Happy Flu Year

Much to my disbelief, the first third of 2018 is over. It had a bit of a bumpy start, but we somehow managed to find plenty of happy moments in the midst of chaos--here is our 5-day countdown to 2018, and our flu-y new year:

DECEMBER 27:

Our family spent the last little part of 2017 in Salt Lake City with Forest's sisters and their families. We drove out two days after Christmas. Here is Wylie clomping around in his "beets" at a McDonald's somewhere in Wyoming.

Here are the girls at a rest stop, also somewhere in Wyoming. We let them pick an animal exhibit to stand next to and pose for a picture. Mika of course chose an owl.

The kids were so happy to get out of the car once we got to Josh and Maria's house. After we got a tour of all the pretty rooms, it was time to relax and play.

The little ones got some good cuddles.

Here are the cousins playing in the kids' guestroom . . .

 . . . and here they are in the playroom.

Eventually we got the crew in the dining room for dinner time:

And the kids gathered around Paca for storytime before bed:

Finally, here is me and my booger-faced boy taking a selfie as our first evening in Utah was winding down:

Little did we know what viruses were about to strike.

DECEMBER 28:

The next day went smoothly enough--the cousins got more playtime in the morning, and then Crissy and Paca took them all to the arcade while Forest and I got some time alone.

We decided to spend our time going out to lunch and then finding a place to watch Star Wars Episode 8. I think we managed to avoid any spoilers before seeing this one, unlike Episode 7 two years ago. Episode 8 was so long and the story was so packed, it felt like two movies in one. After a very hectic month, sitting in those reclining seats in that movie theater felt like the best break we had had in a long time.

The kids had a great time, too--the arcade was a huge hit, and they even got treated to frozen yogurt afterward. The girls were each careful to save their pink spoons as a keepsake.

Getting Wylie to take a proper nap that day was a challenge. He finally dozed off in my arms in the late afternoon.

That night...Forest got sick. He woke me up asking for some ibuprofen for body aches, and he was feverish. The next morning he was still feeling bad, but came along as planned to visit the local Make-A-Wish Foundation to see Connor's star.

DECEMBER 29:

We also got to go into the Wishing Tower where the wishes are made. The kids loved watching the flowing water and changing lights.

There is definitely a gaping hole in our lives where Connor used to be. We miss him so much, but are glad we got to honor his memory by visiting his star that morning.

In the afternoon I made plans to visit my cousin Janette in Riverton. Forest wanted to come along, but I made him stay in bed.

It was a quick visit, but I am so glad I got to connect with some family on my dad's side. Uncle Merrill and Aunt June drove over, so we got hugs from them, too.

 My girls were thrilled to sit on the floor and play with Josie's old Littlest Pet Shop pets,

while Wylie got passed around from Uncle Merrill . . .

. . . to Cousin Joe . . .

. . . to Cousin Josie.

 Aunt June let me take a selfie with her before we left,

 and we also got some pictures of the kids in front of the Christmas tree.

 

That was our Friday. On Saturday, Forest was still not showing much improvement, but he still came along to the park to watch Caleb and Maxwell's rocket launch, went to a local gelato shop for a treat from Maria, and to Temple Square to see the lights in the evening. 

DECEMBER 30:

DECEMBER 31

When Sunday came and Forest was still feeling unusually ill, we decided to take him to urgent care that morning. After dropping him off,  I packed our things and loaded the van, since we had planned to spend our last night at Crissy's house. Once the kids were all strapped in, I headed back to urgent care to pick up my poor sick husband. He had been told his ailment was simply a virus and that he just needed to get over it. Next we met Crissy at her house in West Jordan, where I got the kids ready for church in a whirlwind, took a picture of them all in their matchy clothes from Teresa, tucked Forest in for a nap on the couch, and all the girls plus Wylie headed down the road to the chapel for sacrament services.

Parry wanted a picture of the three Forests together: Forest Parry, Forrest Parry, and Maxwell Forest

The girls loved Crissy's church, especially because there was a jolly old man there who handed out tootsie rolls and caramels to everyone he met, and they collected a handful. Wylie was less enthusiastic about church, and wouldn't let me go into Sunday School. He said "No." every time I opened the door to try and go in, so we wandered the hallways most of the time.

That evening, we dragged Forest off the couch and went back to Josh and Maria's house for a New Year's Eve feast with Josh's brother Ben. On our way over, I stopped to take a picture of the mountains. The smog had cleared in the valley, and the view was stunning.

Wylie called Crissy "Cookie" most of the time during this trip

Before we left Josh and Maria's for the last time, we did something to make Josh very happy and got a picture of all the cousins piled on the couch:

We also made some more people happy by lining up Maria, Crissy, and Forest in front of the fireplace for a sibling photo. It is the first time these three have all been in the same place at the same time for quite a while. Forest did a great job not looking sick for the picture.

Our New Year's Eve celebration continued back at Crissy's house, where all the girls climbed into sleeping bags, watched a movie, and ate popcorn.

They finally fell asleep just before midnight, amidst the sound of fireworks popping in the neighborhood. (Happy New Year!) Wylie went to bed with surprising ease, and was out like a log . . .

 . . . until about 5:30 in the morning, at which point I picked him up and walked him in circles around the kitchen and living room. He insisted on stealing a package of ramen noodles from Crissy's pantry, and with that in hand, he eventually fell back asleep in my arms.

A few hours later, we loaded the van again and said our final goodbyes before hitting the road back to Colorado. Forest agreed to do the entire drive, saying he felt good enough, so I took on the role of entertainment manager and sleeping child photographer, as usual.

We made it safely home, where the girls eagerly dumped out some tiny toys Cousin Aubrey had generously passed on to them, and Wylie immediately crashed their party. It looked like things were returning to normal . . .

. . . until Forest's symptoms continued to linger. He had to take extra days off work to try and recover, and we concluded that he must have contracted the flu, despite being vaccinated. The entire illness lasted about 10 days, and felt like forever as I frantically disinfected everything in sight and quarantined Forest to the basement while the children ran semi-wild until it was time for school to start up again. For me, having a sick husband is worse than having one out of town for business (which has also been happening a lot lately). Not exactly a refreshing start to the new year, but it is some kind of miracle that Forest was the only one who got sick.

The kids seem to have nothing but great memories about our Utah trip, and I am so thrilled that they had so much quality bonding time with their cousins. Here they are smiling with their little treasures from the arcade:

Mika did some of her own writing about our trip at school, and was even inspired to write a poem about cousins:

To be honest, it took me a while to recover from both the holidays and this particular trip--it was just so draining in every way that it was a challenge for me to feel happy about the new year. But looking back on these pictures, I feel so grateful for my family and for moments that we get to be together--through sickness, health, and everything in between. Hello, 2018.