Kicking off Summer with lots of fun!!

The whole gang at the Lenore Caves hiking and geocaching!

Well summer is definitely getting started around here. The weather is slowly cooperating and we've been VERY busy...which is what reminds me that it's almost summer!! The last couple weeks have pretty much flown by since we've had plans almost every day/night. I'll just recap a couple of the highlights. Last Thursday I made dinner for my mom, Andy and I, (a delicious honey dijon Salmon with roasted asparagus and brown rice..mmm...) then my mom and I headed up to Seattle to see Grease at the 5th Avenue Theater. We had so much fun and the performance was amazing!! And as an added bonus, Taylor Hicks (past American Idol) starred as "Teen Angel" and I was able to get a CD and his autograph after the show (I'll post pics as soon as I get them from my mom :)) Overall it was a wonderful evening and great to have some quality mother daughter time, we decided we are definitely going to start seeing more shows together!!

Friday I worked all day, then came home to finish the preparations for our Sun Lakes Camping trip!! We got up Saturday morning, packed up the car and headed to Orting to pick up Keren and Steve. We got a bit later of a start then planned but had an entertaining road trip while battling through some of the traffic who also had the idea to soak up some sun on the East side! Once we finally got to the campsite we met up with Katie and Kyle (Andy's sis and brother in law) and got our campground all set up for the weekend.

The weekend was filled with a visit to the Grand Coulee Dam, geo-caching, hiking, sunshine, campfires, bbq, smores, drinking and lots and lots of FUN!!! We had so much fun camping and hope this was a start to many more camping trips to come.

Things are changin'

Since we got back from Cancun, Andy and I have been talking and have made a few decisions. First of all, we've decided to get back to working with our RE (Reproductive Encrinologist) that we've been seeing for the past year at Seattle Reproductive. Our plan was to get a 2nd opinion first since I have not seen any changes or results from acupuncture/herbs/organics. So Andy took Tuesday off and we went to the GYFT clinic that we were referred to by a friend of a friend. I know some people (her included) really liked this clinic and have had success, unfortunately we were not impressed at all. We arrived and the building/location were not in the best area, Andy was already skeptical but I told him to keep an open mind and we went into the appt. The clinic itself was ok (although it did't resemble a fertility clinic) but the "Dr" we saw wasn't even a fertility specialist or RE. He was a "DO." We had a consultation with him, but he hadn't even glanced at my records before we met with him, so I had to go through and explain everything. He basically told us what we already knew and that their clinic would've gone through the same testing that SRM would, but doesn't have as strict of restrictions on the # of follicles during a cycle --this made me nervous that I would be at a high risk for high-order multiples (triplets or more..eek!!). Overall, we decided that SRM is a much better fit for us and our needs. So we made an appointment and I'll be meeting with Dr. Dudley again on Tuesday May 26th to discuss our next step in this long journey. Thanks for your support/thoughts/prayers as we go through difficult times. It has been very wearing and tiring on both Andy and I and we sure hope that God has our little miracle waiting to be sent SOON!! :)

On another note...Andy has interviewed for a Personal Banker position at the Fife branch!!!! We've been waiting over a year for him to transfer out of the Seattle market and somewhere closer to home and he finally found an opportunity that sounds promising!! We don't know for sure that he got it, but things sounded VERY good when he met with their manager and the recruiter, so we are hoping and praying that this will be his new 'home away from home' soon.

Oh and how could I have almost forgotten one of the biggest changes... I switched to DAY SHIFT!!! I started last Sunday on my new shift- 8am-6pm with Tues/Weds/Thurs off. It has been so nice to sleep like a normal person and feel more energized during the day! Unfortunately this probably won't last forever, but I will stay on this shift until we bid for our new shifts in August :) It will be very nice for the summer, even though I will still be working weekends...I can't have it all, right?!

A week in Paradise ...

Well...our vacation to Cancun has come and gone ...way too fast, as vacations always seem to do!! We had an amazing time though and will definitely make it back there sometime, hopefully sooner than later!

We left on Monday morning April 20th and flew non-stop to Cancun. After we arrived waited through the long lines at customs and got on our shuttle we were off to enjoy the wonderful amenities at our all inclusive resort: The Sun Palace. We absolutely loved the resort! It wasn't huge (like some of the other Palace resorts that were in Cancun that we were able to use also), which made it much more intimate and relaxing. There were 4 different restaurants available for us to eat at as well as several bars, 24 hour room service and 3 pools and all the rooms had an ocean view and jacuzzi tub!! Needless to say, we were definitely pampered!! We took full advantage of the alcoholic beverages and food that was included.

Tuesday we woke up early and had a room service breakfast on our porch while watching the waves crash into the beach. After breakfast we got our swimsuits on and headed to the beach where we spent most of the day. We also booked our excursions and massages for the week. After a few hours in the sun we took a break and got showered and dressed and hopped on the city bus to check out city. We went up to the mall and walked around where Hard Rock, Coco Bongo, Hooters, and a bunch of other clubs were. And of course made our first trek through the flea market. On the way back to the resort we stopped at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville where we shared chips and guacamole and had some delicious cocktails. Then we caught the bus and headed back to the resort to freshen up and get some dinner. Since it was our anniversary we decided to try out one of the more formal restaurants. We went to 'La Tratto' which was Italian. The food was delcious and the ambiance was very nice.

Wednesday was our first 'excursion', we got up very early (5:30 a.m. Cancun time ...3:30 a.m. our time!) and got on a bus where we rode for just about 2 hours to a Mayan Civilization. We stopped and checked out some of their handcrafted items, then got back on the bus for a few more minutes where we saw "Chichen Itza", ancient Mayan ruins and one of the '7 Modern Wonders of the World.' Our tour guide took us through the area and explained the monuments/ruins to us as well as gave us some very interesting tidbits of info. We enjoyed the tour but it was sooo incredibly hot that we were relieved to get back on the bus! The tour lasted all day and with 4 hours total on the bus we were exhausted by the time we got back to our room. So we just had dinner at the restaurant by the pool and called it an early night since we were going snorkeling in the morning.

Thursday was another early morning. We got up and caught the tour bus that took us to a marina to get on the catamaran for snorkeling. The ride in the boat was only about 20 minutes out to the 2nd largest reef in the world!! We snorkled there for about 45 minutes where we saw several types of colorful fish and the beautiful reef and sea plants. After snorkeling we went back to the marina area where there were several other activities available to be purchased but we decided just to relax on the beach. So we did a little walking along the beach, tanning then a buffet lunch that was included. After a few hours there we returned to the resort to enjoy the rest of our night. After showering and getting ready we had dinner then headed out for a night on the town. We bought tickets and waited to see the Coco Bongo show. At first I was a little worried that the price of $50 a person wouldn't be worth it but after the first act I realized what an amazing show it would be!! There were acrobatics, performers/singers, comedians, dancing, etc. We really enjoyed the show, even though it was really crowded and there wasn't really anywhere to sit. I would definitely recommend it to anyone going to Cancun!!

Friday was our last excursion..we visited Isla Mujeres, a small island off the coast of Cancun. We took a tour bus to another marina that took us across the water to another Palace Resort where we were able to use all the amenities. Andy and I hung out by the pool drinking cocktails, swimming and relaxing. We also did a little napping in the hammocks hung in the shade of the palm trees. After a few hours at the resort we rode in the boat along the coastline and stopped downtown for some shopping. After an hour there we were back on the boat and enjoyed some entertainment from the tour guides.

Saturday and Sunday were mostly spent relaxing by the pool, drinking cocktails, walking the beach and enjoying every moment we could before we had to come home!! Overall we had an amazing trip and loved Cancun! We can't wait to take another trip to Mexico or somewhere tropical and have already decided that next time we're going for 2 weeks!!