So, we finally have access to the internet in our home-sorry about the delayed blogs!

So much has happened since the last blog.... BUT first of all the time is getting closer-Tanya is 36 weeks! I have been able to be present during 2 ultrasounds as well as all of her appointments. She also came over for dinner and saw the finally completed nursery (pics below). I have thoroughly enjoyed the time that I have been able to spend with Tanya and the wonderful friendship that has developed.
Kind of simple-but I really love how it turned out.
(Thanks to Kathy for her ideas and mom for her sewing skill!)

Other news and fun:
Brian graduated with his Master's in December and walked in April.
I also graduated with my bachelor's in April but didn't walk.
It is so wonderful not to have homework ever again. YEAH!!!

Thanks to both of our families for your love and support!

We spent some fun time with my family up the canyon from my mom's home.

Tyson, Becca, Mat and Em enjoying the campfire.

Ethan (my nephew) celebrated his 8th birthday and was baptized.
All of my family were able to be there except Tyson and Becca and Amy and Matt.
(I can't wait to see them at the family reunion in August.)

Most of my family at Ethan's baptism.

AND last but definitely not least, Brian and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. Wow, I can't believe that it's been 5 years- 5 wonderful years. I am so incredibly lucky to be married to the most wonderful husband in the world!

Caleb Ray

We've decided to name the cute little guy Caleb Ray!
Ray is Brian's middle name, as well as the middle name of Brian's father and grandfather.
Can anybody guess why we chose Caleb?
Everything is going well. We ate dinner with Tanya and her family (very yummy lasagne!) on Sunday. It was a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to her next appointment on Monday.

Update

So, a lot has happened these past few weeks. I guess one of the biggest changes is that we've moved. Yep, after 5 years we have left Provo. We are still in an apartment, but hopefully it will be just for a little while longer. We are trying to see what we think of the area as well as seeing if Brian can survive biking to his work (I agree that he's a little crazy, but he's determined!) Anyway, we'll see what happens. Hopefully it will end with us buying a home. One problem the move has caused is that we no longer have internet access-hence the reason why I haven't blogged for a little while.

Kind of a funny side note-the first thing that was set up in the new apartment was the crib. (Brian's parents bought us a crib and brought it with them when they helped us move the first night. They wouldn't leave until the crib was set up, although it was pretty late at night. Needless to say they are excited as well.)

Heartbeat

Tanya invited me to her doctor's appointment yesterday. There was quite a bit of good news such as the doctor said she could come off bedrest-Yeah! It was so awesome to hear the cute little guy's heartbeat, (we are trying to decide on a name) which made this whole wonderful experience feel more real.

After the appointment, I enjoyed hanging out with Tanya and Kari (her mom). Kari took us both out to eat (thanks so much!) then we ended up going shopping. Although we couldn't find any clothes for Tanya, I ended up with some adorable little outfits.
Kari gave us his first little outfit. Isn't it adorable?
Tanya picked out this cute little ensemble.
I love baby clothes which only added to my excitement about this whole thing.
What a wonderful day!

p.s.

For those of you who are wondering-it's a BOY!
Tanya showed us some of her ultrasound pictures-he is such a cutie!
He's due the end of July.
and YES we are so EXCITED!
It is so much fun getting to know Tanya.

Yahoo!

Today we received the best surprise! We were chosen to be adoptive parents!! We met Tanya and her parents at their home today and enjoyed getting to know each other. Admittedly, we were a little (perhaps a lot!) nervous, but thankfully, Tanya came prepared with questions for us - I wish we would have written some down too. They were great questions like, "How did you meet?" "What was your favorite date?" "Why would your spouse make a great parent?" She even had me whistle her a tune. It was so much fun. We have quite a few things in common such as a love for horses and BYU football! One of her questions was who we support: BYU or U of U - and she probably would have kicked us out right then if we didn't answer correctly:) I was amazed that we could laugh and cry together and share such a wonderful experience together in such a short amount of time. We have truly seen the hand of the Lord in our lives today. We look forward to meeting her whole family in two weeks!

Finding Mario

Friday night was my mission reunion. I served in the Switzerland Zürich mission under President John Holbrook. I enjoy seeing my mission president again and seeing my mission friends. The big surprise was I saw Sister Wiesner from one of my wards. Brother Wiesner was the ward mission leader we worked closely with and their family celebrated my birthday, which touched me at that time.

At my mission reunion Sister Wiesner asked if I would like an update on any of the members. I specifically asked about Mario, who Elder Sheffield and I taught and saw baptized. (He contacted other missionaries in Zürich, showed up to our ward services and after the 3 hours of church we taught him the first discussion and asked him to be baptized - there is gold in Switzerland!) My last day in Switzerland I escorted Mario through the temple. Unfortunately, he moved shortly after I returned home so the contact information I had didn't work and I lost contact.
Elder Sheffield went back to Switzerland and met with him and his new wife. Unfortunately, his wife was not supportive of the Church and he stopped attending his new ward. I have tried a number of times reestablish contact with him, but they have not worked.

Sister Wiesner told me that he is now active in the church and that she would work at getting me back in contact with him! The other thing that made me very happy is she referred to him as a friend of the Bishop who baptized him. He asked me to baptize him, but following advice from the MTC, I told him I would be happy to, but thought it would be good for the Bishop to baptize him. One of my teachers in the MTC told me that having members baptize helps form stronger friendships between members who can be supportive after missionaries leave.

What joy! I hope to find Mario again.

Where did March go?

Wow, I can't believe that it's April. March seems like a blur.
Why? Just one word-SCHOOL!
All of my attention has been focuses on completing my last 2 classes. Actually 90% has been worrying about and then writing a research proposal for my Nursing Research class. After I submitted that assignment yesterday, I felt like a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. Now I have just 1 really small assignment left and I will be done. Sometimes I wonder what I will do with all of my free time. The first thing I need to do is deep clean the apartment-something that has been neglected for the last few months. Mostly, though, I am looking forward to reading something besides nursing text books. It has been almost 2 years since I've felt like I can sit down and indulge in a good book without having schoolwork hanging over my head.


One exciting thing that happened in March is my little sister Katie got married on the 14th. It was wonderful to see them sealed in the temple-they looked so happy (although in the one picture I have of them I would say they look more dazed). It was also a lot of fun spending time with all of my siblings and their cute families.

The happy couple: Aaron and Katie
(see what I mean when I say they look a little dazed?)

Sisters
Jamian, me, Emilee, Katie, Amy, Becca, Mom
Grandma with the Grandkids
Ethan, Zachary, Chloe, Eliza, Bennett
adorable Eliza with her daddy Troy

cute Zachary with his mommy Amy

We had fun making Zachary look "pretty".
Shh don't tell his dad we put a bow on his head.