It's a Boy!!!

We are happy to announce that we are having a little boy on February 5th. We got our first ultrasound today and I can already tell he's going to be cute. It was such an amazing experience to see him in there. Everything is going well for us. Busy with school & work, as usual. We're so excited to have our own little boy!!

Coralville (where there's no coral) and Florida (where there's lots!)

We made it! We are now officially residents of Coralville, Iowa. After driving the Mormon pioneer trek in reverse, we arrived at our new home on Friday, May 1st and got all of our stuff unloaded in just a couple of hours, thanks to the help of Alan's dad. We had a week to settle in and unpack and then it was off to St. Augustine, Florida for a much needed relaxing week on the beach.

It was a perfect dream vacation. We pretty much did nothing but sit & relax on the beach, eat lots of delicious food, and watch NBA playoffs. A whole week of NO WORRIES! Alan starts PA school (and I start being a single wife) on Wednesday so we're enjoying as much time together as we can before then. We really miss Utah and are slowly adjusting to the huge change of moving to a new place where we know no one. I'm sure Iowa will start to feel like home with time. Here are some pictures from our fabulous vacation in Florida.

This is pretty much what we did all week. We went through about 5 bottles of sun screen and completely lost track of the time and date. That is, in my opinion, a perfect vacation.

All you can eat crab legs on the beach. Yum!!

We took a walk/hike in the Anastasia Island National Reserve. The trail went along the marsh and into the jungle! We saw TONS of wildlife including 2 turtles, 2 snakes (I think Alan was more scared than I was), lots of cool lizards & birds, and about a million crabs. So cool.
Looks like the Jungle Room at the zoo, right? Nope, it's for real.

We love St. Augustine Beach!

Graduation

After 5 long years at BYU, Alan is now the proud recipient of a Bachelor's degree! I'm so proud of Alan for all of his hard work! Now he gets to spend his 3 week break before Grad School packing up our house and moving to Iowa.

CONGRATULATIONS, ALAN!!

A Week in the Life...

My dream world is one where I can go skiing one day, and then come down from the mountains and it's warm enough to go swimming. Well, it turns out I pretty much live in just that place. On Saturday, we spent a beautiful day skiing at Brighton with Byron and his boys. Then, a few days later, we drove a few short hours to Las Vegas where we hiked in shorts on red rocks and got sunburned by the pool. What a life!

Madrid

I got to go to Madrid this month for work. I had a little bit of time to explore downtown Madrid. It's a beautiful city with lots of interesting history. I wish I'd had more time there. Here are some pictures of my favorite parts, including a few from the evening event/party that Symantec hosted for Dell. (That's why I was there.)

Puerta del Sol


Plaza Mayor

The Palace - It's still in use!

I got to go to church at the Spanish ward which meets right next to the Madrid Temple. Some nice senior missionaries from the U.S. invited me to their apartment for lunch afterwards. It's so nice to feel like you have family in the Church no matter where you go.

Me and the boys, the European boys I work with on a daily basis, but rarely get to see. They're crazy - and love their beer. Love them.

The main event of the evening was a concert by "Bjorn Again" - an Abba cover band that totally rocked. And we got back stage passes! This is me and the U.S. Symantec Team with Bjorn Again.

Huey Lewis & Me!

I have the coolest job. This past week, my company hosted a big party/concert/event for Dell in Austin, TX and since I helped coordinate, I got to meet the entertainment! Huey Lewis & the News put on a great show. The event went off without a hitch and everyone had a great time. All the hours of hard work & stress paid off!

The Dell Marketing Girls! Korbie, Mickey, Kara & Daynna with HUEY!

Some of the Dell team: Ed, Korbie, John, Todd, Garrett, me, Mickey, Daynna, and of course HUEY!

A whole bunch of happy Dell employees, rocking out with Huey Lewis.

Snowshoeing!

We just had to take advantage of the beautiful weather this weekend, so we went snowshoeing with our friends, Nikki and Brendan. Thanks Nikki for taking pictures! (I'm so bad at that.) Fresh, untouched feet of powder, beautiful scenery, and fun friends made this hike one of our favorites.

At the waterfall on the Timpanogos Trail - near Aspen Grove.

Iowa City, here we come!!

It's official, we will be moving to Iowa for Alan to attend the PA program at the University of Iowa in May. Classes start on May 20th so that doesn't give us much time after graduation to move, but we're very excited for the change. The University is located in Iowa City, a small college town about 3 1/2 hours from Chicago. (And 7 1/2 hours from Wichita!) We're both pretty sad to be leaving the Utah mountains and a little scared of Iowa's Chicago-like winters, but we'll manage. Thankfully, I get to keep my same job with Symantec and work from home - hooray! In case any of you want to visit us, here's a taste of what you can expect when you come. (I'd visit in the summer...)

Summers in Iowa

Winters in Iowa City...Yikes.