Conquering San Miguel

Kelson loves climbing mountains and running on trails. For about a year after we moved to San Diego, he kept looking at the peak East of Chula Vista and saying that he would love to climb it. I finally agreed to go with him and give it a try. This is what we found when we got there:

It is a little bit hard to see in the picture, but the trail goes straight up. No switchbacks at all. I looked at it and was pretty sure I would never make it even halfway. Fortunately, Kelson was very patient with my plodding speed and frequent (as in every 20 feet) rest periods, and we reached the top. Unfortunately, we found out when we got to the top that we were nowhere near the end of the trail. There was a little bit of more level ground, and then another climb even bigger than the first one, also straight up, to get to the summit. At that point I gave up and let Kelson finish. I felt pretty good about my accomplishment though.

 As I sat at the bottom of the final climb waiting for Kelson, I was visually searching the mountain side trying to see where he was.  I started to get worried because I couldn't spot him. Then I saw a guy dressed in black running down the mountain at top speed, and I knew that had to be my husband. I was right.

Our first climb of Mt. San Miguel was several months ago, before we even knew I was pregnant (thus my significantly slimmer figure). Since then, we did it once more together. This time I let Kelson run up the mountain while I plodded very slowly. I still made it, but with even more frequent rest periods this time. That time, Kelson timed his climb to the summit at about 38 minutes (It is around 2.5 miles, most of it straight up.) He was determined to beat his time, so a couple of weeks later while I stayed blissfully asleep in our bed, he got up at 5:30 on Saturday morning and tackled the mountain again. He came in right around 29 minutes. He is awesome like that. I think we can count San Miguel as conquered!

Celebrating Kelson's Promotion: Wetting Down

We were both very excited when Kelson finished his time as Ensign Mosier and was promoted to Lieutenant Junior Grade Mosier back in March. Unfortunately,  I haven't been able to acquire the pictures from his promotion ceremony yet, but I will post them later. A few months after his promotion, we had a party to celebrate. In the Navy, it is tradition that when you receive a promotion, you spend the difference between your old paycheck and your new one to take the rest of the officers out. It is called a "wetting down". Since there were several officers promoting around the same time, we were able to get together and have quite the party. After going through several different plans, we ended up going on a dinner cruise in the harbor. It was really fun!

The group of officers, or "wardroom" of Spruance

We all boarded a boat like this one (that is actually one of their other boats), and  got under way for our adventure

The evening started out with a delicious dinner while we cruised around the harbor and watched some amazing water sports going on. (Look up fly boarding videos. It is amazing!)

 The rest of the evening was spent enjoying the beautiful sunset as well as some entertainment. It was a great night. Congratulations to everyone on their promotions!

Memorial Day Weekend 2013: Our First Camping Trip

 For Memorial Day, Kelson & I took our first camping trip together to Idyllwild. It is a cute, little town up in the San Jacinto Mountains. We stayed in a cabin there for our anniversary last year and loved it, so we decided to go back. Kelson was ridiculously excited to use all of our camping gear for the first time.

 Kelson grilled me a seriously delicious dinner, including corn on the cob and some of the biggest steaks I have ever seen. I think Kelson might have eaten two pounds of beef that night.

 How many people do you know who camp with goblets and a pepper grinder? Welcome to the Mosier family.  We had a great time camping Friday night, and then we spent Saturday enjoying the community-wide yard sale and finding treasures for the baby.

 We couldn't get reservations at the camp ground for Saturday night, so we headed home that afternoon and spent the rest of the weekend playing around Chula Vista. Kelson's specialty is weekend breakfast, and he made me his favorite "mini-breakfast" for Memorial Day. It included mini-omelets, mini german pancakes, sliced oranges, and hash browns. I love it when Kelson is home!

 That afternoon, we drove to Imperial Beach, near the border, and went for a bike ride in the Tijuana River estuary. Some places have deer crossings on the freeway. We have illegal immigrant crossings. This is my favorite road sign ever.

 The estuary was gorgeous. We saw cranes, egrets, pelicans, and lots of other birds.

Memorial Day weekend was super fun. Since it fell right before our 2nd anniversary, we counted our trip to Idyllwild as an early anniversary celebration. It has been a wonderful two years!

Sugar and Spice and All Things Nice

Many people asked me whether we were planning on finding out the gender of our baby or if we would wait and have it be a surprise. There is no way we are patient enough to wait another 4 1/2 months to find out. Besides, it was still a complete surprise when we found out at the sonogram. I really thought the baby was a boy, so I was surprised when we found out IT'S A GIRL!

She is already so cute! We saw her sucking her thumb and wiggling her fingers. I can't wait to be a mother of a little girl. This is going to be so much fun! I guess it is time to finish the pink baby quilt I have been working on for the last several years. I stopped at the mall on my way home from the doctor just to look at all of the little girl things.

 Kelson is really excited for our little girl too. He had a lot of fun at the ultrasound, but he was so sleepy from being on duty that he fell asleep during the two minutes I was out of the room. I guess he better get all the sleep he can get before the baby gets here!

Springtime Happenings

I have managed to escape my couch on occasion during the last four months. Here's a little of what we have been up to.

 I gave Kelson & my dad a kayaking trip in La Jolla for Christmas. Unfortunately, we couldn't do it while Dad was here, so Kelson took his friend, Micky. I would have gone, but I was not feeling so good. I stayed back on the beautiful La Jolla beach while they paddled around. We all had fun.

 The day we found out we were expecting again, we celebrated with a trip to the San Diego Zoo, a first for me. It was a beautiful day, and we saw tons of animals.

Leopard

I'm not sure exactly what Kelson was pondering while looking at the giant tortoises.

Look at me! I'm a monkey!

This was really interesting. They raise the cheetahs with puppies, and it makes them more well-behaved for doing school shows and such things. If the dog behaves well, then so does the cheetah. This lady was feeding the cheetah from her hand like a puppy.

Elephants!

 Kelson made me a delicious, personalized cranberry-apple pie. Yum!

 A few months ago, I started serving as the Beehives (12-13 year old girls) leader in our ward. We have been having all kinds of fun. This was the night we made strawberry shortcake.

 I spent a few weeks at home in Oregon while Kelson was up in Canada, and I celebrated my 25th birthday while I was there. You can't beat birthday lunch at El Erradero.  I have apparently gotten old enough that it takes three people to light all of my birthday candles. My family thought that was pretty entertaining.

 While Kelson was gone, we finally found out where we are moving this fall. Hawaii! We will be heading there in September. The night we found out, Katy and I celebrated with Hawaiian pizza.

 I made two trips to Utah while I was home, one for my brother's law school graduation (Congratulations Jeremy!), and another for my cousin, Anne's, wedding. I got to spend lots of quality time with my adorable niece and nephew. They sure love playing at the park with Grandma!

Here's a preview shot of Kelson's trip to Canada. Real post to follow. This is what sunrise looks like from Kelson's ship. Beautiful!

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Our Little Miracle

When I wrote my post about our experience with miscarriages and asked for your prayers, I never could have anticipated the response that I received. Countless people have expressed their sympathy and support, and so many have said that they have been praying for us. I have been humbled and filled with gratitude by this experience. I want to say thank you to all of those who have joined us on this journey.

It was just a few weeks after I wrote that post that we found out that I was expecting again. Of course we were thrilled, but I was also very scared. I tried very hard not to become too excited or attached, especially because it seemed that things were going poorly from day one. I really didn't think that the pregnancy would last long. I was blessed with a strong feeling that things were going to be okay, but I didn't know if that meant that the baby would make it or that I would have the help I needed during another miscarriage. A few weeks went by, and it came to the week before Easter. I was six weeks along and started having a lot of problems, and I was sure that I was done. I went to the doctor feeling like I had completely given up inside. I just wanted the doctor to tell me how soon it would all be over. That was when I saw this little guy for the first time.

The baby was only half a centimeter long, but that little heart was beating right along. The doctor said it looked perfect. At the doctor that day, I was overcome with hope and gratitude. I felt the Spirit remind me that with Heavenly Father all things are possible. I had forgotten that for a little while.

The adventures weren't over yet. I had to go back in for another ultrasound two weeks later to see if the baby was growing. I was terrified, and to make things worse, Kelson was leaving for 10 days a few hours before my ultrasound. I went to the doctor by myself, and this is what I saw.

At 1.65 cm, the baby was measuring just right for 8 weeks, and its little heartbeat was music to my ears. Again, I said lots of grateful prayers. At this point, I finally started to believe that we might actually get to keep this baby. I would love to say that everything was relaxed and easy after that, but baby kept us on our toes through the whole first trimester. I have seen the baby two more times, and it is still doing great. Kelson finally got to see the baby at our 14 week check-up a month ago, and he was thrilled. That was the first time he had ever seen or heard any of our babies, although I have seen them all. I wish I had pictures from the latest ultrasound so you could see how much baby has grown. It actually looks like a little person instead of a jelly bean!

I am so excited that we can finally share our great news with everyone. We held it in for the most part until 14 weeks, which seemed like forever. From the lack of blog posts for the past few months, you might guess that we haven't been doing much. The truth is that I have spent way too much time laying on our couch trying not to throw up (often unsuccessfully). I have spent almost all of the last 16 months either pregnant or possibly pregnant, and I was starting to feel like I would be stuck in my first trimester for eternity. I am happy to say that at 18 weeks I am finally starting to feel better. I even have the occasional day where I go all day long without any nausea. Those days are wonderful. I have moved on to being starving all the time now. Seriously. It is ridiculous.

All three times we have found out we were expecting, I told Kelson by giving him a Padres baby outfit. This is the first time I told him we were pregnant, last year. His reaction was priceless.

This time, he was a little less shocked and a lot more excited.

That photo is actually from last fall, but I can guarantee we are just as happy this time.

I don't know why we got to keep this baby and not the other two, but we are feeling incredibly blessed right now. I absolutely believe that part of the reason for our miracle is that so many people have been praying for us. I believe in the power of prayer and that with faith anything is possible. Thank you for helping us get our miracle.

Goodbye for now, Grammy

Yesterday, I said goodbye to one of the most beloved women in my life. My Grammy, Joyce Hindman, passed away last Friday from after suffering from several strokes. Grammy's body was worn out, and it was time for her to go home. It was a great blessing that I already had a trip home planned, so it was easy for me to be here for Grammy's funeral. Seeing all of our family and friends gathered to remember and honor her was wonderful. I was blessed with the opportunity to play a piano solo of "God Be With You Til We Meet Again" at the service. In all of the years that I took piano lessons, Grammy was at almost every performance. She was always there for me. I was very grateful to be able to play for her one last time as I said goodbye for now. I know that I will be with my grandmother again. Because of Heavenly Father's plan of happiness, I know that families can be together for eternity. The next time I see Grammy, all of the pain and suffering she went through will be gone. She will be herself again. I know that she is happy and that she is watching over her family from the other side. I love you, Grammy, and I look forward to being with you again.