Disneyland...dreamland

First off, advice for anyone out there who might be considering going to Disneyland at spring break, don't go. It is just even better with a tens of thousands fewer people. There, that is the last I will say about that.

We had a lovely time with both of our families (we missed the Casadys, Kate and Meggie) and the weather couldn't have been more perfect for us Oregonians-high 60s to low 70s.

Highlights:

1) Ruth's expression when she saw Minnie. It was pure joy and shock at the same time.  Life size Minnie!?!?  She wasn't so sure when it came time to get a picture with her.

2) Eating dinner at Naples Pizzeria with both of our families. It was actually quite hard to connect both groups given we were staying on opposite ends of the park and we were working around Ruth's schedule so the two dinners we had were amazing!


3) Cars ride!!!!  Seriously, the fast pass line (just to get a pass) was a 45 minute wait and they were all gone by 9am...crazy. But it was amazing!!!! And it was the only "no preggo" ride that my OB said I could ride :)  I just stared at Screamin' and dreamt of a time I will be able to go on it again (I LOVE rollercoasters).

4) I had nice a conversation with a cast member named Johnnie about his little boy and before you know it, he gave us a 12 person pass to the front of ANY line!  We used it on Nemo (which actually wasn't super exciting).  Still, so awesome and we were so grateful!

5) Matt and I's date night: I have been so desperate for more time with my husband.  Having a kid (and a delightful one) is such a blessing but it definitely alters your marriage. My parents took Ruth one night and we got to eat dinner at the Park, eat ice cream-two scoops for me, get a Disney shirt, watch Fantasmic, and 8 minutes of Dreams Come True (high winds ended it early).  It was so amazing.

 

 

 

 

Christmas Celebrations.

We had such a lovely last Christmas as just husband and wife (before we don the new names of Daddy and Mommy).  We went to our church's Christmas Eve gathering at the Schnitzer Hall-brought me to tears it was so beautiful- and then spent the rest of the evening at my parents house with our tradition of eating grilled cheese/tomato soup and watching White Christmas-my fave film ever.

The next morning, husband and I had a quiet morning and started a new tradition of making aebelskivers!  We read the Christmas story and just enjoyed sitting next to one another in front of the fire.  He got me an Iphone (I am back!), some amazing books AND a shopping trip to Forever 21 once the baby is out :) 

PS: Babe, you rock.  You are the best gift ever. You could always just wrap yourself up every year...

We then headed to my parent's house where we were super blessed by them and sister and just enjoyed eating monkey bread, coffee cake, and breakfast casserole (amazing!!!!!). My parents got the baby outfits for it to go home in-one for a boy, one for a girl!

After that, my family all hopped in our car and headed to Matt's brother's home in Albany to celebrate with his family.  

It was all bountifully beautiful and we cherish that Jesus' has given us the reason for not just this season, but for everything.

xoxo, Anna N

Year one of aebelskivers:  I will try not to burn them next year.

Lemon curd, powdered sugar, and raspberry jam were the toppings!

Grandma's are all ready!

Clearly, the grandpas are too!

Matt and his beautiful mother.

I love this man. He makes me laugh ALL of the time.  I love him.

The Hurds, the Normans and the Wrights!

The good-lookin' Normans!

The Wright clan :)  And yes, the belly is getting HUGE.

Delayed Gratitude.

I totally forgot to post pics from Thanksgiving! 

It was such a great time with my family and Matt's family together at his parent's home in Albany. We are so blessed to have the families we have...

We also had a swell Christmas party with our neighbors last night!  I would love to say we took lots of pics but that just didn't happen. Too much loveliness going on from 7 to 11:30 for that to happen.

Merry Christmas in advance.  Oh how merry it is...

The future grandmothers...how blessed is our baby! 

Can't even deal with this hotness and cuteness together.  This my friends is Baby Grace :)

Hopefully we have a better effect on our child-she looks slightly traumatized.

It fascinates me when babies love cameras like she does!

The amazing makeshift dinner table to hold 16 people!

If you ever have questions of why Meggie and I are goofy...and please look at my mom's expression!

I love you.


xoxo, Anna Norman (8 months down)

Celebration.

This last week we celebrated my beautiful sister who is now 29!  It was so amazing and I am so blessed to have her in my life (and we are uber (sp?) blessed by such amazing parents...see photo of goofy father below).  

Also, we attended a beautiful wedding with a knock-out bride: Congrats, Mr. and Mrs. Christopher Henry!  

So amazing to see two people commit their lives in something that God created to be so beautiful.

Hope you had a lovely weekend! Off to tackle the spray paint on a desk for the office (my finger is quite sore already)...ps: metallic spray paint is soo not easy to deal with!

Did I mention how much my husband makes me laugh??? Oh, and how handsome he is-I can't even deal with that extra bonus.   Love him so...

 And now for my sis's very exciting birthday :)

hehe.

Family Celebration!

(We got her Hunter boots in sherbet color!)

We always make fun of these poses...

xoxo, Anna N (29 weeks)