Top Ten Newsworthy Stories of 2007

All right...I know that it's February 6th and that it's a little late to be blogging about our favorite things of 2007, but maybe after you read the list, you'll understand why I've been such a slacker. So here is our "Top Ten" of 2007:

10. We moved! I don't really have any pictures of this event, but it sure was big. We had a lot of help from our great friends and it only took a couple hours to get everything loaded, driven to the new place, and unloaded again. I decided that we moved from a really cute (but teeny) apartment to a really ugly (but huge) one. I can't decide which I would rather have...I think in a couple days I'll be posting about the ugliness of our apartment.

9. Attending Will's football games. We love football! And it so much more fun when you have someone specific to watch. We were pretty good at going to support him and it was a blast, especially watching my dad coach. It's a side of him I've never seen before. Here's a picture with both of them. Doesn't Will look huge and so intense?

8. Lots of weddings. We attended lots of weddings in 2007, which was awesome because I love it when our friends get married! That mostly means that they don't feel awkward hanging out with us old married people anymore, so it's easier to stay in touch. One wedding in particular was really special. My cousin, who was baptized two years ago, got married in June...in the Salt Lake Temple! We were so excited and it was a really special experience for me and my parents to be there.

7. Christmas. Christmas was great this year as you know from my previous post. We loved being with family and celebrating the season. I love Christmas!

6. Trip to Pineview. For my family's family vacation this year, we took a weekend and rented a condo at Pineview. We went boating, ate good food, watched the premiere of High School Musical 2, played games and just hung out. It was awesome!

5. Flaming Gorge. Scott and I decided to take a little weekend trip by ourselves sometime in June or July up to Flaming Gorge. I love that place more than words can express. It reminds me so much of being a child. My grandparents have a trailer up there (yes, it is in a trailer park, and no, we're not white trash) so the best part was that it was free. We drove around the lake, barbequed some hamburgers, went fishing at my family's secret spot (which is secret for a reason, see picture below), and had a nice, relaxing time.

4. Island Park. Every July, my dad's family heads up to Island Park for a family reunion. Not everyone was there this year, but we still had a great time hanging out. We, of course, went boating, played games, ate amazing food (the married grandkids were each in charge of two meals this year....that was really scary for me), hiked at Yellowstone, saw Footloose at the Playmill, walked the streets of West Yellowstone, and as always, had a great time.

3. Thanksgiving. We drove down to Orderville, Utah for a traditional Thanksgiving with the Russell side of the family. We don't see Scott's dad's siblings very often so it was nice to get to know them better. They are really awesome people and I'm glad we went down there. We went to Orderville because that is where Sterling grew up (Scott's dad) and they still own his parents' house but they are getting ready to sell it. So it was kind of a little bit of a last hoorah. Orderville is a REALLY small town and we had fun walking around the whole town in oh, about....thirty minutes. This picture below was at the cemetery where Scott's grandparents are buried. This headstone was classic. We're probably related to him in some form, but I thought it was appropriate especially because he died on our wedding day (but two years earlier). I think Kyle Nelson would get a kick out of this. Is it bad to laugh at the dead? Sorry....

2. Washington D.C. In August (don't ever go there in August), we took a little trip to our nation's capital. It was a blast to say the least! We had an amazing time seeing all the sights. Scott just got excited to see everything in real life that he had only seen in movies before. And I was just amazed the whole time that we were actually able to do it. It was just so funny to me that we could just get around Washington D.C. all by ourselves! No parents, no other adults...I guess it was my little taste of freedom! But of course we would have been dead meat without the GPS that came with our rental car. That was a life saver. So we did all the normal stuff...Mount Vernon, Arlington National Cemetery, the mall, Lincoln, Washington, and Jefferson Memorials, the Smithsonians, the White House, the FBI Headquarters for Scott, the Washinton D.C. temple, yadda, yadda, yadda. We also visited our good friends the Stevens. They took us to dinner and Nick's football game and then we came home and watched home videos of us when us kids were all little. It was great, but I think Scott felt a little awkward. Anyway, it was the trip of a lifetime! And again, don't EVER EVER EVER go to Washington D.C. in August, unless you're used to 98 degree weather with 100,000% humidity. It was unbelievable. I thought Utah summers were bad, but I had no idea. You can tell it's definitely hot by my bright read face in this picture at the White House. Over all we had a great time and we're excited to continue traveling. When? We don't know, probably not until we're retired.

And drumroll please..............

The number one most newsworthy story of 2007 for the Russell Family is................

WE'RE PREGNANT! Yep, it's true. We found out on December 27th. I'm ten weeks along, my due date is September 7th, and I'm feeling really crappy. That is why I don't blog much anymore. Good excuse huh? And that is why I'm blogging right now in the middle of the day. Lucky me, I'm sick as a dog and I get to stay home from work! But hopefully it's just a couple more weeks and then I'll be on to feeling great. We went to the doctor last week and she said everything looks great. We even got a little ultrasound, which I wasn't expecting. We're getting really excited to welcome a little baby into our humble family and we're just praying that everything goes well. Here's a picture of the little person. It's the blob inside the black hole. I think it looks like the cutest baby ever, but am I just being partial? I also think it looks like a girl, but we'll be excited for whatever we have, just as long as it's healthy.

So as you can see, 2007 was quite eventful for us. We had an amazing year together and we're counting on 2008 being even better!