Halloween 2013

The kids wanted to be scary for Halloween this year. So the balance of finding a non-gory costume that is still dark enough to satisfy these kids gave us a challenge.
We settled on a grim reaper for Wally. Doesn't that boot just add to the spookiness?

A gargoyle skeleton for Will.

A dark fairy for Georgia.

And a pretty cute little mummy for Walker.

Del and I threw something together with some capes I found in the Halloween isle about two minutes before walking out the door. It always seems to be how it works out. But it works out, so that is great!

We won the "Scariest Family" award at our church Halloween party. That is true with, or without the costumes!

The next door neighbors do a big Trick-or-treat hay ride for some of the kids every year. They invited us along, and everyone gets very excited about it! It saves us a lot of walking!

The only problem this year was that it rained pretty steadily, or very torrentially the entire time. Walker finally looked up at me after about two hours and said, "Mom, I have enough candy." It was time to go home. I got a call from Del about forty five minutes later to come find them in the neighborhood because Georgia was done too.

Rain our shine, or neighborhood never disappoints! Wet hair, but it was worth it, right Georgia?
Another Halloween in the books.

Rota Who?

We have had a doosy of a time health wise around our house these past few weeks. The kids seem to have one illness run right into another. A not very nice welcome to Fall weather. It also makes for a blog post that is not very spectacular.

Georgia especially has been hit hard. I don't know for sure what it is this girl has had, but it hit hard, and stayed too long. My nerves are frayed. I feel so bad for her, and it breaks my heart. We are tired. There has been a lot of waking up in the middle of the night. And if I'm being totally honest, Georgia is a screamer when she does not feel well. So, as I said, the frayed nerves thing.
The past week and a half has been filled with moving from one location to rest to another. The bed, to the couch, to the basement couch, and back. The amount of weight she lost scared me and Del. Her pants just hang off her little behind. She has always been such a perfect healthy weight. I have realized just how little these skinny kids of mine have to lose! We need to beef this girl up again!

I am thinking Rotavirus.
They ran about every test imaginable on this poor girl, and they all came up with nothing. So they told me it was a virus. I guess they really only test for Rotavirus if you are being admitted to the hospital for severe dehydration. So I am guessing.
My girl, at the height of her misery.

She is finally feeling more like herself. Hopefully everyone is headed back to school tomorrow!

Wally has also added to the fun by breaking his growth plate in his ankle. I am learning as I go on this one, but I am pretty sure that my motherly instincts are right on sometimes. For instance, when I saw Wally being very creative with a box, some scissors, markers, and tape. I had a thought pop in to my head and told him, "Wally, whatever you do, just don't ride that box down the stairs. You are going to break something."

Within the hour, Wally called to me from the bathroom, where he was soaking his foot. After trying to hide it from me for a while, he decided he was stuck up on the counter without the use of his leg, and he needed help. He had taken a ride in the box, down the stairs. Very quietly I might add.

Last Monday morning, I took Wally to see an Orthopedic surgeon, and then Georgia to see the pediatrician. Wally is wearing a boot for about a month. I have to keep an eye on this guy. He has an incredibly high pain tolerance. It takes extra caution to keep him from hurting himself any further. Wally was upset that he had to wear the boot at first, but he adjusted quickly when he realized that wearing a boot gets you a lot of attention!

We also learned a really good lesson about honoring (or heading the warnings of) your parents. At least I certainly do hope something was learned.

Wally is definitely a trooper. He was told by the doctor that he could still swim. He swam in a meet this weekend.  My Aunt Sandy and Uncle Scott were kind enough to take us in Friday night. The meet was the next morning at the high school right by their home. Will had to be on deck at 6:45 A.M. We kept Georgia out of this meet because she was still regaining strength after her immune system taking such a hit.
Will is up on the blocks in this picture.

Wally tromped out onto the deck in his boot, took it off before getting on the blocks, and put it back on when he got out of the pool. I don't know if I am going to have him swim in the next one though, I felt bad having him out there with that broken growth plate.

It is good to see everyone doing much better! I will add a picture of Wally in his boot as soon as I remember to take one.

The crazy weeks sure do make me grateful for the quiet weeks!

Mini Mud Run

Del heard about a mud obstacle course run for kids in our area last weekend. Wally and Will where enthusiastic about running it, so we took them down to sign up Saturday morning. Georgia was very Unenthusiastic about the idea. She opted to be a sideline supporter, even though she was old enough to participate.

We found a spot at the finish line to watch the adults finish their races before the kid's run started. Georgia's face while watching everyone army crawl through a mud pit was hilarious! She had a look of disbelief, and skepticism that anyone would purposely be so dumb as to crawl through that mess!

Nice and clean, but it won't last long!

Wally made good time! He flew by me as I waited on trail after a short time.

The big slide held him up in line for a bit.

Poor Will. He waited patiently, letting everyone go in front of him, then came down at a nice controlled pace. Just when he thought he was almost home free, and getting out of this thing without too big a mess...

Two boys came down behind him, and knocked him right off his feet by plowing in to him at the bottom of the slide.

He just stood there for a second. His stance just screams, "Seriously?!!!!"

Wally finished the race long before Will, but he jumped back on the course when Will came around the corner, and they did they army crawl and finish line together.

Then we had to get stern, and tell them no more goofing around and flipping mud on everyone.

The boys had a good time. We then headed to the showers, which took way to long to get rinsed off in, and I swear took years off of my life. A whole slew of other mother's lives too. We were all standing off to the side of the showers yelling, into the melee of filthy children, "Scrub your legs better!" "You still have a big glob of mud behind your ear!" "No you are not clean enough to get in the car! Keep scrubbing!"
We were all getting pretty frustrated with the casual effort the kids were putting forth to rinse. None of us were willing to dive under the water ourselves to help with the rinsing though, so we all just stood there, yelling over one another!
I wonder how long this mud run trend will last? Will they run out of people who want to run to in a themed race, or get dirty at some point? They are fun, but I don't know how many more I need to do. I guess one a year with Del's employees for now.
 The boys can check it off their lists at a young age!

Mexico 2013

We just spent a week in Mexico for Del's company rewards trip. All the employees who met the goal brought a guest. After much back and forth, and reading many reviews about which resort to stay at, I decided that we should go ahead and stay at the same place we went for our ten year anniversary three years ago. So we headed to Secrets Maroma Riviera Maya. As you can see, the beach at this resort is incredible! It was nice to know what to expect, and that I had made it through a trip safely with my food allergy once before.
My parents were kind enough to take time off from work to come out and stay the week with the kids. They, and all the grandchildren are my parent's fan club! They love Grandma and Grandpa so much, and I am so glad they got to spend so much time with them! I only wish that Del and I had been able to enjoy their visit too!

The resort had changed a bit. There were so many more pretty places to relax!

We had my Dad give us both a Father's blessing through the Priesthood he holds the night before we left. It was so comforting to get the extra strength offered from our Heavenly Father through the priesthood.

My Dad blessed me to be safe with what I ate on this trip. I can honestly say that I have been neglectful of the full scope of blessings I could have access to before now, because I have not used that power before travel in the past. I wish I would have started every vacation with a priesthood blessing for my food allergy! I felt so calm and assured about my food choices this time, and I was led to a woman on the resort who was willing to write a note in Spanish to give to all wait staff, explaining my situation. It brought great peace, and renewed my testimony that my Heavenly Father is mindful of all his children.

Some of our group hanging out in the pool.

Here we are going to dinner. None of the group pictures are complete with all of our guests. We just couldn't quit catch everyone for the same photo at the same time!

My legs and waist look stubby in this pic, but Del liked it.

There was a really cute, but from what I hear, somewhat challenging, miniature golf course on the resort.

Del, and some of the guys decided to put a game together, and of course things got pretty competitive. When Del came back from the game with broken sunglasses from lying on the ground to get his shot just right, I knew that these guys were taking this thing pretty seriously.

I got a sunburn the first day, but I learned my lesson, and slathered the sunblock on, even in the shade. I escaped the Mexico sun with minimal damage after that.

The resort goes all out, all the time.

These lounge areas ended up being my favorite. A good book, a little music, and some of the soft serve ice cream I had more than my share of, and I was doing juuuussst fine!

Most of the ladies.

We got caught in the rain at the pool, big time! It was coming down in torrents. Standing right in the middle of the umbrella was the only way to escape a soaking. Demonstrated by Laura and Jerry.

On the other hand, most of the guys decided to once again, find a form of competition by acting like ten years olds with the pool floaties.

We all got a kick out of how long Del's go go gadget leg looks in this picture.

Who can do a somersault across the floaties?

What about a cartwheel?

My message at the spa was just lovely. This is the nail area. Just beautiful! They had one of the fish spas that you put your feet in, and they eat the dead skin off. I didn't try it, but Del wanted me to.

Hammock time. The truth is our rears were dragging on the ground! Also, kind of strange, but I took this cover up off at the pool to get in the water, and it disappeared! It was not worth stealing, so who knows, maybe one of the weird Mexican raccoons we saw wandering around took it.

I did tire of water after a whole week. I need a little lemonade in my life! So I decided that the last day of the trip was the perfect time to break my two year, no carbonation streak. Worth it for an ice cold Coke. I still can't drink it on any regular basis, because I don't feel good after, but it sure tasted good to me in the Mexico heat!

Del's employees bought him this awesome bright blue, velvet sombrero. They all signed it, and Del sported it in style. The flight attendant on the plane saw it in the overhead and asked out loud, "Who seriously really buys a sombrero? What on Earth will you do with it?"
Del and I laughed and told her it was a gift. She quickly told us how "great" it was. Ha!

Del decided to squeeze in a few minutes on the court before we caught our flight home. It of course ended up meaning another shower. The humidity was unreal!
We had such a nice time, and I am so grateful we got to go!