Bring on the Holidays!

Last night Dan and I were making dinner together when I asked him if he would turn on the i-Pod. Much to my surprise and joy he put on a Christmas album and I was immediately so happy and excited for the upcoming holidays. We have a whirlwind schedule the next two months with trips to Connecticut and Cancun and then my sister's wedding in Utah right before we go to Colorado for Christmas. And in between those trips we get to see lots of friends who will be in town and I'm so excited! Of course I love me some holiday decor and I've been inspired by these images.

Oh Baby!

Rumors are true- Dan and I are going to be parents! I'm due on April 13th and we find out if we'll be having a little girl or boy in three weeks. I've been asked a lot lately what I think it will be and I honestly have no idea. We will be thrilled either way. I had been really sick from about week 6 to week 12. I hated food and especially couldn't handle any smells. But the last several weeks I have felt great and life has felt a little more normal. I'm starting to show a little bit but to most people I probably just look like I have some nice tummy pudge going on. I haven't taken any pictures yet so I'll do that soon. Until then- isnt' this picture adorable?! I saw it in a magazine on an airplane and it just about melt my heart.

Wheeler Farm Hayride

Last weekend my sister Heather was visiting from Idaho with her two girls Robyn and Paige. The weather was gorgeous on Saturday so before the BYU football game and the Yankees game started in the afternoon we decided to check out The Wheeler Historic Farm. Turns out it is geared more towards small children (for example there was a corn maze but we could all see over the corn) so the only thing we could do was take a hay ride.





It was fun though and we enjoyed walking around and seeing all the farm "stuff". This rooster had the best cock-a-doodle-do I've ever heard. But then again I haven't been around many roosters :)



Good thing we found this outhouse for Paige, Robyn, and Erin! Actually there were real bathrooms thank goodness.



Dan is singing in his head "She thinks my tractor's sexy!"



Dan became friendly with this cow and I'm pretty sure he got mad cow disease from it because he was sick the next day.



Just monkeying around...



Later that day we watched both BYU and the Yankees win so it was a fabulous day!

Conference Weekend

Did anyone else have a conference weekend that looked like this?



Of course we listened too but Dan captured this priceless moment. On Sunday we also had a birthday party for Olivia who turned 6! I can't believe how big she is getting but she is just as cute as ever.



And what is a trip to Grand Junction without some sort of inclement weather? We always get rain or hail or just a full out blizzard...but not this time! Dan had this storm cloud chasing us for a good while but he won! No precipitation on our car this time.

Sundance Resort

One afternoon while Dan's parents were visiting we went up to Sundance Resort and took a lift ride. It was gorgeous and so green! I had been up there plenty of times to go snowboarding but it was an entirely different place without any snow. It was $10 for a lift ticket and the ride was about 45 minutes. You could also get off and have a picnic, go hiking, or go biking. We were pressed for time so we didn't get off. It was beautiful though and we all enjoyed being up in the mountains.

A Visit from Dan's Parents

We spent a very fun and busy week last week with Dan's parents who were visiting from Connecticut. Here's a quick list of things we did and I'll post more pictures later: we visited with friends, ate at Texas Roadhouse, tiled our bathroom, got pedicures, went to Thanksgiving Point, went to Sundance Resort, and saw Salt. We had a fabulous time with them and are so glad they would come visit and help us out with such a big house project!

Lately...

Dan's softball team won the Orem City Championship and Dan was so excited to say the least! We celebrated after with the team at The Purple Turtle for milkshakes!





My mom and Ashley are here for the weekend so on Friday night Becky, Erin and Steven came over too. I had sparklers that never got used so we have fun with them.


I went to Dante's birthday party yesterday morning. I play with him every Friday and we have a blast. When he talks about me he says "my Meghan". How cute!


We went and visited my aunt and uncle that live really close to us now this afternoon and Dan had fun in their chicken coop! My uncle builds these and sells them...apparently it is kind of cool to have your own chickens. I didn't dare hold one...animals aren't really my thing, especially birds!

4th of July in DC

Ok so I was awful at taking hardly any pictures during my trip to DC. I was having too much fun and always on the go that I never really took my camera out. So this is going to be more like a journal entry. I spent my first morning with Dan's sister Melissa and her little girls. We had a picnic at the park and then I went to Marriott to visit lots of old coworkers. It was so great to be able to catch up with so many friends there and to here that I am still missed. In fact I was even told that they still have my old computer and would set it up for me if I would stay! That was flattering to hear but I had to decline. I was quickly running out of time because I had to make it into the city to meet friends for dinner and I knew the beltway (495) would be a beast. And surely it was but I made it into the city just in time for dinner with Anne, her hubby Grayden, and our awesome friend Matt. We ate at Coco Sala, a swanky Tapas and dessert restaurant famous for its three course chocolate dessert. After dinner Anne and I drove to Crystal City to see our friend Torrey. She always has great stories to tell and her latest was that two of the Russian spies that were recently caught had been living in the apartment complex where she works! She also let me leave my car there overnight which was super cool because parking in the city is not so cool. So Anne and I took the metro back to her studio apartment in Chinatown and crashed for the night. How cool is it that this is the view out her window?!



The next morning I had some time by myself so I got a Boston Creme donut from Dunkin Donuts and walked to the Sculpture Garden to have my breakfast and read for a little bit. The weather was gorgeous that morning and I walked around the mall a little bit to the National Archives, Capital, and Washington Monument. I got a kick out of watching a little preschool class playing t-ball on the lawn in front of he Capital!





The Portrait Gallery opened at 11:30 and I went there until Anne was done work. I hadn't been before so that was one stop I definitely wanted to make. They have an exhibit of all the American presidents and I have to admit there were a good five or six that I didn't know at all! I need to brush up on my American history! There was a Norman Rockwell exhibit too that I enjoyed. Once I met up with Anne we walked to 14th Street to check out a bunch of furniture stores. I loved this as well and we got a lunch and yummy chocolate shakes. I then had to say goodbye to Anne to go meet up with another one of my best friends Kate. I met her at the metro and we rode it out to Crystal City to pick up my car at Torrey's. We then went to dinner in Shirlington and talked and laughed and had a fabulous time. The thing you have to know about Kate is that she has the best laugh in the entire world. It is so infectious and I told Dan it was one of the things I was really looking forward to on my trip! I spent the next morning with her too in Georgetown shopping and eating. We went to Georgetown Cupcake and ate DELICIOUS crepes at a little creperie. It was so fun walking around M Street again because we had lived there for four months during our internships. I sadly then had to say goodbye to her and made my way back out to Virginia. I got to visit my cousin who has a new baby girl and stopped by my old townhouse and got to visit my old roommate Christina. It was so fun to be back! By this time it was Saturday afternoon and I went back to Melissa's house to spend the rest of the weekend with Dan's family. I had such a great time playing with nieces and nephews, playing games late into the night and laughing hysterically about who knows what, and celebrating my birthday! I am a hard person to surprise but they pulled it off. My birthday isn't until the end of the month but while I was going to be with his family they told Dan they wanted to celebrate. He arranged as well to have my present for me there. I really was so shocked. I was talking with his Dad and next thing I knew there was a cake in the kitchen and cards with my name on them. My cake was a Chocolate Truffle Bomb cake- haha Melissa knows me well!





My present from Dan and his parents is this amazing Panasonic camera! I am so excited to start using it. What a great early birthday surprise! The next day was Ellie's baby blessing and 4th of July. We had a BBQ dinner and set off some fireworks in the backyard. I watched from just inside the screen door because my feet were already eaten alive by mosquitoes. I was really missing Dan at this point and was glad I was going home the next morning. So after a very early flight I found myself back in Utah with Dan at our new little house and I was home!

DC here I come!

I got the very best gift in the whole wide world and I'm going to DC next week. In case you can't tell...I'm stoked! Dan's parents and brother's family will be there for a baby blessing so I'll get to see a lot of his family. I can't wait to hold these little girls:

And some of my best friends are still in DC as well so I'm anxious to get to spend time with them. I really love the city itself and am so excited to go to some of my favorite museums and monuments. I would be a little worried that I won't want to come home but I will be anxious to get home to Dan and to get out of the heat and humidity. I'll take lots of pictures!