We have sick kids.

Connor has one of the ugliest, bumpy rashes I have ever seen. My doctor is not sure what it is. He thinks it's something viral (yay). He also has double ear infections. (nice). He is on an antibiotic for the ears and I will soon be heading over to pick up the antiviral med. that Dr. Peterson called into the pharmacy. (third trip to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription for the little guy this week). I hope this med. helps. This boy looks miserable! I pretty much bathed him in Cortisone cream this morning while he cried, "Ouhee ouuuheeee!!!" I felt so bad. Good new is he's been fine since. Ate his two bowls of cereal or breakfast like he always does. I have been putting L-lysine in his sippy cup drinks...so I hope that speeds things up too.

I feel like my house needs to be bleached from top to bottom.

Weston has the same bumpy gunky rash....just on his hands and a little on his feet and face.....which leads me and Dr. Pete. to think that this is "hand foot and mouth disease"....BUT...it isn't inside their mouth or on the palms of their hands or bottom of their feet which is typical of that "disease".....so...we are still not sure. I love that my Dr. will pull out his dermatology book and look through it with me while we try to figure out what's going on with my kid. Some people might think he's not a very good doctor if he doesn't KNOW. I love that he is honest and involves me.

Adelin has tonsillitis. She has been home from school for two days now. She is eating better and I think her antibiotic is kicking in. I will keep her on Tylenol to keep her fever and pain down today...but I think she will be fit for school tomorrow. Just in time for pajama day!

SO...that pretty much sums up what's going on around here....

Thanksgiving!

We had a good Thanksgiving.

We made it down to Mesa and had Thanksgiving with Brandon's family.

We stayed at a hotel...which we don't usually do when we go to Mesa. We stayed at the Residence Inn...which was our first time staying at one of those...but it was great because they have a full size fridge and a stove...and a dishwasher. Our food assignment was mashed potatoes...so we were able to cook those up just fine! :)

Brandon's family made some GOOD food this year. Who made that green bean casserole with fresh green beans? It was yummy. I ate too much at Thanksgiving dinner and have eaten too much every day since.

We had our second Flake Family stick horse rodeo which has sort of become a Flake Family Thanksgiving Tradition. The kids love it and it's fun to watch. (Kaitlyn won 4th place in the tennis shoe race)!

Brandon and I are usually excited to do some Black Friday shopping....but this year we were just plain out too tired! Connor hasn't been sleeping well at night...so the thought of being out shopping for hours instead of sleeping didn't appeal to us too much. I had gone through the ads and made a list and everything...but decided to sleep instead. This is the first Black Friday I have missed in 5 years. Crazy huh?

All in all...we had a fun and relaxing Thanksgiving. We spent yesterday and today swimming at the hotel and watching TV!

This week marks 6 years since we moved here to Snowflake. So...I thought I'd make a little list of 6 things I've like about living in Snowflake. :)

1. I like going to Ed's (supermarket) and having one of my nieces or nephews be the cashier or bag my groceries. It's a fun time to chit chat with them.
2. I love the summers here!
3. I love the leaves in the Fall!
4. I love the 12 Days of Christmas! For the first 12 days of December there is a performance or celebration of some sort put on by the town!
5. I love our ward. Snowflake 5th!
6. I love that seeing an airplane in the sky is something special to my kids! We don't see that everyday here! My kids enjoy the simple things...they have never been to Disneyland...but they are thrilled to go to the park or for a walk. My kids are very "outdoors-y" and I think it's because of where they've been raised.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10

I really like this scripture.

It is an answer to Paul's pleading with the Lord.

"My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong."

God's grace was sufficient for Paul. It is sufficient for me. It is sufficient for you. "My grace is sufficient for thee" means that His grace is enough to meet any need.

That is a powerful promise.

   

Do you have sorrow?

Are you confused?

Do you struggle?

Does something hurt?

You'll be okay. You are not alone. There is someone who knows you better than anyone and He's the only one who can help.

I love what Pres. Monson said last month in Conference. "May we realize and understand how close to us He is willing to come, how far He is willing to go to help us, how much He loves us, and how much He does and is willing to do for us."

Some might say, "Than why hasn't He!?"

I think it is helpful to remember that the Lord has a plan for each of us. He has a time table and we should never lower our expectation  that our prayers will be answered. We have to keep praying...than doing what he inspired us to do so we can become who he is trying to make us into. Sounds nice right? Sounds easy? Well...it isn't at first. But as we pray and read the scriptures, we are able to see with spiritual eyes. These eyes see where we have been, where we are going and they see the Lord doing what He said he'd do...turning our weaknesses into strengths.

I LOVE that! I LOVE the gospel!

*I know I should be giving credit to the amazing artist whose inages I used. If they actually knew that I used them...THAT would be amazing! So just let me say "Thank you!" since I don't know their names.*

I didn't take a single picture of my kids in their Halloween costumes this year! I am not going to feel guilty about it...for too long. :{ Oh well.

Kaitlyn was a cute black cat. Imagine her with a black kitty ears half- face mask, black bow tie, black leotard, gray+black tutu, black legging and a black tail.

Addie was a princess. She was more simple. She wore her white princess dress up dress, white tights, white shoes, and a crown. I did her hair in a bun with ringlets hanging down in back.

Weston wore two costumes...at the same time. He wore his cowboy clothes (typical Weston attire) with a cute plush Jack-o-Lantern costume. He was a cutie!

Connor wore our lion costume that all my kids have worn when they are his age. He was adorable with his big hairy mane and long tail. He even started saying something that sounded like, "Trick or Treat" and "Thank you" while we were out last night. He didn't want to take his costume off. I think he thought if he left it on he'd keep getting candy.



For our ward Halloween party....I dressed up. Which I don't ever do but I got an idea and decided to do it. I went as a pregnant lady...all I did was ace bandage a little pillow under my shirt. I got a lot of long looks. I could tell people were wondering if they should ask me about it or not. The only person who said something to me was Brandon's cousin. She hadn't seen me in a while so she was easy to trick. Everyone else was either confused (asking each other about it) or they didn't even notice. Anyhow. It was fun to laugh about it because I have had a LOT of people (more than one is ALOT in a situation like this and it's happened to me at least 4 times) ask me if I am pregnant since Connor was born. It has really hurt my feelings...so it was good to laugh about it instead!

Anyhow. The kids had a pretty good time dressing up and trick-or-treating.

Brandon had fun last night building a fire in our little outdoor fireplace and sitting out in the yard handing out candy. :)