Upsides and Bragging Rights

Today was good. I fired up the grill at 7:30 AM and threw on a tri-tip. Obviously, I'm not a vegetarian. I tried it once for about a month when I lived in France with a girl who is vegetarian. I gave up because I just missed meat too much! Long live the the carnivore--but only in moderation, right?!

William ate today! We celebrate the simple things in life, like food and fresh air. Unfortunately the fresh air was a no-can-do. Otherwise, William is managing his nausea by managing to tell us he feels sick before he feels like throwing up. That's always a good thing! Perhaps I could weave in some life lessons on communication skills using that as an analogy?

We discovered the upside of being in the hospital this week: FIREWORKS! No, we did not smuggle in left over sparklers. The California State Fair is going on and we are only a few miles from the fairgrounds (as a crow flies) and since we're on the sixth floor we have a fabulous view. I guess it's a good enough excuse to let William stay up way past his bed time every night. What's there to wake up to anyway? A luscious breakfast and pressing social engagements? Nope.

For the past 26 days we have terribly missed being together as a whole family. We are thankful beyond the kindest and most loving words and sentiments to our parents for caring for our other 4 sons. They have been nurtured and entertained far better than we could have done over the past several weeks. Although I believe I have the best 5 sons on earth, they can be a handful---especially when just less than 5 years separates the oldest from the youngest. No, for those who have not met us, I am not crazy (well, that's probably debatable), but I did sneak in a set of twins. Feel free to imagine the noise levels that can be reached when simultaneous meltdowns occur. Here's to lots of gold stars on the foreheads of the very brave grandparents! Thank you! Thank you! We love you dearly! And a huge thank you to my sisters, Angela and Natalie, and my brother, Matt, who also provided plenty of entertainment!

And to my boys: We love you and are counting down the days to squeeze you and snuggle you and smother you with kisses! We can't wait to be together again and make our house feel like a home again. 14 more days and counting....

We've received regular updates about the boys and want to share some funny and sweet things we heard about the boys. This is the part where I can brag about my boys because it's my blog!

1. One night my parents were reading the scriptures with the boys and were talking about Satan/the devil. My parents asked them if they knew who he was and one of the twins replied, "Yeah, he's Jesus' brother who turned bad."

2. One Sunday afternoon, my Dad decided to take the boys out on a hike/adventure so they could let out some energy while my mom made dinner. He drove them up Emigration Canyon to part of the original pioneer trail. They got out of the car and hiked a bit on the trail while my dad talked to them about their many ancestors that walked on that trail. The conversation continued and my dad gave them a vocabulary lesson on ancestors and descendants. Upon arriving home, they ran in the house to announce to my mother that she was their ancestor and they were her descendants!

3. During that same excursion, they wanted to pick a bunch of wild flowers to take back to Grandma. My dad was trying to tell them to turn around and pick a bunch of purple flowers that were about 6 inches behind them. They kept getting confused and couldn't see them. Getting frustrated, my dad told them the flowers were right in front of their nose and if they didn't hurry, the flowers would jump out and bite them. The boys jumped back, afraid the flowers would bite and refused to pick any more purple flowers!

4. Whenever my parents took the boys out to the park, zoo, store, movies...people would often stop and comment, "Wow, are there 4 boys?" The boys would all quickly respond, "No, there are five. The oldest is in the hospital." (I'm so glad they miss and still remember their brother.)

5. Ryan's cousin was married on Monday (Congratulations Stacy!). Ryan's parents picked up the boys to attend the family dinner. Evidently, Clark, 6, ate 2 full plates of food, lots of soda, and 4 desserts. The other boys also had enormous appetites too. Ryan's mother commented, "The boys sure know their way around the buffet table." Their father is very proud!