we are alive!

So the month of December seems to be non-exsistent in our blog entries! Please don't mistake that as nothing happened! Because a lot did happen! For instance ...

1. Ryan passed his anatomy block in medical school! (okay, so this actually happened in November, but we were still celebrating in December)
2. Heather hit her 400-hour requirement mark for her internship
3. Ryan finished Autumn quarter, and was able to completely relax from any and all school work for the entire Christmas break
4. Heather completed her internship experience with the Ohio State University Department of Recreational Sports
5. The OSU Dept. of Rec Sports asked Heather to work for them until she had the baby! She will be working with membership and with facility scheduling; there is no committment after the baby comes; she will get paid; we will have an income; the department needs to fill a hole only temporarily; it's a win-win situation for everyone! Did we mention that we will now have an income? It's amazing!
6. We flew out to CO to spend Christmas with Ryan's family
7. Heather continued to fly out to UT to see some of her family
8. Cassie and Jen threw Heather a wonderful baby shower for her Utah friends while there - pictures to come!
9. A snow storm hit Utah and kept Heather from going to her cousin's wedding in Manti which was the original reason she flew out to begin with! It was a sad day!
10. Once back in CO, we were able to have an awesome Christmas and New Year with Ryan's family. There was one new baby, one new sister-in-law, and a baby on the way! It was a full house, and we loved every minute of it! Thank you Gary and Cynthia! (pictures to follow as well)

Coming back to Columbus after Christmas break was harder than we expected! It reaffirmed the fact that we were far away from family, and that we would soon become parents. Scared out of our minds, we have tried to get into a normal schedule of school and work. We did make a big purchase and finally bought a couch and loveseat set (horray!! - pictures to come), and we are starting the preparations for the baby's room which is also the study room and the storage room. :)

As for the baby update: the pregnancy is going really well. Heather is getting bigger every day, but has this issue of being the main and only subject in pictures. She would much rather have something else be the spotlight then her growing belly! Nevertheless, pictures will come soon. Our last doctor's visit said the baby was growing healthy and strong, and at the rate that he should. She is starting her third trimester now, and while there are moments when she's tired and exhausted, we are both very grateful for her health and the blessings we have received! We realize that a relatively smooth pregnancy is few and far between, and we feel the need to count our blessings every day that we can. Our heart and our prayers go out to Troy and Melissa as they are helping their little boy survive after being born 14 weeks early - all prayers are needed!