Summer of Family Reunions!

We have had four family reunions this summer and loved every one of them.  Last week my grandmother turned 80, and we all went to Seattle to celebrate with her.  She is spunky and energetic with naturally brown hair still.  She started a cherry pit fight with me while we were there.  :)  We also celebrated my grandparents recent 60th wedding anniversary.  While in Seattle we took a side trip to Orcas Island in the San Juan Islands of Puget Sound and stayed in a cabin for a couple nights, hiking during the days and eating and playing games in the evenings.  There's nothing more fun than just spending time with family.  It was the first time all of us including Jonathan (my new step-brother) had gone somewhere together.   Yea!

Weekly Update

Monday night we hosted a neighborhood BBQ in our front yard. We provided hot dogs, water, foosball, and popsicles and asked people to bring a potluck dish to share and something to sit on. I made flyers and we distributed them to every house in our ward boundaries on Sunday. Monday night at 6:30 we were ready and people started to show up - and they didn't stop! We had almost 100 people there, with dozens of kids running around the backyard, playing foosball, playing in the cul-de-sac. We had 60 hot dogs (we got 40 people last year), and we ran out by 7:15. It was a blast! We met several families I didn't know, and I was busy the whole time talking to people, re-filling water, replenishing paper products (again!), getting ice for owies, etc. We'll definitely make this an annual tradition.

So now for our In Vitro update. We went in Tuesday morning for the egg retrieval. As I woke up from the anesthesia I heard the doctors explaining to Walt that they had gone in and retrieved all the fluid from my follicles, and not a single follicle had an egg in it. They explained that they've never had this happen in their clinic, and they've been doing this for over 10 years. This puts us back at square one, starting over with the rounds of shots (at their highest dose this time) and things to try one more time in September.  I have had several moments of intense sadness about this. At the same time I realized that there are two reasons I've wanted to do In Vitro. My number one reason is to show God that I'm willing to do all I can to have a family because I believe family is one of his great purposes for us.  My second reason is to become pregnant so we can start our family. So even though a pregnancy didn't happen for us this time, my first reason for doing In Vitro was accomplished. If my second reason isn't met through this process, I have faith that it will be met through some other way at some other time. 

We had an absolutely delightful (though quick) trip to Cedar City for a Stevenson family reunion last week. There we surprised Beth, Jocelyn, and Jessica with a trip to Seattle to celebrate Grandma's 80th Birthday and stay on Orcas Island with our immediate family (see picture). It was a big surprise, and we can't wait for the trip. We orchestrated everything through Randy.

We went camping for the 4th of July! Walt and I love camping. We hardly had any neighbors, and there was an outhouse and water spigot right across the road, so it was luxury camping.

I started my in vitro shots last Wednesday. I have three a day to give myself, and to be honest, they aren't too bad. If you jab yourself fast and hard enough it doesn't even hurt. The problem is, there is something built in to your body that tells you it isn't okay to stab yourself. So if I think about it too long, my hand won't do it. My tummy is getting tender because the big shots leave bruising. There is just so much fluid to push in there. This week I'll have three ultrasounds to see if my body is producing the right amount of eggs for the egg retrieval.