Apple Picking

In October, we met up with our friends Pat and Jelena for some apple picking and lunch. Justin knows both of them from law school and currently works with Pat. They're such a fun couple to double with, and we had such a great afternoon. In fact, we anticipated a brisk Autumn day, and it was actually really hot. Justin and Pat did most of the heavy picking, while Jelena and I caught up in the shade.



Action pictures



Kind of...



The orchard, about an hour away, was beautiful though, and we definitely helped ourselves to some yummy apple pastries at the little store on our way out and in. (Note the bag in my hand. It was all for the boys.)



Jelena took much more professional pictures than I, including this one of the perfect apple. Interestingly enough, it was the day after this outing that she found out she was having a perfect little apple of her own:) We're so excited for them



And finally...the perfect pumpkins, which we failed to carve the second year in a row.

Belly Shots!!

Brought to you by the iphone...

Ocean City

For the last several months, I've tutored a boy named Jonathan and have gotten to know him and his mother pretty well. They are the nicest family and offered their beach house to Justin and I for a weekend. We were so busy over the summer that we couldn't take them up on their generosity until the first weekend in October. It was perfect though, very low key and good weather, considering it was the fall.

Justin admiring the beach view from the living room.



Justin's second favorite crab shack. (The reigning one resides in Annapolis, MD - Cantler's.)



My cute husband soaking up the Ocean City rays.

A Little Light Reading

Every once in a while, I find Justin like this.



But these days, he's got a new favorite to read, Your Pregnancy Week by Week, as evidenced by this picture. So cute.

I know this is old news to everyone, but yes, we are pregnant and so excited. At this point in time, (since I'm such a slacker on blog entries) I'm exactly 33 weeks along and definitely in the home stretch. I feel like I've been pregnant for a long time, but I really can't and shouldn't complain.

It's been somewhat of a challenge to get to this point, (we surely weren't able to get pregnant right away), which makes this experience all the more special. From month to month, we waited, and finally, on June 6th, we found out we were pregnant. It was actually really cool because it wasn't confirmed until Justin's birthday on the 8th. (See the birthday dinner post below to see if we had that baby glow yet:)

The surprises weren't over yet, and 22 days later, we found out we were having twins. Double the blessings!! I don't think Justin and I slept a wink that night, as our minds poured over our future. Two of everything! Boys or girls, or one of each? Do we have the room? What risks are involved?

We decided to wait until the end of the first trimester to tell anyone, in hopes that the worst would be behind us by then. Luckily, my morning sickness was mild, (the worst I experienced was nausea and fatigue) but it felt like time was just trudging by.

We finally told my parents on August 16th and Justin's family during our trip out West. It was such a thrill to see their faces when we revealed it was twins, and I know these little babies will have tons of adoring fans when they decide to show up.

Our guesses on genders were eventually put to rest on September 7th when we were told that two boys were coming our way. Two boys!! Justin was obviously super excited, as was I after I started to become okay with the idea that I know absolutely NOTHING about boys! The doctors are pretty sure they're fraternal though, so it will be quite interesting to see not only what they look like, but how different their little (or big) personalities will be. Either way, I pray they will be best buddies for life.

The pregnancy has continued along pretty well, actually very well. There haven't been any complications, other than having to take additional iron supplements, but I really can't complain. I look twice as big as anyone else who's pregnant and move twice as slow, but I guess that is to be expected.

It's been such a crazy, out-of-body experience, but I'm really so happy, and we feel so blessed. In fact, it still doesn't feel completely real, even though I've been feeling their cute little feet kick me since September 26th. And I most certainly can't deny that there are two real bodies inside of me at this point, when I can literally see my belly shift in two different places at once as they egg each other on and team up against me and my organs. So sweet.

Despite all we've read and all the advice we've been given, we still have no idea what we're getting ourselves into. This is going to be a real game-changer, but I can say with a surety that we love our little Maxwell Rhees and Beckett James and can't wait to meet them.

US Open

I wish I had a better camera, but these pictures will have to suffice. For my birthday, Justin and I headed up to NYC to the US Open Men's Semifinals. I've been a few times before, but Justin's never been, so I definitely wanted him to experience it before our lives get too crazy or we move.



It was awesome, and the weather was great. We first saw Nadal beat Youzhny, but the epic match was between Federer and Djokovic - an amazing 5-setter that resulted in Djokovic winning 7-5 in the final set. I haven't always been the biggest Novak fan, but he won me over that day. He played so well that I think a majority of the crowd may have even been behind him, a huge feat considering that Federer is the fan-favorite Michael Jordan of tennis.



Between matches we were also able to meet up with the Vessels clan, Marta and Jensen, and share in some delightful lobster rolls. The only semi blurry shot I got of the crew was of none other than Nantucket Red Jensen, who made the mistake of not wearing his that day. He made up for it, however, by making a lot of US Open-ish expressions like this one.

Utah!!!

As the second part of my trip, I was able to spend about a week in Utah. I was able to spend time with Justin's family and some of my friends, who I haven't seen in ages. It was a great trip and probably the last I will take of the kind for a while...explanation to come.

Dinner with Carolyn (and baby), Karen, and Terri. A fun fun fun Omni reunion at a yummy hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant. So appropriate.



The next night, I picked up Heather on our way down to Kim's house. I can't explain how fun it was to see them and Erin and catch up on the past 10-20 years. The four of us grew up in Mass, in the same ward, since I was about 6 (minus a few years when my family moved to New York). I love these girls so much, and it took about .5 seconds for us to slide back into our 14-year-old selves. We finally pulled ourselves away around midnight, but I honestly could have stayed for hours. They're all doing so well, and it just makes me so happy.

Our amazing photo shoot. Still makes me giggle.













After Justin left, I stayed at Melissa's fabulous house. Ang spent the night as well, and the next day we headed up for a charming little lunch in Sundance. It was sooooo fun and so beautiful up there!!



Then, just as we were leaving, we ran into this little gem. I swear he's everywhere.



Meg just missed him by a few hours, but she caught Ang just in time for her weekend trip to NYC.



The best part of the two weeks may have been the trip to BYU campus, and better yet, the bookstore. Although I must say that the BYU apparel is lacking. Meg almost had an attorney freak-out on the poor staff.



Don't ask. (Please note my old school Cougar Blue though.)



And I came home to these beauties from my lovely husband.

The Rest of the Padres Game

So there were other people at the game besides Ali and Roberto.



I should also mention that the game went extra innings, with the Phillies finally pulling it off in the 12th. Couldn't ask for more than a celebrity sighting and acknowledgment, and extra innings....fantastic.