These days we're doing alright, though our financial situation right now leaves something to be desired. We bought a used car last month but we've run into complications that are keeping us from licensing it quite yet, which we hope to resolve this week. Based on the last ultrasound, the baby is doing great and on track for growth. He's even pointing the right way :) We're very excited.

I'm done with student teaching by Thanksgiving break and David is done with most of his classes around the same time, though he has one until mid-December still. Then he can spend time studying for the Foreign Service test - and with me and Baby! Baby is due December 31, and we'll decide what exactly to name him once he comes out :)

So how are you doing?

Student teaching is going well, and I feel like I did a good job more and more often. I just found ut today, though, that I should be taking on not just the course material for the special education classroom I'm working, but also all the other facets (like coordinating teacher's aids, writing lesson plans for students who are served by special ed. outside the resource room, etc.) of running the special education program program for a school. So, onward :)

I switch to first grade October 6 and I will be doing that until November 20. So I'll be done with the whole program by Thanksgiving. Since Baby isn't due until December 31 or later, I think he will fit into my schedule. David also essentially only has one class after Thanksgiving, so hopefully that won't be a problem. As long as he can be there, I'm happy.

Georgia to Utah

This happened in April 2009 and took about a week from start to finish.

I'll try to give these things captions in order but I can't line them up, so you'll have to follow along. Sorry.











I was greeted at the airport in Atlanta by Jenny and her lovely sister Sarah and taken directly to the Varsity, at about 9pm, for the hot dog/onion ring/orange drink experience of my life.
























Sunday morning was Easter morning.
This is what I found in my Easter basket.




















At Church I was surprised to see an old friend. My MTC companion Sunny Green!















You don't tug on Superman's cape...... Metropolis Illinois.






























Nauvoo - a model of the temple in front of the Christus.

























At the top of, getting into the capsule taking me up to the top of, and standing both next to and under the St. Louis Arch.






































and the huge bridge leading us there over the Mississippi river..












Me in pioneer attire "pulling" a handcart in Winter Quarters.













And a view of the Winter Quarters temple from the pioneer cemetery at night. A very humbling place to ponder.







And back home to my wonderful in Utah.

This was part of David's Father's day gift. Each sticky note had a special note on it to him from me. I put them all over the apartment. Oh, and by the way, we know now what we're having - We're going to have a baby boy! He's due December 31st!

Lots of Pictures!

So,



Here are a couple of pictures of our snowball fight gone terribly wrong. Someone decided we should make a snowman, then Paul (the one hugging the biggest snowball) decided we should move it across the parking lot in front of one of his friend's doorways. Is was way more trouble, and time, than it was worth, and I was more than a little annoyed with it (note the picture of Kelley and I beating chunks off one of the snowballs in one of the pictures), but we survived.

Here are some blonde waffles in our kitchen in Provo. Our waffle-maker cooks them well in the middle but hardly at all on the edges.

This Just In...

Lot's of stuff to report on:

David's brother Chris got married two Saturday's ago in North Carolina so his whole family flew out for it. I feel bad for his parents - that's two East Coast weddings within twelve months! That gets real expensive real fast! It was a good ceremony and there were lots of good pictures taken, which I plan to post on my blog and on facebook once I get them in some accessable form. Chris and his new wife I think just got back from their honeymoon and are now living at his parents' house in Kaysville, Utah.

You asked about how the baby's doing. If how it looks on an ultrasound is any indication, it's doing great! Thanks to said ultrasound, I got to see the baby for the first time this week. I can't feel it yet, but it was wiggling and dancing back and forth. It was fun to watch. It's just so weird to think there's a living person growing inside of me! It's only just over two inches long now, the lady said, so it still has a lot of growing to do still. My unofficial due date of 1/13/10 has now officially changed to 12/31/09! Crazy stuff!

Since then I have been thinking all about that black-and-white head and nose and bum and legs and hands and the little fluttery spot where its heart is beating. It's easier to convince myself eat right and rest more because there it is in my mind, jumping and dancing around inside me and waiting to come out and meet us! It's so crazy! We're so excited but nervous too of course. His Dad thinks this will effectively spoil our plans to go to the Middle East next summer, but we've prayed and still feel it is right, and I've had enough miracles in my life to know that we can get there if the Lord wants us to go!

I'm doing o.k. Keeping up with classwork is really presenting a daunting challenge, though. David's also struggling with his job, selling a very expensive vacuum (Kirby) during a recession. We're working hard to stay positive though, which we've found is best done by staying close to the Lord and staying close to each other.

Life is great, God is good, and prayer is the answer to most questions. More soon!

Happy Birthday to me! (Ashley)

I need to get better at this whole blog thing.

It's my birthday! I'm 24 and happy to be alive. David's birthday was April 28. He's 24 and happy to be alive too :)

I figure this would be a good time to tell you that we recently found out that we're expecting a baby! We don't know boy or girl yet but we'll be happy with either of course. I'm tentatively due in mid-January. As you might imagine, with a part-time job and 14 Senior level credits, school is especially difficult now that I can't decide for myself when I want to eat or sleep; baby decides for me and sometimes assignments end up undone. But considering the reason, I'm trying not to let it stress me out too much.

David got a job selling Kirby vacuum cleaners. I guess he prefers to call them "Kirby home care systems" because they do a lot more than suck stuff out of carpets. At any rate, he likes it better all the time as he gets better at it.

We are very happy, even happier than we ever were before, and we understand with hard work and patience and forgiveness in our hearts, it'll keep growing like that. That's the goal. :) I'll add pictures soon.