Christmas Fun!

We spent a wonderful Christmas Day with Ryan's family up in Bellingham, and we also had some good times in the days leading up to Christmas. 

1. We opened up a present from my grandparents early . . . a long strand of dollars that we got to pull out of a magical tube. What a fun present! 
2. Ryan made a stocking for our baby. I didn't even know he could sew! He found a pattern, bought the fabric, & sewed the stocking all by himself. I'm still so impressed!
3. We had a house party with our neighbors, which included a great meal, homemade Christmas tree cookies, and the Charlie Brown Christmas movie.
4. Our nieces & nephews performed the Nativity on Christmas Eve, which was so cute & fun to watch.

     

     

Our 5th Anniversary!

When I got to work, I discovered this beautiful bromeliad & orchid plant on my desk, which Ryan had secretly dropped off for me early that morning. (I thought he had gone to play racquetball with a friend.) He made my plant even more special by putting pictures on the pot that  highlighted some of the fun times we've had during the last five years of marriage.

Later that evening, we walked to a nice, little Mexican restaurant near our house where we enjoyed a fancy, candlelit dinner. Since the last five years have been so great, we're really looking forward to the rest of eternity together!

Pregnant Debi

Since Ryan was gone for several months & I am not a big fan of working with the camera timer, these are the only 2 pictures I've taken so far of my growing belly. It looks & feels quite a bit bigger now since I am at 37 weeks! I'm not sure I want to take any more pictures. :-)

26 weeks (6 months)


32 weeks (7-8 months)

Our Baby in 3D

Look at our baby's chubby cheeks! Looks like he's on his way to being a big, healthy, chubby baby like his dad!

Ryan's 2nd "Away" Rotation: ALASKA!

Ryan spent 6 weeks in Anchorage Alaska for his OB rotation. Here are some highlights from my trip out to visit him. It was nice to see where he is and to learn a little about what he is doing and to go on a little vacation together.

We spent a lot of time driving through the beautiful Alaskan countryside.

We had a great view of the shore & ocean & mountains from the road. The sun was sinking as we drove south, which made for some beautiful ocean views.

We also drove through a mountain. You can't tell very well from the picture, but it was a really long tunnel. It took us a full 5 minutes to drive through it!

We took a longer than necessary road trip to the Matanuska Glacier . . . meaning we got very lost, but we did enjoy the amazing views along the windy, mountain highway.

The glacier was gigantic, more than 2 miles long! It was striped by sections of rock & dirt, which made the jagged peaks look very interesting. Two of my favorite moments on the "hike:"
1. Ryan wanted to wrap his arm around me while walking down a little incline. I asked why as we started down the path. His response, punctuated by a two-footed slide down the incline, "Because I don't think you're very . . . (insert slip) . . . stable on your feet." It was hilarious! We both laughed so hard and I just about wet my pants, which is easy for a pregnant lady to do.
2. I wanted to take Ryan's picture in a little glacier hollow, but then changed my mind when I thought the ground looked like crackly ice. Ryan reassured me by saying it was fine, "hard as a rock." Then he stepped on it & the ice crackled right under his foot. He tried another spot, which was even worse and got his shoe wet. We both really laughed about that too!

I thought this moose was a statue as did Ryan. He said, "I bet you thought that moose was real, didn't you." And I said, "No way. I wouldn't think such a silly thing." And then just as we drove by, it moved its head! It was real!