Austin John Riley

My sister, Nicole, had her little baby boy on January 18th. Seeing as they're only in Rexburg, I decided that I HAD to go visit last weekend. 

Saturday morning Nicole and Juston gave Austin his first bath.

Before...

During...

 At first he was totally cool with the whole "bath" thing...

until they dipped him in the water. 

After.

 

Tyler & Mckenzie

A.D.O.R.A.B.L.E.

Love at first sight...

Jennilyn

&

Jayden

Jennilyn and Jayden were SOO good with Austin. They are definitely ready to be older siblings to their new baby sister that will be here in April! 

(Kristine's hoping earlier!)

When we came home from shopping Saturday afternoon, there was this beautiful basket of flowers on the kitchen table. Curtis sent it for my birthday and also for Nicole. Very, very thoughtful. This picture doesn't do it justice, because some of the flowers opened up in the next few days. It was such a sweet surprise. Thanks Curtis!

 When holding Austin, he would just snuggle on in. Nicole was changing him on Sunday afternoon and she handed him to me in just a diaper. It was the sweetest thing EVER. It actually makes me teary-eyed when I think about it. Babies are such amazing things. It is an incredible creation and such a spiritual experience to hold a little one.

It was a really great weekend. It was lovely to spend lots of time with family along with our new little addition. Next visit to this cute little guy: February 19th. Can't wait!

Ohio in January

I had a three day weekend for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, so I booked a plane ticket to Ohio to see my boy.  I got in late Friday night and headed to Brandi's for the night. Saturday morning, Curtis came to pick me up early. We made breakfast and then studied and did some work for a few hours. We helped Brandi fill up her car tire and then we ordered pizza for our Saturday night date. Since I was visiting the weekend in between both of our birthdays, we celebrated and opened presents together. Then we moved the movie projector upstairs and watched Indian Jones on the big movie screen. Eventually, Curtis took me back to Brandi's for the night. Sunday, we went to church, came home, had some lunch, and took a nap. Then Sunday evening we decided to build a fire in his fireplace.

Here's a picture of Curtis blowing on the fire and then his amazing fire once he got it going.

 We celebrated our birthdays with Ice Cream in front of the fire. :) Life doesn't get much better than that. hahaha

Actually... it did get better... My flight was supposed to leave at 6:30 the next morning... well somehow we didn't calculate correctly. Turns out... I missed my flight and couldn't get out until 7 that night. So... I got a whole extra day to spend with Curtis! Although it was stressful for a little bit, it was nice to get a couple more hours together. 

Best Christmas So Far

So, now that it's been at least 3 weeks since Christmas, I figure I better catch up quick! December was such an eventful and wonderful month! I love the feeling of the holidays and for the time I always get to spend with loved ones. Curtis came out to Utah the week before my Christmas break. He finished finals and wanted to see his family out here before he headed with me to NY for Christmas. We had a really great week. He came and visited me at school and my kids got to meet him...which may not have been the best decision on my part. Today, my students brought up the fact that "Miss Hess has a boyfriend...oooooo" and they talked about Curtis for a few minutes. They loved him of course, so all is well. He played hacky sac with some of them, flew airplanes across the classroom, and just gave attention to a couple who crave love and attention. One student even put a bow on him and brought him over to me saying, "Here Miss Hess. He's your Christmas gift this year." We all laughed pretty hard about that.

Here is a picture of us at The Nutcracker in Salt Lake. So fun! I was in The Nutcracker when I was little but it was really cool to see the actual performance by a real ballet company! Thanks Curtis!

We also met up with my siblings that are in Utah and Idaho at the Christmas lights on Temple Square.

Here is a picture of Curtis and Jayden. They're best buds.

  Curtis and me...

One of the Hess families

  



   The kids chilling at McDonalds.








So for some reason, I don't have any pictures of Tyler and Mckenzie or Nicole and Juston.... sorry guys! Not quite sure how that happened. It was a very enjoyable night but we definitely missed Andrea, mom, and dad, who were in NY.

After a few more days of hanging out in Utah, we flew to Ohio and had an 8 hour road trip to NY! We spent a few days at my home, a few days in NYC, and a day in Hershey, PA with my mom's side of the family. It was a very, very quiet Christmas at our house this year, even with adding Curtis. All of my married siblings were at their in-laws, so it was just Dad, Mom, Andrea, Curtis, and me. We had a really good time though and enjoyed being out of school for a few weeks. Here are some pictures. If you want to see more of NYC, you'll have to look at my sister Andrea's facebook account.

Airports are MUCH more fun when you have somebody to fly with you!

 

 The Rockefeller Christmas Tree in NYC

 

This is on the Staten Island Ferry. The Statue of Liberty is behind us somewhere in that bright glare of light.

Also, one of my best friends from BYU, Pam, and her mom, met us one evening in NYC for dinner and to go to the Broadway show, West Side Story. It was sooooo fun to see her and to get to spend time with her. LOVE this girl! She makes me laugh and always keeps me on my toes. Especially when I find pickles in my purse...hm.... wonder where that came from?

       My favorite picture of us...

Happy Birthday Curtis!

Today is Curtis's birthday, so of course he gets a dedicatory post! He has come into my life and swept me right off of my feet. Even though there are a million things I love about him, here are just a few of my favorite characteristics of his:

1. Curtis can relate anything to a song....and he always has one playing in his head! I LOVE this. I think it's so fun when he randomly bursts out singing, and it always makes me laugh.

2. The week after Curtis came to visit me at my home in NY, I received a card in the mail from him. As I opened it, I thought, "hm... I wonder what this is about." It was a Thank you card. I don't know that I have ever been more impressed with a guy than at that moment. He is so incredibly thoughtful, not just with thank you cards, but in all areas of his life. He constantly is thinking of others.

3. Curtis is a big kid at heart. The children just flock to him, and they LOVE playing with him. Around Christmas time, we went to Temple Square to see the Christmas lights with my siblings. Jennilyn, my niece,  wouldn't give a hug to anyone but Curtis and he was the only one that could get her to smile.

4. Curtis makes me laugh every single day. No matter what is going on in my life, he knows how to make me smile.

5. My ALL-TIME favorite thing about Curtis though, is that he has become my best friend. He is supportive with everything I feel I should be doing, he encourages me to be better, he is an outstanding communicator, and he believes in me when I don't believe in myself. I don't think any other person could be as patient with me as he is, or could treat me like a princess like he does. He has an amazing testimony of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and he lives his life trying to be like him.

I am so incredibly grateful that Curtis was placed into my life at this time. He has been the greatest blessing ever. Thanks Curtis for all that you do for me. Hope you have a wonderful Birthday!!!