Here's a few quick updates:

Gavin passed the Patent Bar Exam a few weeks ago! I am so proud of him. It has about a 50% pass rate and he passed it the first time he took it, studying for the test amidst all his other school work and finals and papers to write. He has officially graduated from law school and is taking the Bar exam the end of July. WE ARE SO CLOSE TO BEING DONE!!! So come the last week of July keep us all in your prayers that he will pass this one too!

Baby update: 20 week ultrasound is tomorrow!!! Boy or Girl?

Gavin and I are pleased to announce:

WE'RE HAVING A BABY!

After trying for a year we are finally pregnant and we couldn't be more excited!

Some fun and not so fun details:

I am currently 12 weeks along and just barely starting to show.

Morning sickness is an understatement. All-day-and-night-sickness is a better description for me. How can something so small wreak so much havoc?! On a happy note, pregnancy has been the best diet ever. :) I have been pretty sick and I have been so grateful to everyone around me. There were a few weeks there where I would literally get home from work and just go straight to bed at like 3:00 pm. Gavin was so understanding and sweet and waited on me hand and foot. It makes me cry just thinking how lucky I am to have such an incredible husband. The ladies I work with have also been so understanding and caring. Every day every one asks me how I'm feeling and wants updated on my health status. If I start to look a little pale they have me go sit for awhile and make sure I'm eating and staying hydrated. And they all have baby fever so they're really excited for me. It makes it fun.

I had my first doctor's appointment 2 weeks ago and we were able to hear our baby's heartbeat for the first time. What a beautiful noise. I can't wait till 20 weeks when we will get an ultrasound!

We are so excited and feel so blessed to be pregnant. We did have to wait a little longer than we expected, but I know that this is exactly what Heavenly Father planned for us and we got pregnant just when He wanted us to.

In another 2 months we'll take votes for boy or girl! And name ideas. Sheesh, it's hard to think of good boy names that aren't already in use.

The Christmas holidays have come and gone and I feel very blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful family. My sister Natalie and her family were able to fly in from Georgia and I was SO grateful to see them. My niece Olivia is the CUTEST thing. I was afraid she might not like us since it's been so long since we've seen her but she just loves everyone she sees and ran around, smiling and laughing all day. What a doll. For those who know Natalie, you know she's always loved kids and they have always FLOCKED to her in droves, so it's no surprise that she is a wonderful mom. I sure miss them.


Here's a fun picture of our other niece. She was loving this and kept asking for more. Brave little girl!

Here's our Christmas tree this year. It looks so much better than it did last year! It was so bare, seriously Charlie Brown style. But that's how it is when your newlyweds and one of you is a student. It still needs an angel for the top but I haven't found the right one yet.

I love Christmas time! We have had lots of beautiful snow this year that really puts me in a holiday mood.

Thanksgiving Weekend

Gavin and I spent Thanksgiving with his family this year. We had so much fun eating, playing games and watching football (yes, I said I had fun watching football). It was fun to spend time with our new niece. She is such a pretty baby! Here's some pictures from the fun weekend.

I'm curled up, ready for a nap. This might have been pre-feast. All the anticipation tuckered me out.
Gavin with Jarah. Sorry about that camera flash Jarah!

So we had a little trouble getting everyone in the picture at the table, so this is the whole group...in two installments. Gavin is getting a nice camera for Christmas so this won't happen again. :)
Take 2, with Tobin and Whitney this time.

I love this last picture of Lauren holding Jarah, it's so sweet and beautiful. Being an aunt is so much fun.

Labor Day Weekend

We went camping with friends up in Riggins, ID for Labor Day and we had an ABSOLUTE BLAST! Good weather, good friends, good food, and INCREDIBLE s'mores! Lara bought some seriously huge marshmallows and we had fun roasting them over the fire. Here's Matt after he took a bite:
And me mid-bite. I felt like a little kid again because I couldn't help getting it all over my fingers and face.
Gavin and Anna around the fire, getting lunch ready.

Gavin decided he wanted to swim across the river and climb the mountain. He's so adventurous!

You can barely see him across the water, but he's there.

It was such a fun trip. We've really missed our friends Matt and Lara since we left DC, so it was nice to meet up again. It was fun to see the Kirkham's too.

We had a really nice campsite neighbor who let us each take a ride on his 4-wheeler, and they showed us how to pan for gold and let us use their equipment. It was hard work, but we did get a couple of flakes of gold--real gold--right there in the river! It was fun to learn. I had one whole speck of gold in my pan and I was pretty proud of myself.

Well, we're back in Idaho again. It was such a wonderful summer and I definitely miss the east coast, but I'm glad to be around family again. It's good to be back.

Gavin and I have had lots of fun the past few weeks. Now that we have STUFF again (we lived in an unfurnished apartment all summer to cut costs and simplify) we have taken a couple fun camping trips. The first one was up around Idaho City. It was gorgeous. We camped by the river and enjoyed exploring and looking for wildlife. The fish really liked Gavin and kept biting at his legs. There is a video at the bottom. Even though I loved and miss the lush greenery of Virginia, Idaho is beautiful too...even if Boise is a desert. :) Here are some pictures from our little trip.

Gavin was adding to a little dam someone had built.

Despite all the rocks and twigs and stickers, Gavin is still barefoot. But that's a given if you know him. :)

Gavin is the best person to go adventuring with! I get excited over every little thing I see and he just laughs and gets excited with me. I'm so grateful to live in such a beautiful world with so much to see and discover, and to have such an incredible person by my side to discover it with.