Life with the Conleys

Probably the single best day of 2017 took place in early July. It was preceded by a series of unfortunate events, which I feel compelled to outline. In November of 2015  we had a failed pregnancy. For the next year and a half we were again trying to add a little one to our family. For me, that meant doctor visits with fertility specialists, procedures, pills, injections, ultrasounds, blood tests, peeing on so many sticks (ovulation tests and pregnancy tests) etc. Most of the time it was physically and emotionally unpleasant and at sometimes it went well beyond unpleasant. I understand that other couples go through far more when dealing with infertility and sadly, some end up with far less. So I suppose that all in all, it wasn't too bad. But it was bad enough. Then in June 2017, Josh switched jobs, which meant that we had a month without insurance. We got to take a break from the fertility stuff but would have to make some difficult decisions when we went back to it. Here is where ...

August began in Island Park, Idaho for a family reunion. We spent a few days in Yellowstone, went on a hike, floated a portion of the Henry's Fork of the Snake River, played volleyball, ate yummy food, and made memories. Eli still regularly mentions the cabin in Idaho and asks when we will be going back. The whole Mendenhall crew All of the cousins. Eli and Susan on an old train bridge over Henry's Fork.  Checking out Big Spring, which is the source of Henry's Fork. There were tons of huge trout swimming right below us.  Our first day at Yellowstone was a bust. We left the house late, had to stop at a pharmacy in West Yellowstone for some Benadryl, and got stuck in the wrong line of cars entering the park. By the time we actually go in the park it was time for lunch. After a picnic lunch we tried to go see a few things but there were cars and people everywhere. It was crowded, hot, and quite unpleasant. We did go to Firehole Canyon, which is one of onl...