Annual Piquet Wagon Train at 38 Weeks

I am 38 weeks tomorrow! We had great news at our doctor’s appointment today.  The doctor said to come back in next week for an appointment if I’m still pregnant, but if not, he’ll see me at the hospital.  That was great news for us! I am 70% effaced and dilated to a 3.  I am measuring at a 39 weeks, so that doctor said that I might have been due on July 1^st which is one of the dates they guessed back in October.  The doctor said I am good to bring this baby along; he told me to get walking!  Baby has a healthy heartbeat again and has his head down.  He is still quite active; I can feel him readjust often, but feel less kicks.   He seems to be pretty big because he has dropped, but still can reach his feet and knees into my top right ribs.   One of my favorite foods is still carrots.  I set a new record.  Last week I ate 2 lbs. of carrots in 5 days.  This week I ate a pound of carrots in just one day.  This baby better have good eyesight; he took my eyesight for sure!

Kolt and I spent Monday through Wednesday working.  Kolt had quite a few waters this week, and I worked to get checks printed before the wagon train.  Monday night I went with Kolt and helped irrigate.  I was pretty proud that I could still help him move pipe.  I only lifted up the ends of the pipes and latched the end he was carrying in.  We moved 30 pipe in no time, but it was sure hot!  We got home at about 9:30 just in time for his boss to call and say that one of the other worker’s waters was overflowing, and that guy wasn’t answering his phone.  So I went to sleep, and Kolt went to fix that water.  He is a good sport to work late hours, including checking waters at 2 AM.  I never hear him complain about working early and late every day.  We feel pretty lucky that he can schedule around family events and make it home to have lunch with me most days.

Tuesday night we watched the Spurs lose to the Heat in overtime.  I think that was the first basketball game on TV that I have really gotten excited about.  We were pretty bummed when they lost, but even more bummed when we heard that the Heat beat them in game 7 on Thursday night.  Wednesday Kolt and I changed waters and then headed into town to do some grocery shopping.  We stopped by Sonic to use a coupon that we had.  Kolt was pretty talented to spill his chocolate banana shake all over the seat, console, and floor within the first 2 minutes.  We went to Albertson’s to get water and Oreos which were on sale.  We ended up finding a whole cart full of snacks for the wagon train.  

Thursday morning we got up at 5 AM to leave for the Annual Piquet Wagon Train trip.  Every June, Kolt’s family takes horses and wagons from Heise to Green Canyon.  Kolt and I had to work the first 3 days, but we made it the last 3.  So Thursday morning, Kolt finished carrying out the last of our things to the truck and loaded Chex, while I worked on making French toast.  We pulled out at 6, did chores at his parents’ house, and then headed up to Green Canyon.  Bryant was so nice to let us use his 4 wheeler, so I could have a smooth ride.  Kolt drove the 4 wheeler and I drove the truck and trailer to Thursday night’s camp site.  We were really happy we found it right away.  From that camp site, I drove the 4 wheeler and Kolt rode Chex back to meet up with the wagon.  About 3 miles down the road, Chex started limping pretty badly.  We noticed he had lost a shoe during the night.  He had scuffed up his hoof pretty bad, so we walked him back to the camp site, tied him up and drove the 4-wheeler to find the family.  We met them at the last campsite and heard about their eventful trip of losing their horse Choncho and Wednesday’s rain storm.  We helped them load up and then I rode in the wagon with Kolt’s dad for the first part of the trip until Kolt got back with a truck.  We then waited for them at the next campsite.  Thursday night we had yummy Eldorado casserole, one of Kolt’s mom’s specialties and Kolt’s favorites.  We stayed up late visiting with Clyde and Susan Waddell, who came to visit.  Clyde shoed Chex, so he told us to come up early Friday morning to Driggs, and he would put on another shoe, so Kolt could ride him.  

Friday we got up early to head to Driggs. Clyde put on a shoe in about 5 minutes.  He is so fast.  We got back just in time for eggs and sausage and to pack up camp.  Kolt, Shauna, and I drove the 3 trucks to the next campsite and then drove the 4 wheeler back to the wagon.  I rode along behind, and Kolt rode  Chex.  Kolt and his brothers rode all over the hills and fields, working Chex pretty good.   By the time he finished Friday, Kolt could swing a rope up over his head.  He was pretty happy about that.  I put a saddle bag on the 4 wheeler, so I could snack the whole way.  I was pretty happy I made it the whole way with the fuel light blinking! Friday night we had pork chops and potatoes, which Shane’s magical ingredient, apples! They were yummy.  We also drove up to Green Canyon to swim that night.  It felt SO good to get the weight off my back and feet in the pool.  I almost drowned when I found out how fast this belly floats!

Saturday we slept in and then ate pancakes.  I was so glad I slept well both nights.  Kolt and I put a bed mattress and lots of pillow in the back of the truck with the shell overtop.  It was so comfortable and kept us at a pretty good temperature.  Kolt and his brothers rode up to the top of some super high mountains.  We got some pretty cool pictures.  Chex made so much progress on this trip.  Kolt says the wagon train trip is where a horse completely turns the corner.  We were glad we were able to make it without having a baby on the trail! 

We got home at about 4 Saturday and got all unloaded and cleaned up at 6.  We headed up to Rigby to Bambino’s, my pregnancy craving.  I promised Kolt I could eat 3 Bambino’s, which are kinda like a pizza hot pocket.  He’ll never believe me again because I only ate one before I was too full.  We went to the Jefferson County Stampede Rodeo Saturday night.  Macoy Hill was Mutton Busting.  He did awesome and we were cheering pretty loud.  I think he was a little bummed he didn’t win! We had a great time visiting with Jared and Jeanna, but sure missed Tate.  We love being with the Hill’s and never  see them often enough.  Saturday night we barely crawled into bed before we fell asleep.

Sunday morning Kolt got to rearrange ours and the neighbor’s horses before church.  Joe Davidson had his farewell talk and did excellent.  We got to sit by Jacob Shipton and Zack Pickering.  It was good to see some friends that we graduated with.  Kolt taught the Sunday school lesson.  We played a scripture/Priesthood trivia game.  The kids have really been struggling with knowing the scriptures.  We hope they learned a lot, especially things that will help the kids in engage in discussion during the lessons.  We ended Relief Society with just opening exercises, so that we could make it to the Worldwide Leadership Training meeting.  What a neat time for missionaries.  We are so excited for the changes that are being made and are excited for what it means for Tyler.

False Alarm & Elder Lindley leaves

Another week has passed! Tomorrow I will be 37 weeks, which means this baby is finally full term.   I am still feeling the morning sickness, but it comes all of the sudden and doesn’t usually last all day, so I can handle that.  He has been a little less active because he is filling up my whole stomach.  We thought we were going to have a baby Friday.  Friday morning we woke up and I had lost a lot of fluid.  We waited a while, called the doctor, and then finally decided to go to the hospital.  The nurse thought I had definitely broken my water, and she started preparing us for delivery, explaining the process to us.  We were pretty overwhelmed, but finally got our heads wrapped around it as she brought back a negative amniotic fluid test.  We were pretty bummed when they dismissed us because we were ready for this baby.  There were a few good things that came from checking at the hospital though—we listened to the baby’s heart beat for almost 3 hours and he is responding well to the contractions.  I was also able to finally identify contractions.  The monitors showed very mild contractions happening every minute.  We had an appointment this morning where they redid the fluid test which came back positive again.  I am also measuring about a week ahead, so we are relieved that my water is not broke and the baby is doing well. The wait continues!

Monday evening I was really ambitious about walking and starting some contractions.  I followed Kolt around the field while he was irrigating for about 2 hours.  I was completely worn out by the time he finished.  We had a good time talking and enjoying the last few times we have together before this baby comes! We stopped by Rope and Brand’s Driving 4-H just as it was finishing!

Tuesday Tyler got up early and went irrigating with Kolt.  Kolt really enjoyed talking with Tyler and also enjoyed his help.  During Kolt’s lunch break, Tyler & he saw a Gatorade drinking contest on Sports center and were sure they could beat the record time of 4.5 seconds.  They tried twice; Tyler got around 6 seconds and Kolt got about 8.  They thought that was pretty fun.  Tyler got set apart Tuesday night.  He has been pretty excited to serve a mission.  The extra hormones made it a little bit hard to see my baby brother all grown up! We had some yummy refreshments afterwards and a good visit with family.  Wednesday we got up early to say goodbye to Tyler.  He sure looked like a missionary!

Thursday we took Charlie out to Rope & Brand’s Working Ranch 4-H Meeting.  Kolt helped the kids practice roping.  He was glad to have a few minutes to work on Chex too.  I had a fun time with Charlie.  Kolt and I sang the ABC’s to him on the way home.  He looked at us kinda funny and then repeated it completely audible all the way to the letter P.  He also knew all the parts of the body I asked him.  When we got to 4-H, Grandpa Piquet gave him an Idaho Spud which is wouldn’t set down for anything. He thought it was pretty cool to try to pet the steers.  He kept picking up dirt and letting it blow out his hands.  He thought that was pretty fun, until he found a big clump of dirt! As soon as I saw him and realized what it was, I shouted, “Charlie, that’s not dirt! It’s horse manure!” He thought that was pretty gross after I said that, and he stopped picking up dirt! I got to take Charlie home and see Kevin and Ashley’s new house.  It is beautiful, and it looks like they love it!

I was happy to have the day off Saturday, but Kolt worked all week.  During the day, I made Grandma Lindley’s special Peanut Blossoms.  They were delicious.  At the same time, I flipped through the Lindley cookbook and found my cousin, Erica’s, recipe for Blonde Brownies and decided I had better try those too.  I had just a little bit of a sweet tooth!  We went to Taylor Tolbert’s reception at the Rose River Reception Center with my mom and dad on Saturday night.  It was a beautiful reception, and Taylor & Mack looked so happy.  They had a Sundae bar; Kolt kept asking why we didn’t do that at our reception! 

Sunday I taught our Sunday school lesson.  We learned about how our scripture study skills can help us learn about the Priesthood. Thanks to lots of help from Kolt, it came together somewhat.  I gave them each time to make a list of the duties of the Priesthood from the Doctrine & Covenants, and then we made a combined list on the board.  Then I gave them each a scripture reference to a familiar story from the scriptures and asked them to stand up, tell the story, teach the lesson, and bear testimony.  We were a little short on time, so it didn’t do exactly as I had envisioned, but I think it will be a good idea for another week.  We had a yummy Father’s Day dinner at Kolt’s parents, Shepard’s Pie, a yummy strawberry/lemon cookie salad, watermelon, and rolls.  Kolt and I got his dad a movie, Pure Country, which we started after dinner.  We headed up to Sugar City a little later to visit Grandpa & Grandma Dalling.  Grandpa was glad we came; he said if guests wanted to watch the Spurs v. Heat, he could watch it. So we all watched the first half together.  Then Kolt and my mom went out and started a game of basketball outside with my cousins.  Kolt had a blast and came home pretty sweaty.

We are excited to celebrate our great fathers yesterday.  I got Kolt his first Father’s Day gift.  He got 2 new pairs of jeans he’s been needing, his favorite hair gel, and a new shirt.  I thought it was a pretty good Father’s Day.  

Watch Out Italy!

We are at 36 weeks officially tomorrow! We had a doctor’s appointment this afternoon.  My blood pressure was 118/72 which they said was great! They checked my cervix, and I’m officially dilated to a 1!  The doctor said he was pretty surprised I was dilated with it being my first pregnancy, so I was happy about that.  The heat is getting quite miserable, so I’m ready to get this baby out! He is growing perfectly though, and his heartbeat is always consistent and fast! We’re hoping not to have to worry about him having a heart murmur like his mommy!  I am quickly learning why many moms take time off of work before their baby comes.  I am definitely lacking in energy and motivation.  Putting in one load of laundry wears me out!

Monday night we went to Grandma and Grandpa Dalling’s cabin up at Sandcreek.  We ate hotdogs, roasted marshmallows, and fished.  It was a great time visiting.  We were able to go with Mom and Dad, Natalie and family, Kevin and family, and Tyler.  I worked on my roping a little bit, but Kolt showed us all how it was done.  He got Nathan to run away from him, and Kolt caught his heels.  He didn’t stop, so he totally face planted.  He thought it was pretty funny though, so I taught him how to not step into the rope.  He did it several more times, and Nathan stopped just as soon as he saw the rope, so he wouldn’t get caught! Kolt also reminded me why we never go fishing.  He got the line caught in the trees across the pond the first two casts.  It reminded me of a time we went fishing for a day date with Makayla Keck and Travis Henriod.  Kolt broke his pole in the first five minutes, asked me to borrow mine, and then broke mine.  The fishing trip ended a little early for us!

Thursday afternoon we went horseback riding with Mom, Tyler, Natalie, Brady, and Brooke.  We had an awesome time up at Little Kelly.  It was pretty hot, but it was worth the view.  I rode Cisco—it was a smooth ride! Kolt rode one of the horses he had worked with for his dad this spring.  At one point, Tyler and he were trotting, and Kolt’s horse tripped sending Kolt over top of the horse.  We spent the next 30 minutes trying to catch Choncho, but no luck.  Kolt ended up walking behind him as he followed us down the path.  We finally caught him about an hour later.  Kolt was a good sport—he was smiling when we finally caught him.  Thank goodness he has such a good attitude!

Friday Kolt went up to the Milo Ward’s Father and Son’s Outing.  He went with his dad, Rope and Brand.  They had a good time visiting, eating dinner, and roping.  They got back late Friday night and then left early Saturday morning for a cattle drive with Gaylen Stucki.  While they were gone, Tyler, Mom, Dad, and I went to the Pitmaster BBQ Grill.  It’s a new restaurant by the ISU IF campus that was opened up by Lisa Harding and her husband.  Her kids go to Foxhollow, and she is friends with Kolt’s mother, so it was good to support them.  Kolt got back just in time to hurry down to his cousin Brenda’s reception.  We enjoyed visiting with lots of family including Travis Sautter, who came from California.  Travis studied Medicine, so we talked about some good ideas for volunteer work.  We then rushed down to Pocatello to attend Lexi Strom’s reception.  She married Brenn Scheiss from Pocatello.  It was really good to see her.  Lexi was baptized in March by Brenn and is getting sealed next year in the San Diego Temple.  We are so happy for her, and I was glad Kolt got to meet her.  After the receptions, we hurried back to Kolt’s parents’ house for cake and ice cream for Landon’s birthday.  It might’ve been a little late for cake, but we celebrated nonetheless!

Sunday was a big day for us.  I’m dying because I didn’t take any pictures! We got up early Sunday for a last minute haircut and to make a salad for Tyler’s farewell dinner.  Tyler had also arranged a musical number with some of his friends from school.  I played the piano while they sang Come Thou Fount.  We practiced at 12, but not too many showed up.  By the time we got to the church, the chapel was full.  We called off the practice and I jumped on the organ to play prelude.  The chapel and cultural hall quickly filled up.  Kolt came up to sit by me to make room for Grandma and Grandpa Dalling.  I was really happy to have Kolt up there to help me with the volume on the organ.  Kolt and I said the prayers for the meeting; I played the organ, and then accompanied the musical number.  The bishop said that next time he’d have me speak, so I could just do it all! It was a great meeting.  The musical number was beautiful.  I was amazed because half of the people that stood up didn’t come to practice.  You couldn’t even tell; they were beautiful.  Zach Nelson spoke first and then Tyler.  They both did great, and Kolt is excited to see how they will both grow to have stronger testimonies.  We came back to a yummy dinner of pulled pork sandwiches.  Kevin made delicious rolls! Kolt’s family was able to attend Sacrament Meeting and came over for dinner.  We had lots of family and friends here.  There was just not enough time to talk to everyone! We also got to celebrate Kristi’s birthday! I can’t believe she is 26.  We watched some of the movies on Tyler’s list.  We watched Quigley Down Under, and then Kolt and Tyler were the only ones who stayed up to watch Shanghai Noon. 

We are so excited for Tyler to leave for Italy this week.  His bags are already packed.  He is going to be a great missionary, and we are excited to read his letters.  He will do great things for the Italian people.

Happy Memorial Day!

I am officially 35 weeks along! Doctor visit was great this week.  I told them to put my on the calendar to have this baby early! Everything seems to be growing fine, and he is still very active although there is less room to roll around now.  He still finds a way to lodge his feet in my ribs.  The doctor assured me that the sharp pains were nothing to worry about because he could feel the baby’s feet right up in my ribs.  I think he will be an active child!

We have had a great week starting with a great Memorial Day Monday.  We began the day with breakfast with the Milo Ward.  Kolt’s dad helped make pancakes, potatoes, eggs and bacon.  It was delicious!  Kolt enjoyed seeing members of his ward growing up.  We just don’t see them enough! We got to visit with the Howard’s, Jacob Shipton, Ty Cooper, and many others.  We are sure grateful for good friends and examples.  After breakfast, Kolt and I stopped by the Ucon Cemetery and visited Kolt’s niece Brylee’s grave.  This was the first year I didn’t get to go to Utah to visit Julie Ann, Daniel, and Trevor’s graves along with Uncle Blake and Grandpa Lindley.  I was sure thinking about them all day.  We are so grateful that families can be together forever.  Kolt went to work for the afternoon.  He has been working quite a bit.  Last week he worked 68 hours.  He is a hard worker, and I am very grateful he is working as much as he can before the baby comes.  

Monday evening we went riding up to Kelly Canyon again with Kolt’s dad, Shauna, Landon, Rope & Brand.  We took Nathan for a short ride in the backyard before we left.  Kolt and I drove the truck and trailer with Kate and Chex.  Kate did great except when she jumped the 2 creeks! I hit my belly pretty hard on the saddle horn the first time, so the next time I leaned to the side and about fell off. Luckily Kolt caught me! Kolt says I ride like a sack of potatoes.  Kolt fell off Chex while they were racing with his brothers and Shauna.  He didn’t have the cinch on very tight, so it was fine after that.  It was about a 3 hour ride—I came home pretty tired and sore.  I think that might be my finale until after the baby!

Tuesday we had some yummy Tortellini for dinner with a Caesar salad and fruit.  Tortellini is one of the few things I can make.  Wednesday night Kolt and I attempted to attend institute again, but it apparently isn’t Wednesday nights! We are going to try for Thursday this week.  So far, we are batting 1000.  On the way home, we stopped by volleyball practice at Bonneville.  The 17s and 15s are practicing for Phoenix.  They are looking very good, and I am bummed I can’t go this year, since it is the last week of June.  We enjoyed talking with Kaisha Udy, a little sister of one of the girls on my freshman volleyball team last year.  The highlight was her suggestion to name the baby Roger!

Thursday I took work off to help babysit Kamrie for the day.  She was fun to be with, and I tried really hard to keep her up, so she would sleep through the Kristi’s interview at 11.  We helped Tyler clean up his room and organize his things.  She found some old suckers and candy.  It seemed to be the highlight of the morning.  I kept working on some boxes of old school papers; it seems like this is going to take me all summer.  That evening we went to a fundraiser at Pizza Pie Café for Tatelyn Hill.  We met up with Jared and Jeanna at six.  Kolt got a cookie monster, and I got the buffet.  It was good to visit with the Hill’s.  We are hoping Chex will be a good fit for one of their boys by the end of the summer. 

Shauna’s birthday was Thursday also!  Kolt and I got her a Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream cake by special request.  We went out at seven and caught dinner with his family and Grandma and Grandpa Piquet, then enjoyed the yummy ice cream cake! Shauna’s father-in-law asked Kolt to ride another horse this summer.  The horse is a Chestnut 3-year old named Chester.  He worked with him in the round pen for the first time, and he seems to have a lot of energy!

Friday was the Father and Son’s Campout for our ward.  Kolt went with my dad and Nathan that night.   My mom and I stayed home and babysat Brooke while Natalie and Brady went to the temple.  They got us Pizza Hut pizza.  We thought we were in heaven! I met Jared and Trish on Broadway to pick up Lacey and Lindsey.  We stopped by the Greenbelt to look at the falls and then stopped by Arctic Circle for ice cream on the way home.  The highlight of the night was Lindsey.  She was so surprised at how many motorcycles there are in the “city”.  Over the weekend, she counted 23 and just couldn’t believe it.  

Saturday was Rope’s 11^th birthday! He wanted to have a birthday breakfast at the Ucon Diner.  My mom and I made his cake.  He asked for a “chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and if I wanted it to be a special birthday, I could put white chocolate dipped strawberries on top.”  We had to make it extra special, so we did that! I was pretty impressed—my mom is amazing.  I was getting discouraged, but she saved it! I was excited to hold little Paisley again.  Rope got a bow which he couldn’t stop smiling about! 

We hurried back home after breakfast to watch the kids while the parents helped Kevin and Ashley move into their new house. We had Evan, Saydie, Charlie, Nathan and Brooke.  Lacey and Lindsey were great help, and Natalie even stayed around to help.  We packed a lunch and headed to the zoo at 10:30.  They had a blast, and I was happy that I could keep up.  We made it home in time for naps.  It was a nice quiet afternoon! 

Lacey and Lindsey had their piano lessons just in time for us to head off to Kolt’s cousin, Amber Denning’s baby shower.  She is due a week after me and also having a boy.  We met with Shauna and Angela at Target and picked up a bumbo and a cute outfit.  We took a long drive out to Shelley, but made it there in plenty of time.  It was a beautiful shower. Lacey and Lindsey enjoyed lots of treats, and we had a yummy lunch. 

After the shower, we helped Kolt get off riding with Shane, Landon, Rope & Brand.  The girls and I went swimming in the hot tub.  We turned down the temperature and enjoyed a relaxing sit.  I remember the last time I swam with them, they splashed and splashed.  They are quite grown up (now 8 and 9), and they enjoyed a peaceful sit while we talked about what baby names we like.  They helped me make some caramel popcorn.  I’m not sure how much I did because they were great help.  We started watching Father of the Bride Part II a little too late though, so we had to leave 15 minutes into it to go meet Jared and Trish on their way home from Twin Falls.  I can’t believe how fast those girls are growing up.  I’m so glad I get to teach them piano, so I can see them often! Saturday night I watched the last couple hours of Titanic.  I’ve never seen it before, and I don’t ever want to watch it again! It is a pretty touching show.  I can’t even imagine being on that sinking ship.

Sunday morning we had a good day at church.  Kolt taught the Sunday school lesson about why it’s important to listen to our Priesthood leaders.  Our class had some great examples of why to follow our Priesthood leaders including our dads.  I shared a story of when I was at school at Western, and I had planned a trip with some friends to Utah for the weekend.  My dad sent me a text telling me he had an uneasy feeling, but also telling me that it was my decision to go or not and he understood that.  I made the decision to go, and my dad was exactly right.  I had a hard time feeling the Spirit all weekend and wished that I had stayed home.  I wasn’t feeling good after Sunday School, so I came home to rest.  We had a yummy breakfast dinner after church made my mom.  

After dinner, I took Tyler over to the church to learn to play the organ.  He wanted to try to play it in case he needed to on his mission.  I showed him the few things I know, and he played and played for a half hour.  He was awesome.  We are enjoying every minute with Tyler before he leaves.  We are just 10 days away.  He sure enjoys being with Kolt, and they have become really good friends over the past few months.  We are sure excited for all that he will accomplish in the next couple year and especially proud of his decision to worthily serve a mission.