Baby On The Way

We're having a baby!!  Is this real life??  Because I wanted to be extra positive that this was indeed real life, I waited a couple days before telling Matthew (and took about 10 pregnancy tests).  They were all positive so I decided to have some fun with the announcement and capture Matthew's reaction in the process. I told him I got him something for our 2 and 1/2 year anniversary which was January 14. Here is his reaction:

Before...

After!

I figured an ice cream cake was appropriate because we like ice cream and I'm pregnant, so it was a perfect excuse to gorge myself without feeling too bad about it. :)

I called my mom a few days later because I had a horrible sinus infection and had no idea what medicine (if any) was ok to take.  The conversation went something like this: "Hi Mom.  So I have this really bad sinus infection, but I'm not sure what medicine to take because I'm pregnant."  "WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?"  She had my dad call me when he got home from work and captured his reaction for me.  Thanks Mommy!!

Tears of joy...

I love these pictures so much.  Priceless.

This picture doesn't look like much, but there really is a baby! Trust me, I needed the doctor to reassure me because I still can't believe it.  The hunger and exhaustion are not enough to convince me because, let's face it, I'm always hungry and always sleepy.

The Holidays

We had a quiet Christmas at home this past year due to unfortunate work schedules.  We did manage some fun, nonetheless.  On Christmas Eve, we joined 8 bazillion other original thinkers by checking out the 'Tree of Life' in Draper, UT.  Over 1,000 strands of awesomeness go into lighting it up each night.  While the wind on Christmas Eve wasn't overly pleasant, it did enhance the visual effect of the tree as it swayed back and forth.

(Turn down the volume before watching the video...unless you really like wind.)

It finally snowed on Christmas Day (pretty much the only time all winter) and we jumped on the opportunity of building a snowman!  Unfortunately, the snow was not at all conducive to snowman-building, so this was the result: 

We worked really hard on the head.

After the sun warmed the snow a bit the next morning, the neighbor kids took it upon themselves to finish our work.  Aside from the party hat on top, we were pretty happy with it.

It will never compare to the majesty of the snowman built this winter by the college kids in my hometown of Bozeman MT, unfortunately.  We did not have nearly the manpower or alcohol needed to construct this world-wonder.

We met up with Josh, Darcy and their family at Temple Square on the day after Christmas.

Caitlin and I kept the streak alive with our 4th consecutive year visiting the Temple Square lights together.  It is worth the cold every time!

New Year's Eve is never Caitlin's most celebrated holiday.  She tried really hard this year though and almost made it to 10 pm!  Maybe next year...

Life in the Alps

Last November we were gifted with a hotel voucher for a night at the Zermatt Resort (an awesome, Swiss-themed hotel near Park City, UT).

It was fun to pretend we made it to Europe for a weekend!

Warming up by the fire in the entryway.

We were also given a gift card to eat dinner at the fancy steakhouse there at the resort.

They had magical potatoes that were so good!

We splurged a little for the fondue platter.  Excellent choice.

The entire resort is built on top of a huge thermal water source.  There are all sorts of these collapsed caves leading straight into the deep, hot water below.  There is a huge cave on the property that you can walk into and swim in as well.  (The pool area inside the hotel has hot springs pools throughout too.  It was really fun!)

Caitlin had a hard time with the fact that the Zermatt Bakery was already closed when we arrived.  She had to wait ALL THE WAY until breakfast for her pastries.

It snowed the next morning for us--adding authenticity to our "Swiss" vacation!

Unfortunately the cold weather resulted in the mini golf course being closed.  We were looking forward to reviving our recently dormant putting skills from when we had a year pass to a fun center.

It was the center of everything: just a few thousand miles from any city you could want to see!

We had such a good time and were so grateful for the opportunity to explore our backyard!

Halloween Festivities

I have some serious catch-up to do!  First on the list: Halloween.

We saw noticeable improvement from 2013 on the pumpkin front.  Caitlin really wanted to paint hers this year, so we found a "chalkboard paint kit" at Target.  She was happy as a really happy clam!

We found an actual pumpkin carving saw at Target too--best investment ever.

They turned out well!  Caitlin's would have lasted till Thanksgiving, but some neighbors must have stolen it (while we were home, no less).  A day that will live in infamy.

Halloween night, we decided to go to the Cornbelly's Maze in Lehi.  It was an excellent decision!

My first corn maze.

Trying to scout out our escape from a bridge we found in the maze.

Finished!

Caitlin found a really big cow.

We also did a significantly smaller and infinitely more frustrating maze while we were there.

(Caitlin finished in half the time it took me--that is likely where the 'frustration' began to come into play.)

Giant, rubber, inflatable bounce pad...exhausting!

The view from the top of the potato-sack slide.

There were tons of things to do there!  Unfortunately, I have no pictures to share of the pig races (those little guys were just too speedy for amateur photography), but I did capture an excellent series of events below in the tube races:

She made it about 3 feet on that attempt...

And to cap it all off, what is Halloween without a firework show synchronized to awful re-mix country music?