Sledding in Littleton Dec 2010

My mom and sisters made an amazing video showing the full joys of sledding in Littleton so far this winter. Enjoy!

It's A Start...

I am trying to wrap my head around the fact that this baby is coming!!! I think this has become even more of a reality because one of my friends (who is only a few weeks ahead of me) has been put on bed rest because of contractions, that baby wanted out! What if Ace comes early?! We are not quite ready, but we are getting there. Matthew and I put up the crib and changing table, we have decided on a nursery theme, and we have our childbirth prep class scheduled for early December. Ace is kicking up a storm and all I can say is don’t kick too hard little baby! You need to grow a lot more before you make your grand entrance.

Scrubs - Everything Comes Down To Poo

Matthew and I just watched the best episode of Scrubs ever and I had to share the very best part. Hope you enjoy and this brings a smile to your day!

Everything Comes Down To Poo

If you can't see the clip above you can go to the following link and watch... don't want you to miss out! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsVgi8hoFFc

What A Gift!!

I went pumpkin carving with some friends  a couple nights ago and met a new friend who is 12 weeks pregnant with her second child.  We exchanged pleasantries and I asked how she was feeling and how things were going with her pregnancy.  She smiled happily and said that she only gets sick once a day in the morning, “that’s great!” I say sincerely and then we both started laughing, to the astonished looks of the ladies around us (all without kids).  Clearly pregnancy is not all it is cracked up to be. I want to say this in a very positive way, somehow through everything I am still loving being pregnant.  My point is, no one tells you all the bad things about being a mother to be until you’re already pregnant, slightly unfair? Yes, but I think you just forget somehow.  And, somehow it is really not as bad as it sounds when everything is listed out.  I am only 26 weeks along and already the memory is fading of how awful it was to be throwing up every hour for the first 18 weeks of my pregnancy.  It is amazing! God has given women the huge gift of forgetfulness; I can only hope that this trend continues and that this great gift is also given to my wonderful husband.

November 1, 2010

Our Baby Boy

Although we did want to find out if we were having a boy or girl, Matthew and I decided we did not want to find out the gender of our baby in the actual ultrasound room.  We wanted to have a special moment just the two of us, unrushed and personal.  We did watch the rest of the ultrasound and had the screen turned off when they went “that way”.  We had the ultrasound tech put the gender of the baby in a card and we went out to dinner at a Mongolian BBQ restaurant called 3D. After we finished eating, we gave the sealed card to the waitress and asked her to please open the card and write what the gender of our baby was in Chocolate on the dessert plate.  She was very happy and excited to help. She had us close our eyes so we would both find out and the same time.  When we opened our eyes Voila! It’s a Boy!  Unfortunately we did not remember to bring our camera to the restaurant, but we did take some pictures with our cell phones. Enjoy! Also included are a couple of the ultra sound pictures of Ace  (that is what we have been calling the baby because we are not telling what name we are choosing and I don’t like calling Ace “it” or “the baby”)

October 30, 2010



A Baby Story

It is incredible that my little bundle of joy is going to be here in just three and a half months. As I watch the show A Baby Story, slight panic always sets in. I don’t know about this whole “labor” thing. As far as pain goes I can have a pretty high tolerance, but only when that pain is coming from a punch in the face or a kick to the stomach as my martial arts background has given me opportunity to experience. When the pain comes from cramps, a stubbed toe and the like, I am not so tough. Therefore, pain for hours on end, hooked up to machines and having a doctor “check me” every twenty minutes, only allowed to have ice chips as a consolation prize, not such a great image. Already I have my mind set on getting the wonderful sounding epidural, however, the thought that I will be in so much pain that a huge needle going into my back is a welcome sight does not give much comfort. My only encouragement comes from the fact that millions of women have been giving birth (many with no epidural) for thousands of years, and I have to be stronger and tougher then some of them, right? So, for now I suppose I will continue to watch A Baby Story convincing myself that I am going to handle labor like a champ and surely much better than the current mom on the show. :) I will also continue to watch babies be delivered and cry like it is my own for the next ten minutes. Oh the emotional ups and downs of pregnancy.

 October 26, 2010

Everything's Changing...

Here we are in October and I have not updated our blog in months!  I am sorry dear friends; I think I got overwhelmed with so many great things happening this summer.  It is now fall: our younger sisters are happily married, both with amazing husbands and incredible, beautiful wedding days to take with them into the bright and shining future.   

As for Matthew and me?  June 3, 2010, we found out we are expecting our first baby, due February 6, 2011, Super Bowl Sunday of course, (what a perfect baby alreadyJ)!  Furthermore, we just found out on September 28 that we are going to have a BOY!  I am still trying to get my head around this because I was positive it was a girl. Oops!  We are beyond  thrilled with the news that we are going to have a son as our firstborn, and I can’t wait to start picking out little football jerseys and decorating the nursery (don’t worry, I don’t think I am going to go with a sports theme).  This will be made a lot easier due to the fact that we now actually have a nursery.  Just four weeks ago, we were offered one of the brand new houses on base!  This is a huge answer to prayer as the old house had a mold problem (and it was old) that was making my allergies go crazy on top of having super bad morning (all day) sickness.  We found out on Friday and by Monday night we were all moved in! Matthew was Super Man!!  He basically moved the whole house by himself while I was asleep on our new carpet sick as a dog with a horrible cold that had me going through, no joke, four boxes of Kleenex a day. YUCK!   We love our new house!   Life is great.  I have now been sickness free for over three weeks and can enjoy getting ready for our little boy. Matthew’s work schedule has slowed down a bit, the dogs are happy and healthy, and I am hoping that now things are “normal” I will be able to keep up with blogging too! Until then, ta ta for now.

Below are some pictures for your enjoyment

Playing Catch Up

We are back from CO and Montana life is not waiting for us to catch up and unpack! First and foremost, I had an amazing time with my family in Littleton, it was, as usual a whirl wind trip packed full of activities. We got lots of wedding stuff squared away, got to see Laura’s field day for school, and had a wonderful bridal shower for Sarah. Matthew got to come out for a few days as well and we were able to have a small promotion celebration for him with our families and a couple close friends. Matthew also got to start his pilot’s license training while he was in CO!!! Whoo Hoo! I am so excited for him.

Pictures to Come

Now back in MT we are playing catch up. Matthew had to go on alert the day after we got back (Tuesday) and we had youth group last night. We are doing the TO SAVE A LIFE youth study that goes with the movie and already we have ten more kids than normal at group. We are so excited to see how God works though these kids!

Prayer Request

When Matthew went into the office Tuesday, he had to give me a phone call from Col. Pappas. Apparently one of the ladies in Matthew’s squadron had a stroke this past weekend. She is now doing better, but due to complications she will be in the hospital for at least another ten days. Her reading and writing skills are for the moment gone and we don’t know yet what that will mean long term. Please be in pray for her and her husband through this tough time made harder because they have only been married two months. I am in the process of lining up meals for her family and seeing what else we can do to help.

Butterfly Circus... Sometimes...

...all it takes is love in an unlikely situation to give hope to many...

Thnaks Laurie for showing me this film.

Copy and Paste this link to watch Butterfly Circus

http://www.thedoorpost.com/hope/film/?film=4dd298f102c77b625cf37a9e7744ac68

Sometimes...

... a great morning can be ruined by someone else, who doesn't even live in your neighborhood (but is watching a friend's house), yelling at your dogs when they make one little peep...

... But that morning can be saved by a great friend inviting you and your dogs over to spend the rest of the morning with them. ~thanks Dana

To HIM be the Glory

Just over 1000 kids came to the To Save A Life movie last night, standing room only!  We are so excited! The movie got great reviews by the kids. There is going to be additional showings Thursday (tonight), Friday and Saturday at the Church. My prayer for these kids is that this movie will make them think and they will make an impact.  I also hope they will bring their friends to these other showings!

Sometimes...

...when everything is going wrong, it probably means your doing something right...
then all you can do is laugh about it.

CYT Presents The Sound of Music

I am so proud of my little sister Laura. Last weekend she participated in her second CYT musical, The Sound of Music. She played a Von Trapp Partygoer and a Catholic School Girl. I hear that the play was outstanding! Matthew and I have yet to make it to one of her performances but we are hoping to make it to the next one this fall, Beauty and the Beast! Laura is getting to be a wonderful little actress and has a beautiful voice. She is planning on taking singing lesions this summer to keep improving! Way to go Laura!

Here are some pictures I got from my mom of my beautiful little sister.

On Mothers Day

Here in Great Falls the majority of my friends are young moms. Even though I do not have children of my own yet, it is still weird for me to see life from this new angle, The Mom. As I was driving home from a lunch with all my good friends and all their children I found myself thinking about my mom as a mother, a woman, a friend, a wife. I have always known that she plays all of these roles but not from this prospective. Did I drive her crazy when I was two, just like every other little kid? When I was running around in the restaurant did she give my dad that look of, “please go get our daughter, I am just too tired to stand up and run after her AGAIN.” If she did I never knew it. At 22, some of the things that I remember and know about my mom is, how fun and special it was to watch the long version or Pride and Prejudice in her bed when we were sick. Seeing my mom at every soccer game, Martial Arts event, recital, every horse show and every 4-H meeting, knowing I had her full support. The excitement of letting our imaginations soar as she read out loud to Sarah’s and me as we snuggled on the couch for hours. My Mom’s loving and patient arms when I have a meltdown and can’t see the solution to a problem and just need to talk the whole thing out. My mom was there to help me pick out my homecoming dresses, my prom dresses, and my wedding dress. She is a friend who I love to talk to for hours, get baking tips from, and dream with. She is always full of brilliant ideas and advice. Thank you Mom for all you do and have done. Thank you for who you are, I couldn’t have it better.

CRAZY

Snow again! It started snowing last night and still has not stopped! Nothing makes me wish we were back in California like snow in May. Tomorrow I am helping with the Harvest Springs table at the National Day of Prayer setup downtown…of course it is supposed to be outside! I am praying the sun will come out and it will be an amazing day, although I am sure it will be anyway if my focus is in the right place and not on myself and the weather. It is only Wednesday and it has been a crazy, but wonderful week. Saturday I learned how to make baklava from Jackie Pappas who is Greek, and I got to learn with Dana! While we were baking, the dogs had a play date, and we were totally worn out by the time we got home. Not done yet, we went to a Garry Allen, Jack Ingram, and Josh Thompson concert that night with another good friend of ours. We had church Sunday where we had the privilege of watch our two friends, a husband/wife couple, get baptized and then go out to lunch at Fuddruckers to celebrate. A great workout and a meeting about our booth for the National Day of Prayer on Thursday started the day Monday, and the rest of the day was filled with making poster boards for the NDP and invitations for my sister Sarah’s bridal shower. Monday ended with getting together with girl friends and putting ribbon on bookmarks for Thursday while sipping white chocolate hot chocolate and eating brownies, with the wind howling outside. Last night we had our squadron spouses meeting at Macaroni Grill! What a fun week and it is only half over!

So proud of my baklava!

Dana and Jackie making baklava

Dana, Heather and me and the concert

Snow! Yuck

Well, it turned out my friends were right. Thursday we had a full blown winter storm that lasted all day. The weather was so bad Matthew had to have a helicopter take him out to his alert yesterday! Other than the fact that I don’t really like them flying in such bad wind, I am so jealous! How fun to get to go on a helicopter ride to work! Maybe now that all of our friends are graduating from pilot training, and we know at least four helicopter pilots, I will get a ride one of these days (hint hint). At least I have a little bit of spring right in my home. I have been growing seeds for my garden and in the last week they have all poked their little heads out. It is so fun to see them grow!

TO SAVE A LIFE MOVIE

I wanted to share with all of you this exciting new project Matthew and I are involved with in our church here in Great Falls. As many of you might know, Matthew and I are leaders for the youth group, and that is how we first heard about this project. Our church, Harvest Springs is putting on a city-wide event to show the movie To Save A Life. It is an amazing movie that focuses on issues that teens face today in school, family, and personal lives. This started off as just a movie night for our youth group and has turned into an exciting event to host the students of Great Falls at the Mansfield Theater in downtown for a free showing of this movie. This theater holds 1,700 people and we are also going to have an overflow area. This is all taking place May 12 at 7:00pm. That is only 14 days away! We have so much to do! I am asking for prayer. Please be in prayer for our church staff, for open hearts in the schools and community and for the volunteers that are helping. Also, that we can get things that need to be done finished quickly, and we remember God is in total control and this is for His glory. We are so excited about this and the major change that can come from this movie.

At the top of our blog you can watch a movie trailer. Enjoy!

Bake Sale

Last week the spouses of the 490th MS had a bake sale! It was so much fun. Some of us got together Tuesday night to bake and talk, and talk and bake. We had a great assortment of items, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, fudge toffee bars, cupcakes, one of the ladies even made cinnamon rolls from scratch the morning of! They were amazing; I can't wait to get the recipe. We made about $100.00 profit. We even had competition the day of with a breakfast burrito sale downstairs. The money we made goes toward welcome gifts for new families, baby gifts... It is the first bake sale I have ever organized and I am very happy with how it turned out. Last but not least I got to meet more of the guys in Matthew’s squadron, which is great because now I know who he is talking about when he tells me about his day. I can’t wait for our next one!

PS I totally forgot about my camera so I didn’t get any pictures, bummer!

Spring is in the Air... I am so ready

I am so unmotivated to do anything inside the house at all. It has been beautiful weather here in Great Falls and all I want to do is sit outside and read or work on the yard and get ready to garden. Friends tell me not to get to comfortable because there is always snow in May and June, but I say look at the glass half full and don’t worry about snow. I might add that we did have about eight inches just last week. Matthew and I got a new bistro table for our front porch on Saturday and I have to say I don’t see how I lived without it. I have been reading while Matthew does homework, sipping ice tea and watching the sun pass overhead. I even got my first slight sunburn of the season yesterday, it was 78 degrees out! This morning after a good workout at the gym Matthew and I sat and had coffee out on the deck (I had coffee Matthew had a smoothie) and watched as our neighborhood woke up. We also had four psychotic birds dive bomb us, Matthew got pecked in the ankle. Needless to say, bring on summer, swimming, running outside, long walks and afternoons at the dog park. I am ready!

The picture is one my grandpa took of the tulip festival in Washington. AMAZING BOPPA!

Romeo Update

I am happy to report that it turns out Romeo had a stick wedged between his back molars and across the roof of his mouth! Ouch! No wonder he wasn't eating. He is feeling much better now! YAY

Our Poor Puppy

Please be praying for our little Romeo. We think he has an infected tooth and we have to take him into the vet hopefully tomorrow. He cannot chew his food so we are feeding him Cali’s food or he is swallowing his own food whole. He is not acting like his normal self and we are very worries about our boy. I will give an update as soon as we know what is going on.

March

I had a quick but wonderful trip to Colorado this past week. My mom and I were totally consumed by wedding stuff and worked from sun up to sun down almost every day. My sister Sarah and her fiancé Austin are two of the busiest people I have seen in quite a while. Both of them are working, going to school, doing Army ROTC and planning a wedding! One of the first things my mom and I did was make a master wedding list, which is about three pages long on Google docs (which is amazing) so everyone could see it. Then we ran tons of supply errands for making center pieces, invitations, and general wedding decorations. I had so much fun, I love wedding planning! It is crazy to think that it has almost been two years since my own wedding.

I did get to do some fun non wedding stuff while I was there. I was able to have dinner with my in-laws, go to church at Foothills, eat at my favorite restaurants that we don’t have in Great Falls (Chick-Fil-A, Qdoba, Tokyo Jo’s), work out with my parents (yes, this is one of my favorite things), go on a fantastic date day with Laura, and go out with just a couple of friends who were in town. Unfortunately, I also had to pay a visit to our mechanic and get the Olds fixed again, and get new plates and registration. All in all I think it was a very productive trip and I can’t wait to go out again in May!

Test Post

Hey! This is a test post for my mom for her new cell phone! YAY!

Laura Kelly In Annie!

I just wanted to give a quick shout out to my little sister Laura who is playing in the CYT's Denver production of Annie! This is her first big show and a huge commitment. The show runs from January 28 – 31. I am so proud of you girl, break a leg!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! It feels like time goes by faster every year. This last year was filled with lots of fun, lots of change, and some new opportunities. I know 2010 will be filled with the same. Matthew is working hard and is hoping to start on his masters this February. I am very excited about what this next year holds for my Xocai Healthy Chocolate business. But I am also keeping busy with the squadron spouses group on base. It has been wonderful meeting other military spouses and I can’t wait to see the group continue to grow and meet more wonderful ladies. Most recently, I agreed to be on the leadership team at our church working to get a Women’s Ministry program off the ground. This is an amazing opportunity; please pray that we are able to touch and encourage women in our church and in the community. Last but not least this July, both my sister and Matthew’s sister are getting married! We are thrilled for our sisters and also love the excuse to go back home to Colorado. We hope that your 2010 is also filled with excitement and adventure. But don't forget to stop and smell the roses. :)

Holiday Travels

We had a very Merry Christmas and are so blessed to have wonderful family everywhere. Christmas this year was in Idaho with my mom’s family and we had so much fun. I rode the train for the first time on the way there, we went on an old fashioned sleigh ride, and had fun playing broom ball and kick ball on the pond by my grandparents house. The big damper to the trip was that at the last minute Matthew had to work on Christmas and was not able to get to Idaho until the evening of the 26th. It was too short of a trip but we made the most of every moment.

We hurried home from Idaho just in time for New Years Eve which we celebrated with the Marlow’s and Dana’s immediate family that was in town for the holidays. We were able to get about four hours of sleep before Scott and Danae Dueck (Some of our best friends from Littleton) showed up at our doorstep for a weekend visit. The photographers took some amazing pictures by the river. We all decided that next time we hope it is above ten degrees outside before we decide to go out for a couple hours. Scott and Danae gave us a refresher course on the game Settlers of Catan and we played all weekend! I think that is the next game on our list. In short we are blessed with great family and friends.