Testing and Traveling

Monday and Tuesday Adam tested for his Arizona license for roofing and passed both the Trade and Business and Law, so we are happy about that. He put a lot of studying time in so it is well deserved. The little boys and I stayed with Sara Ann. On Tuesday we went and visited Adam’s sister Sara and saw their new home and then we met Adam over at his sister Monica’s house where we visited for a short time, saw her new little boy Joseph, and then headed home from there. The boys slept almost the whole way home which made the trip nice. We always like coming home to our own place. Adam took my 4-Runner and traveled to Dayton Nevada around 1 a.m. on Thursday and didn’t get home until around 4 a.m. on Friday and he tried to make it a one day trip too. He was trying to finish up some minor stuff on the Maverik roof there so the warranty could be issued, however the inspector was a little picky on everything so it made the day long. While Adam was gone I attempted to take my boys to the Scout Blue and Gold Banquet, which is always a challenge to take them anywhere public by myself. Friday evening we all went to one of the Hurricane Stake Centers to support a scout that was trying to raise money to go on a scouting trip by selling Navajo tacos for dinner. Stuart and Heidi invited us to go and since I didn’t feel up to preparing dinner and was trying to stay away while Adam got some office work done then it was appealing. After great strain of trying to decide to make a quick one day trip to San Diego and back for a friend’s wedding, we decided that it just wouldn’t work out. I was so exhausted from traveling earlier in the week that I just couldn’t bring myself to want to go because of that. I felt better once we decided to stay and we spent our Saturday helping to pour concrete for the Meat Shop. Yes, that part is finally done. It was a chilly day and Wynn and Phyllis were out of town so we all stayed outside the whole time since the house wasn't any warmer and it just isn't the same without them being there. About mid morning Mark said, "If my mom was here I know she would have food for us, but she's not so what should we order for lunch?" I volunteered to go try and find something to make, but admitted to not really wanting to since the house was cold. He headed to Albertos for mid morning food and then I went again in the afternoon. Tyson doesn’t quite grasp the concept what this shop is going to be for as he kept asking about moving the pigs onto the concrete slab. One of the twins came up to me and said, “MaRae, if we move the pigs there then what are we going to do with all the kids?” Apparently she was worried where all the little kids should go in the process of moving the pigs. I guess they will catch on to the real reason for the building soon enough. How many people does it take to watch the cement set up? Good question! Adam tried to work on his other truck while waiting for the concrete to set up some more and I snapped this picture of all three of my boys. It was a cute setting with them all in their element with the boys helping their dad or at least think they were.

Trip for George's Farewell

I finished the binding on Vaughn’s quilt on Monday night over at Heidi’s house so that it would be ready to take to Oregon. On Wednesday I took the boys to Tyson’s follow up Dr’s appoint to see how he was doing. I had them check Lincoln as well to which he was all cleared up and Tyson just had some lingering breathing noises probably from the virus. She said that the contagiousness of the virus lasts about a week and then coughing and such will continue for another 2-3 weeks, so we were glad to hear that our trip to Salt Lake and Oregon shouldn’t be too much trouble. Adam didn’t get home from getting his work stuff done until late and so we decided that he would go to bed while I packed the truck up and that we would leave at 2 a.m. Thursday morning so that he could make it to his roofing training class in Tooele at 8:00 that morning. It just so happened that his brother Sheldon was going to that all day class as well, so they ended up driving together while Lincoln, Tyson, and I hung out all day with Sara Ann, Marshall, and Luke. We took the boys to the Aquarium where they had a good time seeing frogs, fish, octopus, anaconda, and for me a few other disturbing critters/creatures. We stayed the night at their house and then Friday morning Adam went and put in study time for his Arizona license which had tests scheduled for Monday and Tuesday of this next week. He finished in the afternoon and we packed up to head on to Oregon for the rest of the weekend for George’s farewell. We enjoyed seeing Clara Jane and Grant as they came into town for the same occasion. Saturday we drove over to Ontario and ate breakfast at Denny’s with George, Hugh, Clara, and Grant. George had requested it and when I asked him why he wanted to do that he said, “So we can just eat breakfast and talk.” I think he has a different idea of what that is like when little kids are around J We went back home and after Adam helped Vaughn with some stuff on his 4-wheeler a bunch of them went shooting in the hills back behind my house and then played basketball until late. George did well on his farewell talk and had many friends from the town and nearby family that came to support him at the potluck that my mom and dad had for him at the school cafeteria after church. He is going to the Sierra Leone Freetown Mission in West Africa and will be greatly missed. We enjoyed spending the rest of Sunday at home and then once again I packed our bags while Adam went to sleep so he could drive when we would leave tomorrow morning at 2 a.m. The disappointing factor during this whole trip was that Lincoln started feeling sick again on Friday morning and hasn’t been himself. He just wants me to hold him, so I didn’t get to do much except sit and watch the Olympics (not too much complaining there though). It’s just too bad that his fun personality was non-existent. We are going to miss George for the next two years whenever we come home for the holidays/trips, however I’m sure we will push to play basketball in his absence.

Smashed Toe and Not Fun Being Sick

This last week my goal was to get our taxes done. My part is done as everything is now in the accountants' hands so I guess you could say that I accomplished that goal. That is a relief and boy am I glad that accountants exist.
Last Sunday Tyson's toe was smashed with a fireplace tool and he has been having a lot of attention from Adam and I during his pain. Everytime I go to put some essential oils on it he says, “Are you being careful?” or “Please be careful mom.” The toe is not a pretty site and he has been complaining about it hurting from the time it happened. With that and Lincoln still not feeling well we have spent a lot of time at home and I don’t know who it is harder on me or the boys to have to be homebound. Wednesday took a turn for the worse as in the early evening when we had gone by Susie’s, she felt him to be warm and took a 103 degree temperature. I took him home and gave him some Tylenol and about an hour later it had only dropped to 102 degrees, so with Adam being out of town to Arizona and not scheduled to be back until after midnight then I waited till Susie was done exercising and asked her to come with me and take both boys to the walk in night clinic over in St. George. We waited for about 2 hours trying to entertain the boys and make them comfortable. When we finally got in they took their temperatures and oxygen levels and found them both to be high and low in oxygen. They gave the boys breathing treatments for asthma and as Lincoln’s breathing and oxygen level improved, Tyson’s did not so they did a 2nd treatment on him and still no improvement. They said that it was more than likely some kind of virus that was triggering the asthma, but with his oxygen level being so low that they couldn’t send him home and we would have to go over to the hospital for the night. I had Susie drop Tyson and I off over at the other hospital, which is where the delivery and pediatric unit is. Susie took Lincoln home to Adam as he was now back and while Adam gave Lincoln breathing treatments through the night at home (Lincoln in the picture during one of his treatments later in the week, was very good), I was with Tyson in the hospital and he was getting the same. Luckily this hospital visit did not require an IV, and I kept using that on Tyson when ever he was being difficult in doing the treatments and taking medicine. He was good about drinking water and believe it or not going to the bathroom. The time that I would think a child would not want to deal with going in the toilet and just using a diaper, but not him. I was pushing for us going home later that morning, as I could tell that Tyson was getting stir crazy and was difficult at times to control (probably the meds), so the pediatrician said that if I felt comfortable taking oxygen tanks home then it would be fine to do so. I was trained on the oxygen equipment and around 5 p.m. we headed home after stopping to get some medicine. Tyson and Lincoln spent the rest of the week trying to recuperate. I managed with the Lord’s help to give the Relief Society lesson on Sunday that I had said I would do last week when the counselor was looking for a substitute, not knowing what I would be dealing with a majority of the week. I found it very challenging to focus preparing for it throughout the week as a cough or cry would take my thoughts to a Dr. Mom mode and try to think if I was missing anything that I should be doing for my boys. We have taken the boys to the flat a little each day as it seems to cheer them up and they look a lot healthier while trying to run around and do farm stuff. It has been a very tiresome week.

The Week of the Jean Quilt

This past week my goal was to start and finish a jean quilt for Vaughn. MaryJane had started the project as a Christmas gift for him a few years ago and after not having much access to our serger and sewing machine as it had been loaned out multiple places and then I ended up with it, she turned it over to me at Thanksgiving time last year and I knew that with my sister-in-law Heidi’s help that I could get it done. Everything worked out great as I spent Tuesday through Saturday afternoons working on it over at Heidi’s. Tyson and Lincoln had many opportunities to play with their cousins Erika and Emily and had a great time exploring around the wash. On Saturday we set up Heidi’s quilting frames in Phyllis’ basement (a.k.a Ben and Tia’s place) and tied the quilt most of the afternoon and finished pinning the binding that evening, so technically I didn’t finish it last week, but it is very close to done so that when we go to Oregon for George’s farewell then I can take it to him. One of the days when the kids were playing in the back at Heidi’s I heard this conversation take place:
Tyson: Well, only girls can’t go to the temple!
Twin 1: Yeah, only mommies and daddies can go to the temple (as she sides herself by Tyson).
Twin 2: Well, I’m Josh then! (I thought her to be very witty to quickly call herself Josh so that as a boy she could go to the temple). I’m sure they will all be excited when they grow up and learn that as they live their lives right and worthy then they all can go, not just mommies & daddies or boys. On Friday Sheldon, SaraAnn, Marshall, and Luke came into town for the weekend. Tyson and Marshall had a great time. At one point I went outside to talk to Adam and one of the twins came up to me, from being over by their horses, and said, “MaRae (LaRae), Marshall said that they is not our horses, and they is!!!” She said it with such passion and Marshall had a smirk on his face as if he knew he was harassing her. Shortly after that Erika and Emily did not like it that Marshall and Tyson would not play with them and came complaining to me about it. I took the opportunity to point out how it is not very nice to treat others that way as when the twins are with a few other girl cousins and quite often I find Tyson complaining about the same thing since usually he is the only boy trying to fit in. Friday evening we went to the St. George airport and welcomed Bryce Hastings home from his mission in California (I snapped this picture later on while he was trying to prepare his homecoming talk for next week). Afterward we all gathered at the Golden Corral for dinner. Lincoln hasn’t been feeling good the last few days and I noticed some spots on his tongue yesterday, which Phyllis thinks he has stomatitis, a viral infection that lasts about a week with high fevers and possible throwing up.