Thursday, December 29, 2011

Nursery's finished!

I have the best husband in the world! He worked so hard on making the nursery just the way I wanted. I basically gave him a picture from the Pottery Barn catalog and he made sure it looked identical. He painted and put up the molding and it turned out perfect. He also assembled the furniture and put in a matching ceiling fan.



The nursery has so many special pieces. Grandpa Tim built the crib from scratch. He worked long hours on it, and it came out wonderful.


Grandma Jeanne crossed stitched Porter's quilt. He'll keep it forever, but I'm almost afraid to let him use it because I don't want him to get it dirty after all the work that went into it.


Holley painted the pictures on the wall. She's so talented and the colors match wonderfully.


All of the wood crafts and figures on the book case were purchased in Africa when Scott and I volunteered in Zambia. At the time we didn't have a nursery in mind to decorate, but they go along so well with the "Safari" theme, and it's great to remember every time we go in his room.
Now we just need a baby for this awesome nursery!

Monday, November 21, 2011

About to Pop!



These pictures were taken in June, just weeks before Porter was born. Thanks Holley for making these pictures look good when I was not feeling attractive at all.




Baby Shower Galore


We're so blessed to have such amazing family and friends. We had 4 baby showers for our little man.

I had one at my work. It was co-ed and the cake was delicious....



My mom, Jessie, and Kathy threw another one for me...Kathy worked so hard making the decorations and party favors and they were adorable! My mom and Jessie provided delicious food and fun games. It was so nice seeing all my friends. Most of the pictures from this shower are printed and saved in the baby book, but luckily Scott took a pic of the preparation.


Andrea threw a church shower for me. It was mainly girls from the ward, and we had a blast. We had fun games and the food was great!





The last shower was actually thrown for Scott by his co workers. They told him there was a meeting in the conference room and when he walked in it was set up for a party. One of the girls in his office kept sending me pictures of him opening up the gifts. He was so surprised!

Mexico here we come!



Scott and I were able to enjoy one last vacation before our life started with kids.
We went on a Mexican cruise with Autumn and Charlie in March 2011.


My favorite thing about cruises is the fine dining...especially when I'm 6 months pregnant.



Our first stop was Cabo San Lucas, and we got to stay for 2 days. We went to Lovers Beach, and enjoyed the white sand and clear water.



The rocks were pretty too. This is the "eye of the Pacific" and I heard it's the most photographed rock in the world.

The streets were pretty...Autumn and I enjoyed a massage somewhere on this street.

Scott and Charlie ate from this taco stand. Autumn and I decided to wait til we got back on the ship.


Next we went to Puerto Vallarta. It was more of a jungle compared to Cabo's white sand. I got to hang out and read at the beach all day while Scott, Charlie, and Autumn went horse back riding.
We had such a nice time on our trip. Charlie and Autumn were fun travel buddies. We went home relaxed and very full.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

February 16, 2011

It’s a boy!!!!


Scott and I found out we’re going to be having a little boy. I’m so excited to have a boy as our oldest. Can’t wait til he arrives!

Christmas 2010


We decided to tell our families that we’re having a baby on Christmas. We spent Christmas Eve with my family, and Christmas Day with Scott’s. We framed this ultra sound pic….


And wrapped it for our parents to open.

When my mom opened it she didn't act shocked like I expected. She thought I had framed one of Jessie's ultra sound pics since she just had Kylie. She said “thanks” and I looked at her a little confused. It took about 30 seconds and she realized it. She stood up and kept saying “Oh my gosh, Oh my gosh” and she started crying. The rest of my family in the room couldn't figure out what she had just opened. My mom came and gave me a hug and then told them I was pregnant.

It was so fun telling Scott's family too. The whole family was there Christmas morning and Scott asked his parents if they would open our gift first. Once they opened it everybody was so happy. I got hugs from all around, and it was so cute hearing the adults explain to their kids that “Jen has a baby in her belly”. Tim and Jeanne said they were surprised, and didn’t see it coming.

I felt so blessed to be bringing this baby into both of our families. I love them so much!

December 21, 2010

It’s still a secret, but we got some more pics of our baby today.


long legs like daddy...



December 1, 2010


Here’s our first ultra sound.



We were so excited to see that tiny little heartbeat. I started crying and Scott had a grin from ear to ear.

Pregnant!




I’m pregnant! On October 25, 2010 we found out I was pregnant. It was still a secret between Scott and I at this point, but we were so excited! After months of trying, having a test actually come out positive was a bit of a shock to both of us. We took 3 more just to be sure.

Grandma Erma - October 2010


Scott says goodbye to Grandma Erma. Just a year after her husband passes away, Grandma Erma joins him. I’m so grateful that Scott was able to visit her a few weeks before she passed. I’m sure he’ll remember those moments forever.




Scott's 30 - August 2010


August 2010

Scott turns 30!

I tried throwing him a surprise party, but it wasn’t much of a surprise when he saw all of the stuff I hid at his parents the day before.

It was still fun!

We had lots of food…

Lots of friends and family…

And I put together a bunch of “minute to win it” games.


I love you Scotty. 30 looks great on you!

New House May-2010



In May of 2010 we were able to buy a new house. It's bigger than our old one and the yard is huge. It's our perfect family home, and it happens to be next door to Scott's parents. It's so fun living next to Tim and Jeanne!

We love the layout of the house but there were tons of things we wanted to fix up. We basically gutted the whole house and started fresh. We took out all of the flooring and put in new tile and carpet. We painted the entire inside. We put in new light switches, outlets, chandeliers, toilets, and we even put in bigger baseboards. My favorite change we made was to the kitchen cabinets, we had them stained a darker brown and it changed the whole look of the kitchen.

Here are some pictures...

entry way before...


after.

family room before...


after.


kitchen before...


after.


dining room and living room before...


after.



Monday, August 29, 2011

Oslo, Norway 2010


The year of 2010 was a year where our lives dramatically changed. In May we bought our new house! After only a week of living there we were headed off to Europe for an amazing vacation with our dear friends, Erin and Romney.

Our trip started in Oslo, Norway. We flew in a few days before our cruise would embark so we could start the sight seeing early.


The first thing we did was visit the palace.



Then we went to a museum where we saw Viking Ships that were found in the Fjords!


We were so excited to discover a Norwegian Kabob...only to find out later it was a Greek restaurant!



We found an old farming community where this all wooden church sits.

We learned how the Norwegian people once lived on the farms and how things worked.





Next we went to see the Polar ship Fram. It’s the worlds strongest wooden ship and it’s sailed the furthest to the North and to the South. It’s pretty remarkable in person, and it’s hard to imagine how people lived in their crowded conditions on the inside.


We then went to Akershus Castle which was built in the 13th century. We were able to listen to a tour on tape and they even threw in a few ghost stories that “took place” in the dungeon.


The chapel inside is still in use today.



We ended our day at the park....I love the parks in Europe. Whenever the sun is out the people are out.

it’s called Vigeland Park but we nicknamed it the naked park...


These pictures should explain why.