Thanksgiving and Christmas (Yes Christmas) in Utah

We got to go to Utah and see our families!
While Jeff and I are loving our new home here in Austin, Texas, we miss our family and friends very much! This past Monday we were able to fly to Utah and spend the week with my family in St. George and Jeff's family was able to join us for the weekend. Needless to say, it was a very fun week! We celebrated Thanksgiving with my family on Thursday and then celebrated Christmas with them on Friday. We did this double holiday celebration because all of us girls and our husbands will not be with the Swensen side of the family this year (Jeff and I won't be with either side as I am unable to travel at that time) and we wanted to enjoy the experience of giving gifts and seeing the reaction on our family's faces. :) We will be video chatting Jeff's family on Christmas and will open our presents with them then. :) I am SO grateful for our amazing families! I heard so many horrible in-law stories before marrying Jeff and was worried that I would not get along with my own in-laws. I am happy to say that that is not the case at all! I love my in-laws so much and cannot imagine a better or more loving family to have married into! While Jeff's and my family differ in many ways, they are also very similar. I love them both for their differences and the joy they bring into our lives! I cannot wait to incorporate different attributes of each of our families into our own family. Hopefully our little boy, and other children, will feel the love and strength Jeff and I both felt growing up! It is hard to be away from our families, but I am truly grateful for the time we had with them this past week and the technology that enables us to stay in contact with them no matter how far away we are!

Below are some pictures of our fun packed week in Utah!

 I took a lot of pictures of Nicolas and Dad (way too many for my blog), because they were so funny together! You can tell Dad sure loves his grandson and Nick sure loves his Pops!

 Nick also loves his Nana and she him! They were rarely away from one another and Nick loved "playing" the piano with her. :)  

Our family is too big for the dinner table, so we converted the pool/ping pong table into a table for our Thanksgiving feast. :) 

 Daddy relaxing after the Thanksgiving feast. 

When Dad heard someone playing the guitar in the house, he thought it was TC and wouldn't believe Katie when she said it was her. So she had to bring it out and prove she knew how to play. Haha 

 Every time the family gets together Katie spends all day cutting and/or dying everyone's hair. Walker thought he looked pretty manly with the cut head hair on his chest. ;)

The boys sure love their board games!

 Jeff helping to decorate the house for Christmas by putting up the reef.

Such a handsome man! :)

Katie decorating the Christmas tree. Every year Katie and I would crank up the Christmas music and decorate the house the day after Thanksgiving. The Christmas tree was always her favorite. It was fun having all the siblings pitch in with the tree this year though. :)

While we all got many wonderful and fun presents, Nick was definately most thrilled with the box Abbie's sewing machine came in! Haha He loved being tipped back and forth in side of it. :)

( I had to post this picture, I love it so much!)
Dad can tickle and make anyone laugh! He sure had Nick giggling away!

 Jeff and I taught his family how to play pickleball! None of them had ever played before and all really liked it! I don't know why this sport isn't more well know, because it is a lot of fun. :)

 We also went shooting with Jeff's family! All of the boys were really good shots and hit the majority of the clay pigeons.

 Kevin (my father in-law) was also a really good shot! I guess all of those years in scouts and at the turkey hunts will do that. :)

This was Annette's (my mother in-law) first time shooting a gun! While she wasn't a fan of the 12 gage and it's kick, she did enjoy shooting the 22. :)

I love this time of year and all of the holidays, decorations, sweet treats, and traditions that come with it! Most importantly though, I love the meanings of the holidays. While New Years, Valentines Day, Halloween and all the others are fun, the reasons we celebrate Thanksgiving, and most of all, Christmas, bring such joy into my life! I know I need to take more time throughout the year to remember all of my blessing and to take more time to give selflessly and share with others more, but I am truly grateful for this time of year that reminds me of all that and helps to renew in me a desire to focus on others, rather than my own life and troubles and to focus on the Savior and all that he did and is still doing for me! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and will have an equally wonderful (or better) Christmas! 

Tis the season to be jolly! :D

Daily Life

This week's post is simply about a few goings on in Jeff's and my life. :)

Let us begin by the story of our broken car door. Jeff and I knew that the hinge on the drivers side door (which looked to have been previously welded back on) wasn't going to last much longer, as it had been slowly breaking for the last month or so. Well the other day it finally broke. :(

The break.

 

Jeff and I took the car into a body shop to see if they could weld the hinge back together, only to find out that it had never been welded back on, but had in fact been glued back together by an epoxy. The mechanic told us that he could take the door off and weld the hinge together for 200 dollars, but that we might as well get a new door, as 200 dollars was around the price one would cost. However, Jeff, being the do it yourself and save money man that he is, decided that he wanted to glue the door back together again himself. Haha So our little experiement began. :)

 

We went to Home Depo, bought some epoxy and scrap metal, and headed back home to see what we could do for our car.



 



 Jeff trying to figure out how to properly bring the hinge together.

 

 Cutting off some loose metal.

We stacked some books under the car door to hold the door in place while the epoxy hardened. (Don't worry Mom and Abbie, they were 1 dollar politic books Jeff has bought at a used book store and decided he didn't like. :) )

 

I am sad to say that our little experiement did not work, this time. We thought 6 hours was long enough for the epoxy to harden, but when we went out to shut the door and go to our friends place, the epoxy fell apart and the gel like substance went all over. However, Jeff has not given up, but has some stronger epoxy and plans to leave the car door open and the epoxy drying all night. :) Haha I will definately update you as to the sucess or failure of our next attempt. For now we simply keep the driver side door shut and locked and climb over the passenger seat to get to the driver's side. :)

 

On a happier note, Jeff signed up for a dodgeball team with his Chem. E buddies and has been really enjoying it!

The picture is a little blurry, but I thought it was a good shot. :)

 

 On a sadder note, he has hurt his arm really bad the last two times he has played. The second time he hurt it was much worse than the first.We had to drug him up on ibprophen and alternate hot and cold presses to his arm inorder to help the pain go away. Of course it didn't help that after he hurt his arm at the begining of the game he continued to play hard for the next half hour, even the pain kept getting worse. That man can be very stubborn when it comes to sports. :P

 

The other day I dropped Jeff off at a park to play football with some friends and then went to the gym. When I got back I found him playing soccer with a group of strangers. His friends had stopped playing football and heft a half an hour before I got there and he joined this soccer game going on.



I know this may seem like a silly thing to post about, but this is a part of our lives and one of the many things I love about Jeff. He loves sports anf being active and is so friendly with those around us. Rather than sit back and read his book until I got there, he chatted with and joined a soccer team of strangers. :)

 

 

Well that's it for today! Not a very exciting post, but I promised to keep ya'all updated on our lives and our little adventures. :)

 

P.S. We can't wait to see some of you in only 9 more days! Woo Hoo!!! :D Hope you're all having a wonderful November! 

 

 

Baby Boy Update

I am now 28 weeks along and getting bigger by the day! Baby Boy has been moving around a lot this week and keeping his mum up at nights, but I don't mind the lost sleep because it means he is healthy and active. :) Lately while I have been laying down and reading, Baby Boy will start to kick and roll around so much that I'll put down my book and watch my stomach dance for 10 minutes or more. I love watching and feeling the little guy wiggle around!

I also passed the diabetes and anemic tests! Woo hoo! While I am still measuring smaller than normal, Baby Boy and I are healthy and where we should be for our due date in January. :) Only 10 more weeks! Below is a picture of my 28 week belly. 

A few weeks ago my mum sent me a packet of burp clothes to crochet and I love it! The clothes she sent are so adorable! Below are some pictures. 

 Some of the completed products; done by my mum and I. (She sent a couple she had already completed.) 

The one I am currently working on.

The ones that I still have to do. Cute huh?! :D 

I am so grateful to be pregnant and so excited to meet our little boy! Jeff is going to be such an amazing father and is equally excited! While we still haven't settled on a name, Jeff really loves Lincoln West Bean. It's starting to grow on me, so we'll see what happens. :) 

Well that's it for this month's baby update! It's crazy to think that in a little more than 2 weeks we'll be back in Utah with our family enjoying the Thanksgiving holiday! We're SO excited and can't wait to see ya'all!