Since
Garrett's parents are on their mission fairly close to us, we wanted to take some time to go and visit them in Westport Washington. We coordinated with Garrett's older sister, Savann and her family. They were returning from a vacation in Mexico at the beginning of March and would be stopping in Seattle before heading back to Alaska. So we took a few days and met up with them in Westport. Jim and Georgia were able to aquire two separate units in their condo where they are staying. It was a beautiful place right on the ocean.
We took the girls out of school a little early on Feb. 29th and drove the 4 hours. Savann and her family got there about an hour before we did. Our condo was 3 doors down from the Guthries, so the kids did a lot of running back and forth. That night we did a lot of visiting and catching up. Maggie and Lydia spent the night with their cousins Sydney (13) and Alyssa (almost 11) and had a fun time.
The next day, there was a break in the rain, so we all decided to walk the trail along the ocean.
This is Paige and Devon. He is 3 months older than she is. We all went to Mexico as a family when these two kiddos were one. Devon would love to go up to Paige and give her hugs, but Paige was really scared of him and all she did was cry. Glad that things have changed!
Savann and Jim
Alyssa, Bella, Sydney, Maggie, Lydia, Devon and Paige
Noah, me and Garrett. Noah wasn't feeling very good. He had a cold and a cough. I probably shouldn't have taken him out in the cold. His sickness only got worse.
Storm clouds were moving in again. It started raining on us about halfway through the walk. (It was about a mile long trail.) Then it let up again. By this point, Noah was due for a nap and I wasn't about to miss it with him being sick and all. Georgia had driven her car to the end of the trail, because she's having issues with her knees. So, I had her take me back to the condo so I could put Noah down for a nap. Garrett had lost the key to the condo, though. (He had dropped it out of his pocket at the beginning of the walk, while getting something else out of his pocket.) So Jim came back with us and got someone from the office to open the door for me. By this time, Noah had fallen asleep on my shoulder and woke up only for a few minutes as I laid him down in his crib.
Meanwhile, the rest of the gang played out by the beach. The line-up of kids from youngest to oldest: Bella, Paige, Devon, Lydia, Alyssa, Maggie and Sydney.
They flew some kites that we bought at Costco.
Pretty cool looking
Alyssa and Lydia--I think they look so much alike. They are both goofy girls, too!
Sydney and Maggie
This is Uncle Alex. He is such a great person! We all love him to death. He is a big kid at heart and plays and plays with my kids, even when they want to play all day! Bella warmed up to him really quick! She talked to him before she talked to anyone else.
Devon and Paige wrestling.
By the time they all came back, Noah had woken up from his nap really hot. He had a 104 degree fever and was miserable. He wouldn't eat anything and wanted to be held by me and only me. He freaked out if I ever left his sight. Luckily, he kept drinking a lot, so I knew he wasn't dehydrated. He was pretty miserable though.
Eating dinner
Georgia's birthday was Feb. 18th. We decided since we were seeing her so close to her birthday that we'd have a little party to celebrate. Maggie and Sydney made her a carrot cake and we decorated and everything. I think she appreciated it.
Uncle Alex playing with the kids.
The next morning was spent hanging out and playing games. The weather had turned nasty again. My girls learned to play Take 5 with Sydney and Alyssa and Grandma and Grandpa.
Noah's fever was gone in the morning, and he played a little bit. Unfortuneatly, he got his thumb smashed in a door that morning, so not only felt lousy, but had to deal with some serious pain in his thumb. Poor boy. He had a good four hour nap, but his fever came back again. I pretty much hung out in our condo reading a book (while he napped) while everyone else hung out at the Guthrie's condo.
Lydia and Alyssa
In the evening, we went out for pizza and then went bowling. I debated whether to take Noah out or not, but after having some Tylenol, his fever came down some and he seemed to be ok. At first I said I would just go for pizza and then have Garrett bring me back. But he was doing ok, so we went bowling too. He didn't like it when it was my turn to bowl because then someone else had to hold him.
Maggie and Sydney
Bella bowling
Maggie showing her stuff
The Guthries had to leave to get back to Seattle, so they left that night around 9ish. We sure had fun with them! Elder and Sister McKibben with the Grandkids, minus Noah who was already in bed. Sad, he's hardly in any of these pictures.
The kids
My kids with Aunt Savann and uncle Alex
Devon is in wrestling and Garrett used to wrestle when he was little. So, they decided to have a little wrestling match.
Alex and Bella.
We took off the next morning. (Saturday) This was Noah on the ride home trying to fight falling asleep.
I know this isn't a very good picture, but it somewhat shows his poor bruised thumb. It looked so much worse in real life.
On Sunday, Noah's fever was back and he still had this really awful cough and was congested. He still wasn't eating; still wanted me to hold him all the time. Now he was having really shallow, rapid breathing, too. I put him down for a nap at 11 (he usually naps at 12:30 for about two hours.) At 4 pm, after a five hour nap, I had to go and wake him up. We sat in the rocking chair until everyone got home from church and he could hardly keep his eyes open. I thought for sure that he had pneumonia, so I took him to the ER. This was a picture I took of him on the ride to the ER. He looked awful. So, he had a fever again (104), so they gave him some tylenol, and they took a chest xray, but it turns out that he didn't have pneumonia, just a really bad virus. So they sent us home. I was really glad that he didn't have it, but was hoping for something to give him to make him feel better. It was still a couple more days until he was back to normal. He finally started eating some food, which I was really glad about. It's so scary when your kids are sick and there is nothing that you can do about it. I am so thankful that he's better though!
