Ward Campout

One great blessing of living here is that great campsites are only a 5-15 minute drive away. We had a ward campout this last weekend that was so much fun. Lots of great food, fun people, and of course freezing cold water to canoe in. We all went up Friday night for dinner and activities after. Brett rocked at volleyball and Noah decided to be very independent on a jungle jim and would scream at me if he felt my hand spotting him. Hyrum loved exploring what he kept calling the "The spooky forest". Noah and I headed back home at 9pm so that the whole ward wouldn't have to deal with his teething. Brett and Hyrum set up camp and got to sleep in the tent. Brett tells me that Hyrum loved every minute of it and had a hard time settling down at night because he was too excited, but once he finally laid down he was out fast. Noah and I drove back up at 7am on Saturday. . .everyone just assumed we camped over night because we were there late and early (this is a great way to get out of camping if you don't want to go:) Anyway, we all had a lot of fun, and also some great naps when we got home. I can't wait for Girls Camp this week! It's going to be at the same location.Yes, Hyrum was wearing a life jacket, but because it was so big he couldn't even sit down, so Brett just kept him close.

When you're three. . .

"Mom, say 'what's wrong Hyrum' ." -He asks me to do this several times a day

"Heavenly Father. Thank thee blessings. Thank thee blessings. Thank thee food. Thank thee blessings. Bless it. Thank thee reading room. Play Buzz Lightyear. Amen"

"Look, I share with Noah.(. . or)I trade with Noah" He gives something like a lid and takes away a toy, or gives Noah his almost finished Otter Pop for Noah's almost full one. Whenever he does it he looks so proud of himself for being nice:)

In the picture above: We thought he was asleep in bed, it was a while after we put him down. He came downstairs wearing his crown and explained that his bed was broken (which means his blankets weren't in the right place) and that he needed a drink and wanted to watch fireworks. Brett got the picture while he was explaining his plight to me.

Dad: "Are you excited to have watermelon?"
Hyrum: "My eyebrows are excited, and then my eyes are excited, and then my nose are excited, and then my mouth excited, and then binoculars are excited. . . all to eat watermelon!"

shortly after my friend Naomi, who is very pregnant, came over to visit, Hyrum came to me out of nowhere and said, "Naomi need come over and take baby out, and then put baby in Mom's tummy, and then Naomi share baby. Ok, Mom?"

Ok, just a few more

My sister Michelle took some great pictures at the reunion that I had to post.
My awesome Grandpa Clyde with his seven living children. My Dad is standing up second from the left.This was taken of the people that could make it to the mini-Rushton reunion (My Grandpa's descendants) before the big one.When you don't have 4 hands to help two toddlers up a ladder, then you get creative with your legs:)Michelle came down to the beach with us one afternoon and took these pictures.

Hyrum's Big Day-Toy Story Style

Today Hyrum is King of the chair. This will be the ONLY time this bike will be in this house, but he was just too excited about it. A Party hit was his new bubble rocket blaster!Woohoo! It was so great having his birthday when all his Partridge cousins were in town. The only problem with being three is that there are only three candles. He kept asking for more fire after he blew out the first set. His birthday festivities lasted all day which was fun! In the afternoon they all went to see Toy Story 3 in the theater.

Views I'll Miss

Every day I took Noah on a walk along this path during nap time. Everything was so quiet and peaceful. He would fall asleep to birds chirping and the occasional buzzing of a bee.

Home Again Home Again Jiggity Jig

Saying Goodbye to Grandpa Clyde. He is the funniest 90+ year old man I know. I asked him how he was doing when I saw his cane, and he said, "Oh I just use that as protection to shew off all the ladies after me." One night during dessert I walked by and asked him how it was going and he said his brownie and ice cream were delicious, but 'just don't tell my diabetes.'Ok, the Seattle Airport has the BEST play place! I think Noah may have gotten bitten on our way to Forks:)The flight home was much better than the flight there. The best thing was coming home to a Fourth of July street party.

Vacation Day 4

Building a bird house with Dad. Hyrum glued a locket on the front as a door over the whole and put beads inside for the birds to use. Hyrum's new favorite activity: KITES!Today we explored the bunkers. The boys liked climbing on the ladders and running through the halls.Rushton's Got Talent Night! One of the acts was to have all the kids go up front and sing a few songs. The moment Hyrum went up there he went strait for the microphone and just talked in it and pretend sang. He was a bit of a show stealer.

Vacation Day 3

The reunion was really relaxed and we could pretty much do whatever we wanted, but they had stuff planned to that you could participate in if you wanted to. We decided to have Hyrum join the painting kids. He has a very cute new chef hat to wear when he helps me cook:)When Noah and his 'twin' cousin Troy were getting tired we (Mom, Michelle, our two babies, and I) decided to take an impromptu trip to see Forks. We drove for an hour to Port Angeles and then saw a sign that said Forks was another 71 miles away. So, we all grabbed a milk shake and headed back to the reunion:) We're not big enough Twilight fans to be driving 4 hours with two babies in the car. Although the two hours in the car made a perfect nap for the boys. We did enjoy seeing the banners and signs welcoming all Twilight Fans in PA. Maybe next time:)Hyrum LOVES dogs, so when one of my cousins brought there big dog Hannah to the reunion Hyrum was elated. He spent quite a bit of time 'taking care' of Hannah. One of the times that he played with her when no one else was around he decided to liberate her. He somehow managed to lift the cage and yell, "Go! GO! Go!" Luckily my sister saw and ran over to catch her. When I had a little talk with Hyrum about it he said, "Rescue Doggie, help go out.". . . very nice Hyrum. Bounce houses were out in the late mornings - mid afternoons. My boys (including the big one) had a lot of fun in there.And of course you can't have a reunion without a big game of softball

Doctor! Doctor!

On Wednesday morning Noah woke up like normal at about 6. I started to change his diaper when I noticed a dozen or so bug bites on him (mostly around the diaper line and on his legs). I was totally grossed out and concerned as to how he could have gotten eaten alive without us even knowing. They weren't there the night before, the house had just been thoroughly disinfected, pest controlled, and bedding changed.
Then it was time to go to the airport. . . We got on the plane when I noticed that it seemed like the 'bug bites' were spreading. . . and getting bigger right before my eyes. He was EXTREMELY irratible. I'm so sorry to all the passengers on that plane. The screaming, kicking, wiggling child was mine. He wouldn't stop scratching his neck. People started asking what was wrong with him.
We get to Seattle. Phone calls to Doctor. Search for Pharmacy. Benadryl and Cortizone cream seem to calm him down.
The next day his bites are now welts that cover most of his body. We drive to the Rushton Reunion with hopes that they'll go away with some more Benadryl. They're getting worse. We find a Doctor in Port Townsend. Brett and Noah went and waited for about 2 1/2 hours to only find that the P.A. isn't quite sure what's wrong with him. Finally a prescription is given and we're told that he'll be ok, but we'll want to take him in when we get back home. After a couple of days on the prescription Noah was acting a lot less irritable. As much as we hated that this happened during our vacation, we were also glad it happened when there were so many fun distractions for him. He had a blast and seemed to forget about his welts most of the time. I was careful about how I photographed him, so that he wouldn't look beaten all of the time. When the welts were on his face I didn't take his picture, it was just too sad.
Today we finally were able to see our Pediatrician. Luckily, the only thing that's now remaining of his sad sad skin are just some marks that look like old bug bites. He told us he had Erythema Multiforme. It's a condition that can be caused by a viral infection. When I told him that he had the stomach flu the week before it just confirmed to him that it was definitely EM. It's basically like having an allergic reaction to being sick. As I read into this I found out that about 1% of dermatology patients are diagnosed with EM. It's not something that is genetic or contageous. It's victims are completely random, although it is more common in young people. Noah's chance of getting it again are just as likely as any one else's of getting it. We're just SOOO happy to have our happy boy back and hope that EM never visits us again.

Vacation Day 2

Today we set up 'camp' at Fort Flagler. . .Well, we weren't actually camping but pretty close (for me anyway:) We stayed in old retired barracks. Each room had three walls of cinder-block and a curtain rod for the fourth privacy wall. So we brought a big sheet with us and safety pins. Each floor had one bathroom with open showers. It's a beautiful area overlooking the Puget Sound, and from a distance you can see Canada. I have a lot of memories here of reunions past when I was just little. We all had our 'reunion' friends that we only saw every two years and we were the best of friends. Rushton Reunions are big. When I was little there were about 300-400 people that came. For the past few reunions though they've struggled to get people to come. I hadn't been to one since I lived at home, so I can only imagine that everyone's excuse is the same. . . we get older and have families of our own, move away, and it's harder to travel. I hope they keep the tradition alive even if it's just a small group like this year's 160 that came, those of us were blessed to be united together. Today some of the little kids got to take turns breaking a pinata. Noah really got the hang of it. I explained to Hyrum what to do when the candy came out. . . "RUN! TAKE AS MUCH AS YOU CAN!" Today was probably the first time he really found good use for his pockets. :)

Seattle (Vacation Day 1)

So, it has been a fun, beautiful, amazing, and scary vacation. We saw and did a lot. We also relaxed a lot. One trip to a doctor. One rented car. One big family to see. One place that I can't wait to get back to. There's so much to tell and share. . . which makes me hesitant to post, because I don't want to miss anything, but I decided to just tackle one day at a time. I was sad that we couldn't stay a bit longer so I could visit old friends and show my little family more of what I loved as a child, but now I'm only more excited to visit again. Here's our first day in pictures:

I love Seattle. Because of a late flight and a search for a Pharmacy(I'll post about that later) the 4 hours we had for Famers Market, the Space Needle, and other touristy stuff was cut down to only about an hour. So, after some thought we decided to pick one thing that we knew the boys would enjoy that wouldn't be too crowded. They LOVED the Freemont BridgeTroll. It's a less known trourist attraction so very few people were there. After defeating the troll we made it to the 'mini' family reunion. It was for my Grandpa Clyde and his descendants. There was a lot of great food. Lot's of cousins to play with and of course barrels to swing in and tires to climb.