This is the year!

Hard to believe this is the year we will welcome our little girl into the world! Even harder to believe that her due date is only a little over 5 weeks away! We are starting to feel more and more prepared for her arrival, however, we're not sure how prepared first time parents can be...I'm sure we really don't have a clue what we're in for! Still, we'll welcome our little girl into our family with open arms!

Abby almost 35 weeks

Merry Christmas...a little late!

We hope that everyone had a very Merry Christmas! We decided we better stay in Denver this year for Christmas since Abby is almost 34 weeks along. It was strange not being with family but we still managed to have a great Christmas together. We woke up on Christmas morning and skyped Abby's family to watch them open presents. We enjoyed talking to both sides of our family over the phone as well. We then went all out and made a brunch together including carmel pecan sticky buns and mini quiches. Christmas evening we had a friend over from the area who also doesn't have family around and made a fondue supper together. People told us to enjoy our last "quiet" Christmas as this time next year we'll have a 10 month old on our hands. We are greatly looking forward to what 2010 has to bring! Happy New Year to you all!

Our niece Leah watching us on Skype...I think she was more interested in trying to play with the computer!
Our yummy brunch we made together

Our fondue supper

Thanksgiving in Iowa

We traveled back to Iowa for Thanksgiving and were able to stay 6 days...our longest stay in a while! We divided up our time with both of our families and were fortunate enough to take part in some great things while we were back including Abby's cousin's wedding, a baby shower for Abby, our niece Leah's first birthday, and of course time just enjoying the company of our family. All of Paul's siblings and their families were able to make it back to Iowa so we really enjoyed seeing all of them. We have great admiration for Paul's grandma as she bravely hosted about 50 people in her small ranch style house for Thanksgiving dinner!

We stayed with Abby's brother and his family for the second half of our time home and loved spending time with our niece, Leah. She turned one December 1st so we got to be a part of her first birthday party while we were back. Nick and Erica provided great hospitality with many yummy foods and also managed to host a baby shower and birthday party while we stayed with them...quite impressive!

We were sad to make our journey back to Colorado, especially knowing we won't make it home for Christmas. Still, it was fun to think the next time we'll see many in our family, Baby Girl Hovey will join us!

Paul and nephew, Christian.

This is what happens when Uncle Paul has to deal with 5 lovable nieces!

Abby and niece, Brittney

Our niece, Gracie Our niece, Alyssa. She was really into giving everyone massages this Thanksgiving which of course nobody minded. Maybe she's inspiring to be the next PT in the family!

Abby and niece, Leah at the wedding
Abby and Erica. Erica went out of her way to make our time home extra special with not only hosting us but also arranging the baby shower and Leah's birthday party!

Leah the morning of her birthday celebration. She LOVES balloons!

Leah wasn't so sure what to think of her first birthday cake. Still, she enjoyed trying a little bit of the frosting!

Leah feeding her baby. She got 3 strollers for her birthday so I think she'll have plenty of opportunities to play "mommy".

Baby Showers!

Paul and I have been so blessed to have had two baby showers to help prepare for Baby Hovey. The first one was put on by Abby's friend, Sheila (a seminary friend) out here in Denver. The other was put on by Abby's sister in law, Erica, and cousin, Melissa. One of the neatest gifts Abby received at the family shower was a book her cousin Melissa had put together of words of advice/encouragement from everyone attending the shower. Thanks, Meliss! I know you spent hours and hours of time putting this together! We have been overwhelmed with the generosity shown to us by family and friends as we prepare for Baby Hovey.

We are now at 31 weeks pregnant and everything is looking good! Abby is feeling great and we've enjoyed watching/feeling Baby Hovey be VERY active. She seems to always be throwing a party! :) We had our child birth class yesterday and were surprised to leave the class feeling more excited than overwhelmed. We're getting more and more excited to meet this little one!

Some of Abby's seminary friends that helped put on the shower (L to R Marissa, Amber, Megan, and Sheila)

Abby's grandma made this cute little wall hanging for Baby Hovey!

Abby's aunt Pam made these colorful bibs for Baby Hovey.

Abby's cousin's wife, Carmelle, is also expecting and they are due on the same date! We also already share a wedding anniversary with them...we'll see if we have the same name picked out too! :)

Precious time with family

Last weekend Abby's brother, Nick, his wife, Erica, and daughter, Leah came out for a visit. They flew in on Thursday night and stayed through Sunday afternoon. We were so blessed by their visit and treasured every second of it! We haven't had that much time with Nick and Erica since Leah has been born since we live so far away so it was so neat to see her in action for 3 days! Leah wil be 11 months old November 1st. She is already walking all over and babbling up a storm, with some of it definitely sounding like "ma-ma" and "ball".

During their visit, the weather was beautiful! Upper 60s and 70s the whole time. We went to the Denver Zoo one day and then went to this huge pumpkin patch/corn maze called Anderson Farms just northwest of Denver another day. We enjoyed our time just at home with them too, watching Leah play with toys, look at books, eat, smile, giggle, and chase her around. She is such a joy...as well as her parents! :) We sure wish we could see them more often! Atleast it was a little easier to say good-bye knowing we'll see them in a month for Thanksgiving.

Leah's all time favorite pose over the weekend! She loved to turn around in her car seat and say "hello" to the front seat passengers before buckling up.

At the zoo. Leah wasn't so sure what to think of those big elephants!

Leah and Erica! This is such a great picture of both of them!

Leah with Aunt Abby and Uncle Paul taking the giraffes in

Not sure what we were looking at here but Leah was trying to get Aunt Abby's attention pointing out something.

Look at this little girl walk! Hand holding is optional...she is really already on automatic pilot with the walking!

At the corn maze. Paul and Nick had fun trying to direct us through the maze with the maps we were given. We were impressed with their navigation skills!

A beautiful fall picture of Colorado.

Leah can't decide if she's more interested in the dirt or the pumpkin

Showing off all the pumpkins she found

Sunday morning before church, Leah was reading the book Aunt Abby and Uncle Paul got her from the zoo. She sure seems to like her books more and more all the time!

It's a girl!!!

Thursday we had our 22 week ultrasound and found out we are having a girl! We really enjoyed the whole day together. Our appointment was in the morning and we had the ultrasound tech write down the gender of the baby on a card and put it in a sealed envelope. We then went out to breakfast and opened it up together. We will forever remember that moment! We enjoyed calling family to let them know the news and also started registering that afternoon...which was a bit overwhelming! Good thing you can do lots of editing online! This will make the 6th grandaughter on Paul's side and the 2nd grandaughter on Abby's side. Paul is beginning to wonder if there will be anymore boys besides his one nephew to carry on the Hovey name! Oh well, we are very excited to be having baby girl Hovey!

Out to breakfast...we had just opened our card and found out!

Proud future Daddy...I think we may be having a daddy's girl on our hands!

Abby 22 weeks

Fall in Colorado

We love this season of crisp, cooler temperatures and the beauty of all the yellow leaves on the Aspens. Just wish it lasted longer! Last weekend, we got a chance to take a drive up into the mountains and take in some of the fall colors. Most of the leaves were already past peak so we were glad we got there when we did.

Abby is now at 21 weeks and we will find out the gender of the baby in one week! We are getting pretty excited and everyone has been making guesses so it will be good to finally know. Baby Hovey is also becoming more and more active, which has fun for us both to feel!

We're looking forward to our upcoming visitors for the month. Abby's brother, Nick, his wife, Erica, and their daughter, Leah are coming out mid-October and Abby's mom is coming out at the end of the month. We can't wait to have some quality time with family!

Abby at 20 weeks. Half way through!