Hollywood Hike

Today we took our Young Women's group to hike to the Hollywood sign. We actually hiked to above the hike. It was a blast and so much fun to do with our awesome group of girls. It was a nice day in LA with a bit overcast on the way up with some light fog which made it super enjoyable. The sun came out on our way down and along with a couple detours we made it down safely and all together. I was so nervous taking our girls on this as it was the first time I had done something like this with all these girls. And as we know girls are girls and start chatting and they just like to wander a bit, and needless to say I was a tad bit anxious, but everyone made it safely and in one piece with no injuries. Here is some of our group at the top.


Aar joined with along with other spouses and it was nice having him there with me along with our Buddy Buddy Bear oh and don't forget the lil one in the belly. Here I am at 23 weeks. And yes if you wanted to know if I am feeling huge I AM. While I have not gained too much weight I am for sure starting to pop out. Two weeks ago I was in the worst pain of my life, thought I needed to go to the hospital intense pain. The next day I literally was double the size I was the day before in my stomach. I went to Dr to get checked out and it was just stretching pains...actually not JUST stretching pains cause it was intense. I just describe it like someone took a knife and cut open my stomach from my belly button all the way across both sides. My dr said I was going to have some uncomfortable weeks stretching but that hopefully I am part of the lucky people whose stretching pains are more painful than labor. Fingers crossed. I am telling you what it was intense for about a week straight and I am happy to report I only get the pains every now and then rather than all day.


I am loving being active still. And to all those who say I should take it easy and not work out too much I say "um are you remembering I have to push this kiddo out? That takes endurance and strength so I am pretty sure not working out would not be the best idea, but thanks for looking out for me." Really and truly drives me nuts I can't tell you how many times a week someone tells me I should not be working out.

Mama Roo

I am just saying check this thing out. I tried to get pics uploaded but the blog was being lame. It is amazing and I am pretty sure I only see Aaron get this excited when he is looking at surfboards. He loved it and I have to say I had not seen it ever and was thinking I had already decided on the swingie item we were going to get until we saw this.



It has 5 different motions to chose from:
Car Ride: which is a figure eight movement
KangRoo: Which moves up and down
Tree Swing: swings in a downward motion, high on the sides low in the middle
Rock A Bye: Swings in a upward motion, low on sides, high in middle
Ocean wave: Around in a big circle

You can adjust speed to faster or slower

It has a fully adjustable seat that you can recline or sit straight up

You can plug in your Ipod and it can play your own music or chose from the sounds provided

I really love it...really and truly love it and you know me when I love something I am like a missionary for it. I am pretty sure that with how much Aaron loves it we will end up owning this amazing thing.

Yum yum

After our yummy salmon dinner tonight (cooked by aar bear) I made us shepherd's pie casserole for Monday-Tuesday. I love cooking yummy meals and I love cooking two meals on Sunday so our meals are taken care of for the start of the week. My shepherd's pie was different tonight, and no I don't have a recipe... You can blame my parents for that. It has steamed sweet potatoes on one half (chunky not mashed) and steamed yellow potatoes on the other half (chunky not mashed). It's so easy to make and is and healthy. Loaded with ground beef cooked with diced onion, rosemary, thyme with some salt and pepper, then mixed with fresh carrots and green beans lightly steamed (I am not a big fan of mushy vegetables as you can tell). Throw in some beef broth and lil flour to thicken it up and d o n e! I am excited to get home from work tomorrow to eat it, Aaron asked if he could have a second dinner tonight, but I am making him wait.

On the menu for the month so far is (yes I make our meal schedules every month, gives me yummy things to think about all week)
-parmasean chicken
-spaghetti made with spaghetti squash substituting noodles
-lamb
-basil pesto tilapia
-trout with balsamic reduction sauce
-carne asada tacos

Making anything yummy? Let me know as I love a good meal. What are your go to meals? Always looking for ideas.

Baby girl!!!

We are dying with excitement. So much that we are ready to go to bed and it is only 9:43.

Today we were told "it's a girl."

She for sure is a SHE, you can totally see her lil girl parts and all. I have to say it was amazing. Aar and I both cried with joy and thankfulness to see our lil one today who looks like she is growing well so far. We did our full anatomy scan so won't know all results until next week but she was measuring on track and even gave us a big yawn. She is either already bored inside there and impatient like her mom or was really tired from all the working out she has been doing lately inside me.

I just can't stop thinking about what she is doing right now and what she thinks about the family she is coming to. Does she think we are crazy and thinking "ahhhh man" or is she jumping for joy? I know we are as thrilled as can be and are so ready for this bundle to get down here safely and in our arms. We daydream about her non stop and love thinking about all the things we are excited to do with her.

What about though one day she will go on a date with a BOY and we will have to take a deep breathe. That is freaky. Makes my heart skip a beat just thinking about it!!!

We both keep saying how ready we are for this. We are so ready for this next step and yes even though there will be long nights, worries and all that stuff we have never felt more ready. I am so happy we waited until the right time for us and did what we knew would be best for our family. We are as a result ready and up for it 100%. Can't wait to be parents.

I hope she is listening to the advice of our loved ones in heaven getting ready to come here.

Sick day=Sew day

Today I took a "sick" day. And am I sick? Nope! But I am sewing and loving it. My mom surprised me with a sewing machine for my birthday and I finally had a moment to while it out. I was so proud of myself because I threaded the needle and got it all set up without help. I did have my mom, aka best sewing teacher ever, teach me all the tricks but I for sure thought I wouldn't rememeber it all on my own. I already made one table cloth this morning and am gonna get a baby blanket completed after I wake up from a nap. Not much is better than taking a sick day when you are not sick!

16 week bump

Really can I have a bump already? This is nutso to me. I am 16 weeks today and finally figured that I should start taking pics of this lil one growing inside of me. I am feeling AWESOME finally which is a great relief. I still throw up a few times a week which is usually a pretty violent episode that I feel from the deepest part of my gut. Feeding the dogs is usually the biggest trigger however public bathrooms still are extremely daunting and usually end in not so great way. I am still doing crossfit and I shoot for at least 3x a week with lots of walking around the park with bear along with Bikram pregnancy dvd at home. So far everything is looking good. When we went this week for our appt the baby was staring straight at me, head on. It was so amazing. Early February we are hoping to find out if we are having a baby Aaron or baby Kristen. I am pretty sure I have started feeling some movement down there every now and then, almost like lil fish are swimming inside or a potato bug is rolling around. The stretching pains were not so fabulous this week but a few days after them popped out a lil bump so it is all worth it. I am just dying to meet this lil one and I know I still have a ways to go. Here's to getting bigger and cooking a new Murray.

Baby on the way and Xmas=Perfection

We had a great holiday and I honestly enjoyed every minute of it. It was magical in every way. Maybe it's cause this was the last holiday season without a little one around. Many of you already know but if not WE ARE HAVING A KIDDO!!! We couldn't be more thrilled. We have been so hesitant to get the word out but finally started to spread the good news. Fingers crossed that all goes well from here on out. We are 13 weeks preggers. Week 6-9 was brutal, lost 8 lbs from throwing up so much. Back to my normal weight now, maybe even plus 2. Eating more than just mashed potatoes and I may just be feeling a bit more like my self...knock on wood. It has kinda been a roller coaster of emotions as the time line went a bit like this 1. Get called as YW president, 2. Head to hawaii, 3. 3 days after we get back from Hawaii Gpa Steenblik has massive stroke, 4. The next day we find out we are preggers, 5. The following week gpa Steenblik dies. It really was just a bit nuts and hard to take it all in. We really are just dying knowing we are going to have a kiddo. We have already started preparing Bear and Bella about the addition on its way. Thankfully we got some awesome family pics done in December to celebrate our family as we are now before things change. For some reason I can't upload them which is annoying the heck out of me because they are so dang good!!! Brooke Palmer did them and we love them.

I know right, you are thinking seriously this is the picture she took of her getting a positive pregnancy test. We were running out the door to our ward halloween party and well it is what it is. I honestly laugh that this is the picture I have and think our kid is really gonna think we are crazy hippies now. Oh well. It does the trick right.


Xmas was fabulous. We headed to Arizona to be with my family. We had a blast and just went non stop. Not much relaxing goes down when I am with my family because I want to do it all and spend time with everyone. Napping seems wrong when I have all these people around that I love. Enjoy some pics of the week.


George and Bear just being buddies. George is fearless, I guess having a 200 lb doggie at home makes him prepared for Bear.

Liam went for a drive in Punka's truck. I love the pics I can get of this kiddo in Punka's truck.

My parents. Man I love them. They really are the greatest. They are so in love still and sweet to each other, I love the example they have set for me.


Me and my Aar Bear the day after xmas. I love taking pictures in my backyard. My dad does such a great job with the landscaping and it makes for a perfect background. Oh and I love Aar Bear too!!!

The BOYS of the family!!!

Me and my mommy!!!

The whole family.

Xmas eve wrapping central. We all keep our backs turned away so we don't see the gifts. We spend hours wrapping and wrapping all of our goodies for each other. So magical and fun.