welll...

You're all probably wondering what happened to me. I did a really long post about our first few days in Utah and then ended it rather abruptly, only to not post again for over a week. Well, I'm sorry but it's been a bit crazy around here. Let me tell you about it in (hopefully) the short version of it all.

We got back from Ut the night of the 14th (over 2 weeks ago now) and that night I was really sick. I think it was something I ate. Anyway I struggled through laundry the next day, and almost convinced myself I was better on Friday. Saturday was a crazy day for Joe since he had the YM/Scout garage sale in the morning and afternoon and a multi-stake dance at night. He got up at 5am that day and didn't get to bed until after 1am... Sunday was busy with Joe's meetings, my RS Enrichment comittee meeting, and such. Monday we got some rest and then Tuesday was all right, but I didn't really feel right the whole time. I don't really remember much of the early part of last week. It all kind of blends together, you know?

Thursday we went to the park for playgroup and were the only ones there. That evening I made some cupcakes and a cake because Friday was Karen's birthday Yes, Karen is now officially two years old. She acts like she's at least three a lot of the time, but she's 2! Thursday night I was really sick again. I thought it was funny that I was sick exactly one week after I was sick the last time, but figured it was probably from eating a bit of the cake batter left in the bowl...(I know, I really shouldn't do that). Friday morning I still didn't feel good but it was Karen's birthday so I gave it my best shot anyway. We took a walk, played outside, decorated her cake, and dad came home early so we could get things all ready. The Beasleys and Cooks came over for dinner and presents, and I was feeling aweful. My tummy hurt bad, and my right side was killing me. I ate a tiny plate of nachos for dinner and spent most of the party laying on the floor and trying to stay coherent. Karen got 4 new veggie tales movies (let me explain: we got 3 of them when we were planning on driving to Ut and when we bought plane tickets we decided to save them for her birthday), plastic food (fruit and veggies), and a pink and purple tea set. She also got the LeapFrog ABC fridge magnet set which she really loves and a stuffed lion she yesterday named Roger.

Saturday I felt terrible all day, and I couldn't keep anything down. I hurt everywhere and it was completely terrible. I even went so far as to call my angel of a visiting teacher to come watch the girls while Joe took me to the doctor. We ended up not going that far but we did call a guy in the ward who's a PA and he said they probably wouldn't do anything for me anyway. I felt aweful, but I couldn't do anything about it. Sunday Joe took Karen to church and I stayed home with Rachel. I hurt so bad I could hardly move, but it was still a good day since Rachel rolled over for the first time. It was so cute! I actually saw her do it too, in between trips to the rest room.

Monday was Memorial Day and I felt a bit better so we went to the brunch at the church. It was good but Joe was afraid to let me eat anything there. I got mad at him for that and we didn't end up staying very long but it was the first time I'd left the house since Thursday. That afternoon we figured out what I had (we think). I have all the symptoms for Hepatitis A. I probably got it on our last day in Ut somewhere; we ate out several times that day. No I haven't been vaccinated since I haven't been planning any international travel and they didn't routinely give that shot until after I was 'too old'. Joe and Karen both have had the shot, and now Rachel has the antibodies from me so she shouldn't get it either, but let me tell you it is MISERABLE!!! Besides the nasty yellow-orange color I turned the other day it hurts. Luckily it only lasts weeks to months, so by the end of the summer I should be okay. I'm feeling all right now except I'm still really tired and I eat really little meals. The one up side to it all is that I lost 10 pounds last weekend so my clothes all fit a bit better.

So that's why I didn't finish my post from a while back. Hopefully I'll write about my sister's wedding soon because it really was great, but I'll have to do it another time because now I have to go feed a baby.

To Post or Not To Post... and other things

How is it that I feel like I never do anything, but I'm always busy and never feel like I get anything done? Does that sentance make sense? We've been back from Utah for almost a week, and every day I think, oh I'll do my blog in a little bit...or after dinner... or before bed... Then it's tomorrow sometime, or after church... So here I am trying desperately to remember all those cute and funny things that I was going to write last week but never did. I guess I'll start at the beginning and hope it turns out okay.

We left for Utah early on Thursday (15th). It was about 5am EDT, or 3am in Utah. Despite the craziness of getting to the airport, checking all our bags, getting through security, and finding our gate with 5 pieces of luggage (including 2 car seats which, btw, don't count as a 'second suitcase' for the new rules), 3 carry-on bags, a stroller, 2 kids and 2 adults it was a good flight. We sat at the very front of the plane, Rachel slept a lot, Karen played most of the time and only had one meltdown. We got to Utah around 10 am local time and by 11 were out of the airport in our rental car. We went with Avis this time because we had a coupon; it ended up costing us more money and we were stuck with a stupid Ford Explorer that got terrible gas mileage and didn't have much room for anything; I don't recommend them to anyone. We stopped at Grandma Zillner's to say hi, but no one was home. Luckily we found a door open (I love UT for that... people always leave their doors open) and went in. Joe got us som McDonald's while I fed Rachel. Grandma got home soon and we visited with her and Grandpa while Karen took a nap, then headed for Happy Valley. I talked to Calista on the way and she invited us to go to the temple with them that evening. We went to my aunt Lisa's and visited with the family, had dinner, then went to my aunt Linda's where we were going to be staying. We got the kids down, changed, and went to the temple with Calista and Brandon. It was SOOO nice to go to the temple! We've only gone a few times since we moved out here, and most of those times are when we go to UT to visit. It's just a ways to the temple and the grounds are tiny, and with little kids it gets interesting. Anyway, after the temple we were really tired since it was around 10pm or so (we just made the 8pm session at Timp) and we went back to Linda's for the night. That's when we noticed the cat AND the dog. Joe's allergies are terrible, mine are not good either, and both girls have some (we're not sure how much yet). It's crazy, but no one (me, Joe, Mom, Linda, Grandma, or anyone else) had even thought about the pet issue, and we weren't there long enough in the evening to realize it much. I didn't even remember her having a dog, even though it's like 12 years old. But it was getting really late for us on east coast time, and we couldn't do anything about it that night.

The next morning all of us felt terrible and even though I didn't want to offend anyone I couldn't make my family stay there any more. We packed up our suitcases after breakfast (which was really wonderful, with chocolate chip pancakes and everything) and went back to Lisa's (where my parents were staying). We didn't know where we would be staying now or what was going on, but it was the day before the wedding and there was a lot to do. We took our kids and Mike and Stacia to the park (discovery park is really close to where they live in PG) and my cousins came too. We had fun, Joe got hurt on the spinners, Karen fell off a few different things, and Rachel was mad about being out in the wind, but it was fun anyway. That evening we had dinner at my aunt Cheryl's in Lehi with the Howes family. There were so many people there! It seems like every time we get together now there are at least a few more people; kids, significant others, friends, pets, and so on. It was fun to see everyone since I hadn't seen many of them since my wedding or before, but there were almost too many people for the house. After that we went to where we were staying the night: Brandon's (Calista's husband) grandma's house in Mapleton. It was a whole string of crazy and somewhat upsetting events that led to us staying there but it worked out okay in the end. It was a nice opportunity to get to know the Perazzos, and they're really great people. We even got a bedroom to ourselves (though all four of us in one room isn't fun we did it the whole trip).

The next morning we were all trying to get ready for the wedding. I was in the shower downstairs when this happened, but during breakfast Karen fell through the back of her chair (a folding chair). She tried to grab something to keep her from falling, but ended up grabbing the cereal bowl instead. She and her cereal fell on the floor, and the cereal got everywhere. Joe gave her an emergency bath, and I didn't even know what happened until after it was all over. After we were all clean and ready I once again packed up all our suitcases and we followed Brandon to their new apartment in Provo where we sayed the rest of the trip. Let me just say that it may be a fairly crappy basement apartment as apartments go, but it is definitely worth it since it's less than 2 blocks south of the Botany pond. Also note how many times I packed up those stupid suitcases and all our junk in the first few days of our trip. Although it's not entirely fair to blame it all on that, the next bit that I write doesn't sound quite as bad if you keep in mind that I had packed everything so many times that I couldn't quite remember where anything was anymore. But... I'll have to write that another time.