Christmas pictures

I thought I would put my Christmas newsletter on here. A lot of the information is things that I already put on the blog, but you are welcome to read it. Merry Christmas and a happy new year, you all!!!



Dear family and friends,
This year has been one of changes and excitement for Brandon and me! This past year I finished teaching 5th grade and Brandon graduated from BYU-Idaho. After that, we moved to Ridgecrest, California in the hopes of settling down in Brandon’s hometown. Since we were both able to get jobs here, I think that we made the right choice.

Right now I’m a long-term Kindergarten substitute at Faller Elementary School. Brandon is working on the China Lake Naval Base as a Java Developer. His job has been a big blessing for our family. Because he has such a great job here, we are looking around at houses in the area so that we can settle down. That, for me, is very good news since our first baby is also on the way (coming around April 20th). We recently found out that the baby will be a girl. I’m so excited- bring on the frilly dresses and bows!

We are loving life right now. We can’t even imagine the fun and excitement of the upcoming year. I’m sure that we’ll have all sorts of fun baby stories to tell next year. We hope that you all have a merry Christmas and a happy new year!!!

Love you all!
Brandon and Christina MacGregor

The baby is a....

This picture is of the baby at 12 weeks. I need to get a more current one. But until then, you can see our little gummy bear. Isn't the baby cute??? :-)

So, for the big news...our baby is a girl! Yay!!! I would've been okay with having a boy baby. Boys and girls are both fun in their own way. But now that I know that I'm having a girl, I can dream of cute frilly dresses and bows in my baby's hair.

Brandon is excited, too. He did inform me that he hopes our little girl plays sports like him. I say if he can get her up for 5 am basketball (when she's old enough), then that's awesome. I do like that he's happy about the news, and as excited as I am.

So below are some pictures of things that I hope she's interested in:




Books



Bows



Dresses


Ballroom Dancing


musical instruments








Of course, if she's not into these things, it's okay. I know each baby comes into the world with their own personality. But man oh man, I'm just so excited that we are having a girl!

So the name that we are thinking of is Ariadne (pronounced: Air-ee-add-knee). Brandon and I first heard the name on the movie "Inception," and we really liked it. I researched it some more recently, and found out it actually is a greek mythological name. It means "most holy." Here is the story about it below:

http://www.theoi.com/Georgikos/Ariadne.html

While I'm not totally fond of the whole story behind her name, I do like the fact that her name is associated with being very smart. In the story, Ariadne gives a thread to Theseus to help him get out of a maze. So now her name is used when trying to solve complicated puzzles:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariadne's_thread_(logic)


This post is getting a little long, so I should probably end it. I'm just so excited and happy about the future. I get to make all sorts of plans and get cute baby things. Yay for babies! And double yay for baby girls!!!

Brandon's Graduation

Since Brandon's college graduation was so momentous, I thought I'd put some pictures on here. And thanks again to all his family who came to it- you are all amazing and we love you!

New updates

So...I haven't been on this blog in forever. Quick updates: Brandon graduated from BYU-Idaho, and we moved to Ridgecrest, CA. He is now working as a Java Developer on the China Lake Naval Base. Because he has such a great job here, we are looking around at houses in the area so that we can settle down. That, for me, is very good news since our first baby is also on the way. We get to find out tomorrow if the baby is a boy or girl. Yay!

Here is a prego picture of me. I'm about 19 weeks long, but I don't look it. (I've heard many times that your first pregnancy takes the longest for you to show. I hope that it's true.) :-)




I also dyed my hair. It was supposed to be brown, but since I have a reddish tint to my hair, I got red instead. I still like it. Here's some pics of what it looks like:





So that's the news in our neck of the woods. I'll post more baby details tomorrow- I can't wait!!! :-D

First Kiss at 3 am- Brandon and my story :-D

Since it's just after Valentine's Day, I thought I'd share the story about how Brandon and I first met, and our first kiss story.

Brandon and I met freshman year of college. I'll admit, I was pretty shy when it came to boys. I didn't date much in high school, and I guess it showed. I was extremely awkward. I hadn't even had my first kiss yet. :-)

Brandon and I were put together as FHE brother and sister. We started to hang out the first semester of college, but just as friends. In December, I invited him out to a girl-ask-boy dance. I did so, thinking that he didn't like me as much as I liked him. However, he must have like me at least somewhat, because our relationship sped up after that point.

Fast forward to January. Things had been building up gradually to that point. Then we had a huge snowball fight. I know- how many times does a snowball fight lead to love? It did that day, though. A whole wintery flurry of love. I went to bed that night, all happy about the exciting night that we had had.

The following morning, around 3 am, my roommate came into my room. She told me to quickly brush my teeth and go outside. I had no idea what was going on. I groggily made my way to the bathroom, brushed my teeth, and waddled outside. Brandon stood there, looking very nervous.

Sleepingly, I looked at him. Everything was a bit of a blur (I honestly don't do well at 3 am). I bluntly asked him why he wasn't in bed. He informed me that he couldn't sleep. Confused, I asked him why. He said, "Because of this..," and then he leaned forward. He held my face and sweetly kissed me, but I didn't kiss back. The kiss didn't even register. I just stared at him in bewilderment. He smiled, and then said, "I guess I'll see you later," and then left.

I went inside. My roommate was sitting on the couch. She asked what had happened, and I told her that I had just gotten my first kiss. She started to scream and jump around, and then she asked me what I did after I was kissed. I told her that I had just stood there. Her screaming stopped, and she looked at me like I was an idiot. "You have to call him now and let him know that you liked it!" she demanded. Since I was not the connoisseur of love, I agreed to do just that.

I called Brandon's apartment, and- thinking he was the only one up at 3 am- exclaimed, "How do you expect me to sleep after that?!!"

On the other end of the line, I hear a quiet, "Um...Christina? This is Neil. Do you want me to go and get Brandon?" I sheepishly told his roommate that I did.

After talking on the phone that night, having many more long conversations on the phone and IM, and Brandon serving a two year mission for our church, we finally got married. I feel very blessed to be married to my best friend. The past couple years of marriage have been amazing! It just goes to show that a friendship, that led to an awkward first kiss, can lead to a FANTASTIC marriage and a lot of laughs. And as for me, I don't think that I would want it any other way. :-)