Utah Disaster!

Surprise surprise! We went to Utah again and yes...everyone got sick!!! I swear it happens every time! But this time it lasted about the entire time! The day we got to Utah, Justin threw up and was sick and was sick the next day Friday too. He was doing better and everyone seemed to be fine the next couple of days during General Conference and Easter, which we were so grateful for because my parents had the whole family over for Easter dinner. Then Monday night Justin threw up all night long and was sick the next day. Then Thursday Seth was throwing up, Friday it was Trey's turn to throw up. And just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, Seth was miserable on Saturday and I took him in to the doctor and he had double ear infections, just as I had suspected!! What a chaotic mess! And now we're back home and my family that we left there is sick! I felt so bad, we couldn't leave, we were just infecting everyone around us! I had so many moments of frustration, I wanted to scream and shout! Why did this have to happen?! I was feeling sorry for myself a lot, and I was angry. And then today at church, I started thinking about a trip that we took to Utah almost three years ago. It had a similar story, with a much different attitude. Basically Justin got very sick and was hospitalized for four days. It was one of the most terrifying weeks of my whole life, but instead of having a miserable attitude like I had this trip, I felt so close to Heavenly Father. I had nowhere else to turn, and I felt His arms around me the entire time. I still remember after Justin got released from the hospital finally and we were back at my parents house, I caught what Justin had and was sick in bed upstairs. But I had this overwhelming feeling of joy and gratitude for my family that surrounded me. I was in tears with happiness and feeling the spirit of God. It was possibly the worst week of my life, and at the same time, one of the most spiritual weeks of my life. I thought of this today, and felt bad that I had such a terrible attitude this week and that I had such hard feelings. What a difference at attitude can make. Next time I'll try to do better, but I'm hoping there is no next time! I mean no more sick vacations.

We did however have a few moments where we felt good, so these are our highlights of the trip.

Easter Sunday we had everyone over to my parents house. We had an Easter egg hunt in the backyard for the kids.

Two of my sisters, Krissy and Linda.

Sweet little Megan, my niece.

Ryan didn't actually come with us, but was there with the young men at church for General Conference. So he snuck away for Easter festivities to come hang out with us, it was great.

The whole trip, my boys were in love with these bead necklaces, especially Seth. He couldn't get enough of them.

It snowed a few days, which was kind of fun! Trey built a little snowman and Justin kicked it over, Trey was not too happy.

The doctor told my dad not to be working in the yard or shovel snow because of his heart, so Trey went out on the deck one morning and asked for a shovel. I thought he was just going to play around. But when I looked out there a few minutes later, he was shoveling the deck. I asked him what he was doing and he said that he was going to shovel the deck because Grandpa wasn't supposed to. I was so touched by this little act of service!

Another highlight was when we got to go see our friends the Edwards that moved away from us last summer! It was wonderful to see them and we miss them so much! Kristen was such a great friend and our kids got along great. They live in Highland in a beautiful house.

Justin and Ellie

Blake and Trey were busy playing video games, and loving it.

We had a few nice days of sunshine toward the end of the trip. They found my brother's wagon and Trey gave Justin and Seth rides around the yard. We love Grandma and Grandpa's yard and wish it was ours!

Another huge highlight was going skiing with my sister Krissy. I haven't been for 10 years and it was incredible! It's like riding a bike, you don't forget how to do it. It was one of the best days I've had in a long time. Thanks Krissy for a WONDERFUL day! AND, thanks mom for watching the kids, even though Trey was sick that day!

Although we had to cancel many of our plans, and we couldn't hang out with family members and friends that live there, we still love to visit Grandma and Grandpa. Trey said when we were leaving, "We have three months of summer vacation, and I want to spend the whole three months at Grandma and Grandpa's house!!" What do you think about that mom?! It was just too funny because although I know my parents were so happy to have us, it had been a long and exhausting week for everyone, especially after cleaning up so much vomit! The timing of the comment was great.