Happy Valentine's Day!

I LOVE Valentine's Day! Don't you think it's great that a whole day is dedicated to celebrating love of all forms in your life?  Mike is well aware by now that I like to celebrate holiday's for an entire week, and this Valentine's season was no different! There were lots of chick flicks, caramel hershey's kisses, ju ju hearts and cuddling at the Bergeson residence this month!

One of our annual Valentine traditions is to make sugar cookies!  Our kitchen turned into a cookie factory for a couple days while we made about a billion sugar cookies for our neighbors.  Mike was a really great sport, and helped me frost every last cookie (he definitely would have won a 'most creative cookie decorating' award).  

The night before Valentine's day we got all dolled up and went out to a fancy steakhouse for dinner.  We decided that's the way to do it- go out to celebrate the night before to beat the mad crazy V-day rush and enjoy a quiet, romantic, delicious dining experience.  

And just for kicks, here's a little 'bump' picture.  I'm stoked I finally sort of have one!  Yay!  (Most people are still surprised when they find out I'm pregnant- they just assume I've eaten too much fudge over the holidays and am getting a chunky tummy).

Mike insisted that he was going to plan our actual Valentine's Day evening.  I got home from work to find grilled lemon chicken and an out of this world cheese fondue for the two of us!  We enjoyed a romantic dinner with Frank Sinatra serenading us in the background, and finished up the evening by exchanging love letters and gifts, eating chocolate and sugar cookies, and cuddling.  So grateful I married this gem of a husband.  I feel like the luckiest lady in the whole world.  

Mike, I love you to the moon and back!!

Hope you all had a wonderful V-day!!

Oh baby! Finding Out the Sex......

For Mike and I, the very most exciting part of our Holiday season happened on December 19th because it’s the day that we found out the sex of our baby!!!  We had been anxiously anticipating this day ever since we found out we were pregnant.  We couldn’t wait.  I have no idea how people can go without finding out... I’m way too impatient! To be honest, from the very beginning I was 100% sure that our baby was a boy.  I just felt it.  I don’t even know how to explain it, but I just knew.  From the very start I've felt such an instant connection with this little baby growing inside of me (as I’m sure all expectant mothers do), and I have felt so so strongly that a very special little boy was going to come to our family.  The crazy thing is that most of our family members and close friends were convinced it was a boy as well.

Both Mike and I were totally giddy for weeks before our appointment.  My doctor does ultra sounds at every visit so we’d seen the baby a few times already, but this was the day we’d find out for sure what the sex was!  As we were driving to the ultra sound I told Mike that if it wasn’t a boy I would be completely SHOCKED, and that I'd make the doctor check again.  I was that sure.  He was pretty darn sure it was a boy as well, but he thought there was a possibility it could be a girl.  

We had decided beforehand that we weren’t going to have the doctor tell us the sex of the baby at our appointment because we wanted to have a big celebration that night and find out with our  family!  We figured it would be fun to have so many of the people that already love our baby so much there to share in our exciting news.  The appointment went well, and the doctor wrote the sex of the baby on an ultra sound and sealed it in an envelope.   It was SO HARD not to open up the envelope, but we wanted to wait for the big reveal.  

A couple of hours later we gathered at my parents house for a big party!  All of my siblings and their spouses, as well as both sets of my grandparents were there.  Sadly, all of Mike’s brothers and their families live on the east coast so they couldn’t make it, but his parents were on speaker phone with us from Idaho, anxiously awaiting the news.  When everyone arrived we had them take either a pink or blue punch, depending on what they thought the baby was.  

Most people took blue, but a few took pink just in case it was a girl (we’d hate to have her look back at photos and think that everyone wanted a boy).  Mike and I both took blue punch.  

Everyone gathered around.  I was shaking profusely because I was so so so excited!  It felt almost like opening my mission call again (except this time there wasn't even the possibility of a bad thing written on the paper- like Cleveland!  hahahah.  I knew this time, I wouldn't burst into tears because I was sad.  Oh how wrong I was about Cleveland.  Funny how my mission to Cleveland actually made this day possible!)  Anyway, together, Mike and I opened up the envelope..... 

Just as I knew, it was a BOY!!!!!  We are going to have a BABY BOY!!!!!!

We couldn't even contain our excitement!

Wahoooo!!!!!!!

I also couldn't contain my emotions.... I'm going to be a mama!!  Nothing has ever sounded so wonderful.

Everyone was so excited and supportive!

To say we're excited for this little mister to arrive would be a HUGE understatement.

Best Christmas Ever!!!!

Christmas in Photos

Just in case you didn't get our Christmas Card....

Best Christmas Gift EVER.

We are so grateful, and beyond excited.

P.S. If you didn't get this in the mail, don't feel bad.  I didn't send out our cards till after Christmas, and we only got about half of our list tackled.  Love you all!

Playing Catchup Part 2: Saying Goodbye to our First Apartment

A few weeks ago, Mike and I moved from our very first apartment.  I was a total basket case.  (Luckily Mike likes the fact that I'm a very passionate person.)  I honestly thought I was going to be fine through the whole process, but the night before the movers came to pick up our furniture, I found myself cleaning out the drawers in the kitchen just sobbing, and I ended up crying myself to sleep.  I know that change is the only constant in our lives, and that it's good, but sometimes change is so hard.  And sad.  It's so bitter sweet to move on from a really good thing, even though you know the next phase will be just as good.  You know what I mean?

Mike and I lived in our little shoebox apartment for the past year and a half, and to be honest, I've never been happier.  When we found it, we knew it wasn't much (no dishwasher, no washer/dryer, TINY, etc) but it felt so, so right.  After looking at about 30 places, we just KNEW this place was meant to be ours.  And it was.  We've met so many lifelong friends, grown so much as a couple, and seriously have had the time of our lives in that little old apartment.  We knew that it was time to go and move on to other things, but it was really sad for me to leave it.

Some of my favorite memories in our little place:
- listening to our Haitian neighbor Quinten laugh through the walls
- hearing our neighbors Fabio and Bernarda listen to their spanish music
- Barbequing on our little grill on our front porch walkway
- having dessert parties with friends and sitting on the floor because it was so small and we didn't have enough seating for everyone
- summer nights walking through memory grove
- morning runs through the avenues
- sleeping on a blowup mattress in the family room in the summer next to the AC because our room was SO HOT!
- Mike's home-made ice-packs for me in our hot room
- trying to brush our teeth together in our tiny bathroom sink (one of us usually ended up in the kitchen while the other was in the bathroom)
- being so close in proximity to each other all of the time
- realizing that you don't need a lot of "things" to be truly happy- we both LOVED living minimally and having such a small space- learning that all we really need to be happy is each other
- our bright yellow wall that we painted randomly one saturday morning and all of the little art projects and decorating we did together there

And just for the fun of it, here are some photos of our first apartment (yes, it really is as small as it looks!)

this was actually taken the day we moved into our apt- pre curtains and decorations.  I think it was the only day the bed ever got made:)

Yes, this was our closet.  Poor mike had like 5 shirts hanging up is all!

Okay.  Moving on.  The moving part itself was sad, but now that we are all settled in, we are LOVING LOVING LOVING our new digs!  (It's nice to move up in the world after all- as charming as a one bedroom apartment is, it's pretty cool to be in a house!)


Last winter, my grandma fell down the stairs in her home and broke her arm, shoulder, and leg.  It was absolutely horrible.  After surgeries, wheelchairs, and months of recovery, my grandparents decided that it was probably time to move to a place that didn't have stairs- somewhere where they could grow old comfortably (they are still really young).  They bought a beautiful place in the avenues that fit the bill, but decided that they didn't want to sell their home.  Several months ago, they approached Mike and I and asked us if we'd like to live there for the next few years or so.  They were leaving the home fully furnished, and they just wanted someone to live there and take care of the property.  Of course we were completely overjoyed and overcome with gratitude at this opportunity so we didn't hesitate to say yes!  The great part, is that it's located just minutes from our apartment in the avenues- it's in a beautiful neighborhood up City Creek Canyon.  We are literally a two minute drive from downtown, yet we live in a peaceful neighborhood and have a canyon as our backyard.

Mike and I don't really know what to do with all of this space, and we are really enjoying having a dishwasher, washer/dryer and garage!  Man, we learned not to take for granted the simple things! Just to put things in perspective for you- our bedroom/ master closet is bigger than our old entire apartment!  ha!  So grateful for my wonderful, generous grandparents.  They are some of the most amazing, most giving people that I know, and I am so proud to be their granddaughter.  We love them so much.

Pictures to come!!

Playing Catchup Part 1: Fall Holidays

I officially fail at blogging.  I'm not even sure if anyone reads this anymore, and I know everyone is way over Halloween and other fall events, but for the sake of keeping some sort of history, I figured I should throw these on the blog.
Life has been crazy, filled with way more important things than keeping up this blog (or so I like to tell myself).  Between Mike's crazy nursing schedule and work, my interior design classes and work (seriously, what was I thinking when I decided to go back to school?), church callings, a move, and other exciting events, it's been pretty crazy for the past few months.  I'm going to try to do a few updating posts, so for now, here are a few pictures....

I love all holidays.  Period.  We had our annual murder mystery party with my family for Halloween, and had a blast.  It was a 70's themed party.  I had to dress us as a Super Model from the 70's, and Mike's character was a disturbed thriller novelist.

We probably spent an hour in the bathroom before the party trying to perfect the 70's feathered hair.... good thing I didn't peak in the 70's, because my hair was not having it.

My mom on the other hand?  She was MADE for the 1970's!  Look at that hair of hers!  It took her right back to her junior high days at Clearfield junior and she rocked it all night long!

A picture of the boys in my family- before the other guests arrived.

Again, my hair was just gross.

It was a great night though!

We went to another big extended Halloween dress up party, and my sister and brother and I were without costumes.  Last minute, we went into my parents basement and dug up our old CJH officer sweaters- bahahaha.  Seriously, it was TWELVE years ago that I was in the 9th grade.  DANG I'm old!

 Mike's mom brought down one of his old halloween costumes a couple months ago, and he was THRILLED to dress up as a Ninja Turtle- ahahah

In October, we went up and stayed with my family at a condo in Park City over UEA...

Anyone who knows me well, knows that Thanksgiving is my very favorite holiday!  This year, we had FOUR thanksgiving dinners to celebrate!  First, Mike's parents came down and took us out for a Thanksgiving dinner the weekend before Thanksgiving (they also helped us move all weekend for which we were so grateful.  More on our move to come.)

We hosted our second Thanksgiving dinner at our new place with some of our best friends, the Nielsen's and the Dalley's.  The boys got this wild idea to deep fry a turkey (Dave actually bought a turkey fryer), and so we decided to make a Thanksgiving dinner out of it!

Dave with the turkey in all it's glory.

The boys geared up for the cold two hours in the backyard watching the turkey fry- wearing snow suits and coveralls.  These guys are hilarious when they get together..

We opted to stay inside in the warm kitchen eating appetizers and testing our gravy making skills.

The Thanksgiving Feast.

I wish I would have taken a close-up of the deep fried turkey.  Seriously, it was probably the tastiest turkey I've ever eaten.  Absolutely delicious.  I was a nervous wreck the boys were going to burn the house down, so once it was on the table and the deep fryer was turned off I could finally relax.  It was worth the anxiety!

On Thanksgiving day we went to my aunt's house for a big extended family dinner.  It was great!  

Mike was the "baby whisperer" to little Wes, my cousin's brand new baby boy.  Precious.

I wish I would have taken pictures of our last Thanksgiving dinner, at my parent's house with just my immediate family.  It was great, but I am okay that Thanksgiving is a year away now- I don't think I could eat more green bean casserole if you paid me.  

We have so much to be grateful for, and celebrating Thanksgiving is always a great time to reflect on all of the blessings God has given us.  I'm so grateful for a wonderful husband, the gospel of Jesus Christ, amazing family, good friends, temples, education, trials that help us grow, a great neighborhood, God's timing in our lives, a beautiful home to live in, and all of the opportunities I'm constantly given.  God is so good, and Mike and I feel so blessed.  Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving too!