It has been soooooo long since I last wrote. I feel like a virgin blogger all over again! Life is crazy and while I appreciate having something to do each day, it does wear on the soul after awhile. Halloween was fantastic! I hate to say it but it may be my favorite holiday. I'm a fall season junkie so I should clarify that it isn't necessarily the actual Halloween holiday that I love but the build up to it with the crisp sweater weather, gorgeous leaves, pumpkins, soups, trips to the Pumpkin Land, witches night out at Garnder Village with 6 wonderful friends, playing at Wheeler Farm, hay rides, etc. But I do also love Halloween...Jake designed his own costume this year. He spent a couple of hours one night in his room drawing something and when he came out, he had a whole sketch of what he wanted his costume to look like. He called himself "Super Jake" and he was spectacular. He is his father through and through. Matthew was Darth Vader complete with theme music that he would sing at the top of his lungs while stomping down the sidewalk. Hannah was a darling witch with black cat tights. I was a fairy witch and Chris was the "victim of an unfortunate accident" with an ax in his head and blood dripping down his forehead. (The prop is always a little disturbing to me since it is really pretty far removed from my husband's personality...) Anyway, once we had gorged on candy and fallen asleep with serious sugar headaches it was time to consider the primary program...
Since this is my first year as a primary president, I was pretty naive about what it would entail to orchestrate 180 primary children + leaders in a sacrament meeting production that physically rivaled a Broadway show. Every child had a speaking part so it was mayhem. Figuring out the physical layout, distributing parts, practicing songs, doing special musical numbers, and getting adults to cooperate was seriously exhausting. But I will say this...on the day of the program, the kids did an amazing job! I sat on the stand right behind the podium and had one serious spiritual experience as I was taught once again about our Heavenly Father's plan for us. I cried through some of it, smiled through most of it, and walked away with a profound appreciation for the opportunity to serve in this church with the children of our ward.
Once the program was over, it was time to consider Thanksgiving. My darling sister-in-law and her family (4 kids and a husband) drove here from Denver and did we give them a holiday to remember! They arrived Saturday night...Sunday was great and then Sunday night, her 3 year old starting throwing up and by morning, her 8 year old and 5 year old had decided to join the party. Her 3 month old baby girl was the only one in the family that decided to refrain so we had a pretty quiet day of movie watching and trying to quarintine her 3 from my 3. By the next morning every one seemed to be feeling better so Courtney and I marched the kids down to Provo for a day of frolicking on BYU campus. Hannah was really grumpy all morning and by 4:00 p.m. that day she was running a temperature of 104 degrees. I have never seen one of my children so sick. She literally laid limp in my arms all night, running a super high temperature, and jerking awake every time she closed her eyes. She didn't cry but would just moan. Nothing helped. We were alternately Tylenol and Motrin and while it would bring her temperature down for a bit, it would eventually jump right back up. I finally managed to get her in to the doctor where she tested positive for a real case of influenza. Now just a side note here...I have become a HUGE, HUGE advocate for the flu shot. You have never seen someone sick until you see someone with a REAL case of the flu. Not the stomach flu, but the real thing. The person quits eating, drinking, and runs a fever that you can't bring down. It is death warmed over. Hannah had had a flu shot 10 days before the outbreak (apparently the flu shot take 14 days to be really effective!) but it was a pretty scary week. The only medicine that can treat both Influenza type A and B is something called TamiFlu which is impossible to find because the government is stock piling it against the outbreak of bird flu and such. It was a pretty frantic night trying to track some down for not only Hannah, but Jake and Matthew and their 3 cousins. Thanksgiving Day was fine...the meal was delicious but Courtney and her family opted out on any more adventures and left for home that Friday.
Since Thanksgiving, Hannah has had the stomach flu and a cold but she has officially turned 1 years old! Her birthday was a true joy to celebrate. It was as pink an affair as we could make it and she devoured an entire chocolate cake like a real champ.
Now I am trying to organize my primary classes for next year, get enough teachers called, find rooms for everyone, get supplies, organize a new teacher breakfast/orientation, a "Meet Your Teacher" pizza party and have Christmas. Like I said...I am grateful to have meaningful things to do each day but I have to admit that a massage and a pedicure could be top of my priority list if needed be! I'm off to change the baby and kiss her big, warm, delightful cheeks for a few minutes. Ain't life grand!
