A Day in the Life

Sorry it has been a while since our last post, we have been busy. The girls are back to Vacation Bible School this week and are having a blast with their old and new friends. When I arrived to pick them up, Brooke told me that she and her two friends accepted God into their hearts today. Brooke told me that she likes how she feels when she goes to church and acts better at when she comes home. What a revelation! Ashley has been a big fan of going to church since day one and blesses the family with prayers before dinner each night. I am so proud of both of my girls.

This afternoon Brooke went to a birthday party for her friend Courtney at Cat Tales (a feline zoological park north of town) . All of the girls from her class were so excited to reunite when I dropped her off. Ashley and I enjoyed some girl time at the mall by getting pedicures and doing some school shopping, all her idea I must add. I don't know where she gets the desire to be spoiled from! Weird huh? Anywho... things are good here and the girls and I are looking forward to our trip to AZ next week. Dave has been in and out of town this week for work but was able to take some time to do a little fishing in West Glacier while "working" in Kalispell today.

New Attitude

When I logged on the check out the blog status this morning, it seemed a little dreary and depressing. The new beachy template puts me in a better mood not to mention the new tunes of sunshine and summertime. The girls are in the TriCities for the week with Shane so I am taking advantage of the quite time to take care of myself a little. My friend, Carrie, is joining me this evening for some drinks and some much needed girl time while Dave is gone on an overnighter in Missoula. I picked up a couple of chick flicks to cuddle up with on the couch tonight.

Here are a couple of upbeat photos of the family from last week:

• The first is of the girls on a slip n' slide with the neighbor kids across the street. They played on that thing for hours.

• The second is one of the girls and their friends at our Neighborhood Block Party, which was a huge success if I do say so myself. There were about 20 families in all that participated.

• Next is one that is a rare moment that had to be caught on film. Yes that is Dave, my husband, doing manual labor. While I was in the midst of my IVF treatments and activity restrictions, he insisted on mowing the lawn for me. This picture alone is motivation enough to attempt another round of treatment :)

• Finally, Brooke was on a kick on helping out around the house as well so she watered the perennials that I planted in our rock wall in the backyard.

I want to thank everyone for the prayers and well wishes throughout the past month of IVF. It has definitely been an unforgettable experience and has brought our family closer together. We have an appointment in early August to discuss what may have gone wrong, what we can change, and our options for trying again.

For now, I am just looking forward to spending some time visiting both or our families over the next month. In two weeks, the girls and I are headed to AZ to hang out with my family in Phoenix and visit what is left of Crown King. Then it's off to Seattle for Dave's 20 year High School Reunion. Finally, we will head down to the Oregon Coast to visit Loves Cottage on the beach in Manzanita. Before you know it we will be back to school shopping and setting alarm clocks to catch the bus.

Today's News

Greetings everyone... Well, let me first deliver the news that neither of the embryos took and we weren't fortunate enough to have Tracy get pregnant this time around. I guess we are both in a state of trying to figure out what to do next and will be setting an appointment with Dr. Robins this week to discuss options.

I can say that it is taxing at best for me, and definitely stressful with Tracy because it's her body that had to go through all the variable hormonal changes, physical changes, and not to mention a few instances of painful cramps when her ovary would spontaneously twist. Not fun.

So that said... We did have a chance to meet some new neighbors at a block party this week who also went through IVF with Dr. Robins. They explained how their first go-round failed after implanting two embryos, but succeeded the second time after implanting four - and they ended up with twins. This is uplifting to say the least and I am sure will play some role in our next decision.

As I begin to dwell on issues of "fairness" and letting a degree of negativity speak, its frustrating seeing others having children so easily or without trying - or some who just shouldn't have children at all, I have to take a deep breath. I have a faith in our God that He gives people like us this opportunity to move forward and try again and will deliver His plan as he always does. We believe this wholeheartedly and it gives us strength.

So give a few days for us to be prepared to talk but please email or leave comments for us to read, as we do like sharing this part of our lives with our friends and family.

Talk soon.

Summer Fun

Just wanted to post a couple of pictures I took of the girls swimming this afternoon. The girls and I joined our friends, The Bradstreets, for a day at the pool. It has been pretty warm for us here in the high country. Daily high temps are in the 90's, lows in the upper 60's. The girls have been enjoying hanging out with friends this week. We are looking forward to a neighborhood block party co-hosted by yours truly on Thursday evening. I am happy to have something to keep my mind off of the thought of a little person (or people) growing in my belly. I will have my first pregnancy test on Sunday, keep your fingers and toes crossed that it's postitive. That's it for now, I am ready to settle into bed and read a few chapters of my latest book. Toodles :)