Vacation Highlights

The kids handled the long drive to Utah very well...I love this picture because it shows the excitement on Sam's face when we pulled out the portable DVD player (Thanks, Heather!) and he discovered he could watch movies in the car...so fun! :-) Evan and I loved it too...it saved us.

Evan went backpacking in Zions Canyon (Virgin River narrows) with his brother, dad, brother in-law, two uncles and a cousin. He had a GREAT time and I'm sure he'll post some pictures later of the fun. Anyway, while he was backpacking and having a grand time our two kiddos got the stomach flu...yes, you heard me correctly...the stomach flu! Lauren started barfing Monday night about 11:30 pm and pretty much barfed all night long. Sam started Tuesday morning about 7:30 am. They both were at it all day Tuesday...talk about a stressful day...it was awful! Thankfully, I had my mother and sister in law on hand to help clean up all the barf, wipe the tears, and console and help me...a very stressed out mommy. After a long day of keeping NOTHING down we took them into the ER at Primary Childrens Hospital. The nurses took one look at them and immediately got the IV's started. They were both super dehydrated and they ended up admitting them both to what they call their "Rapid Treatment Unit". So, we spent Tuesday night and all day Wednesday at the hospital. Luckily, Evan came home from backpacking Tuesday night and came straight to the hospital.

Let me just note here that the whole reason we went to Utah was for Evan's Hatch family reunion that started on Wednesday afternoon. Wednesday afternoon we were hopeful that we could at least make it for part of the reunion if the kids were both feeling better.

Sam was completely better by Wednesday afternoon. He was drinking again, asking for crackers and keeping it all down.

Lauren was definitely feeling better, but still wasn't totally herself. We could tell she still didn't feel too good, but we went home on Wednesday hopeful that she'd turn a corner sooner rather than later.

Thursday morning Evan took Sam to Wheeler Farm in Salt Lake to look at the animals.

Well, Thursday morning Lauren started barfing again and was at it all day long. By Thursday night we could tell she was dehydrated again, so I took her back to Children's while Evan stayed with Sam. I should also note that Evan's mom and sister had to come back from the reunion Thursday night because they were both sick...yes, you guessed right...they had the stomach flu. Bummer.

Anyway, they admitted Lauren again to the RTU to get rehydrated. By Friday she was feeling noticeably better (see pictures below) and we took her home Friday afternoon feeling hopeful again. Needless to say we didn't make it to the Hatch family reunion. Such a bummer. I'm still depressed about it. Oh well...at least my kids were getting the care they needed.

We drove home yesterday (Monday, July 20th) after letting Lauren heal for a few days in preparation for our long drive home. She's still not 100%, but she did well on the drive (only a few bouts of diarrhea and one minor spit up) and her appetite is slowly improving. She's standing here by my side as I type this smiling a huge grin at me...Can I just say what a relief it is to have my happy baby back?!? I hate having sick kids...truly hate it.

Splish, splash I was taking a bath...

I know I am biased, but I just think she couldn't be any cuter! :-)

Kidz

Oh how I love the open mouth smile!

I feel like Lauren has progressed in her physical development so much faster than Sam ever did...At nine months she's crawling all over the place and pulling herself up on her feet. What makes me laugh is when she gets on her feet she stands on her tippy tippy toes. She's pretty good...maybe ballet is in her future! :-)

Tonight Sam wanted to wear his hat and backpack so he could look like this little plastic guy he was playing with. I had to giggle and then oblige. I love my little boy!

You can see from this picture (below) that Evan and I are doing a GREAT job at teaching table manners to Sam...;-) For the record I don't think he learned this by watching me or Evan...certainly not me...I don't think I could get my leg up on the table even if I tried!

This tower's SO TALL!!

Still lining things up...


Sam: Now I know my ABC's...

Lauren is super squirmy...especially when we're trying to get her dressed. She hates it and does what she can to get out of it...Evan and I joke that it's pretty much like wrestling a greased pig.

Leuven, Belgium

This is Evan. In May I took a trip to Leuven, Belgium, with some of the professors I work with. Leuven is an old, beautiful, small college town near Brussels. My Dad was a missionary in Leuven in the 1970s, so it was pretty cool to walk around the streets he would have walked.

In front of the Town Hall

A view of the Town Hall from one of the narrow streets

The Town Hall, adjacent to the Grote Markt (Great Market)


Looking down Brusselsestraat from the Grote Markt

Along one of the main residential streets

The Klein Begijnhof, one of the streets with houses hundreds of years old

A canal view

My dad's old apartment building - #28 Vaartstraat
I wonder if he will recognize it?

A view down another section of Vaartstraat

A house in the Groot Begijnhof, which was once a complex for nuns but now is used by Catholic University Leuven for student and faculty housing

More Groot Begijnhof

More Groot Begijnhof

What a beautiful town! I'd like to visit again sometime, hopefully with my Dad.

My New Hobby...

I think I can now officially say that one my hobbies is gardening. This is a new development for me, but I think it's so fun and even relaxing (isn't that what hobbies are supposed to be? relaxing?). Evan and I have had such fun planting things in our little yard this spring and watching them grow.

The people who lived in our apartment before us had these rose bushes that were a little sickly. Well, we were able to salvage three of them and the first one has bloomed in the last week or so. The others will probably bloom any day now. So fun! :-)

Gladiolus bulbs...they haven't bloomed yet, but I think they will soon. We can hardly wait! :-)

This is my favorite thing we've done to our little yard. When we moved in this section of our lawn was completely dead and had a bunch of lawn furniture on it. Well, we decided we'd rather have a flower garden instead of the furniture on dead lawn. We kept one of the benches and turned the rest into this little piece of heaven. We brought in new dirt and put in the stepping stones and have added some plants as our budget allows. We're not done yet, but we got a good start!

Okay...I LOVE our Fuschia hanging baskets!! They're so pretty...I told Evan that as long as we live here in the Northwest where they grow so well I want to work these into our budget every year. He agrees...yeah!!! :-)

Bowls of Fun...

Sam likes to get my mixing bowls out of the cupboard and line them up on the kitchen floor, biggest to smallest. Then he usually will stack them back up in the cupboard starting with the smallest and ending with the biggest. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't (like in this video). :-)

Giggles

This just makes me happy! :-)