September 26, 2010

September 26, 2010

Dear Family and Friends,

It has been back to reality here. The beach was a fantastic little break, but we had to come back to life eventually. Monday my first thing to do was get J an appointment with the doctor. At the doctor’s office they found a pretty good ear infection, but also wanted to have a lung x-ray taken to rule out pneumonia. The doctor said his lungs sounded clear, but he was breathing pretty fast. We walked over to the radiology place and I was so thankful that we didn’t have to wait long. They hooked J into this little torture contraption that held his arms straight up against him, then wrapped around him so he couldn’t move. All while he was sitting on a sort of bicycle seat. I had to leave the room, but I could hear him screaming the whole time. He was not happy. I left and went home to wait the results. I was pretty skeptical that it would be anything. I figured it would be just another ear infection and he was breathing fast from the fever. (That has happened to him before…) Turns out I was wrong! He did have a little pneumonia in one of his lungs. The doctor called in a prescription for him, and so we did a family trip to Costco before dinner and FHE. I felt like a pretty bad mom. He was way sicker than any of us realized, and he really was being such a good sport. Poor guy. After the boys were in bed I went to a little get together for a friend that was leaving town for a while.

Tuesday was the regular school, etc. I’m trying to get things organized at home before this baby comes too. That afternoon we had a friend and her kids over for dinner. Her husband was gone for a few days. After dinner B-man had soccer. M took him while my friend and I finished chatting and letting our kids play.

Wednesday not much was happening. I did have mutual that night. We had a fantastic lesson on the basics of drawing and water color. The woman that taught the class is an amazing artist and I learned so much even though I was in and out most of the evening helping to watch her kids.

Thursday was a day full of appointments. I went to the doctor for a check-up, (things look fine) and then that afternoon I picked up B-man from school and then we went straight to the doctor’s for J. They checked him out and said he was doing much better. And truly he has been a much better baby since getting on medicine. The doctor and I had a conversation about how hard it was to tell how sick he was from how he was acting. Don’t get me wrong, he had many fussy moments, but he would also have moments where he seemed totally normal except for a fever. Not at all lethargic, etc. We ran a few errands before dinner and then B-man went to soccer again. I went for a few minutes with J, and then came home to get J to bed.

Friday I have very little memory of. All I can remember is the afternoon. I had to pick up B-man from school again and took him straight to the dentist for more cavities to be filled. We still aren’t done with that fun project… B-man did really great, but he had a complete melt down as we were leaving. He was hungry, and his mouth was numb, and he was not happy. He thought I called the dentist to make him go, not that he had to have cavities filled. He also did not want any of the soft food I was offering as a snack for him. It was an epic melt down, and I was so happy when M got home and he had someone else to try and distract him. We got some good news about M’ job, and celebrated with Thai food. B-man was in a much happier mood when he got some real food in him, and didn’t even mind the spicy food. J just wanted the rice. After dinner I ran to a baby shower for a friend. I only planned to stay a few minutes, but got caught and stayed longer. M and I finished off the evening with some treats and “Lost.”

Saturday morning the boys were up early. I have had to wake up B-man every single day this week for school, but on Saturday he was up before he needs to be even for school. It is such a mystery. I went to garage sales with a friend, and then ended early so that we could get to B-man’s game. His soccer game was great. He improved a lot from the first game. It also helped that his team scored and won… J was making lots of friends during the game and asking people for their snacks. M and I were mostly cheering and roasting. It has been a HOT, HOT couple of days. After the game we spent the rest of the day working on various projects around the house. Organizing, cleaning, yard things, etc. Later after dinner I went to the broadcast for Relief Society. It was a great meeting. I skipped a get together after so that I could get home and spend some time with M.

B-man showing us his suit I found at a garage sale. The second picture shows his true feelings about the photo shoot.

Today has been a good day. First of all we woke up to rain! It is so nice to have a break from the heat. M and I took turns with the meetings. He had one first, and then I drove to the church with the boys, and then he drove them home and then the Young Women’s Presidency met with the Bishopric. When I got home we had lunch, finished getting the boys dressed, and then headed off to church. Church went well, but we are certainly excited for J to go to nursery. After church we eventually made it home and had dinner. We went on a quick walk after we had finished cleaning up, and then got the boys ready for bed. M is at a Stake Priesthood meeting.

We love you all!

R, M, B-man, and J

September 12, 2010

September 12, 2010

Dear Family and Friends,

Here is a quick recap of our week. Monday was Labor Day. We spent some of the day at the pool, and also worked around the house on various projects. I woke up feeling pretty miserable with a case of pink eye. Later that day we all went to the ward Labor Day picnic held at a local park. The party was very relaxed and low key. We all had a good time. We then came home and got everything ready for B-man’s first day of school. We were all excited for his new grand adventure.

Tuesday morning we were up early and going. I had to wake up B-man, but he was a good sport and didn’t complain. In the mornings we try to get all of this accomplished, feed the boys, dress B-man (maybe J) make bed, brush teeth, make B-man’s lunch, morning prayers, and a family prayer. All of those things are super quick, but for some reason we need an hour to get it all done. I then walked B-man to the bus stop, and sent him off to school. He was so excited! All day it was a little strange to have him gone! But it was nice to run some errands with one less person. When I picked him up from school he reported that the day went great and he had a good time. He said his favorite thing that he did was P.E. He’s been really excited to go to the P.E. class this year. We had a snack and then got to work on his homework. That night was also a big night because he had soccer practice. It was blazing hot, but he didn’t complain and just ran and ran. He had such a great time. After practice he came home and got cleaned up before heading to bed.

Wednesday was more of the same. I had a doctor’s appointment, and ended up taking J. Thankfully it went well and he was a good sport. After the appointment I ran a bunch of errands that were near the doctor’s office. It was extra far away so I was happy to get it done in one trip. Later that night I also had mutual. I wasn’t feeling great. In fact I was feeling pretty crummy with a combo of pink eye/cold, but the Beehives were in charge so I really needed to go. We had a farewell to summer combined activity and took the kids to an indoor pool and rock climbing wall. They had a great time, and we want to do it again sometime when we aren’t so limited by the time.

Thursday I had another doctor’s appointment. Everything looks good with the baby. Now we just wish we had a crystal ball so that we could know when he will come. M will be out of town up to pretty close when this little guy is supposed to come, and I asked a few questions to see if the doctor could give me any advice about when to expect going into labor, but sadly I got none. Just advice to avoid overdoing it, and staying hydrated. After school that day we took B-man back to practice. He had another great time, and is excited for his first game.

Friday was B-man’s birthday! To make it even more fun M had the day off from work. He took charge of the breakfast and went and got some delicious breakfast burritos that we all enjoyed before school. Then while B-man was at school we had a good time working on some projects and watching “Lost.” We did take a break to take lunch to B-man. Our entire school district has banned any food being brought in for birthdays, but we are allowed to bring in lunch and eat lunch with him. We got brought him a “Happy Meal” and he was so excited. I had visions of us eating at a little table with just our family, but instead we had to sit with the rest of the class, and there was even someone sitting in-between us. Oh well. I think he still had fun. He really wanted us to see where he plays after lunch and so we stuck around until the teacher came and got the class to take them to recess. Later that afternoon I also went to get my haircut. It feels great to have some fresh ends on my hair!

That night for his birthday we had pizza, his favorite meal. We also ate on the deck. He always wants to eat on the deck, but we rarely plan ahead and so we end up inside since the table is cleaner. He was so excited to eat outside, and the weather was very cooperative. After dinner I hurried upstairs and wrapped his presents. He opened them up and was appropriately excited for all of them. After the boys were in bed I ran to Costco with a few other women to plan our breakfasts for an upcoming trip. Then when I got home later M and I watched some more “Lost.”

Saturday morning I got up and went to garage sales with a friend. We hit a community garage sale in a really nice new section of town. It was in an area I don’t normally go, but it was worth it. There were a log of sales, and not a lot of people. I got a few very fun things for J and B-man. I also found a mattress for the bunk bed. That means that we can finally get the bed set up on top and let B-man sleep there. We haven’t had time yet, but he is very excited. After I got home we rushed to get ready for B-man’s first soccer game. There were only four players that came, and one ended up running off the field and getting sick. That meant zero subs for our team. B-man didn’t complain though and he worked hard all through the game. They got creamed, but B-man did come close to scoring a goal. It also made it obvious to the coach what they needed to work on… The rest of the day we spent getting ready for our trip to the Outer Banks in North Carolina. It is a narrow stretch of land that extends up the North Carolina coast. We organized food, M made and froze our dinner and we tried to get as ready as possible that evening.

Sunday morning we were up and going early. We finished most of the packing and got ourselves ready for church. M went to his meetings, and then I drove the boys to an earlier church time so that we could get on the road a little earlier. M met us at the chapel for the Sacrament, before leaving for the rest of his meetings. After church we went home and started packing all of the cold food into the coolers. We then met up with one other family and drove about thirty minutes were we picked up another family. We then split their stuff and them into the two cars that were caravanning and hit the road. The drive took less than six hours, and really the kids did very well. We did make a stop to stretch in Norfolk, VA and decided that we didn’t ever want to live there. The weather was just slightly cool and rainy making it easy to avoid going to the beach. We made it to the beach house in the early evening and quickly unloaded the car, organized our food, assigned bedrooms to families, and then worked on dinner for the boys. We rented an eight bedroom house that was only two blocks from the beach. It was clean and comfortable, and because we were doing it after Labor Day it was also super inexpensive. We were all really excited. B-man was thrilled that the house had a pool and a hot tub too. He was pretty much in heaven. We got the kids in bed, and waited up until the rest of the families arrived in the night.

We love you all!

R, M, B-man, and J

I Love This Stage

What can I say?  I love this stage that J is in.  Here is an example of why  he is so fun these days… (Please ignore the random clutter.)

And here he is again from another angle…

September 5, 2010

September 5, 2010

Dear Family and Friends,

This week has been a little slower and a lot less crazy. We meant to try and get in a lot of playing, but J has had some form of pink eye and other issues most of the week. That makes it a little hard to take your children places. Most of the week was spend in preparation for B-man’s birthday party. Luckily he thought that was all very fun. Monday when M got home we went to a very early dinner at place in town. The sandwiches were delicious, and we were amazed at the amount of food that B-man consumed. He finished his large sandwich and the last of one of ours! After dinner we came home and got ready for the pool. J couldn’t swim so we hung out on the edge getting our feet wet and playing with various toys. That night for FHE we discussed Father’s Blessings. We wanted to prepare B-man in advance because he gets nervous about it sometimes. Even with the preparation he ended the night saying he didn’t want one. Hmmm…

The big event for Tuesday was that B-man had his first soccer practice. His practices are kind of late (6:00) and so we had to eat dinner first. We have definitely entered a new phase in our family life. The weather has been insanely hot, and B-man did not complain at all about the heat while at practice. He had a great time. At one point he was in a big group trying to get the ball and he just sat on it. Not so great for continuing the game, but very effective ball control. Because of the heat I wasn’t too sad that I had to leave a few minutes early to get to mutual. For our activity all the girls tie-dyed shirts. We are going to use them in another activity coming up. It was a messy but fun activity. I had never done it before, and it was fun to see how it was done.

Wednesday was a slower day. I went to the farm. It was one of our hottest picking experiences ever. I felt bad for the men that had to do it all day. After the farm B-man had a day of play dates. First we had a friend over that is younger. We saw him at the farm and B-man wanted to have him over. Then after we dropped him off at home I took B-man to another friend’s house for a little bit. He was so happy. We hit the pool that night after dinner. When it is so hot it is the perfect time to go and get refreshed before bed.

Thursday was a busy day. I finished the shopping and things that we needed for B-man’s party during the day. When M got home we had a fast dinner and then got ready for soccer and back to school night. M took J and went to soccer. I went to Back-to-School night. I got to meet the teacher, but it was so fast that we didn’t get enough time to get our questions answered and such. I had just enough time to get the kitchen clean before the boys got home from soccer. Apparently he had a lot of fun again. We got the boys clean and then to bed.

Friday was a busy but fun day. Most of the morning was spent working on last minute party details. We packed the goodie bags (which I then forgot to pass out…), made the cake (several near disasters there) and got everything organized that we would need to take to the pool for the party. B-man has been saying for months that he wanted a party at the pool. I was happy to oblige. It was the perfect place to have a bunch of kids. We invited about eleven, and we had seven that came. It was the perfect number. But before we could focus on the party we had to go to the school open house first. B-man was excited for a chance to meet his teacher and see his classroom. They didn’t stay long and then we headed straight over to the pool to set up for the party. We played some games in the pool, and had a water balloon toss. The water balloons were a big hit with the kids. When the party started we had the entire pool to ourselves. It was wonderful, one of the life guards was helping watch J, and I ran the games while M did a bunch of little details for me. We ended the party with cake and ice cream. B-man wanted a chocolate cake with raspberry filling, and he wanted it to be a Star Wars cake. I am NOT a cake decorator. All I know I learned from watching my mother decorate our birthday cakes. I want to take a class, but I have not. And yet I keep making cakes for birthdays and trying to make them look nice because I can’t stand to spend a bunch of money on a cake. After cake people started to filter home. We stayed at the pool for a while because B-man and J were having so much fun. Eventually I was tired and hungry so I forced us all to go home and get some food. We all got dressed and then went to Costco for dinner. We saw several friends at Costco and had a good dinner before heading home to get people in bed. Such an exciting day!

Saturday morning I woke up with no voice. It was seriously gone. B-man kept telling me that I shouldn’t talk for a long time. .. It didn’t keep me from hunting at garage sales. I felt find I just didn’t have a voice. I found some great things for the new baby and some new cowboy boots for B-man to wear on Sundays. After I got home we let J sleep for a while and then headed off to the farm for their potato festival. It was the first day of the potato harvest and they had free pancakes and we were able to pick some potatoes for free too. I love fresh potatoes. The weather was about fifteen degrees cooler than when we went on Wednesday and made for a much more pleasant experience. After the farm we spent the rest of the day working on things around the house. B-man enjoyed playing with his new toys. We had a summery dinner and then went to the pool, but with the weather being so nice during the day, it made it a little too cold for swimming. The boys didn’t last very long in the water. We then came home and put the boys to bed. We then stayed up and watched some episodes of “Lost.” We got several seasons from a friend and are watching from the beginning since we never really watched the show.

Sunday morning was very lazy and wonderful. No meetings for M, and I had no lesson to prepare. Actually I was supposed to be teaching, but I still had no voice making it impossible so I had to switch with another leader. Church went well, other than forgetting to bring the church bag. B-man was a little bored, but luckily I always carry a few toys in my purse that can distract J. After Sacrament meeting B-man always asks to walk someone to Primary. Usually it is one of his good friends. After church we came home and had a quick dinner of homemade fettuccini alfredo. I usually halve the recipe, but B-man has started eating so much, (and J ate it too) that I am can’t do that anymore. I’m sure it is only a sign of things to come. We had a pretty quiet evening after dinner. We went on a walk around our neighborhood to enjoy the beautiful weather, and then headed home for bed.

We love you all!

R, M, B-man, and J

August 29, 2010

August 29, 2010

Dear Family and Friends,

This has been a busy week. We have managed to get a lot of work done, and at least towards the end of the week have been able to have some fun too. Monday was a beautiful day. Not nearly as hot as it has been. After grocery shopping and such I had a quick doctor’s appointment for a shot. I took the boys since it wouldn’t be worth finding a sitter for such a short time. After the doctor’s we went to a park that is a little further from our house that B-man loves. I called M who met us there right as we were pulling into the parking lot. The boys both had a great time, but the humidity seemed to be rising as we were at the park and we left. For FHE that night we went swimming at the pool. J decided that he wanted to be walking more than crawling and put on an impressive display while at the pool. I think the rough concrete encourages him to walk, and the smooth surface makes it easier.

Tuesday was a quiet day until M got home. He came home a little early so that he could set up the bunk beds that we purchased to go into B-man’s room. Originally we bought them thinking we could hold onto them for a while and keep an eye out for something cheaper at a garage sale or on Craigslist. (They are from Costco.) But the boxes were so heavy that M didn’t want to carry it downstairs, and then have to carry it back up two flights of stairs. It has been sitting in our main room ever since, and it is two LARGE boxes. Saturday I had found a mattress at a garage sale so we decided that it was time to set it up. Setting up furniture is not the most fun job in the world. It’s stressful because you want everything to be perfect, undamaged, etc. Plus we were adding in the stress of managing two very active boys. B-man ended up being very helpful, but J was quite the opposite. It is hard to hold a headboard, and a one year old at the same time. Eventually I had to go to mutual. I felt horrible leaving M in the middle of a project with a messy house (we had to completely empty the room of everything, plus all of the cardboard etc…) and two awake children. While I was at mutual we taught the girls a “Survival Course” on how to lead music, give a good talk, and pray in public. Sadly the girls that needed it the most weren’t there… When I got home M reported that we had put the bed together wrong, and needed to fix it. It was just short of starting all over (including undoing the work we had done). Eventually we got the bottom bunk put together and B-man back into it for bed.

Wednesday was a crazy day. It started with us going to the farm. The weather at the farm was really quite lovely. We met a friend there and had a great time. We got home and had lunch and then I decided that I was going to do my first canning. I had found a recipe for “Ginger Garlic Dilly Beans” which are pickled green beans. I love pickled green beans; they are like small crunchy pickles. You don’t think it is a green bean at all. I had never done it before and quickly realized that I knew nothing about canning. I pulled out a comprehensive cookbook that had a section on canning and was able to decipher some of the instructions. For example a hot water bath means that it needs to be completely submerged in water… I discovered two problems, one I didn’t have a pot big enough for the hot water bath, and two dill seed is different from dill weed. Luckily I only had to make one phone call before getting access to someone’s canning equipment, and I was able to run to the store for the dill seed. I had everything ready to go by this point, I put J down for a nap and then started filling the jars with liquid, sealing them, and then giving them their “bath.” I was so excited that they actually sealed, and B-man kept asking if they were pickles yet. Honestly I didn’t even know… We decided to wait a few days to see if it really worked. Canning done, M came home and we started working on the upper portion of the bed. We discovered that B-man’s room was BARELY big enough for the two beds to sit right next to each other. M barely had room for his legs on one side of the bed. It was very tricky to say the least. We took a break at one point to have a friend of ours over for dinner. His family is out of town, and we wanted to make sure he was still eating. The house was a complete disaster between the canning and the bed project. I should have taken pictures. Luckily while we visited after dinner I was able to pull the kitchen back together. Once he left we headed back upstairs to finish the bed. It went faster once J was in bed. B-man was so tired by this point that he actually fell asleep in his bed while we were putting the finishing touches on the second bed. We were even able to lift the bed up and put it on top. It was such a relief to be done. B-man woke up a little and was so grateful and excited that his bed was all done. It made the project worth it.

Thursday was a slower day. We didn’t do much during the day that I can remember, but that night we had another bachelor over for dinner. Pretty quiet day and night.

Friday was another productive day (and my dear mother’s birthday). M had the day off because he had worked so much the last two weeks, and he spent the morning working on projects around the house. The main project was painting the inside of the coat closet on the main level. It has always needed to be painted. We had previously emptied out the closet and M got it all set up and ready to go. After cleaning up and getting ready we went to the circus that was in town. We went to an earlier show so that we wouldn’t have to up too late. We had been given some free tickets from a friend that couldn’t use them because they were out of town. It was a little nerve racking at first. I haven’t been to a circus in years, and it wasn’t quite what I remembered, but once the show started it was actually a lot of fun. They had all the good stuff; elephants, tigers, acrobats, a human cannonball, etc. Even PETA was there protesting when we were leaving. The boys really loved it. After the show we capped off the evening by getting some hot dogs at a local diner. It seemed theme appropriate. We then came home, and M finished cleaning up the painting mess and put J to bed while I took B-man to the pool. They had a movie night at the pool. We ended up leaving early so that we could get B-man to bed.

Saturday I went to garage sales with a friend. Saturday afternoon we spent a lot of time sorting and organizing toys while B-man was at a friend’s house. It’s easier to do when he is not around to object to what is going into “hiding.” We had an early dinner and then went to the pool before bed.

Sunday we had a great morning. M didn’t have meetings so we had a hot breakfast and enjoyed being together with no lessons to prepare for church. J was a stinker during church though. He was so tired and so noisy. I am not sure how we will last until January when he goes to nursery. After church we had dinner and a quiet evening at home.

We love you all!

R, M, B-man, and J

August 22, 2010

August 22, 2010

Dear Family & Friends:

Monday morning M got picked up at the airport by a friend who then dropped him off at work. He worked a very long day before finally heading home. He was able to sleep almost all of his flight. While M was working I went up to visit with Jewels and her children one last time. B-man was so excited to be able to play with his cousins again before leaving. We went up earlier in the day and then came home earlier so that we would miss traffic and have time to work on all the packing that had to be done. Packing is never fun, and somehow we collected A LOT of stuff. It was a big pain trying to get it done, and eventually I just gave up once most of it was done.

M got back into Virginia flying in on a red-eye, having a friend take him to work and home.

Tuesday morning I finished the packing and tried to get things organized for the trip. As much as I really tried to be ready well before it was time to go, I was still jamming things into my purse when we were leaving. We were right at the weight limit for several of our bags, and my dad was a little surprised at all of our luggage. It was a good thing I was flying Southwest. I drove with my mom and we picked up my dad from his office. It was nice to have a few more minutes with them in the car, and B-man kept saying the funniest things to try and convince them that it was okay for us to go back to Virginia. For example it was okay because we would be able to chat on the "web cam" and that Grandma and Grandpa would "have more funner because they would be together" just the two of them. It was at least good for a laugh. My dad helped me in with the bags while my mom stayed in the car with the kids. It was a short luggage line and everything went smoothly getting checked in. I have my system down. The flights went fine. Nothing too horrible. Every seat was taken on both legs which meant that J and I got to share... In Chicago we stopped but didn't change planes. I kept asking B-man if he wanted to get off and go walk around, but he just wanted to stay on the plane and walk up and down the aisle. He did go say hi to the pilot, and the pilot let him sit in the "driver's seat" and touch some of the controls and ask lots of questions. I made sure to get pictures. He and J spent the rest of the time walking back and forth up the aisle. Once we got in the air again B-man fell asleep and slept the whole way to DC. It was pretty tricky having J and B-man trying to sleep in my lap. Eventually I had to make poor B-man lean against the window because it just wasn't working. M met us at the airport, I loaded up J in the car and he and B-man went to get the bags. It was very late by the time we all got to bed that night.

Just a glimpse at what our flight was like…

Wednesday M went into work a little later and slept in after the very late night. It was nice to have nothing to do in the morning. B-man slept in way later than J and it meant that I spent the morning unpacking and trying to organize things a little bit. He woke up we had lunch and then headed off to a presidency meeting. After the much needed meeting we had to go straight to a doctor's appointment for J. Then I had to go to Costco so that we had some food in the house. We got home only a few minutes before M, it was a very busy four hours.

Thursday morning I had to go to the doctor's for me. I got a babysitter slightly last minute and was grateful I didn't have to take the boys. I planned it well and got home ten minutes after J woke up from a nap. I was nervous I would get home and he would still be sleeping. That evening I met up with the youth from our ward and drove a car load to the temple to help them participate in Baptisms for the Dead. It was a great experience and everything went very smoothly. While I was gone M took the boys to the pool. Both of our boys love the pool.

Friday morning I had to go back to the doctor (with the boys) so that I could do the glucose test. The rest of the day I spent trying to get caught up on laundry and other things around the house. We had pizza for dinner and then headed back over to the pool before getting the kids to bed.

Saturday morning was a busy but productive day. I spent the morning at garage sales and found several good things. One is a mattress to go on the bunk bed we just bought for the boys. The bunk bed is currently still in the box in our front room, but we needed a mattress before we could set it up. Originally I thought we would just wait and hold it (it's from Costco) until we needed the bed, but when M unloaded it from the car he decided there was no way he was going to carry it down to the basement, and then have to carry it up two flights of stairs. Hopefully we will be setting it up soon. We spent the morning going through some things in the house, taking pictures, and listing things on Craigslist. We also had a friend stop by to use the Internet. He and his family just moved into the area and needed to check some things online. After dinner we once again headed to the pool.

Sunday was pretty typical for us. We started the morning off with meetings for M. I finished my lesson for Young Women's and then when he got home we worked on some dinner preparations. Church went well, and after church we came home and started working on a new recipe that we were making for dinner. We had a family over that just moved into the city and that we knew in Provo. We're so excited to have more people we know in the area. Dinner was great and before we knew what had happened it was time for kids to be put in bed.

We love you all!

R, M, B-man, and J

August 15, 2010

August 15, 2010

Dear Family and Friends,

I am trying to get caught up with our letters. I hate trying to play catch up because I know I forget so many things. Our last week in California started off on a sad note. J was still having a fever, making it a little difficult to go anywhere or see anything. Monday night M took B-man to Legoland for the last hour before they closed. They got in free and had a great time. B-man only wanted to do this "Driving School" over and over.

Tuesday J woke up with no fever but he had a rash on his mouth, all over his legs, and a little bit on his hands. I didn't officially get it checked out by a doctor but it sounded like a classic case of "Hand, Foot, and Mouth" disease. We get all weird diseases. We were supposed to go to Julie's but obviously had to change our plans. B-man was SO sad that he couldn't go up to their house. It also meant we had another day to do nothing. It was a little frustrating. I had been saving a lot of things to do in this week when M would be here with us. But it was out of our control.

To make matters worse, Wednesday morning B-man woke up with a fever. We were happy that J was feeling better, but once again spent the day at home. M did go to a Padres game that night with my two brothers that are home. They had a great time at the game. While they were gone I had fun with my mom and sister.

Thursday morning we woke up and took an inventory of our children. J was feeling much better, and B-man had no fever and no blisters. We decided that we should risk it and go to Sea World. We have been saving up for many months to go to Sea World, and we had promised B-man that we would go. It looked like it was now or never. We packed a quick lunch and headed out after J's first nap. We figured the day would go better if he had at least one good nap. The day worked out really well. Skate was even able to come with us, which made it even more fun. The park was crowded, but not horrendously. We realized quickly that we would need to get to the shows early for a seat. We had a lot of fun. B-man loved the Sting Ray area where he could actually touch the rays. He also loved the Sea Lion and Otter show. It was hilarious and right up B-man's love of all things silly. J loved everything. He couldn't get enough of the animals. After the last show of the day we decided to run and see the last of the animals, and to ride the roller coaster that they have. I couldn't ride the roller coaster but sent the boys off. B-man was SO excited, and had wanted to ride it all day. I kept watching and watching for them. While J and I waited we watched these dolphins that they had at the "viewing" area of the roller coaster. Eventually we saw them going. Right as they were climbing the hill to come down, the ride stopped! They got stuck at the top of the roller coaster. It was so sad! They had not even gotten to do any of it. Eventually they even had to come let them out of the car and then they had to take a back stair route down off of the roller coaster. B-man was a good sport about it, and at least they weren't stuck upside down. After the roller coaster we hurried over to the Arctic exhibit. It was getting late and cold. We were thrilled to see the polar bears and beluga whales, but the walrus really put on a show. I have never seen a walrus so close and being so active. It was so cool, and it made the day all worth it. We then headed home and were so happy for the warm delicious dinner my mom had waiting for us when we got home.

Friday morning everyone woke up healthy again. We were so grateful for that. After a lot of debate, we decided to go with E, Skate, and Mom to Torrey Pines State reserve. Most of us had never been there before. It is located right on the cliffs near the ocean and has some beautiful views of the ocean and lots of fun rocks to climb on. We ended up doing a lot more walking than I thought we would. I actually stayed on a bench while the rest of the crew walked down to a vista closer to the ocean. While they were gone I sat on a bench and enjoyed the view. Right as they came back I realized that I was seeing some water spouts from whales. At first I thought they were dolphins, but we figured that since they were SO far away it had to be whales for us to be able to see their spouts. It was a really fun thing to sit and watch for a while. We then walked back up to the car and left. We were supposed to go straight to the zoo from there, but realized we had forgotten our passes, so we rushed back to the house and then turned around and went back to the zoo. We had a great time at the zoo too. We did a very quick tour, and let B-man choose what we went to go see. We saw a lot of the important animals. We have really had great luck with everywhere we have gone, and just as I was thinking that we struck out at the zoo the rhinos started having a party. Seriously these two rhinos (they were brothers) were running laps around their enclosure, splashing through the water, hitting each other with their horns, etc. It was so great! I knew rhinos were fast, but it was impressive to see such large animals running so fast and being so agile. We came home and put the boys pretty much straight to bed. That night after dinner I sat down to wait for others to gather so we could choose a movie to watch and I completely fell asleep. Not just drowsy, but out cold. I finally woke up enough to stumble up to bed.

Saturday morning I woke up and went to garage sales with my mom. It was a slightly slow day. By the time we got home M had left to go snorkeling with Scott and Skate in La Jolla Cove. When they got home they reported that the water was super murky and they couldn't see anything, but they still had fun. The next day a 15-20 foot Great While shark was spotted in the area where they had been snorkeling and the life guards had to clear the water. They were all glad that they hadn't been shark food after seeing that story. Later that day we were able to go to the temple with Skate for his first time. It was a wonderful experience and M and I were excited to be asked to be the witness couple. We were sad that Julie and Greg had missed the session because of traffic, but we were still all able to go to eat together after leaving the temple. It was a really great evening and chance to be together.

Sunday was a busy day. Church was great, and after church we had to hurry home and get things ready for various things. First we had to get M organized and packed for his trip home. We were also trying to get dinner going, and also be able to disappear when my dad had to take care of his church responsibilities. In the end it all came together well. We were able to hide while my dad needed quiet, and then we had enough time to get dinner ready before some guests came over. We had one of my dad's missionaries and his son over for dinner. After dinner and putting the boys to bed I took M to the airport for his "red-eye" flight back to DC. Everything went very smoothly and he was off without a problem. It was sad to see him go and know that our time was coming to an end in California.

We love you all!

R, M, B-man, and J