the best of times / Hays update

What a fabulous week. I have decided I LOVE having the kids out of school all week for Thanksgiving. Especially when the weather decides to be absolutely fabulous. This has been the sunniest, prettiest fall I can remember in Moab. But who cares about the weather?! Haha! Brian was off on Monday and he took the kids on a daddy-daughter outing to the dinosaur tracks + bones and on a little mountain bike ride. Hannah had been wanting to go see the dino tracks and bones for the past year because she went on a field trip with Leslie for mom- preschool last year. I took the chance to go mountain biking with a huge group of girlfriends on some new trails. It was so fun to talk with all of the ladies, cruise around on my bike down dirt and rock and just take in the views. Once we got back home at lunch, we took the kids out to go rock climbing for the afternoon at a new crag. Both Hannah and Liesel made it to the top of two climbs and Felicity gave it a good go but we didn't want her to go too high or it would be too hard to get her down! It was a great afternoon all together and we went for  $1 tacos at a local restaurant and ate wayyyyy too many tacos (is that possible?)

For FHE we made a grateful tree and covered it with thankful leaves. The girls came up with so many great things they were thankful for. 

Tuesday I had a shoot which consumed the day until 1:30pm. Then I took the kids biking and literally ran in front of Felicity holding a dum-dum while she chased me and tried to get it. Then I planted it in the dirt at the end of the trail and she got to pull it out again. Happiest I've ever seen her. I didn't see the other kids pretty much the whole ride because they are quite fast and I'm with F, but at the very end Liesel did come up to me in tears because Owen told her she wasn't following directions and would have a consequence but she was waiting at the correct "mushroom rock" that we designated for the meeting location. They got over it pretty quickly and moved on. 

It had been almost a year since I had taken the kids to the Island in the Sky to see Brian at work. The drive always feels so long to me and the hikes are a bit stressful with kids because there are drop offs everywhere... but they were out of school and it made sense so we trekked up there on Wednesday to go see him. It was fun to see him in his office and the girls liked 1) the 3D dinosaur book 2)Seeing their photos on his desk calendar 3) pressing the raise and lower button on his electronic stand-up desk. Then I took them on two short hikes. I was cranky with Felicity who wasn't moving toward the end of the hikes. An hour later as we were driving home, I felt her forehead and she was burning with fever. Mom guilt. Allison and Mike arrived that night for the Thanksgiving holiday that evening. I was worried about Felicity having the flu. Brian's co-worker at ISKY (older gentleman on the interp staff) had died suddenly within three days of getting the flu. I woke up multiple times both because Felicity was so ill and needed medicine, water, blankets, pee etc and also because I was so anxious about her illness. Thanksgiving Day she woke up fairly normal and improved throughout the day until she seemed like her normal self.

Cooked a lot on Thursday and enjoyed the company of Allison and Mike and Sarah. Made the typical thanksgiving fare, but since we didn't have plans to eat until Brian got home from work, I snuck in a quick mtn bike ride and then we all went on a hike to some petragylphs. After Brian got home, we feasted and then talked. It was great. 

Friday morning we woke up and got ready to go the mountains to cut down our christmas tree. This was the first year that the mountains really had almost no snow. We drove up higher than ever and the kids hiked around with us. Felicity was especially excited for the snow. Liesel was incredibly opinionated about the tree and Hannah was just enjoying life.  We found the fullest tree we've had in years and Mike and Allison found their tree as well. We zoomed back down the mountain and changed gears from snow and cold to shorts and chacos and geared up the boat for our last float down the Colorado until next spring. The water was cold, green and somewhat clear... we stopped and played at a beach for a long time and Felicity carried around a stuffed rat that she found tied to the fence while mountain biking-- she's taken a serious liking to it and has named it Elizabeth despite Liesel trying to change her mind by suggesting names like "mousy" and things she thinks are more appropriate. It was only dropped into the river once. We played at the river beaches and got more wet than we anticipated on the small rapids. Luckily I had everyone's coats, which Liesel refused to wear until the last 5 minutes as we were heading home. I felt bad that Allison and Mike got super splashed on the last wave we hit! It was shady and cold at that point. 

When we got home, I prepped for Liesel's family birthday party. She wanted to celebrate a week early since grandma and grandpa were here, so I printed off the Liesel Quiz, pulled out the wrapped presents and we had a wonderful family party. The kids have come to enjoy their videos so much that I have to make sure I prepare one every year. You can see Liesel's video trailer HERE and the 9 minute film HERE. It was very sweet to go around in a circle and share what we love about her. I'm so glad our family started this tradition because you vocalize important feelings and talents that you may not otherwise be inclined to share. The love in the room is strong. Hannah told everyone not to cry and then halfway through she was crying along side the rest of us as we told LIesel what we love about her. Then she ripped open her presents and was thrilled with what she received. Hannah gave her a fancy fan and owl. Hannah picked them out off of Amazon and I created a job list with 5 jobs Hannah had to check off to earn money for these gifts. She did them all dutifully and without complaining at all. I was so impressed. Liesel was always trying to ask for hints beforehand like, "what letter does it start with?" and Hannah would be like, "an 'O' and it's sparkly." She guessed the owl ahead of time, but not the fan. 

I had photo shoots all day Saturday, our company left and Brian did a bunch of house projects. We set up the Christmas tree and got the Christmas decorations out. It feels so festive and peaceful. I love it. We had our usual friend-dinner tonight with the Allreds and Penrods. It was a good evening, a great day and wonderful week. 

bumpie taken today before church-- 32 weeks tomorrow! 

girls at Mesa Arch right before I started yelling at Felicity not to move before she fell off a ledge

My almost 7-year-old! Here party is this week on her birthday! yay! 

Felicity and mom on the river-- note the rat in her life vest. 

Our tree! 

Hannah and Sarah on the river. 

November is my new fave.

Things are good here. I almost can't separate the week into days, which means it rolled along blissfully without much on the schedule. It was the first week that I've had no new photography shoots to go to since August. . . instead of trying to juggle mom/business-owner, I could just focus on being mom. I would frequently have a pit in my stomach throughout the week thinking I needed to organize a babysitter or I was missing something only to realize there was nothing to forget. I think this is why my poor kids aren't signed up for a darn thing. They beg for dance (hannah) and horse back riding (Liesel), but it feels too good to have no deadlines to pack everyone up for. Liesel will be starting piano lessons after Thanksgiving (taught by Leslie), but that feels different. 

I feel like I've hardly seen Brian lately. He was gone in Denver last week and when he got back, his two friends from FLETC were in town on Mon/Tues so he spent both of his days off with them. Then he was in charge of an 80 person SAR training involving multiple counties in Utah, so that kept him busy the rest of the week until today. And he got into bed at 8pm. 

We celebrated our TEN YEAR wedding anniversary on Friday and were able to go on a date that night to a fancy restaurant in town. It was fun to think back and we both decided that we are pretty much exactly where we thought we would be after 10 years of marriage. We're heading on an overnight getaway to Fruita, CO tomorrow. Maybe we can pick out a baby name since we still have talked about that at all! 

Speaking of which, I feel like with the holidays rapidly approaching, I'm going to be due before I know it. Once New Years is over, I'll have like, 3 weeks till go-time. Wow. Baby number 4. Kind of feels like the top of the roller coaster and you know you've signed up for it, but you're still like "oh man! What did I get myself into!" I've decided to try and ignore my discomfort and run and mountain bike through this pregnancy. It definitely improves my happiness level... although I went with two other friends this week and I was in the back the whole time. I don't like being last. 

This week I'm realizing what a big girl Liesel is. She is reading amazingly well and just bumped up another reading level this week. She doesn't struggle at all with math or anything else in class. Her teacher told me at p/t conferences that Liesel is the kind of girl she can pair with anyone in class. With this said, she had been complaining about a difficult reading partner for a while and it just switched to one of her good friends-- Justin. She was very happy about that. School comes pretty naturally to her, but it also might be that Moab curriculum is easy. Liesel has really stepped up to being an older sister to Felicity lately and it's so cute when she will give her attention. Today F was growling like a lion and L was screaming and it made Felicity laugh so hard. 

Hannah has seemed a bit glum since she turned five. Not all the time, but more prone to massive mood swings. She brought a rock on our hike yesterday that she had found about a month ago-- it was shaped like a pizza and she carried it the entire 4.5 miles but somehow lost it in the last half mile. She ran back to where she last went pee on the trail all by herself to try and find it, but no luck. Her little slumped shoulders let me know immediately there was no success. She is a determined little girl and cried for the rest of the way to the car. 

This week I took felicity on several excursions while the kids were in school... mostly biking. She hated some and cried the whole time and loved others. She surprised me by hiking almost the entire 4.5 mile trail yesterday. She never complained, so I never picked her up until the last little bit back to the car when she seemed so tired she was laughing and loopy. I think she was still tired today because they told me she was very cranky in nursery and refused to color her picture. I am struggling with her to learn anything of a religious nature. Her prayer is the exact same every time and she gets very annoyed if I try and encourage her to add anything: "dear Hevly Father, tank dee for mom and dad. Name of Jesus Christ amen." This of course really offends Hannah and Liesel, but that doesn't seem to faze F'liss in getting the job done as quickly as possible. I'm worried about this new baby rocking her world, but I just tell myself that in five years, everything will be easier and Liesel will be able to babysit. ;) 

November this year has been surprisingly stunning-- hardly any gloomy days, perfect weather and still a few leaves clinging to branches. 

Hiking Negro Bill canyon with my girls and the Heidi's kids yesterday. I will still call it Negro Bill canyon despite the official BLM politically correct name change to William Grandstaff Canyon. 

My tic-tac-toe of cuties. 

Taking selfies with Felicity and laughing at all of her cute faces. There were several funny faces, but this was the only one without gag-enducing yellow snot running down her face.

Highs and Lows

I just want to say that I also really like getting these weekly updates. It is fun to read about what everyone is doing each week! All of these "mundane" things are actually so fun to hear in your lives! I want to respond to everyone personally, but I'm trying to make getting this letter out a priority before B gets home in an hour so we can spend some time together this evening.

This week was full of highs and lows. Or maybe it was the low week to match last weeks high week. It started last Sunday night when Felicity woke up twice in the middle of the night after throwing up. The next day was followed by uncontrollable diarrhea and I cleaned it up off of the table, the floor and all overt the bathroom. I was really hoping it was something she ate.

It wasn't.

Monday is Brian's day off so it usually consists of us swapping little adventures. Brian left as I was getting the kids ready for school to bike the whole enchilada and surprised me by getting home at 1:15pm! That bike trail starts in the mountains and is 35 miles long and he ended right at our house. I left afterward to go bike with Sven's wife, Brenna and a few of her friends. 

Tuesday the sickness showed up again. I got home from running with a friend at 7:30am to a sick Hannah and more throw up. It was Halloween, so there were a million activities. Moab might be the only school that lets kids out early (12:45) for Halloween and prior to that there was a costume parade and Liesel's poem performance on the black top where they shared about a "scary" animal (her group did hyenas). Brian took the kids to the carnival hosted by the school and Hannah was so sick she fell asleep for 3hrs afterward. I had to wake her up to ask if she still wanted to trick or treat, and she insisted she did. She was lethargic, but we still had a great time trick-or-treating. I love Halloween. It is such a great excuse to knock on your neighbors doors and mingle with everyone in the streets. Some ward members make scones and cocoa outside and we always love going to their house. The kids had a great time, but I was glad I had the stroller. 

Hannah was sick all the next day and then Liesel woke me up Wednesday night saying that her belly hurt. I realized at 3am that mine was hurting too and spent the next while loosing it on both ends. All the kids stayed home on Thursday and Brian left that morning for Denver, Colorado where he had a Search and Rescue conference and managed to avoid the plague. The sitters I had lined up for my photo shoots that weekend both got word that my kids were sick and canceled on me. I was stranded with no sitter but couldn't cancel the shoots. Sarah Hays ended up coming to my rescue. Thank goodness for family. I thought I was feeling better that night, but around dinner time I was so ill I couldn't move. I was on the toilet throwing up in the trashcan at the same time. In tears I asked Liesel to make dinner for the kids, which she did-- she got the bread and made toast, applesauce and carrots. Hearing her organize the troops, set the table and make it all while I was in bed was a light in the darkness. I had called Brian in tears and he talked to Liesel to ask her to help me and she stepped up and did. I was really proud of her. 

I felt somewhat better the next day and managed to finish the photo shoot in the evening (Friday). Then that night Hannah woke up screaming and crying and had both pooped her pants all and thrown up all over her bed and floor. She had been better for 3 days at this point! That happened another two times that night. 

Needless to say, I had a lot of laundry the next day and we spent all morning bleaching and clorox wiping every single surface in the house. The kids helped me as well and then I couldn't stand being in the house anymore and we all went to the stake Super Saturday (crafts, soup and bread for the sisters). Felicity peed her pants on the church carpet, the kids whined in my ear the entire time and I had to rush Hannah to the bathroom a few times to avoid a blowout. But I made my block letters that said "JOY" for christmas and I felt like they were mocking me. 

I left grateful to get home again. Sarah watched the kids for my second photo shoot and I was so glad to get home and binge on Stranger Things on Netflix and scare myself since I was home alone and B wasn't back yet. I also raided the kids Halloween candy now that I was feeling better (crunched up snickers and reeces on ice cream and didn't even feel shame) and took advantage of the extra hour I was gaining from daylight savings by staying up way to late. 

Then this morning everyone woke up happy! With normal poopy! And no throw up! And totally back to normal! And we went to church and it was a wonderful meeting full of the spirit and I was so grateful that Heavenly Father blessed me with healthy children in time for church. I had prayed the night before to know why the sacrament was important when I could just pray and ask for forgiveness of my sins -- what was the need for the additional step each week? And it was answered again and again in the meeting! Just a wonderful reminder that the Lord answers our prayers and will continue to help me learn as I come to Him with my questions. 

Liesel the Native American! She was so excited about this costume and was so happy to wear it to school with the feather and beads in her hair. It was $10 on amazon and there's no way I could even make a costume for that cheap! She wanted it so badly she paid for half of it with her money from watching the neighbors chickens. 

Hannah the princess. I told Hannah I thought she was smiling like that because she was feeling so sick, but she said, "No. I was smiling like that because I didn't want to mess up my lipstick." Also, I did her hair so cute in ringlet curls with my hot rollers but she hated it and insisted I brush it out. Little stinker. This costume was a result of Liesel convincing Brian and I to buy it for Hannah from Liesel because, "I know she'll love it so so so much!" I caved. 

Felicity the "sunflower fairy"-- she was so excited! I didn't have any face paint for these kids, so I used regular crayola kid paint and it worked great. I also covered her face with shimmery eye shadow as "pixie dust" and she was thrilled about the whole thing. She was on turbo running from house to house to get the candy from everyone and more than one person had to ask her to stop reaching in their bowl. ;)