Douglas Reunion

 This year we had the Douglas Reunion at Crystal Hot Springs.  We reserved three campground spots on the end of the campground, which gave us more room for the kids to play.  The weather couldn't have been better.  It was nice in the day and cool at nights.

The kids had a fun time exploring down by the lake.  They even saw a snake that they tried to catch.  They played Frisbee and pretending to be ninja warriors.  Everyone arrived on Thursday night.  We ate our own dinner that night as we set up our trailers and tents.  Bryce and I were able to bring up Jade and Easton for the first night. They enjoyed their time playing with cousins, aunts and uncles, and grand parents that they rarely get to visit.

On Friday morning, we had the Douglas scones and I made Carrie's salsa because she was not there.  She just had her little baby, Echo, and so they came up to visit on Friday evening.  After we devoured the scones, the kids set off to head down to the pool.  Clayton had so much fun going on the slide with Bryce.  He also had a good time swimming in the warm pools with his new life jacket.

Cooper spent most of his day going down the slide over and over again with all his cousins.  They did spend some time in the warm pools and out in the Olympic size pool.  They came back to eat lunch and then headed back down there after lunch. It's nice that he is old enough and big enough to go with his cousins and be safe in the water.  I swam a little bit, but I wasn't supposed to get in the hot tubs, so I mostly just watched the boys play with their dad.

On Friday night, we grilled hot dogs and hamburgers for dinner.  The food was great and after dinner, the adults just visited and some of the kids went back to the pools for a few hours.  We made a campfire and made smores and roasted Star bursts.

On Saturday, we ate eggs, pancakes and bacon for breakfast.  We mostly sat around and visited while we started packing up  our things.  It was a fun, relaxing little reunion.  It was nice to have most of the family out so we could build relationships and have a good time with each other.

Story of In Vitro Round #3

Bryce and I decided to go back to the U of U Infertility Clinic.  We met with Dr. Johnstone in March and by April; I had started my birth control pills.  I ended the pills the first weekend of May.  I started the Lupron shots in my stomach the first of May.  I went in on May 8 for my Screening Ultrasound.  They were able to see that I had many follicles and that my uterus and everything looked great.  On May 13^th, I started on the FSH shots.  These consisted of REpronex (stomach) and Gonal (stomach).  My stomach did not appreciate these shots.  They bruised and put knots in my stomach.  On May 20^th, I went in for an ultrasound to see how my follicles were doing.  I had almost 20 follicles and they were doing really well.  After the ultrasound, they drew my blood to check my estrogen levels.  I came back the next day to do another ultrasound and Dr. Johnstone said the follicles were ready to retrieve.

On May 22^nd, I started taking Doxycyclene (antibiotic) and Bryce gave me the HCG shot that night at exactly 8:45 pm.  The next morning, I went in at 8:15.  They had a hard time hooking up an IV.  I only got stuck 3 times, but it finally worked.  As soon as I got into the procedure room, they gave me the drugs and I fell asleep instantly.  While under, they were able to retrieve 16 eggs. The fertilized them immediately.  I had a hard time waking up, but I finally woke up enough to have a cracker and some apple juice.  We didn’t make it down the road very far before I threw up in a Chevron parking lot.  After that I slept most of the way home.  When I got home, I slept for almost the entire day.  That night, just 30 seconds after I took more meds, I threw up again in a bowl.  Bryce and I had to sift through the vomit to make sure my pills weren’t in it.  I felt much better after that and was able to get in bed and sleep the rest of the night.

On May 25^th, the embryologist called and said we had 12 embryos that were dividing and all doing well.  My embryo transfer would be on Tuesday May 28^th.  When we went to the doctor on Tuesday morning, Dr Petersen was our doctor for the day.  He told us that we had six good embryos.  He told us that according to some chart, it was recommended that I only transfer one embryo because of my age and because my embryos were top quality.  He left the room and told us to have a “family council”.  When he came back in, we decided to go with two embryos.  He gave me some Valium to help settle me down. I watched as he sucked the embryos in the tube and insert them into my uterus.  They were ultra-sounding me at the same time, so he showed me exactly where they were placed after it was finished.  When he was done, he said, “Jennifer, you have conceived. Your babies are in your uterus now.  You will be in my thoughts and prayers.” I started crying because this meant a lot to me.  

I was propped back in the chair for 30 minutes.  When the nurses came in, the Valium had taken effect and they put me in a wheel chair and we headed for home.  Bryce and I had to stop at a pharmacy to pick up some more Lupron because I had to do one more shot the next day.  When we stopped, I had to go to the bathroom, so he put me in a wheelchair, took me in, helped me get into the bathroom, and they got me back in the truck.  My limbs would not function on that Valium.  When we got home, Bryce helped me stumble down the stairs and into the Love boy recliner.  I inhaled three slices of Little Caesars pizza and then slept for three hours straight.  I never heard Bryce leave.  My neighbor across the street, who has become a real dear friend to me, brought dinner into our family that night.  It was so good.  I was on bed rest that day and the next day.  I had to take it easy for the next five days.   

Yesterday, June 9, 2013, Bryce and I headed down to the clinic to get my blood drawn to find out if I was pregnant.  We left that office at 8:30 am and came home.  We stayed pretty busy making breakfast, reading, and preparing lessons while we waited for the news.  When 10:30 a.m. came and went, I was started to get antsy.  My heart was pounding so hard.  They finally called around 11 and said, “I have good news.  You are pregnant.  Your HCG number is at 490.  You need to come back on Tuesday and do one more blood draw and then schedule a viability ultrasound on June 24^th”.  I was so happy and relieved, that I started to cry.  What a blessing! I am thankful to have the opportunity to be a mother to another child.  I have been blessed to have so much individual time with each of my boys.  Part of my feels like I am cheating them right now, but I know that will change as the pregnancy develops.

It was a hard two weeks to wait on an answer.  I really tried to find an answer from the Spirit before they told us over the phone.  I had many things that stuck out in my mind, yet it is so hard to discern the meaning of them.  This past week, the scripture, 1 Nephi 3:7 kept coming to me and I actually came across it 3 times during the week.  “I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commanded them.” I have definitely felt like the Lord has provided adoption and IVF as a means for us to accomplish having a family.  

Another scripture that kind of reached out to me this past week was 1 Nephi 7: 12.  It is one that I have highlighted and I have read it many times but the word “if” in this scripture is what spoke to my mind. “Yea, and how is it that ye have forgotten that the Lord is able to do all things according to this will, for the children of men, if it so be that they exercise faith in him. Wherefore, let us be faithful to him.”  I feel like I have learned a lot about faith this past 2 years, and I was putting my faith in the fact that Heavenly Father has a plan for our family and He knows what is best for our family.  After reading this scripture, I decided to have faith that this IVF would work and try to tell myself that it would.

Three nights before we found out, I just broke down to Bryce and told him how I had been “trying” so hard to find an answer.  I had been reading the scriptures and listening to conference talks and praying, and pondering.  Bryce told me that I had done all I could do and that I needed to give it to the Lord and let him take care of it from here.  It actually made me feel better and I felt more at peace than I had previously. 

On Saturday night, I was reading my book called, “Abinidi”.  In this book, I was at a part where the spirit was talking to Abinidi and the thought came to him…Have Faith. Have Faith.  As simple as that might seem, those words really helped me relax that night.  I kept telling myself, “This is the answer, Jenn. Have faith. Believe.”  I even woke up multiple times this night and told myself over and over. “Have faith.” 

I am thankful that Heavenly Father has been patient with me as I am learning to discern some of the thoughts and scriptures that come into my life.  It was definitely an inner battle I was fighting these past two weeks, and I am thankful for these little messages of hope and guidance that I received along the way!

Addey

This first week of June, Steph and Paul went down to Lake Powell with Brittney, so we had Addey come and stay with us for the week.  We had a fun time with her at our house.  Cooper and Clayton were always entertained because they had some one to play with 24/7.

One day, we took the kids to the Roy Aquatics Center to celebrate Landon's 5th birthday.  They had a fun time swimming and playing with each other.  After the pool we went out to the Gabrish's for cake and ice cream. 

Another day, we took the kids to the Classic Water Slides on Riverdale Road.  It basically has a kiddie area for smaller kids and then three tube slides for everyone else.  At this time, I was not able to got down the slides because of the IVF, so I sat at the bottom and watched Cooper and Addey come flying down the slides.  For the most part, they had smiles on their faces. Clayton rode down the slides with Bryce because he was still a little too small to go down them by himself.  He had so much fun and they kept going over and over again.  I think Clayton helped Bryce get his exercise that day!

We also went to the Splash Pad one day, but we didn't stay too long because the kids didn't enjoy playing in the freezing cold water.  It was fun to have Addey come and stay.  We even had Reese sleep over one night and Cooper went out to Jaxson's house. I am glad Cooper and Addey are such good friends!

Roger's Cancer Free Party

My father in law, Roger, has been fighting Leukemia for the last 6 months.  He has been blessed to be able to come home in between treatments and live a fairly normal life through all of the this.  His body has reacted well in every stage of the treatment.  He truly has been blessed and we know that he was supposed to win this battle. 

Many prayers and fasting have been offered upon his and Marilyn's behalf these past six months.  They have so many dear friends and family that have been so supportive during this trial.  They really helped both Marilyn and Roger through these difficult and stressful times.  It has been neat to see the positive attitude that both Marilyn and Roger have shown these past few months.  They have always been optimistic.

The end of May, Roger was finished with his last chemo treatment.  He was so excited to be home and not have all the drugs and medicine.  Brandon decided to throw him a "cancer free" party on May 25th.  Many friends and family came to eat dinner and show their support to the family.

 It was a fun time and we are thankful that Roger was able to be blessed with this cancer going into remission.  His work is not finished on this Earth and he still has lots of people to impact for the good and he still has thousands of miles to go on his four wheeler!

Moab Pictures

Moab Day #4

Our final morning was spent eating another great breakfast and packing up our condo.  I have to admit that we travel with a group that doesn't really worry about time. I, on the other hand, am on the complete opposite side of the spectrum.  I think there is a happy medium between using the most of your time and being able to relax and enjoy your vacation.  I am on one spectrum and some of the group is on the other spectrum.

Anyway, enough of my rantings.  Needless to say, it took us a while to get out of the condo and then it seemed like we drove forever to get to the sand dunes.  I was getting a little stressed out because I knew we needed to leave at a certain time to get back to our kiddos.  Regardless of all the stressing, we had a nice ride through the sand dunes. 

I don't really know that I love the sand dunes.  They are kind of dangerous because you can't see who is coming up the hill and you don't know what's on the other side of the hill.  Plus, perception is messed up in the sand.  We ended up riding along the red rocks till we couldn't ride anymore. 

We found a little bit of shade and ate lunch there.  We played in the sand for a few minutes on the way back and then called it a day.  It ended up being great and we were able to leave on time. 

Moab Day #3

On Friday morning, we woke up and had a yummy breakfast of eggs, bacon, and french toast. We each took turns cooking breakfast and then we ate dinner at different restaurants each night.  After breakfast, we got loaded up and headed south towards Wilson's Arch.

I was really excited when I saw the Arch.  As a child, we used to drive by this arch almost every summer on our annual trip to Utah.  Mom and Dad would stop and let us walk to the top of the arch.  I always called this the "hole in the rock."  We drove a few miles pass the Arch and then turned off to left and went to the trail head.

This was a really fun ride.  We were in and out of the sand, rock and dirt.  We would be out in the valley and then within a few minutes, we would be up next to the rocks.  This trail had all sorts of different terrain.  We came to a spot where there was a small hole in the rock and the wind had carved out a neat design in the red rock. 

 We came to a place called the Indians bathtub.  There was a ladder that you could climb and it would take you up to a carved out little hole that resembled a large bath tub.  I can imagine that when it does rain, this little area fills up with water.

 It took us a couple of hours to get out to this sight where we overlooked Wilson's Arch.  We were sitting south of the arch on some flat rocky ledges.  This is where we ate lunch and enjoyed the sunshine and view. We spent about an hour here and then we headed back to the trucks.