Our Thanksgiving Announcement

Jake worked (again) on Thanksgiving

this year, and I was feeling quite ill.

So although we did grab a bite to eat

with a family from our ward,

the highlight of our Thanksgiving was 

making the big baby announcement

to our families.

We did so by mailing them this card,

which they were instructed to open

 on Thanksgiving:

Pretty cute, huh? 

By the way, my 5 year old niece is now

convinced that we are having a turkey,

and not a baby.

A Disney Halloween

We kicked off the Halloween season

with our traditional "Dinner in a Pumpkin"

meal with the missionaries, and I'm pleased to 

report that for the second year in a row, 

there were no leftovers.

On the night of Halloween, we

headed to Disney to celebrate Mickey-style.

The highlight of the evening was sampling

food from various countries during Epcot's

annual "Food and Wine Festival."

Mmm...shrimp tacos.

Soda sampling from around the world.

Our friend Owen was in town,

and it was fun to meet up with him.

We capped off the evening watching 

an awesome fireworks show, complete

with special 3-D glasses that turned every

flash of light into the shape of Mickey.

Don't believe me?  See below.

Gotta hand it to Disney for their creativity.

No dressing up for us this year,

but we had a good Halloween 2011.

Introducing the V-Rod

Jake got the gift of a lifetime 

when his father Don purchased a new 

Harley-Davidson and decided to give his "old" 

(meaning 2005) motorcycle to Jake.

Meet the V-Rod, a Harley-Davidson

masterpiece and my husband's new best friend:

Cruising around Orlando has really become

Jake's outlet after long hours at work.

In October, Don flew out here from Phoenix

and the two of them went on a motorcycle 

road trip to visit Jake's cousin in Alabama.

I'm not allowed to ride because

of my current "condition."

I definitely worry a little every time 

Jake goes riding, but I know that he is very

safe and very cautious. Plus, he has *loosely*

agreed that so long as he has a motorcycle,

he will not pursue a pilot's license.  

You gotta pick your battles, right?

Back after a blogger hiatus

Apologies to the few (but loyal!) 

friends and family who follow our blog.  

The three month break in blogging

can be explained by the following

two pictures:

On August 22, 2011 I started a

Master's in Social Work program

at the University of Central Florida.

On September 11, 2011 I was 

confused and a little surprised to 

see the results of this pregnancy test.

And so, fall of 2011 was sort of one

big blur of lectures, papers, tests, 

nausea, fatigue and food aversions.

There was little time or energy left

for blogging.  But the good news is

that I got through my first semester with

flying colors, and the morning sickness lifted 

around the first of December.  

So stay tuned, and I will try to catch up

on life in the Deines home...at least until

school starts back up again next week.