You guessed it...

 Yep! You guessed it! We're having a baby boy in June!  We got our ultrasound on Friday and we are so excited.  Both Darrin and I thought/hoped it was a boy, and we were right!  We are lucky guessers :)

We made the cute onsies at a Relief Society activity.  I'll be making more! They are so easy and cute!

Here is me at 20 weeks, which was more than a week ago.  I definitely look more pregnant in dresses, at least I think so...

I hadn't posted anything about Christmas/New Year's, so here are 3 of my nieces playing together right after Christmas.

And this is what we did on New Year's...

4 months (17.5 weeks)

I got some cute pictures over the last two weeks during the break, but I left my camera at the in-laws' house. So, instead here is a picture of me at 4 months. (This is for you, Katie).

#1-I don't know what is wrong with my neck here, just ignore it :)

Darrin thought I was sticking it out, but I wasn't. I think usually my pants hide it pretty well. Above my pants I just look a little chubby. Below my belly button has grown the most so far. I guess that's all until I get the pictures off my camera.

Thankful.

Thankful is the word of the season. I don't know if I could be more thankful than I am this year. Darrin and I went to St. George to my sister and her husband, Mindy and Jesse's, house for the Thanksgiving holiday. We were surrounded by family, cute kids, good food, slightly warmer weather, and plenty of Martinelli's :)

I think one of the best things was being together with my two sisters and my mom. I don't think I realize how much I miss seeing them until I do get to see them.

Jesse's family has the wonderful tradition of going around the room before eating Thanksgiving meal and having each person say what they are grateful for. This is when I felt how much I really am and should be grateful for. I had a hard time not just bursting into tears.

I guess what I'm saying is that I'm grateful for my sweet husband Darrin, family, friends, the wonderful season, and baby on the way. :)

California 7/2010 and other stuff

For a sort of replacement honeymoon (because we got married on a Friday and I had to get back to school on Monday) we decided to make a trip to California. This trip also had two other goals: 1) see family and 2) visit some temples we haven't been to.

The trip started with the St. George post I did about a month ago, where we visited my sister, and went to the St. George temple. The next leg of the trip was Los Angeles, California. My brother and his family have lived there for a few years and I haven't gotten to visit them very often.

On the first day in Los Angeles, Darrin and I explored downtown. We saw a few scary areas, but we also saw some things that were at least a little exciting for us:

Here is Darrin standing outside the Staples center-where the Lakers play. Darrin wanted to go see if Kobe Bryant was home, but we never made it inside.

On our walk downtown, we also visited China town. We went to a bakery and got some Chinese treats that Darrin has been missing like Mochi and pineapple bread. Here we are at the entrance of China town.

Our next stop was the Getty, an art museum in Los Angeles. My brother had taken his wife there for her birthday and she recommended it. It was pretty cool. We really liked the gardens outside too.

Jeff (my brother) and his wife, Jackie took us and their kids to one of their favorite beaches-Zuma beach. It was a pretty cold day, but we still managed to have fun. This was Darrin's first time at the beach! We built a sea turtle, can you tell?

Here is cute Vanessa. I regret that these are the only pictures I got of my brother's family. I guess we'll have to go back soon. :)

After having fun in Los Angeles (and going to the temple), we took a drive down to San Diego. Neither of us had been there before and we're both glad we went!

Our first stop was the zoo. Wouldn't we fit in a safari?

Here is Darrin outside the polar bear cage-one of our favorite exhibits.

Next stop: San Diego temple. Even though it was under construction on the outside, the inside was soooo beautiful! Probably my favorite celestial room ever!

On our last day (or so we thought) in San Diego, we went to Sea World. It was a lot of fun, but we don't know if we'll go back because it was so expensive!
The Killer Whale Show:

We ended up staying in San Diego an extra day because our car broke down-I was not happy. Luckily, Darrin knows how to cheer me up. Because we stayed longer, we got to go to a beautiful white, sandy beach and collect some shells two times.

Our last trip of the summer was in August, to Idaho and West Yellowstone, Montana. Darrin had never been to Yellowstone Park (while it seems I grew up there), so I had to take him. We also went to a show at the Playmill Theater, Beauty and the Beast. Amazing. As always.

Here we are waiting for Old Faithful to go off:



And here she is! The wind was being annoying and making all the steam get in the way of us seeing the actual water. Oh well.

That was our summer. Now Darrin is super busy with the accounting program and I am busy teaching my sixth graders science!

St. George & Angel's Landing 7/2010

In July, Darrin & I took a week-long trip. In a way, we were making up for the honeymoon we never got because I had to get back to school right after we were married. The first stop on our trip was St. George. My sister, Mindy, and her husband, Jesse, live there so we got to spend some time with them and their little boy, Lincoln.

On a Saturday, we drove into Zion's National Park with Mindy & Jesse. We decided to do Angel's Landing, a famous hike in Zions. It was a really hot day, but we still made it. On Angel's Landing there are some cliffs that drop off so at parts they have chains that you can hold on to.

Here is a picture from the top, you can see how small everything looks down below.

Here we are at the top-We made it! :) Jesse, Mindy, Darrin, & Me

We ate a snack at the top to keep us going so that we could stop in some shade on the way down to eat our lunch. I thought it was funny that Darrin chose a Butterfinger as his snack before lunch.

Here is Mindy, eating a little bit more nutritious snack.

Darrin and I at the top. It was so pretty up there!

After St. George, we headed to Los Angeles, where my brother and his wife and three kids live. We did a lot of driving on this trip and going through the Mojave Desert was hot and bright. Darrin needed a little shade for his eyes and so I let him borrow my flowery sunglasses.



This last one might only interest those who have read Fablehaven. There is a prison in the series called "Zzyzx" and I was happy to find another place named the same thing going through the desert. No wonder he named it that...

More to come on our trip: Los Angeles & San Diego

Part dos

Above is a video of our cute niece, Maia. We got to have her stay at our apartment overnight when her parents went on a getaway for their anniversary in June. Before we put her to bed, we watched a little Tom & Jerry on Netflix. She thought it was so hilarious. Every time one of them got hurt she laughed at least this hard. We had to get a video of her cute laugh.

For the 4th of July, Darrin and I went to Idaho Falls. They always have a big fireworks show, among other things, so we decided to go. I didn't get pictures of everything we did, but here are some things we did:

-Ran the annual Freedom 5k: My sister, dad, Darrin, and I ran it together. I hadn't run in a 5k race since high school and it was fun.

-Went to the annual 4th of July breakfast: A woman in my parents' ward holds a breakfast in her backyard for the whole neighborhood and 2 wards. It is so generous of her! (and yummy!)

-Had a barbeque in the backyard

-Went to the annual fireworks: It is put on by a wealthy guy and he likes to top other fireworks shows around. We sat further away this year so it wasn't as good as usual.

-Roofed our shed: Darrin was so nice to stay extra long to help my dad and brother-in-law put new shingles on our shed.

Here is my mom with my cute nephew, Matthew. He is so fun to be around and his personality shows more and more each time I see him.

Hannah, my oldest niece, with my sister (and her mom) Angela in the background. Hannah likes to be silly and I thought this made her look a little like a duck.

Princess Hailey. She is a very girly girl and very quiet. She is growing up so fast!

Matthew showing off his "smile" for the camera.

Matthew and I. Matthew calls himself "Eye-oh". Darrin and I picked up some of his language while in Idaho and continue to use it.

Thanks Mom and Dad for a great time!

summer fun: part uno

Never in my life had I even seen a gun in real-life. Pretty pathetic, eh? Especially considering I am from Idaho-a place full of hunters. I was determined not to go my whole life like this, so I got Darrin to take me shooting. I knew he had taken at least one other girl shooting for a date, which made it that much more important that I got to go with him too.

We set off up Spanish Fork canyon with Darrin's old roommate, Nate and his fiance Laurel.

You can tell how excited I am to be there. I think Darrin is just excited for me :)

Me, Darrin, Nate, and Laurel

Darrin showing off his skills with the pigeon thrower. I'm not too sure why he looks so angry...probably because I kept taking pictures :)

I didn't know how good of a shot Darrin was until this outing. His first time with the gun he shot all five of the clay pigeons. (that's my husband!)

And, I couldn't leave without evidence that not only did I see a real-life gun, but I shot it. Right after this picture was taken I shot the clay pigeon-the only one hit by either of the girls that night... I never said I would be good at it.

I had a fun time and my shoulder didn't even hurt afterward. I did learn how much I dislike earplugs though, those things are impossible.

More to come: Our trip to Idaho, St. George, and California...