we've been busy (part 4) . . . sam & kim's wedding weekend

I have another sister! And she's absolutely wonderful. We couldn't be happier to have added Kim to our family. She's a beautiful person inside and out and is such a perfect fit for Sam (you've done well, brother).

We decided to head out early for the wedding to spend a few days with my parents in Nevada before heading to NorCal for the big event. It made for a few more hours on the road, but it was well worth the extra time with family. Wyatt is such a travel trooper. We've been doing so much of it this summer that he's gotten used to it. As long as he has a full belly and a clean diaper, he's good to go. Unfortunately, the clean diaper thing only lasts for so long... he had 3 massive blow outs in his carseat during our time on the road. Awesome!

The weekend was fun and the wedding was beautiful. It's always so great to have that many family and friends in one spot and it's even better to be celebrating such a happy occasion.

attempting a family picture. but apparently, wyatt's stealing most of the attention with his crying...what a baby ;)

a much better attempt:

ya, we love each other...

one of the few pictures we have of the 3 of us. special occasions are the only time i can actually get brett to smile for a picture

sister's

the real us. . .

so excited to be Mrs. Swenson

so perfect for each other!

LOVE YOU SAM & KIM!

checking in

I have been SO horrible at keeping up with blogging this summer. Things have just been so busy. For those that actually care, I'll be resuming posts in the next week or so. Until then, here is a sneak peak at what I have to blog about in the future posts.

quality cousin time:

wyatt turning 3 months old... and then 4 because i've been such a slacker:

road trippin' it/sam & kim's wedding:

sara moving back to salem. . . woo to the hoo!!

Stay tuned. . .

oh and if you want to see pictures of Wyatt with his adorable little girlfriend, Nora, check out my good friend Kelsi's blog: here

we've been busy (part 2)

4th of July weekend with the Officer's . . .


It's becoming a tradition. Spending the 4th of July in Steilacoom, WA with our good friends. And we look forward to doing it again next year.

with the officer's & muri's. . . like family :)

the girls around the fire. . . while the boys made "fire" of their own with home-made fireworks.

nothing like a small town celebration!

* i know i'm missing any pictures of the bubs on his first 4th of July...but he slept through everything and you can only have so many pictures of a sleeping baby.

we've been busy (part 1)

Woah...has it really been over a month since i last blogged? Oops...ah well, I'm back now and I'm sure none of you really "missed" me. If you did, it was probably more the pictures of Wyatt that you were missing, huh? It's okay, you can be honest. I won't be offended. He's way cuter than me, so I get it. :)

So yes, we've been busy. Busy travelling, spending time with family and friends, celebrating birthdays, watching Wyatt get bigger and cuter by the minute, and just trying to enjoy the summer, despite all the homework Brett's been doing for his master's classes.

I feel like there's just too much to post about, so I whipped up a calendar of what we've been up to for the last month and a half. . . and what we have still coming up. As much fun as it's been seeing family and friends, all the travelling has worn me out! It's good to be home . . . (even if it is only for another week).

Here are some pictures from trip 1 of our summer....more to come later.

my beautiful parents

grandma & wyatt

great grandma & wyatt


grandpa & wyatt watching the world cup game



sara rocks the short hair, doesn't she?

Uncle Sam & Wyatt's first meeting...they really loved each other!

on the road...again

As I mentioned before, more pictures of our summer will be coming later. Look back for "part 2" soon.

...and now on to 2010

We're back... and although it's good to be home, I miss my family already. We had a great time celebrating the holidays and were blessed to spend time some time in Medford with Brett's parents, as well as in Fallon with my WHOLE family.

I'm a little upset I didn't manage to get a family pic, but I was able to capture all the lovely couples, including a new one some of you may be unaware of and an update on an existing one :)

Dad & Mom

Brett & Me

Heidi & Brady

Sam and his......FIANCE, Kim! :)

and last, but definitely not least - Sara and Jacob ;)

We definitely enjoyed our time together and are looking forward to it happening again soon!

And now, on to the new year! I can't believe how quickly this year went by, but I'm definitely glad it's over. 2009 will be a year I remember for the rest of my life, I'm sure of it. With Sara's cancer diagnosis and the news of our little one on the way, we were hit with some of the worst news and best news within one month's time. Needless to say, it has been quite the emotional rollercoaster for this highly hormonal preggo woman. Through it all, I've been learning A LOT about who I am as a person and who I should be as a woman of God. It's not always easy, but I'm learning how to be thankful for all the blessings, whether big or small, despite the trials and hardships that might come with them.

So....even though the last 7 months have quite possibly been the most difficult 7 months of our lives, we are hopeful and excited about what God has in store for our growing family in this new year (twenty ten or two thousand and ten...whichever you prefer).

A Busy November

I can't believe it's already November. I'm just about halfway through my pregnancy (what...already!?!), the holidays are right around the corner, and so much is going on this month.

I just got back from a 10-day trip to Hawaii with my 2 best friends, Sarah and Lyndsey, and it was such a great time. I'm sure I could take up quite a bit of this blog post with all the fun, relaxing and crazy times we had, but instead, I'll just post a couple of pictures.

The pictures include:

* a hike into Green Sands Beach

* snorkeling at Snorkel Beach

* dinner in our Halloween costumes, provided by Sarah

* and a day at the Hilton

I just returned from Hawaii on Friday night and I'm only home for a week before heading out again to go be with my family. I'll spend a week in San Francsico, helping out with my sister's chemo treatment in the hospital, and then home to Nevada for the week of Thanksgiving. It will be really good to see my family, but my poor husband...he is having to survive without me for 3 out of the 4 weeks this month.

So...in this week that I am actually home...

We get to find out if our little one is a he or a she, and we can't wait. As I've mentioned before, Brett thinks it's a boy, and I think it's a girl. Our ultrasound is on Tuesday afternoon at 4, so come back on Wednesday to find out who's right.

Here is my 19 week baby belly:

what we've been up to:

spending time with family

at the pool / lake / beach

and loving on our adorable nephews

on the road again...

Sorry no pictures this time - just a quick update on what we'll be doing for the next couple weeks.

Brett and I will hit the road again here in just a couple hours. I'm just waiting for him to get home from his LAST Master's class of the summer. YIPPEE! Now he's really on summer vacation.

We'll head to Medford first to spend a couple days with Brett's parents and go to a wedding there, and then we're off to Fallon to see my fam. It will be so nice to see Sara and my parents at HOME and NOT in the hospital. Heidi and Brady are coming too so almost all the family (minus Sam-bo) will be together for a few days. We are really looking forward to it.

After a few days in Fallon, we will head back to Medford to spend the rest of our time with Brett's WHOLE family...yep, his older sister, brother-in-law and our adorable nephews are coming in from Arkansa, then his older brother is coming from Hawaii, and obviously we'll be with his parents as well. We are so excited to see everyone and especially to see our newest nephew, Jackson, who we haven't met yet.

God is good - we are blessed with such amazing families who we LOVE spending time with.

I'm sure I'll have lots of pictures to share upon our return...

Happy 4th!

We were able to enjoy another fun visit with the Officer's this weekend and it was a great way to spend the 4th of July. Hope it was an enjoyable weekend for all of you as well!

A Great Visit

We were so blessed to be able to spend this past weekend up in Washington with good friends.

We arrived on Friday afternoon and just like "old times" Justin and Brett went golfing, while Sarah and I (and Sterling) went to coffee. We also enjoyed a fabulous dinner together that night. Thank you, Officer's - rice and all :)

Saturday afternoon we headed up to Seattle where we walked around for a few hours before heading to the Mariner's game that night. Sarah's mom watched Sterling so we were able to enjoy the afternoon/evening baby free. It was a wonderful time.

Sunday morning the boys went frisbee golfing and Sarah and I enjoyed a nice walk down to the water and around town. It was so refreshing and a wonderful time spent with each other. After a great lunch with Sarah's family, we headed back to Salem.

(yep, that's a lemon in Sarah's hand - he loves them - although this face sort of shows otherwise)

I'm already looking forward to another visit. Hopefully we'll see them again for the 4th of July weekend. We can't stay away for long.

P.S. If you haven't already, click on the picture collage of my sister to the right and take a look at her website. We're updating it with all the latest news. She handled her first chemo treatments like a champ and was just released from the hospital today. She'll be home for about 2 weeks before going back for the next treatments. Thank you all for your continued love and support and most of all prayer. We appreciate you all!