Christmas Vacation: California to Oregon

Christmas is always such a crazy time for us: 1. Christmas is always crazy with presents, family, dinners, Christmas breakfast, 2. Scott's birthday is Christmas Eve, and 3. my birthday is Christmas day.

Scott and I started out our Christmas vacation by going down to Danville for a few days. There was constantly family over at my parent's house (cousins, siblings) - it was wonderful. The first night that we got there, my mom had sugar cookies lined up on the counter for us to decorate. Scott's were the most popular for reasons you will see (pictures hopefully coming soon - I forgot to take my camera, so I need to wait to get the pictures from my brother). He decorated three gingerbread boys wearing speedos/thongs - he also gave one lucky one a hairy chest - don't worry, the other ones got nipples.

The next morning, my grandmother, Sammie, put his masterpieces on a platter with a sign saying, "Chippendales." She then put a $1 bill on the platter, making it look like it was tucked into one of the cookies drawers.

My mom made an amazing carrot cake for Scott's 28th birthday - she put his sugar cookies on top of it as decoration. We used the same cake for my 24th birthday the following night, but removed the cookies.

After Danville, we drove up to Oregon to be with Scott's family. His sisters, Karen and Michelle, live up there with their families, so everyone congregated up there this year (It was the first time his family had all been together since our wedding three years ago). It usually takes five hours to get to their homes from ours, but because of the weather and traffic, it took us eight hours. It was a very long trip, but worth it once we got there.

At the race track.YannickJoy and Mark (his lips look pretty real, don't they? of course minus the fact that they're abnormally huge here!)Allyssa-Rae, Karen, Michelle, Nikki (sp?)Thalia-Rae is on a mission in New York right now, but we made sure to include her in as many things as possible.My husband - the model (I think I'm pretty lucky - plus our kids are going to be really attractive - how could they not be?)Barbie and AbbygailJoy's competitive nature coming out.Yannick and Josh: battling . . . Mark and KaylaJoy looks so innocent in this picture. She didn't know she'd been caught on film attacking her nephew (as previously shown).Nikki with Allyssa-Rae's J-Lo hat.Apparently, Dennis has had this hat since the creation of the world - maybe even before that.Karen, Gail, Dennis, Michelle, my hubby, and MarkTop Row: me, Scott, Michelle, Josh, Barbie, Thalia-Rae, Gail, Dennis, Abbygail, Yannick

Bottom Row: Ben, Allyssa-Rae, Karen, Kayla, Noelle, Jessie, Joy, Mark, Nikki, Kyle

The Morgan's Annual Christmas Party

On Friday, Scott and I went to Tiffani and Andrew's annual Christmas party. We talked, ate a lot of great food, and had a white elephant gift exchange.

All the girls: Hillary, Lindsey, Catherine, Tiffani, Leslie, Val, me, and Susan
Tiffani opening the gift that Scott and I brought (I love Lindsey's laugh after she sees it). As it turns out, this was the most sought after gift: a Nerf gun and a jockstrap.

Brandon ended up with our gift at the end and was pretty quick to try it on after the game was over. Ben and Leslie brought the waist band thing that Josh is wearing. You're supposed to wear it to help you slim down . . . I guess it's supposed to make you sweat, causing you to lose weight. Leslie's grandma swears by them.

Christmas FHE

Last Monday, our friends, Tiffani and Andrew Morgan, invited us to their family's home for FHE. We had an amazing dinner, followed by singing and a reenactment of the Nativity story.

It was hilarious watching Grandpa and Rob try to fit into the children's costumes . . . it's a good thing the costumes were stretchy.

Cordon, the Wise Man

Andrew and Carson

Me chillin' with Carson (sorry Tiffani, I stole this from your site)
The whole family packed up and caravaned to a nearby neighborhood that's decked out in Christmas lights and decorations. We each had hot chocolate and a bag of cookies to snack on while strolling down the street. There were probably five or more kinds of hot chocolate to choose from back at the house (Scott had caramel, and I had peppermint), and three different kinds of homemade cookies! They were so good.

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P.S. Just to keep everyone informed . . . Scott and I have decided to go ahead with Clomid. After much research and prayer, we feel this is the best way to go. If I take the antibiotic, the risk of harming my body is greater than my chances of getting TB in the first place. INH can cause liver damage and possibly hepatitis. I don't want to risk my health by taking the antibiotic if it ends up not being necessary. Thanks for all of your words of comfort and prayers, and I'm sorry I had such a major pity party on my blog (However, I must admit that as soon as I finished typing it, I felt a whole lot better. I really needed to vent).

Ramblings of an Emotional Moron

Disclaimer: I just need to write this. It's not edited and might not make sense, but I don't care right now.

I am so hurt right now. I feel so sick and tired of all the hoops I have to jump through to even start fertility. I first had to do the horrible HSG test to make sure I'm "all clear" in the tubes, I then had to do tons of blood work, Scott had to do his test, and then I finally got to visit my fertility doctor. From there, she told me that my Rubella immunization wore off from when I was little, so I had to get a Rubella vaccine before I could start Clomid, meaning I couldn't try getting pregnant for at least 30 days after the vaccine. Now I just found out (when I'm so close to getting to start Clomid) that I tested positive in a PPD (TB skin test). I went and got a chest x-ray to make sure I don't have active TB. Thankfully, that came back negative (I don't have TB, I'm not contagious, but I've been exposed to it). My doctor, however, wants me to take an antibiotic (Isoniazid, or INH) as a preventative of my latent TB becoming active (I've read that about 5% of people with a positive PPD get active TB in 2 years). The problem is, I don't know when I was exposed to TB. I know I was for sure in contact with it about 2 or 3 years ago when a little girl at church had TB, but Scott hasn't tested positive in his PPD even though he was around her just as much as I was. So perhaps that's not when I was exposed. If I was exposed then, then I'm probably not going to get active TB, but if I was exposed more recently, it's possible that I may. There's no way of knowing when I was exposed. The problem with all of this is that INH is a Category C drug for pregnancy, meaning I shouldn't take it at the same time that I'm pregnant, or trying to conceive. Not only is it a Cat. C drug, but I have to take it for 9 months, so I have to put off having a baby that much longer. This just sucks so bad because we've been trying for over 2 years, and we were going to start Clomid in a few weeks. I had my hopes up so high, and now I have to deal with this. Do I put off the antibiotic until later, or do I postpone trying to get pregnant for another 9 months? This time in my life has been so wonderful, but at the same time, I don't think I've ever had to go through anything more difficult than these problems from the last 2 years - miscarriage, infertility since then, and in the last month - getting a Rubella vaccine, having to wait 30 more days to start Clomid, testing positive for PPD, maybe having to wait 9 months more to start Clomid. I don't know what to do. My primary care doctor wants me to start the antibiotic now, but my fertility doctor wants me to put off the antibiotic (since it's not active TB), so I can start Clomid. I don't know what to do. Help me! Help me get through this. I want to feel peace and comfort. I want to know what's best for my health, but I also want a child. I feel like I've been waiting for so long. Everyone keeps saying, you're still young. You can wait a little longer. Things will happen when they're supposed to. I know I can wait, and I know I'm still young, I know things work out for the best, but that doesn't make it easier, and sometimes I think sucky things just happen without Heavenly Father trying to test us. This is such an emotional roller coaster. It is so difficult wanting something that is so good and in line with the commandments of God, but not being able to have it yet. I feel I am patient, and I try to have faith, but sometimes it is so draining. I need to think of others at this time and forget about myself. That will take my focus off of the problem a little bit more, and then I will be able to be happy with my life as it is and have a hope for the future. Clomid or INH? Which one do I choose? It doesn't seem likely that I'll get TB, but if I do when I am pregnant, it can cause severe deformities in the baby and can be life threatening to me. But if I was exposed two or three years ago, then I'm already past the point of getting active TB, and I'll be putting off having a baby when there's really no need to. I'm getting such mixed messages from my doctors right now that I just don't know what to do.

Tacky Sweater Party

Last night, Scott and I were invited to a tacky sweater party and ornament exchange (yes, the ornaments were tacky too). There was an ugly sweater contest, and Scott came in second place - probably because he wasn't really wearing a sweater - just a sequins woman's shirt and a Christmas vest with a 3-D snowman on it (apparently this wasn't tacky enough).

Randy and Cherrie: She won the contest. She added the eyes and a red nose to her sweater to make it look like Rudolph - it was pretty horrible.

Troy and Janice: These two were hilarious. There was never a dull moment with them. Their ornaments were hilarious, but I probably shouldn't say what they were because it may not be appropriate. However, I can say they were homemade and very creative. Jillian was the host of the party. She just recently moved into our ward and is so much fun.

Makeover . . . Again

Summer '07
Later summer '07

Winter '07

My hair's brown for the second time in my life. I always thought I was a natural blonde, but once I went away to school and my highlights started growing out (I couldn't afford to pay for them anymore), I realized my hair was naturally brown and let it grow out. Who knows. I'll probably be blonde in the summer again . . . if not a redhead.