Snowball fight

We headed up to Cache Valley for Christmas this year.  We had planned to go snowshoeing on Christmas Eve, but the canyons were a little too icy so Seth came up with a back-up plan.  He decided to have the snowball fight of all snowball fights.  He enlisted the help of willing family members who helped build forts and prepare hundreds of snowballs. 

Then he impatiently sat and waited until the remainder of the unsuspecting family members showed up at the house.

Then the fun started.  The fight lasted a good half hour...then the teams continued the fun with a game of capture the flag.  I decided to remain neutral and acted as the fight photographer.

As much as Seth loves the snow...I wonder how we ever made it through two winters in South Carolina.

I believe a good time was had by all...this may need to become a new family tradition. 

Utah Eats: Part II

Here are a few more pictures from the yummy places we have gone to eat recently.  For the most part eating is a chore these days...the constant nausea I experience makes it difficult to really enjoy food.  I have had a few cravings and have learned very quickly not to by an item I am craving at Costco...seriously one day I crave something and the next day the thought of that same item makes me sick.  But one constant craving is  meat...I have taken to calling our little one Rex as in T-Rex for this reason.  I typically have the biggest sweet tooth around...but lately I have no cravings for sweet.  Seth is amazed at the abundance of sweets we have around.  We have had ice cream in our fridge for over two months and usually it doesn't even last a week. One of my co-workers gave me a cupcake from the Sweet Tooth Fairy for Christmas...normally this cupcake wouldn't have even made it home from work...but this year I carried it around for a few days waiting for a little bit of my old sweet tooth to kick in.  With that said...here are two of the places that have actually made me want to eat recently.  

First up Pat's Barbecue a local place featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.  We buy a Groupon almost every time they are available and used ours the Friday after Thanksgiving for lunch.  We were lucky enough to get there in time for the special of burnt ends.  We ordered bread pudding for dessert.  I had a few bites and it reminded me of our old home in the South.   

The next place we visited was The Mandarin right here in Bountiful.  The atmosphere was very festive and the food was delicious   We ordered the walnut shrimp and the cashew chicken.  The walnut shrimp was by far our favorite...when you go order it and I promise you will not be disappointed.

TITLES

I used to consider myself a "runner."  I wore the title of" runner" with pride and basked in the feeling of accomplishment that came each time I stepped across the finish line.  Each race convinced me that  I could do "hard" things, I could cross the finish line no matter how tough the miles were to get there.  So what exactly does this have to do with being pregnant...I feel like I have entered the longest race of my life...40 weeks of race to be exact.  I just reached the 13 week mark last Monday...and during those first 13 weeks I felt like I was not tough enough for the race that I had entered...that the race was much harder than anyone that had run it before me had said...and that this was not exactly what I thought I had signed up for.    

Well this last week finally brought the relief of the first aid station along the course.  We headed to our first doctor's appointment and were able to hear the heartbeat of our little one for the first time.  I was left quite speechless when we heard it.  That little sound brought all the peace that I had been praying for.

The next day we headed back for our first ultrasound.  The picture below was our first view of the baby.  We were relieved to see that there was just one in there...although at this point a two for one sounds pretty good.  I had a dream around the time that we got pregnant that we had twins and the night before our first doctor's appointment Seth dreamed we had triplets.  Let me tell you this little one is a mover and a shaker.  It looked like there was a dance party going on...I think this little one might take after their father.  

Here is a shot of one of the arms.

This is a shot looking down on our baby's head.  You can see their little fingers lifted up in front of their face.

In this picture you can see the spine.

This week has given me the will to keep going.  The finish line is expected to come on June 9th.  I am excited that at the end of this race I will gain a new title I will be a "mother."

June 2013

Utah Eats

As you can probably tell from the lack of blog posts...not much has been happening in our neck of the woods.   My brother JB did give me a hard time for not blogging about the good places we have found to eat in Utah.  So here is my attempt to appease him.  

I don't have a picture of the first place we recommend.  It is Royal India on Main Street in Bountiful.  I visited several years ago with my former flatmate Emily.  I remember being worried the entire time we were eating and for several hours after that the Indian food would make me sick...well it didn't then and it didn't this visit either.  We ordered the Chicken Tikka Masala, Mixed Kabab and of course the Naan.  The Naan reminded Seth of the fresh tortillas he used to have in Mexico.    

Last weekend we walked a couple of blocks to Vito's the official Philly King of Bountiful.  We have been wanting to eat at this place since we moved to Bountiful...but before a couple weeks ago it wasn't a place it was a food truck that was just open for lunch.  Well they now have an official address right on Main Street and they are open for dinner.  You have all heard of a one-man-band, well this is a one-man-restaurant.  Vito takes the orders, cooks the food and serves the deliciousness up to his customers.  There is no cash register, Vito just yells the total for the order and you put the money in a glass bowl on the counter.  We got the Philly Cheese steak sandwich with mushrooms, peppers and tomato.  Watching Vito prepare our sandwiches reminded me of last year when we were in the heart of Philly enjoying the grub at Jim's Steaks.

The next day we just couldn't get enough Philly cheese so we headed down to Moochies in Salt Lake after a morning of raking leaves.  We tried the new item on the menu...fried ravioli.  As everyone in the South knows...if something is good on its own...it is even better fried.  Be sure to give the fried ravioli a try the next time you stop at Moochies.

While all of these places were good...I am looking forward to some good home cooking for Thanksgiving.  JB is smoking a turkey and I can't wait.

October Festivities

I apologize for the lack of blogging in October.  I have lost my card reader and had to search for the cord to connect my camera to the computer.  Here is a little catch up on what we have been up to.  

We headed to Lagoon with Seth's sister Tawnya and her husband Jami one Saturday.  Frightmares is one of my favorite Halloween activities and it was fun to be able to go this year.  We all seem to be getting a little old...and don't quite have the stomachs we used to.  We would go on a few rides and then walk around as our stomach's tried to settle down.  

We did head out on the go-carts.  The staff seemed to have quite a bit of trouble getting all the cars stated.  Some cars seemed to be much faster than others...luckily I got a fast one.

Seth, Jami and myself  were brave enough to venture on the Catapult...I have to say this ride is much scarier in the dark.

The following weekend was Fall break for me.  We headed up to Cache Valley to spend time with family.  We were able to go to lunch at my favorite Mexican place up that way and then we walked around the pumpkin walk in North Logan with our nieces and nephews.  Check out Nacho Libre in the background.

At the pumpkin walk we were also able to try on a few costumes.

While we were up in Cache Valley we had a family Halloween Party.  A few of us dressed up as conspiracy theorists ..the tinfoil hats kept our brains safe from aliens...and our heads quite warm.

I loved Jamie's costume of Rosie the Riveter. 

Seth and I ran a doughnut eating station at the party.  Our nieces and nephews were very persistent and almost all of them finished their doughnuts on a string.

We finished the night with a couples doughnut eating contest...and I am happy to say Seth and I were champions.

The last weekend in October we had several friends join us for a Ghost Tour.  We had dinner at the Rio Grande Cafe in downtown Salt Lake.  We heard all about the Purple Lady that haunts the Train Depot and then we continued on to many historic sites around the valley.  Below is a picture of Seth describing the reported apparitions at the City and County Building.  Seth lead the tour and had done quite a bit of research on the sites.  It was fun way to see the city and to spend time with friends.  Thank you to everyone that joined us.

 

Fall Drive

Saturday morning we headed up Emigration Drive for a fall drive.  We stopped at Ruth's diner for breakfast. My friend Pam back in South Carolina had seen an episode of Triple D and had asked me about this spot.  I hadn't been for years and Seth had never been so we decided to make a visit.  Ruth's famous biscuits didn't last long with us...see the empty plate in the middle.  We shared the Migas and Chile Verde omelette.  Then we headed up the canyon on Seth's scooter to check out the fall colors.

It was really a beautiful ride.  We saw tons of red leaves and a few orange and yellow.  I am hoping we can make fall drives on the scooter a tradition.

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After our ride we picked up our nieces Jane and Emily and headed up to the Natural History Museum.  We met up with JB, Mary, Max, Ben and Andrew.  When Seth worked at the architectural firm prior to grad school he worked on this building.  He showed us lots of the areas that he detailed.  The museum was really well done.  There were lots of hands on exhibits for the kiddos.

At the end of our visit we gave each of the girls a penny to put in this dinosaurs mouth.  If you look closely you can see Emily crouched on the ground and scared out of her wits.

Jane was quite brave and reached right in.

We dropped the girls off at their house and were able to meet our newest nephew Aaron.  He was born two days before weighing in at 9 pounds 12 ounces.   He has the longest fingers and toes and gives great cuddles.