Baby Boy Update!

We have hit the 6 month mark and Baby Boy is doing GREAT! He is always dancing around in his mommy's tummy and making it sometimes difficult to sleep. But I don't mind,  as it is the greatest comfort to feel him moving around all the time! :) The doctors say that he is at the right size and development for his his due date on January 24th. Can't wait! All of his organs and limbs are looking great as well! Jeff and I are still trying to decide on a name. We have a couple we like, but nothing has been decided on. I'll let ya'all know as soon as we decide though! :) As promised, there is an updated picture of my baby bump below, as well as a 3D shot of our little guy.

 (Definitely looking pregnant now!) Thank you Mum for buying me those belly bands! They are the only reason I can still put on any of my jeans. :) 

Baby Boy! That is his finger/hand next to his mouth. The little guy didn't want to move it for the doctor. I think it makes for a pretty cute photo. :) 

Well that's the 6 month update! Hope you are all well and enjoying these final days of September! 

Intramurals, Lady Bird Lake and Haircuts!

Intramural games are here again! Jeff has joined the Chem E. football team and is really enjoying it! He says it's crazy how much more he sweats here, due to the humidity. We had both noticed it before, but at Jeff's intramural game he REALLY noticed. Probably because it was the first time he was running around outside for a long time. He still had a lot of fun and the Chem. E. students seem to be a really neat group!

 Football intramurals are a lot more serious here in Texas! Every team has practices, the "home" team must wear all white to the game and almost every team has their own team t-shirt. 

 Group talk.

Yesterday we went exploring around Lady Bird Lake and found this amazing view (shown below) of the city. I really do love this city for than any other I have visited. It is so beautiful with all the greenery and river running around it! You can also see all of the canoes, paddle boards and kayaks in the picture below. People in Austin sure do love being outdoors and all the recreational activities! 

 Beautiful. :)

Trying to find some turtles along the river. Jeff has not yet been able to catch one and is very determined to do so. :) For such slow reptiles, they sure are sneaky and very adept at hiding! 

And for the grand finale. . . .  I CUT JEFF'S HAIR! Haha At first I really didn't want to. (I was afraid I'd  make him look like he'd stuck his head in blender.) Jeff had been trying to convince me all week to do it,  because he really didn't want to pay 15 or more dollars to get his haircut. So today I gave in and cut it. Surprisingly enough, I am VERY proud of the final result. Yes it is not the greatest cut and yes my sister Katie (as well as any other beautician I'm sure) would have cringed at my technique, had she seen it, but hey with only a pair of paper scissors, a comb and the knowledge of a short YouTube video, I think I did a pretty decent job! :D Below are the results....

Before. (I know he looks grumpy, but he felt weird smiling while turned to the side. So this is what I got. haha)

 One side complete.

 The final product! I cut it a little shorter in the front than I wanted, but Jeff still really likes it. :) He is a very trusting husband to let me do this, especially right before church. haha

 The back.

My tools. Jeff has said he will get me some proper hair scissors, so next time it'll be a bit easier. :) 

We are still loving our time here in Austin! Though it is hard to be away from family and friends and at times one does feel a little homesick, this is a fun and beautiful place to live. :) It has cooled off a bit now... a VERY small bit, but hey at least we're in the 90's now. :) We really don't mind the heat that much though, as there are so many water places to visit! Baby boy is getting more and more active. He is always dancing around and kicking his mommy's tummy (sometimes keeping her up at night), but I don't mind because it is a wonderful reassurance that he is healthy and active. :) 

I hope you all have been having a wonderful September and that October will be equally as wonderful and/or more so! :D 

San Antonio and Bull Creek Adventures

Can I just start by saying how proud I am that I have kept up blogging once a week for 3 weeks! That is a record for me (shoot even two weeks would be a record!) so I'm feeling pretty good right now! :D haha Anyway, to get on with this weeks blog... we went to San Antonio! It is only about an hour to an hour and a half away, and since our ward was going to the temple there this weekend (we don't have one in Austin) Jeff, James, Monica and I decided to make a whole day out of it! We started the day by going to the 9:30 session at the temple (I am still kicking myself for forgetting to take a picture of it, but we were running late) and then went and watched some of the kids in our ward at a local Stake Center so that their parents could go to the 12:30 session. Jeff and I are nursery leaders in our ward and I think it helped some of the younger kids to have some familiar faces there. 

The rest of the days adventures are shown below...

 We went to The Alamo! It was such a neat experience to go and see this historical place. 

 Our friends Monica and James at The Alamo. 

Yes all this greenery was not there at the time of the epic battle, but it sure enhances the beauty and sacredness of the place.

 Giant Japanese fish in a stream going through The Alamo fort. They looked like abnormally large goldfish/carp, but a little too much like the giant carp at Lake Powell for my taste. 

 Another part of the fort. 

 We also went to the River Walk! Another very neat place! There were so many shops, restaurants and HUGE trees surrounding this run river running through San Antonio downtown. It reminded all of us a little of Disneyland. :) 

 There was also a lot of cute ducks and not so cute carp to feed in the river. :) 

We then wandered around town for a while, (San Antonio is a very tourist friendly city) saw some neat attractions like "Ripley's Believe it or Not" store, a wax museum, people painting different sites and much more. After this we got lunch at the Lonestar steakhouse (with a name like that none of us dared get anything other than Texas burgers and/or steak!) and then headed home. It was such a fun day and I can't wait to go back next month! :) 

 Yes I know that I always seem to be posting pictures of Jeff and I out exploring rivers, lakes and catching little animals, but it's what we love to do and I hope they don't bore you.... because here are some more. :) haha

 I don't know how Jeff saw this little guy among the rocks, but he did and caught it. In his hand is the tinniest lizard I have ever seen! Jeff just has an eye for seeing and catching anything that crawls, jumps, slithers, swims, etc. 

 He was so TINY! 

 But not as tiny as this little frog Jeff found soon after! Again I have never seen a frog this small and don't know how Jeff spots these little guys! 

 Bull Creek. 

 Jeff exploring Bull Creek. 

 These next two photos are just to show how beautiful it is here in Austin Texas. It is SO much greener and has so many more parks, rivers and lakes than I had expected! 

 Beautiful green hills. 

In other news, WE HAVE RACCOONS! Now unlike some people, we don't think having raccoons outside our window a bad thing. Probably because we both find them so cute (Jeff was really thrilled when he first saw them as he had never seen a live raccoon before) and we are on the second floor of our complex, so they don't bother us. There is a mommy, a daddy and three babies. They climb around the trees outside our balcony and eat the food on the ground that our next door neighbor throws to them. (We also throw them a few munchies every now and again.) They are plenty plump and I'm sure do not need any extra food from us, but since we can't have a cat or dog, at least we get raccoons. ;) haha 

Living in Texas in turning out to be quite the adventure and we are really enjoying our time here! Our ward is so friendly, we are making fast friends and the local people are so nice! Even the traffic is so much better than the current Utah County construction chaos we left. However, we do miss our family and friends a great deal and hope you all are happy and that we continue to stay in contact! We have a Skype and Google Chat account, so if any of you want to video chat sometime, let me know! :)

Life in Texas!

We have been in Austin for a little over  2 weeks now and are having SO much fun! There are so many things to see here and Jeff simply loves how many rivers and lakes there are. :) It is too hot to go outside during the afternoon (unless you're in the water), but morning and evenings are cool enough to go and explore town. The city seems to come alive at night as well! We discovered this our first day here... at Walmart.
When we first arrived at our apartment we had to run over to Walmart (which is 2 minutes away) and get a money order. This was around 4pm and there was hardly anyone there. However, when we went back that evening around 9pm to get some groceries, the place was PACKED! We waited in line for 20 minutes just to check out! I know Walmart can get bad sometimes, but I'd never seen it this bad! So Jeff and I have decided to do our grocery shopping before 5pm, just to be safe. :)

Austin truly is a beautiful city with so many places to see! Below are some pictures of the adventures we've been having since we got here. :)

We went to the Bat Festival! There is a bridge on South Congress that goes over the river running through downtown, and under this bridge lives the largest urban bat population in the world! Every night around dusk the bats come flying out from under the bridge to hunt, and every year Austin celebrates this with a Bat Festival. :) There were about 12 live bands that played....

 Vendors of all kinds lined the bridge. There wasn't more than an inch between each booth! Lets just say it smelt REALLY good and was REALLY crowded! haha

Jeff, James and Monica waiting for the bats to come out. 

 Sadly the bats waited unusually long to come out this night and when they did it was too dark for me to get a good photo of them.

 But this is what it looks like normally. :) 

 I love how many trees there are here! Even downtown the streets are lined with them! 

 We also went to Barton Springs! This is the niftiest pool I have ever been to! It is a section of the river that has been made into a pool. (Awesome I know!) The ground is completely natural, with all its original rocks and plant life. Cement has been lined around the river to make it into a semi-pool and a diving board has been put in. All in all a really neat place to go swim. :) 

 These are our new friends Monica and James. They helped us move in on our first day here, we clicked, and now we get together with them several times a week. :) 

 One side of the pool...

 Other side. Yes it is VERY long. :) 

 This is a fun part of the river Jeff and I found the other day.  

 Jeff exploring the river a bit. 

 Look at the adorable baby turtle we found! I saw it when we were playing around the river and Jeff caught it. :) 

 He kept trying to bite Jeff. :) 

 Mmmm. . .Yummy?

Isn't he the cutest turtle you've ever seen?! We decided to name him Squirtle. :) 

Yet ANOTHER part of the river we found to play in. :) In the picture are Jeff and two friends, Bart and Taylor, skipping some rocks. 

Just skipping some rocks. :) 

 Austin is the most dog friendly city I have ever been in or heard of! Dogs are EVERYWHERE. It's so fun to see so many people out playing in the river, walking along trails and even shopping with their dogs. Living here is even making Jeff want a dog. (Finally! ;D)

Truly Austin is a very fun and outdoorsy place to live. Jeff and I are so excited to be living here and having so many interesting and fun places to explore. Yes the city is beautiful and has many fun sights to see, but our hearts are out in nature. :)

 SO pretty! 

We love playing in the river and love how many different places there are to go and visit! I guess there are also a ton of lakes near by, we just haven't visited them yet. We'll have to change that. :)
I know I posted a ton of photos, but there are just so many things I want to show and share with all of you! Hopefully this post isn't too long and the pictures aren't overwhelming. :) I'm going to try and post at least once a week, so hopefully my next posts won't be as long. ;) haha

Baby Bumps, Crafts and Our New Home!

 Well hello! I know its been months since I last blogged, and I do apologize, again, but hope you'll forgive me as I am going to REALLY try to be better! Moving so far away from our family and friends has made me want to get better abut bogging so that we can stay updated in all of your lives, and you in ours. :) One of the things I promised people before we moved, was that I would post and blog about our growing baby boy and my growing tummy. So at 20.2 weeks, here are the first photos. . . 

 I know a lot of people still say I don't look like I'm showing at all, but as you can see, I clearly am. :)  I just wear baggy shirts all the time. Haha I'm so excited our little boy is so healthy and growing! Its crazy to think that in only 4 more months he will be with us! :D

Yeah for baby bumps! 

In other news, I have FINALLY done a diy craft found on Pinterest! Yesterday I took an old t-shirt that doesn't fit anymore, but I have been unwilling to throw away. Maybe its the color or maybe I'm just a pack rat, but it's been hanging out in my closet collecting dust for quite a while. Until yesterday that is. :) Here is the result! 

While its nothing huge, I must admit that I am pretty proud of myself! :) I am not the craftiest of persons, but really want to change that and this was first step in that direction. Jeff just laughs at me getting so excited over a silly cardigan, but I feel this was a milestone towards a craftier me and am so excited! :D 
Now I also promised that I would post some pictures of our new apartment here in Austin, TX. We were a little worried about what it would be like, having only seen pictures online, but we simply LOVE it! It has more than meet our hopes for our new home. :) Allow me to take you on a little tour...

 The kitchen. The washer and dryer are at the back next to that shelf, but I couldn't get a good picture of them...

 Even though it's small, I love how open it is to the rest of the apartment. (Jeff loves that he can watch TV while he does the dishes. Haha)

 I LOVE the view we have from the balcony! Even though we are right off a highway, there are so many trees here, we can't hear the cars and it looks like we live next to a glen. :) 

 There are usually squirrels running around these trees too. So fun to just sit and watch. :) 

Our bedroom. 

 Bedroom continued. It was hard to get a good shot of the whole room. (And no I did not make that beautiful quilt, my amazing mother did!)

Please forgive the poor quality of these photos, I really am a terrible photographer.

 Bathroom. 

 Different angle of bathroom. 

 Baby boy's room! Aka storage room until we get more settled in. :) 

 Built in bookshelf. One can't ever have too many of those! :) 

 Dinning area. We like to keep the table folded against the wall unless we have company over for dinner. Makes it even more open in the apartment.

 Living room. We currently only have one couch but are in the process of getting new ones. :) 

 Hallway. 

 Entry way. 

So there you have it, our new home. :) We do have a spare bed so if any of you are ever in town, you are more than welcome to save some money and come stay with us! Even if you aren't in town, make a trip and come on over, we'll show ya around Austin. Or what we know of it that is. ;) We love and miss you all so much and hope you're lives are wonderful and that you're all happy! Until our next post. See ya! :)