A Moab Thanksgiving

Sorry for the late blog, we've been very busy. To say we've been partying hard would be an understatement. The last two weeks have been a whorl wind; with some kind of get together planned for every night. We even decided to top off the big holiday weekend with a gigantic jeep trip to Moab. We've really had this in the works for the last year or so, and since Danny requested it, it was done. We had all our friends and family, and even some neighbors. We had a great time.

I have to say we got off to a rocky start, after deciding seating arrangements for the drive to Moab, my sister Nicki and I ended up in the mini van with our 5 little boys. By the first stop I wanted to pull my hair out. Some how Nicki's husband, my husband and my sister and her husband from Hawaii ended up in my nice comfy kid free jeep Cherokee. Oh sure they had to pull Beau's big jeep but I'm pretty sure none of them were listening to screaming and yells of "he's touching me" for FIVE hours! Anyway, we made it and the condo's my mom arranged were amazing. Plenty of room for all of us and they were nice and big since we'd be hosting Thanksgiving for 45 people. Now those who really know me know I hate 4 wheeling. I'm not really sure how I ended up in this family but I go and make the best of it, avoiding scary, dangerous, cliff hanging trails that I tend to walk most of anyway because I'm too scared to ride anymore. The highlight of my trip was a nice fast ride on my dad's four-wheeler down a great sandy wash. I loved it and drove really fast with my hair flying, pretending I was just as tough as the rest of them (unfortunately, I don't think I really fooled anybody).

Peanut had a great time playing with his cousins, and every day we were there told me "so and so" was his new best friend! Peanut's highlight of the trip was probably being buried in the sand. He loved it. I did not. Can you imagine the crevices I had to wash red sand out of? Enough said.

I did not fully realize how much fun he was having until I came home to wash his little jeans only to find the pockets full of tiny red rocks, bits of broken tail lights, scraps of rubber and colored glass (there's a lot of souvenirs left when 200 jeeps smash their way up the rocks).

The one that works especially enjoyed when I finally let him take our jeep on a trail. Ok, so it was only that sandy riverbed wash but he enjoyed it to the fullest, I'm still cleaning red dirt out of the seats.

We got some amazing pictures and had a great time. And some how I even managed to rearrange the seating for the drive home, I'm sure Nicki could concentrate much better without Walnut screaming his little guts out for hours at a time (he's getting a new tooth). I certainly wasn’t the traditional Thanksgiving but what is thanksgiving other than a time to get together with family and eat way too much. I guess this year a Moab Thanksgiving was just what we needed.

Oh crap!

You ever have one of those moments where you wish the floor would just open right up and swallow you whole that very minute? If you've ever read this blog before you know that I have them all the time. I don't know how this happened to me, I used to be organized, clean and put together. Things rarely happened that I did not plan for and I seldom got embarrassed about the things people did around me. All that changed after I had kids. I'm sure my moments of humiliation are just beginning, after all my Peanut is only 3 years old and just learning to express himself in all his many creative ways. Yesterday was my brother's homecoming at church. It was a big event. All my siblings, their spouses, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends and neighbors were there. We were jammed into my parent’s chapel with all the other regular attendees of that ward. It was packed. People had to sit nearly back to the stage. Thanks to our early arrival we had great seats, it took two entire rows to fit just my immediate family. We were seated about half way back in the chapel. The meeting was nice. Danny did a excellent job and did his best to ignore little Cam who saw him up there on the stand and yelled "yan-nee" through most of his talk. All was going great until Peanut reached his Sunday meeting reverence limit. Suddenly, he yelled out "oh crap" right there on the fifth pew from the front. Don't ask me why, maybe he was upset about sharing grandma with his cousins or maybe he was bugged about dropping his fruit snacks, I'm not really sure, all I know is I have to shut him up as soon as possible. I glance up at the stand where there is a full row of distinguished looking suited men, I think someone from the stake presidency is visiting, just my luck. I don't think they heard, maybe we're safe. Just then, out it comes again "oh crap!" I clamp my hand over his mouth as fast as I can, and quickly scan for witnesses. The one that works definitely caught it that time and so did my sister and her husband. I think at that point Peanut realized what a stir he was creating and started screaming, "oh crap" at the top of his lungs. Now my hand was clamped over his mouth so mostly it came out as muffled screaming but the damage was done and we were starting to attract attention. I begin threatening/bargaining with him, whispering in his ear as fast as I can. I begin with threats, "you'd better be quite or those men up there are going to be mad" no luck. "You'd better stop yelling or I'm going to spank you", still screaming. "If you stop yelling I'll let you go sit on grandma's lap" at that one he did stop screaming "oh crap" for a split second to consider his options, but in the end the "oh crap" resumed. I was getting desperate as the frantic peanut with my had clamped over his mouth was beginning to attract more attention. "I'll give you candy if you stop screaming"..... Silence. I'd found the magic word CANDY; I guess I'm one of those parents. I never wanted to be one of those parents who couldn’t control their children without the backing of a candy store, but I was desperate. You know now thinking back on it, it could have been much worse. I'm just grateful I don't use any other four-letter words, just think of the kind of things he could have screamed. Anyway, just to be safe, I think "oh crap" will be leaving my vocabulary and I'm going to try to remember that raising children means anything the one that works and I happen to say in the privacy of our own home might one day be screamed out in the middle of sacrament meeting.... Oh my gosh, I want to die just thinking about it.

Peanut vs. Rota virus

I have not posted in a while, but I guess you could say I've been busy. Peanut's stomach flu from last week quickly became serious and after a couple of visits to the pediatrician he was hospitalized with the Rota Virus (bad stomach flu). Despite all my efforts I just could not get his fever to break or keep him hydrated which apparently is typical for the nasty virus. Peanut was working hard against me, eliminating liquids from both ends as fast as I could get them into him. I finally gave up and went with his doctor's advice and admitted him into the hospital. He was so sick and dehydrated that it took them over 4 hours to get an IV started. They kept poking him trying to get a good vein. He did not even cry, he would just mumble that it hurt, all the while lying there with his eyes closed. Finally the nurses gave up and called the NICU to send someone up with a little more experience with tiny dehydrated veins. They were finally successful after a couple more sticks, and when they announced to Peanut that they finally "got it" he opened his eyes and said, "thank you so much". The nurses were shocked and said that he was the nicest little boy they'd had there in quite a while. When they left we counted 12 pokes, 12 painful, probing, needle sticks that sometimes lasted a couple of minutes each as they "looked" around for the tiny, little, vein.

Peanut was such a good sport. The one who works and I then spent the next three days sitting around the hospital room hovering over our sick little boy as he slept and got stronger and hydrated. The nights were the worst, although Peanuts accommodations were warm and comfortable ours could barely be called acceptable. The little chair next to the bed pulled out into the tiniest most uncomfortable excuse for a bed I've ever seen, after the first night of no sleep, I relinquished the job of staying overnight to his father. Finally, after 3 days they let us come home. We knew Peanut was better when they came to draw blood early one morning to check his hydration levels and it took 3 of us to hold him down while he kicked and screamed his little peanut head off.

All in all the experience was a good one. The hospital staff was kind and helpful to Peanut, and my Mom and sister saved me by taking my little walnut while we were at the hospital so I never had to worry about him. We're all home now and I've sanitized everything. If anyone else here gets sick it will be despite my best efforts, nothing here is safe from the Lysol! I've washed every sheet and blanket Peanut even looked at and cleaned every bathroom till it shines. Hopefully our bout with the Rota virus is over and looking back on it now, I feel optimistic. I think we won.

Delayed reunion

If you read my last blog, you know where I'd planned to be today. Unfortunately, my plans went out the window shortly after the day began. It all started last night as I was finishing yesterday's blog. Around midnight, I signed off and crawled into bed, only to be awakened 10 minutes later to the sound of my peanut crying. I went into his room and immediately realized it was going to be a long night. Peanut had the stomach flu. I can't say I was really all that surprised, Walnut had been running a low fever for the past 24 hours so I knew there was some kind of bug going around. For the next 4 hours I held my two year olds head as he heaved and heaved every 30 minutes or so. By 4AM the reality had sunken in that I would not be able to take him to the airport to see his uncle come home, nor would I be able to leave him in this condition to go myself. I thought of all my options but there weren’t many, no one was available to watch him, and the one who works really needed to work a full day with the exception of a quick lunch break to the airport. I was sad but didn’t have the time to dwell on it because I was literally up to my neck in messes. I dug in and by early afternoon, peanut was feeling better, and I was on top of the messes in the house. I decided that with a little luck, I could get to the airport to see Dan come home...I know pretty optimistic of me, but I haven't seen him in two years people! I realized I didn't have much time, only 30 minutes to get the boys and me ready in the car and on my way and the airport is a good hour from my home. I showered, fixed my hair, dressed the boys, packed the baby bag and jumped into the car. Would you believe I had a flat tire? Yep, I know, I couldn’t believe it either; after all I'm on a really tight schedule here. I pump up the tire with my little cigarette lighter air compressor I have for such emergencies, all the while praying it will fill the darn tire faster. I take advantage of the wait to finish dressing the boys, and brush my teeth, right there in the driveway! I'm still without my makeup when the tire finally finishes filling, but I figure I've got at least 3 good, long red lights ahead of me before I hit the freeway (I don't wear that much makeup anyway). We're on our way, but running a little late. After a quick check on the flight arrival I get my first break of the day, Dan's flight is delayed at least 10 minutes, YES! I'm flying down the freeway with my sickly little boys, applying the last of my mascara (yes, I WAS one of those women today) when I hear a pop, a bad pop. It was my tire, it blew out, aghhhh. THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING! All I want to do is see my brother at the airport is that too much to ask? Apparently so. I pull over safely and begin to cry off all that carefully applied mascara I just risked my life to put on. I called the one who works and tearfully explained my situation. He'd just arrived at the airport, but immediately turned around to come and save me. I have to pause here a moment to say, my dad did teach me how to change a tire and I probably could have done it under any other circumstances, but I was on my last nerve, and was functioning on less than 3 hours of sleep and had sick children in the car. All I could think of was how did I get myself into this position. After about 20 minutes a nice policeman stopped and told me he'd change my tire. I told him my husband was on his way but it would be a little while before he could get here; He said he'd have it changed in 5 minutes and he did, I could have kissed him. Back in the car again and on my way, I meet up with the one who works at a gas station at the next exit to decide what do from there. My mom calls, "Dan's flight is delayed another 20 minutes", really? I could still make it, just barely. Just as the thought crosses my mind, poor little Peanut, who'd been quietly sleeping until that exact moment, throws up all over everything within projectile range. That was it, I gave up. I cleaned up my poor little guy the best I could and with my tail tucked between my legs drove myself home, knowing that I was just not meant to be at the airport today. Just before I reached my house, my brother Dan called, he had arrived safely and someone had told him of my plight. Dan said he was good and so happy to be home, that he understood why I couldn’t be there but that I'd see him in a day or two. I drove the rest of the way home feeling better. I'm glad Dan's home, and I can't wait to see him. Hopefully the kids will be recovered in a day or two and we can get that reunion we missed today.

Where, oh where has my little Dan gone?

Nearly two years ago our family got together and wished my little brother good luck on the LDS mission he was about to embark on. We cried, hugged and laughed and felt happy about his decision to serve a mission while knowing just how much we were going to miss him. We knew things would change while he was gone, we knew we'd probably be a bigger family when he returned and tried not to think about all the important events he would inevitably miss, but we stoically supported his decision and silently prayed the months would fly by. They did. In exactly 17 hours, 12 minutes Dan will be arriving on a flight from California. We are so excited! Tomorrow Dan will be meeting the three new nephews that were born while he was away. He'll probably have to get reacquainted with the ones that were here when he left; they've grown so much. His only little sister has missed him so much, she's grown up too, in to a nice young woman, her he will recognize, but he'll be shocked at how beautiful she is. He'll meet the two new brother in law's that his sisters married while he was away. I'm sure he'll be excited to see his only brother again, the one none of the rest of us can seem get to visit very often, but wouldn’t miss Dan's homecoming for anything. We all know he's very eager to see a special friend again, and whatever the outcome, they are best friends first and it will be good to see them together again. He'll come home tomorrow to his precious jeep (thanks to his many devoted friends who spent hours and hours re-assembling her) in perfect "Moab jeeping" condition. He'll be returning to a mom who has dutifully fed, loved and "mothered" Dan's good friends for the past two years, all in proxy for a son she couldn’t feed herself, they were a more common sight at her dinner table than her own children and were invited to every family event. Dan will probably be most surprised at the changes in our dad. He is literally half the man he was. Dan will probably be surprised that he can hug him and reach clear around easily. Yes, Danny will be coming home to a different family but it's a bigger, better, family, with a Mom, Dad, sisters, brother, sister in law, brothers in law, nephews, friends, cousins, aunts, uncles, neighbors and special friends, and we're all going to be there at the airport waiting...in exactly 16 hours and 47 minutes!

Freezer meal overload

A couple of weeks ago I went to a relief society enrichment activity at my mom's ward. My favorite class (other than the "Death by Chocolate" class which was amazing by the way) was the freezer meal class. Basically, the woman taught us how to plan a day and prepare 30 meals that can be frozen ahead of time, thawed and then heated up later. There were some really great recipes, all of which had been tested out and considered freezer worthy. Since my parents household will be teeming with returning children, spouses and grandkids in the next couple of weeks, and my mom is now working full time, we thought this would be perfect for her to have a few already prepared meals to feed her hungry brood. So, we picked a day, choose our recipes, shopped for our ingredients and gathered at mom's house to get cooking. Now since Nickole and I have small herd of boys that are quite unhelpful in the kitchen, we coerced mom into watching all five of our boys, while we cooked her meals as well as our own (I have to say, I think we got the much easier job on this one!). We picked seven recipes, and made two of every recipe for each of us, let me explain, that's six lasagnas, six teriyaki chickens, six broccoli chicken rice meals, six taco soups, six ham and potatoes, six Italian chicken gravy meals and six meatloaf and potato dishes. Whew, I'm tired all over again just writing about it. Yep, that’s right we made a total of 42 freezer meals. I have to say it was a great success; my mom has her freezer packed with meals she won't have to prepare this month, so she can better enjoy the return of Danny, and our siblings. And Nickole and I can officially be lazy for the next few weeks and our husbands and kids won't notice. You know with all the preparation it took to get these meals done, you'd think I would have thought about where I'd freeze my 14 dishes. Nope...I guess I'm going shopping for a new freezer on Monday.

Tails of the alligator and the sleeping giraffe

I'm not normally a huge fan of Halloween, but Halloween with children of my own, is the best. I didn’t put too much thought into their costumes this year, we just kind of happened upon them, but they turned out great. Peanut was an alligator; he had great scaly, shiny skin and a great big tail (that he mostly used to knock over his little brother). Walnut went as a giraffe, his costume was so cute, the combination of the furry little giraffe face and those giant cheeks of walnut's peaking out were priceless.


Unfortunately, the one that works had school all night so it was just the kids and me. We spent most of the evening at my sister's house celebrating with her family, neighbors and my parents. We had dinner and then eagerly set off on the quest for candy. We quickly realized that the older kids were much faster than the rest of us. They could run to a door, knock, collect their candy and be off to the next house before we could even get our toddlers to the driveway. Inevitably, we split into two groups, the big kids and the little ones. My little alligator and giraffe stayed with me in the slow group. Peanut caught on pretty quick that a smile and a cute little "trick-or-treat" netted the most candy. By the third or fourth house he was an expert. Oh sure, it may be difficult to climb up and down front porch steps in the dark, balancing an alligator head and two foot alligator tail, but peanut did it like an expert, and if worse came to worse there was always a mommy, aunt or grandma nearby to lend a helpful hand. My chubby cheeked giraffe held out for about 45 minutes then began dozing in the little wagon we'd brought along. It was so cute to see his little giraffe head hanging over the side of the wagon in an attempt to sleep. After an hour of trick-or-treating we had more candy than I'd ever let my children eat in a lifetime, so we jetted off to Grandpa Bob and Grandma Reta's house. We happened to get there just as another couple of children were heading to the door. I stood back as Peanut headed to the door with the other children. Grandma opened the door, looked at the children and proceeded to hand out candy, when finished she said goodbye to them and proceeded to shut the door. I then stepped out and told her one of those children was her grandchild; she looked shocked but quickly discovered Peanut under that row of alligator teeth. Walnut slept through most of the visit, but Peanut and Grandma had a great time trick-or-treating through her neighborhood. We had a wonderful evening. Holidays are so much more enjoyable with children. I'm even looking forward to Christmas this year, and if you knew me you'd know that is a change.