Merry Christmas!

We just want to wish all of our friends and family a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

Finalist (too)

Erik told me about a photo contest for scenic pictures and I entered it. I just got an email letting me know that I'm a semi-finalist in that contest as well. Here's the picture, it's one that I took last year when Erik and I were in Southern Utah. It's a picture of Pine Valley Mountain.

Finalist

We just found out that Jordyn is a finalist in a photo contest (YEAH!!). Here is the photo that helped her to get there.

We can send in 5 more photos to help convince the judges that our baby is the cutest. I've narrowed it down to these seven, I just need your help picking out which five would impress the panal of judges the most. PLEASE let me know what you think, I'm a mom, and can't eliminate any of them, so I need an outside opinion. Thanks for all your help. (the pictures are numbered from top to bottom)

 

 

 

Zugner Family 2007 Newsletter

As Erik and I sit here contemplating the highlights of the past year one event keep coming to mind, my pregnancy which ended in Jordyn’s birth. I’m sure you don’t want to be bored with all of the details, so here are a few highlights that we’ve picked out. Erik and I started the year off with a bang. I surprised him a few days after New Years by bringing home a pregnancy test, which as we all now know, came out positive. A few weeks later we got an appointment with our OB and had those results confirmed.
Our OB, Dr. Thomas Ryan, was an awesome doctor. He was very friendly, and made sure that Erik was involved in every appointment (yes, Erik came to every appointment with me, except one). We decided not to tell anyone about the pregnancy for a little while, we ended up telling our parents at about week 12 by sending them bibs that said “My favorite website: www.grandma.com” and a little poem “Winnie the Pooh, and Tigger too, are here to say, Amy and Erik have a baby on the way.” (Our nursery theme is Winnie the Pooh). It’s a good thing we included the poem or Grandmother’s would have wondered why we were sending them a bib, they didn’t get the hint from just that.
When those packages arrived, and the news sunk in, phones were ringing off the hook; we had two very excited grandmas on our hands. Of course, the first questions were when

are you due, and what are you having. The first question changed within the first few months of the pregnancy. At our first appointment, we were told September 5th and at our appointment at 16 weeks, we were told September 3rd (where it stayed for the remainder of the pregnancy). As far as what we were having, we didn’t know then, and didn’t find out until Jordyn was born. This was not due to choice. Jordyn was a very modest baby and kept her self covered very well. She didn’t let us see her little parts and kept us all guessing until the end, which was fine for us, we didn’t care either way.
Knowing that our lives were about to change, Erik and I took advantage of the time that we had as a childless couple and did things that we wouldn’t be able to do for a while. We continued our tradition of going to the temple each month, and were able to do that until August. We also went to a Houston Astros baseball game, a New Orleans Voodoo arena football game, and several New Orleans Zephyrs minor league baseball games. We got tickets to the Lynyrd Skynyrd/ Hank Williams Jr. Rowdy Friends concert and a Kenny Chesney concert. We made a trip to Utah in May, got to see Erik’s mom, and two brothers, Scott and Trevor in July, and enjoyed a visit from Toni and her friend Sara in August.
Along with all this, I worked up until the Saturday before Jordyn was born. Erik was still working two jobs and working on his Master’s degree. Needless to say the pregnancy went by fairly quickly (except for the last week or so when I was ready to get the baby out, but she wanted to stay put).
The past three months, since Jordyn was born, have been the filled most trying, tiring, wonderful experiences. Erik and I just adore our little girl and are grateful that she’s part of our family. We are surprised and amazed by her daily.
We are grateful for all of our friends and family who have helped us and supported us throughout this past year. We love you all and can’t wait until we get to see you again. We want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Our Christmas Trees

Yes, we have more than one Christmas tree, in fact we have three. I am allergic to real Christmas trees, and our fake one is buried in storage so this year I went to Michael's and got this set of three trees. They fit nicely in front of our fireplace (which we never use). I'll have to say that my "tree hunting" experience wasn't as fun as those I've read about thus far and I hope that one day my allergies settle down so that I can go tree hunting (for a REAL tree) with my own little family. On that note, we want to wish all of our friends and family a very Merry Christmas. We hope that everyone has a great holiday wherever they may be.

Santa

Erik and I took Jordyn to see Santa Claus while he was visiting Lakeside Mall. We weren't sure how she'd react to a bearded stranger holding her, especially since she was just getting over a cold, but as you can see from the picture she didn't mind one bit. (for those of you who are wondering, her shirt says, "All my mommy wants for Christmas is a silent night)

Thanksgiving

This year we have been very BLESSED. A beautiful baby girl joined our family and on Thanksgiving day, a day when we recount all of our many BLESSINGS, our little angel was given an name and a BLESSING. At this special occasion, we were BLESSED to have both sets of granparents. Our little family is BLESSED to have the love and support from extended family and great friends. We are BLESSED to have food on our table and a roof over our heads. We are BLESSED to live in a free country where we can worship our Heavenly Father as we choose. We are BLESSED to belong to a religion that has the fullness of the gospel. We are Blessed that Erik is able to hold the priesthood, and had the opportunity to pronounce a beautiful BLESSING upon Jordyn. Most of all, we are BLESSED that we have a Heavenly Father who loves us enough to send His Son down to earth to die for us. We are BLESSED that our Elder Brother, Jesus Christ, also loves us enough to die for us that we may return to live with Him and one another again some day. We have been very BLESSED in our lives and hope the we continue to remember our many BLESSINGS and the loving Heavenly Father who gives us all things.


The blessing that Erik pronounce upon Jordyn was beautiful (though after a long pause while giving her a name, I'd thought he he was contemplating changing her name on me, which my grandpa did when blessing my mom). Along with Erik, Grandpa Stratton (my dad), Great-Grandpa Stratton (my grandpa), Uncle Colt (my brother), Uncle Lee (my mom't brother), and Bishop Campbell (my paren't bishop and a long time family friend) join in the blessing of Jordyn. Also present were my mom, my grandma Stratton, my sister Heather and her family, my little sister Toni, Erik's parents, and my Uncle Lee's family. My parent's house was full of people, and full of love, and one very special little girl is what brought us all together.