IT'S A GIRL!!!!

Yes, that's right, we found out today that we are having a baby girl!!! I didn't want to get my hopes up because I love my boys and I would have been thrilled to have another one, but I am so excited it's a girl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The ultrasound showed that my due date of October 3 is accurate and the baby looks completely healthy at this point, which is all that really matters. But I am so excited it's a girl!!!!!!!!!! Dallin has said all along that it's a girl, and when we picked him up today at Alison's house after the appointment and told him he was going to have a sister he just looked at us and said, "Yeah, I already knew that." Like we were the stupidest people in the world. I guess we should trust him more. Four-year-olds usually know more than their parents, right? So I guess this means we have to name her "Minnie Yates," which is the name he has had picked out all along (the next boy, of course, will be "Mickey Yates"). And a shout out goes to Kristen for dreaming that I was pregnant with a girl before I knew I was pregnant. In her dream, she was at the hospital with me and a little girl that looked like Luke... So she's got 2 parts out of 3 right so far, we'll have to see if she's really here for the big event... I hope so!

Hot Minivan Mama

Well, actually I know for a fact that it is impossible to be a hot minivan mama, but let's pretend for a moment, shall we? It will make me feel a little bit better about turning 30 and getting a van in the same year. With child #3 on the way, we decided it was time to "upgrade" our vehicle in terms of size. What actually happened was a downgrade in coolness. But that's okay. We were never that cool anyway. "At least it's paid for!" we yell out the window to neighbors who give us looks of horror as we peel out of our driveway and fly around the corner like a silver bullet. And truly, Jason is in his glory as we burn the streets of Lehi. To quote him: "I have never looked at a minivan and thought, 'Wow, that's an awesome minivan.' It doesn't matter if it cost $3,000 or $30,000. It's still a minivan." So, we opted for one that was a lot closer to the first figure and joined the leagues of minivaners.... And it isn't that uncommon. It's actually quite popular among the sensible, confident and/or clueless members of society around here (we just never really thought we would join them - it's kind of like joining the band your senior year after making fun of them your entire life). We have an identical twin in the neighborhood, and the first time we drove it in public we realized that we were the third in a caravan of silver Dodge Grand Caravan Sports driving down Main Street (so we turned). I'm getting a lot more used to it now and I do like the space and being able to put my kids in different rows and all that fun stuff that comes with a van. ("Van." The word is still a little odd on my tongue. Kind of like the word "maturation." I don't know if you ever get used to it, even if you are teaching the class.) And when Dad brought the little beauty down, he told me, "It's a Grand Caravan Sport, but I don't really see what's so sporty about it." Well, I do. It's real, it's silver, and it's spectacular.

Going on a bear hunt... I'm not afraid....

OK, yes, I was afraid, and for good reason. I almost died like 900 times on this trip and I was only there for a day. I guess that is part of the excitement of hunting... kill or be killed? Last week I accompanied Jason for the first day of his three-day bear hunt in Mackay, Idaho and I learned a lot of things. #1 was that I am not a hunter and, sorry honey, I probably never will be. But it was incredible to be out there in the WILD and see so much beautiful scenery and a huge variety of wildlife, some of which I had never seen before. Like this rattlesnake, for example, which brings me to the #2 thing I learned: you just have to put yourself out there and hope for the best. Enjoy nature. Play with the snake before you kill it. Try to make its last moments enjoyable. This is one of two rattlesnakes we saw on our hike up to the bear, and it is not dead in this picture. I repeat, it is alive and rattling away and someone (not me) is touching it. Right after this picture was taken, he reached down and cut off the rattle (9 rattles, one for every year of its soon-to-end-life) and handed it to me!!! It was a little awkward, really, and I tried not to make eye contact with the snake. Um, sorry about your rattle? Good luck with everything else? Please don't bite me? See you later...

This was definitely a new experience for me. In addition to the bear and the snakes, I also saw a moose, lots of deer, elk and antelope, and a pack of wild horses. I didn't even know wild horses existed any more until Will, the hunting guide and rattlesnake tamer, pointed them out, galloping along the horizon. It was very cool to see. So #3, sometimes you just have to go along with something, even if you don't really understand it, and it might actually be be kind of fun. I mean, just look at this picture (I had to do a little fancy footwork to make it upright, thanks to blogspot not having a "rotate picture" option). I'm wearing camo, carrying a bow (which belongs to Jason's friend who just shot the bear and is dragging it down from the mountains you see behind me), and I'm also leading/being dragged by a dog. If you know me, you know I am not exactly a dog person, but I didn't really even mind this one. I even gave it a few virtual pets (I wasn't about to actually touch the filthy little sucker).

So you see, even someone who is opposed to the sport of hunting can enjoy the experience. I really loved seeing the bear in the tree only a few yards away (he was so cute, I mean just look at him), and although what happened next made me cry, I have since found this little organization called PETA which stands for "People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals". I think I might join, because I am a person who is for the ethical treatment of animals, and even though I do support my husband in his hunting, I kind of want to, I don't know... make it illegal. Just kidding, Jason, it was great, and I loved being there with you. And congratulations on your bear. I wish I could have been there the day you got it. I'm just proud that I went hunting, I lived to tell the tale, and I didn't even have any ticks when I got home! Now that is my definition of a successful trip.