We got Chickens!

Here Jacob is making the coop out of scrap wood we found in the back yard. The only thing we bought was the chicken fencing and screws.


We decided we wanted to get chickens for a few reasons. Chickens eat bugs including scorpions. They also lay one organic egg a day. Every morning they march together out of their coop and eat from their feeder then graze the yard the rest of the day. When the sun goes down they march up into their coop until the next day. We've only tried to catch them once before we realized they would go back into the coop by themselves. They are fast! As soon as you stop chasing them they immediately start pecking the ground again.


We named them all "Lady" because we can't tell them apart.

A White Christmas at the Cabin

We decided it was much easier for us and Tiffany to pick up Elizabeth.

Christmas is so much fun with little kids. We had fun in the snow.

It's been a while since we've had our picture taken.

Life

Jacob and I have officially moved into Grandma Shepherd's house! We love having a house large enough for a baby. I feel pretty good except I don't know how I'll be able to stretch any further. I'm only 23 weeks along and know I have a ways to go. Thanksgiving is this week and I hope I don't gain too much weight. Yes, I store everything I eat. My last visit to the doctor I gained.... I can't say it. I'm too embarrassed. Oh, and I started having this pain/numbness just below my right rib. I was told it was a normal pregnancy symptom as the nerves are being scrunched in this area. I can't complain too much. I'm so excited to be pregnant and know Jacob and I will have a little baby in March!

Our Little Guy

We found out what we're having today...It's a boy! How exciting. Everything looks normal and healthy.

Pregnancy Update

I'm now in week 19 of my pregnancy and feel great! Once I hit week 13, my morning sickness magically vanished. My stomach has definitely grown and I wonder how I'll be able to stretch any further. I posted a picture for all who haven't seen me pregnant yet. I don't know how much of my size is due to my vigorous eating habits, or just baby. I'm hungry all the time...seriously, I eat all the time. I wake up extremely early with hunger pains and can't fall back asleep without satisfying my hunger. I don't know if this is normal and I don't want to turn into a pregnant fatty. Anyway, I find out what I'm having next Thursday! I have no idea what the gender will be, although I have referred to this baby as a 'he'.

I'm 14 weeks pregnant!!!

Our due date is March 15th. Spring Break!!!! We'll find out what we're having next month. We both are very excited and feel very blessed. This video was taken at 10 weeks. According to Joele at work, I'm having a girl because my wedding ring dangling from some dental floss over my stomach swayed back and forth instead of rotating in a circle. I don't know how she does it, but she has an answer for everything.

The Fourth of July

Heather and I went to Utah with my family to celebrate Independence Day and enjoyed the "Small Town" style celebration. We drove up there with my parents and Faith and her three kids (who had been in AZ since Charity's wedding). We all stayed at my brother's house in Brigham City. We went to the Oquirrh Mountain temple open house on Friday and met Charity and Matt, who had driven up that day, at Temple Square.

Saturday morning half of us ran in the 2nd annual Brigham City 5k Firecracker Run. Matt came in 5th overall. Aaron and Katie ran together and were the next in our family to finish, followed by myself and then Faith. Mom was the last person to finish the entire race*. There was an older lady who started the race, but quit after a block. It was a lot of fun and worth the T-shirt and breakfast they had for us afterward.
*Technically, Mom didn't complete the entire race. She cut off about a block because "there wasn't a sign saying I couldn't." I was shocked to see her pop up in front of me around the 2.5 mile mark, but I think she made up for it by running back.

By far, the best part of the trip was being able to play with firecrackers without worrying that the police (or my mom) would catch me. It was a blast setting of firecrackers in my brothers driveway.

The fireworks were exciting for everyone to watch.

I think the boys got more of a kick out of it than everyone else.

Some of the firecrackers were loud.

The Grand Finale. This one went on for a couple of minutes and contained a little of everything.