A Gender, Halfway Mark, and Calling

April 6th was a big day for the pregnancy for two reasons: it marked my halfway point, we found out the gender of our baby (we're having a GIRL!), and we found out that everything about her looks healthy and normal. We are so relieved and feel so blessed.

The other big news is that Mike got a new calling that really affects both of us big time: he has been called to be a Second Counselor in a Young Single Adult (YSA) ward in Provo. And they want me to attend the ward with him for as long as I can. The stake presidency member that called Mike said they want these YSAs to see some solid marriages and he thinks they'll see that when both Mike and I get involved in the ward. What a compliment to us! To hear that others think we have a great marriage, we think we do too but to the extent of setting an example for YSAs - not so sure about that one! Woah nelly. This calling means long Sundays full of meetings for Mike, going to church on BYU campus again, going to Sunday night ward prayer meetings, Monday night Family Home Evening (FHE) activities, ward temple nights, ward activities, and more meetings for Mike on a Tuesday here and there. Oh boy. The funny thing about this ward: I lived in the very area the ward covers, called Deer Haven, from 2003 to 2007 so it's totally a blast back into the past for me. The YSAs are older: most have graduated with their undergraduate degrees and are working, some are in graduate programs, etc. So they are generally between the ages of 23 and 35, with most of them around 26 to 31. And because of their ages, is one of the reasons why the bishop, Mike Goodrich (with whom Mike served in our home ward's teachers quorum sometime ago) - is because Mike and I can really relate to these singles and they can really relate to us since we also remained single for so long before we married.

Mike handled the news of the new calling pretty well. At first he was pretty overwhelmed and nervous, but he's now dealing with it like a champ.  I kind of cried and cried over this because I have been looking forward to being able to finally establish some great friendships with ladies in my home ward after I quit work and stayed home with our baby, and this calling seemed like it would make it quite a bit more difficult to do that since I wouldn't be attending the ward anymore! And I cried and cried when Mike was sustained by the members of this YSA ward in their sacrament meeting. But I've got my crying under control now. And then we hit the road running: when Mike was sustained on Sunday, April 24, he was also set apart, and then had to stay for a couple hours for some meetings, and then we had ward prayer that night, and then FHE the next night, and more meetings for Mike the next night! Wowsa. So here we go! I go from feeling like my life is stalled as a single person, to moving at light speed with Mike now that we're married and expecting a baby and all the other changes that are happening.

Our 1st Anniversary Trip

Mike and I think we've maybe started a new tradition: to go camping in southern Utah for our anniversary since that's what we did for our first anniversary this year. We went down to the Escalante and Boulder area to do some slot canyon hikes that I have always wanted to do, but boy the weather looked iffy as we drove down I-15 in pouring rain pretty much the whole way to Escalante. But the weather cleared a little and we decided to check out the Escalante Petrified Forest State Park rather than do a slot canyon that day.

At the petrified forest

At the petrified forest

In trying to find out the weather for the next day, we stopped by a local outdoor store and talked to a cool guy that point us to Cedar Wash Arch - which was pretty cool! Of course we took some different, longer and crazier trail in our first attempt to find the arch than what he told us about, but it got us there and provided a pretty good laugh when we found the actual trail he talked about that was only a one or two hundred yard walk to see the arch close up.

On our first, long hike into Cedar Wash Arch

View of the arch from our first route

View of the arch from the actual trail and short hike

We camped off of Hole in the Rock road and ate some yummy and easy shepherd's pie that night for dinner. Then the next day the weather looked great so we hauled down the Hole in the Rock road to the trailhead for Peekaboo and Spooky canyons. When we got there, there was only one car, but as we geared up to begin the hike another ten cars showed up much to Mike's chagrin. Peekaboo. Woah nelly. We did it first. I had visions in my head that it was going to be a walk in and come back out kind of deal. I did not anticipate a number of scrambles and climbs!! The first three really wore me out and I was not excited about the several more scrambles I saw immediately up canyon. But Mike helped where he could and I made it through Peekaboo! We tried to make it a loop to Spooky but we couldn't figure it out since there were so many cairns all over the place. So we hiked back down to the main wash to find Spooky and did the normal in and out path for it. (Later, we talked to a couple that had figured out the loop but they said it dropped into a pretty gnarly chalk-stone pile that had some big down-climbs so that made me happy that we didn't figure out the loop.)

Peekaboo - yes, that's a climb I had to scramble up

Peekaboo

Peekaboo

Peekaboo

Spooky

Spooky

Barely fit through Spooky!

After Peekaboo and Spooky, we explored the Batty Pass Caves a little and then also Devil's Garden. Then that night, we had a fancy dinner at the Hell's Backbone Grill and camped at a cool place by the Boulder air strip. 

Batty Pass Caves

Batty Pass Caves

Batty Pass Caves

Devil's Garden

Devil's Garden

On Monday, we explored a little on the Burr Trail Road outside of Boulder: we hiked to an old grainery structure built by cliff-dwellers . . . maybe of the same descendancy as those found in Mesa Verde? And then we attempted to hike down to some narrows along Deer Creek. But after hiking a mile and a half in soft sand and chasing cows, I lost all energy and all emotional control and told Mike he'd have to explore those narrows with Lane since the narrows are too far and too hard for me at this point in my pregnancy.

Me resting by the grainery structure

Mike out exploring a little further away on the cliff where the grainery was