The End is Near!

I always try to convince myself to blog more often, but I haven't felt like anything "significant" has happened. Then I thought I could at least give some updates:

We've ordered new carpet for the nursery, the same carpet we installed two years ago in our front room and hallway. Hopefully this will make our house fill even more complete and to our liking. Once the carpet is in, we'll put up the crib, and I'll finally post pictures of the nursey which I already adore!

I've got 6 weeks left until the baby is scheduled to arrive. Hopefully she doesn't come TOO early because I plan on working 5 more weeks. However, I hope I'm not sitting home for 3 weeks twiddling my thumbs, or rather jumping up and down. We've decided to name her Andrea Lyn... hopefully the "girl" verdict is accurate because we have no back-up boy names.

In everything I've read about pregnancy, I've been told that the 2nd trimester is the easiest, I disagree! The first trimester was definately the worse with the fatigue and sickness. The second trimester had my back aching and I had trouble sleeping. The third trimester has been great (so far) less back pain and I'm sleeping pretty much all night. My only complaint is that I've finally given into using pregnancy as an excuse to eat whatever I want. I'm sure I'll regret this as I'm trying to take the weight off, but I have no longer have will power.

Ryan has been gone a lot more as the snow fall increases, and so I just know I'll go into labor during a snow storm. I have no worries though, that he'll put his work ethic aside and come to my rescue. He really has been extremely supportive through the pregnancy, even though I don't accept help easily. He told his Grandma the other night "she sure doesn't act like a pregnant woman". I've just never liked the idea of feeling helpless, so I try my hardest to ignore this big belly.

It's a Thanksgiving Miracle!

I'm the type of person that likes to always plan things out in my head, I picture exactly how things are going to work. So I had this "timeline" laid out of when things would be done during the pregnancy. That timeline has gone out the window and I blame bead board! Ryan and I are working on the nursery. My "timeline" said it would be done before November, we'll that didn't happen.

We had been looking at our local Home Depot for the bead board we wanted for about a month and it was never in stock. So one evening we decided if they didn't have it (again) we would take a drive into Salt Lake. Well, 4 Home Depots later.... we came home with no bead board. So the next week we thought let's try it one more time on our way to pick up some dinner. Of course, the shelf was empty, however there were two new packets waiting to be stocked. Ryan found a worker and explained that "we are not leaving without it". So we waited for them to stock and unwrap it.

Finally our nursery has bead board up! And Ryan has been such a sport hauling the panels in and out to the shop to measure and cut, then putting up base molding to surprise me while I was at work and we finally have everything we need to finish!

And for a quick pregnancy update... here is a picture for those of you who have been asking, 7 months along.

Halloween

My Halloween post is a little behind, I apologize, but better late than never! This year our department was not nearly as enthusiastic as last year. I will blame it on my boss, Stephen, and I'm sure he wouldn't argue. Last year he put a lot of time into making some videos and a website and we still didn't win. So this year, our department decided to be "supportive" and dress up as your typical Halloween characters.

My company goes all out for Halloween; departments start decorating their areas in early October and when Halloween actually comes around, it blows my mind how extreme some people get. This year's contest winners were Most Creative: Crash Test Dummies, Best Theme: 1920s, and Scariest: Scary movie characters. My friend Kristi and I had the pleasure of going to the different branches to take pictures for the contest and I was so impressed. My votes were for the department dressed as "McDonalds" including Ronald, the Hamburglar, and workers. Also, the "Western" with call girls, cowboys, a stick horse corral, and poker table. Here are a few of the photos, unfortunately the McDonalds group is on my boss' camera.

Paws and Fingers

Isn't it great when you find a product that actually works the way it appears on the commercial? For those of you who haven't heard of it, let me tell you how pleased I am with Pedipaws!

Tessy's nails have been a problem for a while now, I used to take her to get her nails cut in the mornings on Tuesdays or Thursdays by a family friend. Well, my work schedule hasn't allowed that for quite some time and Ryan and I were getting fed up with the injuries caused by Tessy stepping on our feet or pushing off of our laps. After seeing the Pedipaws commercial, I thought we might as well give it a try. This tool, which is pretty much a Dremel with a cap on it, files the dog's nails instead of snipping them. The commercial claimed that dogs don't mind at all, but I was skeptical.

After following the instructions on "how to get your dog comfortable with Pedipaws" Tessy was fine with the device after only one sitting. We've used it a few times now and Tessy is so distracted by when she will earn her next treat that she doesn't even worry about the tool, it's been wonderful and I highly recommend it!

On the other hand, Ryan had a run in with a tool that was not so friendly... at work he gently bumped his finger against a hedge trimmer and ended up with 10 stitches on his left "birdie" finger. It's amazing how those 10 stitches can put a man down! Things have slowly improved, but the first days I had to spread cream cheese on his bagel, cut up his quesadilla burger, and help with hygiene issues. But I do enjoy taking care of him and it makes me feel needed when I change his bandages every morning and make sure he takes his anti-biotics.

We're all Making Sacrifices

Well, it's been an interesting month here at the Lee home. A lot of new changes have begun, but not all of them bad. I've been having trouble sleeping, mostly because I don't enjoy sleeping on my left side. So Ryan and I switched sides of the bed, so I face the edge of the bed, and invested in a body pillow. The first night Ryan complained that my side was too hard, and I agreed that his side was too soft. But now, after a week or two of toughing it out I think we both get a pretty full night's sleep.

Tessy is also making adjustments... but even as I type she is wandering around wondering where to lay, let me explain: our "spare bedroom" is now becoming the nursery. We have always had a queen bed in there that we have let Tessy take over. So every morning as I got ready for work she would hop up on the bed, do a little scratching, maybe a little grooming and settle in. We'll our plan is to keep the queen bed in the nursery so I can just sleep in there with the baby during rough nights. I didn't want Tessy germing up the new bed so we thought we would try training her to lay in a dog bed. We started out by just putting the new dog bed on the queen bed to get her used to it, she would lay against it but never in it. Well, now the nursery has been painted and the queen bed is upside down on the floor, and she feels like she has no where to lay. I've tried putting her in her new dog bed but she hops right out. I guess that's what we get for treating her like a princess.

The last adjustment is one that I have really enjoyed! Ryan and I usually spend most of our evenings downstairs watching TV but we both know that upstairs is warmer in the winter. So Ryan's idea of preparing for a baby meant purchasing a TV for upstairs. So the past week I have loved cooking and cleaning with Ryan there to chat with. It's nice having the big living room windows open as well, and not feeling so cramped and cloomy downstairs.

September Summary

During the month of September I had plenty of "I could blog about this" moments, but haven't had time to do it. So it took a sick day from work to begin a draft and a few mornings during breakfast, but here are the highlights.

United Way
On September 4th, I participated in the United Way Day of Caring with some other volunteers from my work. We enjoyed a free breakfast at the Gateway Mall and then stayed at the mall for our service project. Our project was assembling science kit project for 5th graders, but first we got a private tour of the children's museum. It was fun to see everyone enjoying the activities as much as any kid would. Once we began to work on the science kits, my table was assigned to writing letters on test tubes, it may not sound too exciting but the women at my table made it a lot of fun. At one point, I was asked to help in a different area (filing paperwork) and it broke my heart!

Peyton's Birthday
The following Saturday was my nephew Peyton's birthday, so we celebrated by going to the zoo and Chuck-e-cheese with the whole family. It was a fun day, I forgot how many exhibits there really are at the zoo. I think Ryan could have kept going for a few more hours but the rest of us were ready for lunch!Ultrasound

On September 8th, I had my second ultrasound, meaning we got to find out the sex of the baby. For those of you who haven't heard already... it's a girl! The ultrasound technician couldn't print a picture of the "gender" because of past lawsuits. She also emphasized that no ultrasound is 100% accurate when it comes to the sex of the baby, but said she was 90% sure and gave us the go ahead to buy some pink onesies. All other measurements during the ultrasound were where they should be and my due date got moved back up again by a week, wahoo! Here is my favorite ultrasound picture of her rubbing her eye.

Anniversary Weekend
Our anniversary happens to be the same day as Peyton's birthday, so we decided to celebrate it the following weekend and stay in Park City. Of course, Thursday night I started coughing.... this led to an interesting "romantic" weekend. Each day my cold got worse, and I tried my hardest not to let it interfere. We still hit the outlet stores and Main St, but we spent the evenings in the room just relaxing and trying to make the tissues last. Normally, I wouldn't consider going to Wal-Mart part of a "get-away" weekend, but we had stop there twice. Once for juice and hot cocoa, and the second time for tissues and a movie. Being sick is so different when you're pregnant. I had no appetite, but had to force myself to eat because I kept worrying about the baby, Ryan felt I still wasn't eating enough.

Canning

Last, but not least, my friend Kristi came over this past week and taught me how to can peaches. We canned peach halves and made some peach jam. I wish I would have taken more pictures of the process, but below is a picture of the "fruits of our labor". It was a lot of fun, and I think canning could be a potential hobby!

Baby blues

I hate posting without pictures because that is always my favorite part when reading everyone else's posts, but I haven't had anything picture worthy.

I feel like there isn't too much exciting going on right now, which is always a good thing.. no news, is good news right? Mainly I'm trying to make it through another week. Pregnancy is full of adventures no one told me about! Flat hair, dry skin, acne, nose bleeds, congestion, and restless nights (just to name a few).

We should find out the sex of the baby in 3 weeks, I can't wait! Until then we've started a baby name book, we've made it to B, and have highlighted one name. I think it's going to be the hardest part of all of this!

My first time!

Well this week I had a couple of "firsts" and I wanted to share my excitement. On Thursday I caught my first fish! Hooray! I had never been fishing before I married Ryan, so 4 1/2 yrs ago he equipped me with all the fishing necessities for my birthday. Since then, I've given it a good try (at least I think so). We had tried 5 different lakes/reservoirs throughout the state but no luck. Finally this Thursday, we tried the reservoir about 1 mile from our house and had quite a bit of luck. We each caught one, and had a lot of bites. We released them both because of their size, but I didn't care, my goal had been met! I promise that is hair in my face, not dirty teeth!



My next first was playing in a golf tournament. The credit union holds a golf tournament each year and this year was the first time Ryan and I participated. Each team consisted of four people, so Ryan and I played with my friend Opee and his brother Ben. It was a scramble format (play off of the best shot), which made the game a lot of fun! Let's just say we didn't play off of my shot that often, but I was pretty proud of myself. My teammates couldn't have been more supportive of me, so that really helped!

Would you look at that form!

My good-looking teammates.

To top the day off, Ryan and I both won a prize during the luncheon. He won golfballs and a self-powered radio. I won an "ipod touch", that's right folks... eat your heart out. I haven't had a chance to play with it yet, mostly because Ryan has. But I'll get my turn.

Updates

Well, the play is over... Hallelujah! I thought being involved in Theatre in High School took up a lot of time, but with a job and a family... this time was so much worse! During the last few weeks of the production, getting there on time meant leaving work early so I could grab dinner at home and leave. I wouldn't mind sacrificing so much if it was something I was passionate about, but I have discovered I am not! At least now I know that the theatre does not need to be a part of my life, my husband and family are all that I need.

Speaking of family, the pregnancy is going well. A few weeks ago we were lucky enough to have an early ultrasound and see the little peanut. It made me feel so much better to see that there is actually a baby in there. I'm guessing I'll find out what sex the baby is around the first of September, until then... the collections department at work says it's a girl due to the results of "the ring test". It doesn't matter at all to Ryan and I whether it is a boy or a girl, but somehow I was determined it was a boy. So after the ring test results, I really had to rethink the possibility of a girl.

California Trip

Sorry it's taken me so long to write about our trip, I've tried to numerous times but I can never seem to finish... a couple of weeks ago Ryan and I took a trip to California. We first drove west, far west, to San Fransisco. We had planned on touring Alcatraz but the tour was sold out for two days. Instead we took an hour boat ride under the Golden Gate Bridge and around Alcatraz. The boat went very close to Alcatraz island and slowed down quite a bit so we could get a good look. My only complaint was the cold weather, I rode inside the boat most of the time and only came out when Alcatraz was near, but I'm very glad we did it!

That night we drove down to Santa Barbara and stayed the night. This was one of our favorite memories, we loved the town, the hotel, the beach, and the food. I highly recommend visiting Santa Barbara to anyone!

We of course had to make a stop at Universal Studios, which we both really enjoyed. I like that Universal Studios has more activites and interactive attractions than Disneyland. The picture on the bottom right is the Waterworld show, it was very impressive! Plus, we met Marg so that was excited!

The next day was Disneyland and we hit all of our favorite rides first... Pirates of the Carribean, Haunted Mansion, the Jungle Safari. We went to quite a few rides and then had lunch, after that the lines were so long that we thought we would call it a day. So we picked some ice cream and headed out.

We came back home through Vegas and spent one night there. Then we spent another night in Cedar City with Ryan's grandparents and visited the rest of his family.

So, all in all, it was a really great time. The only thing I would change is the amount of driving, that got to be exhausting. And the morning sickness, I really hope it's over soon!

I can't... I have rehearsal.

Well, it's happened, again, play rehearsal has taken over my life. However, it is so much worse. Now that most of us in the play are "grown-up" we work full time jobs, and then have to commit to rehearsal each evening and every Saturday morning. But now that scenery is starting to pop up and dances are being learned, it feels like this production might actually happen. The picture is an idea of how "crisp" our choreography is so far.




The best part of course is the people, I've met some really fun people. Last night we all went to dinner afterwards and it made me feel like a high schooler again. Michael and Lindsey are the two on either side of me, and they graduated this year. Opee and Lyle are a little "older" like me, but Lindsey and Michael think we're all pretty cool, so we try to take full advantage of that.

Ryan has been so supportive... some nights we don't see each other until after 9:00 because he has been getting home late as well. This month we are going on vacation to California and it will be interesting to see how we'll react to spending a full week together. I'm very excited though, next week won't go by soon enough!

Tag!

This is a tricky one... you've got to read it to know if you're tagged.

A- Attached or single: Attached
B- Best Friend: Ryan
C- Cake or Pie: Cake
D- Day of Choice: Saturday of course.
E- Essential Item: Orbitz gum.
F- Favorite Color: Pink
G- Gummy Bears or Worms: worms
H- Hometown: Tooele, UT
I- Indulgence(s): Hot fudge sundaes
J- January or July: I think July
K- What happened to K?
L- Life is incomplete without: regrets
M-Marriage Date: September 6, 2003
N- Number of Siblings: 3 brothers, and 6 step-siblings
O- Oranges or Apples: Apples
P- Phobias or Fears: Fear of deep waters
Q- Quote(s): "It's fun, it's challenging, it's exciting, it's SEQUENCE" - Box of the Sequence board game.
R- Reason to Smile: A day off, being warm, taking a nap, taking a walk, a get-together with friends, Ryan opening the car door.
S- Season: Spring- not too hot yet.
T- Tag 4: Stacy, Kristi, Gregory, Jonathon
U- Unknown Fact About Me: I would like to be the Primary pianist at some point in my life.
V- Very favorite store: Probably Target
W- Worst Habit: picking at the bumps on my arms, I hate those things! I know I know, picking at them makes them worse but it's a boredom thing.
X Got left out as well!
Y- Your Favorite Food: Fajitas
Z- Zodiac: Aries

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Last weekend I was invited on a "girl's weekend" to Denver..."why Denver?", you ask. Well my friend Kristi had a friend getting married and wanted some company on the trip. So she asked me and our friend Tara (Opee's wife) if we would like to join her. It was so much fun! Tara and I were excited just to fly, Kristi is a frequent traveler, but it had been a while for us.

So Friday included, the flight, the car rental, hotel check-in, the wedding, outlet stores, and a comedy club. Pretty good for never visiting Denver before! Saturday we visited the "Unsinkable Molly Brown's" house. This was definitely a big highlight of the trip, I highly recommend it!

We also walked 16th street down town and then met up with OLD high school buddies. It was so fun to see Jared, Julie, and Marie again! Reminiscing with old friends does wonders for your happiness. It's sometimes sad to know that the old high school days are gone, but I am grateful that I had such amazing friends who still keep in touch!

There were so many fun little experiences and so many pictures taken, I couldn't possibly post them all. But I wanted to share the short version and tell Kristi and Tara how much fun I had. Being the only girl in the family, taking a girl's trip was a whole new experience and I know I'll cherish it!

Jared, Julie, and Marie: thank you for taking the time to visit with us. I love you guys so much and love all of the memories we have. It was great to see your lives now and Denver seems like a great place to live.

Hello Stage, I'm Back....

Well, I wanted to share with all of you that I will be on the stage once more. I haven't participated in any acting since graduating High School 8 years ago. But Ms. LaForge is beginning a community theatre and I was persuaded to auditon. I will be playing the part of the "Kitchen Wench" in "Once Upon a Mattress". It may be a small role, but I am grateful to have received a part with a name, well sort of a name.

I am really most excited about being in a production with old Alumni: Opee, Andrew, Lyle, and Shauna. It will be a blast! The performances will begin in mid July.

My weight success

Recently I have reached my goal of loosing 45 pounds, wahoo! Now my goal, of course, is to keep it off! To do so I have created Kristy's weight loss commandments. I figured if others actually read them, I will be forced to keep them:

5. If you are going to drink soda, drink diet soda. - This hasn't been a problem for me just because I am a soda craver, diet or not, the switch wasn't difficult. What makes me mad though, is that diet drinks have 0 caleries, where fruit juice, even gatorade carry calories. That's why I love finding other options like flavored water or G2, which both still have calories just less.

4. When at a fast food joint, order the grilled chicken sandwich and cancel the fries. - I have learned these are the closest thing to "healthy" you are going to find at fast food, unless they have salads (hold the dressing). I have actually come to grave grilled chicken sandwiches.

3. Eat Quaker Oats (lower sugar) oatmeal for breakfast. - This is another item I have come to crave, even after eating it nearly every morning for the past 9 months.

2. Days under my control, eat wise. - Somedays I don't have control over what is on the menu. Birthdays, holidays, trips, are all great reasons for me to give in and enjoy delicious treats. But during the work week, when I have control over breakfast, lunch, and dinner, I'm going to make wise choices.

1. Ask yourself "Is it worth it". - If the item in question is Tirimusu... the answer is usually "yes". But I try to think "eating this brownie, is worth a half an hour on the eliptical... is it worth it". Most of the time the answer is no, but if it's a rare treat I take the opportunity.

There you have it, my 5 commandments. So if you see me not doing these things, please tell me, the best success comes from support. Here is a before and after shot, I'm definately not bragging... I just never thought I would have a before and after when it comes to weight loss.

A Weekend Getaway

I don't have much time to blog this morning, but I know I've been slacking. I wanted to share my fun weekend with you all. We were invited to go to Zion's National Park and St. George on a weekend trip with some friends to celebrate their anniversary. The first night we stayed in Cedar City in Ryan's brother's empty house, stopped by the Grandparents the next morning, and then made our way to Zion's. It was a beautiful day, where we actually got to wear shorts! We did the Emerald Pools Hike, and it was so much fun. It felt good to get out and active in Nature. The next day we spent in St. George, touring some historical sites and shopping at the outlet stores. On Sunday, we took a big detour back through Zions for a scenic route. It was too short of a weekend, but it felt so good to get away!

HIKING IN ZIONS
BRIGHAM YOUNG'S WINTER HOME

Movie Tag

I've been tagged by Kristi, which I was excited about because I haven't blogged in a while, to take the movie survey:

Favorite movies you have to be "in the mood" for in order to enjoy:
1. The Simpsons Movie
2. The Music Man

Favorite movies that make you laugh out loud no matter how many times you have watched them
1. Wayne's World (both parts)
2. Christmas Vacation

Your favorite "Guilty Pleasures"
1. The Princess Diaries.
2. A Knight's Tale.

Favorite movies you have seen so many times, you can recite all the lines
1. White Christmas
2. Sleepless in Seattle

Movies that "Opened your eyes."
1. What Dreams may come.
2. Life is Beautiful

Most Overrated
1. Pirates of the Carribean (I do like it, don't get me wrong, I just think there are better movies out there)
2. Harry Potter

What were the last 2 movies you watched
1. Pirates of the Carribean, at World's End.
2. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (well I'm progressively watching it during my workouts)

Favorite "smart" movies
1. Any of the Ocean's movies.
2. National Treasure

Your spouse's/significant other's favorites
1. I'm guessing these but... Black Hawk Down.
2. Office Space.

Your all time favorites:
1. Back to the Future
2. Lord of the Rings

Wow, it was tough to think of just two on some of those.
Alright now I tag, Julie, Gregory, and Stacy. It will be interesting to hear other's answers.

Happy Valentines Day!

When your husband's job is to plow everyone else's snow, you're forced to get pretty good with a snowblower. So after many storms of practice, I thought I would hurry and take care of the snow last night. I cleared the driveway, sidewalks, and of course, a path for Tessy to potty. This morning, you would have never guessed that I had done anything.

Since the school district called off schools, I figured I deserve a snow day too! Actually, I just knew I wouldn't be able to get out of the driveway, so I took half the day off and spent most of it snow blowing.

I just had to take some pictures, because it was quite a sight!

This is Tessy's path off of the deck, she disappeared when she first jumped in this morning. As you can see by the look on her face, she is not a big fan of the snow!

These were the snow drifts hanging of our roof, I thought it was impressive!

So I hope all of you have a great Valentine's Day, at least the sun is shining outside now. I just hope to SEE my Valentine today, poor guy!

A little smack talk

So, rumor has it that there is some bragging going on in the blogging world about an arm wrestling match. Well, I'm here to set the record straight. Kristi will tell you all about how it got started but let me tell you when it really started:

Working for a company which employs not one, not two, not even three, but FOUR Kristys (or Kristis) makes a person feel defensive. So when one Kristi interrupts another Kristy, the game is on! So after winning a light-hearted arm wrestling match for the attention of the IS department my spirit was high. The second match involved a cell phone recording which I felt obligated to loose after such an easy overtaking of the first match. After sitting at my desk a few moments I realized, "I don't want the video to be of me loosing, when I can clearly win so easily". So yes, it's true, I called for a rematch.

That night while I was doing my weight training, songs such as "It's the Final Countdown" and "Your the Best Around" thumped in my mind... I was going to win. Long story short, I've got to hand it to Kristi, she was a worthy opponent and proved to be the victor. I now have even more respect for her, and the marketing department. And although she may have lost a little respect for me, I hope she can find it inside of her to bond together as the "upstairs Kristy(i)s". At least I know who to call if I need some back up in a rumble.

To check out the video and the full story, be sure to visit Kristi's blog.

Seeing the Big Picture

Well, sorry folks. This blog may be a little depressing, so consider youself warned before you read on:

I went and saw my father in the nursing home this Saturday. I haven't seen him since his stroke a few months ago, in fact, I hadn't seen in over a year. It's funny how sometimes the Lord pushes you in directions you've been avoiding. I received an anonymous phone call letting me know that someone in the care center was using my Dad's account for their own expenses. So I figured I better to get to the bottom of this and had to go to the care center to question the accused woman.

I used to think I could never resent anyone as much as I did my dad. But seeing him that day I couldn't help but love him, and I don't know how to deal with those feelings. My heart goes out to him, although I keep telling myself that he created this horribly lonely life.
On the other hand, as I was feeding him, and rubbing his neck part of me was thinking "you've dragged me back into your life. You've got me worried about your financial situation, worried about your care, so I'm no longer able to ignore you" which made me infuriated. But that's life, and there are no words to describe how unexpected life can be. Just when you think life is easy and worry free, God throws a curve.

In the few days I've had to absorb the situation, I've come to terms with my father, and have decided I will do everything I can to see that this last chapter of his life is handled as well as possible. I have recieved numerous phone calls about his financial situation and have had to take on much more responsibility for my Dad than I ever wanted to, but he's a different man. Seeing him in the state his in is making me remember more of the good about him, and I am grateful for that.

It's taken 12 years to see why the Lord has given me this specific trial, but I know now that it has made me be more patient and forgiving of human imperfections. Thanks for listening (or reading I guess)

Christmas... a month after.

I'm so bad at posting blogs because I feel like I never have anything new to say, but... hello! Christmas, I could post about Christmas! I have always loved being home for Christmas, Ryan and I have never traveled and we have no reason to. With both of our parents still living in Tooele we get to have our Christmas in the morning, go to one family's for more, and then the second family's for the rest. It's like one big long day of present opening and spending time with the ones you love, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

This year we had to wake up early to open each other's presents because our niece and nephew were at Ryan's parents this year, and we wanted to watch their excitement. So I think we started the day around 6:00 am and rushed to the Lees at 7:30. Santa was good to those kids, the living room was filled! We were cracking up at our nephew Peyton who said "Hey! Those aren't supposed to be in there" everytime he opened clothes. So after Santa time was over, we had to rush back home to get ready for brunch with my family at 11:00. We were having all of my family over to our house this year, so I had to prepare for brunch. I love the fact that all of my family is here now, by brother Ryan and his family lived in Washington for so long that we only saw them on Christmas occationally. But now, with the whole family living near Tooele, it finally feels right.

Although it was a great day, it felt like Christmas was over by 2:00, which I wasn't used to. Below our some pictures of Christmas with my family, I wish I would have thought to take some at Ryan's parents as well.

An original water color done by my brother Eric.

My brother Eric, sister-in-law Amy, niece Brigitta, Mom, and Jim.

My nephew Taylor, brother Ryan, and sister-in-law Melissa.