Brrr! Winter in Minneapolis

Oh the joys of winter in Minneapolis.

I'm just glad that Don takes care of the shoveling and roof raking. Take a look at that icicle!

Traditions!

We had a great holiday season that was filled with many of our family traditions, despite not being home for Christmas. And although we had to make a few modifications, we were able to keep them alive and had a very merry Christmas! Here is quick recap:

1. Cream Cheese Swirls
My Dad and I usually make his famous Cream Cheese Swirls on Christmas Eve morning, but I talked him into making them while I was home for Thanksgiving instead. I think they turned out pretty delicious!

2. 36th Annual Jessop Family Christmas Eve Pageant
Every Christmas Eve, my family does a Christmas Eve Pagaent where we reinact the Christmas story with songs and scriptures, complete with awesome costumes my Mom has made over the years. This year we utilized Skype to make the 36th annual pagaent happen from around the world (literally!). Here is a screen shot of all of us and the different time zones we were in (10 p.m. Penang, Malaysia; 8 a.m. Minneapolis, MN; 8 a.m. Houston, TX; 7 a.m. Farmington, UT).

3. Gingerbread Houses
Don's family makes and decorates homemade gingerbread houses every year. We thought that would be fun to try with our friends in Minneapolis, so Don whipped up a large batch of gingerbread and we held a gingerbread house-making party. They turned out great, AND tasted delicious! (Thanks for the recipe, Janet!)

A Worthwhile Journey

Just a recap on my recent adventure at the Minneapolis airport. I was supposed to leave for SLC at 9:40 last Saturday night.... Long story short but they delayed my flight 4 times because of freezing rain and I didn't go out until 10:45 a.m. on Sunday. I had to sleep at the airport even though my house is only 15 minutes away because they shut down all the freeways. Luckily, I made a friend from my flight, Kendall, who is also pregnant and due within days of me. We had quite the night and saw two mice (one at McDonalds and one when we were trying to sleep). It was GROSS! Here's a picture of us camping out at the airport.

We both learned that being nearly 7 months pregnant and camping at the airport is NOT fun. I think I'm still recovering...

Now these are all reasons to be upset at the airline, weather, airport, etc. But you want to know what upsets me the most? No Cafe Rio!!! I made my Dad go buy me a salad in preparation for my arrival and he had to put it in the fridge. I was so sad about no Cafe Rio that night, I nearly cried.

But 14 hours later, I came home to find my favorite things:

Cafe Rio Salad from my Dad

Hot waterbottle from my Mom

My Dad's famous meatloaf dinner

and, of course, FAMILY!

It is so nice to finally be home! I guess my long journey was well worth it :)  Now I'm just praying that Don will get here without problems tomorrow night. The blizzard is supposed to blow through Minneapolis tomorrow .... I hope he doesn't get stuck in the airport with my nasty mouse friends.

My Bobble

I think our tap water tastes disgusting... like moldy pond scum from a dirty hose. And in the spring it is even worse .... like FISHY, moldy, pond scum from a dirty hose. But then my life changed last week when I bought this Bobble water bottle.

The Bobble is AMAZING! I can now drink water with no nasty tastes or fear of contaminants. I think I found a new love .... Isn't Bobble beautiful?

Pumpkin Art

Question: What do you get when you add Don and Halloween festivities together?

Answer: A GREEN pumpkin, carved with fantastic dremel skills.

Don always surprises me with his unique interpretation of pumpkin carving. All in all, it was a fun last-minute carving night with a few friends. They had some unique pumpkin art interpretations as well. Check out this pumpkin by Reuben.... I don't know what to call it. A helmet?

 And it wouldn't be Halloween without roasting pumpkin seeds, right? DELICIOUS!

And here are the final pumpkin intrepretations from left to right: Smiley (Liz), B'Wo (B'Wo), Jolly Green Giant (Don), Spider Crack (Melanie), Helmet (Reuben), Smiley Tooth (Katie), George the Puppy (Tyler), and Skull Face a.k.a "nice bat" (Tyler).

So much to tell ya!

So much to say, and so little time ... so let's get started on a few updates from the last few weeks!

1. First and foremost, we found out last week that we're having a BABY BOY! And he wasn't afraid to show us :) We're already proud parents and think he's the cutest boy we've ever seen!

2. I've had many requests to post a belly shot. I've been hesitant because up until now, I've just looked like a chunk more than pregnant. I'm more than halfway through the pregnancy and am starting to feel a little better. I can finally feel the baby kick, which is lots of fun. Also, I'm starting to show more ... I mostly look chubby, but this picture makes me look slightly pregnant (probably the angle and the dress). This is one of the only belly shots you'll get, so enjoy!

3. My cute Mom came to visit me last week! We had a great time planning/making curtains for a few rooms in my house, shopping and cooking. She taught me how to make my Grandma Remund's famous Swiss bread ... I don't know if I'll ever be able to figure it out on my own since this is about the 5th time my mom has taught me how to do it. It was DELICIOUS, as you can see from these pictures.

And that about sums up the last few weeks!

A BBQ

Speaking of Christmas ... Santa (a.k.a Bill and Janet) came a little early this year and look what we got:

We've been grilling every night for dinner for the last week and LOVE it. Not only did they give us this great gift of deliciousness for years to come, but they also did A TON of house and yard work while they were here last week. I always feel so guilty when they come and slave away, but we appreciate all their help! Thanks so much, Bill and Janet--come again soon!