Hawaii

 The day after Christmas, we left for the airport at 5:15am. C.C.'s fever was gone and, while she didn't sound great and definitely had a cough, we were pushing forward.  At the airport, she declared that she felt like she was going to vomit. We got her to sit for a minute and have some water and it passed. I was so relieved. We had made it through the moment with no vomiting. So color me surprised when an hour into the flight, and without warning, Elsie vomited all over herself and her seat. Can I just say, cleaning up a sea of vomit, washing my daughter's hair in an airplane bathroom and stripping her naked and changing her clothes in said bathroom was not on my Hawaiian vacay bucket list? As if that wasn't enough, Carrigan coughed throughout the flight and Merrick was stuck sitting next to a teenage boy with autism and tremendous fear of flying who kept invading his space.

Somehow, despite all that, we landed in Hawaii in one piece, and the kids were thrilled to find at baggage claim, not only our bags, but Grandpa, Lollie, and Uncle Jensen. We all rallied with the excitement of having arrived.  We got our rental car, made it to the hotel, and had some amazing Hawaiian BBQ for lunch. At this point, C.C. was hanging on by a thread, but we pushed on and made it to the beach...at least until C.C. vomited in the beach bathroom.  At that point we decided to call it a day and headed back to the hotel.

The next day was the only day that we had solid plans. We were supposed to spend the day at the at Polynesian Cultural Center, have a buffet dinner, and watch an evening show. That morning, Elsie woke up with fever. Since we have spent a small fortune on tickets, we pumped her full of Motrin and Dayquil and pushed on. I told everyone I would hang back with her and we would just do what she could do and they could go on ahead. After two shows, Elsie was in rough shape. She wanted to go back to the hotel, but since we were over an hour from the hotel and in one car, we compromised on a nap in the car until she could have more medicine.

She woke up feeling terrible, but I gave her more meds and since the family was headed out for a bus tour of BYU-Hawaii and the temple, I thought I could bring her along to rest on the bus. By the time we got to the temple she was roasting. The senior missionaries had a thermometer and when it showed 104.5, we decided we should call it a day once we could get back to the car. Somehow a miracle happened on the bus ride back to PCC. By the time we got there, she had rebounded and was asking for food. We somehow limped through the rest of the day. At her insistence, we did dinner and the show, with her sleeping on my lap off and on. By the time we got home that night, Merrick also had a fever and everyone was struggling.

The next day, Elsie woke up with a fever, but Merrick was insisting he was fine. We spent the day taking our time and exploring different beaches and snorkeling in Turtle Bay on the North Shore. It was really fun, but it turns out, once you know what's under there, it's a little terrifying to put your feet down. We didn't get to snorkel for too long before we were rained out and Jeremy was extremely bummed to have rain on his break from the rainy PNW. The other highlight of this day for me was a super yummy lunch at a Seven Brother's road stand, complete with chickens roaming around.

With a taste for snorkeling under our belt, we spent the following morning (after we got Elsie's daily fever under control) at Ko' Olina, which are coves that are calm, perfect for snorkeling.  They are pretty much perfect in general. The water here was a little murkier and while we enjoyed the snorkeling, Turtle Bay was definitely better. That afternoon, we cleaned up and went in to Honolulu and Waikiki.  We did some shopping there, but it was not my favorite part of the trip and Elsie's fever was coming back, so we didn't stay too long.

The next day was Monday, and our last day in Hawaii. Jeff, Carolyn, and Jensen went home in the afternoon, so before they left, we went to Pearl Harbor.  We couldn't get tickets out to the USS Arizona, but there was still plenty to see and do. It was a very sobering experience, at least for some of us. It mostly went over Elsie's head and she was anxious to go back to the PCC and experience all the things we didn't get to do the first time.

We said goodbye to Grandpa, Lollie, and Jensen, and hit the PCC.  We had a great afternoon seeing the shows, playing games, getting tattoos, and making coconut oil. We also managed to get in one more stop at Seven Brothers and a stop for some shaved ice.

Well, it was a far from perfect vacay, with never ending fevers and coughs, but it was certainly memorable.  Unfortunately, it has been all downhill from there.  Elsie did not do well on the flight home.  She literally could not stop coughing and then, once again without warning, threw up all other over herself. We once again had to clean up the aftermath and change her clothes at 36,000 ft.

Since getting home, Jeremy, Merrick and I have all gotten sick.  To say we are on the struggle bus over here is a huge understatement.  Also, most of the extended family got sick too.  Becca's family was flying to Vegas and Quincy, who was still recovering, passed out in the airport.

I am ready to close the chapter on being sick and close the chapter on 2024. While we are technically on our way into 2025, I am assigning this sickness to 2024 and I am ready to say goodbye. We will see what 2025 brings. Famous last words, but I'm planning on it all being uphill from here.

Christmas 2024

Well, buckle up. We are in for a ride today. I miss one week, due to being gone (more on that in a moment) and so much has happened. I don't even know where to start. And now I have to fight through brain fog of being sick and get this down.  What will likely be the result is a somewhat skimmed over version of events with more pictures than anyone could ever need and likely a two part blog today.

Everything started two days before Christmas, "Christmas Adam" as my kids like to call it.  The girls were begging for a sleep over with their cousin and I was talking it over with Becca, and she was telling me how overwhelmed she was in her Christmas prep. I decided I had time to go help her and that would be both good for her and get the girls off my back a bit.

We spent "Christmas Adam" at the Browns, knocking things off the "to do" list. The girls had a blast playing and helping and the boys helped by running some last minute errands.  Things were going well enough that we decided a sleepover was doable.  Little did we know that all the time together was about to set off a plague of epic proportions.

Christmas Eve, Carrigan came home from the sleepover in tears, saying she didn't feel well. We had planned to go to movies a short time later with all the family and I rallied her enough to go. We made it through the movie and had just a short time until we were supposed to be back at the Brown's for Christmas Eve festivities.  In the limited time, I didn't have much time to take stock of how C.C. was really feeling. I just busied them decorating a gingerbread house while I finished up my assignments for the family party and we just pushed on.

The family party was a blast, with great food and fun and presents for all, but C.C. was definitely wiped when we got home.

Christmas morning rolled around and Carrigan slept in, much to Elsie's extreme disappointment.  When she did wake up, it was with a serious fever. We pushed forward with the Christmas plans, because what else were we supposed to do at that point. We opened stockings and presents from Santa and then the kids wanted to open their group gift from Jeremy and I. It was a snorkel set. They were a little confused until they opened it up and inside one of the masks discovered a note that said we were going to Hawaii the next day! We opened to rest of the presents and the kids got lots of things they would want or need for the trip and then we got down to business.

With leaving the next morning, we had laundry to wash, packing to do, and Christmas to reign in, all while C.C. had a fever that raged and she could not get off the couch. We all just swirled around her. By late afternoon, her fever broke and she asked about the gifts she had received, barely remembering any of it. I felt awful because, in a rush to get things under control before we left, I had cleaned up and put away much of it already. At least her new roller skates were still out and she could give them a try.

By the evening, we were optimistic that the worst was behind Carrigan and, while it was not ideal, we were still going to have a great Hawaiian vacation...