Progress!

So I haven't posted too much pregnancy progress so I thought I'd do that today to keep a few of you happy!

The dates aren't exactly right because I didn't keep great track of when these pictures were... but they're roughly right! Enjoy!

22 weeks:


24 weeks:


32 weeks:


Another about 32 weeks:


37 weeks with our mini christmas tree:

Holidays!

Katrina...Contain your excitement, calm down... OKAY! I CAN'T CONTAIN IT!!

As of tomorrow afternoon, 3pm, I am on holidays! YAY! Being a school teacher, whilst disturbing, does have perks :)

So, what to do with my time? I wish I could say I was going to do what I am meant to do and put my feet up and relax... but it is unlikely. I need to set up the baby room, find a nice picture to put on their wall in our bedroom, and I'd like to sand and re-finish the piano,. The only BIG task there is the piano and I suppose I can enlist some help. I'll try to find some time there to laze in the pool and walk the dog also.

It is very exciting to me to consider that I may not return to full time work for a large number of years. I'm a realist and know that financially I'll probably work a couple of days a week once maternity leave is over, but no more full time? Woo hoo! I understand that being a mum is challenging, hard work. But I am super excited for what is to come.

Christmas is 2 weeks from Saturday, the baby is due in less than 5 weeks. I can see that time is going to FLY by!

I like to move it, move it

Yes, we're moving!! I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am.

I'm less excited about the actual moving process, but having a new house will be SOOOO AWESOME!

Even more exciting is that we have bought the place. Our first home! It settles on Friday. We transferred the balance of the deposit to the lawyers today (yikes...) and we're ready to move on Saturday. I'm grateful in advance for the wonderful friends and family who are coming to help to ensure this 35 week pregnant woman doesn't try to do too much!

So here is what we are moving into:


Yep, it's a townhouse. But it's pretty :)

And here is the part I am MOST excited about:


Yep, a kitchen that not only has an oven, but also a stove, bench space and a double sink. Oh and tiles on the floor instead of carpet. So much excitement!

Can't wait :)

And in other news... Natalie, my sister, got endowed a couple of weeks ago. We took a few pictures outside the temple and here is my favourite. It's great because it shows us candidly laughing, and petting my delicious baby bump. There are times when I find my family adorable. And Josh. He looks hot in this picture.

Getting 'Round'

In the past couple of weeks, my belly has really grown. There is no disguising that there is a beautiful baby growing in there anymore. Let's face it, I'm almost 6 months pregnant, so it was bound to happen!

I have been having a few issues with getting big. I have always been thin, exercised a lot, and been fit and healthy. So having my body change shape this way has been a little hard for me to deal with.

Luckily, I have a wonderful husband who always makes me feel better about who I am when I am having a 'melt down'.

So, I've decided to embrace my growing body. Becoming a mother is a special thing, something I'm very grateful for, so now I need to prove it by loving the changes it causes in my body too :)







Because Josh is so awesome, I'll also share a couple more of his practise shots. I think he's got such a good eye for what looks good! He hasn't even started doing any photoshopping... Can't wait til he does! I'm so proud.

These are all taken as he has been getting 'round' our city!

Christttyyyy!!

Christy is very crafty. Which could create some great alliteration as her name starts with C. If only my Year 8 English class could grasp the concept of alliteration.

ANYWAY!! Christy is hosting a crafting competition. So, pop on over and check it out!

My Own Little Bit of Happily Ever After

Recently I was asked to guest post on Bobbie's Blog. Here is what I sent to her, but thought I'd put it on mine too. If you'd like to view her blog, click here.

I have something really special. I have a family that will last forever.

My idea of what a family is has changed as I have gotten older. I come from a family of seven children: 5 girls and 2 boys. I never really thought we had a big family until people would say so! I loved having so many siblings. It was just normal. Everywhere I went I had a friend to talk to. I shared a room with more than one sibling for half my life, shared clothes, shared talents, and shared dreams. I don’t remember ever feeling lonely.

Here is my big family in the year 2000.


I loved the idea of having a big family of my own one day. I was sure I wanted to have five or six children. That was until I met my wonderful husband, Josh. He brought with him a little perspective. He was from a family of two children. Two! That was mind boggling to me. Like, who did you play with? Who did you stand around the piano and sing with? Who was in your family band? Who were the students when you played schools? How could you have a game of stuck in the mud? These were my questions, of course stemming from my own experiences. I couldn’t understand how a small family was even possible.

My siblings and I with Josh on our wedding day.


Then I realised, both are wonderful. Plus, I’m the woman! I’d be the one who’d have to give birth to these children and then love and care for them (for the most part). It was an epiphany - There are all different types of families. It didn’t HAVE to have a big family; it just had to be a happy family. And I am thrilled to have a family of my own in whatever shape or size it becomes. As long as it is forever.

Because of the blessing of a temple marriage, Josh and I will be together forever. I am 22 weeks pregnant with our first child, and this wonderful little baby boy that is growing inside of me will be the first of our children who also has the honour of spending forever in our family. I am excited for the new challenges and happy moments that are to come. I don’t know how many siblings will follow him, I just know that we will do EVERYTHING in our power to make sure they are the happiest little people in the world.

With parents this wonderful, how could they not be happy :)

Josh's Blog

My stud muffin husband started a blog. He's so cute.

At the moment it has ONE post! How exciting. But it will be filled with all kinds of his thoughts and adventures.

He recently bought a new camera, so I'm sure you will see his talents as they bloom :)



Soooo go check him out. HERE!

It's A....

Hilarious Dreams

With pregnancy has come many new experiences. One of these is hilarious, vivid dreams.

Just recently, I dreamt that a lady at work was heavily pregnant... she was not excited about this dream. Then, the next day another lady at work was with me at Sea World and we were buying scarves. Shortly after, and this one is a doozy, I dreamt that Josh was engaged to another woman to be married (as well as to me) and couldn't understand why I had a problem with this. When I told him, he found this pretty disturbing. Lucky I can laugh!

All of these dreams are not like my normal dreams. You know where there is a story but you kinda know it's not real. These ones are detailed and bizarre. It's like my own little circus in my mind! Part of me likes it, and part of me thinks I've gone stark raving mad!

Anyway, it's all part of the fun. Hopefully they don't go from funny to scary...

The hotness that is us

Maioha Orth is soooo talented! She took pictures of us and there are lots that we love! She made relatively unphotogenic people feel hot! This is quite the feat!! If I knew how, I would do the linky thing so you could all click on her photography blog. Look her up - Onyx Photography. Here are a couple of our favourites.

RACQ? More like Misdiagnosis Anonymous

Warning.. this blog post is not as chipper as most! Hehe

For those who don't know, RACQ is a roadside assistance company that come and saves you if your car breaks down, has a flat tire, etc. This is the first year I have been a member because dad has always been in the same city and he is MUCH more useful than roadside assistance. A) Because he is free B) Because he always gets it right.

This year I have had two run ins with RACQ which have led me to believe they are a waste of money. Explanation:

1. One day in about March, I drove out to Springfield to see a friend and stopped into Coles to buy some ice cream. When I came out my car wouldn't start. I thought this was a perfect job for RACQ, so I called. After waiting around one and a half hours for his arrival, a little Indian man tells me that the remote in my key is broken and not communicating with the car so I need to get the car towed to a Holden dealer for a new key. So after spending half the next day towing my car all over the country to a variety of locations (because Holden were unable to help), I spent hundreds of dollars only to discover that there was an electrical problem bigger than ben hur and my car was basically a write off. Not only should the RACQ man have been able to tell me this, but if he had I would have saved a fortune.

2. On Friday afternoon, my car overheated as I was driving home from work. Realising I likely hadn't put water in my car recently enough, I called and told the operator I needed someone to bring me water. The guy comes, quicker than the last one, and with his filthy beard and grubby hands, he arrives with about 1L of water when he needed 5. Uh hello! I told you people I needed water! Anyway, then he also tells me that my radiator has a leak and I need to get it towed and either replaced or fixed. Great. So again, trusting that he is correct, I get the car to a nearby safe location. These people are mechanics right? I mean, if all it takes is greasy hands and a beard, sign me up!! So anyway, on Saturday, Josh and I spend the day buying a radiator and replacing it the one in my car.. ONLY TO DISCOVER it was actually a leak in the overflow container, not the radiator. Imagine my irritation after spending half a day and half a fortune. Again, if they guy just got it right, I would have bought a $10 part instead of a $300 part for my car.

So this is why I hate RACQ. Misdiagnosis Anonymous. This is why they are receiving some horribly nastily worded complaint letters today. And some phone calls. And will no longer get any of my money!

Perhaps you have a similar tale to share?

Bucket List

A few people have been writing these lately, and I thought I should write down a few ideas too! I'm sure it'll be a list that is constantly updating, but why not start now!

1. Have a family (this is on it's way)
2. Sing in a music group with my sisters.
3. Sing in a musical on stage.
4. Be able to run 10K.. fast..
5. Build and OWN our own home on acreage... have sheep.. a fireplace.. ya know.
6. Go to Indonesia with Josh.
7. Be good at playing the piano. Ie. be able to sightread stuff easily.
8. Have a home business I love that earns a lot of money!

Ok that's all I can think of right now, but it's a start! I'll add more later.

Questions

1. Why do we need a gall bladder?

Yesterday, I could barely move for about 8 hours as I writhed in pain of the abdominals. After a 3 hour wait in the emergency room (which yes is a horrible wait while writhing in pain), I come to find out that it's a fairly normal thing to happen when you're pregnant. Really? Because it didn't feel normal. When he asked me where my pain was from 1 to 10, I was like 'well I haven't given birth yet so I don't know where 10 is.. but this would have to be the worst pain I have ever felt... so 8 or 9'. Apparently your gall bladder can get sluggish and cause severe pain. Awesome. Which brings me to my next question.

2. What is the point of the emergency room?

I got there, couldn't speak, explained that I was pregnant, had to sit down for fear of fainting, had hurl all over my clothes (that was a special visual image for you all I'm sure) and was visibly in severe pain. It still took 3 hours for a doctor to see me. Now you tell me, does that sounds like I was seen to as if it was an emergency? Uh.. no. Of course, it wasn't really an emergency, but at that point in time they didn't know that. I could have been having a miscarriage or something, for all I, or they, knew. And the pain on those uncomfy chairs.. yikes! Which brings me to my next question.

3. Why does anyone do this to themselves?

We spend 9 months vomiting, feeling sick, getting fat, having horrible digestinal problems, and a range of other strange and uncomfortable things. Then, it practically murders us getting it out! Yet most women want to do it.. not only once, but multiple times! I am one of these sick, ridiculous women. I guess it's the fact that our bodies are capable of creating life, and the wonderful baby we create at the end of it all. Which, of course, brings me to my next (and final) question.

4. WHAT HAVE I DONE!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(This is a happy AHH, but still, freaking out slightly!)


This is my 'gulp' face...

Introducing....

Fun, huh?!

Peanut Butter Sandwich

I have always been pretty impartial to peanut butter. But as of Thursday, I no longer like it at all...

It began when I decided to have a little snack before heading to the gym. I didn't want to get hungry there (because it was about dinner time) and I also didn't want to have eaten a full meal. So I just made a slice of bread with peanut butter. Then, I went outside to play with the dog. You know, gotta love the dog before you go out or she gets all whiney.

Well, very soon after being out there and running around, I felt the peanut butter was coming back up. So I ran and made it to the garden. Phew. Out came some peanut butter sandwich in a rather violent motion. The dog thought this was great and got down there to lick it up. That is gross enough. But, unfortunately another 'incidence' of peanut butter was on it's way out to land in the same location... which now was right on top of the dog. Yes, I threw up on my puppy!!

I was too repulsed that I couldn't clean it off her then... so I left it. I'm so disgusting! I went to the gym, and on the way I called Josh and told him the story. After laughing hysterically, he reminded me of how repulsive I was for not bathing her straight away. Don't judge! I couldn't do it!!! I felt fine at the gym... after all I was just doing yoga...

Once I came home, I was less repulsed and ready to wash the dog. So I got out the hose, gave her a spray, and got rid of at least most of it.

She got a real bath today. I had to wait for Josh to come home. Poor thing (yes, both of them)....

Flowers are a girl's best friend.

My current brilliant idea is to become a wedding florist. I know - "Katrina, you have 2 degrees. Isn't that enough?" Frankly, no. I want it all!

Every mormon woman in Brisbane (and it's surrounds) at present seems to be or be becoming a photographer.. weddings, babies, etc. So I thought, perhaps a florist might complement that booming (and rather saturated) market. Good thinking, eh?

I have researched and found that to be a wedding florist or learn those skills, there are no short TAFE courses as I hoped there would be. There, sadly, are only year and eighteen month long courses that cost like $4000. Not interested! I've invested enough money into an education for now...

So.. This is my plea. Do you, or do you know anyone, who knows how to make wedding flowers that could invest a few hours to show me the basics? The rest I could learn as I go... but I need some basics. So... THINK! And let me know who, or what, you know :)

To buy or not to buy....

So, my delicious husband and I are wanting to buy a block of land. Now, the title is a little misleading because we've already decided we want to buy... we just need to decide on which one! This is the tough part.

We, for the past fifty Saturdays in a row (okay, so maybe like four Saturdays... but it feels like more) have been visiting the area we want to buy in and looking around the estates, annoying real estate agents, and looking at land. I used to think, "It's just land.. there's no house yet, so surely it's easy to choose!" WRONG! It's hard to choose the perfect one. Do you want a larger block or a nicer view? Do you want a perfect rectangle or a bit of shape? Do I want it here, or there? Should we pay the extra $30,000 for the PERFECT block or settle for something a little less than perfect and save a bunch of money. Which one will Ruby (our gorgeous new puppy) like best? These are the thoughts.

Well, whichever block we decide on, it'll happen soon! Be excited! Then, soon after (or maybe a bit later... whatever we decide - AHH DECISIONS!) we will build our dream home... which by the way we have already chosen :)

While it is hard to decide, I am grateful for this decision. I could be deciding between which cardboard box to slide into at night for a bit of shelter, or whether to eat that mouldy piece of bread or this rotten mandarin (EW!). We are very blessed and have the ability to meet our needs and even some of our wants. It may take hard work, but it's worth it.

Ahh CHOO!

A dashingly attractive couple chats quietly as the car drives down the road. They listen to the radio, and when a good song comes on they turn it up and sing along. Why not, right?

Suddenly, out of nowhere, the guy feels a slight tickle in his nose. Itchy, light scratching that slowly builds. This is it. A sneeze is coming on.

He knows he has two options: a) wind down the window at full speed and sneeze straight out the window, or b) sneeze, quickly wind the window down at ultra speed, and fan the sneeze out the window ensuring every last particle goes out so that his wife cannot smell, see, or imagine that any particles of sneeze remain in the car. He chooses the first option. Good choice.



Ok... so... that is a true story. I admit it! I have issues with sneezes the car. Today, however, I sneezed and forgot to open the window. Me? The sneezophobic crazy lady forgot to put the window down and allow my husband to breathe after my sneeze. It's ok... it only took Josh saying 'Gee, I wish sneeze germs weren't all over me' to realise, and I did what I should have done, and put the window down.

What is it about sneezes, in the car in particular, I find so repulsive? Is it the squillions of germs being catapulted into a small confined space? Yes I think so. Is it the odour of flem that sometimes comes along with a sneeze? Yes I think so. They are just gross!

You know what though? If it wasn't for sneezes, I wouldn't laugh so much. I wouldn't get to enjoy the high pitched, the low pitched, the sneeze raspberry. So I guess, there is good and bad. Just with everything else in life. Lucky I have learned to look for the good.

"You gotta accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative and latch on to the affirmative. Don't mess with mister in between!" Sing with me now.. lalalala....

Endure... no wait...Improve to the end

I have decided that while enduring doesn't always mean 'dealing with tough things', the connotation of the word just doesn't do it for me. I prefer to think of it as 'improving to the end'.

For me, this means not only improving in terms of how I fulfil my calling, service and general spirituality. It also means improving in terms of work, my relationship with friends, family and of course Josh, improving my attitude and my fitness.

So how am I going in these areas?

Well, I am really enjoying my new calling. Serving in Relief Society has helped me to enjoy the ward more. I realise that I stake calling really removes you from being able to build relationships so I'm enjoying that. Feeling more connected somehow helps me to feel the spirit more... so I have been enjoying church alot more. On Sunday at Conference I sang in the choir and had a great experience with that too... so things are certainly on the 'improve' there.

In terms of work. My last blog outlined the horrible jerks that had been in my class (PS. don't call a teenager a jerk. It is not only a rude thing, but also a retarded looking new dancing style that they love to demonstrate. Kill me.) Well, recently things have improved. I'm learning who to ignore, who to kick of the class and then ignore, how to deal with bad behaviour in better ways, and building good relationships even with bad kids.

My favourite part of school this week: On Monday, a Year 9 boy told me that a year 11 kid told him that I have a big bum. I replied 'that's nice. why was he telling you this?' He said "I dunno! He just came up and told me!!' Anyway, I just moved on thinking it was funny. Then today, coming out of a classroom, he was there again with a bunch of his pals. He said 'hey, _______(name I can't remember) said she has a bit butt'... they all laugh... and then I said 'hey, would you like me to tell everyone which of your body parts I think are big or small?' causing his friends to laugh MUCH harder at his expense.

This is kinda the approach I'm enjoying at the moment. You tease me, I stick it in your face. Teacher: 1, Kids: 0.

My relationship with Josh is always good. He's such a champion. Really. I won girls.

Fitness... hmm... my ability to go to the gym was decreased recently due to a horribly sore shoulder. Now that it is slightly better, I should really be going every day again. However, I haven't quite got there yet. Alright... goal for tomorrow... go to gym!

Time to work off that big bum, I guess.

Disappointment

I'm like a 3 year old. I have GREAT difficultly dealing with not getting what I want. I mean, who could say no to this face?

It's crazy, but apparently some people can.

Punks.

Happy Wife, Happy Life!

I'm sure many of you have seen the Bollywood version of Pride and Prejudice... aptly named 'Bride and Prejudice'. Well, there is a special (and yes, I do mean 'short bus' special) song on there about happy wife leading to happy life. I think my darling Joshua has learned recently how true this is!

As much as I like to think I'm pretty level headed and chill, things at work have been slightly irritating leading me to feel more than slightly irritated at home at times. Let's face it, I'm not always level headed and chill. But I can say whatever I want - this is my blog!! :) I had all these great ideas about changing in the world through education. Gee uni fills your mind with a bunch of hooey! I begun passionately and was excited! However, just five weeks into the piece, I have been sworn at, had things thrown at me, had books grabbed from my hands, been called all kinds of names... and occasionally, smiled at (but I like that!).

Days such as these tend to cause a little bit of stress. I just don't understand why kids are so angry at the world. Seriously, parents... BE NICE TO YOUR KIDS! It's mind boggling and so eye opening.

Anyway, so Josh treated me to a study free weekend... meaning, he took the weekend off his police studies to hang out with me! It was great. And it led to a wife feeling much happier come Monday. We didn't do anything particulaly different... went out to dinner, rearranged our bedroom (change is as good as a holiday!) and went to church. The norm! But it was nice to be able to do all that together.

So as I write this, the wonderful man is in our room studying like crazy. But, he is happy. I am happy. And we will continue to be happily in love for many, many more days to come!

Christmas Bells Are Ringing....

I LOVE CHRISTMAS!

Any day that allows me to spend time eating delicious food, having fun with family, and listening to christmas carols is a great time of year! This year we had planned to go to Townsville to spend time with Josh's side of the family, but because we went last minute to America we couldn't really do it. So instead, we spent it with my side of the family instead. My beautiful older sister Lenora opened up her home to us not once, but twice for Christmas festitivities. We had two Christmas dinners because Andrew and Rachel were going to New Zealand for Christmas so we had a pre-Christmas so we could be with them.

Here is the Christmas Card we sent out via email. If you didn't get one, consider this yours :)
Here is beautiful Anna with Andrew and Rachel's new daughter, Cassidy. Aren't they both adorable?

This is the table all set and the fooding begun at Pre-Christmas. Big smiles!

Anna, Natalie, Cassidy, Ryan, Kristen and mum and dad in the background.

I convinced the family to line up like this in age order. It reminds me of the Sound of Music when they line up and do the 'Cuckoo's'.

Present opening at the second Christmas. Kristen, James, Ryan, Nat and Josh.

In the little pool with a little bit of water! Kristen, Ryan and Natalie. Ryan went from pool to trampoline ALL day!

Lenora's skanky little dog had puppies with their friend's dog. These are the puppies. I LOVE THEM!!! Lenora named them all, but I can't remember the names!!

Lenora, Josh, Me, Kristen, Natalie and James.

Christmas was great!! I LOVED EVERY MINUTE!!

Ding, Dong, Ding, Dong... hear the bells? They never end for me!

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's off to work we go!

GREAT NEWS!

Josh and I were both offered the jobs we have been waiting for!

After a year of preparation, interviews, testing and what seemed like endless waiting, Josh has been accepted into the Queensland Police Academy and will commence February 1st. That's only 30 days away now! WOO HOO! So we are very excited for what this will bring. He has been training hard since we got home and is really getting that body in shape for the physical requirements. And, we cleared all the CRAP off his desk so that he can study when the time comes also.... because there's lots of learning to be done. MMUUUUCH EXCITEMENT for this one :)

AND! I was offered a full time teaching position. This is a big deal because it is so rare to get a full time job in the city at the end of a teaching degree. But, with my diploma in hand, I am off to save the children of Brisbane! I got a full time teaching position to start on 20 January. It's at a great school where I know a few teachers and am comfortable. It was number 2 on my list of places I wanted to go... so I feel incredibly lucky!

So I guess what I'm trying to say is, Santa brought us great presents this year :)

We Love, Love, LOVE Vacations!!

I've come to realise that Josh and I don't ever do things by small measures. We decided to go on a trip to America in our free month, but did we plan a relaxing vacation? NO! We planned a trip of epic proportions that would mean when we got home we needed another month to recover!

But, now that we have recovered, we are ready to relive it by writing this blog. It was seriously THE MOST amazing experience we have had in a long time and was totally worth the time, money and energy it took to do. We went to 19 states of America and Canada in 28 days.

Here is a little look through the trip...
We flew straight into Los Angeles and then rented a car to drive to Arizona. We saw a whole lot of this on our trip... zillions of windmills! Everywhere! It was relaly quite cool. We left LA at like 3am, so this picture is just as the sun was rising. Priceless..

We arrived in Tucson to see Erin after quite the drive.. who knew it took so long to get to Tucson. Hehe. We discovered one piece of highway marked in kilometres instead of miles, which would have been an exciting part of our trip except that our car was telling us we had 17 miles of gas/petrol left in the tank and Erin's house was like 15 miles away. Cannot compute!

But we met with Erin, spent time with her and her wonderful daughter Lylah and ate Mexican food. MMM.. mexican.... Even though we only spent a few hours with her, it was great. Love you Erin!

We then drove up to Phoenix to stay with Josh's mission president and his wife, President and Sister Jensen. Such wonderful people! Took us to see some great parts of Arizona and treated us like Kings and Queens. We ate so well... mmm.. cinnamon rolls! Apparently the food was quite a highlight. Fat kids!

Well ok the pictures got out of order but I'm not going to worry about it. Here is VEGAS!!

Nauvoo! My wonderful aunt Clair drove all the way from Peoria (3 and a half hours) to spend the day with us in Nauvoo. What a wonderful woman! She was so kind and I loved getting to see a bit of my grandma in my Aunt I never get to see.

This is about two hours from San Fransisco in the mountains near Modesto, California. It was Josh's first time to see snow! Yay! So of course we went sledding down the mountain. I'd just like to say first and foremost, that I was totally better at it than Josh :). It was great fun. We are grateful to the Rawe's for looking after us there. Wonderful people!

This is a place called Point Lobos, also in California somewhere near San Fransisco. The water pushes up on the rocks with massive force to make beautiful big waves. It was stunning. The water looks beautiful, but I'm sure I would have frozen if I tried to get in. It was near a little town called Carmel where we ate lunch. So cute! I like little cute towns... they don't allow franchise stores so it stays really quaint.

This is us in Vegas again... there were about twenty of these in the M&Ms factory so Josh and I spent about half an hour taking photos of each other pulling the same face as the plush toys. Are we five years old? yes I think we are!

New York, New York!! We spent forty dollars getting to the top of the Empire State Building so that we could take pictures and see the view... and it was foggy and FREEEEEEZING! But oh well! We loved it anyway! I don't actually understand the fascination with New York. I saw places I loved much more... but, it really is massive with the tallest buildings and constant activity. But, as they say, there's no place like home.

After New York, we caught a bus to Washington DC. This was one of our favourite stops. We saw so many amazing buildings (and homeless people). We figure it must be a law in DC that you have to have giant white pillars outside your building or it will not be approved for construction... because EVERYWHERE had pillars. They were beautiful... it just seemed crazy!

If I was American, I'd be an awesome president.

We rented a car from DC and drove to upstate New York and visit some of the LDS church sites. At Palmyra, we had an AMAZING time. We loved it. Here we are, in the snow, visiting the sacred sticks....ooops, I mean, sacred grove. It had a different kind of beauty but still a great feeling. We LOVED Palmyra. Such a cute town. And it is where we discovered Cinnamon Toast Crunch... mmm....

We went to Denver and saw my old stomping ground. I love Denver. It is my second home. But Josh had never had the pleasure of visiting. This was another of our favourites.... Josh got to see a deeper insight into my life because Denver is where I did a lot of my 'becoming me' and growing up. We saw the nanny family.. ie, the people I nannied for and spoke with them. It was fun to reminisce and tell stories about how I was the most social nanny ever. Anyone shocked?

Our favourite part of visiting Denver, however, was seeing my wonderful friend Natalie. I LOVE THIS WOMAN! She is so amazing. She is truly one of the best friends I have ever had, and I think we met each other when we really needed each other. I was away from family and needed someone I could love and trust and she needed a friend to help her through tough times. It was a match made in heaven :). It was so great to visit with her and her wonderful husband Joe and two beautiful children, Enoch and Travis. I love that Joe and Josh got along really well too... when husband's love each other you know you're best friends for life! So Natalie, get your butt into gear and come visit us. We love you!

Both of us had been to Salt Lake before, but it was great to visit the temple and to do a live session. I was on the edge of my seat! I love to see the temple la la la la la la... This was a five day stop. Our longest stop. We were lucky to see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas presentation, see friends and family, and spend time with our wonderful friends the Egberts. I love Utah... it was a good way to end our trip.

After leaving Utah we had two days in LA which we spent with some wonderful friends there who looked after us. Our trip was amazing.... We did so many things... too many to mention! But this is a brief insight.

We are so grateful that we could take this trip at this time before life gets so hectic that we can't. We know we are soooo BLESSED!!!