Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas-these monks are awesome.

White Christmas

27 weeks pregnant

Life around here has been as busy as ever (story of everyone's life, right?) Chase and I are both enjoying our jobs, although we're still trying to get used to getting to work by 6:50 am with all of the surprise overnight snowstorms. Add 6 inches of freshly packed snow, an unplowed freeway, and the normal "Utah drivers" together and it makes for a big adventure getting to work most mornings...and a stressed out Leah.

Our baby boy is just as busy as ever in my growing belly. Watching my belly roll around as he moves never gets old for Chase and me. Chase loves to talk to my stomach and get a little kick in return. (Chase doesn't have to know that he is pretty much kicking all of the time whether we're talking to him or not)

It makes me so happy to see how excited Chase is about our future addition. We went to Target the other day to pick out some presents for friends who were expecting. Of course we couldn't help stopping at the baby boy section, and of course we couldn't resist picking out some cute outfits. We decided that we would each pick out one outfit. Needless to say, we ended up leaving with 8. 1 nighty picked out by me, and the other 7 outfits were chosen by Chase who just couldn't possibly narrow it down more than that. Any of you who know Chase wouldn't be surprised that every single one said something written on it like:

"Future quarterback" or "Sports Star-just like Daddy"

As of today I am 27 weeks, 3 days pregnant. I can't believe in 3 months he'll be due! The second trimester has completely flown by. I have been feeling great, thanks to my friends:

Tums (for heartburn)

the three pillows I sleep with at night, and

hand sanitizer that I carry around to keep sicky germs away.

I'm determined not to get sick during this crazy flu season.

and we might as well add ice cream to that list.

But lets face it, when has ice cream not been my best friend?

24 weeks. Kind of old I know, but its fun to see the contrast-if you can.

Can you believe Christmas is here in two weeks? WOW! Time is flying by. I think I need to savour the Christmas spirit a little more before it passes me by. Today in Relief Society our teacher challenged us to spend at least a few minutes a day pondering Christ and what Christmas really means. I can't think of a better way to get into the Christmas spirit.

moments of THANKS

personally, I DO think we look alike

Love these three

missing a few, but loving who was there

grateful for a husband that loves kids

twitterpation during our rousing game of "werewolf"

Thanksgiving is such a good reminder. It is a good reminder that there is always so much to be thankful for. I know I should be going through my days thinking of what I am grateful for all the time, but it is easy to get caught up in our lives and forget to get on our knees and really thank our Father in heaven for what we are blessed with. Today I'm not going to make a list of all of the things I am grateful for for the world to see, but I am going to take some time to ponder what that list would have-and I'm going to ponder how I can live my life to be more deserving of those blessings. And then after I ponder what I can do, I'm going to DO it.
So, thanks for the reminder Thanksgiving.

Chase bragging about Leah and Life...Post #1

Chase was here!!

First time writing on this blog; Leah is so much better at writing than me, so I usually leave it up to her.

I just wanted to write a little about how much I love Leah...She is my angel of hope and I am very blessed to have her as my wife. She doesn't believe me when I tell her, but she truly does always look beautiful. She has that natural beauty that is rare.

She has always been so excited to have a baby. Her little belly is showing and she looks so dang cute. I love how excited she gets when our little boy kicks and is moving around. She is going to be such a great mother! Leah is always a cheery person, and she makes me happy!! I adore my wife.

My life is very blessed. My job is great; I work at NAI Utah Commercial Real Estate. I am an Industrial Researcher/Analyst. I have not been there long, but I have really enjoyed it so far. I have a wonderful, beautiful, and fun wife. I have the gospel in my life, and a great future ahead of me. Great life!!

Expect another post from me in a year or two...Chao

October 21, 2009

Have you ever woken up one morning and just felt something different in the air?

We had been married three years. Three wonderful, happy, capacity expanding years.

I first sensed it when our baby boy patted me good morning from the inside. I realized that this would be our last anniversary as just "us". ...a little bitter sweet, but mostly sweet.

Then I felt it again when I was driving to work-and this is what I saw.

I could feel it. With this sunrise came change.

I thought I was going to another day of work, and then we'd go to California to celebrate a sunrise in my sister's life, and we'd come back and I'd go to work again and Chase and I would keep living our lives...and it would change day by day, bit by bit.

I like change, I really do. But I like to anticipate it.

I like to ponder it, prepare for it, ready myself.

Then let the change ease itself in...

and its always a little hard leaving the old behind,

but the new is so exciting...a new adventure that brings more growth.

Sometimes it doesn't happen that way though.

Sometimes its sudden, and shocking, and it feels like you've got no control.

That kind of change is a lot harder to deal with.

But then you realize that you have a Heavenly Father who has a plan.

Not just for all of his children. for MY family. for ME.

He knows what is in store for us. And it is always wonderful-

better than we could choose for ourselves. Better than we can imagine.

But it is hard to give up that control sometimes. At least for me.

Sometimes we have to take a step forward.

into the shadows,

knowing that I don't have to see what is ahead

if I step in the direction Heavenly Father wants me to step.

So we did. Chase and I decided that it was time to be willing to do what Heavenly Father wanted...which we were always willing to do.

BUT we had to be willing to follow Him without seeing how it would work out.

Where will we live?

Where will Chase work?

What about the wonderful family we have in Boise?

What about the job/internship we have here?

What about our apartment in Boise?

Health insurance?

and on and on and on.

So we gave up trying to answer all of those questions before making a decision.

We had to excersise FAITH

and it was scary.

One day I was sitting in my office in Kyle's garage,

thinking of the redbox we'd pick up that night and what groceries I would buy for lunch.

The next day I was in Salt Lake City with no idea what we were doing or how it would work out.

But I knew that it would.

And it did.

Within three days I got a well paying job in Salt Lake that couldn't be more perfect,

we worked the details of leaving our Boise job with our wonderful boss (my brother),

Chase got hired at a Commercial Real Estate firm with salary and benefits (YAY!)

we've got a roof over our heads,

all the bills got paid,

and lots of family who love us.

But most of all, a Heavenly Father who blesses us

with more than we could even think to ask for

Life is good. Change is scary...

but so worth it.

Goodbye to our happy six months in Boise.

We loved living by and working with family

We loved the late, light summer evenings playing softball

We loved dinner and football at Mom and Dad's

We loved ditching work to swim in the pool

and watching Penny and Bear wrestle all day.

We loved watching Tayler grow and being around to help her do it.

We loved learning what we learned.

We'll be back to visit soon.

Thanks for everything Mom, Dad, Kaela, Kyle, Jade, and Tayler.

Love you, miss you.

Goodnight to yesterday,

Good morning to the sunrise

and a new day.

Wine country without the wine...

We just returned from my oldest sister Tiffini's wedding in Napa Valley, California. Can I just tell you-she was so beautiful. The whole Sonoma Valley is breathtaking, the estate on a vineyard that they got married at was incredible, and every detail of the wedding was classy and so romantic. I enjoyed every part of it but the best part was getting so see my sister so happy and marrying the love of her life. It is not that often that all of my family and cousins get to get together and when we do it is always a party.

Tiffini has talked about having bagpipes at her wedding since she was a teenager. (Note the dark colored glasses on the end? That was our sparkling cider!All of my siblings (plus Matt's sweet wife Dara) What a handsome family!

They got married at this balcony at sunset overlooking the rolling vineyard

Their reception was held in the coolest cave decorated with modern elegance.

It was sort of a whirlwind of a trip but I just LOVED seeing all of my family. Thanks Tiffini and John for putting on such a great party all weekend long. Miss and love you all!!

21 weeks and loving the life within me

20 week photo

They are right when they say that the second trimester is the most comfortable time of pregnancy. I feel great, I finally look pregnant for real, and I get to feel like I have a little friend hanging out with me all the time. I love the closeness that I feel with him already. He is one active little guy! Sometimes I feel like I am riding a roller coaster all day as much as my stomach flips around. Other days I feel little kicks of approval as I go about my day to day business.