Arkansas Ice Storm, Day 1

Monday night a storm blew in covering northern Arkansas and southern Missouri with ice by Tuesday morning. There was at least 1 solid inch of ice on everything in sight Tuesday. From power lines and vehicles to trees and grass, nothing escaped the ice. Hundreds of thousands are without power and are stuck in their homes due to fallen trees across their driveways and roads. All Tuesday the drizzling freezing rain continued, making the prognosis for Wednesday even worse. Power lines were snapped absolutely everywhere, thousands of phone lines were down too. Joel and I drove out towards my parent's house and literally had to drive over 7 phone and power lines that were laying across the road. We decided to get a bunch of thermoses full of hot chocolate and coffee and take them around to the emergency power, phone, and road crew workers who were doing all they could in the freezing rain to help out. They were extremely grateful and gracious for the gesture, and we felt good that we maybe warmed up their day just a little. Poor guys. That work has to be miserable. All day you could hear tree limbs and branches breaking off and falling to the ground. With all the ice on each branch, it literally sounds like shot gun blasts every time a branch falls. A friend compared the sounds outside at night to being in Iraq where you could hear it all around you, non-stop. Amazingly, we didn't see many tree parts that fell on people's houses and damaged them. God did a great job of pushing the trees right next to the houses and keeping them from falling directly on top.

John and Marie's Wedding Affirmation

Last Saturday Joel and I had the honor of attending our dear friends' wedding affirmation ceremony. It was a beautiful event at the country club with delicious catered food and lots of fun dancing. The ceremony was absolutely wonderful and you can tell the two of them are headed for many more years of love and marriage.

John and Marie laughing at some silly dance moves by their son.

Joel and I, pregant and purple :)

Our 3 Year Anniversary

Wednesday, Joel and I celebrated 3 years of marriage. We have been incredibly blessed with each other and we give God all the credit for somehow matching us up (that sure took divine intervention!) and giving us the joy of having the best marriage I could EVER imagine. I am married to my best friend and I wouldn't change one single little tiny thing about him. After all, it is our differences that keep us on our toes :) We are usually in Mexico for our anniversary, but this year our trip fell a little early and we were there last week. So we kept it real simple: Joel bought a HUGE prime rib (far too much for the two of us), I cooked it up with some mashed potatoes and corn, Joel's favorite, along with some ginger ale punch (no wine this year!). The prime rib turned out amazing and cooked to perfection - if I must say so myself! Joel said that if it wasn't better than the Turtle Club, it was really close, which, for anyone who knows Joel, that is a HUGE compliment! Below are a few photos of our evening. Oh, and about Mexico, we were in Mazatlan for 7 days with our friends from Alaska, and as soon as I get all the photos from everyone, I'll tell you ALL about our trip. Promise.

Cutting up the Prime Rib. Can you see the baby bump?

Joel wanted to show pictures of the meal....

Happy Anniversary!

Hi Little Mia Joelle!!!

Today we found out that we're having a little girl, and providing no crazy last minute changes, her name will be Mia Joelle (mee-ah, not my-a) Gallegos. She weighs about 13 oz. right now which is right about average. She has 10 fingers and 10 toes, cute little ears, two healthy kidneys, a really healthy heart, and of course an above average brain :) We are very excited, but have about 17-19 more weeks until we actually get to meet the little girl. She was so funny during the ultrasound, she kept her little fists right around her face the whole time like she didn't want her picture taken. The ultrasound tech pushed on my belly enough to get her to move her hands a little and we got a few photos of her face. At one point she even threw us the peace sign for a little bit! Below are some of the regular ultrasounds where you can see her leg and foot in one, and her head and hand in the other. Below those is a 4D ultrasound where you can actually see some of her features. She's still a little funny looking, but give her a few more weeks in the oven and she'll be gorgeous, I'm certain! Needless to say, we are very excited to finally refer to "it" as "she" and by her name.

New Year's Bowling

For New Years we were going to be in Chicago but with all the crazy weather, combined with our friend that we were going to go see getting very sick, we were at home not really sure what to do. We spent the day 4-Wheeling at my mom and dad's property then took Cody, his two little sitsters, and his cousin, Brandon, bowling as their mom had to be out of town. It was a lot of fun and I was the champion bowler of the night! Woo Hoo! I had a photo of my score, but Joel wouldn't let me post it. I guess he was afraid of getting teased for getting beat by a pregnant girl. Tee Hee Hee!

Our dogs Chevy and Sadee anxiously waiting for us to go for a "ride".

A sunny section of the creek and bluffs on my parent's property. It was really chilly that day!

My mom found a bird's nest in a cave along the way. We former Alaskans know how to dress for the cold!

Joel inside the cave.

Brandon picking up Shilah after she got a strike!

Brandon and Cody, mischevious as always.

Kira and Shilah, Cody's youngest siblings.

I'm very happy because I'm winning. Joel...not so happy :)

Christmas!

Well, I have to admit that Joel and I were slackers when it came to taking pictures on Christmas. So you only get one lousy photo. Sorry! Between our central heat going out Christmas Eve and a massive gas leak in the other part of our house the same day, it's been a little hectic... We did have a great Christmas though, electric heaters and all :) We started off by making our favorite breakfast, eggs benedict, then we opened our gifts, then got to work. Every year we do a Christmas Craft of some sort, and this year we made holiday spoons. They're basically chocolate dipped spoons rolled in either sprinkles or crushed peppermints that you can stir your coffee with for a little extra holiday flavor. So we made all of those, wrapped them up, and used them for decorations to top off the gifts that we got our family and friends. Then I cooked our usual Christmas ham, homemade peppermint patties, and mini sweet potato pies which we took over to mom and dad's for our Christmas meal. We had a great time eating and playing games at their house, then we all went around to visit all of our family for the rest of the evening. The next morning Joel went hunting with my dad and they each got a deer, which I also have no photos of... Overall, we had a really great Christmas and weekend that followed, though we are both happy to have all the sweets out of the way!!!

Christmas Tree Cutting

So every year Joel and I like to venture out into the woods and find the perfect little tree for Christmas. Sure we could go out and buy a tree that's fuller and a little more symmetrical, but then we wouldn't get to enjoy that time together that always ends up being so much fun. We took a 4-wheeler from my mom and dad's house and rode around their acreage until we found the perfect little guy. We took the dogs with and they had a blast running their hearts out. So not only did we have a cute tree, we had two worn out dogs, and an afternoon of enjoying the outdoors with each other. We got home and decorated the little tree with little ornaments, as the branches wouldn't hold anything larger :) The lights were almost too heavy, but after some reinforcements were in place, it's standing up just fine! Maybe next year we'll have room for a slightly more substantial tree, but for now, this one makes us smile :)