Camping in Moab and Easter with Family

We’ve had a great couple of weeks!!  First, we went camping for the first time with just Mike and I and the kids.  It was fun…but let’s just say we learned a few things:

1. Always bring Benadryl

2. Bring matches (don’t rely on bbq lighters, because on a breezy cold morning, they won’t light)

3. Bring lots more WARM clothes and blankets

It was supposed to be a 2 night trip, but after the first FREEZING night (it got down in the 30’s), we headed home instead of staying another one.  I grew up camping a lot, and we’ve camped in the High Uinta’s before, so I knew it can get cold at night.  But never have we ever been THAT cold.  We all slept fully dressed and the kids slept in their hoodies with wool blankets over their sleeping bags.  My sweatshirt had a hoodie that I pulled tight over my head, but poor Mike’s sweatshirt didn’t have a hoodie; so he slept in his baseball cap just trying to keep his head warm!! 

Also, during the days it was about 75 and sunny.  So we all had to wear sunscreen.  My poor Max had yet ANOTHER reaction to sunscreen.   Basically it was a repeat of this reaction from a year ago in St. George: 

It’s kinda hard to see, but it’s a bumpy, itchy, hot rash.  So far he’d only reacted to that one sunscreen we had put on him last year.  He was fine the rest of last summer with the Coppertone and Banana Boat stuff we used.  Well, I got a new and updated version of the Coppertone spray, thought it would be fine…and NOPE!  He totally broke out again.  At first I was thinking maybe he was just allergic to any of the misty spray sunscreens (which would stink because they’re so convenient!), but last year I know I used a spray on him.  I’m thinking it was the Banana Boat one.  So I’ll have to go on a sunscreen hunt to find which one he can use without breaking out.  Poor guy. 

So basically, after a freezing night, an itchy and rashy boy with no Benadryl, and no fire the next morning (we couldn’t get it started no matter what..); it was time to pack up and leave!!  So while it wasn’t quite what we imagined, it was still a fun quick trip and we did do some fun hikes :). 

Heading on a little hike behind our campground

Mmm, s’mores and roasted Starburst!

What we hiked to see: Landscape Arch

And now for EASTER!!  Mike’s dad flew in late Friday night and spent the weekend with us.  It had been about a year since we’d seen him, so it was really great.  Ashley and Brian also came down with their boys and we had a great weekend all together.  Ashley and I did a little Easter Egg hunt for the kids and it was SO FUN.  The kids loved it and it was nice to get outside!!

Me with my 3 favorite people.  Max is, of course, mid-chew :)

My new favorite picture of the kids!

My handsome boy in his Easter suit.  Why does his shirt have to come un-tucked every 10 seconds?!  Haha

My kids had SO much fun with their Grandpa.  A year is way too long to go without seeing him!!  

It’s about Love

One of my dearest friends from college and her husband are hoping and praying to become parents through the miracle of adoption.  If you know of someone who might be considering placing their child for adoption, please pass on Aaron and Erika’s information.  I have no doubt they will be AMAZING parents and any child going into their home would be loved beyond measure! 

Here’s their profile on It’sAboutLove.org:  https://itsaboutlove.org/ial/profiles/25570801/ourMessage.jsf

Loved the Beautiful Weather! While it lasted…

Living in Utah we have to take what we can get in the Spring!  Yesterday the high was 74, today we woke up to snow.  Boo!  But we did enjoy some days outside while it lasted :).   Mike works right across from a huge park, so we loaded up our picnic basket, picked him up from work and headed out!  The kids seriously had SO much fun.  So did Mike and I! 

 

Not a bad picnic basket for 12 bucks from Walmart, eh?!  I promise there really was more in there than just the Baked Cheetos. 

Madi was so funny, she was throwing as HARD as she possible could.  Those ducks had to watch out or they’d get pelted with bread.

There was some serious football-playing going on. 

I need to remember to take my better camera on outings like this!  I forgot and then I can’t stand how long it takes to actually take the picture!  There’s such a delay between pushing the button and the picture snapping.  Drives me crazy! 

For FHE we took the kids bowling for the first time.  Lots of fun!

My handsome boy in his new church clothes from Grandma Murray!  And yes, I know.  His shirt should be tucked in.  We tried!  But it kept coming out every 5 seconds :)

Since we’re living up here in Davis County we decided it would be fun to do Lagoon passes for the season.  They’re a pretty good deal considering the fact that if you were to go to Lagoon just twice, the pass is paid for!  My family is also getting them for their kids so it’ll be fun to be able to just head over for a couple hours, play with the cousins, and then call it a day.  Much better than feeling like you have to stay there ALL day!

This picture is blurry, but it shows how much fun he has on this ride.  He seriously grins ear to ear on it! 

My little tooth-less Max and my handsome hubby :)

I have never been at a Lagoon on a day like yesterday.  I was maybe 65-70 degrees and NO ONE was there.  It was EMPTY!  So nice!  We basically walked all all the rides, and the ones we did wait for weren’t long waits at all.  The kids LOVED the new Bombora ride!  I did too.  It’s a way fun roller-coaster that kids can ride, but it’s not so tame or boring that it isn’t fun (Puff the Little Dragon, anyone? :).  Definitely took some bravery for the kids to ride, but they did great! 

All in all, we’re so glad spring is here!  Now if it’d just stay for awhile… :)

Madilyn Turns 5!

The big day finally came.  After weeks of waiting, she finally made it!  And boy was she EXCITED!!  She had such a fun birthday party with family (a few days before) and then we took the kids to Disney on Ice the night before her b-day.   And then on her actual birthday we had another small party with just us at home.  So it felt like a birthday WEEK!  Which was so much fun :). 

I didn’t even get a picture of the decorations.  Crazy me.  She had a BARBIE party.  It was really cute!  Kinda funny that she chose Barbie.  She NEVER plays Barbies.  Ever!  She just doesn’t like them.  So I was surprised when that’s what she wanted!

Disney on Ice.  They had SO MUCH FUN!

Riding the new bike!  She’s done great at it. 

Maybe this will be therapeutic?

So I’ve never really mentioned this on here, but we’ve been struggling a lot with infertility.  In the past I had to go on Clomid to get pregnant with Madi and Max; but this time that just hasn’t been working.  We’ve always hoped to have 3 kids, but it looks like that may not happen.  I feel like the time of “trying” is kind of drawing to a close.  It’s been a little over 2 years now with no luck.  I know that many people try for way longer than that, but I just feel drained.  I want another baby so bad, but if it’s not going to happen, I want to just move on find peace with it.  In our situation (because of the endo), we either have to be “trying” or “preventing” at all times.  Simply because I need to be on the pill to control the disease.  So it’s not like we feel like we can just keep waiting and see what happens.  I feel SO blessed to be a mom.  I know that many people can’t get pregnant at all, so I’m not trying to throw a pity party or anything.  It’s just hard. 

I’ve known about my endometriosis since we got married.  I went on Lupron for it then (horrible experience) and then was told I needed to be on birth control to manage it.  Well, because of how long it takes me to get pregnant, I’ve been off of birth control a majority of the time.  Which makes my endo worse.  It’s kind of a catch-22.  You can’t get pregnant on birth control; but having your endometriosis keep growing makes it hard too.  I recently had surgery and the doctor was able to remove the lesions he saw.  So we’ll see if that helps. 

As for now, it’s another month on Clomid and Metformin.  The Dr. Office called today and is increases my dose to 100 mg this next month.  Maybe that will help?!  Who knows.  If we get a baby we will be BEYOND thrilled!  But I kind of think it might not happen.  It’s hard to imagine that this part of my life is already drawing to a close.  Where does the time go?  I hope this doesn’t sound too depressing or bitter.  I don’t mean it to be.  I feel incredibly blessed and I trust in the Lord.  I have no doubt that His hand is in my life and there is “wisdom in all things.”  He knows the desires of our hearts, and now we just need to accept His will.    We’ll see how this next month or two goes.   Maybe we’ll get lucky and we’ll get another precious little one in our home!   But, if we don’t, I still consider myself the luckiest girl in the world.  I get to have my sweet Madi and Max and they are healthy and happy; what more could I ask for? 

If only we could order kids as cute as these two from Amazon!  Now that would be a fun package to open :)