The Scribner Camping trip.

We went up to Payson Lakes to camp for a few days. We really only stayed up at the camp site to eat, hang out around the fire and sleep. Well, most everyone slept. The first night we were there I realized that being pregnant and sleeping with just a pad underneath me was not going to work. I'll be the first to admit that sleeping on the ground is one of my least favorite parts of camping. Even with that said, I can usually get a decent amount of sleep. This time, with the many bathroom breaks to a rather full porta-potty, throughout the night combined with the hard ground beneath me...I was lucky to get a couple of hours of sleep that first night. I gave up sleeping at three and then I left the tent around 5. Camping is pretty boring at that time in the morning. Pretty...but boring. So the next couple of nights, I hung around for camp-fire and then I headed down to Mom's house to sleep in a nice, comfy soft bed, two seconds away from a clean, flushable, toilet. Awww.

However, I was up and ready during the day to join in all the fun. Most of the day was spent at the Lake, but these are the camp site pictures.

Mom...looking suspiciously clean (she also went home for the night). This picture was taken on the 21st... her actual birthday. Not too shabby for 70 years. :)


This is a funny little angled picture, but I wanted to put it in. This is Spence and three little helpers doing the morning dishes. Lucy, Laina and Ellie rinsed and dried after Spence washed up. He had a pretty good system going.

Scott, just hanging out.

Maggie was caught teaching all the other kids and, uh...uncle Jimmy, how do get down and boogie. She had everyone following her every move. The twinnies, especially, are in love with 'everything Maggie.' Me too. :) I wish I got it in video.

Ethan spent a good amount of time building these very large, dirty/needle towers. The other kids were playing a game directed and orchestrated by Yve. Everyone seemed to be having a great time except for Ethan. I'm pretty sure that he didn't like the fact that he wasn't in charge. Following another kid's lead has never been his strong suit and so left to do his own thing. Before he was done, he had made a whole village of these primitive dirty mound houses. (Hey, whatever keeps them occupied!)

And here are my dirty little twinnies.

Campfire was always a fun way to end the night. Spence would break out his guitar and there would be rounds of singing one song or another. The benefits of being in a very large family of singers is that they never get tired of singing and it is loud enough to join in without worrying about being on key or not knowing the words. I'm not sure how much the other campers enjoyed our energetic renditions of "I've been working on the railroad." but fortunately for them, we have enough little ones that the singing didn't go on all through the night.

Spence, Laina, Craig, Ellie, Yve.

Christy, Penny, Naomi & Mark.

Jim and Alaina. (Lainy seems to get herself into a whole lot of pictures. Weird.)

And of course, the best part of every night... 'Smores! We had quite the system down to get all of those kiddies fed in a timely fashion.

Alright. It's about time I got started on our big summer of fun to Utah and California. I keep putting it off because there are just too many pictures to go through. So I decided to chop it all up into a bunch of mini-posts. The first one will be our first few days we spent at Mom's house.

On our way up to the house, we spent an afternoon with Joel and Susan Cunningham and their kids. It always good to catch up with them and the kids always have a good time playing together. Laina and Chaning spent the entire afternoon watering things and spraying the boys with a hose.

The boys spent their time in and out of the house, running from activity to activity. Here they are playing legos. Let's see...Here is Ian, Nathan, Zak, Calder and I think I'm missing Kaden.
Once we got there, we relaxed for a couple of days before we packed up to go camping. Jim, Scott, Mark and Rob played what was to be, one of many, of the boy's bowls' games. (Once the other boys arrived, they joined in too.)
One morning we had a sudden rain storm and the kids rain outside in sheer glee. They ran about, catching raindrops until I started hearing thunder, and had to be a party-pooper.
Five soaking little cousins in their PJ's. Oliver, Ellie, Yve, Alaina and Myles.
The days are boiling hot in Payson, but the nights cool down real nicely. We spent a lot of time watching the kids on the trampoline while we caught up with whoever showed up at Mom's house. The kids were having so much fun that it was hard to get them to stand still for a picture. Here are three of the girls, Alaina, Yve and Gracie. Just look at those three brown-skinned beauties.
And a few fair skinned beauties as well. (Except for Mom...hours and hours in the blazing sun, making the yard look beautiful gave mom the 'I've been vacationing in the Bahama's all summer' look. It may not have been as relaxing, but the yard was as pretty as I've ever seen it.)
Mom, Naomi, Porter & Lora.


The kids, however, had no problem relaxing. This was actually after the party. Who knew just how many kids you could put into one hot tub? It wasn't heated so the kids treated it like a mini swimming pool.

Listen. You're gonna wanna sit down for this one. There is little chance, however, that you are possibly going to be more shocked than I was with this news. Okay. I'm pregnant. Yes. You read that right. Me. Pregnant. And not only that, but I got knocked up like a teenager. No drugs. No shots. No donors. Just me and my one remaining fallopian tube, endometriosis, cysts and teeny tiny eggs. Well, I guess Rob was involved as well... :) Who knew that we only had to wait thirteen years before we could hit the jack-pot? I'm glad we didn't just wait it out because now this little surprise has three older siblings to look up to. And now that we are 4 and 1/2 months along, I thought it was high time to start spreading the news.


And the other news? We found out Thursday that, much to Alaina's disappointment, that it is a boy. We all went down to the ultrasound together. Russ and Kari and their kids were all coming down from a camping trip with her family and got to the doctor's office just in time. The cousins lasted about 5 minutes before boredom overtook them, but our boys lasted for a half an hour, until the moment they found out the only important news. The technician was pretty funny about it because she got a spread eagle shot of the little fellow. (I strongly protested, but Rob insisted this ultrasound picture made the blog. Men are weirdly proud of their extra organ.)


All three kids were looking intently at the screen trying to make sense of it. With her little arrow she described the picture. "Here is his leg. Here is his other leg. Now what do you think this is right in between?" Both boys immediately looked down to their pants and then looked up to each other and shared silly little-boy grins. Alaina, who was right next to me, holding my hand, dropped her shoulders and let out a sad, drawn out, "Ooh." Then she patted my hand and said, "It's okay mom. I'll love him anyways." And then she added to herself. "I am really shocked it isn't a girl! Really shocked." The boys then took off and Alaina stayed by us while the technician finished her exam. Poor Alaina. She's been begging me to buy her a sister since she could talk. Even with the baby being yet another boy, I'm quite positive that she will be the best big sister this fellow could ever hope for.

I have to admit. Between Sara and Alaina, I was positive he was going to be a girl as well. I'm a little shocked myself. Lucky for me that Russ and Kari could stay for a couple of days. They spent yesterday morning thinking up very clever names for a boy. Take, for instance, the double surname name. Smith Jones. Or the sneaky Sly Jones. Or Slick. We got Buck, Crab-Apple, Fred, Double-oh-oh, Ace and a few other beauties. Nothing really felt right, though, so we are still open to suggestions.

So that's our big, big news. Since I really can't imagine any news topping that, I'm ending my blog here. Okay. I'm kidding. At least now, you can forgive me for being so lazy writing my posts. I finally downloaded the pictures from our summer escapades to Utah and California but it might still take a little while for me to get them sorted enough to post them. I'm just a little slower than I used to be. (I'm going to use this baby for any excuse I can!) For now, I think think I'll go find the rest of the Hersey's chocolate I hid in the freezer...

Before I go, I guess I better write down how I found out and how we told our families. Since my main audience here actually is my family, you've already heard these stories. Plenty times. Go ahead and get on with your day. You've got all the new news you are going to get.

And now, mostly just for my own journal, and possibly the few die-hard curious types, I'll write it all down again.

how I found out

Robert and I have been feeling a missing part of our family for a while. Because it was impossible for me to get pregnant, we started exploring the normal routes for a creative family like ours. First we went to adoption sites. The costs and wait time alone kept us from exploring this one too deeply. 30-40 thousand. Domestic or foreign? 1-2 years? No. We didn't feel like that was going to be our path. We next went to foster-adopt meetings. We found out there that the likelihood of us getting a baby was practically nil. That didn't bother us so much. We were also open to the idea of getting a small sibling group. Our main obstacle there was that we would have to remain in WA for at least 2 more years. Since we move so often with Robert's work, it felt like the whole process would be impossible for us. Finally we went back to the invitro option. Because I didn't feel like I could possible endure the entire process again - the first two times were so difficult for me physically and emotionally - we started exploring the idea of finding a donor to supply the egg and then going ahead with the actual pregnancy ourselves. I even went as far as filling out the thick packet of paperwork, setting the appointment and picking out a very cute little red-head from the donor site. (Why not have two red-heads, I mused.) In case you're wondering, Robert wasn't allowed to even look at the donor list. :)

The time for the appointment was coming up fast and I decided that I better get myself checked out for cysts before I went in so that the whole process could proceed along quickly. I had felt that I had a cyst burst earlier that month so I wanted a clean bill of health. On a cloudy Thursday I drank my 10 gallons of water and drove over to the doctor's office. The technician quickly informed me that the doctor would look at my sonogram after my appointment and then contact my doctor to report what he saw. Her face gave away nothing as she asked me about my previous infertility woes. Finally she left and I got dressed. Expecting her to come back and let me go, I was surprised when she came back in and informed me that the doctor felt like he needed to talk to me immediately. She left and I started thinking the worst. Cancer. I'm dying. I have 2 weeks to live. (No. I'm not melodramatic.) When he came back in we had the most curious conversation.

doctor - hello.
me, now scared out of my wits. - hi.
doctor - well, first. Could you be pregnant?
me - No. That's impossible.
doctor - Well, do you ever practice unprotected sex with your partner.
me, quite emphatically - Yes. All the time. (at this point me must as viewed me as a naive fourteen year-old girl...you mean, that's how babies are made?)
doctor, now with a slight smile - Okay. Well. You are pregnant.
me, confused - No. That's impossible.
doctor, now holding up a the picture of the sonogram - No. You are pregnant.
me...bursting into the ugly, wailing-type tears... - speechless
doctor, looking a little worried - Is this a good thing?
me, still in shock - How am I going to tell my husband? (which sounded more like an admittance of an affair than the incoherent babbling of a woman in shock)
doctor, even more worried - Um. Well, that is going to have to be something between you and your husband...
me - no. It is a good thing. It is just... I can't believe it.

All the way home I cried. Big, fat, happy, bawling tears. I kept repeating it over and over to myself until Robert came home. How will I tell him? What will he say? Finally he walked in the door and I took him outside to break the news. I thought the direct approach would be the best.

me - Robert. I went to the doctor today and. Well. I'm pregnant.
Rob - What?
me (thinking...that's right buddy. Get ready for a wave of emotion!) - I'm actually pregnant.
Rob - Really?
me (thinking, with glee...here it comes. The flood-works...)
Rob - Wow. Well. *thoughtful pause* That sure saved us a lot of money.

end of conversation. Well, technically, I still babbled on for about 10 minutes. But that was it, as far as Robert's reaction. What a pill. Let me reassure you now, in case you are worried, that he is very excited for baby boy number 3 (the official name) to come in Jan.

The next day I called the invitro clinic and cancelled my Monday appointment.

how we told the family

We decided to wait, during what turned out to be a very nauseating, hard, three and a half months until we told our families. I was extremely nervous that I would loose this amazing little guy in a miscarriage and couldn't bare to spread the amazing good news followed by what was sure to be devastating news soon after. Despite the extreme fatigue, constant sickness (much more than I remember with the twins) and headaches, I still lived mostly in denial that I was capable of being pregnant. The Friday before we left to go to Utah for my mom's 70th birthday party, I went in to the doctor and she let me hear a heart-beat. Sustained by the audio proof-of-life, I was finally able to put away my doubts and start spreading the news.

We got in late to the Utah house and all piled into bed. The next morning the girls went and heard Mom speak at the MTC in front of the sister missionaries for their joint relief society meeting. She did a wonderful job but it was hard to wait until we got back home to tell her about baby. Finally back at the house we pulled Mom and Dad into the bedroom and told them that we had an early birthday present for Mom. We gave her three baseball pictures of the kids and then a wrapped, framed, sonogram picture. She opened it and stared pretty hard at it. Finally she sputtered out, "Whose is this?" We waited. "This isn't..." We waited. "Is this?" We nodded. "Are you?" We nodded. It took a little while but then it finally sunk in.

Later at dinner where almost-half of my siblings and their spouses had gathered she pulled out the picture and said, "Someone slipped this in my apron without me knowing it...who did it?" All my brothers immediately stared hard at their wives who, just as quickly, shook their heads as fast as they could. Then all eyes went to Lora. "It's Lora!" they called. Nope. Not this time, suckers.

For those who missed dinner, I got to call them individually which was also fun.

After the birthday party we drove to San Francisco. Robert had to work in town and that night fly out on a work trip. Mom Jones and Tonnette were driving through from Southern California back home that very afternoon. Their trip had already been a long one and once they hit San Francisco they were bombarded with detours and traffic all the way through town. Since I was going to head over to their house with the kids that afternoon anyway, they had no desire to stop in the middle of town. Robert, however, was way too excited to tell Mom in person and knew that my baby belly was going to give me away before he got back into town. He somehow convinced Mom and Tonnette to backtrack to us and we met them out near Ghirardelli square. When she unwrapped her sonogram picture, I think the first thing she said, after a moment of staring, was, "How?" She was very excited with the news. Just a few months before we had been talking together about the pro's and con's of starting up invitro again. At first I think she thought this baby had come through invitro and was doubly surprised to realize just how amazing this pregnancy was. Between phone calls and meeting family for the Jones reunion we were able to tell the siblings one by one. Everyone was so supportive and shocked. Robert told me that we should do it all over again next year. (I'd like to see him pull that one off.)

I would end this mammoth post now, but since I'm at it, I might as well add one final section.

how we told the kids

Before we left for Utah we took the kids to a restaurant called 'Mothers.' :) We then told the kiddies that the reason I had been chugging ginger ale like it was going out of style and running away from the evil smelly fridge whenever it was opened was that they had a baby brother or sister coming. Alaina was speechless. If you know this child, you'll know just how out of character that is for her. Austin managed to say, "Uh. A baby is going to make a lot of noise and we sleep right above you. Can you put it far away, like were we put Bella?" We informed him that we wouldn't put the baby near the dog. Ethan piped in, "Maybe in the playroom?" That room is farther away than the dog. So no. That is isn't happening. Then a perplexed Austin asked, "How is the baby going to get from there (pointing at the belly) out here?" Robert started shaking his head mumbling things about how he was trying to eat his dinner and I went into a anatomy lesson on the woman's body and natural birth. At the end of their brief education Austin, now completely baffled asked, "And you want that to happen!?"

The next day Alaina came up to me and asked me to open my mouth. When I did she came in close and yelled, "Hello baby!!!" I told her it might be easier just talking to the belly. So she leaned in and yelled, "Hello baby. If you are a girl, I will be the best sister you ever had. I will hold you and take care of you and love you all the time. If you are a boy. Well, then, Austin and Ethan will take care of you." Sweet. Kind of. Then Austin asked if he could come and say something. Don't you love precious moments like these? So he came over and leaned in close. Then at the top of his lungs he screamed. "BABY! Come out of Mama's vagina!!!! That's the way she wants it!!!!!" Okay. Sweet moment over. I'm just glad that one wasn't in public.