Big Boy Toy

Being that most of those who read our blog were at the John Gustavsons reunion in Midland, I can safely say that you all know that my Jeep had a few problems. First, it had a transmission slip when we got to Midland, then a flat tire, then another transmission slip on the way home during a hurricane of a rain shower at Capulin, NM, and to top it off, it just stopped running last Sunday on my way to help my father move in Colorado Springs. After having it towed back to my house, (thank you again Brian,) I had it taken in to my local auto shop. $750 later, I had a working vehicle, (at least for the day.) Now my Jeep isn't the oldest car, only a '98, and it didn't have the highest mileage, just over 160,000 miles, but it had been through a lot with me, and Kari and I had to make a decision on what the best move would be. Do we trade it in while we can still get a little in trade, or keep driving it hoping it would last another year or more. ?

Well we, (and by we I mean I,) came across a good deal on a new vehicle online, and decided not to let it pass us by, so we spent the better part of a very chilly day in Castle Rock buying a new one. So here is my tribute to my beloved Grand Cherokee




But it's out with the old and in with the new, (but I kept it in the family.)

I came across a beautiful Jeep Commander on my favorite way to pass the time, autotrader.com; called to make sure it was still on the lot; drove with Kari to Castle Rock; and now here it is!



And here is me with my new toy! I mean, the new vehicle which can now safely transport my family whenever we need to go, ;-)

Here are some shots inside,


And under the hood,



I won't go into all the details about the car, but maybe when you see it I can show you more. So welcome my new toy, I mean "safe vehicle" to the family!

Quilt Rack

For our wedding, Melody made us a beautiful pink, white, and tan quilt. Since then, we have failed to do anything with it. When I found out we were having a baby girl, I decided that we would display this quilt on the wall, being that it is pink. At the time, I didn't know where or how we would display it, just that we would. The other day I asked Melody to go to Hobby Lobby with me to try to find some quilt "hooks" or something that would be cute to hang this quilt with. We came across these cute letters and thought we would just paint them and put hooks on the back of them, hook them to the quilt and nail them to the wall. So, we brought them home for Tom and he used his incredibly creative mind and went to town on a quilt rack for us. Done in 2 days, here is the beautiful result of what Melody and Tom created for us. I love it!


It was a little bit of a pain to get hung!

You can see the burn-in design on the side

The final product

Their creative abilities never cease to amaze me!

Belly pictures

Ever since I can remember, I've always thought, "When I get pregnant I'm going to get naked belly pictures taken." Well, I'm pregnant! And although the thought of getting naked in front of a camera is pretty terrifying to me right now, I did get some professional belly shots taken last week with my clothes on. Funny how in real life I look huge and feel huge, but somehow these pictures seem to hide that. That is the magic of professional pictures I guess. :) Here are just a few of them that I liked:









Let me know what you think!

Baby Shower

As you all know, a couple Saturday's ago Melody had a baby shower for me. It was so much fun, and a big success I thought. We got lots of great stuff, now we're just really hoping it's a girl, otherwise we will have a very pink boy :) I just got some pictures scanned on here from Melody so I hope you all enjoy them!

Here I am with the wonderful glider that Mom and Dad got for me:

The 4 pregnant girls there. Stevie, on the left is due Aug 20th, me, Samantha is due the same day I am and you can't even see her belly!! And she was wearing her normal jeans! And Kirsta, due Nov 3rd.

This is my very favorite picture ever taken. Patrick was just being so helpful and wanted to bring me my gifts. AHH, I love it!


And here's Jonathan and I afterwards, just looking around thinking, "what are we gonna do with all this crap?!" LOL, just kidding.

I am slowly but surely getting the nursery ready and it's looking wonderful!

Baby update

I had a doctor visit today, everything is still looking great. My blood pressure is good, probably because I no longer work :) the baby is facing the right direction, and best of all, in the last 4 1/2 weeks I haven't gained any weight!! That just made my day!! A little bit of bad news though, she told me no more traveling after 35 weeks, so I won't be able to go to Fort Collins this next week to hang out with Kirsta, Mom and PJ :( I guess I'll really have to find stuff to occupy my days. She did say that if I wanted to, at 38 weeks she would strip my membranes to hopefully speed up the baby's arrival! How exciting to think that Miss Amelia could be here in about 2 weeks. So, Kirsta, Elsha and Mom, please have all your moving adventures done by then so you can come meet the new baby girl! That's all for now.