Denver Baby Shower

What a beautiful baby shower! My sisters and Eileen were the official hosts of the party, but I want to also thank my Mom, Aunt Diana, and Julie for their effort in making this shower so special and beautiful! I know there was a lot of planning that went into this shower, I thank each one of you for your contributions. We are extremely blessed to be surrounded by such loving and encouraging friends and family! Thank you to all who were able to make it. It was great to see you all and we are thankful for the blessings you poured out onto us! We are getting so close to baby jenkins arrival! Everyday we are feeling a little more prepared! Thanks to all of you!

Me with YaYa and Muttie, 2 excited Grandmas!

Mom made the party favors!

Aunt Diana made the flower arrangements!

Julie made the diaper cake!

Parents in training!

After Christmas, we "baby" sat sweet Dixie for a week and a half while my mom was in Europe for a cousins wedding. I say "baby" because Dixie is no ordinary dog, she might as well be a person! She was such a good buddy to have around, but really, I think this was "training" for me and Gabe. Our lives definitely changed during that time that Dixie stayed with us, we actually had something to take care of besides ourselves. That was just one of the small experiences God is using to prepare us for a much bigger responsibility. True parenting! As we get closer to our precious daughter's arrival, we are filled with excitement! We have been busy making a "home" for her; working on her nursery. I will keep you updated on that process and soon enough, I will be posting pictures of the finished product!

Christmas and after...

Happy Birthday Dad!

We gave my Dad skis for his 60th birthday!

Pre-party at Hotel Teatro

Steph and Kevin

Hanging out at Hotel Teatro

Gabe and Kevin boxing!

Our box to open from the Northpole!

Christmas Eve, 30 weeks!

I thought I would update you all on our Christmas. I know, its a little late. It's hard to believe that Christmas passed by so quickly. We had a wonderful Christmas! We started some of our own family traditions and also spent some great time with family! This is our last Christmas without children, so it was fun deciding on some of our own Christmas traditions. We are going to make it a tradition to spend Christmas morning at our own house, so we did just that. Our Christmas morning consisted of a homemade breakfast and opening gifts together! We felt like little kids again! Some dear friends of ours, who won't admit it, dropped off an anonymous box from "santa" a few days before Christmas. So, we joyfully got to open that surprise box! We were overwhelmed by their generosity and kindness! We were seriously like little kids; so excited about the gifts we found in this box from the northpole! What a blessing!

After spending the morning with one another, we went up to Denver to spend the rest of Christmas day with my Dad and family. It was great to see everyone and hang out with my sisters and their husbands. My little step sister, Maddie, was given guitar hero for Christmas so the guys spent a lot of time playing hero and also battling one another in boxing on the Wi. They were intense! Gabe and I battled at ping pong, I must say, as a pregnant woman, I still have my game! :) But, Gabe ended up beating me in the best out of 5 games.

Overall, it was just a blessing to be surrounded by family on Christmas!

The day after Christmas is my Dad's birthday. This year he turned 60! So we had a family celebration for him in downtown Denver. My Dad and Stepmom, Eileen, blessed us all by getting us hotel rooms at Hotel Teatro. We ate dinner in the wine cellar, a delicious 5 course meal! It was fun to celebrate my Dad. He has been such a faithful and hard working Dad! I am grateful for everything he has done for me! A few of his siblings flew into Denver for the event, which meant a lot to my Dad!

Here are some pictures to update you on all these events!