Third Trimester

Finally, the Third Tri! Actually, it doesn't start until Halloween (spooky enough), but it's close enough! I realize this may come as a shock to some since this is the first I have posted about it, but I can explain... I have been debating about making the blog private or not and delayed the news because of this, but what the heck, I decided I'll just leave things be for now. (I don't have enough energy right now, anyway.)
Here's the latest picture, and yes, 'tis on purpose that you can't really get a look view of the belly. Huge babies (Miranda weighed 9 1/2 pounds at birth) equal huge bellies, so don't expect too many pics of me for a while! This was a week and a half ago. Miranda wore the dress Grandma Peterson made for her and she looked like a princess, so we decided to do a photo shoot before church--so much for being there early! Anyway, I added a couple other pictures of the fun dress.
Jeremy said she looks like she's ready for Baby Prom in this one with her coat on.

Little pouty face

Utah Gems

Over Conference Weekend we went with Jeremy's parents to St. George for the Marathon. Both of them ran it this year--way to go Mark and Merilynn! Neither Jeremy or I are runners, and to confess, we don't completely understand the 'addiction', but it is really cool to watch the runners cross the finish line after 26.2 miles and admire the accomplishment. We had a really fun trip but we discovered that road trips are very different with toddlers (as we suspected). Miranda was actually really good, considering she only slept about 1 hour of the 8 hours round-trip. But we did make more stops that usual and although it made for a longer drive, some of the stops were some highlights of the weekend. So here are three "gems" in Utah that we'd like to share--just in case you feel like taking your time on your next trip to St. George or Vegas. Please share any you know about that we haven't discovered yet, too!




1. Garden of Eat'n (Paradise Inn -- Garden of Eat'n)
This is a Mom and Pop type restaurant at the Paradise Inn in Filmore, Ut. It's the Northern Filmore exit. It was possibly the best food we had the whole trip! Everything was home-cooked and delicious. Favorites were the battered fries, roast beef, and homemade peach pie. Don't just go for a sandwich though--Jeremy's turkey club was only so/so.




2. Cache Valley Cheese Factory
This is located in Beaver, Ut. (Don't worry, we spent 30 minutes driving around Filmore looking for it...) Anyway, this is a family tradition for us to stop there for the delicious ice-cream and the 'squeaky cheese'. If you don't know why we call it squeaky cheese, then you need to get some for yourself (and no, it does not have anything to do with bodily functions.)



3. The Outlets at St. George
Okay, so this is kind of a given if you're going to St. George. But the outlets are the best and a priority to visit. Even Jeremy likes going to the Old Navy outlet for himself and to the Gymboree outlet to buy something for his little Miranda. (This time it was a totally cute stuffed animal zebra purse.) One of my fav's is the new Shade outlet. I can't wait until they build the outlets in Lehi. Hopefully they're as good as the ones in St. George.

Confession

So, I have a confession to make. I have a weird hobby since being a stay-at-home mom. I guess it actually stems from that--wanting to keep in touch with the social world. But enough for excuses, here it is: I have become an avid obituary reader.
I don't think it would have turned into such a hobby if I hadn't found a few people that I've known, people I wouldn't have heard about otherwise, (ie colleagues from school, friends' parents, patients I worked with, etc.) Just this week, I saw the obituary of my fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Schriener.
Please tell me I'm not the only one I know under the age of 40 with this weird past-time...