Our Deer Friend

Sunday morning, Dan glanced out the window and saw something move. Upon further investigation, he noticed it was a whitetailed deer! Can you see it? She blends in very well. If you look at the slide and follow it up the picture just past the fence, you will find it. Just to the left of the giant double tree. We know it was a mommy deer because her fawn was also there foraging around the wooded area. It was fun to watch her. We thought she would be gone once we got home from church, but no, she stayed the entire day. It's hunting season right now, so she probably figured that that was a safe spot. Once night fall came, she and her baby were gone and haven't come back. We hope that maybe someday they'll come back.

On a funny note, we called to tell our families that there were deer in the back yard (we both come from families that love nature and hunting). My mom was talking to Donovan and told him that she wished she could see the deer. So in his matter-of-fact voice, he sighs and says,"Nama, get in your car, drive to the airport, get on a plane, and fly out here so you can see the deer." Like, duh! It's only that easy! He was so serious that it made us laugh. How did he get so practical? What a cute kid. He amazes me everyday!

AZ Trip

We're finally back home to the frigid Michigan winter! Sorry it's taken so long to blog again, I haven't been feeling quite myself.

We were blessed with the opportunity to go to Arizona for 2 weeks! Dan had some management conferences he had to attend the whole week before Thanksgiving in Phoenix, so we decided to make a family trip out of it. Dan took the 3 days off before Thanksgiving and voila! we had 2 weeks to spend with our missed family and friends. And wouldn't you know, I brought my camera and didn't take a single picture. I feel awful about that, but what can you do?


We spent our time mostly with family, but we were able to have a fun playdate, attend a friend's fabulous 30th birthday, go to the temple, go to the zoo, do our AZ family Christmas shopping, and of course, eat eat eat for Thanksgiving! We had a fun time. Only towards the end did I start feeling morning sickness creep in, as luck would have it, I saved the "fantastic" hugging of the porcelain throne until we got home. (By the way, the official due date is June 29. Which means probably the middle of June the way may kids seem to make their appearances.)


Speaking of coming home, bbbbrrrrrrrrr!


Boy did it get cold! Our home was blanketed in snow upon our arrival. What a nice present to come home to. It is so pretty! But COLD! It'll melt and then snow, snow, snow again, I think this will be the pattern for the next few months. Brrrrr!

Happy Birthday Nessa!

Happy 26th Birthday to my little dubba, Vanessa! You're getting old! But then what does that make me? I love being your sister. Even though the miles keep us apart, you've gotta love modern technology that keeps us together. I hope you had a super duper birthday! Love ya hot stuff!

Let It Snow!

Yippee! We got our first snowfall yesterday. It didn't stick much, mostly melting once it hit the ground, but it was snowing!!! I hope I stay this excited throughout the whole winter. Here are some of the pictures in our yard.

I know, not much, but you can sort of see the white fuzzies in the air, and you can see some gathering on the shed roof.

The shed roof (ya your right, I think we'll need to re-shingle soon)

Our planter boxes.

Ok, so there wasn't that much. For a while now Dono has asked if he has to put his jacket on because it's snowing outside. I've always had to say, no, it's just cold and windy. But now I could finally say, yes, it is snowing and we need to keep warm. He was so excited to see the snow.

6 Things About Me

1. I have memory problems. I'm very forgetful. But for some weird reason, I don't forget numbers. Locker combinations, phone numbers as far back as my "boy"friend from 3rd grade, dates for b-days, anniversaries, deaths (even of my dog when I was 5 years old), you name it, if it involves a number, chances are that I'll remember.

2. I am a geek at heart. Glasses, retainers, bookworm, etc. I look back at jr. high and high school pictures and just shake my head. No wonder I never got dates. Yikes. I saw myself in a few photos from my high school reunion (which I couldn't attend 2 weeks ago) that a friend posted. I'm glad that time is over. There's some things you would never want to repeat.

3. I hate to cook (not that I can't, I just don't like to). But then I also hate doing the dishes. So Dan and I work out a deal that we split the week in half (since he loves to cook but works too late) and who ever cooks, the other does all the dishes. I like the compromise. Baking however is something I love to do. I guess maybe because the end results are much sweeter!

4. I have hiked to the highest point in AZ, twice! Mt. Humphreys in Flagstaff, AZ, 12,633 ft. Once with some girlfriends, and the next with a guy I was dating. It's so exhilarating to accomplish something that ends up so breathtaking. You can see all over the city of Flagstaff from the top. And no, there is no Taco Bell at the top. When I went to Northern AZ Univ., all the T.B. commercials would state where they were located and mentioned, "even on the top of Humphreys". Liars. Not that that was why I did it, but come on!

5. I have never broken any bones. I guess I owe that to my parents getting me addicted to milk. Yes, I am hopelessly addicted. MMMmmmmmmmmmilk! And pretty much anything dairy. Through playing city softball, family and church volleyball, and surviving 2 tough sisters I have miraculously come out of it unscathed. Hopefully that will be something that can benefit me in old age.

6. I am a movie fanatic. I love them! Since having young kids, we haven't been to a theater lately, but there's always tv and rentals. I can probably give you the name of people that star in movies. Probably not all the R-rated ones, since I don't watch them, but many of the rest. I can quote many movies, which I'm sure is annoying, but sometimes irresistible. My favorites include A&E version of Pride & Prejudice, just about anything Disney (except for the newer ones, not too fond of them), Goonies, the cheesy Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks movies, Ever After, While You Were Sleeping, Tommy Boy, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and oh so many more. There's a good variety in there. The best part is that Dan will watch marathons with me. One Sat. we woke up early and watched the first 2 Star Wars, went to the theater to watch the 3rd, came home and watched the rest. What a day! We love having marathons. We just have to be more creative now that we've got 2 (almost 3) little monkeys wanting our attention too.

I am tagging: No one in particular. I like getting tagged, but I don't like tagging people. So if you think this would be fun to do, then please consider yourself tagged.

Ok, Ok, here's the wonderful news!

Well, a girl can't keep things to herself for long.


I was only gonna tell family until at least my first Dr. appt. to make sure everything was on the up and up. But one wonderful sister had to make a blog comment that got others questioning. Don't you know that friends read comments too Nessa? Oh well, I'm all too happy to share our wonderful news.

That's right, in case you didn't read Elliott's shirt, we're having a baby! I only found out 2 days ago, hence the great day on Halloween. We found out with Elliott on a Halloween too. So they should be almost exactly 2 years apart, which in my opinion will be great! They'll all get to be such good friends without too many years coming between them.

Sorry for such a blurry picture, I couldn't get one better, they just progressively got worse. But 2 lines are there ! Such a wonderful blessing to find out from a pee stick! With Donovan, even when I knew without a doubt that I was pregnant and the doctor confirmed it, the pee stick always came out negative - strange. So I've always been leery about doing them because they haven't always worked out for me, but curiosity always leads me to check. Ta da! Welcome baby #3! We would be happy with either boy or girl. Although, maybe it's time to add a girl to keep our mix from getting too testosterone overloaded. We predict his/her entry will probably be the end of June.