Christmas was a success

Christmas Eve

For Christmas this year, we spent Christmas Eve at the Nehmer's house (per Carter's begging request). We have a tradition of opening one gift for our secret santa that we drew on Christmas Eve. Carter was literally counting down the hours until he could open his ONE gift. Leave it to Bill Nehmer to have a trash bag ready before any tearing open of paper starts so that no paper accumulates on the floor and makes a mess. Love your tidiness Dad!

Carter drew Rick this year, and hand wrapped his gift. He ran a little short in the middle of the box he said. Final gift: A man diaper bag from diaper dude.com- stocked and ready to go with toys, diapers, wipes, binkies, and everything a dad would need.
A candid shot of every Nehmer child. Rick noticed we have a giant couch and plenty of seating but we all want to sit right on top of each other. We are a close family :) Look how enthralled the boys are with the first NBA game of the season. Look how clever Carter is with his new head lamp (thank you Rick)- he's using the red night vision to see if he can see inside my tummy to spot the baby. Look how big my belly is. Look how comfy Zoe is.
My proudest wrapping job- a perfect tower of tiny gifts for Jordy- polaroid film for his antique camera that we finally figured out on Christmas day.
Rick ready to open his Christmas morning loot: his take home included: an upland game pheasant shirt, north face vest, browning hat, ear phones, etc.
Just what I wanted!! Thank you Santa :)

Gray Family Party

No Christmas season is complete without a white elephant exchange- Carter was thrilled with his pink snugee.

My girl cousins are all pregnant at the same time- ALL WITH BOYS!!!! I'm so excited to share this journey with them! From left to right- Sydney due in February, Me- due in March, Lindsay- due in April, Lauren- due in May (Andrea was missing, but is due in June). I can't wait to get all these little boys together for a picture.

Obviously Sydney and I wanted babies for Christmas since we were little. Here we are in about 1988- holding our new Christmas babies. Her little boy looks just about one month older than mine, don't you think? And now it's really happening!! So fun!

Dear Baby Boy White

Dear Baby Boy White,

Here's what's happening with you lately:

• You move all the time! You poke your head and butt out often- Rick can feel it and see it now.
• You seem to like sitting on the right side of my tummy, which makes my nerve hurt all the way down my left leg.
• You still don't have a name- Rick calls you Crispen because it's the ugliest name in the baby book. When you're naughty he calls you Crispy Creme. I hope we think of a better name soon!

16 Weeks

20 Weeks

26 Weeks

This is all we have for you so far: a cute baby owl hat and shoes. You will look cute for pictures, even if you have no other basic necessities.

Your nursery is in the starting phase: Grandma Jen sewed your blanket for your crib- a very cute brown and white animal print medley that Rick says is manly enough for you. I found brown minky bumper pads, a changing table pad cover, and a mirror for the wall. Rickey promises to get the white bead board up soon, and the crib is on order. So just trust us that we will have somewhere fabulous to put you when you get here. We already love you baby boy!!

Winter Wonderland

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas- everywhere you go! I hope your Holidays are off to a good start. Here's what we've been up to:

A few Ugly Sweater Parties...

Hanging Lights in the trees outside...Well, let's clarify- mostly Rick has done this one :)

Christmas Dinner at the Little America

Fed the baby whipping cream straight out of the can while the mother's had their back turned.

BTW- don't ask Rick to babysit!

Baked a few Holiday treats

A trip to the Bear Lake Cabin for some sledding fun (no, I'm not on the sled this time with my pregnant belly. That's me on the 4-wheeler taking the pictures).

Once we realized Christmas was upon us and our trip to the mountains to hand pick a pine was slowly slipping away, we went to the tree lot with our good friends to pick out a tree.

Brought said tree home and decorated it. It's now ready for presents Santa!

Happy Holidays to you all!

It's a Boy!

We are excited to welcome a little boy to the White House! He is already so loved and will be well taken care of by his mommy and daddy. Rick is so excited to have a boy! What a fun Dad Rick will be. We had a party with our families to share the good news of a boy. We decided to blow up black balloons full of boy confetti and ultrasound pictures. They were black enough that you couldn't see through them. The idea was for everyone to have their own to pop at the same time. As soon as we started pulling the balloons out of the closet to give everyone, Carter yells "Well Rick... you kind of already ruined it..... now we know it's going to be a black baby!" Oh Carter!!! He still has some learning to do. We had ourselves a good laugh, then counted to three and popped the balloons. Surprise: it's a boy!

We don't have any name ideas, or clothes or furniture- so I have plenty to get started on.

Hawaii

We went to Hawaii back in August for Rick's sister's wedding- and I'm just finding the time to blog about it. It takes forever to upload this many pictures! But better late than never. It was a fun week(when I wasn't throwing up) and Victoria's wedding turned out beautiful. Here's a few of the highlights of the week:

Rick checking in with the office in the morning. If only he could work from Hawaii every day!
Both families stayed at this beach house just outside of Kona, HI. It was nice and big and spacious.
It wouldn't be Hawaii unless you woke up to find this kind of visitor has climbed in your window in the night!
The White family at a Black Sand Beach where we briefly stopped to see the turtles and have a break from the long car ride.
Rick and I took one afternoon to go to a beach by ourselves. It was so relaxing and quiet. Good job on the beach find Rick!
We found these turtles in the sand holding hands! I didn't pose them- they actually held hands for a long time! They were soul mates- in love! We took a picture to take back to the bride and groom to be. I thought it was precious. Haven't I heard somewhere that turtles mate for life?
Don't mock the flimsy straw hat- it came with the beach house. I found it in the basement as we ran out the door to the beach. But it kept my face shaded. I'm so over getting sunburned so you can check out those white legs and pregnant belly if you want to, but at least I never burned and peeled!
The happy new couple- meet Victoria and Dirk Bahoravitch. Ya, the Hawaiian sealer had a tough time with that last name.
The temple grounds were beautiful at the Kona Temple. Victoria's pictures turned out pretty from the temple.
Dinner that night was at a nice resort in a private set-up right on the edge of the beach. We watched the sun set, took more beautiful pictures, ordered fancy food with weird names, cut the cake, and enjoyed the evening. This will be my new happy place in my mind when I have to go the dentist.


It wouldn't be a complete trip for me if we didn't fit in one afternoon of shopping. There were great stores in town, and a fun sea-side restaurant where we had soup and salad. I got a new shirt, necklace, shoes, etc. I call it a success!
The last day we went on a boat ride to snorkel. The boat was tiny (inflatable with an engine), and really tested my pregnant stomach that day. By the last day I had thrown up in the plane, the car, the house, the roadside, etc. so why not the boat right? But I did manage to get out and snorkel. Rick was using his great hunting eyes and spotted this whale. Our driver took us right over to it. I could literally reach out and touch it (if I dared!). The whale was longer and bigger than our small boat. The captain got on his radio to tell his comrades, and before we knew it- it- there was quite the fuss all up and down the coast. Good spot Rick!

It was a great trip, and I hope to have pictures back soon from the wedding day/family beach portrait session. Thanks White's for including us and being patient with my less than fun stomach ;)

Fall has Come and Gone

For UEA Break this Year, the girls went to St. George while the boys were golfing in California. We went to Tuachan twice and saw Grease and Thriller. We shopped plenty, and even checked out the Women's Expo- found some great treasures!

I love the outdoor theatre at Tuachan- and it was beautiful fall weather- "not too hot, not too cold: all you need is a light jacket!"

This was the first time Jordy and Carter had seen Thriller- and they really liked it. They even brought live camels out on the stage during the Egyptian dance. I had never seen that in Thriller before. Carter came out with all sorts of new dance moves to try all over the hotel room!

We also drove down to Beaver last weekend and picked up Scout from hunting school. I have sure missed him! He has grown tall, and has so much energy! But I love that he has manners now. He doesn't jump on Rick and I anymore, and doesn't tug and pull the leash when I walk him. Rick is impressed with how many pheasants he finds every night out in the fields by our house (they are out hunting as we speak..). We are also excited to have him be better around kids. For a puppy- he's doing very well. He will be so nice by the time baby boy White comes! Yesterday Rick says to me: "Scout's a boy, and we're having a boy. Won't it be great when I can say Me and the boys are going to the Hardware Store!" Ya honey... that will be great. Take them both and be gone for awhile :)

We had a good Halloween dinner with some friends, and got quite a few trick-or-treaters. This was the extent of my dressing up. My room mom ordered one of these shirts for me. She is having a baby girl (named Ali!) in January and her little skeleton baby had a bow. I got quite a few laughs out of it.

Good News...

So I'm just realizing I haven't posted in two months! Ugh... I have been not feeling my best. I'm lucky to get through work and attempt to keep up on my wifely duties (thank you Rick for your help!) But the good news is: SURPRISE!!!! We are having a baby- due March 15!

This was our 12 week appointment. We go in soon to find out if we are having a cowboy or a cowgirl, or as Rick is saying: a buck or a doe? Any guesses? I just want a happy, healthy baby. This little tyke is going to have plenty of friends in the neighborhood!

Summer was fun!

Summer Fun

I hate to say that it's time for me to head back to a new school year. I've been slow to post this summer- it's been quite busy! I worked a little for my Dad, taught Tennis for Farmington City kid's program, babysat friends kids for a few weeks while they were out of town, and even had time to slip in a few short trips. Here are a few of the summer highlights:

Bowling in Park City is free after 10 pm on Friday and Saturday nights! Who knew! Got to love Utah Weather- snow the first week of June.

I went with Rick on one of his business trips to Las Vegas in June- and met Spongebob (mostly I thought this picture would get me some mileage this year in kindergarten). I am so happy to lay by the pool and read until he's done at 5. Then we went out and celebrated our two year anniversary. We must be creatures of habit because we went to the same California Pizza Kitchen that we did last year in Vegas for our anniversary.

Another repeat- had my birthday lunch at Cheesecake Factory. It's just too good to branch out! And I'm so excited for the one in Farmington to open soon.

Played with my dog a lot. Walked him every morning! Rick is good to do a walk in the evening. I love when the doorbell rings and it's the neighborhood kids that say "Can Scout play?" I say: "Sure! Take him on a long walk and wear him out! Then come back and I'll give you a popsicle!" SO worth the money in a bag of popsicles!

We attended the 4th of July Parade in Park City with our good friends the Bushmans. Lots of floats and messages about "Saving the Earth" and "Going Green"- and they didn't throw any candy! Good thing the company was fun and the people watching ever entertaining.

Riding horses in Park City was so fun! I haven't been on a horse forever! Thanks to our good friends Hillary and Jake for hosting and providing the trusty steeds that were very rider friendly. Rick feels he is a cowboy at heart and had a great time!

Rick can always find time to get out the spotting scope and look for deer. We saw quite a few on this ride in the Ranger. We made sure we were back in time to watch the Park City Fireworks.

Witnessed a great fire work show in our friends neighborhood. They were nice to invite and share with us. This is my absolute favorite little buddy Lincoln and Tosh! So fun to be with you guys!

We took Scout on his first camping trip to Fish Lake. He loved every minute of it! We fished in the marina- if you look close enough Rick does have a little minnow on that hook!

We attempted to teach Scout to swim this trip, but no luck. The water was way too cold! Instead he hung out in the grass on the shore where he could watch from a safe distance:

Went to Bear Lake for a Gray Family Reunion. Enjoyed boating, beach time, games, golfing, reading, crocheting, cooking, and lots of good eating! A well organized event.

(My dog is confused- he thinks he is a lap dog. Which is becoming increasingly more uncomfortable the larger he gets. I guess the carrying him around in my shirt when he was little gave him the wrong message about what hunting dogs do. Rick wants him to lay on the ground by our feet. Scout wants to curl up in my lap on the camp chair. He goes to so much work and wiggling to get himself up there- what can I say!)