We have had such a wonderful summer this year! Last year I was a big wimp and bemoaned the loss of summers full of carefree days and sleeping in, since Ryan and I were both working full-time for the first time ever. This year, though, I knew what to expect and we did summer right. Planned lots of vacation time and weekend trips, used lots of PTO, but still kept our jobs. ;)
And let's be honest, for two Pacific Northwest natives in Utah, summer starts in May. Cause Utah is just so dang hot way too early in the year.
At the beginning of May we got to meet the sweet little babe of some of our best friends! This little miss is just the CUTEST baby burrito! Little did her parents know that we were expecting one ourselves at this time... But we weren't telling yet! [:
It just made me that much more thrilled to know one of these babes was in our future.
Mothers' Day came, and so unexpectedly I got some gifts! My parents sent me flowers on Saturday (So sweet! I almost cried. They were so pretty!) and my niece Riley wrote me THE CUTEST card. Oh my goodness. Just look at this.
"Have a good baby!" I die. Hahaha.
Date nights to Salt Lake and our favorite pizza place. Settebello, I'm so happy we're friends.
Katie invited us to go on a lovely Saturday hike with her one weekend! The sunshine was gorgeous and American Fork Canyon never disappoints.
Our original plans were quashed by residual snowpack (as someone who works in drinking water, though, I'm not complaining! Hang on as long as you can there, little snowpack!) so we changed to a pretty little hike called Pine Hollow (which, as a diehard childhood fan of The Saddle Club, made me laugh).
While we hiked, we talked about pregnancy, baby names, parenting, family traditions, and more. The forest was beautiful, and the meadow where we ended up was the perfect place for a snack and long gospel talks. I loved this day and I love my Kates.
Sunday dinner at the in-laws.' While the boring grown-ups talked, Riley helped me whip up some chocolate chip cookies while we talked about baby stuff from a seven-year-old's perspective. My favorite quote of the evening:
Riley: "So... your baby is due November 26th, right?"
Me: "Yes! Good memory! What do you think about that?"
Riley (who was born in November): "Well... I kinda wish I was the only birthday in November... But it's okay..."
Hahaha. Thank you for generously sharing your birthday month, girlie. [:
The freight-train-hunger continues as the first trimester goes on. #pregtexts
We went on a wedding date to the reception of a friend of Ryan's from the Netherlands! It was beautiful. Heber is a gorgeous place to spend a breezy summer evening. Then we hit up froyo because we felt silly wasting our good looks and going straight home. Froyo continues to be one of the only sweet things I can eat this pregnancy. I love the strawberries and kiwis!
Oh man. This day. One Saturday, we went over to the Grays' to hang out and this tiny furry girl was waiting at the front door to greet us! Oh my word!
We knew Rich & Laura were casually looking at dogs now that they had their yard fenced in, but a puppy? Best surprise ever! I think Ryan almost passed out of happiness. ;) That dog-lover man of mine. He just melts into a puddle around them.
It was so fun to meet Abigail on her first day in her new home! Dragging Ryan away was pretty hard! We're looking forward to lots and lots of summer puppy playtime in the future. [:
How far along: 6 weeks! Size of baby: The size of a sweet pea Gender: I wanted to cry when I found out I have to wait so long to find out! I've always wanted boys but for some reason now I want a little girl, please. Must have items: My water bottle, sleep, and salty food. Meals every two hours! And I'm not just talking snacks. I mean meals. Maternity clothes: Not even close. [: Sleep: I hit a wall around 9:30 and I am just ready to PASS OUT. I've been sleeping alright. Pretty normally. Cravings: Oh man. It is so distinct. I don't want anything sweet at all - just give me salty, savory anything! I've been craving top ramen, bacon, Alfredo, toast, but seriously mostly just ramen! I've had it twice this week and even that's been under some serious self control. Baby movement: Nope. Belly button: Normal! Stretch marks: Oy… Not yet.
New symptoms? It's alllll new. Let's be honest. Hunger, really tired (especially at the gym), and really mild nausea if my tummy's empty. Challenges this week: Dealing with general tummy discomfort and what I think might be morning sickness? I have no idea. It's hard because I'm automatically super sensitive to anything going on with my body now, so really I don't know what's real! Haha. On Sunday night I had my first little bout of nausea as I laid in bed, and it's been a pretty constant baseline since then. It's so mild though, that I sometimes wonder if I'm just imagining it! I have also for the most part lost my appetite, despite the desperate hunger. Only a couple things sound appealing to me (cravings listed above), while others just don't sound great and still others straight up make me get nauseous just thinking about them! I'm having some serious food aversions (and my sense-of-smell-on-steroids isn't helping). It's pretty amazing how strong some of them are. I hate thinking about our chocolate protein bars, chocolate at all, turkey sandwiches, veggies and hummus, ugh. The physical reaction is bizarre! And I'm going to stop talking about it now. Best moment of this week: General Conference! Also we went to a get-together at Brother and Sister Larsens' place (from our old BYU YSA ward) on Monday and it was SO difficult to keep the news to ourselves. [:
At the very end of March, we found out that our life was about to get one tiny human bigger!
We are having a baby!!!!
(Easily the most emotionally-intense bathroom trip I've ever taken.)
After almost three years of the most fantastic adventures together - college, camping trips, national parks, weekend trips, Europe, the Caribbean, moving, new jobs - we decided it was time to take on our biggest adventure yet. I'm ten weeks along and am due in November!
Ahh! Is this real?!? Even after our first ultrasound, where we heard the heartbeat and saw tiny little movements (I cried), it didn't seem real at all. Going into that appointment I told Ryan I was so sure that they would do all of their doctor stuff and say, "We're not sure what you're talking about. You're so not pregnant." And I'd say, "I knew it!" But it's really, truly, happening! When our OB found our little bean on the ultrasound and pronounced, "Well, you are definitely pregnant!" I thought my heart was going to explode. We could hear the tiny heart beat and see the tiny movements! Squeezing Ryan's hand as he stood next to me, both of us staring at that black and white screen was something I'll never forget.
Some notes I've taken since we found out... I've felt my hunger go into 5000% overdrive and my need for sleep follow accordingly. I hit a wall around 9:30pm, an hour before we usually go to bed, and Ryan is forced to just kind of hang out until he gets tired enough to sleep! Haha! It seriously surprises me every day how every two hours, without fail, my stomach doesn't just tell me "Hey I'm empty!" but more like "YOU HAVENT FED ME FOR DECADES AND I AM NOW SHRIVELING UP AND DYING," despite having just had a sizable meal not long before. (Probably just preparing me for the frequent night feedings once baby's here...) It's hunger I've never felt ever before!
I've been completely turned off to sweet things. It's allll about the salty. I've been craving Ramen noodles, Alfredo pasta, toast, plain tortilla chips or crackers, etc. In fact most sweet things like cookies, chocolate (especially!), cake, and just dessert in general make me feel pretty sick thinking about them. I also have a really hard time eating vegetables, and the usual carrots and hummus I have in my lunches are no longer my friend. My sense of smell has skyrocketed, and just the smell of things like turkey lunch meat, chocolate, hummus, and our vegetable stir-fry mix get my gag reflex going a little bit. I can smell my coworkers' deodorant from down the hall, can smell when the fridge at work is open, and can smell when Ryan is taking a shower - all the way from the front room!
All of that being said, I have been so lucky so far to have had really no serious nausea or sickness at all. I've had some mild nausea at random times of the day, and it usually means my stomach is empty. Once I eat - problem solved. I count myself lucky after some of the pregnancies I've seen friends go through! Fingers crossed...
Telling our families was the the best! But I laugh at myself when I think about it - we seriously went back and forth for like three weeks with "When should we tell them?!" Actually just kidding. That was me. Ryan was just rolling his eyes. For some reason I got super freaked out whenever I thought about it. I didn't know when to break the news! We finally decided on a Sunday towards the end of April, when I was around 7 weeks along. For Ryan's family, we made a cute card with the due date and baby stickers and had Laura open it after Sunday dinner. We loved their reactions! Jen's screams and the tackle that followed was pretty priceless. For my family, we held up the due date on a piece of paper while we did our weekly Facetime session. I love re-watching their reactions and the different moments the realization hits each of them. And telling the GHP gang, on our way to Canyonlands on this trip was hilarious as well. Andrew's "WHATT!?" is my favorite. I was lucky to only deal with a tiny bit of nausea on that trip!
Head on the right side. Our little tiny bean!
You are so loved already, Baby Gray! We can't wait to meet you!
We've been so lucky for the last few years to have two of Ryan's closest friends (roommates from the Elms apartments, where he & I met and where we pretty much had the kick-butt-est BYU ward in the valley) marry totally awesome girls and then stick around in Utah for awhile. Together, we are the GHP. Grays/Holts/Potts. Because frankly I got tired of saying "We need to get together with Cassie and Kevin and Andrew and KayCee."
We've had so much fun with them, from epic Catan tournaments to dinner dates to camping weekends to Cards Against Humanity to football game parties. Obviously, people move on and we saw that it all was coming to an end recently as Cassie & Kevin neared graduation and prepared to go be fabulous accountants/lawyers in California (Can you see why we stay friends with them? ;) Crossing our fingers they let us come on trips on their yacht twenty years down the road. Jk Holts, jk).
Andrew & KayCee tried to get reservations for Havasupai, which would have been incredible, but alas, the demand for that place is just so high these days and our weekends of choice were all reserved by the time they were able to get through to the office. After some brainstorming over Station 22 sweet potato fries, we decided on the Needles District as our Plan B! Only the best part of Canyonlands, obviously. Island in the Sky is gorgeous, but is more 'drive-to-lots-of-viewpoints' focused and MUCH more crowded. The Needles is less developed, less conducive to car tourism, and just simply breath-taking. I've written about it here and here.
The night before the trip, the boys wanted to have a video game night over at Ryan's work, where they have a projector and comfy chairs for serious gaming. The wives laid on the sofas and talked the evening away while stealing peanut butter M&Ms from our husbands' gaming stash. I loved it. We talked about marriage, the weirdness that's thinking about life before college, our dreams, work, the future, and family. I had to laugh internally because I remember when I was a kid and I would be absolutely incredulous at how my parents could stand it to just sit and talk for hours about who even knows what. SO boring.
KayCee peaking out from the back, teehee ^^^^^^
We may or may not have stayed up way too late that evening, but when the morning came we woke up bright and early and crammed all of our sleeping bags, pads, tent, food, and camp chairs into the minivan we rented for the trip (because if we're going to do this right, we're driving those three hours huge-Mormon-family style). I would definitely say the drive was relaxing and enjoyable as we chatted and snacked on Doritos, but I was in the front seat, with legroom and hardly any bags to deal with! Everyone was good sports.
We knew two things going into this weekend: First, the weather had potential to be seriously sketchy. And we passed through beautiful sunshine, light rain, and deafening downpours almost every hour of the drive! And then secondly, the Needles only has one campground, so we were prepared to have it be full, meaning we would have to camp at a BLM campground outside the park.
Got to the park pay station and saw the familiar "Campground Full" sign posted. It only dimmed our spirits for a second, because let's be honest - so far our luck has been 100% for every camping trip we've gone on! In fact, that sign was a challenge we were happy to take on. We're pros at this by now.
We got to the campground and started around the first loop, scouring each campsite for signs of occupants. Sure enough, every site was already taken, already taken, already taken... We were beginning to get worried. And then... "Wait, is that a site?" We were passing the group site, which is only for groups of 10 or more and has to be reserved online. It was way out on its own separate pull-out from the main road. But just a few feet down was what seemed very much like a single site, but what also seemed very much like it could be part of the group site. We did some sleuthing.
Wasn't really far enough down the pull-out to be closed off by the barricade that would block off the group site during the winter.
Wasn't that big at all and only had one picnic table and fire pit.
Seemed to have its own camp site number and reservation clipboard...
So we jumped on that! Thank you campsite #11 for being so confusing and hidden that obviously no one else noticed you!
Cassie & Kevin brought the most epic tent I've ever seen. I felt like it was almost the size of our bedroom at home! Setting it up was an adventure and took the efforts of every one of us, but playing games at night and being able to all be in there together was great.
After chilling at the site for a bit, we decided to go for a short hike to stretch our legs and see some of the park before dinner. Ryan & I thought Cave Spring would be a good start. It has a little of everything - my favorite mushroom rocks, a neat old cowboy outpost, ladders going up and down the cliffs, gorgeous views, and some Native American cave paintings.
(Andrew or Kaycee, if you guys see this, notice that I somehow managed to take this photo right as Andrew sat in that mud puddle. Enlarge the picture and look at your faces! I died laughing.)
Luckily it didn't start to rain on us until we were only minutes from the car. The dark desert rainclouds were so cool to watch!
And then just like that, they were gone! We enjoyed the sun back at camp and sat and talked in our camp chairs before dinner and the ranger program that night.
Cute Holts. We're gonna miss them so much. ):
Can we talk about how excited Andrew was to chop up the firewood each night? Haha.
Dinner was brats roasted over the fire - so good. The ranger program that evening was about the amazing ecology of the desert and how every piece of it is dependent on another for survival. We hung around afterwards and talked with the ranger and the campground hosts ("our camp mom and dad" as Cassie loved to call them. [: ) as they asked us about where we were from, what we thought about national parks, and how we thought the NPS could reach more millennials. It was a great conversation. The funniest part though was when the camp hosts asked us where we were staying, and all six of us exploded into hallelujahs at the same time about campsite 11 being open and how it saved our weekend. It had them in stitches as they laughed at us and told us about how nobody ever notices site 11!
The next morning we slept in and relaxed with our pancake breakfast. The rest of the day was dedicated to exploring from my favorite trailhead in the park, Elephant Hill. We hiked the Chesler Park out-and-back and ate lunch overlooking the beautiful needles that gave this part of the park its name.
The desert wildflowers were in full bloom and they were gorgeous! Everywhere we looked was spotted with yellow and red and purple. Kevin and I tried to document every one we didn't recognize so that we could learn their names later. Haha.
^^^ Had to stop and take a picture of my favorite rock. [: Best buds since summer 2013!
^^^ Giant cheeseburger? Or macaron?
I love love these prickly pear cactus flowers. Their shade of purple is so pretty.
Lizard friends. Lizard friends everywhere.
Gang's all here!
THESE VIEWS!
I really wanted to try to find these again, and we did! I always wonder about who made them and what their life was like. [: So cool.
Towering needles.
Looking back to where we came from, almost at the end. I love all the mushroom rocks down there!
Are you tired of these views yet? Nope. Impossible.
Cairn and Kevin.
The gorgeous La Sal mountains in the distance. I never made the connection that their name literally means "The Salt Mountains," which makes so much sense with the salty soil and water around here, thanks to all the incredible things that have shaped this place over millions of years! Mind blown.
Cute Potts.
Back at camp, it was time for chili! The temperatures this weekend were definitely warm when the sun was out, but any time it went behind a cloud or cliff, and especially when it went down for the evening, it was COLD. It was still spring, after all! Hot chili tasted great.
KayCee lookin just a little rosy pink. [: She and I got pretty sunburned on the hike.
The sunset was stunning against the red rocks surrounding us as we ate. Mm. So peaceful. [:
Looking back at our little camp and laughing at Cassie because as soon as she saw me with the camera she tried to hide behind the car. Haha.
Nothing better than finishing up a day of hiking with a toasty fire and some s'mores.
We had some pretty epic gaming this trip! Of course we played Catan (Cassie slayed us), and Cassie & Kevin also introduced us to "Cover Your Assets," which we loved!
On Sunday morning we wrestled the ginormous tent back into its bag, loaded up the car again, and headed back toward home. We made a brief detour to Island in the Sky so that the Holts and Potts could get a taste of it. We could see all the way to the Needles off in the distance! That was awesome.
So stunning. EARTH IS RAD. The GHP is rad. This was such a great weekend, and we'll never forget it!
