Barbies or Hot Wheels

In our last post we asked many of you whether our first child would be a girl or a boy. The time has arrived and we now know whether our child is going to play with Barbies or Hot Wheels, or both. I was secretly hoping that it was going to be a boy and Jana was hoping for a girl. A couple weeks ago I had a feeling that it was going to be a girl and ever since then I have thought that it was going to be a girl. I bet you are all itching to find out what we found out. Our first child will be playing with Hot Wheels, even though she is a girl!

Boy or Girl?

This week we were able to inform both sets of our grandparents that we are expecting a new addition to the Hayward family. Now that we have told them we can publicy make it known that we are pregnant and will be having a baby this Summer. We found out that we were pregnant around Thanksgiving and it was confirmed around Christmastime when we had our first appointment with the doctor. We were very excited to hear the heartbeat for the first time and look forward to having more of these experience as the baby matures. We do not know whether it will be a boy or a girl yet but will know within the next couple of months and will definately keep you posted. Jana wants it to be a girl because she says that there are so many cute things to dress girls up in and she thinks that girls are cuter. She is also the oldest child in her family and thinks that it would be neat to share that common experience with her first child. I want it to be boy so that I can have male bonding moments and wear matching sweater vests to church. Honestly we will both be pleased with either one and are hoping that it will be a healthy baby. What do you think that it will be?

Cars!!!

Those of you that know me, know that I have a passion for cars. I have loved cars ever since I was little and will probaby continue this passion throughout the rest of my life. One of my youngest nephews also shares this interest and I get a little giddy when he decides to play with cars or watch the movie Cars. I would have to officially say that the creators of the movie Cars are great people for making a movie that I could get into and kept my attention for more than an hour. I have never been diagnosed with ADD but claim that I have a special condition called "Movie ADD," because of my inability to sit through a whole movie without falling asleep or getting bored.

As I have watched this movie I have noticed two things that stand out quite a bit, cars and Route 66. For our honeymoon, Jana and I were able to travel on part of Route 66 and see some scenery that we think was motivation for some of the scenes and characters in the movie Cars. After driving through this town and seeing these cars we had to purchase the movie Cars soon after our arrival in Pinetop, AZ. We thought it would cool if we could share these pictures with our family and friends. We hope you enjoy them.

Wigwam Motel in Holbrook, AZ, inspiration for the Cozy Cone Motel

Here are a few Cars character look-alikes.

From left to right: Hudson Hornet, Tow Mater and Ramone.

Feel free to check out the website listed below to see if you notice the similarities that we saw:

http://www.pixar.com/featurefilms/cars/pop4.html4.html.

A Very Merry Christmas

This was our first Christmas together and it has been filled with many great memories. It was filled with old traditions and possibly some new traditions.

Jana's family has a Christmas Eve tradition of eating pizza by candlelight so we went over there for dinner and to sing some traditional Christmas songs around the piano. After visiting with her family we ventured over to spend some time with my parents and watch " The Christmas shoes". It was a very good movie and I tried to be a helpful husband by wiping away her tears but I guess that I was smearing them across her face. I was starting to get a little teary eyed but I think that I would have to attribute that to the fact that I have sinuses. The truth is I was actually a little emotional because the show was very sad.

Christmas came and went very quickly but it was filled with many great memories of those we love the most, our family. Our main present for each other were these coats that we had found at Cabelas. My coat had arrived at the store but Jana's was on a backorder so I inquired with one of the associates that was ringing me up at the Sports Authority. She called one of their other stores and they actually had the coat that we wanted in stock so we bought it there instead. In the morning we went to Jana's parents and enjoyed a delicious brunch after we had finished unwrapping our presents. We then ventured over to my parents and enjoyed spending time with them even though the power had gone out at their house. It truly has been a Christmas that will be remembered for a very long time and it was nice to be able to spend it with our family.

We hope that all of you have had an enjoyable holiday and remember what Christmas means to you. Whether it is a special time of the year that is spent with family, or the birth of our beloved Savior. May you all enjoy the wonderful holiday season.

December Joys!

Sorry it has been so long since we have had an entry. Life has been busy. Since the last time we wrote Mark and I went to Arizona with his parents to be with his grandparents for Thanksgiving. It was nice to be somewhere warm. While down in Arizona we went to the Arizona Auto Show, which has become a traditional event for him whenever he visits his grandparents for Thanksgiving. We were also able to go and visit my cousin Julie to see her new house. It was nice to be able to see her and all of the Richards family.

The next cool thing that happened is that my brother came home from serving in the Macon, Georgia Mission. This picture you see is of me and him at my school. He came to see me since I didn't get to go to the airport. I was surprised to see him there, but it was a great surprise! When I introduced my parents and Charles to my class, the kids were completely silent. That ended when my family left...they were quickly back to their chattiness. Later that night Mark was able to meet Charles face to face because Charles was in Georgia when we were married in August.

We have also been spending some time with Jason, Shelli and their adorable baby Emzli, born on October 25th. I think that she is so cute. It is lots of fun to be able to have a new little baby in the family. This picture is from my mom and Jon's combined birthday celebrations. November and so far in December we have had lots of family time, which has been very nice.

It has taken us awhile, but we finally have a Christmas tree up and decorated! My co-worker gave us her old tree, and we gladly accepted. It is just the right size for our little apartment. I think it looks pretty cute. Mark helped decorate the tree, and he also sprayed our star so it would match the rest of the tree. We couldn't find a tree topper that we liked. Mark then found one that we both liked, but it was the wrong color. While I was at my parent's house on Saturday spraying my student's Christmas Ornaments green, Mark sprayed our star sliver. It looks very nice. I also took some time last week to put up all of my Nativity sets. I have 11 different sets, and I am working on embroidering one more. I think our place looks very nice. I also got out all my Christmas dishes. It has been fun eating on something new. Here are some pictures of the tree, the star and some of the Nativities.

Mark and I are looking forward to the time we get to spend together in the next few weeks. I only have 5 days left until my much needed Christmas break begins, and Mark also gets some time off from work. We will continue to enjoy the many fun time with our families this holiday season. If you would like to enjoy some nice reading, click on the Christmas Advent button on the right side of our blog. We have enjoyed reading a new entry everyday, feeling the spirit and being uplifted each time. Enjoy the holidays and the time you have to spend with your families!

A Little Bit Country

Tonight was another night where I was left at home to find wholesome entertainment and I was in luck because the CMA award show was on tonight. I was able to enjoy hearing my favorite country music star, George Strait. It was quite an enjoyable experience and I thought that to myself that I am a little bit country. There are many people that are a little bit country. As I watched the show I realized that Kid Rock is a little bit country by some of the music that he sings, but far from country in the way that he dressed up for the event. He was sporting some type of sports jersey and plenty of bling and some sunglasses that resembled those worn by John Denver or Hank Williams Jr. An outfit that did not fit well with the nice tuxedos and dresses that were worn by the other stars. I am a little bit country in the aspect that I love country music, going to rodeos, spending time in the outdoors, and really enjoy watching Pure Country, a movie starring George Strait. All in all I was able to keep myself entertained for a few hours while my lovely wife was spending time serving in her church calling, but I am still confused about what the heck Kid Rock was wearing.

Weekend Getaway For Two

My beautiful wife teaches school in Utah so she is able to enjoy a 4-day weekend known as Fall Break(UEA Weekend). I did not want her to be lonesome at home so I decided that I would take Friday off and spend it with her. We had been planning a small trip for a couple weeks and decided that we would go to bed and breakfast in Providence, Utah.

We stayed at the Providence Inn which has been around since the 1800's. It was originally a LDS chapel that was used by the early pioneers and has gone through several different renovations since then. We stayed in the Autumn Room which was a room that was constructed in the attic of this church building, which is an accommodation fitting those who are short in stature, though we still both bumped our heads. The hospitality was outstanding and we had an enjoyable stay.

Before we arrived at this fine establishment we had to stop and replenish Jana's supply of makeup. On our way to pick up the makeup we had seen a 1964 Chevy Nova coupe and I wanted to stop to see what the owners had done to it. I have a special place in my heart for bright red classic cars and had to stop but knew that we were on our way somewhere so I pleaded for Jana to let me see it during our stay in Logan and Providence. Jana's intuition told her that I really did not want to go watch her buy makeup so she told me that I could go look at the car while she was buying makeup. This made me very happy and I was able to scope out the Nova!

Later that day we played with the children of our friend Wendi and were able to spend some time with her mother, Melanie. She played with Kate and I played with Carter. He wanted me to help him find worms and in our search for worms we found two centipedes, two grasshoppers and one worm. After digging for worms we went for a walk to the park and enjoyed playing with the children. Jana and I had a lot of fun playing with the kids and I think that we wore ourselves out playing with them but it was a lot of fun. This trip helped me to realize some of the great joys in life and see life through the eyes of a child. Spending time with Jana and our dear friends has helped me to remember that life is to be enjoyed, not just endured!!