Christmas Card/Letter

This is to serve as our Christmas Card/Letter, which we've never done before (at least not that I remember).

MERRY CHRISTMAS! We hope you've all had a wonderful year and that 2014 brings wonderful things!

Here's a little about what 2013 had in store for us.

Ella started dance in January and loved it.
She also turned 3 in March. She got to go to Lake Powell for her first time this summer and didn't want to leave.

In the fall she started pre-school and she's loved that as well (even though she never wants to go). She recognizes her letters and will spell things out that she sees (like STOP signs). She also took a dance/tumbling class this past fall and really enjoyed that as well, though we won't be continuing dance for awhile, especially while we're adjusting to life with a new member of the family.
She loves being on stage and has performed 4 times so far. Also, she can't wait to be a big sister!

Jer has been busy with starting his own comedy website featuring clean comedians (Funnyandclean.net), managing some other blogs on a volunteer basis, going to school, working, taking care of Ella/me/the house, and being in the Elder's Quorum Presidency. He's lucky to have figured out what he wants to do for a career. He loves it so much that he does it in his spare time. He had a promising future at his work, but was suddenly laid off at the beginning of Dec. We were incredibly blessed to have a lot of people praying for us, suggesting places to apply to, and offering words of support. He was able to find a job within a week of being laid off!

I have had a fairly crazy year myself. After trying for over a year and a half, we found out I was pregnant at the end of May and found out it was another GIRL in Sept! We can't wait to meet her around Feb. 7, 2014. I sprained my back when I was a little over 3 months pregnant, so I have to be extra careful with how I move and what I lift, etc. I get to take Ella to dance and preschool; it's so fun to get to talk to her about what she's learned, or watch a new dance step she figured out. Things with my in-home job started getting more and more frustrating, so I began looking for a different job. I was lucky to find something close to home that had hours that worked for our family's schedule. I've really enjoyed the change, but it's also been very hard to leave home, and it's been really rough on Ella having me leave. Luckily that's coming to an end this week. After putting in my 2 weeks notice, Jer was laid off so I took back my notice. After Jer got his new job, we felt that I should re-submit my notice, so I did. I'm excited and nervous about my new life as a stay-at-home mom. I'm relieved that I won't have to leave my girl(s) to work anymore, and I'm really hoping I'll be able to get my house in order (although maybe not for awhile since I can't bend).

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I won!

A couple of weeks ago, I won a contest for emailing the show "Good Things Utah" on channel 4. The contest they've been running all month (there's a winner every day) is "The Greatest Gift You Ever Gave". I wrote in about a gift I gave my mom:

GTU,

For as long as I could remember, my mom NEVER wore her diamond engagement ring, just her plain wedding band. She always kept it in it's box in her jewelry drawer, and as I got older I became curious as to why she never wore it (it's simple but very pretty). She told me it was because the prongs had worn down and she was afraid the diamond would get lost. I felt so bad about this that when I had the money to, I snuck it out of her room, and took it to the jewelry store to have it re-pronged and cleaned. I almost didn't recognize it when I went to pick it up. I could hardly wait to give her her ring back, and when she opened the gift, she was so touched that she started to cry a little. It made me so happy to have given her so much joy and I love to see her wearing her ring again after so long (my parents have been married 40 years now)!

When they said they were going to announce the winner, I figured it probably wouldn't be me. Then they said my name and I thought....maybe it's a different Julianna Thorne (yeah right, I'm pretty sure there aren't that many of us in the world), then they read my email. I was in shock and kind of giddy! Anyway, I won this:Left to right: "Mickey's Magical Christmas", "Mickey Saves Santa: and other Mouseketales", "Winnie the Pooh: Seasons of Giving", "The Muppet Christmas Carol", "A Muppets Christmas", "Santa Buddies", "Snow Buddies", "Phineas and Ferb: A Very Perry Christmas", "Mickey's Christmas Carol", and "The Nightmare Before Christmas".
Over $200 worth of Christmas Disney DVDs! We've only heard of a couple of them, but they'll be great for when Ella's a little older, and for our future kiddos.

THANK YOU, "GOOD THINGS UTAH"!!


Oh, and by the way, has anyone else noticed how much more the word 'Christmas' is being said on T.V? I'm loving it! For awhile there they wanted to be PC or whatever and wouldn't say Christmas, but now people are saying it again! Yay!