STAPH INFECTIONS, SNOW STORMS, SWINE FLU

Life has been crazy the past month. We have been sick, dealing with a nasty staph infection, and stuck at home with the 1st snow storm of the season.

STAPH INFECTION:

Sometime in August, Kaylee started complaining about a sore foot. I knew she had a splinter, but we got it out...I thought she was just sore from it being poked. She refused to walk on it and was crawling everywhere she went, even when we went to the park. We had our friend who is podiatrist look at her foot. After a sampling was taken, we discovered a staph infection. She was put on antibiotics and we kept an eye on her foot. After a couple of weeks, we had an MRI taken of her foot and found out the infection had gone to the bone. WHAT A PAIN!! I was scared out of my mind and thought the worst - would she lose her toe. We were referred to a Pediatric Infectious Control Doctor and given about 6 weeks worth of Antibiotics that were to be given every 8 hours (The meds were in a pill form, so we mixed it with a little lemonade. When we gave it to her in the middle of the night - it was HILARIOUS. Kaylee had such a hard time waking up and would make the funniest faces. It was also fun to brush her teeth after taking the medicine -).

Kaylee just finished her 6 weeks of meds, had another x-ray of her foot, and more blood taken. (By the way - she is a pro at getting her blood taken. She didn't scream or freak out. I WAS SO IMPRESSED)

Things look a lot better...We will have to keep an eye on it and cross our fingers that it doesn't come back. POOR THING...

This is how she spent a couple of weeks. I was so excited to find out Kaylee's school started 2 weeks later than usual and thought we could really have some fun, BUT this is what we spent our time doing - laying around, reading books, watching movies, etc.

P.S. Those roses were from her sweet little Daddy.

- This was after the first drainage -

We worked really hard to make her toes look cute because she was pretty embarrassed about her foot.

SNOW STORM:

A couple of weeks ago, we had our first snow storm and it was BAD. We didn't leave the house for about 3 days mainly because I am a wimp and hate driving in the snow. School was canceled for 2 days and delayed a couple of hours on another day. BY THE END OF THE WEEK, THE HOUSE WAS TRASHED. The girls and I spent our days in PJs, watching movies , building tents, moving all the toys from upstairs to the downstairs, and eating cereal.

-Taylor wanted her house "DARK" -

- Nicole wanted a door to her house -

- Kaylee made her house into an office -

- Can we have cereal again Mom? -

SWINE FLU:

Nicole woke up one morning complaining about a sore throat, but she felt better after breakfast. When I went to pick her up from school, she was dragging behind her class by about 20 feet. Her teacher brought her to me and said, "Nicole has not been herself today. She went to the nurse a couple of times, but her temperature was only 98.7." By the end of the day, her temperature had gone up to about 101. Her throat was pretty disgusting with sores, and she was exhausted. The next morning her temp had gone up to 103 and she looked awful, so we took her to the doctor. They took one look at her, did the lovely swipe of the nose - and sure enough, it was Swine Flu. The next day, Taylor was sick....and the next day, Kaylee was sick. By the weekend, I had it. IT WAS AWFUL!! The girls watched movies all day long (including fun classics like "Singin' in the Rain," "West Side Story," "Slipper and the Rose," and "Scooby Doo.") I spent some of my sick days on the computer with headphones watching "Friends" reruns.

- When Mom is sick, everything falls apart. I was so grateful for wonderful friends who helped out, sweet little Kaylee for playing with her younger sisters, and YouTube "Friends" bloopers. -

- Nicole was sick the longest...she slept for about 2 days -

- Kaylee was bad for 1 day, sleeping the majority of the time -

Taylor was probably the worst - her temp got to 104 and her stomach was pretty sore.

By the end of the swine flu household epidemic and snow storm, I felt so TIRED and was SICK of the TV. It took us awhile to get back into our normal routine (Taylor wanted to watch TV constantly). So after all the craziness, we had to go on a little TV fast and I finally went grocery shopping.

Santa Fe, New Mexico!!

About a month ago, Warren and I went to Santa Fe, New Mexico for a business trip. I LOVED THIS CITY. It was beautiful and it felt like a completely different country. I know that sounds strange, but downtown Santa Fe felt like a little Europe. There was a plaza, churches, and the architecture was as Nicole would say, "Awesome!!"

The Stain Glass windows were beautiful.

This was one of my favorite attractions - the winding staircase without a railing. The story goes something like this:

The nuns were scared to climb the ladder going up to the choir loft and so they prayed to a certain Saint to help them. Shortly after the prayer, a carpenter showed up and built this winding staircase. He worked on it for a couple of months and than left, and was never seen again. The construction of this was amazing!!!

The nuns eventually built a railing because they were nervous going up the stairs without something to hold on to.

Warren was fascinated with these windmills. He stared at them for quite awhile trying to figure out how he could make one.

Warren also loved the various shops...he loved one in particular that had fossils, meteorites, and precious stones. This meteorite is the 2nd largest ever found and goes for $400,000. If anyone is interested, let Warren know because he was promised a commission if he could sell it for the owner.

The dessert in Santa Fe was delicious....European crepes. YUM!!

I was fascinated with the jewelry all around the town.

Warren and I took the scenic way home...it was BEAUTIFUL!!...especially with the fall colors.

Warren has always wanted to check out Navajo Lake. Here it is...I wouldn't be surprised if we make a trip down here next summer.

The next few pictures are of the scenery. I loved it!!

Someone owns the land below with the lake...how unfair is that. No one should be able to live on that land.

ONCE AGAIN...THIS IS MY FAVORITE TIME OF YEAR. ABSOLUTELY STUNNING!!

HALLOWEEN FESTIVITIES

I LOVE HALLOWEEN!! This year my parents came down to join in the festivities. We had pumpkin pancakes for breakfast (YUM!!!), made Monster Pizza for dinner, and went trick or treating. This was the first year Kaylee asked to go trick or treating with her friends, so we arranged a time to meet with her friends, and Warren and I walked behind with Nicole. The weather was not too bad this year, a little cold - but no snow!! It was a FUN time.

We bought some pizza dough from an awesome pizza place by our house and the girls loved watching Warren toss it up in the air.

Our first MONSTER PIZZA!! Pineapples for teeth and olives for eyes...

Grandpa made his pizza SCARY!!

All ready to trick or treat!!

MY MERMAID PRINCESS:

Taylor was a Mermaid Princess. I didn't like any of the Arial Costumes, so we found one that looked like a Mermaid. When we were at the store, I would hold various dresses up and Taylor would say, "NO. Mermaid!!" When I found this dress, I held it up and Taylor shouted,"MERMAID!!" She loved it!! It sparkled, was blue, and most importantly....Taylor said it was "my mermaid."

She looked BEAUTIFUL!! After we bought the dress, we were looking in her princess book and Taylor showed me the picture of her mermaid dress. When Arial turns into a human, she wears a blue dress on her date with the prince. She informed me that this was her dress, so she was Arial, as a human. We also sprayed her hair a purplish color (because that is what we had) so she could look more Arial. Now she wants to wear this where ever we go....

MY PUNK ROCKER...Nicole wanted to be like Hannah Montana, but not Hannah Montana...So she decided to be a ROCKER. She loved her green and purple hair!! Her favorite accessory was her Hannah Montana shoes. The best thing about this costume...all the clothes are reusable. Probably not together next time...or maybe we will. I think she looks adorable-

MY SALSA DANCER:

About 8 weeks before Halloween, Kaylee came busting through my bedroom door at 6am shouting, "I know what I am going to be for Halloween. I am going to be a Salsa Dancer." The night before, we had watched an episode of "So you Think you Can Dance," and Kaylee fell in love with Janette (a salsa dancer). SHE FELT PRETTY SPECIAL because she was the only Salsa Dancer we saw.

She loved her new shoes - they had to be High Heels because a Salsa Dancer would be wearing High Heel shoes!!

The next morning we dumped out our Halloween candy and got rid of the YUCKY candy. We also did a little trading.

This is what Taylor had for breakfast...4 suckers and pancakes. YUM!! She searched through her bag, got all of the suckers, unwrapped them all, and took turns licking each one. I gave her about 15 minutes to eat the suckers and when the timer went off, they had to go in the trash. When the timer went off, she marched herself to the trashcan, and took one last lick of each sucker before she threw it away. SHE LOVES SUCKERS...AND THEY WERE ALL GONE IN A MATTER OF 15 MINUTES.

Conference Weekend

Warren and I love going to Utah for conference weekend. We get to spend time with family watching conference, helping Grandma with winter prep, go Pumpkin Picking, and just be with each other. It is always a very quick trip - but worth it. This year we went to Warren's mission reunion (no pics). It was fun for me to meet some of Warren's old companions and talk with his mission president.

We always try to go to Grandpa Johnson's grave while we are Utah. Before we went, the girls picked flowers from Grandma's garden to place on his grave, along with flowers for Baby Sam.

Taylor didn't quite understand why the flowers on other gravestones had to be left alone. She would walk around and steal flowers from other spots. Pretty soon Grandpa Johnson had a lot of gifts from Taylor.

PUMPKIN PATCH:

I have to say it again - I love Halloween. I get the same giddy feeling I do around Christmas. It is so fun to dress up and see the excitement in the kids faces.

Kaylee was on a mission for the biggest pumpkin - or "The Great Pumpkin."

Taylor kept tripping and falling down, but that didn't stop her. She wanted to find the perfect one for her to hold and carry "all by me - self."

- 3 Perfect Pumpkins -

- Beautiful Pat -

My girls love spending time with Grandma and going to the Pumpkin Patch has become quite the tradition for my girls. Before we leave for Utah, they always ask about the pumpkin patch - "WE HAVE TO GO!!"

- Love this face -

- Nicole loved the stem on her pumpkin. It was long and twisted. -