Nixon's Blessing

We blessed Nixon on January 26th, 2014. It was a special day and Jordan did a great job. We had lots of family come and were so happy to have the company. Nixon is definitely one loved little boy!

Joyeux Noel

Christmas this year was pretty spectacular. We made the trip down to Arizona to spend the holiday with the Halls. Nixon was a champion on the trip down, despite having a 2 hour delay which resulted in a VERY late night.
Once there, we were able to spend a few days at Grandma Kimmie's and Bonka's. It was so nice to be "home" right before Christmas, and it was the perfect jump start to an incredible time. No matter how old I get, I always love going home to that little valley. It reminds me who I am and that being from a small town in the middle of nowhere is the best place to be from. I can't wait for Nixon to get a little older and enjoy all the fun things I got to while growing up like floating down the irrigation ditch, crawdad fishing at night, four wheeling in the mountains, trips to the ranch with my dad and the 4th of July.
While in Eagar we were able to meet up with some friends, and it was great. Ryne and Tami had us over for dinner, and it was so fun to be able to catch up and see her sweet family. Nixon was also able to finally meet Hudson Parry. These two little guys were due on the same day, but Hudson decided he liked his mommy's belly a little too much, so he came 5 days later. Jessi is one of my very best friends in the world, and being due on the same day would seem unbelievable to some, but for us it's pretty normal. She has been there through almost all of the ups and downs of my life, so it's only fitting that we went through one of the most amazing/difficult things together. I just know that Nixon and Hudson will be great friends and cause all kinds of trouble in the years to come.

Christmas was spent in Mesa at Aunt Heidi and Aunt Heather's house. It was such a great time to have all of my siblings and their cute kids together. We make for a rowdy bunch, but Christmas is so magical when you are able to spend it with kids. We ate, laughed, and relished the wonderful weather. Nixon was quite the hit with everyone, but no one enjoyed him more than Cozi. She was so sweet to little baby "Nikken" and was always helping me take care of him. I think she's his number one fan, and I'm pretty sure that she will be his, too.

All in all, it was a wonderful holiday. Having a sweet baby boy during this sacred time of year really helped keep the reason for the season in perspective. How blessed we are to know that our family is eternal. We thank Heavenly Father every day for our precious baby boy, and for the birth of our Savior. We are so blessed.

And a baby makes 3.......

So, we had a baby. And we think he's pretty much the coolest, smartest, cutest, funniest and all other complimentary adjectives you can think of to describe a perfect little baby. Honestly, we really do. 

We found out in March that we were expecting and were pretty pumped. My pregnancy was fairly normal. I can't say I'm a huge fan of it, but I like the end product, so I'm sure we'll try it again sometime in the next 10 years or so. From the moment we found out we were pregnant we were both sure we were having a girl. I was so sure I almost didn't feel the need to have an ultrasound. When people would ask I would usually say "I don't really have a feeling one way or the other", but that was a lie. I just didn't want to say it out loud that I knew we were going to have a little girl. Good thing we had the ultrasound, right? When she announced it was a boy, we were both shocked. And I pretty much had to take her word for it, because I had zero idea what the heck I was looking at for about 99% of the ultrasound.

9 months prego and ready to get that baby OUT!

Nixon James was born on November 10, 2013 at 11:50 pm. He came right on his due date, with only ten minutes to spare. He is such a great little guy. Like I said, we love him and think he's pretty much the coolest thing that ever happened. 

Snoozin' away a few hours after being born. It was hard work! 

Mom forgot the flash was on! Whoops..... 

First Thanksgiving was a success, including the festive outfit courtesy of Aunt Brittany and Teagan.  

"Hi guys!"

Summertime!

Summer is going by way too fast! It makes my heart sad because I love summer so much. Summertime in Billings is beautiful and HOT. Although I AM an Arizona girl, I'm a White Mountain Arizona girl, so the heat and me are not well acquainted. And Jordan is from Wyoming.....Needless to say we are not cut out for the heat. We've resorted to sleeping on a blow-up mattress in our living room because that is where our air conditioner is located in our lovely little apartment. You do what you gotta do. Other than that we have no complaints. Life is good and we are adjusting well to our new place. 

 We got to babysit T-man the other night, and he was tuckered out. He came right over to Jordan, snuggled up and went to sleep. It was precious.

In June I was able to go home for a little while and visit my mom and sisters. It was a blast! I love going home and being able to hang out with these two cuties makes it even better. Seriously, they are so awesome. Carson is such a little pill and quite the tease. He cracks me up. I asked him if he wanted to come stay with me in Billings and he said yes, so come on Heather, send him on up!!! (you're welcome too, of course) Cozi-bug kept telling me I am her favorite and she wished she could come live with me. I would have gladly taken her, but I was afraid Jake and Heidi would miss waking up with her bright and early! :)

Cousinly love. 

She doesn't look too thrilled with me here, but normally she was telling me how I'm her favorite person in the world. 

The 4th of July was super fun. I was sad not being in good ol' Eagar, because if there is one time to be in Eagar it is for the 4th. That town knows how to wish America a "Happy Birthday". So, even though I was sad to not be home, we had fun here. We went with Leith, Britt, and T-man to Red Lodge where they have a big parade. It was a pretty cool parade, but T thought it was the best thing in the world. Leith and Brittany have to buy him a horse now because he would get so excited when one came by in the parade. Which was like every 10 seconds. It was adorable. I could just kiss his little cheeks right off.

I made a birthday cake for America. We thought about singing and lighting candles, but we just ate it instead. 

Billings, MT

Well, we made it safe and sound to Billings! Moving is the worst thing in the entire universe. I will never do it again. Actually, that is a lie. We will have to do it again in just one short week. Unfortunately we were not able to find a place to live that was available when we needed it. So, we have been living in a hotel for the past week and a half, and still have one more week to go.

It's awesome.

Not really.

At first I wasn't completely upset by the idea, but it gets old fast. I tried pretending that I was some famous movie star, but that only lasted for about a day. Luckily Jordan's company has been really good to us and  put us up in a suite. It has a small mini kitchen, so cooking isn't totally impossible, but I still feel really limited. It is nice having a 24 hour fitness center to be used at my disposal, but that's really about the only perk. All of our stuff is sitting in Leith and Brittany's garage right now and I just want to get into our new place and start unpacking and decorating and just be able to hang out amidst all my own stuff!

Other than that, we have really loved Billings. It is just the right size for us, and it is really beautiful here. The weather is SO much more mild than Laramie, and not to mention there is a pretty handsome little man that lives right down the street from us. We missed having Teagan around and now we get to see him all the time again! He's so fun to hang out with and has made the move A LOT more bearable. Leith and Brittany have been pretty handy too. :) All in all, I think we would both give Billings a big thumbs up!

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

This past month has been pretty insane for us. When Jordan and I got married, I dropped out of school right before starting the dietetics program at Utah State. It was really hard for me, because I had known from day 1 of applying that was the program I wanted to do and what I wanted to be when I "grew up". Obviously, Jordan is worth more to me than any degree ever could be, but it was still hard.

At the beginning of April I went to Logan to interview for a position back into the dietetics program. I had to reapply even though I had already been accepted once. It was kind of a shot in the dark, and also pretty amazing that I was even able to interview because I had submitted my application late. At first it felt like everything was falling into place and that I would be able to go back to school. At the same time, Jordan had an opportunity to interview at an awesome company in Billings, Montana. We figured he might as well interview. What would it hurt, right?

Well, it turns out that I got back into the program and he also got offered the job in Billings. We had about 10 days to decide what we wanted to do. It was SO HARD! I can barely decide what shoes I want to wear in the morning, so being faced with something like this was really lame and stressful. Jordan was so great and was totally willing to give up his amazing job in Billings so that I could go back to school, but after a lot of discussions and even more praying, we both knew that Billings was where we needed to be. I still can't believe that I am going to live in Montana. Who lives in Montana?? I never in my wildest dreams would have thought that I would live there, but it's a new adventure for both of us and we are pretty dang excited! One thing that makes moving there A LOT easier is knowing that Leith, Brittany and Teagan are there. What would we do without them?? I don't even want to think about it.....

So, we have about two and a half more weeks in good ol' wyoming, and then it's off on another adventure. We're really nervous, but mostly excited.

A Smorgasborg Post

 Life has been ultra crazy lately. But in a good way.

Conference weekend was great. It's definitely one of my favorite weekends of the year. We spent time with great friends, delicious food, and wonderful talks. It's amazing how I feel like they are speaking directly to me. It's also amazing how every other person who listens feels the exact same way. The church must be true! :)

I made another quick trip to Utah. Hopefully some good news will come from my quick visit, but the jury is still out on that one. Either way it was awesome to see old friends and hang out with two of the cutest boys in Logan. I just really love Logan. It might be one of my most favorite places in the entire world.

The Easter bunny did not disappoint this year. I didn't get home from Utah until later that day, and he had hidden eggs all over the apartment for me, and filled a basket with all sorts of goodies. He's pretty smart, for a bunny. 

I also got my passport in the mail!!! I couldn't take a picture of the inside because I didn't know that you could smile for a passport picture, so I kind of look like a serial killer. They still gave me one though, so it must not have been too bad of a picture. I can't wait to put some stamps in this bad boy. Hopefully sooner rather than later!

And we got these bad boys on the same day. Talk about a good day. Two months ago Jordan told me he got hit up by some girl scouts that he couldn't refuse. We waited and waited and endured all the facebook updates about everyone eating their cookies and never got ours. I was afraid the little girls had been pulling Jordan's leg, but luckily they were honest troop members. The first day we got them we ate the whole box had a few and put them away to save as a special treat. Obviously we have mega self control! ;)

And that about sums up our lives. Passports and girl scout cookies... doesn't get much better than that!