Adventures On The Way To Our Forever

We have really enjoyed being back "Home" in Utah this Summer and being able to be a part of family activities! Tanner really enjoyed playing outside all summer and helping out with the chores!

He also enjoyed his first 4th of July with fireworks (well, the first one that he knew what was going on!)

We had a really fun Summer going camping and taking a trip to Canada to visit/meet Tom's Grandparents!

We were able to spend several days LaBarge, WY camping with the Mecham family! As always, it was so much fun! Tanner loved being in the outside all day, in the Mountains, playing in the dirt and mud and riding 4-wheelers and doing all the fun camping stuff that we love to do! He didn't sleep very well in the tent. It was pretty cold at night and he wasn't use to sleeping in the pack-n-play, but we slept in the trailer with my family and he did pretty good.

We also spent 10 days in Canada. Tom, Tanner and I, along with my sister Savana, drove to Canada and stayed in Grandpa and Grandma Spackman's Cabin in Waterton. We had a great time in Beautiful Canada and we were able to visit a lot of Tom's family. We are especially grateful that we were able to visit/meet Grandpa and Grandma Cahoon, because neither of them are doing well with their health and we probably won't get to see both of them again.

Ok.... This has been a long time coming! So much has happened in the last 6 or 7 months. We have A LOT to catch up on!

The Decision

The reason (well, one of the reasons) that we moved to Ohio in the first place was for Tom to go to Graduate School at the University of Akron to get his Masters Degree as a Nurse Anesthitist. Around October of last year (2012), he just happened to log onto UofA's website and saw that, as of the first of the year (2012) they changed their requirements for the program. And Tom decided that, with the changes, it didn't feel right to attend school there anymore. (At this point in time, we had been in Ohio for over 3 years and he still had not gotten a job in the ICU, which he needs at least of year of to apply to school.) So, we talked about it and prayed about it and felt like it was time to leave Ohio. Nothing was keeping us there anymore and we didn't feel like Tom was going to progress in his goals there. We stared looking into our options. We actually were looking into moving to Nebraska (because that was his next choice in Schools), and started making plans to move. We still needed to sell the house and couldn't do so until the end of March, so we started making a few repairs and getting things packed and ready.

Frozen Embryo Transfer and Miscarriage

We still had 2 frozen embryos and wanted to use them before we moved, so we didn't have to have them moved and because we were ready for another baby. We had to switch doctors from when we got pregnant with Tanner and we just didn't have as good of an experience this time around. We did the transfer on December 17th and found out a few weeks later that it had worked and we were pregnant!!! We were so happy and felt so blessed, again! During this time, Tom received a call one day and was offered an ICU job at Bedford Medical Center (in Ohio). We decided to take it, since it was an ICU and because we really didn't know how soon we'd be leaving Ohio. So, he took the job and started there on January 15th.

We went in for our first ultrasound on January 14th. A few days prior to this, we had seriously talked about the idea of moving, not just to Nebraska, but back to Utah, since we had transfered the 2 embryos and there was the possibility of twins. So, again, we prayed about it and felt that, no matter how many babies there were, we wanted to move closer to family and felt like that was right. Well, we went for the ultrasound and the tech did the ultrasound for a long time and finally finished and simply said, "I don't see a baby. You must have miscarried." ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?! That is not what we were expecting to hear. No one would actually say that I had miscarried (since I hadn't shown any signs of a miscarriage) so they kept me on my medications for another week and scheduled a repeat ultrasound a week later. That week felt like the longest week of my life. I was really, really sick on the medications again and didn't feel well at all. And on top of all that... I lost my baby. I was devistated. Well, we did a lot of praying and soul searching that week and we had a family fast. We knew that miracles happen and if we went back the next week and the baby was there, it would be a miracle. And, if we went back and things were still the same... then the miracle would have to be that this was the Lord's will and He'd help us through it. Well, the next monday's ultrasound didn't show anything different. We were sad, but having that week to prepare made it a lot easier. During all of this, I was so grateful for that little Tender Mercy of the Lord, in prompting us to move back to Utah. That was such a "light at the end of the tunnel" for me.

Well, I stopped my medications and it took 2 more weeks for the miscarriage to happen. It was Sunday evening and we were just hanging out when it all started. I lost A LOT of blood right at the beginning and then it sort of slowed, so I thought I was going to be ok. Well, after a few hours, it got A LOT worse, to the point that I was loosing so much blood that I kept passing out and Tom would have to catch me. Around 11:30pm, we decided that we'd better go to the Emergency Room. So my dear friend Jenn came over and stayed with Tanner through the night. We got to the ER and I was covered in blood. They got me right in and started working on me. Anyway.... it was a LONG night and I lost A LOT of blood. They ended up giving me 3 units of blood and doing a D&C on me. We stayed the night and left around noon the next day. Getting that blood really helped me to feel better and bounce back way quicker than I did when I lost so much when Tanner was born and they didn't give me any blood.

The Move

During this whole time, we were packing and getting things ready to go. We had our Realtor come over on February 22nd and take pictures and get the house on the market. It was "live" by Monday night (the 25th). Tom had been applying to jobs in Utah and was waiting to hear back from one he had interviewed with at McKay Dee Hospital. (At this point, he was still in Orientation at his job in Ohio and he was not enjoying it at all. It was a very small hospital and he didn't feel like he was getting the experience he needs to get from being in the ICU.) Two days later, on Wednesday (the 27th), Tom got offered the job at McKay and they wanted him to start either March 11th or the 25th! And from here.... everything still feels like a blur! He talked to his boss and told him the situation and gave them his 2 weeks. But, because he was still in Orientation, they told him that he was done working for them. Things left on a good note, they just didn't want to keep him on for 2 more weeks to train him when he was just going to leave. So, our plan was for him to start on the 11th in Utah. We called my dad that night (Wednesday) and he was on a plane the next morning! We picked him up Thursday night and until we left on Monday morning, we all worked like dogs to get everything done! Wednesday morning Tanner and I flew to Utah and my dad and Tom drove the moving truck and hauled our car home. (We had sold Tom's car and it sold very quickly!) My dad and Tom made it to Utah on Wednesday afternoon. They stayed about a day ahead of all the storms on the drive home!

Utah

We are living in my parent's basement apartment for now, until we can sell the house in Ohio and get back on top. After having the house on the market for about a month, we got an offer and took it! If everything keeps going well, we should close on May 3rd! What a huge blessing!

We are really loving being "home", closer to family! I have had a really hard time all these years, being away from everyone and missing out on everything! So, we are loving being here! And Tanner is LOVING being around his grandparents and cousins and the animals.... he is loving it all!

Tanner loves his cousin, Brody!!! They even had matching outfits this day!!!