30 Years - Year 26

My 26th year brought about a lot of changes for us. We moved into my parents’ basement to take care of some debt/credit issues we’d accumulated during our first years of marriage. We discovered that we were expecting our second child, and that brought up a whole slew of hormonal changes in and of itself.

It was during my first trimester that we’d planned a vacation to Yellowstone National Park with both families. In went my trusty anti-nausea medication and I crossed all my fingers and toes that we’d make it through this vacation without too much nausea. Ummmm… right! I stopped counting how many times I threw up on this trip.

But we did have a fabulous time!! We toured the park, visited Old Faithful, the waterfalls, and the mud volcanoes. We waited on buffalo to cross streets and even sometimes walk in the middle of the street. We got to see moose, a bear, baby deer, and other wildlife. Jon even got to see a wolf! We had campfires and cooked out under the clear sky. Devyn got to bond with her Uncle Josh and Papa Dave.

And I’m pretty sure I convinced two newlywed couples that pregnancy could wait… especially when they could hear me vomiting right outside their tents.

But my favorite memory of the trip? The Firehole River.

Oh goodness! We had a blast! Mom watched 18-month-old Devyn for us as we jumped into rapids and went swimming. First Jon jumped in, then Dad. I stood on the side of the river contemplating with Allison whether it was a good idea for me to jump in too or not. I was, after all, still in my first trimester. Maybe I was foolish, but I jumped. And have no regrets doing so! It was a good, good day!