primary program, sickness, and camping

Sunday was the Primary Program at church.  Noah and Austin were both sick, so Kristen and Gavin were nice enough to come down and watch them so Kevin and I could go watch the other boys.  Oh, we loved it.

Tays is in the youngest class and rather than having them sit up on the stand, they had them sit on the front row of the benches, then stand on the bench and turn around when it was time to sing.  That boy.  He didn't sing a word.  He just smiled and swayed to the music.  Kevin and I couldn't stop laughing at him, funny kid.  He looked so cute in his little brown corduroy sport coat and purple tie, grinning with a hint of mischief in his eyes.  He liked being there, in front of everyone.  He's usually very low key in public, but when he's the center of attention, he doesn't shy away from it.  He takes on this funny, self-aware attitude.  It's difficult to try to capture it in just words.  I begged Kevin to take a picture with his phone, but he said it would be inappropriate and wouldn't budge.

Jack was so handsome and said his little part "we believe in God, the eternal father and in his son, Jesus Christ" perfectly.  He's really good at memorizing.  He sang well for the first half, then started to get bored with it and held is face in his hands, leaning on the rail.  Still, he did sing, and it was certainly an improvement over last year.  It's funny how much they grow in a year.

After church, all of the sisters came for dinner.  It was a stormy day and we made penne pasta with tomato basil cream sauce and this bread (though I don't use quite that much butter on mine!  A cube per half loaf, are you kidding me?  try it though, it's so easy and GOOD.)  My sisters told of all their latest adventures, and aside from the sick children, it was a perfect evening.

Just before dinner, Jack asked for a piece of bread and I obliged.  I asked Tays if he wanted some too, knowing he would.  But he didn't, and that is when I knew something was wrong.  He asked to lie down.  I made a spot for him on the couch and he promptly fell asleep. At 5:30.  He woke up shortly after to throw up.  Aww, man. 

After saying goodbye to my sisters, Kevin and I geared up for a long night.  Kev put plastic garbage bags under all of the boys sheets.  Fortunately, the boys were exhausted and went to bed easily.  Before going to bed for the night, we folded a load of laundry, and started a load full of blankets and clothes that had been thrown up on during the day.  Before heading upstairs, we loaded our arms with sippy cups, tylenol, febreze, wet wipes, diapers, towels, extra binkies, spare pajamas and underwear for each boy, and a throw up pan.  I made a little bed next to mine.  Before we even went to bed, Noah woke up and threw up all over his pajamas.  We were prepared and he was back in bed in 5 minutes.  We then went to bed ourselves, with little hope of any real sleep, though I prayed for some. Mostly I prayed that Austin wouldn't throw up in the night.  Being sick is hard, and I hate when babies have to go through it.  They are unable to tell you what they want and just seem so miserable.  I was prepared to be up all night (not excited, but resigned), but just hoped he'd feel okay enough to sleep. 

Aside from a few minor interruptions, the night went smoothly.  Noah was the only one who threw up, and it wasn't too bad.  Jack and Taylor slept all night. Austin woke up a few times, but went back to bed easily, and that is really the miracle of the week...the sleep we've managed to get in spite of three boys battling with this cursed illness.  I honestly think the diarrhea is the worst part of it. My sisters inform me that it is gross how openly moms talk about such things, so I'll leave it at that.  I do think we're finally on the mend, though poor Noah has probably lost five pounds, and he didn't have that much to spare. 

And because this post is so wordy and a little gross, I'll try to redeem it by sharing these pictures from our camping trip from a few weeks ago.  We went with our friends, the Egglestons.  They called Thursday morning to invite us, and that night we were roasting hot dogs over a fire.  Have you ever been on the Nebo Loop?  If not, do it sometime.

Sophie and Emma, or is it Emma and Sophie.

I asked Jack if he knew and he said "no, cuz they're just twins and they have the same clothes."

I'm not sure if there is anything I love more than watching my boys playing out in nature.

It was such a beautiful day.

Taylor found a laminated paper out in the field that said "boil water before drinking" and it became their map.

Austin LOVES being outside and exploring. He doesn't intentionally run off, he just wanders from one interesting thing to the next, and before we know it, he'll be out of sight...again.

It didn't really help that we dressed him in a camouflage shirt=)

 

Kevin, the faithful driver, taking us down the canyon. The views were incredible.

We took the long way home, around Utah lake, so we could go on the "bumpy road" that our boys love.  October may not seem like the ideal time for camping, but we loved it.  

And finally, good news! I just took apart my laptop and found a rat-a-tat-cat playing card inside it, explaining why it kept overheating=)  Those naughty, naughty boys...but it is gone now and I am far less frustrated by this old machine.