A Few Things Lately...

We went home to Eagle at the end of February for a fun and wonderful baby shower. It was just perfect thanks to my mom, mother-in-law and sister, Holly. Pictures will come later with that...they are all on my mom's camera!

While I was doing the baby shower thing...David went ice fishing! He had a great time with his Dad and brother, Scott.




After our fun weekend, David came back to school to be responsible, and I went out to New York with my mom and Holly to visit my sister, Brighten. We walked central park, went to the Manhattan LDS temple, shopped, saw the Ground Zero memorial and saw the play Wicked. So fun! Then we spent some time back in CT, where Brighten lives, with her family. It was a great trip and I felt pretty good trucking around NYC at 30 weeks pregnant!





My dear friends in Moscow, ID threw me a darling and memorable baby shower. The decor, treats, gifts and company were all so fabulous! The girls here are so talented and many of them made their incredible gifts. I loved it!






While we still had a bit of winter left, David and I went snowshoeing. That was a first time for me and we had a blast. I am the marshmallow looking one (32.5 weeks) I was just glad I could get a coat to zip!




We made a couple of K-9 friends along the way. They followed us all the way in and all the way back out. It was actually really fun to have them around.



We also saw so many eagles, which was an unexpected surprise...3 bald eagles and 3 golden eagles. It was amazing!




We recently took a trip to Seattle over spring break. We enjoyed fish and chips, beautiful scenery and plenty of rain. We also narrowed our housing search to a few options - so that was really helpful! Now it's onto the end of the semester. School is going really well for David and we just found out that he will do his rural medical internship this summer in Emmett, ID. That is only about 20 minutes from my family and 30-40 minutes from David's - so we are THRILLED! We are eagerly awaiting the arrival of our little boy. I got all the baby clothes washed and folded and I look at them every day and just wish I had the little guy to go with them! Can't wait till he is here. Although I feel like I am just a whole lotta belly...I am still feeling great with 5 weeks and 6 days to go...but who's counting?!

Playing Catch Up...Fall 2011

Well, in short, here is a photo stroll down memory lane (i.e. everything I wish I had been documenting all along but haven't been). Some of these go clear back to August - but I wanted to make sure I had them in the archives. I always remind myself this would be easier if I blogged as we went :) Here's to hoping I will get better at this...especially with our little guy on the way.

Camping at Lake Coeur d'alene. This bridge is part of a trail that loops around, and across, the lake. We spent some time biking on it while camping there in September. It was beautiful!




Getting my tonsils out...yuck! (don't worry - this was just pre-pregnancy)



Blackberry festival outside of Moscow in Juliaetta, ID - we froze these and enjoyed them in smoothies and on cereal for weeks after!


Cider Pressing in Potlatch, ID with David's WWAMI class.



Here I am at our first ultrasound about 10 weeks along. Then here are two copies of a a book I was given - same book, different editions. Can you tell which one represents the "Millennial Mom?"



Here are some pictures of our ward Halloween party. We still hadn't told anyone quite yet - but we were about 12 weeks along :)



We went to breakfast at a "must-try" place here in Moscow called "The Breakfast Club." Sadly...this was before I had gotten past all of my sickness and, although David was good enough to order just about anything I thought sounded good, this was about all I did with it :) We'll have to go again sometime...David said it was great!


THE HOLIDAYS:

I made the Jenkins famous "poppy-seed bread" as our Christmas gift to friends. I am happy to carry on the tradition!


The Price family held it's first ever "Christmas 5K." David won...and I was proud just to complete it at 21/22 weeks.



Nativity at the Price's. We had three Mary's in this years reenactment...all of which insisted on riding the donkey (thanks Austin)!


We spent Christmas at "Soldier Mountain," cabin with the Jenkins. We had a great time sledding, playing games, eating and enjoying the get-away. Wish we would have taken more pictures!



We came back from break just in time for an amazing snow-storm. It snowed for most of the week and David even got a day off of school. It was sure beautiful!




So...that brings us just about up to speed. Here we are, entering David's first week of tests for the semester, my 28th week of Pregnancy and a spring filled with baby showers, family weddings, house hunting in Seattle and a new baby in May! We're hoping our little guy makes his debut after finals :)

[Photo: View of a harvested wheat field out our back window.]

This article made my day.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-15104707

Recently, Rihanna contacted a farmer in Ireland requesting to use his field for a music video. She probably had no idea what she was in for on any farm, let alone this one. Her first sign should have been that the farmer, Alan Graham had never even heard of her. "I didn't know who was coming. If the name 'Rihanna' had been mentioned, well, no disrespect but it wouldn't have meant anything," the farmer said in the article.

As they were filming, Rihanna, as pop-culture goes, started losing clothing. Mr. Graham walked by the shoot headed for his tractor when he saw her:

"I thought it was inappropriate. I requested them to stop and they did," he explained. I had my conversation with Rihanna and I hope she understands where I'm coming from. We shook hands.

"From my point of view, it was my land, I have an ethos and I felt it was inappropriate. I wish no ill will against Rihanna and her friends. Perhaps they could acquaint themselves with a greater God."

Can you picture that conversation happening...and the hand shake? I don't know if you could have witnessed an interaction between two more different people. And good for him for standing up for his humble, but timeless values. Best of all he didn't apologize for his beliefs. Those same values have probably been preached on that same family farm for hundreds of years - the rest of the world has changed, not him.

People like Mr. Graham are refreshing, and it is one reason we have loved the greater Moscow area and its people so much already. Just this week I was speaking with a receptionist at our medical school named Shannon. I mentioned I was looking to buy firewood for the winter and she readily volunteered to keep an eye out for me. One lead that came up was a cord of wood being auctioned (cord is a very official measurement of wood, I've had to learn the jargon!). She said a father in a nearby town had died in an accident leaving a wife and two children. The town is holding an auction and spaghetti feed this weekend for them, hoping to show support and raise a little money. Communities taking care of each other.

When you get tired of hearing about Hollywood and Washington just look to small towns and all the good, honest people in them. Their simple, thoughtful life is refreshing - from northern Idaho all the way to a farm in Ireland!