Year End Good Times

We ended 2009 like Californians living in Minnesota - West Coast Style. It felt so good to escape the cold of the frozen tundra (not to mention the 20 inches of snow that fell while we were away) and spend time with family and friends back in the motherland. Best of all, can you believe we will have had FOUR showers to welcome Jude to the world?!?!?

First, there was a shower at Lindsay's work. My favorite part? The shower was in a 6th floor conference room downtown. As Grandma would say, "How cosmopolitan!"


We started our California trip in Sacramento and a shower with lots of family that we hadn't seen in a long time, and some we were just meeting for the first time (our niece, Aubrey, better known as "Oblong").


We then headed down to LA. We were thrown a Christmas Eve brunch shower with so many wonderful things to eat (coconut cupcakes!) and people to make sure Jude is WELL prepared for life on the outside (seriously, people. Does the word "overboard" mean anything to you?).



How lucky are we? So many people in so many places who already love this baby!

And while the showers were so wonderful, we also got to visit with friends we hadn't seen in way too many years. Owen made me a birthday card and we got to relive a little bit of Bay Area days gone by.


We hope we made the most of our last trip for a LONG TIME. The trip was great and we LOVED seeing everyone. We arrived back in Minnesota to -10 degrees, a BROKEN FURNACE, and two cats that were nearly catsicles. Yup. There we were at midnight watching Aaron the furnace repair guy install a new auto ignitor (and though it was a $450 Christmas gift we didn't expect to spend, Aaron couldn't have been nicer!).

But it's all done now. We're now in the home stretch of waiting for Jude to arrive! I can't wait for him to get here, but like a good lasagna, he needs to cook a little longer in order to get all warm and golden and crispy around the edges. Stay tuned for shower number 4 (Minnesota style), hospital visits, and birthing classes!