January and February Happenings...

January and February have been busy but still seem to go by slowly.  Maybe it's just that I want this pregnancy to be over and so time is moving particularly slow. :)  This post is a mash of everything that has gone on in the past couple months since Christmas.  Trying to finally get caught up on life.  

Nate HAD to go to another NFL game at the end of December.  Because his company is based out of Seattle they get tickets to Seahawks game to take their clients too.  Sadly this game fell on December 27th.  A Sunday and our anniversary.  Luckily he was only gone for the day.  He got to go down on the field before the game and had really good seats for the game.  But it was cold!!

A week later Nate was put under the knife to fix a torn meniscus in his knee.  He felt like the injury occurred over time, but took a turn for the worse when we were on our trip to Disneyland.  Luckily it wasn't very invasive and he only had to take a break from exercising for a few days.  His knee still isn't back to full strength but it is slowing getting there.  The best thing is that he has been able to ski some in the last couple weeks.  He has been so sad missing out on most of the ski season, but being able to do some is better that none!!

Love the hair net!

Liam had a book report due in January.  He had to read a biography and decided to read about Ty Detmer.  He really enjoyed this project.  After making a mini-me of Ty Detmer he had to dress up and give and oral report about the book he read.  He did a great job!

My sister and nephew Richard came to visit for part of January into February.  It was so fun to have her here.  Even though she was here for almost a month the time flew by.  Can't wait to see them again in June!

More snow...

Lastly, we got to do Science Fair this year!  It was definitely a learning experience and honestly, I wish we never had to do it again, but I know that is not the case.  Gavin started with a project last November, but it turned out to be way over his head (and Nate's) so 3 weeks before the 6th grade Science Fair we had to scrap the one project and start a new one.  Luckily he was able to complete everything and have it done on time for the fair.  He really did a great job on the project.  He was one of 20 6th graders who got picked to go to the school science fair a few weeks later.  He didn't win any awards, but was really glad to be done with it all!!  

A pic from the latest ski day for Nate and the kids!

The last quick thing which I don't have any pictures of is my most recent diagnosis of this crazy pregnancy.  After doing the 1 hour and 3 hour glucose tests I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes.  I really think this baby is trying to kill me!  I have never had diabetes before so this is a whole new experience.  Now I am on a strict carbohydrate and protein diet and I have to test my blood sugar 4 times a day!  So far the diet is working to keep my blood sugar in the healthy range.  I'm hoping it stays that way because I sure don't want to have to give myself insulin shots!!! :(

December 2015

We arrived home from our California/Arizona trip on November 30th so we had to jump right into Christmas.  Nate had to head out of town immediately so the kids helped to get the house decorated except for the Christmas trees.  We had to wait for Nate to do those.  Because we decorated late December seemed to fly by.  We had 2 Christmas parties, a piano recital, and lots of shopping and wrapping that occurred before Christmas eve.  Honestly it is all sort of a blur.  Good thing we have pictures to remind us all about it!!

Luckily we had lots of snow in December for a white Christmas.  This is Ashlyn with the snowman she built all by herself!

Kohl family Christmas Party.  Minute-to-win-it games!

Our Christmas cat!

Hess Family Christmas Party - The Nativity

Christmas Eve!

Christmas Day!

Her American Girl doll (actually a the Target knock off, but she doesn't know the difference!!)

More Legos! :(

Because we missed out on a traditional Thanksgiving Day meal we decided to do it for Christmas.  Smoked Turkey! Yum!!

New Slippers!

Christmas was much more low key this year mostly because I didn't have the energy to do much.  :)  But I still think it was a great Christmas for all of us!!

Phoenix 2015

After all our adventures with my family in California, we headed to our next adventure in Phoenix for the wedding of Nate's youngest brother, Danny.  We got up the day after Thanksgiving and drove the 5 hours to Phoenix.  It was a nice drive and somewhere I had never seen before so that made it fun. Even though we sort of wished we could have stayed in California a few more days, it was fun to visit another new place as a family.  We only had a day and half there (most of which was spent doing wedding stuff), but we still managed to see some pretty awesome cacti and spend some time with Nate's family.

Dan and Justine!!

At the end of all the wedding stuff we were all pretty tired and really ready to be home.  Sadly, we still had a 10 hour drive between us and home.  We decided to break it up and spent Sunday night in Kanab.  Another beautiful drive past Lake Powell, which I had never seen before.  We were lucky enough to miss some nasty weather and had a nice peaceful drive home Monday.  I think it took us a good week to get our heads back on straight, but it was totally worth it for all the memories made!!

Thanksgiving 2015

As a kid I spent a few Thanksgivings in California and I have fond memories of those times.  It was fun to do it with my own family because we will always remember it as that 'one Thanksgiving we were in Southern California'.  All of my family spent the morning swimming in the hotel pool before we had to check out.  The kids had a blast playing with their cousins.  Then we all headed to a Korean BBQ (yes, Nate chose it) for our Thanksgiving meal.  There aren't many places actually open on Thanksgiving so we were glad to find somewhere that would accommodate our large group.

I miss that sunshine!!

After eating we all drove to Huntington Beach where my parents and sister were staying the night.  Most of the group decided to go see a movie.  I stayed with my mom and sister at the hotel to relax and hang out. After everyone was back from the movie we parted ways.  We ended up staying on the other side of Anaheim to be close to our next destination, Phoenix.  It was a different Thanksgiving, but one we will never forget!!