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.

Our Paper Anniversary

Can you believe it's been a year?
(well, a little over a year)

We celebrated with an

anniversary dinner at Margarita's:

Jake was very thoughtful and got

me all paper gifts: stickers, notepads,

and this giant poster of us.

I was not quite as thoughtful (I didn't even

know paper was a first anniversary theme!)

but managed to accidentally give the

right thing: paper coupons for a new tie

and a homemade anniversary meal:

(Hawaiian haystacks, in honor of

our honeymoon to Hawaii)

We sure had fun reminiscing about

our perfect wedding day and 

looking ahead to many more

anniversaries to come.

Escape from the humidity

Back in August, we went home to
Salt Lake City for a week.

Utah is so wonderful, and so dry!

It was nice to escape the Florida humidity.

As usual, we were pretty busy dividing time 

between the Poulter's, the Deines', friends, 

and our favorite Utah eateries (namely

Cafe Rio, Zupas, and Sub-Zero).

In the midst of such hustle and bustle, we 

sort of forgot to document our trip (oops).

But here are a few phone pictures

of some of our activities:

First things first, I finally got my tooth 

fixed by a competent and professional 

dentist (a nonentity in Orlando).

Jake couldn't resist this shot of my

movie goggles and laughing gas.

We also got to meet two new nephews!

Sweet baby Todd (pictured), and baby 

Miles (not pictured, but equally adorable).

Jake spent a lot of his time helping

his mom clean out his childhood home.

While I hung out with friends...

(Lisa and Hannah)

...and got pedicures.

(Just kidding, I promise I helped

out at the house too!)

We went to an awesome Bees

game for Deines Family Fun Night:

And held Poulter Family Fun Day at the

Kearns Oquirrh Park Pools, followed by

In-N-Out Burgers and Five Guys Fries.

(Holding that cute baby Todd again)

We enjoyed quality time with Jake's brothers:

...and my brothers:

Aren't their matching ties cute?

Don't be fooled.

Dashing gentlemen by day,

but raucous wrestlers by night:

We also managed to say hello

to our friends the Gravers:

And spend time with many of Jake's friends

at Seth and Penelope's wedding:

Thanks for such a great time everyone,

and we'll see you all in December!

Sethelope

This is Seth:

And this is Deborah:

Seth calls her Penelope.

So together, they are "Sethelope."

(Are you following me?

If not, see his explanation)

On August 5, 2011

they got married in the Bountiful temple:

And we got to be there!

It was a gorgeous day,
and a classy and beautiful wedding
of two special people.

In addition to the wedding day, we got
to spend time with Sethelope in July
when they came to visit us in Orlando.

Highlights included:

Going to Cocoa Beach
for the space shuttle launch.

(And some Florida beach fun)

Meeting Wolverine at Universal Studios.

Disney's not the only place
where dreams come true.

Jake and Seth's hair after riding
the Dragon Challenge roller coaster.

Devouring this feast, including Butterbeer,
at the Three Broomsticks Pub
in Harry Potter World.

Mailing some of their wedding
invitations from the Owlery in Hogsmeade.

A midnight snack at Jake's hospital.

Dinner at PF Changs.
The coolest part (besides free lettuce wraps)?
We ordered different things, but
our checks had the exact same total.

I think it's a sign that we were
meant to be friends. Thanks for some
great memories Sethelope!