Snow Day

So for the first time since we have moved to Indiana it snowed enough last night to have it stay on the ground.  It was a beautiful storm with winds between 30 and 40 miles an hour.  To celebrate we had to make a snowman which fit quite nicely on top of our air conditioning unit.  This morning I was awakened at 5:30 in the morning with the phone call saying that we would be having a snow day.  What a perfect way to start off Christmas Break!! 

(Too bad that the only days school gets cancelled are when Holiday Parties are scheduled.  I was actually slightly disappointed to not be able to play Christmas Tree Bingo with the kids)

 Here is the expanse of our backyard (this photo was taken standing as close to our back door as possible to make it look a little bigger).  Note the grass underneath the snow which we are proud to say grew quite nicely for our first attempt at planting.

Hoosier Daddy

So our big news . . .

Rebecca Belle is on her way to our family!  She is due on April 5.

To celebrate, Michael and I had a half birthday party for my 20 week mark and the day after the ultrasound.

As of Nov. 15 Becca is 9 in. long and weighs 13 oz. 

(how in the world do they know how much she weighs?)

Some of her favorites:  string cheese at 9:50, fig newtons at 11:25, and almonds at 2:55; 

She does NOT like steak (to Mike's great dismay) or too much popcorn (to my great dismay)

We love you Becca!  

Our New Home

 We moved into our new home on Aug. 20.  We live in a town home community 4 blocks away from the church. We have more than twice as much room than last year, a little backyard, and live near 17other families in the ward.  We love it!

 

Picnics, Hiking, Bear Lake, and all things Summer!

 

  Mike and I found this picnic  basket in an antique shop in Arkansas.  I fell in love with it, and remade the inside.  Yesterday we took it on its maiden voyage picnic!

 

 Janice took us hiking up to Battle Creek Falls, and we had a picnic on the way.

Bear Lake was freezing, but fun!  Ruston was thrilled to be buried up to his waist and Lindsay loved filling the hole we were trying to dig in with dirt every time we were not looking.  Rick and Camille had us over at their house for delicious dutch oven, and we had fun in Cokeville with Mom, Dad, Amy & Grandma.

Thanks everyone for a fun summer!!

Spring Break in the Ozarks

The cabin at-a-glance

On somewhat of a whim, Mike and I decided that we would spend our spring break in Arkansas.  Another state checked off the map!
We found a great deal on a resort by Crown Lake. So here's the scoop . . .

Kayaking on the lake

visiting historic Hardy town

authentic Arkansas food (a gas station turned restaurant)
gotta love eating biscuits and gravy in the south!

Mammoth Spring
(this spring produces 10 million gallons of water per hour)

Blanchard Springs Caverns

We got to take the "discovery in the dark" tour
rather than turning on the lights we got the head gear
(oops I should have turned off the light for the picture)

picnicking by Blanchard Spring

The beautiful Ozarks

 It is going to be really hard to start real-life again, but we are so grateful for the fun trip we were able to have!

Family Photos

We were so blessed to go home for Christmas and to be able to spend time with both of our families.  We love you all so much and are so glad everyone was able to be together!