Scott's B-day & the Charleston Air Show

This past Friday was Scott's birthday. He had returned home from a business trip late Thursday night and worked from home on Friday (which is hard for Easton to understand to leave him alone while he is on phone calls, etc.). I made Cafe Rio pork salads for dinner (which BTW were absolutely amazing - I finally found a recipe for the pork and all the other fixings, including the dressing, that I love and tastes as close to the real thing as I've ever tasted) and then was off to what I thought would be a quick girl's camp meeting with the stake people and youth leaders. Turns out, I was there until 9:00!!! Once I got home Easton was excited to open presents so that's what we did. It turned out to be a pretty boring b-day for Scott I'm sure but luckily we had planned on some fun things for a continued celebration on Saturday.

Saturday morning we got up at our usual time and headed to the Charleston Air Show. Now I've been to a few air shows before but this one was unlike anything I had previously seen. Not only was there the cool air show part of it but they also had all kinds of planes on display. Not just to look at but to go in and check out. Another cool touch was that they had people from the Air Force inside the planes that were actually a part of the unit that used the specific plan. Am I making sense? Like there was a big plan that is used for hurricane hunting. We talked to a lady inside that was a meteorologist that flies on the plane. She said that they actually fly through hurricanes and gather information to send to the National Weather Service. Crazy! Easton was like a kid in a candy store. He absolutely LOVED every minute of it. Unfortunately it was well over 80 degrees and we were roasting! Easton was still getting over some wierd sickness (long story) and was ready to pass out. We left around 2:00 and went home to get stuff ready for Scott's b-day BBQ. We also made homemade vanilla bean ice cream and volcano cake for the occasion. It was a really fun day!

The Official Announcement

Okay, okay, so I will make an OBVIOUS and OUTSTANDING post so that everyone will know for sure that we are expecting baby #2. :0) I dropped a hint in our MS Walk post with a few pictures like these at the end. There were a lot of pics so I really didn't think anyone would get that far or see them (am I sneaky or what!?). Good for a small handful of you that did! The second hint came in the ABC Tag post and I got a few more of you on board then. He he he. Anyway, I figured that if my mom knew the word would soon get out so I'd better let everyone know. We are only 12 1/2 weeks along right now and all is well (due around November 3rd). No sickness at all but a little tired here and there. We are sure Easton will be excited to have a sibling when he figures out what we are actually talking about. He says "baby Orchard" but really he doesn't get it yet. We are excited and will be couting down the many many more days left.

ABC Tag

Maren tagged a while back and I've been a slacker. :) Here you go:
A- Attached or single: Attached
B- Best Friend: Scott
C- Cake or Pie: Pie (unless it's a good cake with cream cheese frosting)
D- Day of Choice: Saturday
E- Essential Item: Cell phone
F- Favorite Color: Black is the only thing that adequately hides my fat :)
G- Gummi Bears or Worms: Both
H- Hometown: Santa Clara, UT
I -Indulgence(s): right now it's anything that I should not be eating, bike rides with Easton, watching the NBA Playoffs with Scott (since we rarely make it to a movie these days)
J- January or July: July
K-Kids: 1-Easton (with one on the way - this is hint #2 for all my blog readers who haven't caught on yet)
L-Life is incomplete without: Family & Friends
M- Marriage Date: September 4, 2003
N- Number of Siblings: 3- Scott, Shelbee and KayDee
O- Oranges or Apples: Apples of the Gala type
P- Phobias or Fears: Big creepy bugs (there are a lot here), heights (since becoming a mother)
Q- Quote(s): I'm never really one for quotes. I hear and read them all the time but never commit them to memory.
R- Reason To Smile: A warm suny day that we're headed outside to do something fun.
S- Season: Spring /Summer
T- Tag Five: Liz, Angie, Mindy, KayDee and Erin Rollins.
U- Unknown Fact About Me: Some people already know this, and it's not as gross as Maren's answer, but I get little cysts on my head and have to go get them cut out about every other year before they get too big.
V- Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animal: Opressor of Animals
W- Worst Habit: Sometimes in the mornings Easton and I will stay in our pajamas forever while reading books, playing games and watching cartoons. :)
X- X-Rays or Ultrasounds: ultrasounds
Y- Your Favorite Food: I love all food except seafood but am really craving a Cafe Rio salad since I haven't had one since December. Yikes!!!
Z-Zodiac: Leo

U-Pick Strawberries

A few days ago we ventured out with some friends to a U-Pick strawberry field here in Summerville. The strawberries are CHEAP (only $1.40/lb.) and it's tons of fun, especially for the little ones. Easton started out doing pretty good, picking only the nice ripe strawberries but then his basket got too heavy and he passed it off to me. I caught him holding hands with his friend Anna but I think he was just helping her get down the walkway okay. At least I hope so! Anyway, it was cute! Later on that day we went home and made strawberry jam, strawberries & cream, and chocolate dipped strawberries (with white & milk chocolate). They were absolutely divine! I'm sure we'll visit that field a few more times before strawberries go out of season.




You would think his mom could get him a hat that fit!!!

MS Walk

Last year we started a tradition with Scott's family of doing the MS Walk in honor of our sister-in-law Stacy who was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Unfortunatley we live far away now but were still able to participate here in Charleston. The walk was on Saturday and the weather was in the 80's. We even talked on the phone and shared pictures with the fam in Utah as we all walked. :) It is always an event that we look forward to doing each year. After the walk we got free lunch and Easton had a blast playing with all sorts of other kids. Here are some pics.

General Conference

As usual, conference over the weekend was wonderful! I also really like the general YW broadcast that was last weekend. Pres. Eyring was the concluding speaker and gave a wonderful talk about making choices and how each choice we make (big or small) either leads us into the light of Christ, or away from it. There is no grey area. He has always been one of my favorite speakers every since I got to meet him and shake his hand on my mission in Japan. It was one of those super spiritual meetings/experiences that I will never forget.

On another note, a lot was said about Pres. Hinckley and I wanted to share a cute little story that I heard from my mom. She went to her mission reunion on Friday night. The "England Southwest Mission." I won't say how long ago that was but you can all do the math. :) Her mission president was John Madsen who is now a memeber of the Seventy. While at the reunion he shared many stories of members of the first presidency and quorum of the twelve as he has an office in the same building and works with them very closely each day. He shared one specifically about Pres. Hinckley. Apparently after his wife Marjorie passed away he would visit her grave at the cemetary every morning with a fresh cut of flowers. This would happen EVERY morning without fail. Pres. Hinckley's children always gave him a hard time about this because he never gave her flowers when she was alive! How funny is that. So, husbands (not that too many guys even read blogs) give your wife flowers NOW. You never know what tomorrow brings. :)

Easter - Better late than never!

Since we got back from our trip the day before Easter it has taken me this long to get pictures together to post. :) Easton got a fun basket from the Easter bunny Sunday morning and then we went to church - had a great meeting. On the way home from church we stopped at Azalea Park which is beautiful this time of year with all of the azaleas in full bloom. After dinner we did a little easter egg hunt for Easton outside in the yard since we missed all of the festivities here in town. He had a great time and still stops to looks for eggs when he's playing out in the yard. :)