More Fun Was Had by The Rays

We decided to tag along with Mark last weekend as he had to visit one of his buildings in Medford, Oregon which is 20 minutes north of California. Medford is a beautiful 4 1/2 hour drive from here. Mark was off to work as soon as we arrived while the kids and I hung out in the hotel, which the kids always love!

On Saturday we went to a family fun park which is like Golfland without the water park. Tons of fun was had by all. We then went to a children's museum. This place was a place of learning and trying out different skills. Mark parked himself at the puzzle center and figured out ALL of the puzzles while the kids and I played. Later we went swimming at the hotel. That was the kids favorite part of the trip. As you can imagine, there are not allot of places or people with pools up here in the great Northwest.

We drove home Sunday and took a more scenic tour so we could get out and explore nature. I found a town I want to live in called Roseburg. It is a beautiful town among rolling hills of green and small rivers/creeks running through it. We arrived in Roseburg around lunch and used our GPS system to find a place to eat. A place came up called Between Buns . . . no lie! We really wanted to find it but couldn't. My guess is that it is no longer in business though Mark can't understand why with a name like that. The trip was short but sweet.

On Monday we had Grandma, Michael, Bekah and Brynley over for dinner. The kids love getting together with Bryn. We enjoyed getting to spend more time with Mom/Grandma before she left for home the next day.

It was a fun and memorable Memorial weekend!

Medford Trip

Seaside-Astoria

Mark's mom is in town (45 minutes away) because our sister-in-law has preeclampsia and is in need of help. With her husband home on Saturday we took advantage of having Grandma close and took her to the coast. We first went to Seaside and spent some time at the ocean. It was a nice day, in the high 70's. The kids love going to the beach but this time there were some big ants crawling all over the sand. They seemed quite nice and slow so we were able to walk around them, but still it was hard to be at ease. After visiting the beach, we went to this really small aquarium. We were not expecting much from what we saw on the outside but it was really fun. We got to feed the seals pieces of fish. We could not only touch but pick up some of the creatures like: hermit crabs, barnacles, starfish, clams, and oysters. They had an octopus in an area like the starfish tank where you could look at the octopus down through the water. This octopus swam all over the place and even stuck his tentacles out of the water. A couple of times he poked his head out too. Here are some pictures.


This picture really doesn't do the size of this ant justice as it is up against Mark's "Fred Flinstone" foot.



After the aquarium we went further north up to Astoria. This is where the Columbia river meets the ocean. We visited this tower at the top of a hill where we could overlook the beautiful scenery below. It was breathtaking and fun to spend time with mom. We can't wait until dad joins us up here in June. I'm sure there will be more fun to be had then.

The Inevitable Miscarriage

I had a whirl wind of a day. After my ultrasound, I was immediately sent for blood work and an appointment with my Doctor (who squeezed me in). The ultrasound showed a collapsed sac with no embryo. (I should mention that my bleeding finally stopped on Sunday.) My blood work showed that the pregnancy hormone had decreased dramatically. The diagnosis: Miscarriage. I will have to have my blood checked in one month to make sure the pregnancy hormone goes back to zero. As for what's left, they think it will all come out in my next cycle (period). If I start having heavy bleeding that does not stop, I will need to go back in. Otherwise, I am to wait through two cycles before trying again. As for how I am doing emotionally, I'm doing all right. I have mentally prepared for this for a couple of weeks now. With how much I was bleeding, I knew it was inevitable. I am extremely thankful for my friends here for taking care of my kids and giving me big hugs and for the dinners last week. I really appreciate all my friends and family (near and far) and for all of your well wishes. I truly am blessed.

New Game

Carley is sporting a new look.

When asked how she got the black eye, her response, "Kenny and I were playing a new game. The game you ask . . . running towards each other as fast as they can and trying to knock each other down. Sounds fun huh?! Any takers?

Update: Still bleeding. No rhyme or reason on when it is light or heavy. All I know is I feel better (physically) when I lay down and do nothing. Still anxiously waiting for Tuesday.

Trip to Arizona

Our trip to Arizona was filled with family and fun. We left Tuesday evening and experienced a very bumpy landing at about 11:20 PM. I think the pilot realized a little too late that our turn was so close. We could feel the tires lock and everything. We were glad to arrive safely and were surprised to see Mark's parents waiting for us inside. We planned to just see them at the house as we were renting our own car. It was great to see them there and have them take the kids home while we took a little longer getting our rental car.

We took our own sweet time getting up and out of the house on Wednesday. We first visited Mark's grandma across the street. Our kids love it there because of getting to play outside with the chickens, collecting eggs and digging about. They had fun playing with some cousins as Mark and I got to visit with Grandma and an Aunt. We sure miss seeing them often. We took Mark's parents out for lunch for mom's birthday which was a few days before. Later in the day we headed out to Chandler mall. My sisters, step mom and my oldest neice and I met at the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. We have never gotten together like this and it was a lot of fun. It was great to have time for ourselves and enjoy each others company. Meanwhile Mark cruised the mall with the kids (bless his heart!) More visiting was had when we came back to Mom and Dad's house.

Thursday we went to a splash pad water park in Chandler. We had to spend at least some time in the sun while in sunny AZ! Since I was not fit for swimming we went somewhere where the kids could get wet and they loved it.

After the water park Kenny finally got to go to his cousin's house. Vacation didn't really start for him until he got to see Jacob. After visiting for a while we left him there for a sleep over. Later that evening Mark and I got to go back to the airport to pick up Jen (his sister) and Gonzo. Something came up for Mark's parents and we were happy to jump at the chance to see them first. They had a "long" 50 minute flight from San Diego! More visiting was had back home and we went to bed late.

On Friday, I got to go play volleyball with my volleyball gang in Goodyear/Glendale. It was so fun to see them all again and to play some good ball. Friday night was game night at Mark's brother's house. All of his siblings and their spouses came (without kids). We played "around the world" ping pong and guitar hero on the Xbox 360. It was so fun! I miss these times with family. They are a fun bunch and we all get along great. Here are a few pics.

Saturday was the big day. Kenny was baptized in his cousin Jacob's ward with Jacob and 9 other kids. Kenny was the last to go and luckily the water was still warm and full enough to be baptized in. He did say he worried that Mark wasn't going to let him up. It was great to see so much family there. Immediately after the baptism, our newest neice received her baby blessing. What a joy to see so many children dressed in white. I especially liked having it all done on my birthday. I couldn't ask for a better present. Later in the day the family met again at a park for games (this time with kids). And later Mark took me on a birthday date. We went to Carrabba's for dinner and then went to see Iron Man in the theatre. It was a wonderful day!

Mother's Day was sweet as we got to visit family again. I didn't get to go to church as that is when my visit to the hospital took place. The evening was filled with family and love. What a joy it is to have family around and what a joy it is to be a mother. I'm glad I had so much family around on such a difficult day. Thanks to all for your well wishes and love.

We flew home on Monday. It was a pretty uneventful day. The flight was bumpy because of turbulence but we arrived safely and are glad to be back home. I think one of the highlights of the trip for the kids was the bus rides from the airports to the cars and vise versa. I had to take a few snapshots of the kids on the bus because they were so delighted to ride without a seat belt!

Stop the ride, I want to get off!

Yes, we are back in town and had tons of fun! We did experience some struggles along the way and to keep everyone who knows updated in one shot I thought I'd post the story and an update.

I found out I was pregnant a little over two weeks ago. I was excited for two days before some bleeding started. It was just some dark spotting which I have had with all my kids so I wasn't too concerned until it lasted longer then 3 days and started getting heavier and bright red. On Monday, the day before we left for Arizona, I started bleeding even more. I tried to get into a doctor but because I am Rh negative and needed a RhoGAM shot they referred me to the ER. So off to the ER I went. They checked me and took some blood and gave me the shot. They wanted me to come back in two days to take blood again to make sure my hcg level (pregnancy hormone) was doubling. Because I was going to be in Arizona they just rechecked it the next day. My hcg level went up only 20%. Because I was still bleeding and the level was not going up as it was supposed to, I figured I was in for a great time on my trip meaning I thought I was going to miscarry. We fly out to Arizona late Tuesday and on Wednesday, I started really bleeding, passing clots and a little tissue. I was cramping pretty bad and figured I had miscarried, especially since the cramping and bleeding died down that evening. Because I thought the miscarriage had happened and because I was on vacation, I decided to enjoy myself and not rest like I probably should have. I played volleyball Friday morning with my old gang in Goodyear. I played around the world ping pong with Mark's siblings and spouses Friday night. And of course Saturday was a busy day with Kenny's baptism and it being my birthday and all. So when Sunday (Mother's Day) came around things got considerably worse. I started passing quarter size clots and was bleeding heavily. I started feeling dizzy and told Mark it was time to take me in so off to the ER we go. We went to the new Banner hospital on Higley which is really nice. By the time we got there and in a room I thought I was going to die. The cramps were bad and I was flowing like a faucet. My blood pressure was high as well. They take me in the back and do an ultrasound (which the technician was not going to give me any clues) and took some more blood. My doctor came in as soon as she received the results from the ultrasound. She said I had not miscarried. The sac was still there but because I was so early in the pregnancy, they could not see anything else meaning, no heartbeat or fetal pole. Which is normal for being only 5 weeks. I should probably mention that the doctor did an exam and found my cervix closed/no dilation. I of course start crying and she asked if this was a planned pregnancy. I told her it was a planned pregnancy, that we had been trying for 17 months. I just had it in my mind that I had already miscarried and I figured I was there because there was some left over tissue which was causing problems. I thought I was going in to get things taken care of and then I could move on from this whole ordeal. Instead I find I'm back on the roller coaster still not knowing if I was going to miscarry. I still have a high chance that it is an ectopic pregnancy or a blighted ovum (which is when the sac forms but an embryo doesn't) because my hcg levels are going up only slightly. She told me that for some reason some women bleed like I am and still have a healthy baby. The ultrasound ruled out any hemorrhaging. She said we will know more when we get the hcg results. If the level is the same or has dropped then we will know that it is not a viable pregnancy and we can take it from there. A little later she came in with the results. My levels went up 20% again instead of doubling. So now I'm playing the waiting game. Still not knowing if all will be well. I got the OK to fly back home the next day. No heavy lifting, take it easy, lay down and rest for the bleeding and go back in if it gets worse, yadda, yadda, yadda.

So now for the update. I still know nothing! My doctor here does not want to repeat a blood test because hcg levels can be so unreliable. I have an ultrasound scheduled for Tuesday and will know more then. So stay tuned!

P.S. I'm still bleeding but it is not as bad when I stay down and do nothing which is not an easy thing to do.