Happy New Year

We arrived in Seattle at 4 pm on New Year's Eve and were greeted at the airport by our good friends Michael and Julia and their daughter Naomi. You may remember hearing about them in previous posts as they were our best friends here in Aberdeen and they moved to Seattle last summer. Although we were extremely tired we still brought in the New Year with them at their house in West Seattle. The next day we slept in then went downtown to look around while waiting to meet our friends Mike and Meghan at the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. The food was great until about 10 o'clock that night when I made my first trip of many to the bathroom. We think I had food poisoning. Needless to say, it was a long, horrible night and not the way I was hoping to spend my time while home visiting friends and family. Thankfully, it was only for about 24 hours that I felt too terrible so we were able to get on with the visiting. We went to Bellingham and stayed with Pat and Heidi for a night. Andy got to catch up with his good friend Jason while I spent some quality time with Heidi (just like the good 'ol days). On our way back to Michael and Julia's we stopped to visit Grandpa and had a great visit with him then stopped for dinner at Neal and Jessica's. They prepared an awesome steak dinner and we got to play with Penelope and meet our newest niece Phoebe. The day before we left Seattle we got together with family at my cousin Michelle's. It is always good to see family but it was especially fun for us this time because that was the night we told everyone that we're expecting a baby. Now that we had told my family it was time to tell Andy's family and our friends in Indiana.

So, off to Indiana we went. The first day we were there was on a Sunday so we went to church and saw some good friends there. Then throughout the week we hung out with Andy's parents and more friends. That next weekend I went shopping with Rebecca and we bought me maternity clothes as well as a bunch of baby clothes. We had so much fun buying everything but most of all spending the day together. While we were out shopping Andy got to spend time with his dad and one of his best friends Brian. Then, what better way to end the day than watching the Colts win their game and then going out for a big 'ol tenderloin and fries at the truck stop. The next day Andy's brothers and sister and their families came over to celebrate Jack's (Andy's dad) birthday so we were finally almost done telling everyone about being pregnant. It was fun to hang out with our nieces and nephews too. They're all getting so big! After that day it was only Andy's grandparents that didn't know and we saw all of them later in the week so it was fun to break the news to them too.

After being in Indiana for about 11 days we flew off to Hawaii where we met up with my parents and my brother and sister-in-law. My Aunt Berta and Uncle James were there as well so it was a fun few days. It was sunny, hot and beautiful in Hawaii. We definitely kept busy. Some things we did while there were 4-wheeling in the mountains, wine tasting at Tedeschi Winery (mmm... pineapple wine), laying in the sun, getting a massage, walking on the beach, horseback riding, a snorkeling cruise, a luau and watching the Colts win their way to the Super Bowl (by beating the Patriots none the less!). It was definitely a busy few days that we were there but worth every minute. Andy had never been to Hawaii before and he says it definitely lives up to every expectation he ever had. We had a blast hanging out with my family, eating good food and getting a tan. The time went by too fast (it always does).

The nice thing was that our vacation wasn't quite over after that. We got to go back to Indiana to spend a few more days with friends and family. The highlight of those last few days for me was that Rebecca and Kathy (mother-in-law and sister-in-law) threw me a surprise baby shower. I had no idea it was happening and loved every minute. Everyone I love in Indiana was there. We got so many cute baby clothes, stuffed animals and other helpful items. I can't wait until the little one's here to use it all!

Of course then we flew back to Aberdeen. It always takes me awhile to get settled again. We were so spoiled to spend all that time with family and friends so it's hard to get back into the swing of things once we're here. But we did it. Andy's been working really hard on his research and writing and I've just been working at Starbucks like usual. We loved our time at home though, it was a great start to the new year.