A really really really late (AND LONG) post. :O) PART 1: OHIO....PART 2:Twin Falls to come shortly.

WARNING: This Post Covers 3 and a half weeks of family filled fun....IT'S A LONG POST!

(First of all Jed and I want to apologize to our beautiful three nieces and Sam and Linds... SOMEHOW in all the excitement of getting to Beavercreek to visit them and Jed interviewing at Wright Patterson we completely spaced bringing our camera. We are both really sorry that we don't have pictures of that day!)

This Christmas we went to Ohio! Last year was really hard for me to spend my first Christmas away from my side of the family, so when this year came around we decided that since this would be the only chance my family would see us during our first pregnancy we had better take the opportunity AND Jed had an interview at Wright-Patterson Air Force base for a civilian mechanical engineering position.

We left on December 13th and if anyone remembers, that was the day this area got lots and lots of snow. Luckily we had a pretty early flight so we were only delayed for about 2 hours. When we arrived at St. Louis for our layover they were boarding our next flight! We were SO happy that we didn't miss our connection. When we arrived in Columbus I was so excited to get off the plane. (I can never get too close to the front of the plane when I know my mom and dad are SO close!) After hugging my parents forever we went down to retrieve our luggage and guess what.... they lost our luggage...well they knew exactly were it was, it was just in the wrong part of the country. We were pretty understanding considering the close call we had getting ourselves on the plane. They offered to overnight us our luggage. That would have been fantastic, but it was Saturday night and they would send it out until Monday morning and Jed's interview was on Tuesday at 9:30... and his suit, shirt, tie, and shoes were in his suitcase... (OPPS my bad!) So we opted to hang out for about 4 hours until the plane made it's way there....but seriously we didn't care. I had Jed beside me and my mom and dad to visit with, it didn't matter where I was!

After church the next day everyone (I have a small family: Mom, Dad, Papaw, Gramma, Uncle Rick, Aunt Pam, Waylon and Ashley (brother and sister-in-law), and Grady (my only nephew on my side...this baby rules the family) went to Papaw and Gramma's for dinner. It was SO amazing to see how big Grady is getting! He was 16 and a half months old and seriously one of the cutest little things ever! (Jed and I might be bias but we have the cutest nieces and nephews on the planet)
Grady is a Grandma Susan's boy....WOW it's crazy!

On Monday my papaw and gramma took Jed shopping to buy a new suit and tie for him. (Yes, he did get his from the airport, but it was his suit from his mission. It had seen lots of wear. Jed had kept it looking nice, but gram thought it would be nice for him to have a little confidence booster and WOW does he look great in it!) :O) We went straight from the shopping center to Beavercreek. It was so nice to see Jed's brother and his family! We are seriously blessed with the best brothers and their wives. We ate dinner and played with our nieces for a while and played Mario Cart on the Wii..... have I ever mentioned how horrible I am at those kind of games... LOL. OH and I got TIM HORTONS doughnuts!!! HEAVENLY! The next morning poor little Jed was up and moving so early because he was so nervous/excited for his interview. We were expecting him home around 11 or so and at 1:30 he called to explain that they had set up 3 interviews for him and he had to hand over his phone because it was high security. He had one more interview and then got back to Sam and Lindsay's at 3:30....AND of course a big ice storm was on the way and my mom and dad were really worried, so we had to leave as soon as he got there. It only took us 3 hours and 45 minutes to drive the normal 2 hour drive, but we made it safely!

The next few days consisted of Jed and me being babied, lots of gramma and mom's cooking, going to eat at some of our favorite restaurants that they don't have out west, opening tons of stuff for baby Dalton, and just enjoying our time with family!
Grady loves animals!
He was a little afraid of his rocking horse on Christmas day, but now he's a pro! Uncle Jed liked to help him rock on it!
Waylon & Ashley.Grady looks just like his daddy!
This is my gramma Jane and papaw Jim. I am so blessed to have such a close family. My mom quit her job to stay home with Grady (Waylon and Ash are both teachers). Every single day my gram and pap come out to my mom and dad's house to play with Grady for a little while. :O) It's really sweet.
Christmas morning. :O) Mom, dad, Jed and I all got up at 4:30 to open our presents so that we could all shower and get ready to be at Waylon and Ashley's at 7:00 to watch Grady open his presents.
Don't pay any attention to the Christmas tree... Grady was the supervisor. It was so cute he pointed to the exact location for each ornament. (See the giant red ornament? It's really supposed to go outside....but Grady had other plans.) Oh and this tree isn't really the tree mom normally has...two years ago last week their house burnt down, so this is just a cheap one...not that it matters but I'm telling every little detail anyway.... lol

We only videoed Grady at his house, so no pictures there. After that, we all had Christmas dinner (lunch really) and then went to Gram and Pap's house to open more presents (It's crazy how many places we go....even when it's the EXACT same group of family...)

Grady with his tools.... his papaw Dave (my dad) was really excited to get to teach him what they all do!

OH and I have to tell this part! Jed and I decided not to get each other gifts for Christmas, but on Christmas morning I had a present under the tree from Santa...and Santa's writing looked a lot like Jed's. I was so excited to open it and find this: It's the Willow Tree Cherish... It is the whole reason I fell in love with the Willow Tree figurines and was patiently waiting for my mom or grandma to send it to me.... lol. Well now I know why they didn't, Jed wanted to get it for me for Christmas! What a sweetheart! ........ Well of course I felt horrible for not getting him something, but I stayed true to our promise. A few hours later we were all at my gramma and papaw's house snacking on round two or three of Christmas dinner and Dalton started kicking me really hard compared to before and I thought MAYBE Jed could feel him, so I grabbed his hand and about 30 seconds later Dalton kicked his daddy! Jed's face was priceless! My mom said she wished she would have had her camera! He was so excited to finally get to feel him after about 2 weeks of trying! Merry Christmas Daddy! :O)

Like all visits, there is always a time when you have to say goodbye. The last two or three days that I'm in Ohio I start to get a little depressed about the visit coming to an end. I always get really clingy to my mom and don't even want to run to the store without her. This time was the same, but it was a little better because when we said goodbye at the airport we all knew that it was the last time we'd have to do it! I am just the luckiest girl in the world to have a husband who loves me so much (and the area) that he is so willing and actually excited to move to Ohio. :O) Luckily he fell in love with Ohio while he was serving his mission there and Ohio is one of the top areas in the country for aerospace engineering jobs. THANK YOU JED for always making me such a happy person! I don't know what I did to deserve you, but I thank Heavenly Father constantly for you!

BOY it's tough to pick out pictures when you have a couple hundred to choose from. It was just so fun to be home for the holidays. By the time we left, little Dalton had his OWN suitcase packed full of clothes and blankets, we ate tons of great food (and most of it settled well with me!! FINALLY), it was great to see the excitement of my family seeing my tummy getting bigger throughout the visit,.... it was just great!

AN UPDATE ON THE INTERVIEWS: Jed received an unofficial offer for his #1 pick of the three interviews! We are just waiting for the Air Force base in Texas to phone and email with the official offer! Way to Go JED!!!!

SHORTLY I'll post about our short trip to Twin Falls to celebrate Christmas with Jed's family! I figured I'm getting tired of typing, so if anyone is still reading this post I'll give them a few days to recoup. :O)