This is Mike blogging:

I got a gift card for my birthday a while back from my mom. (Thank you Mom!)

I got several books with it and I finished by "birthday shopping".

These are the books I got -

Baby Updates

I am now 15 weeks pregnant and feeling great! Everyone has asked me if I've been sick, but luckily I made it though the first trimester with just a bit of nausea. I was EXTREMELY tired for the first 3 months. Poor Mike was bored out of his mind when I fell asleep at 8 o'clock every night (he claims it was more like 7 o'clock). But now I'm getting my energy back and I feel great.

This will be the first grandchild on both sides of the family so both of our parents can't wait! My mom was an ultrasound tech for many years and now sells ultrasound machines for Toshiba. She was going crazy not knowing the baby's gender soshe arranged to take me to one of the accounts where she sold a machine and scan me on Feb 12th! (My normal ultrasound won't be until 20 weeks). We're can't wait to know if it's a boy or a girl.

What do you think it is? Make sure to vote on the gadget to the right before Feb 12th.

Ode to Kiara

The furry namesake for our blog had not gotten any attention on it for a long time despite being the cutest dog ever. Once the baby comes she probably never will so I thought I'd post some cute pictures now and tell you about Kiara's quirks.


* If we let her, Kiara would sleep under the covers with us at night. She loves to cuddle.











* Kiara is a super dog - from pulling sleds up hills to climbing trees, she does it all.












* She LOVES water!!!!















* Her nickname is 'Yaya' because my good friend Becca's youngest brother could not say her name and would always call her Yaya. When we came to visit he would say, "Where Yaya?" and get really upset if she wasn't with us.







* When Kiara drinks her water she always makes a huge mess partly because she just sticks her whole face in (see above).











* She loves sticks even when they're twice her size.













* If I tell Kiara "Go to Daddy" she will run to Mike and vice versa if he says "Go to Mommy."











* Mike started dressing Kiara in bandanas when she was a puppy and now you almost never see her without one on. She loves wearing "clothes."










* Kiara has this look that will melt your heart!

California Christmas

Mike and I went to California for Christmas to visit his family and we had a blast! The weather was not quite as warm as we hoped, but it was still a nice change from the Colorado snow. Here are a few fun pictures of us at the beach and Knott's Berry Farm.

Our Wonderful Christmas Present!

Baby Ballard

Coming July 19, 2009

Nutcracker

The Nutcracker went very well and I had a blast performing in it. The show was wonderful! My parents couldn't believe it was just a ballet school because all of the younger girls did such an amazing job. All of the costumes were beautiful too (see the close up on mine below). Also Cece, a little girl I used to nanny for, came and loved it. It was so good to see her.

Congrats Gabby and Jake!

This is a little belated but I wanted to spread some good news. My sister Gabby got engaged over the Thanksgiving break to Jake Larsen! They met at BYU last year and have been dating for a while. Jake surprised Gabby by coming to Colorado for Thanksgiving when she thought he was staying with his family in Utah. Gabby's first night home the doorbell rang and to her great shock it was Jake standing outside:) Of course our whole family knew he was coming which only made it better. I don't have any pictures of the ring, but here are a few pictures of Gabby and Jake.....

The wedding is set for May 30th in the Bountiful Temple. Jake's grandfather is a sealer and will be performing the sealing for them. We can't wait! Congrats:)

Bang Bang - 007

And so, I went to see 007 last night. It was amazing! I had a blast, tho I was on edge all night. :) I did, admitting, went alone. Justine didn't want to go because the showing was late and she was tired. My brother-in-law recently had his wisdoms taken out and was drugged. The movie was worth it and I have to say, Daniel Craig is one of the best Bonds there is, right up there with Sean Connery.


If you haven't seen it....well, you're missing out!

Air Force v. BYU

On Saturday we went to the Air Force v. BYU football game for my dad and brother's birthday. It was a blast and BYU won!!! Even though it was a bit chilly, we all had a wonderful time. Here are some pictures....

The best part about Air Force games is all the cool things that happen before. There was a jet fly over that even Mike could hear a bit;) They also have people parachute out of a plane and land on the field. And no matter which team you're there to root for, everyone can cheer on the cadets and our service men.

Nutcracker

Everyone will please have to forgive our blog for being insufferable boring the last month. I'm sorry.... it's sort of fallen though the cracks (not to mention I keep forgetting to bring the camera everywhere and feel like I can't blog without a good picture to post).

So, here's the update on our lives.....
Mike is busy with his job with Sorenson and he loves it. His best friend Dj also just got a job with Sorenson here in Colorado Springs and he will be moving out. He'll live with us for a few weeks until he finds an apartment. Mike is excited to have him close:)

Mike and Dj at our wedding

For my latest adventure I agreed to perform in the Nutcracker as a guest artist with my old studio in Littleton. I'm so excited for the chance to perform and the good excuse it gives me to get back in to shape for ballet:) I hadn't realized how much I missed ballet until I started dancing again. I'm the Sugarplum Fairy and one of the Mirlitons. It will be a really great show and I can't wait! We have 2 shows on December 6th at Tokeyo Loretto Heights University.

A random picture of me dancing