The Sickies Have Arrived

A few weeks ago, the Sickies began circling...

O developed a mild cold which kept him home from church one Sunday and school for a few days. He shared it with H, who stayed home from church the next Sunday and spent a few days sniffling and coughing. I thought the Sickies were taking their leave. Foolish thought, that.

Last week J was in Idaho, working late nights and experiencing stress. Once home, he spent Saturday guiding people up Spanish Fork Peak, waiting in a freezing cold cloud 4 hours till all summited who wanted to summit, and finally returning home and to the great indoors 16 hours after he left it. That very morning, O woke with a fever and a tickly, chesty cough. He has since shared his fever with J. They have spent the past 3 days in bed, coughing, being chilled, being hot, and being miserable. H, S, and I are valiantly trying to stay healthy. H is doing well, and I am amazed that he is not sick at all. H and O's beds face each other and they naturally fall asleep with their bodies turned toward their brother. Every time I hear O wake up coughing in the middle of the night, I can just see in my mind's eye the germs flying out of his mouth straight into H's. So far nothing, but time will tell... S has an iron immune system. He doesn't get anything, or if he does, it's gone in a day. Amazing. I am in denial about the cough that is trying to settle in my throat and chest. However, the undue fatigue that is creeping up on me is harder to ignore. So it is, that at 11:18 AM on a Wednesday morning, J, O, H, and I are crowded in our bed like sardines, taking a nap, restlessly coughing, blogging, and playing "I Spy," respectively. Hopefully that will soon change to: taking a nap, taking a nap, taking a nap, and playing "I Spy." We'll see. I'm thinking the Sickies are having a little too much fun with this family and that it's time they leave.

The Lundgren Christmas Party

On Saturday we drove up to Milburn for some family fun. Milburn? (yes this town is in Utah). This is what it looks like on a map:



The town is located just outside of Fairview. Our family has been to Milburn three times, the first two times it was just dirt. However, this time a newly built beautiful custom home now sits on the land.

The ironwork on the front porch was a nice touch:



Grandpa Lundgren taking the grandkids out for a sleigh ride:











We look forward to coming back up for more fun.

Winter Break, Day 1

This morning I went on a 2 mile run in the snow with a friend. It felt amazing to run again -- it's been a while.

The monkeys have been playing well together so far. S and O have invented a game that consists of grasping hands, spinning each other around in circles, and awarding points to the person who is still standing at the end of the "round." There is a lot of crashing into bookshelves, couches, the Christmas tree, etc.

Now they are having lunch and talking to each other, it seems to me, at the top of their lungs. When I say, "You guys are sitting right next to each other. You don't have to talk so loud," they look at me like I'm crazy. Of course they have to talk loudly, Silly Mom!

Friday night at dinner we were giving H sentences to say like, "Want to eat this, I do!" and "Eat my dinner, I will." Hey, if the boy has a squeaky Yoda-voice we best take advantage of it!

More random posting will ensue this week I am sure.

Ski Utah!

This year is set to be an epic year for O and J!

Today we leave the artificial warmth and comfort of the valley floor, venture out of the thick layer of inversion and into the cold crisp air of the Wasatch mountains.

O looks into the distance, picking out the best lines.





After getting all geared up, O starts up the mountain, totally in the zone!



O slows down just a bit so that a few pictures can be taken.







The super hero pose:



Stay tuned, boys and girls! ...until next week, when O shows us how to ski waist deep in perfect Utah powder.

Boo!

Wee ghosties haunted our house this year for Halloween, but the tough biker dude and his biker chick who live here weren't too scared of them.

Belated...

I am privileged to be married to the sweetest and sexiest man on the planet. (To be fair I made him pose like this.) He was out of town for his birthday, working late and being tired and miserable. I save all the sappy embarrassing stuff for his ears only (you're welcome, readers of the blog) but just wanted to alert you to the fact that he is now 36 years old! Somehow 36 is so much closer to 40 than 35 was. Now he's not in his "early- to mid-thirties." No, now he is in his "mid- to late-thirties." Happy Belated Birthday, JP!