Happy Birthday Austin!

This is a few days overdue, but last week was Austin's birthday. I felt bad because there just wasn't much I could do from the couch to help him have a special day. About a month ago I had been planning ahead and trying to figure out what to get him for his birthday, thinking we didn't know where I would be or what the baby situation would be, and I wanted to make sure he had something to know how much I appreciate him! His birthday gift turned out to be a Traeger Grill, after my dad informed him it's the BEST thing in the world. I was a little skeptical, but it turned out he was right! Austin ended up getting it before his birthday, but I'm glad- I've been eating some delicious meals! This electric grill/smoker has made the best steaks, potatoes, asparagus, even pizza! We love it! It uses flavored pellets to add a great flavor, and because it's electric, it keeps a nice even temperature- nothing burned or under cooked! With these hot summer days Austin has been cooking dinner almost every night on it, so no mess in the kitchen. One less thing for him to clean! Maybe that's why he's liking this so much...

As for his actual birth"day", it was not that great of a day, which made me feel bad. We ended up not having any water at the house all day (pump problems in the well), but luckily Austin and his dad got it fixed by the end of the day, the end of a very HOT day. Poor Austin was exhausted- thank you Carol for dinner that night, it was delicious and very much appreciated. Luckily Austin did get some fun in on Saturday. He met my dad in Fairfield and they had a great day of motorcycle riding at one of our favorite places. It was a great break for Austin and I'm glad he was able to get away, even if it was for just a few hours. He deserved it! Yesterday we had a family dinner to celebrate Austin's birthday (of course the Trager was put to good use)...thank you to all our family for coming to be with us. It was good to see the Seamons and Merrick families, and enjoy some great food. Thanks everyone for your help- I couldn't have done it without you!

I am so grateful for my husband- he's the most kind hearted person I know and works so hard to support our family. He always amazes me with all of his talents and abilities! I appreciate all that he's doing for me and the baby right now- he never thinks of himself and has put our needs first. We couldn't have made it this far without him! We are now 32 weeks along and doing pretty good. We are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel! We are both so excited to meet this little guy and bring him home!

Warning: This is an UPDATE!

Yes, we are alive. Yes, I have been absolutely horrible about keeping things updated. And yes, we have news to share! Our biggest surprise to all is that we are expecting a baby boy on September 16th (our 4 year wedding anniversary!) Austin and I are so excited, it has been such a long, difficult, and emotional road, but we are getting so close! The other part of this is that I am on complete bedrest until the baby comes. When I was 20 weeks along I had a surgery to put in a cervical cerclage and was ordered to bed. So, here I've sat for the last 8 weeks (I know, I've had plenty of time to update). We still are not out of those scary weeks yet, but things have remained stable, and with that, we feel like we can finally share with everyone are exciting news. We have been told to be prepared for an early delivery sometime this summer, but just thank Heavenly Father for each week I get to lay here and keep him in the oven! :) We are going to make it- I knew I married a great guy, but this has just been another testifying experience! Austin is keeping up with the yardwork, garden, house, cooking, cleaning, laundry, and oh, WORK! This has been quite the humbling, patience building experience of my life- all I can say is thank goodness for labtops and wireless internet and amazing family and friends! Honestly though, this experience makes you so grateful for the simple things, and the things you just take for granted in everyday life.

Other family news is that my brother Jed is getting married! Jed met Marcee Coleman at school in Rexburg, where they shared many different classes together. She is from Mud Lake and will become part of our family on September 3rd in the Twin Falls Temple. We are excited that Jed has found someone that likes to join us in all of our fun, bad habits! We hope that we will be able to be with Jed this day--we will have to see what this kid has in mind!

Ice Fishing!

Here Fishy, Fishy

Austin and Ashley

Jed, Woogie, Austin, Jenna

After spending our first Christmas actually waking up in our own house, we spent the day with the Merrick's and then head to Jerome to spend a few days in Jerome with my family. After attempts to go skiing and snowmobiling (roads were closed) we decided to go ice fishing at Salmon Dam. This is one of our favorite winter activities, so we bundled up, battled the snowy, drifting roads and made it to our favorite spot. The ice was nice and deep...but the weather just wasn't cooperating. After getting all of our holes dug out and setting all of our poles, it started snowing and blowing really hard. We only got to stay a couple of hours before we figured that we better leave before we might not be able to! It was still a fun day, and we loved being able to spend some time with Dad, Jed and Jenna.

We're Here!

Yes...we have created a blog! I've wanted to do this for sometime, but December has been a very busy, crazy month. Now that I am officially on Christmas Vacation (yeah!). I have a few minutes to do some of those things I've been meaning to do. We hope to find many friends and family that are also blogging so that we can all keep in touch.