No big updates from us since last time.

Family Campout

Two weekends ago we went on a family campout. We have gone once before with two other families. This time we added one more family, but that's about as many families, I think, that will fit into the family campout scheme we have worked out. It works great to have other families there, because you share everything, including the sites and the cost, and you end up spending less than you would have just going with your own family. And that's awesome. ... The kids love the camping. We will go again in April, when it's warming up again. It's fun.

Plus, fires are pretty cool. We've been having a good time making tin foil dinners in our fire pit outside. And they're actually really really good. We have a wood pile that we intend to have used up by the time next summer comes and we'll be moving (if it all works out). So we make a fire probably once a week, sometimes more. We make s'mores and tin foil dinners and sometimes we just make the fire to make a fire. Code says that you have to be cooking over it for it to be legal to make a fire, so we always at least make s'mores. S'mores might be one of the best things EVER. So yummy. ... The other night we made a fire and as it died down (fires are like very demanding children. You can't leave them unattended), we sat around it and watched Tim Conway youtube videos. It was awesome. There's something about a fire that makes you want to just stare at it and let the world pass you by while you sit still.

Rob's Paper

Rob is really close to having his first paper finished and ready to publish. But I feel like that's where it's been for YEARS. :) Okay, it hasn't been that long, but it feels like it's dragging out. One of these days I'll send out an update saying it was published in this journal and it'll feel nice to have that completed. ... Rob has started writing his thesis and is doing experiments now for his second paper. Everyone cross their fingers that the results will come.

Miciah and School

Miciah is still enjoying school. She's a very self-motivated learner, which impresses me. Though we did have to have a discussion with her about homework. You do homework before you go outside to play or play a computer game. This discussion made Rob feel really old. How many times did our parents tell us that and how many times did we groan about it? And now here we are saying the same thing.

Teancom

Teancom has leaped ahead in just the last week. The signs we've been trying to teach him for the last 2 months (food/eat, juice, more, milk, and all done) he's now learned and is using unprompted. Out of the blue, it seems, he just suddenly was using them. So it's really really nice to be able to have him tell us what he wants. He's also taken a step for us, though he still thinks it's hysterical that we get so excited about it. ... I'm not sure I can define what's changed in Teancom. He just seems more attentive and alert and like he wants to communicate with us. Like he's trying to interact with us, whereas before he'd just smile at us when we tried to get him to sign. :) I think he likes that he can sign food and get food.

He still thinks it's pretty funny to hit me when he's tired. Usually in the face. Why he should think this is so funny, I don't know.

Elijah

Elijah was sick a week ago Sunday. He woke up puking at 6 a.m. Sunday morning and was up sick until 8:30 or so. He woke up feeling much better at 10:30 a.m. Everyone was at church except for him and me, and he turned to me and asked where Daddy was. I told him that they were all at church because Elijah was sick. He looked at me a little puzzled and said, "I'm sick?" It was cute. ... He's so sweet when he's not feeling well, really. When he first woke up, I jumped out of bed because all I heard was what sounded like Elijah choking. I ran in to find he'd thrown up all over his bed and himself. I took him into the bathroom to finish while Rob changed the sheets. After it had passed, I took Elijah into the living room. He took a detour to his room, looked in to see Rob, smiled at him and gave him a thumbs up. :)

That was a pretty off day. Later I remarked to someone about how if that's how Elijah's sickness went, I'd sign up for the same thing. 3 hours and done. He woke up asking for food. I made him go slowly, but he was eating good stuff by afternoon. Anyways, when I said I'd sign up for the same sickness, I meant that I'd sign up for it to happen IN THE SAME WAY. A friend of ours was sick with some stomach bug that ailed him for 3 days during the week. Wasn't sure it was the same thing, since his sickness was so ugly and Elijah's wasn't.

And Then It Happened to Me

So Thursday night I went to bed only to dream about how I was going to throw up. I woke up at 1 a.m. to fulfill that prophetic dream. By 3 a.m. Miciah had joined in. By 5 a.m. Teancom was throwing up, too. Poor Rob, he had to get up with the kids every time because I couldn't get up without throwing up. After Rob got done cleaning up after one of the kids, he got back to bed and said, "I should set my alarm for 10 minutes from now." When the next round came, he got up and said, "Well, we made it 12 minutes." :) He got back to bed after taking care of it, and said, "Well, you might as well get up and throw up, too." I told him I would have to in a matter of minutes. Of course, by then I was just dry heaving, which is worse. We all were done by 8 a.m. and everyone slept in until almost 10.

Rob asked if I wanted to get up and take a shower and hopefully that would help me feel better. I said sure and got up. I walked into the bathroom and Rob looked at me as I was leaning on the sink for support. He said, "Are you okay?" I told him I'd probably better just go back to bed. By the time I got back to the bed, I had almost fainted. So, needless to say, Rob stayed home from school Friday. I told him I'd love to be able to take care of my sick kids, but I can't even take care of myself (and you can't pawn sick kids off on someone else). I tried twice to get up and sit on the couch. From my bed to the couch (what, maybe 30 feet) I had to stop and sit on the dining room chair so I wouldn't faint. Miciah sat on the couch watching TV all day, with a fever spiking at 102. And I slept until 5 p.m. I still wasn't feeling great, but good enough to walk, so Rob took a little nap because he was beat. Wonder why. :) We figured out that the night we were all awake sick, the longest stretch of sleep was 2 hours. Nice.

The Morning After

We all felt MUCH better by Saturday morning. This last weekend was General Conference for our church, and we were supposed to go up North to stay with M and C to watch conference and let the kids play together. We were supposed to go up on Friday night, but obviously that wasn't happening. So we went up Saturday early afternoon after we got our house back in order. On the way Teancom threw up (Rob said maybe it was just car sickness. Maybe). I was grumpy because I still wasn't feeling great. Not sick any more, but still recovering and weak (I lost 5 lbs. in a little over a day--I kept looking in the mirror wondering what was wrong with my image--guant and pale (and that's paler than normal, mind you)). We got to M's house and I laid on the couch for another few hours. Finally by dinner Saturday night I was eating some normal food. That's 48 hours after getting sick. We went to bed that night and Miciah woke up and had thrown up a little agian.

But by Sunday we were all pretty much better. And no one has had any episodes since. ... Rob's advisor did tell him that he's next. Rob said, "I hope not." To which his advisor, an MD, responded, "No. You will be." :) Let's hope not.

... Why it should be fair that I would be hit really hard by this sickness that Teancom and Elijah breezed through, .... :) Oh well. We're all better for now.

So DON'T EVER SAY YOU'D SIGN UP FOR A SICKNESS. Cause you never know what you're in for.

Here's a great picture of Elijah. I went into the kids' room last night to make sure it wasn't too cold and walked in to find Elijah, asleep, like this. :) It was awesome.


Well, that's our long update about not much of anything. Hope life is going well for all of you!

Tamra

P.S. One of the speakers during our General Conference gave a talk that really touched me. He was talking about charity and small acts of kindness. About halfway through his talk he started shaking a LOT and looked like he was going to fall over. One of the other men walked up behind him. I thought he was going to tell the speaker that he should probably sit down or something. But he didn't. Without a word or even a gesture, and without any acknowledgement, he just stood behind the speaker and supported him so he could stand. The shaking decreased, but it was with great effort that the speaker finished his talk. I thought that maybe the speaker would shorten his talk because of the situation, but I don't think he did. He wanted to give his message as it was intended. It just really struck me that here is this man speaking on charity, just trying to give his talk with a body that isn't cooperating, and then, his friend comes up and embodies the talk by supporting him. No words. Just simple, kind charity. ... After the talk the speaker said, "Thank you," and several other men helped him to his chair.

How we all lean on each other. Thank you, all of you, for showing me and my family charity and love. We appreciate you.