The Ever Growing Bump

My bump is smaller than most people according to the doctor, but there is a full size baby in there.

The bump!

Picking Apples & Pears

I'm not sure why, but I thought it would be a good idea to go pick apples and pears in my third trimester. We drove out to our favorite farm and picked to our hearts content, I mean Andy picked to his hearts content. We came home with about 250 lbs of produce, eggs, jerky, cucumbers, and melons all for about $60.00.

Don't mind the out house in the background lol.

What does one do with that many apples and pears? One makes applesauce and pearsauce for baby of course! The pearsauce turned out so good! I'm not sure how long it will last on our shelves.

Fathers

I made a goal to read all of the April 2016 General Conference talks before the next General Conference happened. While I missed my goal by a handful of talks, reading the talks helped me to feel better prepared for Conference. I have started most mornings out reading a talk or two and I really feel like that set the tone for the rest of my day.

One talk really got me thinking and I am so glad I had the opportunity to read it, it was called Fathers and it was given by Elder D. Todd Christofferson. In this talk, Elder Christofferson talks about how the world and media view fathers. Fathers are often portrayed as dumb, pushovers and often they are blamed for everything being their fault. This is the sad reality of the world we live in.

Elder Christofferson went on to talk about the sacred role of fatherhood. Father's are to preside over the home. They are supposed to be the leaders of their family, especially in spiritual matters (Family Home Evening, scripture study, prayer, etc). In my mind I think of fathers as spiritual giants.

This talk got me thinking about what I would like our home to be like when our little one is born. What kind of father and leader will my husband be?

Then naturally my thoughts turned to my own father and I was overcome with so much love and gratitude for my Dad.

Most of my early childhood memories involve my Dad. I remember him throwing a mattress in the back of the truck and sleeping out under the stars. I woke up the next morning to find myself in the front of the boat in my sleeping bag. I remember Dad studying at his wooden blue desk while attending the local community college. I recall many occasions where Dad would ask me to sit on his feet so he could do sit ups. I recall going on many bike rides and runs with my Dad. I remember helping him mechanic on the cars, pulling parts at the wrecking yard, ripping out walls, putting up sheet rock, installing hardwood floors, re-roofing houses, and hunting along the Snake River. The first time I ever shot a gun was because Dad put my finger on the trigger and pulled it back, I didn't enjoy that much.

My Dad taught me how to work hard, never pay someone to do something you can do yourself. He taught me how to clean, how to shop for food by price per ounce, how to make a grocery list, how to set goals and achieve them, he taught me how to budget and track my spending.

Dad taught me some other important life lessons too. He taught me that I can do anything I set my mind to including math. There were many late nights spent crying over math assignments that I had a hard time with. Hard work pays off, I'm good at math now. Part of our family motto is failure is not an option. He taught me to trust in the Lord and His timing. That peace can be found in the Temple. He helped teach me the importance of prayer and scripture study - even when we were naughty kids and didn't want to sit still and pay attention. He taught me to give selfless service and to love others despite their weaknesses and perceived flaws. He taught me that money can't buy happiness. There have been many instances where he has sacrificed wealth for our well being.

He has been a listening ear both through the good times and some of life's darkest moments. He may not always have the answers, but he knows how to listen. He has also been one of my greatest cheerleaders and supporters. He came to many of my track meets and cross country races, even though I wasn't the fastest person on the team. He came to my concerts and plays and was there when I left to go out on dates.

He hasn't just been there for me he has been there cheering my siblings on too! Wrestling matches, musicals, football, soccer, baseball, band concerts, and the list goes on. I know how much he loves me and I hope my siblings feel that love too, it truly is unconditional.

Jake, Dad, and me.

My Dad may not be perfect, but he is the perfect Dad for me. The Lord knew what he was doing when he put my Dad and Andy in my life. I feel so incredibly blessed!

Holding Myself Back

Being pregnant is an interesting experience. Often I find myself saying, I can't do that or I can't eat that because I'm pregnant. While I want to have a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby, sometimes I find pregnancy is an excuse to hold myself back.

Over the course of the last few weeks I have found myself stepping out of fearfulness and living my life more fully. We've gone hiking a few times, stand up paddle boarding, jet skiing, and we participated in a session at the temple.

Through these experiences I have learned that life is to be enjoyed and it is so much sweeter when we don't hold ourselves back. Having something to look forward too really brightens a day or a week.

I Love To See The Temple

I love going to the temple! In fact, I don't really mind the 2 hour drive (each way) to get there, it gives Andy and I a chance to just talk. I love the peace I feel when I am in the house of the Lord. I enjoy the sweet spirit that is felt within these holy walls. I can't help but feel uplifted and renewed each time I visit the temple.

The Portland Temple.

Thursday Thought

It's been awhile since I shared a Thursday Thought and I think it's time that I start doing that again. The thought for this week is this:

“No plan. No objective. No goal. The road to anywhere is the road to nowhere, and the road to nowhere leads to dreams sacrificed, opportunities squandered, and a life unfulfilled” (Thomas S. Monson, in Conference Report, Oct. 1976, p. 73; or Ensign, Nov. 1976, p. 51).

If you know me well, you know that I am very goal oriented. I have a hard time sitting down and relaxing. There is always something that needs to be done and I can't stop until everything is finished. I find that in staying active and busy I am happy, motivated, and driven. I find fulfillment in accomplishing my goals; whether they be daily, weekly, monthly, or lifetime goals.

What are your goals, dreams, ambitions? How do you plan to reach them?

Weekend In Review: Hiking, Paddle Boarding & Game Night

Whoever said moving was easy, well they were right. The moving part is easy, it's the deep cleaning, painting, projects, and putting stuff away that's the hard part. We officially have one clean room in our house- by clean I mean up to mine and Andy's standards of clean, we're neat freaks.

Most week nights are spent working on the house. We are trying to get everything situated before our little one arrives, only nine more weeks. It's crazy how fast the time has flown by.

We relish the weekends and are trying to make the most of them while we are still childless. We aren't quite sure how a baby is going to change our routine of playing on the weekends.

Friday

Friday night we went hiking up Spencer Butte with our friends Josh and Cassie, it was their first time up the butte. Hiking is starting to get harder for me, I get winded easier and have to take more frequent breaks. Being outside in nature though is one of those things that just helps me to relax and refocus- it was so good to get out!

Me and Andy - The straps on my pack make my bump look bigger.

Smoky sunset.

We reached the top of the butte as the sun was sinking. Aside from all of the smoke from the wildfires, the view was pretty awesome!

Saturday

One of the things that has been on my bucket list for some time was to go stand up paddle boarding. I have toyed with the idea of going paddle boarding while pregnant for some time but wasn't sure if it was "safe." Recently, a fellow pregnant blogger that I follow went paddle boarding and that was what made me decide it was time.

We woke up early Saturday morning, threw on our swimming suits, packed a picnic lunch and headed to the Leaburg Dam to go paddle boarding. When we first got into the water, it was really cold. I was scared of falling off my board and taking a swim. Luckily that didn't happen, although we did have one close call, when Andy decided it would be fun to make some waves.

Andy.

An XL life jacket was the only size that would fit over the bump.

Me and Andy.

Success!

Stand up paddle boarding was a blast! We paddled up the river quite a ways and took in the beautiful scenery. Someday, we would like to invest in our own boards-- it was that fun!

Afterward we enjoyed our picnic lunch and took a stroll through the neighboring fish hatchery. We saw a lot of rainbow trout and some humongous sturgeon.

Joy!

Chillin'

Giddy up fishy!

Yee haw!

Sunday

Sunday we went to church. The lessons and spirit that were in the meetings were wonderful! I love going to church! I love feeling uplifted, motivated and inspired to do better and be better!

After church we headed to our friend's Dani and Donny's to eat dinner and play board games. It was a blast! We're so glad we have good friends!