If life reflected what our blog looks like, things would be pretty stale. Fortunately times are changing in the Bolster household. Since it has been a while since I have posted I’ll make the most important announcement first: Anna is pregnant.

Anna is due with our new baby girl at the end of June, 2008. Yes, I know, we’ve taken forever to announce it here, but that’s how the cookie crumbles sometimes. So far baby girl is doing pretty well. Anna hasn’t been too crazy during pregnancy and has only made food demands like Chicken McNuggets from McDonald’s a few times.

We took some pictures on Sunday to show the growing belly.

We are way excited, though I still look at her once a week and ask “Are you sure you’re pregnant?” or “So when the baby comes, I only have to change one diaper right?”

It has been fun to get later into the pregnancy and feel the kicks of the baby. She tends to come out the most when we’re watching a movie together. We’re truly blessed and humbled with this great new endeavor.

Bob and I have been watching time fly by these past few months. Tons of great excitement has come and the blessings have been pouring in.

I had the opportunity to go to the Guild of Bookworkers Standards Conference in Dallas in mid-October. It was the opportunity of a lifetime – it was truly amazing. I got to meet many of my bookbinding heros, learn some great skills and tips, and it was just amazing to be around people that care about the same thing that I do.

Bob did a good job in setting up a surprise party for me on my 28th birthday. Honestly, he really had me thinking that we were just going to do a whole lot of nothing except watch the Red Sox game at our friends Caitlin and Jared’s house. But with all of that none excitement from him, I managed to make us over a half hour late for the affair. Yeah – not even on time for my own surprise party.

On November 10th, I was apart of the Houston Book Fair at the Printing Museum, where I was able to sell my first book – actually first seven! It was a great opportunity for me to get out and see what the selling would be like, and find out the response to my work. I am really happy with all that happened there, and the future that I feel my work will be taking.

After the Book Fair, we boogied down to Corpus to send Bob’s sister Becky off on her mission. It was a joyous time, but a sad time too, as we said goodbye to Sestera Bolster for a year and a half, as she serves the people in Slovenia and Croatia.

Plans and preparations for Thanksgiving filled our time afterward as we had a shift in plans and moved Thanksgiving up to Dallas for this year. We had the Corpus crew at our house Wednesday night – which now consists of Bob’s parents, his sister Sylvia, their exchange student Daniel, and their new “children” – two lab puppies Chispa and Lucy. Then we enjoyed a turkey feast at Bryan and Kelly’s on Thursday – and they had all of us sleeping there Thursday night. Nine people and three dogs got a little crowded, but it was a fun time. Bob and I had some errands to run in Houston, and we took off Friday morning. We enjoyed some more time with Bob’s parents and their posse as they passed on through on their way back to Corpus on Saturday night. It was a great time to be together as family, and give thanks for the many blessings that we receive each and every day.

Now we are closing out November and looking forward to the Christmas season. The house is getting decked out, and our calendar is filling up with great Christmas events, and time with friends and family. We will keep you posted on all the fun!

I’m officially deeming the last four months the summer of travel. I have traveled a ton for work and Anna and I have traveled for vacation too. Here is the breakdown on my travel since April:

This is Bob’s travel schedule. Anna didn’t do any travel for business, but she did make it out to her nephew’s wedding in Utah. I get tired just looking at that list of travel. The vacation time has been wonderful, but that is a lot of time away from home.

Anna and I are in New Jersey for my cousins weddings. We went into the city yesterday and had a great time running around Times Square, Union Square, and other places. Regardless of where we are, it is great to be with family. All my family, except Stephen who is on a mission, is hanging out here in the hotel. We are crazy and just enjoy hanging out together.

Our blog has been dead! From the looks of this, one could assume that we have disappeared off the face of the earth – maybe becoming double agents – or we have just become so boring that there has been nothing to write about. Unfortunately, it is more like the second of the two… life has been just giving us the same old, same old the past couple months – Bob traveling to New Orleans during the weeks, I am at home trying to get out of the house as much as possible. But life is still entertaining nonetheless and I will be posting a few of our stories this week desperately trying to make up for our 3 month deficit.

Here’s the first.

Ever been so frustrated, that you take out your anger on a poor, innocent squirrel? Well, I did – and on a Sunday morning none the less. Bob was driving us to church, trying to tune me out the best he could as he tries to wake up still, I realized that had forgotten yet another thing for Primary, and in my frustration, I look at an innocent, rather stupid looking squirrel sitting in the road and says, “Gee, why don’t you just hit him? What a stupid animal.” After I continues on a long tirade about how squirrels move like they are being electrocuted all the time, and are so dumb, and my life would somehow be easier if that one squirrel was gone Bob chimes in to defend the rodents by singing, “All Creatures of Our God and King…” which I start to make up a squirrel verse that went something like this:

All creatures of our God and King
The Squirrel is the stupidest that He brings
You look like a fried druggie
And now the car is speeding

And it eventually finishes with a “Ale-le-lu-SPLAT!” Going in to church I have to admit that I had that smug “I still have some humor, even if I am in a bad mood” look, for the dumbest song that I have ever made up. Seriously, I was so childish and pouty – and for really no reason. It was classic. But the last laugh was yet to be had… as we raced in to find seats – the organ started up for the opening hymn and of all 337 hymns it just had to be… you guessed… All Creatures of Our God and King. Both of us tried to sing, but we were laughing too hard, with tears streaming down our eyes, as everyone else there at church turned to shake their heads in disgust or in pity of our lost sanity.

Bob failed to mention in his blog that he has signed up to play Settlers of Catan online now.  He did this Thanksgiving day, and made everyone (yes – all 10 of us) wait to eat Thanksgiving dinner while he was finishing up a game. Now 143 games later – I have been waiting to do a lot of stuff while he plays…

The other thing that Bob “forgot” to mention is that while he was watching the BYU/Utah game, there was a pot of black beans burning (literally sending up smoke) on the stove – and the entire house stunk, because he was so into the game that he didn’t take enough notice to do anything about it. The lost beans were worth the win though!