It is now February and New Years has faded into history, but here at our house New Year’s Day was quite the memorable day and it’s time I got it written down.

We usually miss the fireworks on New Year’s Eve.  We eat our finger food by candle light, talk about our favorites from the year and then we go to bed.  In recent years the older boys have wanted to stay up till midnight to experience that oh so anti-climatic switch over from 11:59 to 12:00 that leaves us non drinkers feeling somehow gypped.  This year I stayed up with the boys and Rock went to bed so he could get up bright and early and start his new year right, lifting weights at the gym.

When he got home from the gym on New Year’s Day, he was pretty worn out.  He mumbled something about doing heavy lifting with his legs and sat down to rest in his recliner.  He was pretty out of it so I gave up trying to converse with him.  He made himself some eggs at the stove and then sat down to eat them.  I asked him what his plans were for the day and he did not say, “Oh, I plan to pass out three times and spend the day in the hospital.” But that’s what he did.

Right as I asked my question he passed out with a bang as his head hit the floor.  I wish I could say that I kept a cool head and calmly tried to wake him up, but I didn’t.  I panicked, ran over to him and started yelling his name, shaking him trying to get him to wake up.  When he wouldn’t, I ran to the phone and dialed 911.  My brain could not make my fingers push the right numbers.  No wonder they teach you how to do that as a small child and make you practice it over and over.  By the time they answered he was coming to and I sheepishly told them never mind.  He laid on the floor for a long time too woozy to sit up.  Finally after about twenty minutes he sat up in a chair.  A few minutes later he wanted to walk over to his recliner so we tried that but he couldn’t get all the way across the room before sitting down on the couch and passing out a second time.  Panic set in again as I yet again yelled his name and shook him trying to get him to wake up.  And these were not peaceful passing outs.  They were jerky with twitching.  The scary kind. I was scared enough the kids were freaking out by this point. They’d come up to investigate after the initial bang from his head hitting the floor and were there to see me in all my glorious not-calmness.  Libby ran upstairs in tears wile I called 911 again.  I realize that they need to know your address when you call them, but until that moment, never having called 911 before that day, I never knew how nearly impossible it is to remember your address when you are in an emergency.  “My husband could be dying and you want me to spell Buttercup!!!???  I finally got the address out and she walked me through what to do and ordered an ambulance.  I am cheap enough I hesitated a little when she asked me if I wanted her to send one.  I saw huge dollar signs in my head and wondered whether I was just over reacting and should maybe just drive him to the hospital myself, but she convinced me otherwise and hung up.  Not 5 minutes later the ambulance arrived with a fire truck in tow.  As they were making their way to the door Rock, who had come to for a minute, passed out a third time.  I ordered Cade to the door so I could try and revive Rock again.  Five, maybe six EMT’s walked into our house with a stretcher.  They took over asking Rock lots of questions, most of which he couldn’t even answer because he’d forgotten everything he’d done that morning.  After examining him they decided to take him in to the hospital but told me they would  not be turning on their lights as they didn’t feel like he was in that much danger.  If he passed out again, however, they’d flip on the lights and break all the traffic rules, which, I was informed, I was not supposed to do as I followed in the car. I ran upstairs to comfort Libby, say a little prayer with her and send all the kids downstairs to watch some tv.  Oh, and to wake Reagan up.  Yes, he had slept through all the excitement and I felt terrible having to wake him up to say, “So your dad passed out three times and now we are going to the hospital. You’re babysitting.  Good morning!” I called my parents and asked them to come over and be with my frightened children while I went to the hospital.

Somewhere during all of this I had the presence of mind to think, “This is going to make a great blog post someday.” so I snuck Cade my phone and told him to go take a picture of the ambulance and fire truck in front of our house.  I didn’t feel like I could say to the EMT, “Could you hold on a sec before telling me about my husband’s diagnosis while I run outside and take a picture of your ambulance for my blog?”
So I dutifully listened to the EMT and sent Cade to get pictures:

This was another Sick Christmas.  All of us were sick at least twice this December with everything from stomach flu, regular flu, diarrhea, pink eye and a cough/cold that will NOT STOP.  Sickness notwithstanding, we managed to get through four choir concerts and an orchestra concert before school got out.  

Here’s a funny conversation Rock overheard recently between Levi and Liberty:

“Yeah, Bill Cosby started Microsoft, and he’s the richest person in America.” 

And there you have it.

Tips for An Easy Thanksgiving Dinner:

1. Have one of your kids get sick so that half your guests decide not to come.
2. Assign out all the last minute food items that make you crazy and wish you hadn’t offered to host after all like gravy and mashed potatoes so you don’t have to worry about it.
3. Buy your rolls at Costco and your Pumpkin pie too.
4. Make sure your “fresh” turkey is really fresh and not half frozen.
5. Don’t actually cook your turkey.

This year, thanks to a sick Libby we had just my parents, my sisters and us.  I planned it just right so I only had to worry about the turkey at the last minute.  I did not follow tip #4, unfortunately and when it came time to get the turkey ready, I realized it was partially frozen.  Sigh.  But it only bumped us back an hour and our turkey was cruisin along ready to be done in 2.5-3 hours.  At 2 hours I checked it in 5 different places and the temperature was 10 degrees higher than was recommended for a done turkey. Gasp! I texted our few guests, “The turkey is done early and you better get over here pronto!” and we scrambled to get the table set and the last few things done.  They rushed to get everything finished, arriving shortly thereafter and we proceeded to cut the turkey.  When Rock kept running into bone and couldn’t find the meat we realized that we’d put the turkey in upside down and that it was not, in fact, cooked yet. Yes, we are turkey challenged.  Thank goodness for the microwave!  Our turkey was perfectly moist and miraculously tasted great despite our ineptitude.  Alli put it perfectly when she said, “This was the easiest Thanksgiving dinner ever.  You didn’t even have to cook the turkey!” 

Luckily the turkey turned out ok and we were not reduced to eating our new hamster.  Yes, you read that correctly.  We have a pet at our house.  Well, a pet more exciting than a fish.  Levi worked very hard and saved for a long time to buy a hamster.  It is the first exciting pet we’ve ever had and Levi is very proud of his Snickers. 

It’s that time of year you all look forward to… when you get to see my cherubic little ones prancing around in a fall wonderland of pumpkins and corn, sweetly smiling at their mother in angelic cooperativeness as I take their pictures. Ok, so that’s not how it works.  They are no longer chubby or cherubic (were they ever?) and they have never smiled sweetly in total cooperation.  It’s more like they run around as fast as they can ignoring my constant pleas to “Hold still for ONE SECOND so I can get a picture for the blog, dangit!” Time marches on and they get older and older.  I wish they’d stop that.  But, here they are for your viewing pleasure. I might just add in some oldies just to remind you that they once were cherubic and chubby.

We went on a cruise! The end of September. Don’t know how to describe it really.  It was fun to get away, fun to see how the whole cruise thing works and fun to hang out with Derek and Penny.  But the food was blah, our shower flooded the entire bathroom every time we showered and I spent the second day of the cruise with blurry vision.  All in all I’d say it was a good experience even with the few hiccups.

Waaaayyy back in August we had Rock’s family reunion in our favorite place, Eden, UT!  Loved the views, loved the company!