If you like politics, be sure to check out the comment field of the previous post or just click HERE.

If you don't like politics, please skip this post!

This is my own opinion and in no way do I speak in behalf of anyone else or the LDS church. It's funny I felt prodded to write such a thing in the first place.

OK. Climb aboard Matt's Politics Express. I will attempt to tread lightly.

So I have a fantastic friend (his word, not mine) Jim, who, a few years back, moved to Burbank, California to work in the TV industry. He called me today with some pretty incredible news.

Most of you who read this know that I am a practicing Mormon and Jim is as well. Jim's news had to do with his new calling (church service assignment) in his California ward. This assignment is to contact every ward member in his stake and ask them personally to work/vote against the gay marriage ruling that was recently passed in May and to donate $200 per family to the cause. He is basically an LDS lobbyist!

So why blog about this? Well, I find this fascinating and exciting as well. Here's why:

I am sometimes frustrated that my church doesn't give more direction to it's members on how to vote regarding MAJOR IMPORTANT political issues. Should we all be Republicans or Democrats? Should we be for or against the war? ETC. Wouldn't it be easier if the Prophet just told us all how to vote and create more of a unified front? (Don't EVEN bring up Lucifer's plan, I am just throwing this out there...) We could be major movers and shakers if we would all get on common ground! But alas, the LDS leadership encourages us to make our own decisions and form our own opinions after studying the issues (which most of us DON'T do). Unfortunately, our limited understand and abilities sometimes lead us down wrong roads (see Harry Reid).

Well, finally, there is one issue the church has found it necessary, nay imperative, to take a hard line stance and get TOTALLY involved politically. In LDS church buildings across the nation a few weeks back, a letter was read how we should all come together and fight FOR the protection and sanctity of marriage and family and against gay marriage. This letter was VERY bold and left no gray area.

Well, Jim's calling is taking that support one step further. Jim is reminding members of the covenants they have made which urge its members to support causes deemed appropriate by the church both laboriously and financially with all possible means necessary. In other words, Jim is telling members to step it up!

The L.A. Times writes about this particular judgement:
"In a 4-3 decision, the justices rule that people have a fundamental 'right to marry' the person of their choice and that gender restrictions violate the state Constitution's equal protection guarantee."

The last paragraph from the LDS Proclamation of the Family:
"The family is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan. Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity. Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ... Further, we warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets."

So there it is. The raging war that is happening right under our noses which most of us don't even know is going on. The battle that the LDS church has chosen to fight on the front lines, where they have remained uncommitted and neutral in what could be interpreted as less important issues facing the church (i.e. Iraq war, economy issues, health care, social reform, budget deficit, etc.).

So, what do I learn from this?

Taking my personal faith into consideration, I feel I should choose a candidate/political party, that, first and foremost, aligns itself with with the one headline issue that my religion is fighting so fervently against: Gay marriage and for preserving the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman.

I should start there regarding my personal political selection.

This is what I found regarding John McCain: (This quote comes straight from his website)

"The family represents the foundation of Western Civilization and civil society and John McCain believes the institution of marriage is a union between one man and one woman. It is only this definition that sufficiently recognizes the vital and unique role played by mothers and fathers in the raising of children, and the role of the family in shaping, stabilizing, and strengthening communities and our nation."

What/whom does your political affiliation support?

1. Cleaned out the fridge
2. Washed the sheets
3. Scrubbed down the counters- 3 separate times
4. Put 8 different pairs of shoes away
5. Wiped pee off the toilet seat
6. Loaded and then unloaded the dishwasher
7. Windexed the glass on one of the framed pictures on my wall
8. Found library books to return and renewed ones I couldn't find
9. Wiped up random sticky spot on the kitchen floor
10. Weeded one flower bed

Sometimes a mom's life is filled with repetitive, thankless tasks. So here's to all of you moms out there who keep doing it day after day after day after day....
Kudos to you!

I live in what we affectionately call "downtown Sandy". Salt Lake holds very little that we don't have right here. We have the Jordan Commons, South Towne Mall, The Real Soccer Stadium, South Towne Expo Center... However, I also live on the remnants of an old farm. The old Benson Farm to be exact. Two houses away from ours you can find Grandpa Gib's old house.


From the minute I met Matt, I was constantly hearing about "Grandpa Gib". He was Matt's biggest fan and his best friend growing up. He never missed a game or show Matt happened to be in. And because he was retired by the time Matt came along, he was always there; right next door. In fact, we even named Isaac Andrew Baker after his great-grandpa Gilbert Andrew (though from most accounts Isaac is nothing like his namesake who was quiet and reserved).

So the other day I was walking around the property looking at all the old stuff and trying to envision what this place looked like "back in the day". No tall buildings blocking your view...no buildings at all. Just farmlands as far as the eye could see.

Gib owned the whole block once upon a time. Behind his house you can still find an old chicken coop and horse corrals, and next to that an old barn.





As I was walking around I started looking for hidden treasures. What was life like back then? I found a few interesting remnants of yesterday...

Look at all this chicken wire! Mending fences to keep all the livestock where they're supposed to be. Out in the hot sun or freezing snow...

Now this looks like fun! Can you even buy these anymore? At least you had some control over the snow with this sled.

I think I'll take my stove thank you very much.


Some type of old record player. I just imagine sitting as a family around the fireplace listening to some old jazz music or something. Warm and cozy, tired from a hard days work out on the farm.
Matt claims this one is an old butter churner. I have no idea how this bad boy would work, but I think I prefer Wal-Mart to deliver my butter to my cart.
There are 3 saddles in this part of the barn. Riding horses around sounds fun, using them to till my farm, not so much. After churning my butter and cooking in my way-too-hot oven and hoeing my huge garden, feeding and caring for the horses just sounds like one more chore. Did the list of things to do ever end for farmers?

Anyway, it was pretty interesting for me to look at all this stuff, being the city girl that I am and try to envision what life was like back then. It made me so grateful to this man I never met. Grandpa Gib gave Matt's parents their lot to build a house on, who in turn gave us ours. And now Matt's sister Paula is living is Gib's old house. Did he have any idea all those years ago how many of his family would benefit from what he worked so hard for? What would he think if he could see his Matt now- proud dad of two awesome boys with two more on the way? Well, I think he knows. And I think he's proud his legacy is living on.

About six or so months ago, one of our staple restaurants (you know, those 3 or 4 restaurants that you always frequent) closed down to reopen by the new WalMart in Sandy. Better location facilitated the move. Well, after much anxious anticipation, Rafaels reopened today and the Baker family is very happy. The wait was extraordinary, but the food was delectable! Seriously, if you want the best refried beans in the world, this is the place.

This blog is probably going to be longer and more detailed than many of you would care to read. Please don't worry about that, skip to the end and you'll get the general idea. This blog is more for me. I want to remember how this started and how it came to an end.

I would have to say our journey began about 3 1/2 years ago. Isaac had just turned two and Matt and I had decided to get going on baby #3. Now for most couples this is a relatively easy process as old as Adam and Eve. We had run into a few challenges along the way to getting our boys, but thought we had the problem solved: Take Chlomid, get pregnant, check.

First we decided to buy some Chlomid in Mexico. It was cheaper, and probably the same stuff, right? Well, a few months of that didn't work so I went into my OB and got a prescription for the real FDA approved full-price stuff. Still, no luck. So we added ultrasounds to watch how all of my innards were responding and all looked well. Nothing.

Next step, perganol. Now this lovely drug is substantially more expensive than Chlomid and must be injected into deep tissue (i.e. my glutteous maximus). Worth it, anything for that next baby I just knew was on it's way. These daily shots, injected by my stalwart partner and husband Matt, were not my favorite, but only lasted 10-12 days. I also went in for ultrasounds every other day to check the progress of all the developing follicles (small sacs in which eggs grow) and when they were large enough I was given another shot to make the eggs release.
Add sperm, make baby. Or so I thought. We tried this method for a few months with no results and became thoroughly disheartened with the entire process. It was painful, time-consuming, expensive, and worst of all, I was emotionally done.

So we decided to take a break. Don't worry about it. Let nature take it's course. "You'll get pregnant as soon as you stop trying". Many well-meaning friends tried to console me with stories of other friends who had miraculously gotten pregnant on their own as soon as they stopped trying. Word to the wise, no one trying to get pregnant wants to hear these stories unless they happen to be one of those few who this works for.

Meanwhile, the inevitable questions started coming. "When are you going to have another one?", "you guys make such cute kids, you should have more", "your boys would be such cute big brothers", and the like. Well-meaning people said many hurtful things not realizing how hard we were trying. No one (except Matt) knew how I cried every month and how hard it was for me to watch everyone else try, conceive, grow and deliver while I continued to wait. I did have my boys, and for that I was immeasurably grateful, but the ache was still there.

I wondered why. Was I not doing enough? Was I not reading my scriptures enough or praying enough? Was there a reason Heavenly Father didn't want me to have any more children? I knew it was a righteous desire and I just couldn't understand why teenagers around me could get pregnant and I couldn't. It didn't seem fair.

Next we turned to adoption. We had prayed about this option and felt really good. We paid our down payment, had the home visit, did our couple and separate interviews, went to the classes, all of it. Finally, after 4 or 5 long months we were done with the process and our file was out there for all of the birth moms to see. Surely someone would look at our sweet family and decide their baby was meant to join us... We waited and we waited. I thought about all of the sweet couples we had met during our classes. Many of them had been married for as long or longer than Matt and I had. They could have the babies, we could wait.

This was a good period for me. I felt at peace and knew we were doing all we could. If it was the Lord's will we have more children, we would. If not, well, I had the two best boys in the entire world and a husband who had loved me through all the crazy emotional roller coaster of getting them and trying for this elusive baby #3.

But alas, my peace did not last. I grew antsy again and was no longer satisfied to simply sit and wait. I went back to me OB and got my Chlomid prescription filled- again. Months went by. Nothing. I went up to U to their reproductive clinic and had a few tests done. They suggested artificial insemination (we had tried this before), and we decided to try it again. Still no luck. Frustrated by the lack of continuity and the endless bills from the U, I again returned to my OB to try my luck at the perganol again. A few months of this and I was an emotional wreck again. I didn't know what to do.

One night I was surfing the internet looking up infertility and reading everything I could find. (I sometimes did this to make me feel like I was doing more) I came across another infertility clinic here in Sandy and decided to make an appointment to talk to one of the doctors there. Just getting in the door for a consult was a $200 fee but I was desperate and Matt was willing, so in we went.

The day was March 3 and my first contact with one of the doctors was at 8 o'clock that morning though my appointment wasn't until 11. I got a phone call saying he was overscheduled and could we meet later in the day? Now this was new for me. At the U, at my OB, I rarely saw or spoke to an actual doctor, only the nurses. And here was this doctor, calling me himself to reschedule. I was impressed.

So later Matt and I went in and met with Dr. Blauer. He seemed really nice and looked through my entire record (which, believe me, was quite large by this time) and talked to us for an entire hour. He just answered questions and gave us his best advice, which was this: He said we could continue with the perganol and artificial insemination but he gave us about a 6% chance of getting pregnant each month with that route. It could work, but more than likely it wouldn't. He basically told us our only real hope at this point was in vitro.

I was devastated. I knew, of course, what in vitro was. I also knew how much it cost. $9000 for one try and only 50% chance it would work. The other option was called a shared risk program where you pay $21,000 and you get to try in vitro 4 times. If you get pregnant, fabulous. If not, you get your money back. Matt would never go for it. Let me say this about Matt. He was happy with our boys. He would have been good to just have them. But he loves me. He saw how much the desire for another child was eating at me and bless him, he loved me through it all. But. Matt can also be the cheapest man alive. There was NO WAY he would consent to that much money. Not a chance. He loves me yes, but enough was enough.

Or so I thought.

My dear sweet husband asked me what I thought of the whole visit. I told him I was upset. I wanted another child, I felt our family wasn't complete. We had done everything we could have possibly done with the exception of in vitro. Then my Matt said to me, "well, I don't want to gamble. If we're going to do this, let's do the 4 times or you get your money back option". If we're going to do this? Was he serious? I cried and hugged him. All for me. All to make me happy. That, my friends is love. We prayed about it and felt good about our decision. This was it. If it didn't work we could truly say we had done everything we could do and feel that was our answer.

First came all the testing. Apparently they need to make sure you're not on drugs or riddled with disease before they let you get pregnant. Fine. Then came the pill. This part was strange to me. I don't get pregnant, that's why we were trying in vitro, but first I have to go on the pill to "rest" my ovaries for a month. So in April we rested.

Then came my goodie box in the mail. Boy did that look fun.


All full of shots and drugs... for me.

I learned a lot about myself and my tolerance for needles during this point.


I was able to do the small needle ones that just went into the fat (stomach or back of the arm), but Matt had to do the deep tissue ones later on.

I had a whole bunch of drugs I had to mix all together and that was actually fairly interesting. 10 units of this, 5 of that...
Every night I made up my cocktail and injected it. I had heard the side effects were pretty bad, but I didn't really feel much. It could be the fact that I had already been on so many infertility drugs previously, I don't know. But it was a blessing.

Every other day I was going in to get my blood drawn and have an ultrasound to check the progress of everything. Then on Monday, May 19 the nurse told me to take the HCG shot to release the eggs and come in on Wednesday for the retrieval.

Here is a super flattering picture of them explaining all the ins and outs of the retrieval. They sedated me and off we went. I was pretty groggy the rest of the day and didn't feel very good, but at least that part was over and we could wait for the phone call to tell us how many they got and how many fertilized.

The next day the doctor's office called. They were able to retrieve 24 eggs from me but only 10 of them fertilized. I didn't know if this was good or not, they assured me it was fine and they would watch them grow and let me know.

Saturday we had a tentative appointment for implantation but the office called again and said enough of the embryos were growing they were going to wait until Monday and watch them some more.
Monday we had 2 grade A excellent blastocysts to implant and we were ready to go.



Not much to tell about this part. They took our 2 awesome little embryos and put them in my uterus (where they're supposed to be) and we went home.


We did however, get this lovely photo of our two little buddies. I know all of you are jealous, but you have to pay top dollar to get these kind of photos. Aren't they darling?

Nothing more to do than wait. And wait. Two weeks can seriously be forever. They told me not to take an at-home pregnancy test because they can be wrong and make women who are already emotional basket-cases worse. So I didn't.

Then, a week later I randomly met this girl out to dinner who was pregnant with triplets from in vitro. I told her I had just done it and waiting to find out. She told me to go ahead with a home pregnancy test just to see. She said it might be negative and I could still be pregnant, but if it was positive, I definitely was. I wasn't sure whether or not to believe her, but I was having an extremely hard time waiting. So I did it.
The first one I took had a second line. It was faint, but it was definitely there. Two days later I took another one and two days later another one. Each time the line got darker and I got more and more hopeful. A couple of days before my doctor's appointment the nurse called to confirm and I confessed what I had done.
She said congratulations!

Matt still refused to get excited until we got the blood results from the doctor. So we waited.

Finally we went in and had my blood drawn. It took them FOREVER to call us back and I was worried. Finally, the nurse called. She told us they were looking for a hormone level of 100 and mine was 1200! So there it was, I was finally pregnant. After years and years, it was finally real!

Two weeks later we went into the doctor's office for our first look at our little "bean". We brought the boys with so they could see it too. The whole journey had been a family affair and we wanted them to be in on it. So Matt and I went back into the ultrasound room and left the boys in the waiting room "just in case".

Right away the doctor found our little miracle and started measuring it and it's heartbeat. Matt and I were thrilled! There it was. Tiny, yes, but it was there. Matt asked the doctor if there was only one (high chance of twins with in vitro) and he said he wasn't sure yet, but at first glance, yes, there was just the one.

So Matt went out to get the boys.

While he was gone the doctor finished measuring the baby and said "oh, there's another one".

Another what? Another baby! Matt came in with the boys and I said "Matt, they found another one". He asked Alex to get out of the chair so he could sit down. He was shocked. He took my hand and smiled at me. I cried. I couldn't believe it. And yet I could. When we talked about it later, both of us admitted we knew it was twins, but didn't want to think about it quite yet.

So the doctor measured the other one and checked it's heartbeat too. Both seemed to be doing well and to be about the right size.

Isaac had been hoping for twins all along and was so happy his "wish had come true". Alex was quiet, but very happy too. It was a great day!



Here is the ultrasound photo of our two little miracles. I had another ultrasound this last week and they're still growing.

I am officially way sicker than with the boys and more tired too. But I guess that's to be expected when you've got two little people growing inside you.

I think I'm over the initial shock, but I still love to look at my already expanding stomach and think of the two little lives taking form in there. We prayed and we waited. We learned patience, love, understanding, and many more lessons from this experience. It wasn't easy and and it's not a lesson I would wish on anyone. But looking back now, I wouldn't have it any other way. It's helped me and Matt to grow as a couple and it's given me empathy for all the thousands and hundreds of thousands of couples who struggle with infertility.

I have some new challenges coming up with a twin pregnancy and balancing two boys who still need me. Then we'll have two new babies. It will be an adventure, but we're up for it.

In six more months, I'll have my big boys and my babies. It's perfect. It's exactly how it's supposed to be. Heavenly Father knew what He was doing as usual. Hindsight is so much easier than faith in what's to come. I knew this of course while I was going through it, but that didn't make it any easier. But here, once again, I know my Father in Heaven has a plan for me and for my family. He wants what is best for us which doesn't necessarily coincide with what we want. I seem to have to learn this concept over and over again. And I'm sure we're not done. Learning to have faith is one thing we won't ever get a break from. I just hope I'm getting better at it.

This is the end of one road for us, but just the beginning of a new one for our family.

So, on the way home from church yesterday, we were discussing how I am going with a friend to see the new Batman movie. Alex, of course, wants to see this film, but he pretty much has to be 20 before he is allowed. In attempt to console Alex, Jenny said "The movie is soooo scary, I'm not even going to go see it." Isaac quickly retorted, "Yeah, it would scare the twins and Dad doesn't have babies in his tummy... But he does have stretch marks!"

Thanks, Isaac...

Today, Alex become a little bit older, and tougher.

He loves playing football, and today he finally, after much anticipation, got his pads.

He is very excited. I was also pretty excited, until he laid his first hit on me with pads. I am starting to feel a bit sorry for the kids on the bad end of his tackles!

As in the picture, Isaac isn't far behind!

Check out my Chaco shoe going into the water!

New PICS added!

CLICK HERE FOR THE SNAKE RIVER PICTURE/VIDEO SWAP!

(There are 8 Pics that I downloaded off the net that are low res. They are labeled "Picture" 1-8 or something. All the rest are higher res where one can make prints.)

CLICK HERE FOR THE SNAKE RIVER PICTURE/VIDEO SWAP!

Directions:

We all took pictures and we all want each others pictures. SO, follow the link above and upload your high resolution pictures to the site and download the pictures you want! Please do this so that we can all have everybody's best shots, especially of the river hits! I am talking especially to Liz, Kate, Paul (vide0), Lee, Brooks, and anyone else who has some good stuff.

Leave a comment here if you have any questions.

Because all of us were in the water after the flip, many "survivors" :) mentioned that they would like somewhere to post their story while floating down the river after the Lunch Counter Cleanse (read previous post). Or even if you were in the other boat, tell us your story from your point of view! It all happened so fast, we aren't sure what took place!

So, share your story here by adding your comment below.

WOW!
Where to begin...

If you were there, you know EXACTLY what I am talking about.

OK, let's start here...

62 People. Jenny and I counted on the way home and we came up with 62 people coming from places as far away as Canada, San Diego, Indiana, Colorado, and Utah. 62 friends and family all joining up again for the 10th(?) annual Snake River Extravaganza.

Here is a full, Lunch Counter sequence from start to finish. Photos taken by the magnificent Jenny. (Click on any picture to enlarge.)

Freaking huge!
That is my 70 year old dad on the hound! GO DAD!This is called submarining. Our entire boat is under water on the 3 rapid.There were some major changes this year. It started that our normal campsite was already taken! We had claimed that spot year after year, but this year it was gone early. No problem, though, we found a place that many liked better. What did you think if you were there? Did you like our new spot better? Anyway...

Another change was the river. It was Angry, Huge, Ferocious, Cold (52 Degrees), and Amazing! We usually run the Snake and 4000 CFS (cubic feet per second) and when we arrived, it was raging at 21,300. The trip usually takes us about 21/2 to 3 hours. This year, 70 minutes. Our normal Big Kahuna hit was a mere ripple, but Lunch Counter was 6 Kahunas, mixed with swelling, sucking and gaping currents ever ready to devour the next boat. Lunch Counter was not the only body claiming section on the river! We had swimmers almost on every turn. There was not a single trip where someone didn't go out.

We ran a total of 10 trips all of which told their own stories and adventures, not to mention several close calls. For example, when Liz got slammed by a wave in Lunch Counter and was submerged underwater for several seconds,
Can you see Liz?
or when Jim, while swimming the ropes, got tied up in an eddie and felt the constant pull of an underwater current trying to take him down. Or when Scott was engulfed by a lurching wave which dragged him down to the depths of the deepest part of the Snake in Champagne where he stayed under water for a good 45-60 seconds... Needless to say, he was seeing stars. Good thing all are strong swimmers!

Last but not least, though, was the Lunch Counter cleanse.

The last trip was definitely the most interesting run for me. The entire Edginton clan (Jenny's family) was in my boat, including some younger folks like Alex. Well, we ran the rapids dead center and did fine until the fifth rapid when we just ran out of steam, spun sideways, and an enormous wave/hydrolic devoured our boat sending the entire boat crew everywhere. These are the pics I have so far and I am sure more are to come.


Nice Rick! (Jenny's dad... 50 something)
The FlipThe Spread.

Everyone survived (barely!) and lived to see another day! The rescue will be on another post.