Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! Here are some picture of how Cody and I spent the holidays. This year it was the Brower's family turn to have us around and we sure missed the family that couldn't make it. The house was full of kids and excitement and I was able to spend some time with Cody's sister and her husband and girls who live out in West Virginia. It wouldn't have been Christmas without them! Bear Lake graced us with 20 degree weather in the day time so the snow wasn't even warm enough to pack a snowball. It was pretty cold! For Christmas Eve we did a dinner where everyone did something so I made Tortilla de Patata for the first time in two years. It's pretty much a glorified french fry and egg thick omlette and it was good! One re-adjustment I had to make was the time that presents were open. I think even when Chelsea was a little girl my family began pushing maybe 9 am to open presents. Not so with the Browers. 5 am. Seriously. Actually- before 5. I think someone got us up ten to 5. And let me say that in this stage of pregnancy any lost sleep is regarded more like the losing of a limb. So we got up and did the present thing and I went right back to sleep. Cody got help from all the nieces when he opened his presents. Unfortunately Cody and I had already maxed out our Christmas money on a new computer for him and a new camera for me so we set the limit at $10 for Christmas morning. Pathetic I know but at least it was something. So Christmas was great overall but I got to say that my favorite part was pulling out some pipe bells and with 5 of us trying to recreate Christmas songs. By the end I got to say that we were pretty good. It was weird not singing but the bells filled the musical need of the season. We're back at home now and are excited to get down to business preparing for a baby.
















































The last picture on the page is a picture of Cody's graduation. At first he didn't really want to walk but with enough persuasion he saw the benefit in it. And it meant a lot to his parents and to me as well. I'm so proud of him and even more proud because he's choosing to go on to Law School. What a smart man I married!

Here are some of the beautiful baby things that have come my way in the last little bit. First off I wanted to say thank you to my grandma for the beautiful quilt that she sent. I can't wait to wrap my little baby boy in that quilt made with so much love! It's something that I will treasure for a very long time to come! Also pictured is a nice little bassinet that I got used for only $20 bucks. And the gal threw in a bunch of baby boy clothes too! My favorite new thing by far is the crib we just got yesterday for $35 and the bedding that my mom bought for me. It is the cutest little cowboy print you've ever seen. I'll probably be staining the wood so it is dark like the bassinet. And I forgot to take a picture of my careseat so on the next blog look for a picture of the cowprint car seat (also a favorite of mine and also from Mom and Dad). I'm getting so excited with all of these fun baby things. Now if this little bundle would just hurry up and get here!





























These other two pictures include some of my pottery from this year and also Cody's new favorite project. I had a blast with throwing this year! Too bad about halfway through my class I was unable to throw on the wheel cause my belly got in the way. But I'm glad I was able to put out what I did. The picture of Cody is him putting together his first home made computer. It's the Christmas present we gave ourselves this year and you should have seen Cody's face when it arrived. He was like a little boy Christmas morning. I don't understand a bit of it but that never stops Cody from explaining it all to me while he's putting it together. So I've got my baby stuff that I'm enjoying and Cody has his computer to put together. I'm heading out today to visit my dear friend Carrie in Provo and my darling little sister Chelsea. I have decided however that this will be my last trip other than to the Brower's for Christmas. Driving has become so uncomfortable and I seem to sleep poorly in anything other than my bed. All a part of the joy of being pregnant!

Sleigh bells ring... are you listen'n

I don't have much time to write but I found my camera (it was in my car that I let my sister-in-law use) so I thought that I would at least put up some pictures. Of course there have to be horse pictures involved and I thought that I would also include some of Cody and I setting up our tree. It turned out really cute but it's hard to see the darling ornaments I bought. True to Idaho tradition Cody and I went up to the woods with his parents to cut down a live tree for only $10. It's been one of my new favorite traditions since marrying into the Brower family. And the tree lasts forever because it doesn't have to be transported for days and die in the process. So this is the little tree we picked and I love it. Last year I had in mind a huge beautiful tree and it took an hour for me to settle on one. This year I came with the realization that wild trees just don't look as full as the expensive store bought ones and it only took me 10 min to see this one and cut it down. That also might have stemmed from being pregnant and not wanting to trudge through the snow for an hour. Regardless these are the pictures and it made me realize Cody and I need a new camera really bad. Especially before the baby comes cause this camera is taking really horrible pictures. So if anyone knows of any deals right now do share. I'd like one that will not disappoint but that will also be a fair price. Love you all and happy holidays!

Baby Time!

Well I finally located the ultrasound pictures and thought that they would be nice to put up even though they are months old. So any of you that are still in doubt about whether or not I'm pregnant or just getting chubbier- here's the proof you've been waiting for. Little Gage Lynn (the name I'm pretty sure we've decided to go with) has been doing great. He is moving all the time and will sometimes give me kicks that take a bit of the wind out of me. I think he's going to be big and strong like his daddy but hopefully not too big. After all- I just was looking at Cody's birth certificate and he was born 9 pounds and 1 ounce. Such a big baby! As for him being strong like Cody he's going to have to be. Already he's survived being thrown from a horse, jumping off a waterfall, and now hiking 5 miles up a 1500 foot ascent called Angels Landing in Zion National Park. I didn't intend to go that far but I was surprisingly not tired that day and just kept going. That's why Gage is tough- not like he had a choice when I was doing all that stuff but I like to think that even in my tummy he's already instilled with a sense of adventure.
Thanksgiving this year was a blast with only 1 broken back, 1 scratched neck, 1 bee sting and several close calls of almost being squashed by a 4 wheeler. Poor Dad finally went to the doctors to find out that he fractred one of his vertebrae. Crazy guy! We stayed in some nice little cabins outside the East end of the park and spent our days hiking, horseback riding and riding ATV's on the sand dunes. I would like to point out that the one activity that I was forbidden to do (horseback riding) was harmless and the other two ending up being the most dangerous. The entire list of injuries above came from the ATV's and the day after we hiked Angels Landing a women fell from a height of 1000 feet and died. Then again I get to ride horses all the time so I wasn't too bummed about it. That's about all I have in way of random news. I haven't been able to locate my camera since Thanksgiving so as soon as I find it I'll do some more updates with pictures. Happy Holidays everyone!