Welcome to Idaho!! Rachel and Kevin's family move back!!

We are so excited that things worked out for Kevin and Rachel's family to move to Idaho!! The moved Conference weekend, so we drove down to visit the next weekend. They were able to stop by Nauvoo, and a few of the other church sites. Considering the long drive, I think the kids had a fun time. 

While we were visiting, mom had us pick some apples. The old, bad apples the kids played "smashing apples" (baseball with apples that splattered when they were hit). They LOVED the game, and were always trying to get someone to pitch to them. I even hit a few that Caleb pitched to me.

Here is a pic of all of us gathering the apples...

Joe was a trooper and got the apples down with this basket, while the rest of us caught them with this tarp...

Mom, enjoying the delicious apples she grew this year...

Kevin spent A LOT of time organizing the shop. It looks so great now, and I am sure Dad enjoys the extra space...

Rachel holding one of the MANY baskets of apples. The three of us ladies spent quite a few hours peeling and cutting up pears so they could be bottled up... 

I can't wait til Thanksgiving and we get to have some of mom's homemade apple pie!! It's so DELICIOUS!! Eating other apple pie has forever been ruined for Joe and I. She does such a great job. I believe she uses my Grandma Hebdon's recipe. I will have to post it for memories.

32 Weeks Update

We went to our doctor's appointment around 32 weeks. Everything went really well, and I passed all of the tests for the final time!! What a relief!! My doctor is Julie Lyons, I seriously could not have hand picked a better fit for Joe and I. She is a general practice physician that delivers A LOT of babies, so we feel good about our choice. She will also be Adaline's doctor when she is born. After the appointment, Joe wanted to take a baby bump picture. He loves my tummy and is so proud of it...

These were taken around the same time. I took a minute of my lunch break to take a peak at her. And got these adorable chubby cheeks!! Oh my goodness, what a cutie... Kevin jokes around saying we have more pictures of her in the womb than he has of his kids after they are born. It's probably true!! I just love ultrasound! And the fun I can have with it. This is our beautiful baby girl...

28 Weeks

I had a little break in between exams. So I decided it had been a few weeks since I took a look at Adaline. She always has her face too close to the placenta, and so it cuts off some of her features. But I got a few pics to show off...

Here is a 3D of her little face. The spot by her eye was either cord or the placenta. but I still thought it was cute =0)

Here is a pic of her sucking her thumb. I caught this using 4D (live ultrasound) and just had to save it. I shared it with Joe and he LOVED these pics of his baby girl!

Like I have said before...this lil' girl is going to be ultrasound all of the time!! I can't help myself...I limit the time I scan her and limit myself on how often I do. The curs of being an ultrasound tech!

Oh, and I was able to take the registry for the Abdomen on the 21st and passed!! Phew! What a relief =0)

I know a lot of you are thinking, what? You already have taken tests.... Well, with Ultrasound, you have multiple registries you can take. To be an official registered tech you take the physics and one specialty. With my employer they wanted me to take physics, OB/GYN, and abdomen. I had a year to do it. Technically I could do a few more, but this momma is ready to relax and enjoy these last few months of pregnancy... So far I have been lucky, and so I have loved it!!

The Emerald City....Seattle!! Aug 22-26

I was given the opportunity to go to an ultrasound seminar in Seattle for work. We covered the musculoskeletal systems (basically all of the joints in the extremities), which is a new and exciting direction for ultrasound. I was beyond excited for the opportunity and Joe was able to get school/clinicals off to come with me.

We were able to fly out of Sun Valley, seriously a third the price from flying out of Boise, sign me up!! We arrived Wednesday around 6 pm, met up with our transport, and headed to the Marriot in Lynnwood, WA. The expenses were covered by Philips (the company we bought the ultrasound machine from) and they gave me a $25 meal voucher for 3 days and breakfast passes at the hotel. So we went to a nearby Italian restaurant called Bucco de Beppo's. It was pretty descent, and we were able to not spend so much money on meals. The next day we went to Anthony's Fish Bar, which was good, but not as great of a price, so we went back to Bucco de Beppo's the following night. 

The only bummer part of the deal was I was in a seminar 8-4, so the day was interesting, but Joe was stuck at the hotel with no transportation. He was quite a trooper. I loved being with him, and being able to enjoy the time together. We went swimming at the pool when I would get off, a huge relief to the prego lady.  

Finally Sunday arrived, the first day that I didn't have a seminar to attend, and we were once again, without transportation. But Joe's older brother Mark lives an hour away, and so he met up with us at noon and we were able to spend some time with him. He took us to look at a house boat he wanted to buy. He decided that would be cheaper than renting an apartment. It was interesting to see the boats, and see the crazy huge boats that were SO expensive. Mark's was quite a bit smaller, but I think it will be fun for him.

We drove down a few hours later to downtown Seattle, where Joe and I met for the first time. We walked around Pike's Market Place, this was Joe's first time since elementary to visit it. He was like a kid in a candy shop. All of the fresh fish, oyster, lobster....the list goes on and on. I was in heaven with the fresh fruit and flowers. Seriously...some of the best tasting nectarines EVER, and the pretties bouquets for such a great price. 

Here are some pics of Joe at the fish market, where they throw the ordered fish. 

Joe eating a fresh oyster...so wiggly and jiggly, I couldn't handle the idea. But he was IN HEAVEN!

LOL, Mark thought it was pretty gross too...

Joe and I overlooking the Puget Sound...

Mark and Joe overlooking the Puget Sound...

We walked what seemed like forever, up a steep street no less, to see the Space Needle. Last time I was there we didn't have time to see it. Being prego, my round ligament was giving me some issues, but we made it.

 I am going to be honest, a little disappointing. It's not worth it, Pike 's Place has definitely all of the attractions. But it was still neat to see the City. By the time we got back to the car we were exhausted and hungry. 

So Mark drove us to our hotel and we enjoyed the rest of the evening relaxing. We flew out early that next morning to Sun Valley, and Joe headed to Twin Falls for his first day of Fall Semester Classes. What a fun trip!! It went way to fast, but it was a great break.

We LOVE Seattle, and would move somewhere like that or Portland. If it weren't for our families and our desire to be close enough to see them regularly, we would be gone!! 

Our baby girl's update.... 5 months

We are beyond excited to have Adaline Mabel (yes, we chose a name) in our lives. She is very active every time I scan her. I can feel her move, especially at nights when Joe and I are snuggling. I can’t quite figure out if it’s because she can hear his voice? Or is it because she feels too hot with him so close. LOL, either way, she makes me laugh a lot and I will admit I feel a little jealousy at the idea of her being a daddy’s girl already.

Once again…no camera = no pictures…. Something we KNOW we have to remedy before Addie gets here.

The first 12 weeks passed with hardly any pregnancy symptoms, just exhaustion. I felt pretty lucky especially having to work such a stressful job where I am on the go all of the time. But then things started to change at week 13 and I started having stomach problems in the morning. I guess I have to do everything the opposite of most women. Luckily by my 10:00 appointment at work the symptoms pass. I started to feel her move around 18 weeks and that was only occasionally, but ever so exciting!!

When I was 20 weeks, we went to Bancroft to my Grandpa and Grandma Neibaur’s home for a family reunion. It was fun to see so many aunts, uncles, cousins, and more. My Aunt Jackie and my mom put on a baby shower for me and my cousin Sydney, who is also expecting a little girl soon. Another cousin, Morgan, is expecting a girl just after us. 3 little girls within 4 months of each other!! It will be so much fun to have so many cousins close to Addie’s (our nickname for her) age. And there were a few babies born in the spring/summer. What a growing family!! At the shower we played fun active games, opened presents, and enjoyed the conversation. We were given so many cute clothes and accessories. Seriously, Adaline will be so stinkin’ cute with her wardrobe. We LOVE having such a sweet and giving family. We are so blessed to be surrounded by so many excited for us.

But I am going to be honest…I woke up Saturday morning to drive to the reunion and was so sick! But that has seemed to be the norm for me in the mornings, so we headed out. But it didn't pass and seemed to get worse. Driving in a car for 3 ½ hours was brutal. By the time we arrived, I felt horrible physically and worried about offending others because I just didn't feel like socializing at all. By the time the shower was over in the afternoon, I decided to lie down…and then it happened…chills & aches in addition to other symptoms and I knew I had the stomach flu. It made me a little nervous because I couldn't hold down water for quite awhile after that. But later that night I was able to keep some Gatorade in me. We headed home Sunday and I started to feel a little bit better. It took me half the week to be back to normal. But it seems that since that time, I haven’t been feeling the morning sickness as much and am crossing my fingers that I have passed that stage.

We went in for our fetal anatomy survey ultrasound at 22 weeks (Aug 9^th), a little later than desired, but with me being the only ultrasound tech except for a Boise Tech covering once a week, it’s hard to schedule appointments. It was fun to be able to relax and just enjoy watching the ultrasound. Joe always gets a big kick out of seeing how active Adaline is. I felt so bad for the tech because I KNOW how hard and frustrating it can be. But Addie is a doll! I know that I am prejudice, but the more I see her, the more I love her, and just can’t wait to see what this little spirit is going to be like. I am a little worried she is going to keep us on our toes…I can feel her little movements quite often now, and wonder what she must be doing and thinking. We love our baby girl!! She is so big…seriously! She is measuring 7 days ahead, which puts her in the 96th percentile....But everything else was looking perfect, so I didn't worry about it to much. But then I had my doctor’s appointment on the 12^th, she had me take the glucose test they usually do at 28 weeks. Oh my goodness, I was so scared!! But I passed with room to spare. I keep praying that things will be okay. My weight has been a huge concern even before I became pregnant, and therefore is always a threat for pregnancy problems. SO far everything is great, except for her measuring big. My only consolation is that everything is measuring the same…so she is proportional. Although I do have to laugh because she has a round head...just like her daddy did. His mom called him "her little apple head". I think it's adorable.

We haven’t put together a nursery yet. It has been driving me CRAZY because that is all that I want to do. I have so many ideas and I am itching to get things started now while I feel good. But we are still undecided as to whether we might move. We are trying to figure out ways to save money, and might need to move somewhere a couple of hundred dollars cheaper…if we can find it. It’s SOOO expensive here. My manager just had her baby and has been giving me ideas…pretty much an average of $50 a day for day care. YIKES!! There is no way that is going to work. We are hoping to find someone in the ward that will help us out for a lot less. I have to work 10 hour days four times a week, and Joe will be doing the same thing. So if we both have one day with her, that still leaves us 3 days uncovered…the idea makes me sick again ;0)  I hate the idea of doing day care, and know that it will only be until Joe graduates and gets a job somewhere. Hopefully then I can drop down my shifts significantly... I am a drama queen, I know, but it tugs at my heart when I think of missing her first giggle, roll, word, EVERYTHING. By the time I get home at 7 pm, she will be going down for bed soon. And then I expect we will be up with her at night, but then we will drop her off at 7am. That doesn't allow a lot of fun time…. Oh well, we will do what we have to. 

We are expecting a sweet little bundle of fun....and it's a GIRL!!

We are SO excited to announce that we are going to have a baby girl this December!!

Joe and I have been talking about having a baby since we got married, but with me in school and him deciding what he wanted to study, and no insurance it was just not feasible. And so we waited, and waited, prayed to know when was a good time...and waited. We would hear Conference talks and get butterflies, but it just didn't feel like the right time for us. We really were hoping that after Joe graduated next May 2014, that would be the perfect timing...

And then to our surprise we found out that we were pregnant!  I am not going to lie, we have been secretly hoping something like this would happen even thought the odds were against us. So when Easter came around and I had some signs of early pregnancy, Joe and I bought a test. You have to LOVE those subtle lines!! We were like, nope, no way is it there....let's try later....and a few days later we tried again....maybe, hmmm....we will try again later....and there it was!! LOL, we pretty much had to have a clear YES before we believed it.

Warning!! These pictures were taken in the middle of the night....crazy hair times =0) We are goobers we know, we just can't contain our excitement!!

With me being an ultrasound tech, I had Joe come in after my work and scan me so we could see the lil one...first the gestational sac, and then later we saw the fetal pole, and then a heartbeat, and then our little gummy bear at 10 weeks. I promised to limit myself to only scan once a week until I felt confident everything was ok. I have seen/read so many things that I was constantly worrying. Joe has loved watching her grow, seeing her flip around, wiggle those arms and legs. I have seen it many times, but it is still exciting when the baby is yours.

The day after our anniversary, I scanned myself again, and I knew for sure that we were having a little girl! We were so surprised because Joe was so sure that the Johnson's don't produce girls. We would have been excited for a boy too. We just wanted to know =0) so I could get working on projects, like I have any time. And yes, I am fully aware that I cheated and pretty much knew since she was 14 weeks that we were having a girl. And so we bought our first pink baby item...when we went to Boise for our anniversary.

This is that first item I talked about buying at Boise. Joe picked it out for her. He loves Snoopy...

And this is a blanket that I made for her out of corduroy fabric (Snoopy) and the back is pokadot flannel. SO soft! We bought the fabric almost a year ago on sale. We fell in love with it and decided to buy it, in hopes that some day we might have a girl. Don't worry, I have boy stuff to whenever he arrives.

LOL, we have been discussing baby names since our late drive home from Moab/Arizona/Las Vegas trip when we were dating. And we have agreed upon a few names in order of favorites:

Adaline Mabel: 1st name from ancestor Pioneer Adaline Knight Belnap, and 2nd from my Grandma Belnap I love hearing stories about both ladies. So much love for life and spunk!

Hannah Grace: 1st name from the Bible, Joe has always loved her story, and it comes from Joe's Dad's Mom, and 2nd from Joe's Mom's Mom. From what I understand Grandma Grace was an angel.

Rebekah Elise: 1st name from the Bible. I love her story and admire her courage, a name I have loved for years and I know we have that name somewhere down the line, and Elise....embarrassed to say from the movie "Somewhere In Time" but it just works with Rebekah. No other name quite fits)

Abigail ________ (I have liked this name forever, but am worried about having a girl with this name due to me having a dog when I was in High School named Abigail)

Yes, we are out of control...and Joe is right there with me ;0) So our little girl will be here supposedly December 12th, but she has been consistently measuring 5 days ahead, so we will see....

These are some owl that I made for her. I thought they would be fun =0)

Red Fish Lake

Since we moved to Hailey, we always wanted to head north to see Red Fish Lake. We heard about how beautiful it was, and time just kept passing away. Finally on a Saturday we randomly decided to take a drive. The further North we went, the thicker the trees became, and I was excited to see some green. Joe even said that parts of it reminded him of Washington. 

We walked to the lake and had to test the water out. It was FREEZING!! Which I guess makes sense because it's melt off from a glacier, at least that is what I have been told. But it felt so good...Joe got to enjoy all of the fun...

Here is a pic of him taking a dive...LOL he came shooting up out of the water, gasping at how cold it was. But did that stop him? Absolutely not...he dived at least three more times.

We both LOVE the water and enjoy it every bit that we can.

Vacation at St. George

We have driven through St. George a few times, but we never have time for Joe to enjoy the beauty the southern Utah has to offer. I was able to get a few days off around Memorial Day so we decided it would be the perfect time to enjoy a trip there. We invited my Mom to come with us. We didn't know for sure if she would be able to come with us or not due to potatoes, but that morning we were about to leave, she got a call she could come! We were excited to have her join us.

We stayed at my Grandpa and Grandma Neibaur's home in St. George, such a nice place to stay at. We arrived Friday evening. We left Saturday morning with the intention of going to Zion's Canyon (the main reason why we were there in the first place) but got distracted by a sign stating the Grand Canyon was just over 100 miles...Who would have guessed that it was so close to where we were? My mom and I had been to Zion's Canyon, but no one had been to the Grand Canyon....it was unanimous!! We headed south to the North Rim and were so surprised at the thick trees. We were expecting the desert. It was not too hot and offered some fun hikes that allowed us to see the landscape.

I have to add the both my mom and Joe were nervous about the heights and standing so close to the edge. I knew this about Joe, but I had no idea that my mom was afraid of heights... I had to tease them a little bit.

We also visited some ruins of the ancient Indians who would migrate from the rim to the bottom of the canyon according to the seasons.

 It was hard to show the beauty and the extreme depths of the Canyon...my camera doesn't do it justice.

One of the few wildlife we came across....

 I had to take this candid pic. I think my mother is such an amazing person. I love her so much.

We had taken of few of the hikes that were recommended by the visiting center. We were pretty tired, but wanted to make one last hike before we called it the day. We started off, and it was a slow steady climb uphill...I kept thinking, ok we just have to make it at the crest of that hill, and that crest never showed up!! After what seemed like a ways up, I decided to that I was toast and called it off. By the time we got home, we were exhausted (I can't speak for mom) but here's a pic of Joe ready to pass out =0)

Long story short....that night we ran into some problems with the water heater. So we went to my Grandparent's ward, and at the end we talked with one of the Bishopric asking if he had any recommendations of who to call. It turned out that he knew exactly what was wrong and was willing to help us out. What a huge relief!! Unfortunately our Sunday was messed up because of this ordeal, but we felt so blessed to get help. We were able to sneak in a visit to the Jacob Hamlin home. 

Monday we went to a temple session. This was Joe's first time in the Temple. It is a favorite temple of mine. I love the pioneer spirit these older temples have. There is so much pride and love put into the building of dedicated to the Lord. 

We were hoping to make it to Zion's still, but it just didn't work out. Oh well, that will be saved for next time.