1 Year and Counting

Jennie and I are ecstatic to announce our first wedding anniversary. It's been the best 366 (leap year) days of my life. I didn't know that my love for her could actually grow. Since our anniversary was actually on Sunday, we went out last night for dinner and a walk in town. We went to Romano's Macaroni Grill and had a great meal, then went to see the lights on Temple Square.




















In general, we just enjoyed the time together and away from home. Sunday was our actual anniversary so we had the chance to relax and be with my family.

I hadn't realized it, but my parents also hung onto the top of our wedding cake. So, we took it out of the freezer last night and let it thaw so we could eat some on our anniversary. Surprisingly, it was really good. It tasted, I think, just as good as it did on our wedding day.

Your Mom Goes to College!!! ...Yeah. So?

This weekend, Jennie and I had the privilege of driving down to Utah for my Mom's college graduation. That's right. My MOM just graduated from College this week with a 3.99 GPA. That's Summa Cum Laude. That's awesome! She went back to school while I was on my mission to get her teaching degree. She'd been a substitute teacher for several years before that, and just caught on fire. She's spent the next few years in school and now has her Bachelor's of Science in Elementary Education. Congratulations, Mom!!!!

We really enjoyed our time down there. We got to see some family that we never get to see. My brother Chad flew in from Texas for the occasion. His wife Erika couldn't make it because she's in community theater production of Cinderella. But they will both be coming for Christmas. We always enjoy getting together with all of my family.

This was the first time we've been home while Jennie's been significantly pregnant and it was a great trip. The ride back was one to remember, though. With ideal weather conditions, a drive from Fruit Heights to Rexburg, or vice-versa, usually takes about 3 hours. We left home about 7:30 pm, having originally given up hopes of getting home for Sunday because of a few snow storms. But, Jennie was supposed to be playing Violin for a piece in the ward Christmas program, and I was supposed to accompany her. We had to make the drive.

Driving from Utah up until about 20 miles into Idaho was a dream. Nothing at all, except a little fog going over Malad Summit. After that, though we got hit with several snow storms that made us slow down to about 45 mph, and we didn't dare take it any faster. It was slow going for a long time, and we didn't get home until about midnight.

But, overall, it was a good weekend. We can't wait until we go home next weekend and get to stay until the 29th! That's well over a week off work. Yippeee!!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Well, much to our dismay, our Thanksgiving break is over. December is here. That means Christmas time! Thankfully, though, it's only another two crazy weeks and the semester is over. It's crazy how quickly the time flies by.

As of tomorrow, we'll have 120 days and counting until our little baby is born. We're so excited. It still seems, though, that it's all a dream and that April will never come. We'll probably feel a little differently once the new year comes.

I suppose all we can do right now is just be grateful that we're happy and healthy and the Lord has blessed us immensely. We have great families, friends, and an awesome ward. What more could a young couple ask for?

Love to all!

Turkey, Baby Bumps and Bowling

We hope everybody had a great Thanksgiving. I know we certainly did. We had originally planned to go to Wisconsin to spend time with Jennie's family, but it didn't work out. So, we decided to stick around here and spend the time with my Ostermiller side of the family. Which was fun.

The Ostermiller side of the family is rather large. i.e. Jennie is the 131st addition to the family. That's BIG. I think we're up to 140-something now. There were just over 60 people present for our Thanksgiving feast yesterday. That's a LOT of food. Lot's of kids running around. Good times.

So, for Jennie's mom's benefit we've been asked to post a picture of the "Baby Bump." Here it is.
That thing sure is growing insider her. The doctors have told us that the baby is now about 10 inches long, and weighs just over a pound. We're just so excited.

We also got invited last night by some friends in our ward to go bowling with them. It was funny that on "Turkey Day" I got my first ever Turkey in bowling. That's right. I threw three strikes in a row. I was on fire last night. I don't know exactly why. But it was, without doubt, the best I've ever bowled. Actually, if I were to be completely honest, I had some help from the bowling alley. The guy's lane kept getting caught up. I on the second strike of my turkey, I actually had three shots at it because the mechanism behind the pins kept getting jammed. But all of my other strikes were legit. My score for the first game (with the inadvertent help) was 170. My second score was 168. I only missed about 6 pins and had four strikes in the second game. Up to the 9th frame, I'd only missed three.