One Last Hurrah!!!!!

For Memorial Day weekend we decided to head down to sunny California for our last hurrah before the baby comes. We left last Thursday and what a strange day it was. Last Sunday through Wednesday, temps were in the 80s and nice and sunny but Thursday came and so did the storms. Apparently there were quite a bit of tornado warnings north and east of Denver. Luckily it didn't effect our flight too much. We were about an hour delayed than sat in a "traffic jam" for about 20 minutes since there were 16 planes ahead of us waiting to take off. Once we were in the air, it was smooth sailing until we got to LAX and saw that it was pouring rain over there! By the time we got our bags the rain had let up and the sun was starting to peak out. We took the Van Nuys Flyaway to meet my parents. What was supposed to be a 45 minute drive ended up being 1 1/2 hrs. Let me just say that both the baby and I were not too thrilled. It was 9:00 pm Denver time by the time we got to Sam Woo for dinner and we were starving. Nonetheless, dinner was fabulous.

Friday, I decided to take Troy to the Reagan Presidential Library. I think the last time I had been there was in 8th grade for our 8th grade political convention. I was part of the state of Hawaii and still remember to this day what the state fish is...humuhumunukunukuapuaa. There was a special exhibit showing all the different styles Nancy Reagan which was pretty cool. (Even cooler is that in 4th grade, I met the first lady.) They also have the retired Air Force One plane. I would have to say that it was a lot smaller than I expected but it was really cool to walk through. We also got to see a portion of the Berlin Wall and President Reagan's gravesite. Afterwards, we went with my parents to go see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I would have to say I prefer the older movies to this one but it was still entertaining.

Saturday, my mom threw me a baby shower. It was a ton of fun and our little gal will be very well dressed. I can't believe how tiny some of those clothes are. I feel like the baby is already huge in me that there's no way she's going to fit in some of them but I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Later that evening there was a family gathering. I think it's funny whenever I ask my mom who I can expect to be there she just tallies off the numbers so number 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, and 10 were present along with some of my cousins and their kids. It was a fun night and even moreso that we were finally able to play MarioKart with more than just Troy and I. *Will and Kristin, you will be happy to know that we bought the connection thing so we should be able to play with you once Troy gets it all set-up.

Sunday, was a nice and relaxing day. We went to church, had lunch, and then I proceeded to have a 3 hour nap. I haven't had that long of a nap in forever but it was much needed. I even didn't have any problems falling asleep that night.

Monday, we went and had dim sum in Chinatown. We even got to see a baby pigeon fall our of the sky. Even as ugly as it was, I still felt bad for it. We then went to the Long Beach Aquarium. That place was pretty cool. Our favorite exhibit was the tropical reef where they had a demonstration on feeding the fish. It was a feeding frenzy. I think I would have been a little scared if I had that many fish swarming around me. We also saw seals and sea lions, sea otters (they are super cute), and a bazillion different types of fish. Another cool exhibit we saw were shark eggs. We could see the sharks developing inside. Unfortunately we didn't get a picture of those.

Tuesday, we flew home and picked Lexie up from Aaron and Robyn's. THANK YOU POWELLS FOR WATCHING HER!!!!!!!!! We are glad to be home and like Troy said last night, Let the nesting time begin!!!!!!!!!

T minus 10

Tracie hit the 30 week mark on Friday, and we are excited to be in the last 25% of the pregnancy. That also means that we only have a short time to finish a lot of the preparations for the baby. With that in mind we accomplished a couple of things on Saturday. First of all was painting the baby's room. We finished the vast majority of the painting, but we still want to put up a chair rail (where the blue tape is).

Since it is not finished yet, I am under strict orders not to post any pictures that gives away too much. You can see the two colors we are using in the first picture, and I will tell you that the yellow is on top, and the orange is on the bottom. We also took a tour of Sky Ridge Hospital, where we will be delivering. It was a very good tour, but it was a little surreal to stand in the labor/delivery room. I guess we always knew that this pregnancy would lead to an actual baby, but it was a little startling being confronted with that reality!

We also got a package in the mail from Dan and Rachel. Thank you very much, and since we can't show her playing with it yet, you will have to be satisfied with Lexie playing with the box!

On the work front, I took my exam on Tuesday. I'll spare everyone the gory/boring details, but I feel pretty good about it. I'll find out if those feelings are valid in about 6 weeks. For now I will just enjoy the guilt-free spare time with no pressures of having to study. Tuesday night I flew to Chicago for a client meeting/dinner. It was a nice dinner, with plenty of schmooze, but I was glad to come home to Tracie on Thursday.

Lastly, one of our friends had a birthday party on Friday night. They had a really good BBQ and it was good to get to know some of the other couples in the area. If we ever get our deck approved and put in, maybe we could throw a party ourselves!

Happy Birthday to Bean!!

(It's a horrible pic of me. The guy didn't say when he was going to take the pic.)

I would have to say that we had quite the productive weekend. Saturday morning I woke up at 4:45 to go to the bathroom and proceeded to stay awake. Since the sun comes up at the butt crack of dawn, meaning that it's nice and light by 5:45, I decided that I would finish the book that I had been reading. I finished it around 7:15 then took a little cat nap and woke up at 8:00. Troy and I decided to head out to breakfast for a pre-Mother's day meal to IHOP. I was pretty good. Then we headed over to Lowe's and bought a weed wacker, seeds for our garden, and picked paint samples for the baby's room. Picking paint colors is not a very easy task so luckily we headed over to Robyn and Aaron's for her birthday fun so she could help me out. We went out to dinner with some of her in-laws to Cinzetti's. Cinzetti's has got to be the best Italian food buffet ever. Afterwards the rest of Aaron's brother headed down to their apartment where we head cake, cupcakes, and ice cream. It was delicious.

Sunday was Mother's day and Troy treated me by letting me sleep in and catch up on the sleep I missed out the day before. Then he made me waffles for breakfast. Mmmm. The youth in our ward, every mother's day, makes boutinneires (?) for the guys to buy and help out with whatever they're trying to fundraise for. Well, I'm not a huge fan of wearing flowers and Troy knows that but we decided that it's a lose/lose situation because if he doesn't buy one then it looks bad because he didn't get one for me and he's not supporting the youth so I gave in and pinned one on. I just don't like the hole that it leaves when you take it off. Anywho, we only had 6 kids as opposed to our usual 10-13 kids for primary so I think the mothers of our primary class decided to pitch in and give me a nice a relief for mother's day. :) All in all it was a great day with great weather. It's hard to believe that this time next year I'll actually be a real mom. Yikes!!!!!

April Showers????

I thought the saying went "April showers bring May flower" but in this case it's "April showers bring May showers." Where's the sun and the nice spring weather?!?!?!?!?

12 weeks and counting!!!!!

I figured that it was about time I posted a recent picture of me. I had a doctor's appointment and I'm right on target of where I should be in weight and measurement (?). She's been moving around a ton lately and even gives me little nudge if I try to nudge her. I still can't believe how quickly time has gone and how quick July 25th will be here. We have lots of stuff planned from now until then and we're excited. We'll be headed to CA for Memorial Day weekend. Then Ryan and Erin will be moving in with us for about a month in June and then a ton of people visiting between June and July.

Acorn doesn't fall far from the tree

So Tracie's Dad is in town for business, so he took us to dinner (thanks!) and then we brought him back to the homestead for some Mario Kart action. Ed liked the wheel, and was much better at the races than the battle. It was a nice change of pace.

What do you think about during church? We thought of girl names, and middle names. We have a couple we like. Want to hear them? Sure, just wait 11-12 more weeks.

Saturday we went bowling. We forgot the camera, but I thought Tracie did really well for being pregnant. We had Thai food for dinner, and then back home to relax. We are excited that spring has set in, although that means pulling weeds and mowing the lawn.

Go Away!!!!!

Snow, snow go away. Come again at the end of the year for little Tracie wants to play.

After a slew of glorious and beautiful days of sunshine Mr. Snowstorm decided to show his face hopefully for the last time this season. The last 3 days have been in the mid to high 70's and I think the high for today is mid to low 40's. Boo!!!!! Hopefully my tulips and daffodils will survive.