Update from the Doc

• 3 Cm
• 80% Effaced
• Baby is in 0 station
• The mom's (grandma's) are making plans to come this week!!

Jolly's Latest Adventures

Jolly went on a backpacking trip in the Sangre de Cristo mountains in July with his brother, Nate, and several guys from our church. They had an AMAZING trip - the view at their campsite was spectacular. Their final destination was close to treeline, about 12,000 feet. Also, he has been working with several students from our college group on how to get in on what God is doing on the CSU campus. Last night around 9pm they chalked huge Realm (name of our bible study) logos all over the student center plaza with hopes that it will give them opportunity to talk to other students about the gospel and the vision of this ministry. Jolly re-did the website as well, check it out: http://www.therealmcsu.com/

Samuel's Room!

Jolly found the camera this morning - so here are some pics of Samuel's room. The adorable sweater and hat in his crib were lovingly knit by his Aunt Katie - she's amazing. My friend Deb and I made the curtains and the girls who threw our shower encouraged friends and family to bring books instead of greeting cards, so he already has a well stocked library!! Can't wait to bring our little boy home to this wonderful place!

Baby Update

A few things of interest:

1. We decided to name the baby Jolly Samuel Johnson Jr. - we'll call him Samuel as long as he'll let us :O)

2. As of Saturday, baby is considered full term!!

3. The doctor said she doesn't expect me to make it to my due date - I am 2 cm dilated and 70% effaced.

4. The nursery is finished, and I would love to post pictures - but I can't find the camera :O(

5. Can't wait to introduce you to little Samuel.

5 Years!

Jolly and I celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary yesterday! We've had an amazing start to our marriage. Usually, we go on a weekend trip or hike a tall mountain to celebrate, but being 32 weeks pregnant limited our choices of activities this year. We decided to celebrate close to home and had a wonderful day that we'll remember for a long time.

We started out with a breakfast picnic at the top of the hill in our neighborhood. You can see all the mountains to the west from there, the weather was clear and beautiful. We just lounged around and enjoyed the cool breeze for most of the morning.

I've been wanting to visit the Denver Aquarium for a while now, so we decided to check it out! It turned out to be a lot of fun. There are seven different aquatic habitats represented. Our favorite were the Archer Fish - they had a demonstration of how these guys hunt. The caretaker placed several crickets on a vine above their tank, and the archer fish shot water out of their mouths 5-10 feet to knock their prey into the water. We had never heard of those before. I love otters and sea turtles, and got to see both of those as well. Then we stopped by the huge REI in downtown Denver, we can't really pass up a chance to visit that store!

We ended our day with a great dinner at Hibachi Steakhouse here in Fort Collins. Its just like Benihana. It was yummy and we had a fun chef. He tossed shrimp at all the guys at the table for them to catch in their mouths - Jolly caught his no sweat. We had a great day - and are looking forward to many more fun memories to come.

I did it!

I made my favorite cake from Whole Foods - the Berry Chantilly cake. For the longest time I couldn't figure out the frosting - then Katie's mother in law Cindy discovered the missing ingredient, mascarpone cheese. So, here is a picture of my favorite creation so far!! Happy Birthday Ally :O)

Maternity Portraits

My amazingly talented sister-in-law, Katie, took maternity portraits yesterday. She's a genius! Here is a link to her blog so you can see a slideshow.

http://ryanandkatiejenkins.blogspot.com/