Merry Christmas!

I always love getting Christmas cards in the mail, especially the ones with letters about how the family is doing, and what happened for them that year.

Our family is little, but a lot happened this year! So, I thought I would make an online Christmas letter/update about how our life has been for the last year. :)

Ryan and I got married this past February 17th. It was the best day ever! We had our reception the night before and it turned out perfectly, and almost everyone that we love was able to come. I prayed really hard that the weather would be nice for the day of our sealing and it was! It started raining RIGHT after we finished taking our pictures. Perfect timing! :)

We then went on a fun honeymoon to St. George where we were hoping it would be warm and sunny, but that just wasn't meant to be. We got to enjoy some fun hikes though while we were there, despite the cloudy weather.

Other than our wedding, we spent the year taking lots of classes and doing lots of homework and working hard. Ryan is going to UVU, he is doing pre-nursing right now and is planning on eventually becoming a nurse anesthetist. He works at Sam's Club and is grateful to have a job. I am going to BYU and majoring in Family Studies. I spent most of the year working in the mail room of the Administrative building (ASB) and occasionally get to deliver mail to President Worthen. It almost feels like I am meeting a celebrity! One time I even said "Good Morning" to him, and he said it back. So, we're pretty much best friends. :) During the Fall Semester I also picked up a job working as a Teachers Assistant for one of my professors. I mostly grade papers and answer questions, but it's a good job.

We haven't done any crazy traveling throughout the year, but we did fly to Texas in May to see my family and to introduce Ryan to all the people I know there. We enjoyed swimming at the neighborhood pool and I enjoyed getting to eat some Round Rock donuts while there (Round Rock donuts are the very best donuts there are. Just so you know.) We also went to his family reunion in Park City, which was a lot of fun. In November we took a mini weekend vacation to Manti, Utah. We rented an airbnb for the weekend and decided to just relax and enjoy the small town life.

At the end of November we announced the big news that we are expecting a baby. She is due on May 16, 2018 and we're pretty excited for her to come. (But not too excited, we don't mind waiting a while for her to be here). She has caused me a lot of trouble these last 4 months, but I can't blame her because I've always been picky too. I only deserve to have a baby that is so picky that nothing I eat is good enough for her, and she sends it all back. (Luckily, modern medicine has created a solution for morning sickness and I have been able to keep more food down for the last month.)

That's probably the biggest news that we have to share, but on a smaller note, we were called to serve in the Nursery at church (this involves playing with the 18 month to 3 year olds and giving them snacks.) It's a dream come true for Ryan, and it might be difficult for them to get him to ever leave.

We are still very in love with each other and love being married more than anything else. This year has been one of the very best yet, and we can't wait to see what the future holds. I hope you are prepared for a million pictures of our cute little posterity in coming year. And we hope that you have enjoyed this past year as much as we have.

Merry Christmas!

Love,
The Vorkinks

What's your guess?

I know that last week when we announced our special news, I also mentioned we would find out the gender last week, and for all you family members we told you that we would know by Wednesday.

This past week, has been a crazy one with papers, tests, work, and getting things done. Not only that but on Saturday I ran out of my morning sickness medicine, and it turns out, I am NOT over morning sickness yet. (I'll spare you the gross details, but it was a rough weekend.)

So, now a week later, I am still trying to think of some cute way to announce the gender of this baby.

(I've been calling it the alien baby for a while because morning sickness mixed with a full schedule does not make me a happy camper.)

Last Wednesday we went in for our ultrasound to find out the gender, but thIs baby takes afTer it'S parents because there was no moving that baby out of its comfortable position. The technician tried shaking it, pushing it, doing everything he could to get that stubborn bAby to move so that he could see what the gender was, but there was no hope. That baby is destined to be as stubborn as the two of us. Baby's legs were crossed, tucked up, with the umbilical cord runninG right between them. We came back agaIn the next day. I was told to dRink sugary drinks, Like orange juice, to see if I could hype the baby up and get it moving. With a little coercing, baby was persuaded to move just enough for us to find out if baby is a he or a she.

Anyways, we figured out the gender. If you have any creative suggestions for how we can announce it, let me know. :)

There she is at 16 weeks. :)