Announcing...

Ben and I are having a baby! We just went to the doctor on June 23rd for the first time. It's been quite a process for us to get pregnant and we couldn't be happier. We got a vaginal ultrasound and it was so exciting to see our baby's heart beating. The doctor says that everything looks great. I have been feeling wonderful--a little tired, but not sick at all, so no complaints here! We were thinking that we were only about 9 weeks along, but according to the doctor we are more like 12 weeks! He gave us a due date of January 9. Here's a photo of our ultrasound picture...I know you can't see anything and it's an awful picture, but here's our baby!

Gone Fishing

Ben has been fishing so much lately. He has been going nearly everyday--weather permitting. He is definitely enjoying his last few days of freedom before his internship starts in July. The other night he took me along and I caught a couple. Check out this big guy...He was probably only about 6 inches long at the most. And, don't I look thrilled? Ben was holding up the line and trying to take the picture at the same time. The poor little fish was flopping around and I about can't stand that. I don't touch my fish. I think it turns out to be way more work for Benj when he brings me along. He ends up untangling my line several times and taking off any fish that I might catch. He never complains, though!

While I'm posting about fishing, here is my Dad with a really big one. He and Ben got to go fishing when we were home over the weekend and Dad caught a 5 pound bass! Ben was so jealous!!

Cook Out

Last night the Brown family decided to camp out at the lake and invited all of us to join them for a cook out. Ben made biscuits and cobbler in his dutch oven, plus we had hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, fruit, cheesy hash browns, potato salad, and smores. The food was great, but the company was better! Here's a picture of the girls.

And then, here's the boys....they're slightly less enthusiastic about posing for a picture.

Another wedding weekend

Well, there's not much going on around here this week, but I thought that I would type a quick post. Ben and I are getting ready to go to Beloit for the weekend to visit my family and attend my cousin's wedding. Ben also has a cousin getting married this Saturday at the exact same time. They are too far apart for us to attend both, so we had to make a decision. Since we just saw Ben's whole family at Danny's wedding we chose to go to my cousin's wedding. I hate making decisions like that. No one wants to miss a wedding! Oh well, what can we do?

On another note, I was really excited because I sold my first card! My co-worker asked me to make a card for her and I told her that there was no need to pay me....but it was super nice that she did!! I meant to take a picture to put up here, but it didn't happen, so no visual aids. Maybe now I can justify those new stamps that I just have to have...or maybe not. Either way, it was kind of fun to think that someone was willing to pay me to make something for them.

Happy Anniversary!

It's our 4th anniversary today and I still feel like the luckiest girl in the world!
I thought it would be fun to make a little top 10 list of some of my favorite things about Ben--in no particular order....
1. I love that you sweep the floors for me because you know I hate it.
2. I love that you fill my car up with gas every time I ask you to.
3. I love that you give me a hug anytime I want one.
4. I love that you have worked so hard towards your career goals.
5. I love that you are always supportive of me.
6. I love that you put up with me, even on my not-so-good days!
7. I love that you still make me excited to see you when you get home.
8. I love that you are such a good cook.
9. I love that you care so much about your family.
10. And finally, I love that you chose to love me.
I really am so proud to be your wife.
I love you, Benj!

We're back!

We just got back from vacation yesterday. We had such a great time, I can't even begin to tell you. I'll try to post a few of my favorite pictures here and then I'll give a link to the whole album. We took a bunch of pictures, mostly of the beautiful scenery.

First of all, we had Danny and Vicki's wedding on May 23rd. It turned out to be really exciting as the tornado sirens went off. Luckily, they were having their reception in the basement of the church, so we were all safe and the party could continue. The wedding was really beautiful and Ben and I are excited to have a new sister-in-law!

We flew out on Sunday, May 25 to Puerto Rico. The ship we took was huge compared to the other one we have been on. There were two pools, a rock climbing wall, a basketball court, a miniature golf course, an ice skating rink, a casino, a theater, and lots of other fun things to do.

Our first port was Barbados. Ben and I took a local bus to a beach to snorkel. The bus ride turned out to be quite an adventure. We were the only non-native people on it and they really drive crazy there. We were flying around bikers and walkers and the roads were so narrow. Ben and I were holding on for dear life. Plus, we didn't know for sure where our stop was. It's a good thing that the people were so nice and told us when to get off, otherwise Ben and I would probably still be in Barbados right now riding that dang bus! Anyway once we got there, the beach was almost empty and really beautiful. It felt like we had the whole thing to ourselves; it was wonderful!

The next stop was St. Lucia. This was probably the most scenic and beautiful country we visited. There was so much to see. We took a tour that showed us local banana plantations, a volcano, a waterfall, and we got to snorkel in between the Pittons, which are two large mountain peaks. The roads were so windy, curvy, and hilly; several of us on the trip got a little car sick. It was definitely worth it, though.

Then, we were on to Antigua. Ben and I took an excursion on a boat all day that day. We saw tons of beautiful beaches and little islands that make up Antigua. We snorkeled in a couple of different spots too. On to St. Maarten/St. Martin. This country is half Dutch and half French, so it was really interesting to see both sides of the island and experience some of the culture. We visited a couple of beaches there...where evidently clothing is optional. That was pretty interesting, to say the least. One of the beaches is right across the street from the airport, so the planes land right over your head, which was really fun to watch. Our last stop was St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands. We loved it there! In the morning, we did a little shopping and then went to a local butterfly farm. Then in the afternoon, we took a ferry over to St. John. On the way we saw several celebrity houses. In St. John we visited Trunk Bay. It's an underwater national park and is just amazing! There was lots of coral and fish to see. We even got to see an octopus! We really enjoyed the whole cruise! It was just so much fun. I've never seen such beautiful places and, of course, the food was just wonderful. If you would like to see more pictures, here is the link to our photo album.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lschrant/Cruise2008?authkey=O_Ah00bOT_M