good considering the fact that I'm really ridiculously emotional when I'm not pregnant... I'm working on being strong and brave... it's not going so well.


Total time in Raleigh: 16 hours
Total distance traveled: 6,487 miles
Total time traveling: 17 hours

Days 'til Marco is home: 104

Ward Christmas Party

We had a great time at the party this hear. My parents did a great job organizing everything. KP was in charge of a DELICIOUS dinner (it seems as if anything she touches turns to gold!!) My parents organized a little program. There was the nativity area that LS was in charge of, and then me with my AWESOME team for the decorations. And we can't forget the invites of a box of chocolates (remember that marathon of chocolate making we did over thanksgiving weekend....)

Here are a few pictures...

Here's the view from the stage looking towards the overflow:



Here's from the overflow looking towards the stage:



Here's the little sitting area we had off to the side:



And here's where the nativities were displayed...



(my Mom made the star!!)

One of my most favorite things were all the lights. I'm not a fan of the gym lights and I love the false ceiling that the lights provided.

Everything came together so well, and everyone helped out so much. People donated trees, lights and ornaments, center pieces, nativities, and so much more... It was such a fun event, and couldn't have happened without everyone that was involved.... thanks!!

Life.... in a nutshell.

A lot has been going on since Thanksgiving and I haven't had the time, energy, or desire to blog.

*We had the Ward Christmas Party on Saturday. It was wonderful, but it was a lot of work.... I'll post another blog with pictures and info on that.

*Marco is going to North Carolina for a few months. Work has been really slow here and probably won't pick up for a while so Marco made a few phone calls to some contacts that he has in NC and he'll be heading out there until just before the baby is born. I'm really torn about the whole situation. Money has been tight, so it will be nice to have him working full time again, but I'm really going to miss him. I'm a total blubbering idiot. But after weighing our options this is the best one. So Marco and I are going to fly out to Raleigh Wednesday evening, and I'm flying back to Seattle Thursday afternoon. I would absolutely LOVE to take the time to visit everyone out there (I miss you all SO much!!) but seeing as I'm going to be in the city approximately 12 hours, and that I'm going to be leaving my husband there, I'm going to have to pass... Hopefully next time I'll be in the city for a while longer and be able to plan for more than just breakfast!!

*We had our 20 week ultrasound and we're going to have a BOY!! We're really excited to meet this little fellow. Now we're at 23 weeks... only 17 more to go! (He's currently the size of a large mango, he can hear sounds, and feels movement)

*Maria's been one sick little baby. It started about a week ago, general crabbiness... and it turned into a cough, and sore throat, runny nose, and fitful sleeping, and it's pretty much still the same... except she's not as crabby. She's passed it onto Marco and I too, and with the weather being below freezing, and windy, and the air super dry it's taking forever for us to all get back to normal.

*Uncle Dan came to visit. I saw him this past summer when we were driving thru Las Vegas, but the last time he came up to visit was about 10 years ago. It was nice seeing him again. It was fun seeing him interact with Maria. He's not so much into babies, but I think she had enough personality to distract him from the fact that she can't talk yet. He even let her "ride" his foot like a horse!

*I am an idiot. I'm one of those people who take on a project, and then take on another one, and another one, and another one until I go crazy... Not only was I in charge of the decorations for the Christmas Party (I had a wonderful committee backing me which was absolutely marvelous!!), and I've had a sick baby, and my husband is going to be leaving for a few months, but I'm also doing the Christmas Program for our Sacrament meeting this Sunday. I'm the Ward Music Chair, so I'm in charge of the music for Sacrament Meetings every Sunday. And since the Christmas Sunday Program is generally a mostly musical program I happily volunteered to set up something for a program.

*We're going to Idaho for Christmas. I'm really excited about this. I haven't seen my brother, his wife, or their two munchkins since this summer. I'm really excited for Maria to play with her cousins!! I'm trying to focus on the good things.... and hopefully that will distract me from the fact that husband won't be there.