Christmas, My birthday, and a Funeral

Happy New Year Everyone! I thought I needed to post one last time before the baby came! I am 37 weeks now and anxiously awaiting the arrival of a new baby boy!

We had a really nice Christmas down in Buckeye with Joel's family. We always feel so blessed and so fortunate after Christmas to able to be with family and to receive so much.





Preston got all of his favorite things for Christmas, a Buzz Lightyear, a couple of trains, a bulldozer all from Santa, and a tractor from Grandma and Grandpa John.



Here is Preston with his cousins, Tessa, and Maci on Christmas morning!



Unfortunately, some sad things happened when we were down there. Joel's grandpa passed away the day after Christmas, but we were so lucky to be able to see him before he passed. He was 88 years old and had lived a great life. He was such a great grandpa and a good man.


It was a beautiful funeral and graveside. Here is a picture of all of the grandsons carrying the casket. I thought it was a beautiful sight, how they were all in white shirts and ties.

I also celebrated my 27th birthday on Dec. 30th! Man that sounds old! Joel and I were able to go out to dinner, which was so nice to be out together just the two of us. We went to Outback Steakhouse, one of my all time favorites! It was sooo good too!
This is after dinner, I had already changed into my pj's. Joel sang Happy Birthday and surprised me with a yummy, beautiful, chocolate cake. It was a really nice birthday!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

These pictures were taken at our ward Christmas party! Preston wasn't sure what to do on Santa's lap so that is why he is just sitting there, no smile or anything.:) Maybe next year there will be a smile. At least he wanted to see Santa and sit on his lap, so that was good!

We have had quite the snow storm up here! It is so beautiful when it is snowing, so pure and white and clean. It has snowed at least a foot, and I wish we had a camera that worked! I am not sure what happened to our camera, it broke. We have had it for about five years and it was our first digital camera and was probably the cheapest one there!
So I wish we could post pics of the snow. We have been enjoying it so much. Which is kind of strange for me, I usually don't like being cold and out in it very long, but this year it is different. I think my attitude is different all around since we moved here for Joel to finish school.

I am truly humbled by this time of year and having the extra opportunities to reflect on the birth of our Savior, his life, and his Atonement. I think it is the greatest time of year. I love everything about this time of year, the Christmas tree, the lights on the houses, the music, the goodies, and the nativity. We just put up a little fake tree (to save some money) and Preston just loves it! We have the rest of our stuff in storage, so we bought some cheap bulbs to put on the tree and had a couple of ornaments Preston got from Grandma and Mom and Dad. He loved hanging the ornaments and got really into it. I loved watching him be so involved this year.

I am 33 weeks now and have 7 more weeks to go! I am pretty much all ready and have everything I need, except for my suitcase for the hospital.

We hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Love,
The John Family

First Snow in Flagstaff

These pics were from the first snow we had. I think it was in November, and I finally got these pics back so I wanted to post a couple! It also snowed a little last night. This is a funny one of Preston!

Halloween 2008!

I know this is so late, but I wanted to post a couple of Preston's Halloween costume. I LOVED his costume this year. He was a little red dragon and I thought he looked sooo adorable. I was thinking that it is probably my last year of picking his costume, but who knows? Some of them turned out fuzzy, I think it was because he was moving so much. He liked Halloween a little bit more this year. We attended our ward's trunk or treat and on Halloween we took him to a carnival they had at the college for kids. That was really fun! We also took him to our dear friend Paula's house to trick or treat. She loved seeing him and we were able to visit her for a bit. By 6:30p.m. he was pretty pooped. It was a fun night!