Buying Gatorade

Some days are better off forgotten, but it's important to document real life.

Over the weekend Dan did the very unfun prep for a colonoscopy early Monday morning. I was at the grocery store on Saturday buying him the food/liquids that he was allowed to eat, which was basically chicken broth and Gatorade.   On Sunday he was allowed clear liquids and was up all night "prepping" for the test. Dan, Aubrey, and I left at 6 a.m., dropping Aubrey at the church for Seminary, and then I drove Dan across town to the clinic where he would have the procedure. As soon as he was checked in I drove 25 minutes back home to get Joseph ready for school and out the door for his first day of safety patrol before school. I said hello to Aubrey who had been dropped off after seminary, and the plan was for her get herself ready before being picked up for school by a friend.

I dropped off Joseph at the school, drove 25 minutes back to the clinic and was able to see Dan as he was coming out of anesthesia. When he got the all-clear to go home I texted Aubrey to make sure she was ready to be picked up. She said that she felt like she was going to throw up. What?  We stopped at the grocery store to buy her Gatorade, soda, and crackers.

When we arrived home she opened the door for us after just having thrown up in the bathroom. She was a little weak and woozy and slept for a few hours before going to school because there was no way she could miss certain classes. Besides, she felt lots better and we figured it must be a fluke or something she had eaten.

As soon as Joseph came home from school he (like always) wanted to invite two friends to play.  One of the friends could only come if the younger 6-year-old brother could come too. We had some misgivings about this because of past history, but picked up both friends and the brother.  Within a short time the little brother was upset, the older brother was upset, both were refusing to play, and the other friend was annoyed at all of them. Joseph tearfully tried to play peacemaker.

They all went home about the time Aubrey came home from school, mighty mad that she had just learned that she had a huge presentation due the next day. She grumbled and mumbled, sometimes quietly and sometimes not. 

Meanwhile, Joseph poked at his dinner and kept leaving the table to rest on the couch. Not a good sign! At 7:30 he went into the bathroom and was explosively and violently sick in two different ways. It was horrible for him. He was so exhausted that he fell into bed, but was awakened every 20-40 minutes all night long with more violent spasms. We eventually made him a bed on the floor of our room so we could more easily help him. Midway through the night I sent Dan, who had gotten almost no sleep the night before and who had to be up to teach seminary at 4:40 am., to the other room to sleep for a few hours. 

It feels so helpless to have kids really sick, but it's also a chance to be humbled and remember our need to ask for healing and for strength.  At one point Joseph was moaning on the toilet and I was spread out on the bed, exhausted. I heard his sweet voice say "Mom, if you want to pray for me, that would be really good. And don't forget to pray that I can get sleep."  You're right, Joseph, that's exactly what I needed to do. I dropped to my knees and prayed that my boy would be able to get better and get the rest he badly needed.

Finally at about 4 a.m. Joseph's violent illness subsided and he has been sleeping on a sickbed on the couch for the last few hours. While he was sleeping I ran to the grocery store again to get MORE Gatorade, soda, and saltine crackers. I had to send texts to the parents of the friends who played at our house yesterday and were unknowingly exposed to illness. Then I crawled onto the other couch and slept for 3 hours. Now that I'm up I really need to address not only my long to-do list, but also the piles of very soiled sickness laundry piled round the house from our misadventures during the night.

Oh, and I ate a delicious oatmeal fudge bar to console myself. And I really don't want to throw it up!

End of Summer and Back to School!

As summer wound down, it was time to think about going back to school.  We went school shopping, which was a lot more fun for Aubrey and me than for Dan and Joseph.  As we walked out of the mall both kids squeezed into their favorite motorized "car" for a nostalgic and very squished ride.

And then, Joseph's back to school ice cream social, where he saw his 5th grade classroom and started to get really excited about being the "big kid" in the elementary school.

And Aubrey got her school pictures taken and compared schedules with her friends at high school registration.

In a last ditch attempt to savor summer, the kids and I joined the youth in the ward for a day at Merwin Lake, playing in the water and boating.

 This is the only picture I got of Aubrey at the lake- she wasn't thrilled about being photographed!

Joseph got a back to school haircut which did not turn out the way he wanted. He walked in with very defined ideas about how he wanted his hair cut and even brought a picture, but the stylist cut it very differently. Here is he is trying to be brave afterward. We had a good talk on the way home about how she should have listened better to him and honored his wishes. We are hunting for a hair stylist who is a better listener!

This is evidence of my tortilla fail. I hosted a brunch for my new presidency as a "getting to know you" activity before we were officially sustained on August 30th. I made baked breakfast tacquitos from my favorite Our Best Bites ladies.  They never steer me wrong, but this time I just couldn't keep up with their awesomeness. They said on the blog that homemade tortillas are so easy and delicious that we would never go back to buying them again. I beg to differ. I followed the instructions carefully, but they were hard and chalky. Thank goodness Costco sells great raw tortillas.  But, the brunch was great, and the women I am working with are amazing!

 Back to school FHE at Ice Cream Renaissance. Joseph didn't like the ice cream.

 Back to school breakfast at a cute bakery in town for me and Aubrey on the day before school started. 

And then, the exciting start to a new school year!

Aubrey, sophomore in high school.

Joseph, 5th grader.

Here is a picture of Joseph and Dan at the bus stop on the first day of school. Joseph was giggling but too cool to look at the camera. He also makes me kiss him on the cheek long before we get to the bus stop and tells me to stay away and not kiss him once the bus approaches and his friends can see him.

And the after school welcome home treat.

And, finally, just because, this was my favorite birthday gift by far!

AMAZING Gertrude!

In August Aubrey performed as the "Amazing Gertrude" in Seussical, performed in the Winningstad theater in Portland.  She was truly amazing. Everyone agreed that stole the show! Her singing was beautiful as always, but it was fun to also see her comedic timing and incredible acting. 

Here she is with Horton the Elephant after the show (without his floppy ears)

 After her performances, we had a hard time even reaching her to congratulate her. EVERYONE wanted to talk to and get a picture with Gertrude - her fellow castmates and also people who watched the show. I heard several parents of kids in the show tell her "don't tell my kid this, but you were my favorite character in the show!"

Even the little kids wanted to get close to Gertrude and talk to her.

 Finally, we were able to congratulate our favorite star and give her some pretty roses.

After the matinee show she changed out of costume and we walked to a pizza place for lunch. Look at the marquee behind her, advertising the show!

 The first show we had our entire family in attendance! Just Dan and I went to the next show, and then I impetuously decided to return for the final show that night. I couldn't get enough of watching Aubrey's performance! I took two of Aubrey's friends and her favorite YW leader with me. 

 It is so much fun to see Aubrey enjoying herself and performing so well. We wish we could have taped the entire performance for out of town family! Unfortunately, this wasn't allowed due to copyright, but a parent sent us a few clips he had illegally taped on his cellphone.

Week-long party with ALL the Porters

In August we were SO lucky to have all 3 of our college kids home for a week between school semesters. We loved being all together!

Some of the things we did:

While Bailey and I were still in San Diego, Dan partied and the rest of the family partied hard without us. On Saturday they went to a delicious and quirky Mac 'n Cheese restaurant in Portland and then to a Lasertag place to play a few rounds.

Bailey was so happy to be reunited with her little buddy.

Mmmmm - Burgerville for lunch now that we were all back together.

We did have to take a few days out of the week to fit in doctor and dentist visits and shopping for clothes. Here Brandon is shoe shopping right after getting his eyes dilated, so he sported these really cool shades!

One of the highlights of the week was taking everyone to Wicked, with a stop at the Laughing Planet before.

Selfies while we waited for the theater to open up. Aubrey had walked across the street with me and Dan because she was too excited to pose for pictures. 

Another highlight of the trip: my amazing kids and Dan decided to celebrate my birthday early, since the college kids would be back at school by then. When I left to Mutual on Wednesday night, they went into overdrive and cleaned and decorated the house PRINCESS PARTY style. I think they had bought out everything princessy at the Dollar Store! Dan said that every girl should have a princess party at some point in her life. While I was gone, Angela also made a beautiful 2-layer cake with homemade frosting . . . all in 1 1/2 hours!

When I walked back in through the laundry room, I stopped and switched out laundry from the washer, all the while singing a song to myself. After a bit, I heard Joseph suppress a giggle and I finally looked over to the entryway and realized that my family (minus Bailey, who was at a party) were standing together in the hallway holding a birthday sign.  They shouted Surprise and we had a good laugh about how clueless I was!  I was so surprised and it was so much fun!  I wore my princess getup and blew out candles on my cake and we posed for pictures.

We sat down to eat our candy and cake at the princess table.

 Dan looks so cute with his princess popcorn container.

But wait, it's not over yet!  The next morning Brandon and Angela made me homemade banana nutella crepes and a healthy and delicious smoothie to continue the birthday celebration.

Dan took the day off work so we could party all day. We drove to the Gorge to do a hike, but the road was blocked so we couldn't get to our hiking destination. We got some great pictures of the Gorge and Columbia River anyway.

 Then we drove to Portland to a vegan restaurant Angela had found online in deference to my culinary sensibilities.

We also stopped in Portland at an Asian supermarket to get some tamarind so Brandon and Angela could make amazing avocado egg rolls for dinner. My daughter in law is a fantastic cook!

Another highlight of the week: attending Aubrey's Seussical play. I'll talk more about the play in another post. What a fun night with our favorite actress!

And we stopped for Yo2Go on the way home to celebrate.  I just noticed that most of my pictures from the week are food-related. I think that says something about the role good food plays in our celebrations!

And then, the next morning we sadly said goodbye to our favorite BYU students (Aubrey was in Portland getting ready for her next performance).

 We miss these amazing young adults!