Thanksgiving In St. Louis - Day Two : Quiver River

Monday, November 21, 2011

Since all the cousins had school on Monday and Tuesday, my poor kids were left alone with the adults. We went Monday morning with Steve's sister Heather and her husband Steve H., and Steve and Heather's sister Heidi for a hike. We went to what I believed to be Quiver River until we arrived and I saw the sign: Cuivre. So in order to be fan-cy, I started pronouncing it like the French, mon ami. And because I'm annoying, I looked for opportunities all week to bring up the name and speak it like a true French lady. Because if you've seen me in true form, you know what a lady I am.

It was an absolutely beautiful hike, and we loved every minute of it. Here are a few pictures for your viewing enjoyment:

My beautiful children (FYI: I'm still thinking/typing in a really bad French accent)

Moss! We don't see a lot of moss where we live and there was so much of the beautiful green stuff along the trail.

Family Photo op

Steve and Heather

Beautiful, beautiful sights

Tree acne. You just want to go up and pop it, don't you?


Aubrey and Me

After the hike we were all famished. So we went to Imo's pizza buffet, a local favorite.

We didn't get together with everyone that night since the kids still had one more day of school. We decided it would be a good time for us to have some alone time with Steve's dad, Roy, and his Stepmom, Rhonda. We took them, and Steve's brother David, out for dinner. And because one buffet in a day is not nearly enough, we went to a Chinese buffet for dinner.

After dinner we all took a little trip to Sam's and Walmart to pick up a few supplies. Because a vacation is not really a vacation until it includes a trip to Walmart.

Thanksgiving In St. Louis - Day One

Monday Morning Musings - How I Almost Died And Ruined Christmas For My Children Forever

Well, last nights storm was really a let down. No drama. At all. Hardly anything I would categorize as a storm. It's a good thing, really.

I was so excited to wake up this morning. The start of a brand spankin' new week. A week much much better than its predecessor. I don't remember having any coughing fits last night. I was able to sleep in my own bed in a semi reclining position. All last week I was sleeping on the couch in the living room because I had to sleep sitting straight up, or I felt like someone was sitting on my chest and I could only take little tiny shallow breaths, and the corner of our sectional provided 2 good high sides to support me.

Most of last week is one cough laced blur. I do remember very clearly almost killing myself. My nights on the couch were not pleasant. I had coughing attacks all night long. And darn me I have this thing about taking cough medicine. I can't and won't do it. I kept falling asleep with cough drops in my mouth. At one point on one of the nights I felt a big cough coming on so I sat up to brace myself. I sucked in to start the cough and WHOOP! That cough drop sucked itself right down my wind pipe. For a split second I thought, "So this is how it ends. Me out here on the couch, alone, a cough drop blocking any chance of taking another breath, and my poor children will wake up and find my cold dead body when they come down in the morning to turn on the lights on the Christmas Tree." But just as fast as I thought that, I coughed and POW! Out came the lozenge and I lived to see another day. And my children will not be destined to have gruesome flashbacks for the rest of their lives every time they see a Christmas tree.

By the time I made the decision to go to the doctor it was Wednesday night and I could see that there was no hope of my getting better on my own. It was kinda like when I was in labor with Zac for 9 1/2 hours without an epidural and by the time I decided that I was not going to be able to get the kid out naturally, I wanted the epidural right then. Because it was physically impossible for me to endure one more contraction. But dang that anesthesiologist who seemed to take his own sweet time getting there. I was the same with the doctor. By Wednesday night I thought it was physically impossible for me to endure one more coughing spasm. So I decided I would call and make an appointment to go in to the doctor first thing Thursday morning. Then Thursday morning happened. And I was unable to find a doctors office open. So I had to wait until Friday. The doctor said she thinks I have bronchitis. Surprise. I had figured as much by then. I am feeling so much better today. Not 100%, but so much better than last week.

The kids started getting sick the other day, but their illnesses seemed to have a shorter duration. They rested up with their 2 days off of school due to the winds and loss of power at the school, plus the 2 weekend days, and they were good to go to school today.

My mom and Lauren just took Addy to see the Muppet Movie they have been promising her they would take her to see. Steve is at work. So I am home alone in a quite peaceful house. Yeah right. Lauren's dog Eli is here and he is being anything but quite a the moment.

You know what its like when you get home from a trip and you have all this catching up and unpacking to do. Yeah that's where I am, only add a weeks worth of catching up because I didn't get anything done last week. I still haven't unpacked my suitcase. I'm not complaining though. I am just glad to be on the mend.

Now if I can just find a way to get that darn Direct TV guy out here before Wednesday to get my satellite fixed, all would be right with my world....

The Wind Began To Switch, The House To Pitch, And Suddenly The Hinges Started To Unhitch

We had a bit of a windy day yesterday. I gave up trying to sleep at 4 AM Thursday morning. There was a wind storm going on outside and a hacking storm going on in my lungs. I decided to spend the rest of my sleeping hours on the couch in the kitchen watching TV. As soon as I walked out of my room, this was the first sign of the storm I saw.

Our entire front porch was full of tumble weeds. As I sat on the couch, it was too dark to see what was going on, but I kept hearing big things hit the side of the house. I had never heard the wind blow with such ferocity. And we get some pretty good wind storms in these parts.

Around 6 AM Steve and the kids (except for Addy who managed to sleep soundly for another hour or so) gave up trying to sleep. So we sat and watched as the sun started to rise and bring into our view the scene around us. Thankfully, the chicken coop still seemed to be intact.

We saw that the flashing had come off of our fireplace. And there were shingles all over the yard. Thankfully that is the extent of the major damage we suffered. We were very blessed. The very first picture in this post is what remains of my mother's deck that was attached to her house before her huge pine tree fell on it. The front right corner of the picture is of the lower part of the deck. The tree is across the upper part of the deck and awning. Also under the tree is her beautiful brand new grill she got for her Birthday in August.

I started typing this post on Friday. It is now Sunday night and we have another wind storm coming our way. Back to the story of Thursday...

It is reported that in some places the wind reached 102 miles an hour. It started blowing sometime before 4am and didn't stop until after 12 noon. I think everyone in our neighborhood that had a shed no longer has one. During the storm we watched our big huge window in our kitchen flex the entire time. Flex in, flex out. Flex in, flex out. I am so thankful it is flexible. At one point we were standing at a window looking at the field across the street from us as a big blue porta potty made its way toward us. Thankfully it stopped way before it got to our house. Our power was out all day. My mom's power went out before ours on Thursday and it just came back on a few hours ago (Sunday afternoon). Here are just a few pictures Zac took around the neighborhood. I have been sick and really haven't left the house except to go to the doctor but I hear this is pretty much the scene all over our county.

I don't think there was one vinyl fence that was undamaged in our neighborhood.

We have a ton of commercial and residential building going on around us so there was trash from construction everywhere

These are condo's being built. The whole middle section of this building collapsed.

There are big beautiful trees down everywhere.

Since I am sick and the kids are getting sick, we have been holed up in our house all weekend. And our satellite TV isn't working so we can't watch the news. But from what I hear the governor has called in the National Guard and has declared a state of emergency. Like I said before, we have another wind storm that is just starting now. It is supposed to last until 11am tomorrow. It isn't supposed to be as bad as the last storm, but everyone was worried because of all the debris from the last storm. My mom said at her church today her Stake President had all the wards go for Sacrament Meeting only and then told them to go home and secure all the homes in their wards and then all the homes in their city. My mom and Lauren and Lauren's dog Eli are staying with us tonight. They said on their way over here it was the same sight in our neighborhood as it was in their neighborhood. Everyone was out with trailers cleaning up all the mess. Steve said that he saw online that there was a huge line of trucks and trailers making their way to the dump today.

There are a few feelings I have about this whole situation. First and foremost I am thankful that no one was seriously injured. My mom was sitting on her couch in front of her sliding glass window as the tree fell right in front of her on her deck. Just a foot more in the wrong direction and the tree would have gone through her house and she would have been hurt.

I also think this is a great test of our emergency preparedness. I think for the most part, we were prepared, but there are some things we certainly need to work on. This helped make those things clear to us. I believe we are living in the last days and this destruction we are seeing all over is only the beginning. There is more to come and I am sure it will be worse. I want to be prepared to see my family as safely through it as possible.

Also, it SUCKS being sick through the whole thing. Like really, really sucks. It has been hard for me. I have hated it. I hate being the one people have to check on. I have the bestest neighbors and friends in the whole world and they have been bringing in meals to us through this whole thing. But it makes me feel like a loser that when there are much more important and pressing things they could be doing, they are worrying about me and my family. It makes me feel bad that the whole neighborhood was out working together today and we were all snug in our house coughing our lungs up and wasting away with fevers. I am so thankful we live in such a fantastic place where people can be counted on to come together and help and serve each other.

But it made me realize that as grateful as I was for the service given to me and my family, I don't want to be in this position the next time. I need to take better care of myself and keep myself healthy in my old age (I'm gettin' up there and I add another year soon) so that I am able bodied and when a real disaster with real consequences (I'm not trying to down play this latest one, I just think there will be worse to come) is upon us, It doesn't have to go down like this last one. I want to be the person out there helping others. I don't want to be stuck inside my house waiting for someone to come and help me.

Thank you to everyone who did think of us and checked in on us and who brought in delicious meals when you had much more important things to do. I love you all. We live in the best neighborhood ever. And now the wind is really starting to pick up outside so I think I will turn the computer off.

The wind began to switch, the house to pitch, and suddenly the hinges started to unhitch. Just then, the Witch, to satisfy an itch, went flying on her broomstick thumbing for a hitch. And oh what happened then was rich. The house began to pitch, the kitchen took a slitch. It landed on the wicked witch in the middle of a ditch. Which was not a healthy situation for the wicked witch.......

Thanksgiving In St. Louis - Day One

Sunday, November 20, 2011

As soon as the kids got out of school on Friday, November 18th, we got in the van and started the long journey to St. Louis to visit Steve's family. We arrived at Steve's sister Heather's house around 9:00 PM on Saturday. The above picture was taken on our drive. As we were driving down the highway in Kansas City we noticed a familiar looking building that we had never seen there before. We took a little detour off the highway to have a looksie. It is the new Kansas City Temple.

The next day was Sunday and we went to church with Heather and her family. Sierra did all the girls hair before church.

After church, everyone came over to Heather's house and we had a fun game night and dined upon creamy potato soup and homemade bread. The boys wasted no time getting started on Axis and Allies.

The girls played Beatles Rock Band

Zac and Grandpa

Sierra and Meagan

Our oldest niece, Amanda, was in town from Illinois for the weekend

Emily, Meagan and Aubrey

Wednesday Morning Hackings

I'm comin' atcha live from my sick bed. I'm a real prize right now, just let me say. We were in St. Louis all last week for Thanksgiving and our last night there I started to get a cough. I woke up Saturday morning to pack and load up so we could begin our drive home and I could hardly do anything. I just figured I was tired because we had been keeping some late nights. It really was a struggle to get everything packed and once we were in the car and rollin' down the highway, I started to realize that I was sick. My body was achy and I had chills and a horrible hacking cough. So it was a very unpleasant two day drive for me.

We got home Sunday night. I had to help in Aubrey's class the next morning at 9am. It was so hard to get out bed when my alarm went off at 6:30. But I decided that most of it is in my attitude and if I just got up and had a positive attitude and went about business as normal, I would be just fine. I went to help in Aubrey's class, then I went shopping for Addy's Birthday present, because it was her Birthday. Then I went shopping for groceries. Then I came home and cleaned the house and made Addy's Birthday dinner and cake and my mom and Lauren came over for a family party. Then the next day I got up at 6:30 am and went to help Emily's teacher at 9am. (Most of it's just in my attitude right?) By the time I got home from the school yesterday, I was in pretty horrible shape. Like Horrible, Horrible. Yesterday was not a good day for me.

I can't remember the last time I felt so bad. I had a fever and chills. A nasty cough that was in my lungs. And a very achy breaky everything. I thought I might die. Thankfully I didn't. About that time, I decided it was about time for me to slow my attitude down and park my booty in the bed. I couldn't just keep going about life as normal. I needed to get better and I needed to do it in a jiffy. I had exactly one day because on Thursday (tomorrow) I had 3 big events. 1. Emily's play at school, 2. Addy's friend Birthday party, 3. Relief Society Christmas Dinner. So I put a halt on all activities last night. My dear visiting teacher brought in dinner last night. The Relief Society Presidency came by to visit and brought me a treat. And I started ordering everyone in my family around, more than normal.

At that point, I had no choice but to get orderly. I couldn't do anything for myself. Seriously. I couldn't even reach my arm out of my blanket to get a kleenex because my chills were so bad. And my kids were freaking out because every time they would come to give me a hug I was burning up. Poor Steve, he has been so good to me. After me ordering him around all night last night and making a trip to the store for me to buy all my invalid supplies and getting all the kids in bed and doing everything else that needed to be done, just as we were about to fall asleep I said, "Honey, will it make you crazy if I ask you to do one more thing for me?" He said it wouldn't. So I asked him to take my socks off because they were bothering me. And he did it without complaint.

He is a good man. He stayed home from work today and he has been babying me all day. I have decided that in all likelihood, I am not going to be better by tomorrow, so I postponed Addy's party and sadly decided that I'm not going to the dinner tomorrow night even though I hate to miss it. I will venture out for Emily's play however. Hopefully I will be well by the weekend because we have play tickets for Saturday and tickets to the Christmas Devotional at the Conference Center on Sunday. I will not be happy if I have to miss either of those.

One upside to all this is that I haven't been able to eat anything for the past few days and my abs are getting a stellar workout with all the coughing. And I had Steve set me up in bed with the laptop and my pictures so I can get caught up with all my posting.

Here are some pictures from last night. I told the kids that if they would clean up the kitchen and clean out the van (it hadn't been done since we arrived home from our trip and it was pretty ripe) we could set up the tree. And by we I mean I would shiver under my blankets in the corner of the couch while they set it up.

The girls pretty much set the tree up themselves

Steve hard at work

Zac wasn't feeling too hot either (I don't know what I'll do if other people get sick) so he also took up residency on the couch. I tried to tell him not to get near me but he wouldn't listen. I think he is looking for a way to get out of going to school.

Monday Morning Musings - Heavy Metal

My dear son Zac came home from school on Friday with this beautiful flower he made for me in Metal Shop. I love it. He is loving Metal. He has made some pretty awesome stuff so far this school year.

I also must say how proud I am of his recent report card he brought home. He made 4 A's and 3 B's which is a HUGE improvement over all of last year. He really is working hard and trying to get good grades in his classes. Way to go Z!

I can't tell you how nice it was to wake up this morning and have it be semi-light outside. It has been so hard lately to drag myself and the kids out of bed when it is so dark outside. And I am glad it will be easier to get people in bed on time. I am really enjoying this time change thing. I will have to remember that in the spring when we have to pay up for our extra hour.

My cousin Kathy and her son Spencer flew from Texas to Utah over the weekend. Kathy's husband works for the airlines and they let their kids pick anywhere they want to go (inside the US) for their Birthday. Spencer turned 5 on Friday so he and Kathy flew here to go to the Dinosaur Museum. They stayed with us on Friday night. It was good to see them. On Saturday morning, before the had to head out to the airport, we had a delicious breakfast with them and my mom and Lauren came over too.

Spencer and Addy are only a few weeks apart in age and they were instant best buds. They had so much fun together for the few hours they had to play. It snowed Friday night so they were excited to wake up Saturday morning and go outside and play.

On Saturday morning Addy went down the street to a Birthday party. It was a princess party and she came home all decked out in princess attire with her own little princess cake.



The other day we were cooking something on the stove and one of the kids took the pan off the burner and set it on the counter. I picked it up and put something under it and told them we couldn't put hot stuff on the counter or we will ruin it. Silly Zac said, "Oh...so that's why you don't want me sitting on the counter."



That boy is so goofy. A few days after that Emily had something she wanted to put in the spice cabinet. I told her she couldn't keep it there and showed her a different cabinet where she could keep it. She for some reason was not happy with that and really wanted to keep it in the spice cabinet. I told her she couldn't because it wouldn't fit in there. And Zac said, "Yeah, it doesn't fit in. All the other spices will make fun of it."



So the other night I was making dinner in the kitchen when I almost chopped my hand off. I was just going along all fine and dandy like, singing along to Journey as I sliced and diced with a big huge knife. And then BAM! Something hit my big picture window so hard, I can't believe it didn't break it. After a split second of freaking out and almost cutting my hand off, I knew exactly what it was. Because it isn't the first time it has happened. A big huge beautiful pheasant had flown into the window. It was kinda sad. For the bird and my big window which had just been washed a few days before.



I don't know what the deal with me and dishwashers is. Really. At the time in my life when I had the cheapest dishwasher available, no problemo. Whenever I have a nice dishwasher, it is always breaking down. It is totally ridiculous. We have lived in this house for almost 3 years now and this is the 4th time the dishwasher has stopped working. Anyhoo. So when the kids get in trouble and need a punishment, they get to do dishes, since the dishwasher is on the fritz. Again. I think my kids are a little too smart for their own good. Do you know how many glasses they have broken in the last week? I couldn't even begin to tell you. It is so often, I really think they are doing it on purpose to insure that they don't ever get dishes again as a penalty. "She's gonna make me do the dishes again, I'll show her how I do the dishes. Oops. Another broken glass...."



Addy. I don't even know. That kid. She keeps us laughing all the time. The other morning when the kids were eating breakfast she said, "Lady Gaga is bad because she shows her boobs." And Emily said, "Addy, don't say that, that's bad." And so Addy said, "Ok, she shows her MAN BOOBS!" And Emily said, "Addy, that's bad too!" So she said, "FINE! She shows her pecs!" First off, I don't even know how she knows anything about Lady Gaga and what she shows because we don't ever listen to or watch Lady Gaga in our house.

The Grinch Who Stole Halloween

I totally am gonna get a door mat that says this. Really. Just call me the Halloween Grinch. With every passing year, I like this "holiday" less and less. I have my reasons. However I have children and so in an attempt to not cause them any additional emotional trauma (Emily still brings up, on a bi-weekly basis-3 1/2 years later, the fact that her Baptism dress-not the one she actually wore to be Baptised in, the one she wore after-was red instead of white. I am sure she will mention it when I am on my death bed as well.) Anyhoosers. To spare any unnecessary emotional trauma to my children, we still participate in this..ritual. Of Halloween. Which is now a full week long event. It started when we went the Monday before Halloween to the Library for Spook Stories. Then Wednesday, Addy and I went to the Library for story time and she dressed up as a princess and went trick or treating in the Library. I didn't get a picture of that event.

Next up was Zac. He had a Youth Halloween party at the church the Wednesday before Halloween. He insisted on wearing Addison's unicorn costume, which caused her to freak totally out. He did take home first prize for the funniest costume though. And it went well with his pink shoes.

Then the Halloween parade at the school the Friday before Halloween (because if a 4 day weekend wasn't enough the weekend before, we had a 3 day weekend for Halloween and the kids got to stay home for Halloween). This was a HUGE event at our old school and I was so glad when we moved here to find out they didn't do one at our new school. Until this year. yay.

My normal cheerleader, Aubrey. You will see later why I call her normal in this picture.

Emily, who figured the costume worked for her brother, why not for her too?

The Saturday before Halloween we went to my mom's church for their Trunk-n-Treat. My brother Sam and his wife Teresa were in town for the weekend. The best part of the night was when a girl dressed as Hermoine from Harry Potter came by and my mom got so excited and said, "OH! I know who you are! You're JUDGE JUDY!" We all fell out of our seats we were laughing so hard.

After the Trunk-n-Treat we all went to our house for dinner and games. Then my mom and Addy snuggled up on the couch to watch TV and snooze while the rest of us went to a haunted house in our neighborhood that the High School Drama Club puts on. Not my favorite part of the night. I don't know what I was thinking. I mean, if I want to be scared I can do it without even leaving the house. All I have to do is not fast forward or change the channel or close my eyes and put my fingers in my ears and yell LA LA LA LA when a scary movie commercial comes on TV. Which I would never do, so I don't know why I thought I would want to go to a haunted house. Emily was a brave one though. She made Uncle Sam go through with her twice.


On Sunday we went to my mom's house for lunch after church. We said our goodbyes to Sam and Teresa who were going back to Idaho. I traumatized my children by making them watch Michael Jackson's Thriller video. Then we came home and carved our pumpkins. I fully intended to skip this part of Halloween, but my kids still remind me all the time of the year I wouldn't let them carve pumpkins and I made them decorate them with stickers (just so you don't think I'm totally lame, they were cute vinyl jack-o-lantern face stickers my friend Coren made). So once again, to avoid emotional trauma, we carved our little tiny pumpkins that spontaneously grew up from our old chicken yard. I am afraid however that in this attempt to avoid emotional trauma, I actually caused trauma by not having the proper sized pumpkins to carve. Look, these pumpkins were free. And I am cheap. And I am sure there are children somewhere in the world who would have been happy to have the small pumpkins.





And after a full week of celebrating, we finally arrive at the actual day of Halloween. An event I refused to decorate for this year (which Zac just reminded me of as I am typing this). Like I said, the kids had this day off from school. Steve and I were able to go to lunch that day with our dear friends Ken and Michelle, who we haven't seen in forever. Just to clarify, we did not go to lunch to celebrate Halloween, we went to lunch to celebrate Ken being Steve's lawyer and they had official business to attend to.





That night we had a huge neighborhood pot luck dinner and mass trick or treating. Aubrey went as a Zombie Cheerleader.






Addy changed her mind about what she wanted to be about 5 times that day. Finally, about 30 minutes before we left, she settled for a cat. Does this kids have the eyes or what?!?

Zac took a page from my sister Farrah's book (she sent us a picture of herself dressed up like this) and went as...well....went as this:

Emily also changed her mind several times in the costume designing process. She finally settled on a rock star. That's her with the git-tar.

Sigh...alas our Halloween celebration has come to an end....