Update/new blog

Well I haven't been blogging. I always think about it, but honestly we haven't had much going on. We moved  back to MA in January and have just been waiting and going to doctors appointments.

The real reason I haven't blogged much in the past couple of years is because John and I have been trying to start our family and have had a struggle to get to where we are now, which is starting our first IVF cycle. Most of our close family and friends know this, but I have recently become more open about the whole process because I find it has been very therapeutic for me and I have been pleasantly surprised at how supportive everyone has been.

I decided to make a separate blog about our IVF journey. Even though it is our lives and it's what we have going on right now, it is a chapter in our lives that I want to document separately than this blog, which is supposed to be a general family scrapbook/journal.

So feel free to follow along while I document the IVF process. I will talk about the physical process, the shots, the appointments, and how my body is responding. I will talk about the emotional side, too, and how this whole process can really take a toll and make you slightly crazy. And hopefully I will get to share the joy when we have success. I will try to not be too graphic, but if you have zero interest in hearing about my ovaries and uterus, then you probably should just hang out here and wait for an announcement.

Our IVF Journey

Christmas Tree hunting

So this post is kind of a test to see if I can figure out this collage thing. I know I am ancient and people have been using photo editors for a long time, but I just figured out how to make a collage in Picasa...and I'm still learning.

Anyway, this is a little old but I didn't post about it last time and wanted to share some pictures.

The day after Thanksgiving, we went up to the Uintas with Matt and his family and Rachel and her family came too. We had a great time hanging out at the cabin and hunting for Christmas trees. The kids were adorable and it was fun to watch Grant interact with the girls. John loved the four-wheelers and I loved catching up with my sister and sister-in-law. The best part is we found some great trees! This a tradition we hope to get to continue each year.

2012 in Review

Okay, to say I have been a blogging slacker this year would be a huge understatement. I think about blogging often, when fun things happen or when I just think it would be important to keep record of something, but then I get overwhelmed with the amount of updating I would need to do before blogging about the new thing.

One of my resolutions for 2013 is going to be to blog more. I love having a history of our life and I still think a blog is the best way to do it so we can share with our family and friends.

So the following is a (brief) overview of our 2012 I promise you can look forward to more frequent/regular updates starting in the new year.

Winter

I was busy working at Deer Valley...but not too busy to get in some skiing.

That's right, John on skis. :-)

Skiing with Matt and Debi

Me and Debi

We welcomed our new niece, Hazel, to the family.




Spring

We were able to attend the wedding of my Aunt Brooke and Kirt, in Idaho.

 John had a birthday.

Celebrating the March birthdays, John, Bekah, Olive, and Jane

John's birthday dinner at Fireside Dining

We went on a cruise to the Western Caribbean  and visited Cozumel, Belize City, Roatan, and Grand Cayman and we had such a fun time. Rachel and Dan were on a different ship with the same itinerary as us, so we met up with them for some shore excursions.

Ready to cruise!

First formal dinner night

Mayan temple

Snorkeling in Cozumel

Me and Rachel

Boat ride through Belize

Dan and Rachel in the jungle

Climbing a Mayan temple

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View from the top was very cool

Mayan ruins

Rachel and Dan and a monkey

Dan and Rachel kayaking in Roatan, Honduras

Snorkeling in Grand Cayman

John and some star fish

We also had a fun trip to Zion National Park. We hiked to Angel's Landing, which was a long and steep hike, but the views were definitely worth it.

Zion

View from Angel's Landing

Resting at the top!

This was the start of the tricky part :-) Pictures don't really do it justice

Summer

Summer was busy again for me, working at Summer Adventure Camp at DV, but we managed to have a lot of fun with our nieces and nephews with trips to Seven Peaks and Lagoon.

Lazy River at Seven Peaks

Jane and John

In the wave pool

Izzy and John, riding the Skyscraper at Lagoon

Lucy and Izzy

Bekah, Sean, Olive, and Hazel

Kayla and Sam got married.

The happy couple

With the nieces and nephew

The whole family!

We watched fireworks at Eaglewood for the 4th of July

We did some hiking at Deer Valley with Sam and Kayla and camped in the Uintas.

I got to see my favorite band, Counting Crows, in concert for the first time in a long time with one of my favorite friends, Anna

We celebrated our second anniversary at Snowbird

Fall

Our big adventure in the fall was a 9-day road trip through CA. We flew into Reno, NV and rented a car, then drove to Lake Tahoe, where we were able to have a nice visit with my Uncle Phil and his girlfriend Kathy. After that, we headed to Sacramento and then on to San Francisco. We crammed in a lot, but got to have visits with friends and family. Then, we headed down the coast to do some camping and site seeing, with no real agenda. We spent the last couple of days in Carlsbad and then flew home from LA.

Lake Tahoe

Kathy and Phil

Emerald Bay with Phil

Biking across the Golden Gate Bridge

On the ferry

Me and my brother Steve

Me and my good friend Andrea

Me and one of my long-time friends, Kirsha

Redwood trees

Steam train engine-we took a ride through the Redwoods

John at the beach in Carlsbad

Last CA sunset...for now

We welcomed another adorable niece, Ruby, to the family.

9.22.12

Rachel and Ruby

We got to watch the Aggies kill it at Homecoming

Go Aggies!

We also had a fun trip to Lake Powell with Sam and Kayla (thanks to a sweet Groupon deal).

Pretty much the most amazing photo ever

John wakeboarding

John and Sam

 We ended the month with a quick trip to Moab to attend the wedding of a good friend. Kayla and Sam came down the same weekend, so we were able to visit Arches with them too.

Corina and Colby

John and Colby

Winter so far...

I was able to join John on a work trip to Mill Valley, CA. We went a day early so we could have some more adventures in San Francisco. I was happy because I finally got some sweet views of the Golden Gate Bridge, since it was too foggy to actually see the bridge when we were there in September. We had a great time hanging out with all of John's co-workers and their wives.

Tree at Union Square

Riding a cable car

View of SF from top of Lombard St

Driving down Lombard St

Sea lions at Pier 39

Golden Gate Bridge

Harbor Cruise

Alcatraz

The whole crew

Napa, CA

Now we are trying to get ready for Christmas and enjoying time with family.

We hope that all our friends and family have had a wonderful year and we look forward to sharing more about our newest adventure, soon.