Sad Times, Happy Times

This has been a difficult week. On Wednesday, we learned that Jeremy's grandma Clifford had passed away. We knew it was only a matter of time as she had fallen recently and broken her femur at the hip socket and since had been failing to recover or improve. It has been a shock and difficult, nonetheless. We will be headed to Arizona soon for the funeral and, while it will be under sad circumstances, it will be so nice to spend a couple of days with Jeremy's family.

On a happier note, also this week C.C. and I had a girl's day with some of her friends to celebrate her friend, Ruby's, birthday. We started with a shopping extravaganza at the mall. The girls definitely scored some great finds, but the mall was crazy! We didn't realize that it was Lunar New Year and the mall was having a celebration. They were having a performance downstairs in the main area, but we tried our best to avoid it. Ultimately, we made our way upstairs to the food court. Most of the girls got boba, but since C.C. isn't a fan, she got a chocolate milkshake and we all sat in front of the boba place to enjoy our treat. Little did we we know that the performance was about to move right in front of the boba place, right next to our table. I also didn't know that one of the dragons would come up and dance right next to me and put his mouth over my head. That was an experience not to be forgotten.

After the mall, we had a fancy dinner and then the girls went swimming at the hotel pool. Part of the party was an overnight stay at a nearby hotel. Given our "no sleepover" rule, C.C. didn't get to stay, but  she still had a blast. I have to say that I am not ready for her to be this grownup, but apparently it's not up to me.

Taxi Mom

Nobody tells you that when you become a mom, much of your time is going to be spent in the role of taxi driver. I think this becomes more pronounced as the kids get older and are involved in more and more things. This felt particularly true this week. I'm not sure what else I did besides drive my kids to and from their various commitments. Thursday, for example, I counted 4 trips back and forth to the high school and that was just for Merrick AND I even sent Jeremy for the last pick up after practice. It's a lot, but I'm also really glad that my kids are involved in things that they enjoy and give them fulfillment.

This week, I committed to one extra taxi driving duty. I took Elsie and Liam, a boy from our church, to their schools' Family Night at OMSI (the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry). Liam's dad recently took a new job in Michigan and his mom was out there trying to get him settled. While Liam's grandparents were holding down the fort, I took Liam with us to the OMSI night to take one thing off their plate.

Liam is younger and has a little more "boy energy" than Elsie, but we still had a great time. I don't think Elsie has been to OMSI since she was little, little and she didn't remember what it was all about. It's such a fun, hands-on science museum. We all had a great time and we left with them both talking about the next time.

This week, I imagine, will be more of the same, running my children all over creation...unless...there is a chance we might get snow. I would not be sad about being stranded in my house for a few days.

Family Fun

 This week was Martin Luther King Day. That meant that the kids were off of school on Monday and Jeremy was off of work. Somehow, despite there being no school and the district office being closed, I was still scheduled to work. Not one to be left out on a party, I took the day off so we could call hang together. Originally, the girls wanted to go to the mountains and sled for the day. Merrick had practice in the morning though and Jeremy was still not completely well, so we opted for something a little closer to home.

In the morning, Merrick went to practice and the girls busied themselves roller skating around the house. Inside only roller skates might be the best idea I ever had as a mom, especially since we live in a cold and rainy climate.

Once Merrick was done with practice, we loaded up and made the trek out to Hillsboro to try a fun center that we have never been to. I was originally drawn to it because, according to their website, they had arcade games, bowling, and a batting cage. Unfortunately, once we got there, we discovered that it has to be over 50 degrees for them to open the batting cage.

The lack of batting cages was a disappointment, but we didn't let that stop us from having a great time. Everyone found games they enjoyed playing and we played while we waited for our lane to be ready for bowling.

Once it was our turn, we headed out to the lanes. We reserved for an hour and we were able to to play almost a game and a half in that time. The first game, not to toot my own horn, I had a great come from behind win. Two strikes in a row definitely helped. The first game decidedly did not go Merrick's way. He made up for it though by winning our second, partial game.

We ended the day with more arcade games and prizes at the prize counter. It always amazing to me how you can so easily turn $50 into $1.75 worth of candy at the end of the day. That's ok though, the real prize was a day of family fun.

The other excitement of the week was Carrigan's first middle school dance competition yesterday. It was a long day for her. She had to be at the bus at 5:50am and didn't get home until about 5:30pm. She danced her heart out though, had a great time, and her team won first place for middle schools. It was a long day of performances, but her team was supposed to preform at 1:30pm. We decided to make the long drive out to watch her and planned to show up at 1pm, just to be safe. We arrived at 12:50 only to find out that they had already preformed. We had missed it. We were devastated, but luckily she still has three more competitions this season so there will be more chances. At least that's what I'm telling myself.

I Love to See the Temple

 It is 8:30 on Sunday night. Somehow the day has gotten away from me and writing the blog completely slipped my mind. I would be completely remiss if I didn't take just a minute to write about the most important thing that happened this week.

Since C.C. is turning 11 this year, she is now in the Young Women's program in our church. That means that she now has the opportunity to visit the temple and participate in proxy baptisms for those who are deceased. She was really excited about the opportunity to attend the temple for the first time.

What made the evening even more special was that Merrick was also just ordained to the office of Priest in our church. That means that he is now able to baptize, including in the temple.

On Wednesday night, Jeremy and I had the privilege of taking Merrick and C.C. to the temple with our church youth group. Merrick was able to do the baptisms for the first time and his first ever baptism, he baptized C.C. as she was doing her first ever proxy baptism.

I did not expect to get emotional, but I did. It was a very special night, one not soon to be forgotten. 

Sick, Sick, Sick

 If you made it through last week's blog, you know that I had a lot to share, so much that I ended up having to split it into two different blog posts. Well, this week is the exact opposite. This week I have almost nothing to share. This week was all about survival.

This week the kids and I went back to school and work or at least we were supposed to. The girls and I did pretty well. More or less we managed to be where we were supposed to be when we were supposed to be there. That's more than I can say for the boys.

Jeremy went to work everyday, but never made it through a full day at the office. When he went in, he came home by mid afternoon. When he worked from home, he needed at least one nap to make it through the day.

Merrick never made it the school this week. Each night, we would think maybe for the next day, but he never could get there. In addition to the unending cough and congestion, he also ended up with pink eye. That was a treat. He finally left the house to watch his basketball team play on Friday night. He didn't even sit with the team, but off in the stands where he couldn't infect anyone. Yesterday, he made his official return to the world and refed some 3rd grade basketball games in the morning. He made it through the games, barely, and had to come home and take a nap.

At least the girls got to live a somewhat normal life this week. CC went to dance, horses, and her first official Young Women's activity. Elsie had a busy week as well with two birthday parties to attend. It's a good thing she did so I could get at least one picture from the week. Otherwise, we've just been hunkering down at home, trying not to die.

This sickness is the worst. I am over it. I am ready for everyone to go back to school and work. I am ready for my house to not be filled with coughs and snotty tissues. Maybe someday 2025 will decide to start playing nice.

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.