Summer Birthdays

After our road trip in June, we came and celebrated Ryan's birthday. A bit last minute with our planning for him but he still had a good day.

A couple weeks later, Oliver's birthday needed celebrating. It was on the Friday of Girls Camp which I was at for the week. I was coming home on his birthday and saw him for a few minutes to transition children as he headed out to Lehi for a parade that night. But the boys and I got him an ice cream cake and were able to celebrate with him even if only briefly. We kept the celebration going by driving up to Idaho to visit his brother and family. The main reason for this was to let him and brother Charlie go hike the highest point of Idaho. While 1000 feet shorter than the highest point in Utah (Kings Peak), Borah Peak is a little more challenging with a glacier to cross and a spot titled "Chicken-Out Ridge."

At State High Point #9 (I think) on June 30, 2014

While we partied with siblings & cousins, etc., Chelsea said that they should keep Ryan until Friday(The 4th of July). So we left Ryan for 3 nights for his first time really away from home. He had a blast. And then on the 4th of July, Oliver's parents and grandmother came to watch Oliver march with the band in the parade in town. Then we all went to celebrate his grandmother's birthday and that's where we met up with Ryan again. We "camped" out in the back yard and had a good time being with family for the 4th.
Now, the last summer birthday has come and gone. Yesterday was my birthday. We decided to go to Bear Lake for my birthday adventure. I've never been there and I thought it'd be fun to go some place new and some place the boys would have fun too. And we all did.

We got a raspberry shake, went to the North Beach on the Idaho side of the lake, rented a canoe, and played on the sandy beach and in the shallow water.

Then we drove all the way around the lake, grabbed some dinner in Logan and came home. It was a great day. Not only that, but I also got a package the day before from my mother full of turtle pretzel rods from Nauvoo. They might last the week.

And now only a few more adventures before school starts in a couple weeks.

Miracle

On Mother's Day, I wrote a post that I never published. One of those things that I should save for my journal, but don't really want to go back now and publish "for the world."
One thing I mentioned in that post was how hard it was to keep having hope for another child. We had been trying to get pregnant for almost a year and a half with no glimpses of even a mistaken pregnancy. I was struggling with it and commiserated with a few dear friends who have struggled with infertility themselves, one even describing the journey as a monthly rollercoaster. And I completely understood, but since I had 2 handsome boys already and wasn't sure if I should be worried about the amount of time it'd been taking us to get pregnant, I didn't talk to anyone and let the wound fester in my heart.
Shortly after writing all those thoughts, I was getting really tired. I found myself taking naps during the day but honestly contributed some of that to the idea that perhaps I was depressed and couldn't find motivation to do anything else but sleep. A little while later I realized that my dreams were getting strange. Not only were they more vivid than normal, but the mere fact that I was having them and remembering them was strange. One afternoon, I was trying to tell Oliver something and just couldn't think of the right words and was feeling...well...stupid. He said, Are you pregnant? I kind of laughed at him, then thought about it and went to find a pregnancy test in the bathroom. This was the second time I had taken a pregnancy test in the last 5 months (I got over excited a few months previous, and apparently can't count so I thought my period was late) and so I was anxious. Was it for real this time? Or was it just my body messing with my head and my head messing with my emotions? And you know what, that little stick showed that I was pregnant. I couldn't quite believe it. I went back and showed Oliver, who very reservedly said, "Huh," followed by an adorable cheesy grin.
Over the next week or so, when I was supposed to be preparing for our upcoming giant road trip, I felt ill, like life was better in a horizontal position than sitting or standing. I never threw up, just didn't feel normal. I wasn't sure if I would be able to even handle a giant road trip. Luckily the day before we were planning on leaving, I finally felt a little better and during the majority of the road trip itself, I felt fine. I had hoped to see a doctor before we left, but the place I finally got in touch with said they don't see pregnant women until they are in the 8-10 weeks of their pregnancy and I would've only been in my 6th or 7th (likely).
During our road trip, I was able to feel normal, but also feel well enough to contribute to some of the driving and participate in all the walking we did as well. The only time where I realized I was pushing myself too far was the day we went to the Omaha Zoo. We walked around that place for 6 or 7 hours I think and towards the end, I was physically weak. I just wanted to lay down and ended up leaning on Oliver a lot through the Desert Dome or whatever it was called. Not too much to be suspicious by Oliver's parents or Ryan, but man...that was a rough day.
It may have been silly to not tell anyone while we were right there with them and to get the hugs and see their excitement or whatever emotion the announcement would have elicited, but we've been pretty consistent in keeping  the secret during the first trimester...just in case something goes wrong. I hadn't been to a doctor yet and who knows, maybe my body was just breaking down and I wasn't really pregnant. It has been 6 1/2 years since I was last pregnant, so who knows what this body is going to do. Either way, I knew I wanted Ryan to be the first person to be told and we just hadn't had the right moment yet.
The day after Ryan's birthday, I had my doctor's appointment. I didn't know exactly what to expect, since I'd never been to this office before (or any other doctor in this new county of ours) so was pleasantly surprised to find out that I wouldn't be hearing this baby, but I would be seeing this baby instead. I've never had an ultrasound this early before and was just amazed to know that, yes, there was a miraculous thing happening in my uterus. the doctor kept saying, I hardly ever get such good pictures this early, this is great. I didn't care, I could have laid there for a lot longer as she was showing me this child inside me. Large round head, little body, fingers and arms up by the face. And to see that little heart beating so fast...I was in awe. I am so grateful. For so many things. I am so nervous at the same time. Why can't I be as confident about childbirth as I was 8 & 6 years ago?
Either way, this is miraculous. And our little family is blessed.

Excitement of a 6 year old

After our trip, we had a short day to recover before Ryan turned 6. Oliver let him invite a friend over to make pizza and then I went with him to go bowling. His choice! Yay, he loves me! (when we gave him the option of going to a movie or go bowling and that he could choose who took him, that's what he picked, because "Daddy went bowling with me last year.") He got a cake and chose dinner and we had a good day celebrating our happy youngest child.
The next day we told him some exciting news.
"Ryan, what is something that you've wanted to have for a long time?"
"Umm...a dog."
"A cheetah."
"A...." who knows what else he said.
I pulled out a little ultrasound photo and we eventually got to the news that I was pregnant and he was going to be a big brother. He was so excited. He was the one to break the news to both sets of grandparents and he loved hearing them say, "REALLY?!"
The next day we called our siblings and I only got a little reprimand from them about not telling them when I had seen them the week before.
This photo was posted onto facebook two weeks ago to share our excitement with others.

That face on the bottom is his exact reaction to the grandparents' reaction of "REALLY?!"
I heard him say a few times to people "Two things have happened! I'm 6! My mom is pregnant!"
Now that its been a few weeks and we aren't really doing a whole lot or talking a whole lot about a baby, its worn off a little, but I'm glad we got these pictures.

Road Trip 2014- Week 2

Day 8 was relaxing. We went to church with Grammy & Pop then spent the afternoon with Casey & crew and Mitchell & crew.

 Ryan had so much fun playing with his cousins. And Oliver helped Pop try to fix a broken mower belt and tried to help mow Hope Cemetery. Ryan also played Sorry with whoever would sit with him and attempted to learn Dutch Blitz. The joy of old games that we don't have in our house so they are new to him.

Day 9 we were planning on driving to Chicago but I was too tired and the idea of driving 6 hours round trip made me even more tired. So instead we went to a park and got some Kastle Kreme where #2 food item was an orange and vanilla  twist cone. Yay. Then we had family home evening with Grammy that night and tried to figure out our plans for the rest of the week.
Day 10 we drove south to Nauvoo for a little while. Food item #3-turtle pretzel rods...Mmm...I bought two and Oliver made me save the second one for a couple days because I would be too sad when it was all gone. I was sad. But they were so good. Ryan and I wandered through the Women's Statue Garden at the visitors center and then went to the blacksmith shop before heading south to Quincy.

Replication of a wedding photo. This is where Ollie proposed.

Our awesome photographer child.

Casey met us and we went for a swim at the Kroc Center with her and Trevor and then had fun with them and Alexia and Kimo the rest of the night. Thanks Alexia and Kara for letting us sleep in your room.
Day 11 we said good bye to the kids and began our journey back west. We drove into Missouri and south to find the Missouri state high point.

This high point has the smallest view-just more trees. Taum Sauk Mountain has a nice paved walkway to it and if you drive a little bit away from the actual high point there is another viewing area that shows a variety of mountains around you.

The downside...somehow I got a tick...on my belly. I was very disturbed...partly because I didn't discover it until I took a shower the next morning. Boo. Anyway. We had talked about camping near Taum Sauk, but we had arrived early in the afternoon and Oliver didn't want to stop driving yet. So instead we went and explored Elephant Rocks State Park, walked along its Braille Trail and then found a hotel near Rolla, MO.

Day 12 we drove north to Columbia and had lunch with Neal & Denean at Shakespeare's Pizza (a local Columbia restaurant) and got a little tour of one of the fire stations before heading west to Excelsior Springs to visit Jo & family. Ryan had a great time here as well where Grace and Mikayla catered to his every whim. They played the games he made up and drove him around on the golf cart and then let him play all their video games. He loved it.

Day 13 we left Jo at lunchtime and got my food item #4-Steak 'n' Shake. Then we drove west into Kansas. We found Aunt Betty and Uncle Dennis and my cousin Clint and family. We also watched some cars drive up and down the strip while we played soccer outside. Ryan convinced Betty and Daddy to play Don't Break the Ice a couple times before bed plus got two servings of strawberry cake.

Day 14 we left bright and early after a delicious breakfast to find the Kansas state high point. This was the first moment during the entire trip that Evan started to show dislike for the amount of time in the car. He had loved the trip up to this point, and even got into the van eagerly. But 15 minutes into the driving, he was very dissatisfied and showed it by hitting me and Ryan without restraint.

At our 3000 mile mark, we were heading south toward I-70 in Kansas.

There's Mt. Sunflower. Don't you see it?

Our awesome Peakbagger. #7 I believe.

Mt. Sunflower is off in the middle of nowhere like a mile east of the Colorado border. After reaching that high point we drove to Aurora, Colorado to spend some time with our old friends Amber & Brian and their happy children.

Again, Ryan was in heaven to be surrounded by kids. We went out to eat with them to a "Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives" place called Sam's No. 3. We had a VERY long wait, but at least the food was good in the end.
Day 15 was Father's Day! Oliver I love you and couldn't have done this trip without you nor half of the things I've done in my life since meeting you. Thank you for being the father to our children and my forever companion. We went to church with our fun friends where the men were honored by being served as many slices of pie as they wanted during the last 20 minutes of church. Then Amber and her friend organized a delicious lunch for their husbands and allowed us to eat and run. Our goal at this point: hit the Nebraska high point and then attempt to make it home...It would be a challenge because it'd be a long way to go, but I just wanted to get home and couldn't fight the draining that would happen to my energy if we tried to camp again that night. So we tried to follow the instructions that Google gave us that had a few slightly wrong street names but we did eventually find Panorama Point in Nebraska, Oliver's 8th state high point so far.

Road looking north

Road toward the high point

On the comfy bench they provided, looking not out toward the rest of Nebraska, but back toward Colorado.

Then we began the long drive across Wyoming. We realized that when we finally came across Rawlins that we had made a complete circle in our travels and were almost home. Oliver got us safely home at 2am on technically Day 16 where we all fell asleep happily in our own beds.

Our 4000 mile marker was hit as we were on the last stretch of road home.

Side note: apparently I didn't get any pictures of the family I was travelling so far to see. One of Pop and a few cousins, but none of my siblings and hardly any in Missouri except for the high point. Silly me. I still love them even if I am not visually acknowledging them.