Alaina's Blessing

Here's a family photo after Alaina's blessing.

Merry Christmas!

Because Alaina is just a few weeks old we decided it would be better if we didn't travel yet, so Christmas was at our house this year. We missed being with our family and friends in Salt Lake City, but loved a chance to make our own traditions and spend time together as a family. We also feel so lucky to have a great ward family. In the afternoon we felt really lucky to spend part of Christmas with one of our favorite families in the ward and then a baptism that evening. I can't think of a better day to become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a better way to remember why we celebrate Christmas.

We let Alaina open a couple of presents.

The excitement was too overwhelming. Maybe she will be able to handle it more when she is older:).

Tim loves to cook and one of our favorite dishes is his mom's eggs benedict. Since we were on our own this year, he decided he wanted to try it. It was delicious and I was very impressed.

Welcome Alaina!

It finally happened. We had our baby girl, Alaina on November 22 at 6:52pm weighing in at 8 lbs 6 oz and measuring 22 inches long. She already has her dad's height. She has brown hair, blue eyes, long skinny fingers, long legs and long feet and toes. We love her a lot and the first week and a half have consisted of trying to get her to sleep at night and not just during the day, making sure she gets enough to eat and enjoying all the funny things she does. We have taken a lot of pictures, but she moves so quickly so it's not very often we get a good one! We are working on that.

The world is not coming to an end...

Just take a deep breath! No, the world is not coming to an end! I just updated my blog:). Sorry it's been so long, but here's what we've been doing over the past year.

Tim has been working hard and studying for CPA exams which he finally finished in July. I was so grateful because I had a feeling his life wouldn't get any less busy so it was either now or try to study with more "on his plate". Sure enough he has taken on projects at work that allow him less leisure time. He has also been called as the 14 and 15 year old scout leader, which has taken more time, but he loves it.

As excited as I am for him, it was sad to see him leave his Primary calling where we both have LOVED teaching the 6 & 7 year olds in our ward. Every week we learn something from them and they say something we just have to write down because it is so funny.

I finished working full time in September to get ready for our baby girl who is due mid-November. Overall I have had a pretty easy pregnancy and shouldn't complain as much as I do. There is so much preparation and I think we are as close to being ready for her as we can be. We are really very excited about becoming parents!

Here are some of the highlights of the last year. I don't mean for it to be a "travel (b)log", but that is when we take pictures!

Our latest excitement is Tim's debut on YouTube. Just type in "watch my friend eat a McDonald's big mac". He actually did this for the Primary talent show for our church and a friend did some editing for it. Check it out! (For some reason I am unable to post the link.)

Deanna's parents came to visit!

(In case you are wondering, I am about 31 weeks pregnant.)

Tim's parents came to visit!

Two of Deanna's high school friends, Brooke and Alison came to visit! This is the "gum wall" right outside Pike Place Market, where you can dispose of your chewed gum. Sick huh?
(28 weeks)

Niagara Falls

Tim & Deanna in front of the log home on the Smith Farm where Joseph Smith lived in New York. In April, Tim and I were bumped off a flight and received $400 each in flight vouchers. Since Tim served his mission in the Rochester, New York area we had always talked about visiting those sites later on in the future, but we couldn't pass up this opportunity. It was such a great trip to do together. Our testimonies of the Restoration were strengthened and we really loved spending the time revisiting the places where Tim lived for 2 years.

Rachel and Brian came to visit during one of the worst heat waves this area has seen in the last one hundred years. It doesn't get that hot here, so not many people have air conditioning. We went swimming in one of the local lakes just to try and stay cool.

We have had the chance to see a few Mariners games!

Poor Tim. He was out of the office working with a client when he went to move a table and split his pants. To make matters more awkward he did this in the middle of the day so he couldn't go home to change. Luckily he had a jacket that he could tie around his waist, but it looked funny because that look went out a long time ago:).

Taxco

My brother served his mission in Mexico so we went to see some of the places where he served with my family.

Standing outside the entrance to some ruins.

We took some pictures and I thought I would post them.

We came home one night to find this on our door frame. From a distance I thought it was a big bug, but as we got closer I realized it was a small frog about an inch long.

We went to enjoy the beautiful fall weather at the Japanese Gardens near The University of Washington. The picture is a little fuzzy, but you get the idea.

Being that it was such a clear day, we were able to see Mt. Ranier from the freeway. Keep in mind that this mountain is over two hours away and we could still see it.

Getting Settled

Sorry there are no pictures with this post. We really haven't taken many since we've been here.

We have now been in the Seattle area for 3 weeks and it goes by fast. Our move went so smoothly thanks to friends and family who gave time out of their schedules to help us. Both the loading and unloading went much faster than I anticipated. My sister and brother drove up with us and helped us get settled and then Tim's brother and sister-in-law along with a neighbor helped us move in. We were pleasantly surprised when our 2nd level apartment was actually on the ground level and the first door from the sidewalk. Even when our neighbor found the piano bench and said, "You have a piano?" (I could hear the horror in his voice) we were able to reassure him that it was electronic and only weighed about 70 pounds.

We really had fun having my siblings, Rachel and Brian here with us for a week and the most "home sick" I have been was when I had to drop them off at the airport. Tim and I love it when our siblings come to visit and knowing they wouldn't be over as much was sad. Thankfully we live in the day of cell phones, email, facebook and blogs so it is easy to stay in touch. Tim and I have both really enjoyed being 15 minutes away from Daniel, Jill and James (Tim's brother and family). They are lots of fun and we've been able to do a lot with them.

We go to church in a building right in back of the Seattle Temple. There are other wards closer to where we live, but they already have three wards in them. It's so neat to know that this area has so many members. I don't mind being the ones to drive a few extra minutes to church. What a blessing. There are so many great people in the ward and we had the opportunity to have dinner with five couples last Sunday and really enjoyed getting to know them.

Seattle has a reputation for being rainy all of the time. We have had our rainy days, cloudy days and a few beautiful sunny days, but our apartment has windows and blinds, so it lets the light in very nicely. I was nervous about not seeing the sun, but I have adjusted much easier than I thought. We will see how I feel in February.

Tim started at KPMG this week and so far likes it. He went to San Francisco for a day for some training and then was busy working on projects the rest of the week. We live right by the park & ride which is nice so we can use one car for right now and he doesn't have to park down town.

Last Saturday I went to the General Relief Society broadcast at our stake center. There was a dinner before and I was excited to meet some new people. I walked in the gym and saw about 500 women. Talk about organized chaos! Not knowing any of them, I was a little nervous so I said a quick prayer asking for some comfort and kept going. There were so many ladies that the food line went the length of the gym and there were not very many chairs without purses reserving them. My goal after getting food was to find a chair that wasn't reserved. I found one and went to sit down and ended up sitting with some girls about my age.

The sister closest to me said hello and we began to introduce ourselves. I mentioned that I knew no one and that I had just moved to the area. She asked where I was from and I said Salt Lake City. She asked me "What high school did you go to?" I said, "Skyline". She then asked, "What year did you graduate?" I told her and to my surprise she went to Olympus and her brother graduated in 1999 from Skyline. We kept talking and I found out she was living in Puyallup where she is a high school counselor. I mentioned I had been there and I have an uncle who lives in Spanaway which is near Puyallup. She asked, "What is your uncle's name?" I told her and she said, "Does he have a son?" Yes, my cousin who I haven't seen in a few years is in high school and sure enough he is one of her students. As if there weren't enough connections, the conversation led to missions and she asked where my husband went on a mission. I told her New York and she said, "Upstate New York?" By this time I was thinking "Don't tell me you have a connection with this too!" Sure enough she remembered that there was an Elder Bartholomew who was really tall. She was in the Palmyra pageant the very year that Tim was on his mission assigned to the pageant.

Out of all 500 ladies in that gym I felt so blessed to meet this sister and the other great sisters at the table. My prayers were answered in a way that I never would have imagined. I am grateful for this experience that once again shows me who is watching over me. It's exciting to see what will happen as we continue to adjust to our area.

Labor Day Weekend

It's hard to believe that our move to Seattle is quickly approaching this next week. We will miss our friends and family, but look forward some new adventures too. We have loved spending time with our family and friends and thank you all for being such blessings to us.

I know I haven't posted things for a while so here are a few pictures from our latest trips. I have an aunt and uncle who live in a small town in Tennessee. I have always wanted to go visit them and my grandma offered to do a girls trip to Tennessee. So my mom, sister and grandma went for Labor Day Weekend. Tim, my dad and brother decided that it would be a great time for them to do a camping trip up in the Uintahs. They must have had lots of fun because the pictures are incredible.

We dressed up for the University of Tennessee vs. UCLA game!

Jenny and Troy at the Powell Vally Overlook in Big Stone Gap, VA.

One of the highlights of the trip was going to see where my Uncle Troy grew up in Big Stone Gap, Virginia. I have always heard the experiences and wanted to see this place that is so different than any where I have ever seen in my life. A few years ago they gave us a book called "Big Stone Gap" by Adriana Trigiani. I read this fictional book and loved the stories about memories of this small town. Troy grew up living around the corner from the author and her family and was able to show me the sites discussed in the book and tell me which ones really happened. It made the book come to life.


Men's Trip to the Uintah's

Tim and Brian really got excited about all the food they could eat while camping. They realized that it was a lot heavier than they thought. Brian had the idea to pile it all up and take a picture. Ta da!!

My dad was really proud of his chicken that he cooked over the fire on a stick. Brian thought it would be funny to cut Tim's head out of the picture. He likes to make fun of Tim for being so tall. Hooray for male bonding!