more to life: take two

 the boys went with the Rusts to Trafalga.  

you and Raylee stayed here to play.

I love your under-the-sea creation, 

especially the coral you made.

9/22/12

 snow on the mountain tops; first signs of cooler weather (ok, winter)  9/25/12

 you love to have your hair braided for the waves when you take them out  9/24/12

 Dallin spent several days in bed; on day three he mentioned soreness in his throat.  This and day three of a high fever prompted me to take him to the dr.  

First assesment:  mono.  

Later in the evening dr suggested a chest xray, found pneumonia.  

A week later, back to dr because of high fever (cleared up after the week) coughing & trouble breathing.  Oxygen levels fine, proceed with another chest xray, an ultrasound on his spleen, a monospot, a complete blood count test & a check of his electrolytes to check for liver function.  

Results:  mono, fluid in lungs still, enlarged spleen with excess fluid around it & low white blood cell count.

He is a good patient & it was a pleasure to take care of him and spend some extra, unexpected time together.  We had a few short walks, played catch with the football, enjoyed some Everybody Loves Raymond laughs, studied next to each other (I liked hearing about his work in math & science, he wasn't too keen on listening to me read about adjusted gross income, itemized deductions and tax credits), read Candy Shop Wars to him and I had to spoil him a little bit with a donut.

10/5/12

 you and I made cards during General Conference; thank goodness for vacuums!  10/7/12

 one of my favorite things is morning walks in the fall; this particular walk was even more refreshing as the sound of dripping water from these icicles reminded me that a change in the weather is near.  10/8/12

thanks to Kyralyn's prompting we pulled out our emergency kits this past weekend and switched out the old food, old water, and had a few good laughs about the other things we found in them:  diapers for a 1 year old, pajamas for an 18 month old, underwear way too small for the boys (modeled by Parker but we'll skip the picture!) & this too-small-for-him-now camo shirt he is wearing.

Parker was fascinated by the concept of waterproof matches.  I think his first thought was what they created would be waterproof.  A quick light & dunk under water made things clear.

I had to chuckle as once again the differences in my boys showed.  Looking at the counter, Parker's pack was empty, its belongings spread in a wide circle around it.  Dallin's items came out one-by-one, and went into neat orderly piles.  10/12/12

The boys have been reminding us all week that they need basketball shoes.  (Remember, I'm a shoe snob and they need a good supportive pair of shoes to play in, everyday school shoes - which are actually basketball shoes right now - won't work)  We held off ordering them until we could make a visit to the newest sporting goods store in the area, Scheels.  10/12/12

Ok, so it's just another sporting goods store.  But it has a ferris wheel!  We did find a pair of shoes for Parker that were on sale for cheaper than we would have paid had we ordered them online.  He loves putting them on and walking around the house.  Can't wait to get them in the gym!  We thought Dallin might need a 14 but after checking, decided a 13 will be enough.  He had hoped for purple shoes.  Couldn't find any reasonably priced shoes for him so we came home and ordered some nice black & whites from Eastbay online.  (There is a limit to this ridiculous shoe snobbery).

 

You still love putting together stylish outfits.  This is one of your favorites right now.  You've received several compliments on it from strangers who love your creations!

10/11/12 

(oh good, I did get a photo on this cool date!)

  10/10/12  Paul put together yet another successful Pack Meeting:

the 2nd annual Raingutter Regatta.

Parker won the first round (with the fastest time of the night, 11.3 seconds).  He lost his second round with one of his best friends (his sail spun the wrong direction).  His and Ty's times were the 3rd & 4th best overall so they had to race together again for positioning.  

Last year Ty beat you,

this year you were victorious for 3rd place.

Way to go, son!