Merry Christmas Eve

We are all very excited about Christmas tomorrow...even Hudson as you can see! I just love this holiday. I don't think you ever lose the excitement of waking up on Christmas morning, well at least I haven't. This Christmas will be amazing as always but we can't wait for next Christmas, because we will have our baby girl to spoil.

We hope that everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Eat at Chili's!

If you are in the Riverton area next Monday the 14th stop in and eat at Chilis to help raise money for my organization and the many children who are waiting for adoptive homes.

(YOU MUST PRINT OUT THE FLIER ABOVE AND TAKE IT WITH YOU.)

Thanks!

Be Thankful

I am thankful for so much in my life, its really hard to express my gratitude to everyone who has touched my life. At this time, I really want to thank my family, they have given me so much in my life, not just material things, but so much love, knowledge and wonderful memories. They have made me who I am today. I could not imagine my life without them, and hope to never have to. I am so thankful for my husband, he is truly my best friend. I love every minute that I am with him and how he always makes me laugh. I know that I married my sole mate. He has been so wonderful through this pregnancy. I love how protective he has become, and I love seeing his face when he talks about his daughter! He is already an amazing father. Our daughter is so lucky to have him. I am thankful for our baby, even though she is not here yet, I love her so much. I never thought that I would have such an attachment this early on, but she has already changed my life. I cannot wait to experience her life with her, to watch her grow and to watch her love others.

Thank you to everyone in my life. Thank you for loving me, for being there for me, and for making my life complete.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Sub for Santa

Two Down...One to Go!

Yeah! We hit the THIRD TRIMESTER!

Halloween

Halloween is always a favorite at our house.

As you can see, Travis loves to decorate the outside..

and I like to decorate the inside.

We had alot of trick or treaters...it was a good thing I had help answering the door.
If you can't tell, I'm a hippie and yes my hair is as big as my belly. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Favorite Time of the Year

I love this time of year because there is a Holiday every month. Halloween is always a favorite, I have of course had my decorations up for awhile now, and can't wait for the kids to trick-or-treat at our house on Halloween, since we do have a pretty spooky graveyard out front. Thanksgiving isnt a huge favorite, but I am craving some Turkey about now, and some pumpkin pie! Then of course Christmas. Who doesn't love this holiday. I was just contemplating whether its too early to start listening to Christmas music...I'm thinking I'll at least give it till Halloween then I'll start.

I'm just so excited for all the Holidays.

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice...

It's a...

Go Broncos!

We took our annual trip to Denver this weekend for the Broncos game. It was a very successful weekend, I got some good shopping in, the broncos won big and we didn't have to sit in the freezing cold or rain. We had a great time as usual, and as usual, it went way too fast.

(Trav happy about the big win!)

(Me, sporting the awesome looking baby bump and jersey look)

My Favorite Thing...

...about the state fair is,

PEOPLE WATCHING.

Travis' favorite thing is......

THE FOOD!

Hiking

My friend Sarah, her baby and I went hiking up Little Cottonwood Canyon on Saturday. It was so nice to be out in the fresh mountain air. Our hike ended up being a little steeper and rockier then we thought, but we survived and had a good time. I can't say the same about my calf muscles though...wow, were they sore the next day!

New Bed

We got a new mattress for our Anniversary and we are so excited. We have been sleeping on a very, very old mattress for a long time. Since we were getting new, we decided to go big, so we got a King size pillow-top mattress, and then of course we had to have a new frame, headboard and of course bedspread! It's a lot taller then our old one, and I was afraid of falling out, but I'm getting use to it and loving it, you can see Hudson loves it too!

What a Weekend

Things don't always work out as planned!

We have been planning a trip to Flaming Gorge for several weeks now and have been really excited and just ready to get away. Well we didn't really plan for bad weather....or the stomach flu! The weather most of the weekend was really cold, very windy and rainy. In addition to the bad weather, three of us ended up with the stomach flu, which made for a couple of very long nights! But, besides not feeling well and the bad weather, we were still able to go boating for a little bit, the boys got to go fishing, and Trav caught the only fish of the day, and we still got to do a little four-wheeling. It was still nice to get away and do something a little different.

(Travis and his BIG fish!)

(Travis and Alayna, right before her first ride!)

Five Years

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

I can't believe it has already been 5 years since we got married. How time flies. We have had so many good times and have accomplished so much in the last five years. We have purchased two new cars, travelled to Hawaii twice, bought a house, remodeled most of the house and backyard. received promotions in our jobs and are now expecting a baby. I hope that the next 5, 10 or 50 years are just as great, if not better, than these last five.

Happy Anniversary Hun!

Backyard Makeover

I think we have finally come to the end of our backyard makeover. It has been a lot of work and time, but we are really enjoying it! The best part is that it is over with, and we don't have to do it again for years to come! Here are some before and after pictures.

BEFORE

AFTER

Another year older...and wiser too!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TRAVIS!

I hope you have a great birthday, and enjoy your gifts!

LOVE YOU!

The Details

Now that we have made the official announcement, I'll fill you in on all the details. Travis and I found out a while ago that we would be having our first baby in February of next year. It seems like a long way away, but when you think there is only 6 months left, it seems like just a short amount of time. We told our families on Fathers Day, which really made it fun. We told Travis' Mom and Step Dad with a card saying "Happy Fathers Day..Grandpa." They were both really excited. We told my family by giving my dad a picture frame that said "Welcome Little One" and where the picture goes, it said "Photo Arriving, February 2010." Of course, my family was very excited and very surprised, which made it even better. (Look Dad you made the blog...finally!)My sister was really sweet to make us both gift baskets full of all the things we will need the next few months. Trav has been enjoying his book "My Wife is Having a Baby and I'm Having a Breakdown." And I'm enjoying all the yummy treats she put in it.We are really excited, and a little nervous, but are happy we have awhile to prepare, shop..shop some more and decorate the babies room!

Do you want to take a guess of what the baby is going to be?

When it's going to arrive? Or how big it's going to be?

Go to: www.expectnet.com/games/BabyKaeding

to make your guess!

It's a.....

Baby!

A Fun Weekend

On Friday Travis and I played in a Golf Tournament together at Bountiful Ridge Golf Course. It was really early, but lots of fun. Trav won the Closest to the Pin contest which he was really excited about. He is even more excited to spend his gift card at Uinta Golf!

We left that night for Wyoming to go see Travis' family for the weekend. It was Flaming Gorge Days so we got to go to the big parade on Saturday and play at the park afterwards. It was fun to see our nephews and enjoy just being lazy. I enjoyed the nice weather and sitting in the sun.


On Saturday night Trav took me to the big bridge over where the trains sort. It was really cool to see how the whole thing works and to see them up close. I never realized how much work went into putting together one train.

We had a great weekend, and were really tired when we got back. Hopefully we will make it back up there in a couple of months.

Howard

We came home after dinner on Friday night to find a duckling that had fallen down the grate at the end of our driveway. We called animal control to see if they would come out and get him, but they said they don't come out for domesticated animals. I felt bad that this little duck was wet and cold and crying for his mom. So Travis took the grate off and climbed in and got him out. We put him in a box with newspaper to keep him warm and gave him some water and grass in hopes that his mom would come back soon to get him. Unfortunately she didn't come back, so Howard (of course we named him) spent the weekend with us. He loved running around the backyard and swimming in Hudson's water bowl. Sadly though, Howard couldn't make it without his mom and died on Memorial Day. I was really sad, but felt good that he at least died warm and well fed then in the cold wet ditch. I think Hudson is secretly excited to have him go, he was getting a little jealous!

An Update

Yesterday Travis informed me that I have been slacking in the blog area and that I haven't posted anything since Easter. So even though nothing exciting has been going on, I thought I would give you an update on what we have been doing.

Arts and Crafts:
I thought it would be a great idea to paint a chair for our friends baby, Alayna, who is turning one. It sounded really easy and kinda fun when I began however I forgot that I'm really not an arts and crafts kinda person and a project that would take most just a few hours took me a couple of days. It didn't turn out amazing and definitely had some flaws but Alayna liked it, so I guess that's all that matters!


Backyard Makeover:
Since we moved into our house we have been wanting to re-do the backyard. We have big plans of a new patio, a nice flower garden and a new tuff-shed. When we began the project I don't think I realized how much work it was going to be. Trav and I put in a new retaining wall for the flower garden and I am going to plant my flowers this weekend but the worst part so far has been tearing up the existing patio...wow, that's a lot of work. Here is a picture of stage one of the makeover. I'll post more as we go along, but this will give you an idea of how we have been spending our evenings! Wish us luck.


Golf:
Yea, there has been none of this, because we have been spending all our time in the backyard, but hopefully we will have everything finished soon so Trav can get some time in on the golf course! Hopefully something really exciting happens, like we win a million dollars, so I can have something fun to post. But until then, I guess I'll just keep giving you an update on our backyard, as fun as that is!

Easter

We had a great Easter yesterday. The Easter Bunny brought us lots of fun stuff in our buckets! Even Hudson got treats and a new toy in his, which he was really excited about.

We went and listened to my family speak in church, which they did an amazing job. It was also fun to see all the people from my parents neighborhood. After church, we had my family over for dinner. I cooked my 2nd turkey ever and I think it was better then the first, so at least I'm improving. It was a nice evening and fun to have my family over.

HAPPY EASTER!

Las Vegas

This past weekend, Travis and I went to Las Vegas to celebrate my birthday and to just get away. We stayed at the new Wynn hotel, Encore, I can't even describe how gorgeous it was. We were definitely spoiled and loved everything about that hotel. We did a lot of walking up and down the strip checking out all the hotels and the shopping malls. On Friday night we went to the Cirque Du Soleil Show, KA at the MGM. It was amazing. The performers are so talented and it was very entertaining. We had a great time and of course it went by way too fast! We didn't win millions of dollars gambling but that's okay, there is always next time!

Green Dinner

It is a tradition in our family to eat only green food on St. Patrick's Day. My mom did this every year for us when we were growing up which made us the cool kids in school with our green lunches. I have decided to continue on with this tradition..mostly cause I think its fun to dye things green and then see the reaction from others. Since we don't have any kids, Trav gets all the green food to himself, so for breakfast I made him green cinnamon rolls , for lunch he had a green sandwich, yes the mayo was dyed green, green chips, drink and candy and then for dinner we had green chicken and potatoes (It tastes better than it looks) broccoli, green rolls, green jello (we are in Utah) and for dessert we had mint chocolate chip ice cream, which neither of us really love but had to eat cause it was green. I love our green dinner and look forward to it all year long. Thanks Mom for a fun tradition.

Our Weekend in Wyoming

This last weekend we headed up to Green River for our nephew Keegans 2nd birthday! We had a great time hanging out with our nephews, flying kites, camping out in the basement and watching lots and lots of cartoons.

On Saturday Keegan had a birthday party with a few friends and family. It was fun to see how excited he got over just the little things. He got some great gifts and had a good time playing with all of them.

We took Hudson with us on his real first road trip. He did great, even though he had no clue where we were or what we were doing. He was busy all weekend following the boys everywhere. He slept the whole 2 hours home and then collapsed on the floor when we walked in the door.

It was nice to get away for just a couple of days, even if it is was to somewhere even colder!

A Day at the Canyons!

Travis, my brother Justin and I went up skiing at The Canyons yesterday. It was so nice to ditch out on work for a day and go. We haven't been for a few years but it all came back quickly, its like riding a bike. I may even be brave again some day and try snowboarding again.

I was impressed with how good Justin was doing, this is his first year and he was skiing black diamonds and everything. It was a great day. I want to get back up there again soon. Thanks Hilary for the passes, we had a great time.

Tulips

I love tulips and it only took my husband one Valentines Day to realize that he should not waste his money on overpriced Roses and just buy me Tulips. So being the good husband he is, he got me a gorgeous pot of red and white tulip bulbs, which is a bonus because they last longer. It was also really nice to have a touch of spring inside while we were experiencing a snow storm outside. So thanks Trav for my Tulips. I love them!

In Honor of Martin Luther King

Yesterday, I was talking to my brother about him not having school today and he made a comment about who is suppose to celebrate Martin Luther King day, which the answer should be..everyone. So today I have been thinking more about King, about what he stood for and all that he did. Especially with the Inauguration tomorrow, it made me think of what King did to pave the way for our nation and our new president. So below is a poem I read and I hope that today is not just a day off work or school for some but it is a day to remember a great man!

In Honor of Martin Luther King

Some kings rule their kingdoms sitting down

Surrounded by luxury, soft cushions and fans

But this King stood strong stood proud stood tall
When the driver told Rosa "Move to the back of the bus!"

When the waiter told students "We don't serve your kind!"

When the Mayor told voters "Your vote don't count!"

And when the sheriff told marchers "Get off our streets!"using fire hoses, police dogs and cattle prods to move them along

This King stood strong

stood proud

stood tall

Speaking of peace of love and children hand in hand

free at last free at last
When some yelled for violence

For angry revenge

An eye for an eye

And a tooth for a tooth

He stood his ground

Preaching peace
And when some spit out hate

He stood there smiling

Spreading love Until it rolled like the sea across the land

Sweeping away Jim Crow

Breaking down the walls

Ringing the bell

Joyfully For Freedom
Until Standing on the mountain top

They shot him

Coldly Hoping to see him fall

Hoping to put him away

To bring him low
But this King even in death

even today

stands strong

stands proud

stands tall

And we remember