Christmas 2007

We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! Here are a few pictures of our small Christmas together. Most of the presents were for Wade. He really got hooked up! Now if only he would come to enjoy them. I think our favorite present this year was our new Dance Dance Revolution game for our Wii...so much fun!

Christmas time is here...

We felt a bit awkward going all the way to President Bush's house to see his tree, and not stopping in to leave a present or cookies or anything, but he did have a fire going for us to warm up by.

We'll be spending Christmas together in Virginia this year. We both hope everyone has a Merry Christmas.

Christmas came early

Christmas came early to our house this year, due t the fact that we can't take any trips home. My parents came out last weekend to take us shopping and to celebrate with us early. The space under our tree is now filled with presents (most of them for little Wade). My mom also helped me put the crib together. We are all ready for baby Wade to come!

And since we were celebrating Christmas, we got to open one present early...
We got a new sound system to go with our new TV. Phil is so excited about it. So if you ever want to watch a movie, come on over and we will hook you up!

A Houston Thanksgiving

This year we spent Thanksgiving in Houston with Phil's side of the family. We had just over a week there and it was nice to be able to have so long to relax. We also loved spending time with everyone since we do not get to see them very often. Here are pictures of some of the activities we did while we were there.

We had a rousing game of mini-golf, which Phil won due to his practicing on the Wii.
We took a trip to the Houston Space Center where we got to see where astronauts train, the original Houston command center, and some pretty big space ships.
Grandma Nancy gave me my first crochet lesson. I'm afraid I didn't pick it up very fast, I'm still not sure what "yarn over" means.
And it wouldn't be a complete trip without some go-kart racing.

We ended the trip with the Houston 10k Turkey Trot, which all four brothers ran. They all did surprisingly well considering the temperature was only in the 40's. Following the race we had a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner. Thanks to the Broadbent's for giving us a great vacation!

TAG

A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player lists 6 little-known facts/habits about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

After debating whether or not to continue this 'game', I decided to acquiesce, partly because things are a bit slow today.

1. I came in third place (bronze medal) in the school spelling bee when I was in 4th grade.
2. I once ran the mile in 5:55* when I was a freshman in High School. (The asterisk is because the girl doing the times sat next to me in algebra)
3. I used to bleach my hair in high school.
4. My best friend swung a mop handle and broke my nose when I was a junior in high school.
5. Accurately predicted the country I would be called to serve as a missionary before I even put my papers in.
6. I went out of my way to get a friend a job at my company, expecting a monetary reward for my efforts, but instead received a duffle bag with the company's name on it.

The 6 people I'm going to tag are: Bruce Wayne, Peter Parker, Oliver Queen, Barry Allen, Clark Kent, and John Jones. I'm not sure if they have blogs, though.

7 Months

I now look like I'm growing a basketball in my stomach.

Rise and Shout...

The cougars are out!! We finally got to watch a BYU game on TV out here and we were so excited. The game was BYU v. TCU and it was the perfect game to have on as some of our friends are avid TCU fans. Unfortunately for them, BYU won 27-22 (Sorry Shannon and Ezra). Looks like BYU is still undefeated in the conference!

A cake I made for the occasion (note that BYU is on top).

The Group that came to watch the game.

Phil showing off his signed Ty Detmer t-shirt which we think brought us luck.

(I like the fact that dark colors hide my big belly)

Trick or Treat

Happy Halloween.

We had our second annual murder mystery dinner. It was quite a treat. The murderer turned out to be Bo-Jo Boarder. He was jealous of his boss, so he knocked him off. It was a hawaiian-themed event, and was aptly called a "Lethal Luau". Hijinks ensued.

We're expecting a visit from Jen's parents, soon. Maybe I'll take her dad to play 18 holes, please use the voting button to show who you think will finish with a better score.

Deloitte Fall Festival

A few weeks ago, Deloitte had their fall festival. We enjoyed some excellent free food and some great ice cream. They also had this climbing wall and zip line that Phil enjoyed, although he said it wasn't too difficult.

Carving Pumpkins

We are getting ready for Halloween. We had a party with some friends are carved our pumpkins. Phil opted for a pirate skull.

As a side note, I apparently look pregnant enough now for people to comment about it without being uncertain that I am just getting fat. It's been pretty funny.

Book Review - Stone Tables

4 out of 5 Stars. This was a book given to Jen by Pete/Sheralie for Christmas last year and she recommended that I read. It is a 'behind the scenes' look at the life of Moses from Egypt to Sinai and beyond. I appreciated the personalities that Card created for each of the characters and the plausible explanation for events that happened. He portrayed Aaron as a jealous little brother of Moses, spending his life struggling against his natural tendencies to question or second guess his older brother and prophet. It is this character flaw that eventually leads to the golden calf episode at the foot of Mt. Sinai and the breaking of the stone tablets.

Six Months

So I know everyone has been waiting to see me "fat" since you all thougt it would never happen. Here is a picture of me about half way through 6 months. At this point, I weigh more than I ever have in my entire life!

Philadelphia

Jen and I took a trip over up to Philadelphia to see some of the historical sites. We found the liberty bell here. We also saw Valley Forge, Independence Hall, Betsy Ross's house, and had a genuine philly cheese steak.



Also out at Valley Forge, we saw a railroad station which was home to the Reading Railroad, featured in the Monopoly board game.

Weekend Shopping

This weekend we took advantage of all the Labor Day sales. We bought our first major baby item, a new dresser/changing table, which Phil did a great job of assembling. We also bought a new TV, something Phil has been waiting a very long time for. We found a really great deal at Circuit City on a Sharp 42" HD LCD. As I type, Phil is in the process of assembling it. I think this will keep him happy for a very long time.

Phil's Birthday

Phil turned 25 this week...a quarter of a century old!!! We had some friends over for chocolate cream cake and ice cream, Phil says the cake was delicious. For his birthday, Phil got the Tiger Woods PGA Tour game for the Wii. I think he played all day on Friday.

It's a ...

We are having a boy!!! We had our ultrasound yesterday and it is very clearly a boy, and we are thrilled. Phil is excited that he was right and that he'll have a little boy to teach baseball to. I'm excited to know so we can start planning. We got pictures, but I haven't figured out how to add them yet. Hopefully, one will be coming soon.

Entertainment Review

4.5 out of 5 stars. Jen told me I had to read the order of the phoenix before I could go watch the fifth installment in the epic journey of a young Brit through Hogwarts and his fight against He-who-must-not-be-named. After finishing it, I was curious, so I finished up the last two books. It's quite an entertaining story on the whole, and at many points throughout the books it's hard to put it down.

Just a reminder to all who haven't voted, there's a little less than a week before you can't vote any more!

2nd Anniversary

Phil and I celebrated our second anniversary this week. Phil got us box seat tickets to the John Mayer concert which was very fun.
We also went to dinner at the Melting Pot, which most people know is for fondue. We decided we liked dessert the best. We got the "Cookies and Cream, Marshmallow Dream" chocolate and got to watch the marshmallow flambeed. For gifts this year, Phil got me the new Harry Potter book and I got him a gift card to iTunes. We have loved being married and look forward to the adventures to come in future years.

John Mayer Concert

Summer

Well, summer is here. We watched the fireworks they had up on the hill on the fourth, in addition to the production they had, hosted by Tony Danza. I wonder when the person in charge of that was looking at the list of people he could ask to host that thing, what made him stop on Tony Danza.
The picture above is obviously from Lake Powell. We were trying out Ric's new seadoo, making sure it floated and what not. We also made it up to Rainbow Bridge, which I'd not seen before, even though I've been up there plenty of times. It turns out they've put up some cell phone towers near the lake lately, because Ric kept getting calls on his phone even though we were 6-7 miles up the canyon.

Good News!

We wanted to share our good news with everyone. Yes, we are having a baby! As of now, I am almost 3 months along, due January 15. We are very excited, even though it messes up our Christmas plans (the doc says no traveling at that point). So if anyone wants to come visit DC at Christmas time, we would love to see you!

This picture isn't actually of our baby, but is what it looks like about now. The ultrasound we got a few weeks ago just looks like a blob, but I'll post the one we have in a few months.

Oh, by the way, Phil is really hoping for a boy, and I am really hoping for the morning sickness to end!

The last few weeks

We have been pretty busy the last few weeks. We managed to make it out to a Nationals game...unfortunately, the Nats couldn't pull out a win for us. Phil however, decided to grow his goatee like Albert Pujols, which he thought was pretty cool.We also made it up to New York for Memorial Day weekend. Mainly, we went to be there for the blessing of our new niece Charlotte. Phil was such a great uncle, and pushed Charlotte around in her stroller all over NYC and Central Park.
I took my first visit to Serendipity (yes, where the movie came from) which had fabulous desserts. I quite enjoyed my frozen hot chocolate.

Mr. Steve Comes to Washington

Just like the old movie, "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington", Steve came out to visit Washington. We tried to show him a good time by taking him down to the city.

And making him take a picture of us.

We also determined the street fighter rankings that we haven't done in a few years. Steve took champion of the month, but I guess we'll see what happens next month.

We also played golf and baseball. And bowled. The rest of the pictures are available on the web at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/pcbroadbent/MrSteveGoesToWashington

Any other questions or inquiries can be brought to our immediate attention.

NBA

The Search

In the flavor of Pete's Entertainment reviews, I thought I'd post about the book I listened to in the car to and from work for the past week or two, "The Search," by John Battelle.

4.5 out of 5 stars. It was quite interesting and educational. He explains how search engines began, how they work, how they led to the dot com boom and pop, and how Google emerged after the dust settled from the implosion.

He does not treat Google as the end-all be-all of all internet companies but also offers different points of views on Google's antics. He also explores Yahoo!, but not as extensively.

It is a documentary-style book, so if you're looking for plots, or character development, this book probably is not for you. But you don't have to take my word for it...

New Hat

So Phil and I finally went out and bought him a new hat, two new hats in fact. For those of you remember his BYU hat, you will know how gross and stinky it was (and of course he wouldn't let me wash it). He couldn't decide on which Nationals hat to get, so we got him both. He's all ready to play some ball now.

We also both planted some seeds for FHE last night. Phil is growing some basil, and I'm just growing some flowers for our front porch.

Italy

As most of you know, Phil and I, and Phil's parents went to Italy this month. It was such a great trip! We started the trip a little shaky, as there was a snow storm in DC the night we left. But after sitting on the plane for 2 hours, we finally took off and made it to Italy. We started our trip in Milan (the mission Phil served in). Here is a picture of us on the roof of the Duomo. We could see the whole city from there. Next, we headed to Lake Como. We went to church here in a ward where Phil served and he was so excited that everyone remembered him. This is a picture of us at Bellagio, a city about 30 minutes away, and where the two branches of Lake Como meet. It was beautiful (although a little foggy). We didn't find George Clooney's villa...too bad. After Lake Como, we headed to Verona, another city where Phil served. This was my favorite city, becuase it looked just like I thought an Italian city would look like. It was very quaint. As you should know, Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet took place in Verona. This is us at Juliet's house under the famous balcony.

After Verona, we headed to Venice, the city on the water. It is much harder to get around Venice on foot, becuase the whole city is made of alleys and bridges, and there are a lot of dead ends. But we got to do so much here. We went to the Doge's Palace and saw the largest room in Europe. We also hung out in Piazza San Marco for an afternoon and got to see a glass blowing factory (Venice is famous for it's glass blowing). And of course we went on a gondola ride! Our cute gondolier was named Mario.

After Venice we ran to Florence, which is the city where the Renaissance started. Here we went to the Uffizi Meseum, where we saw several famous pieces of art by Botticelli. We also saw the David, which is AMAZING! This is Phil posing as the David in Piazza Vecchio. I was upset in Florence however, because the Gates of Paradise (the bronze doors at the baptistary of the Duomo) where being restored.

The final city on our tour was Rome. We had a little trouble getting there, because the there just happened to be a train strike on the day we needed to take the train. Luckily, we were able to get a taxi. My favorite venue in Rome was the Colloseum. It was so big and mind blowing. Phil and I decided we need to watch Gladiator again, now that we have been there. In Rome, we also saw the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain (where we of course threw our coins in) and the Vatican. Although it took us 2 hours in line to get in to the Vatican, we finally got to see the Sistine Chapel.

What a great trip, and thanks to mom and dad Broadbent for taking us. Also, happy birthday to our new niece Charlotte who was born when we were on our flight back!

I couldn't post all the pictures, or tell you all everything we did, or you would get bored, but if you want to see more pictures, you can view them at

http://picasaweb.google.com/pcbroadbent/PhilJenMomAndDadGoToItaly