Cedar and Zion

We left Thursday to drive 10 hours to Cedar City to meet my family at the Shakespeare Festival. The girls were unbelievable in the car. In fact we didn't even resort to pulling out the TV's at all on the drive down. I was pretty impressed.
It was so fun to see my family even for a quick 24 hours. We saw Les Mis on Friday Night and a play called Stones in His Pockets on Saturday afternoon. They were both awesome. They have a darling little day care right next door and the girls had such a blast staying up late and not napping so they could play with their cousins.

 Because it was such a long drive for us we decided to head to St. George for a couple of days. We had such a great time hiking in Zion. I grew up driving down there multiple times a year to visit my aunt and uncle and it was so good to be back. We did a bunch of shorter hikes that I remember doing as a kid and it brought back a lot of good memories. We hiked the Riverside Trail, Weeping Rock, Lower and Upper Emerald Pools, and Canyon Overlook. I was blown away by how beautiful it is there and how I possibly took it for granted as a kid. Lots of scenery shots. We ate lunch at the lodge and perused the gift shop with all the familiar Native American dolls and hematite and rose quartz jewelry.
Rosie and Evie were excellent hikers. Pinching our ears, singing songs, and taking naps on our backs. Super cute. The girls LOVED driving through all the tunnels on I-70 and especially the one in the Park to get to the Canyon Overlook Trail. They yelled "weeeeeeee" all the way through and chanted "again! again!" as soon as we were out. Great trip.

Family Photos

We had a wonderful gal  in our ward (Jacynthe Curtis) take some photos for us last Wednesday. Of course it was CRAZY windy. Beautiful and calm both Tuesday and Thursday but not Wednesday. And we are talking "gale force winds" as my mom would say. 60mph gusts that were on the news and blowing down trees and landing on cars and houses.  We discussed canceling all day long but we were leaving town the next day for Cedar and thought that by the time we got home all the leaves would be off the trees...which they are-- along with SNOW on the ground. So I'm glad we buckled down and did them even though the conditions weren't ideal. The scenery was gorgeous and Rosie was fairly well behaved as long as she was doing whatever she wanted, running away, or eating. I think Evie was spooked by the strong winds and was very, very crabby. But oh that girl is photogenic if caught at the right moment. We didn't get one shot where the girls are looking at the camera and actually smiling but we'll take what we can get with two 2 year olds. Still pretty precious.

Deep Breath

We've been hanging out a lot at the pumpkin patch near our home. The girls are crazy for the bouncy houses and farm animals and it guarantees an excellent afternoon nap. An afternoon nap that I swear I spend most of on the phone dealing with fertility issues. My doctor, Ben's doctor, the lab, the IVF clinic, the insurance company. I have a lot of anxiety over the whole process (all the appointments and tests, the shots, the $,  inconveniencing people, feeling crumby, crazy, and gaining weight, and of course whether or not we are successful) but forgot how much hassle is involved in just being on the phone and getting everything set up and worked out. I'm trying not to over stress or over think. I lay awake in the middle of the night getting worked up over everything. The hopeful outcome is so exciting and so worth it but the journey there is extremely emotional, stressful, and draining in every way. Some days I feel so burnt out on these gorgeous, hilarious, maniac girls that I don't know why we are even getting back on this roller coaster. But ultimately it's what I want more than anything.

 I've been on birth control pills for the last couple weeks and they have made me feel nuts enough but now the real crazies are on their way. Preemptive apologies to Ben. This box of torture showed up on our doorstop yesterday and now it FINALLY feels real. I've been thinking of, worrying about, planning for, and putting this off for months and months but now it's here. Injections start Monday. Here goes nothing...