Progressive Dinner and Baby Jeans!

Last weekend we had the 5th annual progressive dinner. We have been doing it since I joined the family (we were engaged in November 5 years ago!). We all drive to each others’ houses and have parts of dinner so we can see Christmas decorations and just visit each others’ homes. It’s really fun and this year was CRA-ZAY.

We started at our house this year and Dan is a champion and basically did everything to get ready. He cleaned the house and helped me make the appetizers. We had apples with butterscotch cinnamon dip and bread and chips with garlic artichoke dip. I should have made twice as much, but it was still good!

The kids were extra hyper at our house for some reason and it was kind of a dull roar. I just sat on a chair in the kitchen and chillaxed. I am big and slow and can’t do a lot so that was basically all I did!

We had a very exciting surprise after being at our house for only a few minutes. Ben, Becky, Addy and Mia showed up and rang our doorbell! They came all the way from Mongolia and surprised everyone at our dinner! Julie knew they were coming so she had Debbie answer the front door and Dan got it all on video. It was pretty priceless to see Debbie get emotional and all the cousins freak out. It was mass chaos.

Once they got here, the entire family was together (except Joe in Bulgaria!). There were 15 kids (plus two that are still cooking!), age 3 months-11 years, and 15 adults. Holy smokes. It was so fun and so crazy. Side note: Mike and Hailey just found out they are having a boy! We are so stoked to have another baby boy so close to ours! Benson, our baby boy and their baby boy will all be in the same grade at school!

I could seriously eat up Brioney. She is the cutest thing ever.

After our house, we went to Jon and Julie’s for the main course. She made awesome soup, salad and rolls (Olive Garden style). She had my favorite Olive Garden soup and it was great! I didn’t take any pictures at their house, but the kids seemed a bit more calm there than they were at our house!

Becky got to meet the two newest members of our family, Brioney and Benson and they will get to see our baby too while they are here…if he ever decides to come! I feel like it’s becoming more possible that I will be pregnant forever.

We finished at Dave and Amanda’s house for dessert. We skipped Mike and Hailey’s because the group was just too big for their apartment this year! Santa Clause made an appearance and they caused quite a ruckus. it was pretty funny and most of the kids thought Santa looked just like Uncle Mike but they still loved it.

Danny and Jon got a turn on Santa’s lap too.

The kids were so stinkin’ cute and they all loved Santa. He passed out candy canes and they each sat on his lap. It was really fun and we sang Jingle Bells as he was leaving.

The Progressive Dinner was a success and I just can’t believe how blessed I am to come to a family like this. I feel like I have the best of both worlds with my small family on one side and this huge group on the other. I love being around the kids and there is just so much life all the time. We are always entertained!

This is probably the cutest thing ever…a while ago, my mom and sister bought these adorable Levi jeans for my baby and I loved them. A few weeks ago, we got Danny some new jeans and after we bought them and got them home, I realized they were the exact same style as the baby jeans!

Holy smokes, they are both 514s (that is the style) and I almost died from the cuteness. They are exactly the same and I can’t wait for our babe to wear them and match his Daddy!

I’m still pregnant. And my mom is continually reminding me that I’m not due for a few more days and that I was 10 days late! Praying that my baby is not 10 days late! I was doing really great and being super patient and feeling great up until about a week or two ago and then I started getting impatient and just very ready for him to come! I’m just really big and uncomfortable and ready to meet this little guy! The doctor thinks it’s any day but who knows…

One nice thing is that Dan and I keep going out to dinner because I keep thinking it will be the last date with just us before this baby comes and it will probably be a while before we can go out by ourselves after he comes! We can’t wait! Final nursery pictures coming soon!

Fun Stuff

Right after Thanksgiving, Dan and I decided to check out the lights at Temple Square. I knew that I might not get to go soon and I wanted to go while I still had some energy and it wasn’t too cold. We ended up going on a Monday and I couldn’t believe how un-crowded it was! We got there early because we both work downtown so as soon as it was dark, we were walking around, but it was almost empty!

I loved being there before the crowds came (they started showing up for Family Night as we were leaving around 7ish). We didn’t have to compete with people in all our pictures and it just worked out really perfectly. Dan was really patient with my super slow walking and we didn’t look at every single part of Temple Square, but we did a lot and had a lot of fun.

I couldn’t believe my warm coat actually zipped over my belly! It barely fit but worked out pretty well! We sat in the visitor’s center for a while and listened to a choir of sister missionaries sing Christmas songs. We got some treats at Farr’s Fresh and since we parked at City Creek, we didn’t have to walk far to our car and we got out without too much trouble.

We checked out the awesome candy windows at Macy’s and I really loved them! It reminded me of the cool candy windows we used to look at growing up.

We had a lot of fun together and I just love being with Dan. I have really been aware of the time we have left together while it’s just us. I can’t wait for our little guy to join the family but I’m trying to soak up this last time that we have together as just us!

These gals came over last week to visit and once again, we had a good time. Shell was visiting from CT and they brought their cute kiddos too. It was so fun to have their cute kids in my house and we could talk for hours! Love the heart on my belly. Dan and I considered taking maternity pics like that but decided against it

On Monday, I had my last shower! Danny’s aunts (on his dad’s side) did it for me and it was the cutest thing ever. They did a mustache theme and they had so many adorable decorations and fun stuff! I couldn’t believe it and it was a lot of fun.

They made these adorable onesies with ties and mustaches! There were rice krispy treats with chocolate in the shape of mustaches, mustache suckers, mustache straws, and they got us a sweet mustache binkie for the babe!

We all put on mustache stickers and even my nephew Benson got one. So awesome.

I had another shower by Danny’s aunts on his mom’s side too and they tied a quilt for me. I am awful and didn’t take any pictures! I was too busy trying to help my mom figure out how to do the quilt. But the fabric is adorable and I can’t wait to see it all finished!

My mama and sis came and I’m so glad they did. We were all rockin’ sweet staches! I got a lot of awesome stuff and I just can’t believe how nice people have been at all the showers I’ve had. We have gotten so many great gifts and have had so much fun!