In my upper 20's!

I am officially in my upper 20's, not mid 20's. Life is good and I am blessed in so many ways. We celebrated with family when we were home for Christmas and then for Happy Hour with some friends. Ryan made my birth "day" very special for me! He gave me a Willow Tree Pregnant lady and the Willow Tree nativity.

We are EXPECTING!!!

Wow, that felt really good to say considering we have been keeping this secret to ourselves since Thanksgiving Day....Yes it is true, we are having a baby!!!!

He/she is the size of a bean when we shared the news with our families!! "He" is now approximately 9 weeks old and according to babycenter.com he has a heart beat already!! This is amazing! We go to our first doctors appointment January 3rd, so will have more details then.

As you can tell by the amount of "!!!!" in the paragraph above we are every excited! We shared the baby news (as you can see in the picture) with our families over Christmas and now we can share the news with the world. Please keep "her" in your prayers as she is growing quickly!

Christmas with our families in Wisconsin!

We had a wonderful time visiting with our families over Christmas. We had a busy 4 days but had enough time to visit with our immediate familes and both sides of our extended families. Lots of good food and laughter. We are so blessed to have them in our lives.

Our Christmas Tree

Yep, it's a big ole tree that we cut down at Eckerdts Farm in IL and doesn't it look fantastic in our house!?...except where Ryan gave it a trimming because he was nervous that the tree would catch on fire and we would be part of the statistic of houses that burnt down or people that died. Well, we never made the stats and that is good!

Winter snow in St. Louis

It came down as ice and sleet and then finally the beautiful snow. It came down so hard schools and work were shut down. Ryan and I enjoyed a hot breakfast on a weekday which rarely happens and a walk in the neighborhood as we were "snowed in"...plus, we shoveled for the first time..."way exciting for a new home owner." The weather remains in the lower 30's so the snow is not melting, so we are able to enjoy the white snow instead of the dirty brown snow. Ryan is traveling this weekend for meetings for the National Youth Gathering coming this summer. A weekend to myself...

Finding the perfect tree

It is our tradition to go to Eckers Farm in IL is cut down our Christmas tree. This year my sister Jenni and family (Chris, Noah and Annika) were visiting from Wisconsin so they joined us for tree cutting.

Noah, who is three, thought every tree was "just right" and was a great help in finding the "perfect tree." We cut it down and now it stands in our living room (gosh it is bigger in the house than in the fields). When the visitors left, we decorated the house and tree and slept by the tree on the pull out couch that night, which is our tradition once the tree is lit.

We also went to Our Lady of the Snows to see the Christmas lights. It was so cute, Noah and Annika got dressed up as angels at one of the booths. How adorable! We had a fun filled day of hiking, picnicking (65 degree day), to tree hunting and light seeing!

New opportunity

A new opportunity has arose and I accepted the chanllenge. I am the new Admissions nurse at Heartland Hospice. New company, new rules, new employees, yet closer office (no more driving over an hour plus to get home) and best of all back to visiting patients! I am excited to work for Heartland and plan on providing all my patients with love and compassion.

We are Thankful on Thanksgiving Day

We did not travel to Wisconsin for Thanksgiving and we missed celebrating with our extended families, yet we still got to eat turkey and I didn't even have to cook.

On Wednesday we attended Thanksgiving service and enjoyed a romantic dinner. On Thanksgiving day we enjoyed our day going spinning (at the YMCA), going on a 3 mile hike along the river (beautiful day, maybe 65 degrees), raking leaves, fertilizing the grass (of course, that's what everyone does on Thanksgiving day) and then spent the afternoon and evening with the Winsborough family. Bruce is an exceptional, gourmet cook and we had the priviledge to consume the food. The food was scrumptious and the company was splendid.

Wow, another year that I didn't need to cook. Maybe it's a challenge to see how many years I can go before stuffing my own turkey.

Open house!

Ryan and I finally put the open house on the calendar and said "we can't change the date" (we already did 2 times before). I prepared food for 2 weeks prior to the party and when the party was finished and we had tons of food left over, that I am not very good at estimating the amount of food to make...it was a good learning experience!

The "house warming" party was so much fun. Ryan was the official "tour guild" of the house and we ate, talked and laughed. The total number of guests was 90 people and we want to thank all our helpers (Aimee, JP, Donna, Jess and especially Erin and Brian who volunteered to be our host and hostest for the afternoon so Ryan and I had no worries about the food and drinks).

We are so thankful for our house, but a house full of friends is even better. We are blessed with so much support and love!

Ryan's sister is engaged!!!

What a surprise it was...Michael (now her fiance) called and requested the entire family's presence when he proposed. On short notice, Ryan and I drove to Wisconsin for less than 18 hours to witness the proposal and the 3 caret diamond ring. Michael planned a wonderful engagement party that was catered, had delicious food and good company. Congratulations Erica and Michael - we are so excited for you.

I love that tree!!

As we began to redo our landscaping, and started to plan for our new landscaping, there was some talk of cutting down the tree in front of the house because it covers the house. I am in protest! I love that tree; just look at those colors...brilliant. I started to take a poll with the rest of our neighbors and I am happy to say that I am winning. Take a vote...don't you think that tree should stay?

Just in time

We bought our new 42 inch DLP just in time to watch Baseball Playoffs! Although watching them at Busch stadium is even better. And is was our luck to recieve free tickets from someone from church (Ryan says it was because he preached so well, I think we got them just because I am cute :). I am glad you all know my sarcasm! Go Cards!!!!!

Annika's spinkled with God's Grace

We traveled to Wisconsin for a full weekend. Ryan's friend from grade school and high school (Melissa Kohnke) got married and Ryan delivered their message at church. The receptions was at the Quilted Bear which was a trip down memory lane considering we had our reception there. The whole Peterson family was there and we enjoyed our time together.

Annika was the focus on Sunday. She was baptized and I was honored to be one of the God mothers. It was such an honor to be such a special part of a life turning day. We spend the day with the Zeman family celebrating the new addition into our Christian family. She is such a doll and we love you so much Annika.

We have a new NIECE!!!

ANNIKA JENNIFER ROMINE
BORN SEPTEMBER 26, 2006
WT: 8l bs 7 oz
LENGTH: 21 inches long
My sister Jennifer and her husband Chris are parents for the second time! The birth of another child has been a prayer for them and we are so happy the God blessed them with a health baby girl.

Ryan was in Texas the weekend after Annika was born so Erin came with me to Wisconsin to meet her. She is cute as a button(well actually, cuter than a button...she is beautiful). You can tell that Noah is going to be a great big brother, but he has to remember that Annika's head is not a ball :) The picture of Noah holding Annika is so adorable. Annika is in good hands! We love Annika!!

God Parents to Jeremiah Matthew King

On Saturday September 22nd Jeremiah (and Grace) were baptized. We were honored to be Co-God Parents with Jamie and Greg Truwe. The service was beautiful (took place in the Seminary Chapel)and the whole day was a blessing.

Knock, Knock......Surprise

Yes, I knocked at the door of my best friend (Kristy) from High School one Friday night in September. So, that doesn't sound so excited except for the fact that she lives in Florida and she had no idea I was coming to spend the weekend with her....what a surprise. It was great to just be in the same room as Kristy instead of talking on the phone and to also get to know her husband Dennie better (I was the matron of honor in their wedding 2 years ago and he's a great guy). We talked, ate, went to the beach, relaxed and just enjoyed eachothers company. We both agreed that we should see each other more often. Thanks Kristy for a great weekend!

What else would you expect?

All of my teacher friends are done with the school year. What a better way to celebrate...Girls night! Talk, talk, and talk until wee hours of the night. What else would you expect?

Welcome to the world Jeremiah and Grace King

Our good friends Tom and Tami King are now the parents of 4! Thomas (3), Josiah (1) and now TWINS....Jeremiah and Grace (2 days old). Tami is a brave lady and we are so happy for them. You two are so adorable.

And Erin and Brian West are back in town too!! Now that makes us smile.