Christmas Letter 2009

Merry Christmas

This past year has been great. In May we moved out to Apple Valley where my dad owns some land. It’s a ways out there and takes me 45 minutes to get to work every day but we enjoy it. (Well at least we have so far, with the winter months coming upon us ask me again in a month or so and I might have a different answer :) )
Back in January we were in a car accident that ended up causing Jon a bit of back pain. He’s working doing construction again, which isn’t helping much in the pain department, but he is enjoying it more than being “cooped up” inside all day. We’re still dealing with doctors and hoping that they’ll figure out something soon to ease the pain.
I’m still with SouthWest Federal Credit Union working as a Consumer Loan Processor. I’ve been with the credit union now for almost 4 years and I’m still enjoying it, but it’s not my dream job. We’re both still looking into and wanting to go back to school but of course we keep coming up with reasons why we should put it off a little longer. Our latest excuse fell upon us in July when we found out we were going to be having a baby in April! We’re both super excited for the new adventure and can’t wait to meet the new addition to our family. We can’t seem to agree on any names quite yet. It’s amazing how hard coming up with one can actually be. We had agreed on a few girl names but boy names were another story, we were totally stumped. But as fate would have it, we’re having a boy! So he might be nameless for a while, but we’re both very excited. (Especially since the Lindhardt family is filled with girls. I guess my mom saw it fit to start evening out the numbers a little bit and decided to start sending down some boys :) )
Since it’s still just the two of us, there’s not a whole lot to write about. We hope all is going well with you and wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We love you.

Love,

Jonathan, Kristina and baby boy Evertsen

24 Weeks

I feel like my stomach has just shot out in the past few days. The other day Jon said to me "Wow, you're really starting to look pregnant. You didn't look that big yesterday. I'm so excited!" It was way cute. He's super excited that I'm finally starting to look pregnant. It's finally starting to seem real to him. He's felt him move quite a few times now and every time he gets a huge grin on his face. So adorable! I will admit that actually looking pregnant is really nice. Except for the fact that none of my clothes fit me. I have plenty of maternity shirts, but only 2-3 skirts/pants that I can wear to work. Looks like I need to do some shopping :)

I've felt pretty good, except for the cramps I keep having. I know they're totally normal and my midwife reassured me at my appointment today that me and the baby are doing great. But man do they suck! I thought the 2nd trimester was supposed to be the "fun" time. I'm more sick with the cramps than i was all through my first trimester. I sure do hope that I can get use to them or they go away....and soon!

I'm LOVING my thicker hair. Ok, so I know its not actually thicker, it's just that pregnant women don't lose as much hair each day so its really only a temporary thing. But I'm still loving it. :)

He has been kicking me like crazy. I love being able to feel him move around in there. It's such an amazing feeling.

Still no progress in the name department. :(

24 Weeks

Oh and if you can't tell from the pic, I'm carrying pretty high.

Finally...

I GOT A CAMERA!!!!

My wonderful husband bought me this for my birthday....isn't he just great?!!!!!

Nikon Coolpix S630

My birthday was great. My inlaws made me a birthday dinner (mashed potatoes, green beans, bearnaise sauce and frikadeller - danish meatballs) and rainbow chip cake..my favorite! Then me and Jon went and saw Twilight New Moon. I actually really liked it. It's much better than the first one.

Lovely picture of Jon that I took with my new camera :) waiting for dinne to finish.

Jon and Avaree (She was eating M&M's)

The only pic of me and Jon that we got on my birthday. It's not very good, but I had to put it up anyways.

SNOW!!

We got about an inch of snow up at my house. This is what I woke up to on Tuesday

It's only been two days of snow and I'm already ready for it to melt. I'm so glad we

live in So. Utah. I don't think I could handle living somewhere where it snows all winter!

Birthday flowers from Natalie - Thanks so much love ya

Birthday flowers from Jon... aren't they both so beautiful!

And here's the long awaited pregnancy picture. It's not a very good one, but I figured I'd put up what I had then make Jon take a better one of me later.

22 Weeks

23!

Happy Birthday Kristina!

Since there's no recent pics (since there's still no camera) here's a pic of her on her birthday last year.

Thanksgiving and friends

I'm hoping to get a camera within the next week or so, so hopefully my posts will start to be a little more interesting and I can get some pics of my growing belly on here :)

I'm 21 1/2 weeks and all is going well. Still no name picked yet. We still can't seem to find one that we both really like. There are some options, but none we just absolutely love yet.

Thanksgiving was great. We spent it with my family this year, which was really nice cuz it was just with my immediate family (minus Steph and Adam cuz they go to Vegas with Adams family every year so they can spend Christmas with us). My grandparents went up north, so it was the first time me and my sisters had to make all the food. But I will admit, I didn't end up making too much since my grandma pre-made some rolls for us and that was my main job. But Kimi sure made up for my lack of cooking. She brought so much food! So between everyone we had PLENTY of food for just us 9 people (Dad, Stacie, Kristina, Jon, Kristel, Eric, Evie, Kimi and her b/f Richard). It was nice to just be able to hang out with each other with no arguing or fighting and just eat, play games and enjoy each others company.

I have so much to be thankful for and heres just a small list:
- An AMAZING husband. - He's been so great during this pregnancy. Getting rid of all the weird smells that have made me sick, coming to some of the midwife appointments with me even though they are really rather boring (especially for him), he'll even sit with his hand on my stomach for long periods of time to try to feel him move :) We think he might have felt him move a little bit the other day. He's all around a wonderful amazing guy and I'm so lucky to have him in my life. He is the best man I've ever known, so caring and selfless. I learn so much from him daily!
- A healthy pregnancy and baby boy. - Can't wait to meet him!
- A Wonderful family - We have our fair share of drama and trails, and have been through so much. No matter whats going on, we're always there for each other. They are an amazing backbone in my life.
- A Job - I know I complain about it sometimes. But I'm lucky I even have one.
- The gospel - The gospel is so amazing! Theres so many good things I could say about it, but I'll just leave it simple...I LOVE it and all the many blessings I receive because of it.

Any one that knows me, knows I absolutely LOVE the show 'Friends'. I have the whole series and watch them all the time. Me and Jon are watching season 9 right now and the other day we watched an episode that has my all time favorite quote in it. I laugh so hard every time i hear it. And its not just a little snicker, it's a full on -can't breathe, back/stomach hurt, tears coming out my eyes type laugh. Jon just looks at me like I'm totally silly cuz you see, he thinks its funny but not near as hilarious as I think it is.

So which episode/quote is it?

Its the episode where they all go to Ross and Monica's parent's 35th wedding anniversary. Pheobe brings a date- Parker(Alec Baldwin) who everyone thinks is rather annoying because he's extremely optimistic. Parker tries to make Pheobe eat an oyster (or some sort of seafood) and since she's a vegetarian when he's not looking she throws it on the floor instead of eating it. Ok so that's not the funny part. The funny part comes in when later, Pheobe is sitting at a table and Joey comes up and they start talking about how bring the party is and Joey says something to the extent of....
"I know! And while I was standing in the food line, I slipped on a GIANT BOOGER!"
Pheobe - "Ummm... are you sure it wasn't an oyster?"
Joey "I dunno, I didn't stick around long enough to find out, I just wiped it on Ross's coat and got the hell outta there!"

I know it probably doesn't sound that funny when I tell it and all the details prob aren't quite right, so you'll just have to watch the episode yourself. But oh my! I just had to share it because I think its just so freakin funny!

And the verdict is....

I'm not the best at reading ultrasounds, but here are a few of my favorites

This one shows his lower half. His right shin and foot and left foot and in between... yup you guessed it, we're having a boy! Jon's so excited (I am too of course, but he really really wanted a boy)

His side profile

Another side view. He was trying to hide his face the whole time.

How cute is this one of his face! I'm so excited!!!

We haven't picked out any names yet. Girl names we had a few options we both liked, but of course we couldn't agree on any boy names. I decided I wanted to do a nursery theme that kind of had something to do with Jon, since its the first boy and all. And anyone that knows Jon, knows he absolutely LOVES driving tractors. So I decided on a JOHN DEERE theme! how cute is that going to be. So if you see anything John Deere related let me know :)

I'm 19 weeks and finally starting to show a little bit. I promise I'll post a picture soon. I can't wait till I get out of the "is she pregnant or just fat?" stage. haha

Well keep your eyes posted for cute little boy stuff for me :)

Update

I know I've totally been slacking with the updating thing. I'm hoping I get a camera for my birthday (which is a month away) which will make me more willing to update since posts with pictures are much more entertaining.

Anyways, I am now 17 weeks and have scheduled our ultrasound for the 16th of this month. I'm total excited and can't wait to finally find out what we're having. I honestly have no idea whether it's a boy or a girl. The pregnancy still doesn't seem real to Jon, which makes sense cuz I'm barely showing (even though I feel like I'm so much bigger than I use to be, I know I don't really look it). But I'm hoping that after the ultrasound it'll seem a little more real to him. I'm feeling much better now, even though I never got really sick. I no longer feel gross 99% of the time which I'm appreciative of. I can now function without feeling miserable.

My dance performance is on the 20th of this month. Kalamity dance team is putting on a benefit concert for a fellow dancer who has cancer. So come out at support her. (I'll post the flyer shortly) It's at Dixie High School @ 7:30 $5 (which is a donation since all proceeds go towards the fight for cancer)

We're still working out lives away, that about all we ever do. Work, work, work...especially since Jon does a lot of work at the ranch after he gets home from work. So I don't see him much until it starts getting dark. But now that daylight savings time is over it'll be close to dark by the time I get home, so hopefully I'll have a husband again :) plus it's getting really cold up there. It hasn't snowed yet, but I wouldn't doubt it won't be long before we see some.

That's about it. I know, pretty boring right. haha. I'll post when we find out what we're having (since I know I probably won't post before then) Can't wait... two weeks from today!
Any guesses as to what we're having?

Three Years

I'm a little late...the actual three year mark was yesterday.

I can not believe it's been three years since my beautiful mother passed away! It really feels as if it's only been a year or so. Life has changed so much since the last time I saw her, and not being able to share those special moments with her has been incredibly difficult. My aunt (my moms sister) wrote this beautiful letter about my mom and I don't think I could put it any better. I hope she doesn't mind that I put this on here. I just want to be remember her words forever.

"It's that time of year again when we think of our Daughter, Sister, and Mother - Gina. I know we all think of her every day - in fact a day probably never goes by that someone somewere isn't thinking of her. She was such a vibrant person in our lives as well as many others in the public eye. I'm sure she is missed by many more than just our family circle. But I find she is on my mind more from August through October as I remember her birthday and her passing. I look at her picture daily and smile back at her because I know she is looking down on us all. Let's all take a moment to remember her with tears of happiness instead of sadness. Think of fond memories of her as I know she would want this. She was always so strong. She was a firm foundation in the world around her, and she will always be in our hearts as we look forward to the day when we can see her smiling face in person again. I love her dearly and try to focus on how her sunshine lighted up everything good in life. I hope you will all do the same. Yes, I do shed tears of sadness too once in a while, that's natural - but then I try to focus once again on the happiness she gave me. I loved her good advice, her knowledge of EVERYTHING, her laugh, they way she would brighten my day if I called her and just needed to talk (which I miss the most), and her up-beat attitude."

Yesterday my family went out to dinner then to the grave. It was so nice to be together as a family and be able to remember my mom and share all our wonderful memories of her. After we got home me and Jon watched the video/tribute thing we have of her that was played at the funeral and has some footage on it that we have of that day. Jon had never seen it and it was nice to be able to watch it with him and give him the oppertunity to be able to get to know my mom just a little better, since he never got the chance to know her in person. Oh how I wish he could have met her. I know she would have loved him!

I'LL LOVE YOU FOREVER AND MISS YOU FOR ALWAYS MOM!

08/07/1963 - 10/07/2006

This picture was taken the Christmas before she passed away
it's one of my favorites of both of my parents.

Outted at work

I was outted at work today so I figured I might as well spread the news...

I'M PREGNANT!!

My sister told a coworker of mine (she didn't know I hadn't told my work yet) who doesn't work in my department or building that I was pregnant and she came over and announced a big congratulations in front of everyone. So I guess there was no sense in hiding it anymore. :)

We're both so excited! Definitely a little scared, but I think thats to be expected.
I'm 12 weeks and we just heard the heartbeat the other day, which was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! Jon wants a boy...of course. I don't care either way, except I think a girl would be easier on me (since my family is practically all girls, it's kinda what I'm used to :) ) But all I really care for is a strong healthy baby.

I am using a midwife...I know I know, you're probably thinking I'm totally crazy. Believe me I've heard that plenty of times already. But I know what I want and the experience I want to have and the best place for me to get that is in my own home with a midwife.
Most people say "You're crazy! Do you even know what you're getting yourself into?" Which to me is kind of a silly question. Being that this is my first child, or course I don't know 100% what I'm getting myself into. But if you know me at all, this really isn't that far of a stretch from my daily routine/belief system. And I've always said that I'll use a midwife. So hopefully all will go well so I will be able to deliver at home.

Slacker

I will admit that I've slacked a little on updating. Ever since I lost my camera I just haven't had the desire to post, cuz really posts just aren't as good without pictures! :) But, I figured it was about time that I update atleast a little bit.

We went to Jon's family reunion last month. That was fun, we brought one of my dads campers and got to enjoy the luxury of air conditioning during the hot day. It was nice to see the family and get to spend some time with them.

Jon just recently got home. He's been out of town for the past month and a half doing some work up north. So I've been a little lonely up at the ranch all by myself. So it's really nice to finally have him back.

The temperatures starting to cool down a bit up in Apple Valley. Normally that would be a great thing right, living in southern utah and all....well not so much. The cooler temps bring the lovely MICE! Luckily I didn't see any while I was staying up there by myself, but as soon as Jon got home, they all came out. We've killed 3 so far and plan on getting some cats to help out, but we just aren't cat people, so we'll see how that plays out. I can't wait until we can get rid of them all...they really freak me out!

My dad bought like 170 fruit trees for us to plant up at the ranch. There's apple, pear, peach, plum, cherry, prunes, the list goes on and on. It'll be nice to have all that fruit in a few years. We've almost got them all planted, which has not been an easy task. The water lines have broke about a million times, the tractors broken down, the water lines have clogged. Just about any and every problem that could come about, has. But we've just about finished, so hopefully the hard parts over.

Our cases from when the drunk driver hit us back in January, should almost be done. Thank Heavens! We're so ready to get those bills paid and be able to put this whole thing behind us. Although Jon is still having some back problems and will probably have to be adjusted every so often for quite some time. But none the less, we're ready for it all to be over.

I think that's about it. Sorry theres no pictures or anything really cool. I promise as soon as I get a new camera I'll make sure to post some pictures. :)