Thanks to John DeBeeld for the awesome pictures!! Tell us which ones are your favorites...
Friday, January 11, 2013
Friday, January 4, 2013
Babymoon at the Elms
God has been so good to provide this job at COSTCO for John, and now that he has been hired on as a regular part-time worker (vs. seasonal), he gets some extra perks. During this switch-over week, though, they had to "lay him off" in order to hire him back, so we took advantage of his five days off to enjoy a last little vacation before the baby comes.
My sweet husband surprised me with an awesome "babymoon" up in Excelsior Springs, about 45 minutes North of our house, at a beautiful old spa/resort called The Elms. When we arrived to check in, they gave us glasses of champagne and a dinner and brunch reservation time. Turns out, the Elms is a popular destination for New Years, so we got in on the whole deal, even though it hadn't occurred to us that it was New Year's Eve!
My sweet husband surprised me with an awesome "babymoon" up in Excelsior Springs, about 45 minutes North of our house, at a beautiful old spa/resort called The Elms. When we arrived to check in, they gave us glasses of champagne and a dinner and brunch reservation time. Turns out, the Elms is a popular destination for New Years, so we got in on the whole deal, even though it hadn't occurred to us that it was New Year's Eve!
Arriving at The Elms in the snow, lugging my full body pillow...
Playing some dominoes
That's my profile!
John had scheduled us a couple's massage. After getting used to Thai massages, it felt like a gentle skin rub, but it was super relaxing, and funny see the contraption they created for prenatal massage! After the massage, John enjoyed sweating in the sauna, while I relaxed in a comfy lounge chair.
KC BBQ= Happy John
The pool. Supposedly it was heated, but we got our feet in and then got right back out!!
A beautiful lunch at a cute place in town
I have a shelf!
Our goal for the weekend was to decide on a boy's name we really like, since we've already chosen a girl's name. But that didn't really happen, so on the way home we stopped by the library to get a Baby Names book. This whole choosing-a-name thing is a lot harder than we expected!!
What we did accomplish, though, was enjoying time together to talk, catch up, and just be. We slept a lot, watched a little TV (which is a novelty for us since we don't have one at home), played some games, ate some food, and came home very refreshed and ready to start the next chapter of our lives.
John goes back to school in a week and a half, and then we only have 8 weeks until our little one arrives. We appreciate your prayers for time management, finances, and direction for the future (both short-term and long-term). We are so grateful for what God has been doing in our lives since we arrived in KC in August, and also for providing us such a refreshing and joyful holiday season with both our families and time together.
A Colorado Christmas
Believe it or not, this was our fifth Christmas together since we've been married! How time flies!! Here's a recap of how we've passed the last four:
1) Christmas in Colorado with Dana's family. A freak Portland snow storm stranded us in the airport for three days, but in the end, we made it out to Denver.
2) Christmas in Newberg with the Sullivans. Dana was working at Wells Fargo and only got the weekend off, so Tom and Carolyn joined us for a weekend of Christmas fun in Newberg, OR.
3) Sweaty Thai Christmas #1. Tom and Carolyn Sullivan were able to join us in Muang Thong Thani, to watch our students' Christmas Eve activities, and then travel around the North of Thailand during our break.
4) Sweaty Thai Christmas #2. Having just returned from a month in the States after being evacuated from the floods, we returned to our apartment in Nonthaburi for Christmas. It was our first Christmas away from family, which was hard, but we were invited over to a friend's house for dinner.
And that brings us to #5: The Return to CO to spend Christmas with the Larsons. It was a full house, as my brother Matt's girlfriend also celebrated with us. We had a wonderful time, even though John had to fly back to KC on Christmas afternoon to be at COSTCO for work the next morning. I can't think of a better way to spend a few days: time with family, playing games, eating good food, watching some movies, and generally enjoying each others' company!
1) Christmas in Colorado with Dana's family. A freak Portland snow storm stranded us in the airport for three days, but in the end, we made it out to Denver.
2) Christmas in Newberg with the Sullivans. Dana was working at Wells Fargo and only got the weekend off, so Tom and Carolyn joined us for a weekend of Christmas fun in Newberg, OR.
3) Sweaty Thai Christmas #1. Tom and Carolyn Sullivan were able to join us in Muang Thong Thani, to watch our students' Christmas Eve activities, and then travel around the North of Thailand during our break.
4) Sweaty Thai Christmas #2. Having just returned from a month in the States after being evacuated from the floods, we returned to our apartment in Nonthaburi for Christmas. It was our first Christmas away from family, which was hard, but we were invited over to a friend's house for dinner.
And that brings us to #5: The Return to CO to spend Christmas with the Larsons. It was a full house, as my brother Matt's girlfriend also celebrated with us. We had a wonderful time, even though John had to fly back to KC on Christmas afternoon to be at COSTCO for work the next morning. I can't think of a better way to spend a few days: time with family, playing games, eating good food, watching some movies, and generally enjoying each others' company!
General Christmas morning mayhem. The dog LOVES all the wrapping paper.
Teaching Joel to make crepes with his new French crepe pan. Fun, fun, fun!
30 week profile
Merry Christmas Grandma and Grandpa!
Some proud uncles-to-be
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