We're Off Track!

At George Kelly Elementary School we are on the Blue Track. This means that we have November, March, and July off from school. I was determined to stay busy, and boy have we ever! We've arranged lots of play dates to keep the kids from getting bored. Today Jacob and his friend Chris Maxfield made a box cart and pushed each other down the street. Kate and her friends Rachel Maxfield and Dallin Silcox had so much fun playing in the fall leaves! We are sure enjoying being able to play all day!

October Memories

We have had a very busy month of October! We started off the month with a quick weekend trip to Disneyland! We had probably our best time ever as a family. Jacob braved every ride and loved them all! His new favorite is the Grizzly River Run and the Mid-town Mania both in California Adventure. It was just a perfect weekend getaway.

The very next weekend, we took a last minute trip to Utah! And by last minute, I mean I had no idea we were making the 12 hour drive until a couple of hours before we left! Ryan decided we could make the drive Friday after preschool and school, and so we left and made it to Winnemucca, NV that night. We woke up to a snow storm and made it to Utah just in time for the BYU football game! We had a blast in the freezing temperatures, and enjoyed seeing our Cougars win a game inLavell Edwards Stadium. We visited with family and then took off Sunday morning to drive back home! Whew!!!

For me, I had another getaway the following weekend to NYC with my four sisters! This was an amazing trip! We got to do all of the things a girl would love to do in the big city! We made a big sign and made it on the Today Show in the morning, we saw Wicked on Broadway that evening, we shopped, we walked Central park, we stayed right in Times Square and saw the city at night, (amazing), we did sealings in the NYC temple, we went to the Museum of Modern Art, we rode the subways, and just had so much fun!!! I will never forget that trip with all of my sisters. It was wonderful!

So of all of the weekends in October, we have only had a couple at home. We enjoy being busy, but this might be a little extreme. Life sure has been interesting, and we are all healthy and happy.

Tomorrow is Halloween and Jacob is Indiana Jones, and Kate is a real Snow White bought at Disneyland, and they will both look amazing! We will then look forward to some quiet time at home, and a trip to Atlanta in November.

Kate the Jumper

I just had to add this picture because it is so cute! Thanks to daddy for editing it!

On With Life

I have been wallowing in self-pity for a long, long time. We were unsuccessful in our attempt to bring another little one into our family. This news was just about the hardest news I have ever had to bear. I still get teary eyed as I think about what was not to be. But, I am finally ready to get on with life. I have so many blessings. My children are healthy and happy. My husband loves me. I am a child of God. I know that He loves me and has a plan for me. Even though I do not know that plan, I will carry on and strive each day to remember my many blessings and strive to do my part to strengthen my family and build up the kingdom of God. I do have a wonderful life and so much to be thankful for. Three of my biggest blessings are Ryan, Jacob, and Kate.

Ryan: He was just made Director of Logistics for the Northwest Region!! He has been gone so much and working so hard. We are always glad when daddy comes home!

Jacob: A super smart 4th grade student. He has all A's on his mid-term. He has lots of homework and works hard every day. His favorite day is Saturday because BYU will most likely have a football game. Thanks to NCAA 2008 (the video game), Jacob has learned a lot about the game. He and Ryan went to a Cal Berkley football game Saturday, and when asked what play he would run in any situation, his answer was most always, "A Hail Mary". (of course!) Jacob also got some special time with dad on a last minute camping trip to Yosemite! They slept in the truck, hiked, and had a great time together.

Kate: A preschool pro. She attends preschool in three classes, although only one is her "official" class. She is such a smarty pants. Kate is also a leader in school. She climbed up to the top of the playhouse and saw a little boy in the neighboring yard without his pants. She then "sold" tickets to the "naked show" to all her friends! We are going to have to keep an eye on that girl! Kate also just finished a power tumbling class and did a wonderful job!

The Three Amigos

We are now 10 days past fertilization of the embryos, and tomorrow will be a full week since embryo transfer. We are at the point that we could find out if Julie is pregnant if we bought a pregnancy test. However we are waiting to find out, like we have in other IVF cycles until we take our first blood test, which just happens to land on Julie's birthday. What a great present it will be, if we are pregnant!

This summer has been absolutely great. We started off with a trip to the Wasatch Front for the fourth. We saw the family back at home and they are all doing well. We regretted not being able to spend more time with family, it went by too fast.
Here is summary of our trip:
We climbed Ensign peak, and unfurled our banners with the Heywood folks.
We went to Seven Peaks, and had fun in the hot Utah sun.
We played games with the family, with 5000 being the game of choice on this trip.
We had a Snowasis and played at the park.
We went to the zoo.
We went to a Bee's game and saw fireworks afterwords.
We saw the famous 4th of July parade in Provo.
And overall, we ate way too much food, and partied pretty hard.
When we got back to California we started our 4th In-Vitro Fertilization cycle. Julie now takes 6 pills and 6 shots a day. She has a constellation of evidence of the injections across her tummy. Like many professional baseball players and Tour de France athletes, she is getting tired of the injections. She promises, like many Californians, that her substance abuse is strictly for medicinal purposes, wink, wink.
One big day coming up will be next Wednesday July 23, for the TESE and egg retrieval. Julie has been carrying 9 follicles around lately, all carrying genetic information capsules known to most as eggs, 5 on one ovary and 4 on the other. Soon we will see the embryos fight through the miracle of life that is genetic recombination. When this is done, ICSI will be performed and we will need to rest and wait to see what happens. On Friday through Sunday, we will wait to see which embryos hang around for implantation. After this Julie will have her bed rest, (which is probably the only reason she wanted to go through all of this in the first place, a couple of days off). We could use prayers, and lots of them. We have our whole heart and soul in this effort, it is a very special time for us.Other less important stuff: Jake and I (Ryan) just got back from a 4 day trip through the Pacific Northwest. We flew to Portland on Tuesday, drove to Seattle on Wednesday, and flew back to Oakland today. It was a fun business trip. While I worked, Jake saw many movies, played games, and read books. He was bo – red. And now is ready to run and party back home here with his Mom and sister.Kate was unfortunately bit by our dog. Her perfect little cheek has an owee.We love you guys, and wish you were here to help us watch these little guys as we go through this procedure, fix us meals, etc. I’m kidding, we are getting by just fine. Jen and Sam have been a big help. We also want to thank Ruth in advance for coming to help us out. True to her name, wither we go, she will go likewise, and where we lodgest, she will lodge, our people will be her people, etc.

Water Fun

We had a couple of 100 degree days in late May, and dad turned the sprinklers on to cool off Jacob and Kate. They had a blast running and sliding in the water! Bring on the heat (as long as there is water nearby, we'll be fine!

Go Red Sox!

This year Jacob played on the Red Sox team in Minor B. He has played outfield, second base, and pitcher. We have two games left, and he has enjoyed every minute. Jacob loves baseball, and it has been so fun to watch him understand the game, and really have fun. Kate has made a few little friends on the sidelines and become quite a monkey on the bleachers. It's been a great season!

Happy Birthday Jacob!

Jacob is 9! He is growing up so fast and we love him so much! Yesterday was Jacob's birthday and we began the day by opening presents after having slept outside in the tent (dad came in early, but Reggie made it all night long with mom, Jake, and Kate). Jacob invited a couple of friends to see the new Narnia movie "Prince Caspian". Then that evening, he invited a friend to the Oakland A's baseball game against the Red Sox. Jacob wore his Red Sox hat, and Kate wore Jacob's A's hat. The A's won the game, and we had so much fun! We would have been happy if the Red Sox had won too because that is Jacob's team this year. All in all, it was a wonderful day for a wonderful boy! We love you Jacob!

More Hawaii pictures

Here are more pictures from the Polynesian Cultural Center and the temple.














We especially laugh at daddy on the raft!