Giddy Up Cowgirl

When we were in Spokane we dressed Gretal up in her Wrangler Baby outfit that my parents got her for Christmas, and this is what happened...

Seattle

I love Seattle and the reason I love Seattle is because Bethany, Jeramie and Evey live there. I was there this last weekend and had a great time (although Gretal was a turd most of the time we still had fun). On Friday night we went to the Spaghetti Factory for dinner,. I love just sitting there and listening to J and B talk... they are hilarious! They can find funny in everything. On Saturday Bethany, Evey, Gretal and I went to the Tukwilla (sp) outlet mall. Of course we had to buy matching outfits for the babies, and they were only $1.99! On our way home we stopped at Frost Donuts, which I now know that they are the best donuts ever. One of the employees made us some fresh salted, caramel donuts...OH MY GOSH...YUM!! We were talking about how everything makes us cry, so we were both pretty much crying in the car on our way to dinner. We met up with some friends of theirs, the Criddles for Thai and then went back to their house for playtime and dessert. Guess what we had for dessert...Donuts :) The Criddles bought donuts for dessert too. Bethany and I tried every donut I think, we were sick. On Sunday Bethany wanted to show off her photography skills...she is pretty good, but I think she has a great teacher (Jeramie is a professional photographer, check him out on shodaphotography.com). Bethany took amazing pics of Gretal, and actually Gretal did pretty good for most of it, but then we put Evey and Gretal into their matching outfits and Gretal was done. I will post some pics if Bethany sends them to me :)

Anyway we had a great time and I always love to see my favorite Seattle people. Now it's their turn to come to the ever dry Salt Lake City (that's for you Jeramie).

4 months ago

I can't believe it has been 4 months since Gretal was born. It seems like just yesterday I was changing diapers, and feeding at least 12 times a day. I remember thinking I don't know if I can handle much more of this, and that's about the time she started sleeping 6 hours at a time...and oh man that was a relief.
I love when she reaches for her toes and actually grabs them. I love that when she sees me she smiles so big that her whole face lights up. I love her big cheeks, big blue eyes and roley poley thighs. I love when she rubs her face in my neck when she's tired. I love that I know her tired cry, her hungry cry and her whiney cry...finally. She is starting to giggle now, except not at me, only at John and the puggles, and my dad...little turd :) I love when John comes home she gets really excited and starts kicking her legs and waving her hands for him to hold her. I love that she is a great baby.

2010 Wahoo!!

Last year was filled with so many adventures... it's going to be hard for 2010 to top it.
This year we have many things planned...who knows if we will get through them all but ya never know. Here's a list of goals/resolutions we have:
Go to Germany- we are planning a trip to Germany in September to visit Megan, Ivan and Anton. The kids will be one so we are hoping that will make it even more fun...hopefully :)
Pay off our Jeep- we have been meaning to pay it off for a few months now but something always seems to come up so we never do...
Build a deck- The deck on our house right now is about ready to fall down, plus it's kind of small, so we want to build one that goes along the whole back of our house. So if anyone feels like helping let us know :)
Explore Utah- This will be easy since Utah has so many fun things to do. For sure we are going to Arches National Park for Easter and Bear Lake in the summer...
Save money- This will be hard to do since we have so many things planned but we need to save money in order to do them...right :)
Get in Shape- Ok so having a baby really took the shape right out of me...and John :) We are looking into a hiking carrier for Gretal and maybe a pull behind trailer for our bikes so that will help.
Eat healthier- Since we moved to Utah we have been eating a lot of crap. So we are going to get back into the swing of things and eat healthier. We are also going to try new recipes. Once a week we will pick something out of a cookbook or online and make it...we will probably be ordering out a lot too then :)
Have friends come visit- Everyone is welcome!!

This year will be awesome...I just know it!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Merry Christmas everyone!! We are going to be in Spokane so if anyone wants to see us give us a call :)

I love Christmas...in fact after my birthday it's my favorite holiday. I love everything about Christmas...
Holiday light displays
Fun decorations
Christmas carolers
Christmas music on the radio
Goodies from neighbors and friends
The giving attitude everyone has
Christmas movies on the Hallmark channel (especially this year since I cry during the commercials...I officially have turned into my mother)
Watching White Christmas (I usually watch it with my sister but not this year...)
Hot cocoa and cider
My mom's pumpkin rolls and caramels
Making goodies for friends and neighbors (although I didn't this year)
Holiday parties
Gift exchanges
(a little bleep real quick...Gretal is sitting on my lap talking like she's telling me what to type)
Christmas pictures
and much more...but most of all I enjoy spending time with family and friends. It is so amazing to know that you are loved and cared for by so many people. We are so grateful for everyone of you and we want to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

Ok so now for the real reason you look at my blog :)

Thanksgiving

This year we have a lot to be thankful for. A lot has happened this year. We found out we were pregnant, John got laid off, we moved to a whole new place, we had to sell our house, Megan and Ivan moved to Germany and that they were also going to have a baby, my mom and I went to Germany to take Megan's cat's to her, we bought a house and had an amazing beautiful baby girl both within two weeks. We are thankful that John found a job that he really enjoys and that he can support us so I can stay home with Gretal. We are thankful for our families for helping us through the crazy and tough times of moving, having a baby and so on. We are thankful for our friends who have supported us in our decision to move and told us that they will come visit :) We are thankful for each other because without the support and love from each other we would not have been able to do everything we have done and be happy about it.
I love the holidays and I am excited to experience them differently this year. We are staying here in SLC for Thanksgiving and spending that time with Janene and her family and Grandma and Grandpa Vance are coming too. For Christmas we are going to drive to Spokane for a week and celebrate with both of our families.
I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

Pictures from our Spokane trip

We are home now. We had a lot of fun hanging out with friends and family.