This is What Recovery Looks Like

Gary broke his overtime record this winter . . . we are so glad he has the job, but he sure was gone a whole lot. I heard one of my boys say, "Well, my dad works until my mom is sleeping." In the midst of Gary's super-busy season, we all got sick. Lissy and I got really sick. Lissy ended up in the hospital for two weeks, including 5 days of intensive care. Also in the midst of the busy season and around the hospitalization, we have been involved an effort to prevent the marching band from drumming our babies and ill neighbors out of bed at 6 a.m. Also in the midst of it all my parents moved really far away. To east Texas. We have been really blessed through it all; I feel lucky in so many ways. But we needed a break.

So . . . last weekend we visited Gary's parents in St. George. It was sunny, we were together as a family, and we could not see any of the problems in our house that need fixing. Aaaaaah . . . As a huge bonus, we got to see my mom and sister as they passed through town on their way down south. My mom saved me in a moment of idiocy, hooking Lissy up with more than a vacation's worth of stuff when I left her carefully-packed bag at home. I'll make sure and tell her where those things come from so she can remember you, mom. We also got to see Gary's sister for a moment, and spend lots of time with Gary's mom. The kids LOVED their grandma time, and begged to stay longer. We couldn't stay the 7 days they were asking for, but we did relent when Noah asked to stay at grandma's house "just an hour 67." And another bonus, Kristen and Shane, the kid mega-favorites, live in St. George and came to play with us. Yep, the company and the sunshine (and probably the antibiotics) did their job, erasing away the stress little by little . . .

Kristen discovered that Lissy really likes to lick the juice from the inside of a grape. As long as that grape was around, Lissy's stranger issues were just fine. (Yeah, she has had stranger issues since the hospital.)

All 3 of the boys rode their scooters for hours. And hours more. There were plenty of sidewalks in a cul-de-sac, a long driveway, sunshine all over . . . perfect. On Sunday Andrew just couldn't quit, and did extra scooting. I asked him if he wanted something inside, and he said, "Not yet, I gotta finish my scooter."

Josh could have spun on this all day. He almost did. Giant sucker courtesy Uncle Shane and Aunt Kristen. Those lasted the boys a while.

Gary and his mom were the swing-pushing champions. I don't know how long they pushed Noah and Andrew, but it was a significant portion of the more than 3 hours we spent at the park. At one point Josh took a a turn pushing Andrew. At another point Andrew was pushing a random girl. There was a lot of cute teamwork going on.

Lissy LOVED the suckers. (Don't talk to me about germs and sugar, please. She was adorable.)

Josh was literally all over this rock climbing wall. I was really impressed with his ability to find holds and not be afraid of  climbing in a new way. 

Josh did this pose every time he got to the top of the wall. Gary said it was inspiring.

Noah had been playing like he was Diego saving sloths, but I didn't get my camera out until this.  Still cute.

This kid is really adventurous. There is a toddler area that he did not frequent. This is the most tame thing he went for the whole time.