Myrtle Beach

January 18th- 21st Todd had a three day weekend back in January so he planned a little golf getaway with a few friends.  They were nice enough to let Paige and I tag along.  We headed down to Myrtle Beach in South Carolina.  While the boys golfed, Paige and I shopped and then we spent the rest of the time laying by the pool.  We did go mini golfing one day as well since Myrtle Beach is the mini golf capital of the world! 

We tried to get some group shots with the panoramic setting on our phones.  Todd would start the picture and then when I was out of the shot, I would run and grab the phone from him so he could be in it too.  They turned out pretty good I think! We stayed in that large hotel right behind us in the first picture.  It was a nice 3 bedroom, 3 bath condo. 

First Baby Shower

December 29th, 2012

My mom and sister were so nice to throw me a baby shower while I was home visiting.  Having a baby shower is much more exciting then a bridal shower!! I'm not great at showing any emotion when opening gifts (especially if it's dish towels or a vacuum) but when opening baby stuff, it is so much more fun! It's definitely a lot more exciting!  

  My sister is the best party planner in the world and makes everything so cute! And all the food was so yummy!

It was so good to see everyone who came.  It was a combined shower with my family and friends and Todd's family and friends.  Everyone was so nice and generous! And this baby girl is definitely spoiled already.    
As I was opening gifts, everyone kept asking how we were going to get all of it home!  Somehow we managed to fit it all in 4 checked bags, 2 carry ons, and 2 book bags.    

Home for the Holidays, 2012

December 23rd- January 5th

We flew into Utah the day before Christmas Eve.  It's always so fun to be able to go home for the holidays.  Todd and I both get so excited when we start to see mountains and snow from the airplane!

This year, we spent Christmas Eve with my family at the Ogden Athletic Club.  Kind of a random place to spend Christmas Eve but we love it.  After the club closes for the day, my uncle always reopens it for us.  We spent the evening playing basketball, tennis, and swimming.  Then the grandkids  acted out the nativity for us.

Isn't my grandpa so cute?!

After the club, we went back to my parents house to open our new Christmas pajamas.

And my dad wanted a picture of my sister and I both being pregnant.  We're both having girls and they

will be a little over 3 months apart!  She's due a few weeks later in this picture and I'm 22 weeks.

Christmas morning- waiting on the stairs before we can go into the family room. 

Lenna and Henry make Christmas morning pretty exciting!  It was so fun watching them open all there presents!

That afternoon we headed to the Gilbert's for more gifts and dinner.

The rest of our time in Utah consisted of enjoying time with family and friends.  Here's what was documented through pictures...

Lots of skiing for Todd.  He went on a ski trip to Grand Targhee with his dad and brothers to go cat skiing.  He loved it and still talks about it today.  He also went just about every other day either to Snowbasin or somewhere in the backcountry.  

I went once when we took Lenna for her first time.  She did awesome and loved it! 

Sledding! I took Henry out just to go down a little hill in my parents yard and then all of a sudden my dad comes around the corner on the four-wheeler ready to pull us around the yard.   

Todd can never go to Utah without hiking! Even if it's a blizzard outside.  

Jazz game- Unfortunately they lost but we sat right by Ty Burrell so I was happy!  It was also good to see the Woods (Eric and I were able to live our dream of being 100 club members but will probably never happen because our spouses don't support us on that one!) and the Innes from across the court. 

Trip to Idaho to see my parent's house/cabin that they are building.  It's on the snake river so of course the boys had to go out and test how strong the ice was. 

 

City Creek and Todd's best friend, Tia.  He loves that dog!  

New Year's Eve!  We celebrated with the kids on Richmond's time (10pm Utah time).  None of us even made it to midnight!  We were all so exhausted that once the kids went to sleep, we followed soon after!

And spending lots of time with these two! 

Until next time...

Christmas Celebrations

December

We were lucky enough to fit in some Christmas fun here in Virginia before we headed back to Utah for the Holidays. 

We started with the Grand Illumination at Colonial Williamsburg.  We enjoyed listening to the drummer and fifers as they made there way to the Governor's Place for an awesome firework show.

(Picture taken from the internet)
Christmas Town at Busch Gardens This park is awesome.  We've loved having passes this year.  They definitely know how to decorate for the holidays.  They even had "snow" falling from the sky in places and you could smell fresh pine as you walked by all the trees.  They also had a little penguin exhibit visiting from Sea World. 

White Elephant Party with the Girls
I got the first season of Friends, which I don't think is a white elephant.  I was pretty excited about it.  

And our favorite, the Live Nativity at the Richmond Zoo.   The owners of the zoo are members of the church and they put on a live nativity every year.  It was freezing cold but we enjoyed it!  

It's a GIRL!!

Wow! I haven't blogged in a long time. My family back in Utah keeps informing me of this but I haven't been able to get myself to do a post.  But before I get more behind, here it goes...

We found out on December 5th, that Baby Gilbert is a GIRL!! We were both so excited!  It was so fun to see her during the ultrasound.  Everything looked good and according to our doctor, she is measuring tall and skinny!

After our appointment, Todd and I went and enjoyed a delicious dinner downtown at Stella's to celebrate!

20 weeks

The next day when I showed up at work, my coworkers had balloons all over the unit and had made me a pink cake.  They are so sweet.  

Thanksgiving

November 21st- 24th

Sallee-Eric-Todd-Me-Lara-Derek-Luke-Mandy-Brian-Danielle-Alyse-Ben-Natalie-Matt

(and the kids... Jack, Indie, Tanner, and Emery)

This year for Thanksgiving, we rented a cabin in Etlan, Virginia with 6 other couples.  We have the greatest friends out here and they make living away from family around the holidays so much better.  We spent the weekend eating, playing games, talking, and pretty much doing nothing!

The view from the cabin- in the beautiful Virginia countryside

We all got there Wednesday evening and it didn't take long for the games to begin and the talking to start.  I don't think we went to bed before 2am this whole trip.

Thursday: The boys headed out to play frisbee golf thanks to Ben for bringing everything.  And the girls started getting dinner ready.  Todd and I were in charge of the turkey.  Todd should get most the credit since he cleaned it, stuffed it and was responsible for the recipe.  But I did buy everything for it and cut up all the vegetables to go inside of it.  I just didn't want to touch it!

Everything turned out so good.  We had some amazing cooks on this trip!

And the cabin had this awesome table that fit all 14 of us!

Friday we hiked Old Rag since it was literally in backyard of the cabin.  Some of the group didn't come prepared for hiking so we had to improvise a little.  Mandy found some awesome stuff around the cabin to wear and Todd and I helped Sallee out!

Old Rag is very popular and is apparently the 2nd most hiked peak in the US (according to Todd and all his random facts that he knows!).  And he appeared to be right when we pulled into the parking lot.  There were cars everywhere.  Since we were in our truck, they thought we could park anywhere- including over a stream.  Well we didn't quiet make it and the truck got stuck.  But thanks to some strong men, they were able to push us out.
(Indie-Luke-Mandy-Todd-Me-Sallee-Eric-Brian-Matt-Natalie)




This trip was awesome.  It was a great way to spend Thanksgiving and we are very grateful for our friends and love living in Virginia!