Weird Bugs

We've had a couple of weird illnesses befall our family the last week or so. The first started with Rory developing a pretty serious and prolific rash.

It came out of nowhere, and covered her entire body, though not all of it all at once. It moved around from day to day. By the second day, it looked so bad, and she'd scratched so much that we decided we better take her to the doctor to make sure it wasn't something serious. The doctor told us it was just hives. Hives? I've never seen hives that looked like that, but oh well. Rory lived on a steady diet of Benadryl for a couple of days, and the rash cleared up without any adverse effects. Weird.

A few days after that, Rory developed a fever and some pretty severe body aches. Her appetite disappeared, and she decided to take a nap, something that all by itself tells us she truly isn't feeling well. Luckily, she was feeling more like herself a day or two later, and nothing more serious came of it. Then on Memorial Day, Finn kept falling asleep in his high chair, and had no interest in eating his lunch.

I went to check on him, as I didn't want him to sleep in his chair and then not take a nap, when I discovered that he too had a fever. He seemed so tired, but was determined to eat his food. I finally convinced him to go down for his nap, and he slept well, but his fever continued through the evening. We went to Jan and Bob's for dinner, and Finn barely ate a thing, opting instead to cozy up with either Mom or Grandpa.

As the evening wore on, he fell asleep in my arms, something he never does anymore. Poor kid was just tuckered out, and his body was on fire. Here's hoping this passes as quickly for him as it did for Rory.

Out it Comes!

Rory had been telling us for days that her tooth was loose, so the day after I returned from St. George, I asked her to let me pull it out. She was honestly the bravest of our three kids, and within a few seconds, it was out! Rory is by far the earliest kid to have lost a tooth in our family, beating out her other two sisters by more than six months. The tooth next to it on the bottom is loose as well, so it won't be long until she has a mouth full of holes.

Only one more kid, with one more first tooth to lose!

St. George With the Ladies

Sara was kind enough to work out a time with her brother that we could, as the women of the Rogers family, go down to St. George to have some time away together. We left around noon on a Friday, and made the trek down there. It happened to be the day that Pitch Perfect 2 was released, so we almost had no choice but to watch it, right?

The theater was packed, and I don't know that I've ever laughed so hard in a movie. It was great fun. The next day, we got moving fairly early in order to beat the heat for a hike around Snow Canyon.

I suggested hiking around the petrified dunes, because they're pretty cool to wander, but it turns out that Katie and Meg don't enjoy hiking unless there's a specific path to follow. No ambling allowed.

I figured out how to use the self timer on my phone camera, and because of that, we were able to get several good pictures, albeit with a few mishaps.

But we figured it out.

I think is my favorite one from the hike.

As you can see, it was mostly overcast, so the temperature couldn't have been more ideal for hiking. I'm still not at my best, so I was frustrated to find myself more tired than I would have expected, given how mild the hike was in general. It didn't help that I hadn't slept at all the night before, due to some new medicine my doctor had given me. Once we were home, we quickly showered and dressed up to go to the St. George Temple, where we were all able to participate in some initiatory work. The temple was beautiful, both inside and out.

After that, the other four went shopping while I tried (unsuccessfully) to have a nap (stupid medicine!). Then they swung by to pick me up, and we went to dinner at a place none of us have ever tried, and whose name I honestly can't remember. It didn't wow me, but the company was great. Before we went back to the condo, we stopped at a place called Swig, that has dirty drinks and amazing sugar cookies. We were all delighted to find a drink called the "Big Al", and I forced Katie and Meg to take a picture with me for my dad's sake.

We finished off the evening by staying up late and watching some girly movies at the condo. The next morning we ate breakfast, packed up, and played a game of Philly before it was time to head home. It was a fun trip, and a great getaway, I'm glad we made it happen. Thanks Ladies!

Just Because

Maisie's 5K!

As I mentioned in Maisie's birthday post, she's been doing a program called "Running Forward" at her school for most of the year. It culminates in a 5K run up at the U of U. Anyone living in Utah for the past several weeks knows it's felt more like being in Seattle than our desert home, and that particular Saturday forecast was looking pretty grim. Maisie and Henry both completed the 5K in 40 degree weather, and pouring rain. They looked like drowned rats.

Despite being cold and tired, they both seemed elated at completing the run, and each participating child was given a T-shirt, and a free pair of nice athletic shoes! Not too shabby.

We were all very proud of Maisie and Henry for completing a full 5K at their age especially, and given the circumstances. Maisie commented that she will never take a hot shower for granted again. Way to go guys!

Since You've Been Gone...

I know I haven't blogged in a long time, but it's not because nothing has been going on. It's actually been because there has been too much going on, and some of it fairly big. The biggest thing, I think, was that I had a major surgery on April 29th. A hysterectomy to be exact. I've never had any surgery of any kind, and really didn't know what to expect. Things went really well, and the recovery hasn't been terrible. Turns out it takes a lot longer than I thought to get back to normal though. I'm still not quite there, but I'm approaching it, I think.

Maisie's Welcome Home sign, after I returned from surgery

My family has been amazing, bringing meals and taking kids, being supportive in general. And Teag has been absolutely fantastic, taking on the lion's share of all household/kid related duties. I've never once heard him complain. In fact, he's always the one urging me to take it easy, and not push things. He sent me this adorable video when I was at the hospital over night, in case I was feeling lonely.

When Mother's Day rolled around a few weeks after my surgery, he went out of his way to spoil me, trying out a new recipe that I think will be a favorite for years to come. A feta and asparagus frittata, with sausage and mixed berries. So good!

And speaking of Mother's Day, the Relief Society of our ward did a really cute Mother and Daughter tea party the day before, where everyone was supposed to wear their fanciest hats. Obviously, I have plenty of daughters, so we all got dressed up and enjoyed some tasty finger foods and herbal tea.

I shouldn't say the herbal tea was enjoyed though. All three of the girls tried it, but not one of them liked it. Rory was also traumatized by the contents of one of the finger sandwiches, and wouldn't eat it, despite the fact that she hadn't even tried it first.

The offending sandwich? Turkey with a cranberry and cream cheese spread. Oh, the horror! She is by far our pickiest eater. The best part though, was after she ate it and decided it wasn't that bad. All that drama for nothing. And speaking of Rory, I wanted to post a picture of her prize winning artwork, from the school's annual Art Night. Rory won first place for her diorama.

The theme was "Who is your Hero?", and she chose me, then drew pictures of the ways that I help her. I love the simplicity of Rory's drawings, but how emotive the faces of her characters are. I thought she did a great job, and I was very proud of her. Maisie and Danyn both won first place as well. Maisie wrote an essay about her cousin Caitlyn being her hero, and Danyn drew a picture of Martin Luther King Jr. giving his "I have a Dream" speech. I'm proud of all of them for their hard work, and creativity.