Home Remodel Begins and 6th Grade Dance

When Pete and I were in Cancun, Jake had his 6th grade dance during school. Our very talented friend, Katherine Turley, took photos so we were able to see a little bit of what he got to experience. Here are a few pictures. The blond he's dancing with is Brett and Sarah Hopkins daughter, Abby. I think you can tell that Jake isn't shy! We talked to him after the dance and he said, "Mom, I think I inherited your awesome moves!" He's not very humble either.







Tyler and I are beginning to feel better and its a good thing, because after lots of time in the planning phase, we have officially begun an extensive home remodel. I created a blog just to write about my interest in homes and gardening, one that I haven't written about much, but figured would be a great place to document, with photos, our home remodel. The blog address for that site is fontainedebienvenu.blogspot.com. I know its a long name, its my maiden name before it was americanized--Fontaine de Bienvenu, which means fountain of welcome in French. Anyhow, check out that site to see pictures of all of the remodeling we're beginning.

I had a great day with Madeline's school class today. We went on a fieldtrip to see The Tortoise and the Hare performed by the Salt Lake Children's Theatre. The show covered the story of Aesop and his fables, with a cast of 5 actors who had an amazing number of parts to memorize. My favorite actress was a girl named Amanda. Anyhow, I loaded up on cough drops and spent a fun day with my daughter.

Hard Night!

We had a hard night last night. Tyler and I haven't been feeling well with a bad chest cold. Yesterday, Tyler went from bad to worse, he wouldn't even walk, he said his legs were too sore. His cough sounded terrible and by afternoon he was burning up with fever. We took him to After Hours where his oxygen levels were low and his fever high (103.7), so they did chest x-rays, gave him a breathing treatment and steroids and sent us up to Primary Children's Hospital, telling us he had a bacterial pneumonia. Since I haven't been feeling well, Pete thought it was best that he spend the night with Tyler. They waited until almost midnight to see a doctor who then told them that he thought that it wasn't pneumonia, but RSV, a viral infection. In other words, go home and watch. So at midnight, home they came. Granted, Tyler is definitely better than yesterday, the oxygen and steroids definitely helped his breathing, but then, instead of being home in bed earlier, he's up late at the hospital. Our health care system is so flawed. One doc says one thing, then another says another. I know they were trying to be extra careful at after hours since they saw Tyler at his worst, but how can two docs look at x-rays and say two different diagnoses. Anyway, he is still a sick little boy, but seems to be in much better spirits than yesterday.

Tropical Paradise

Peter and I just spent an amazing, relaxing 5 days in Cancun with some of our friends from the ward. We had such a great time. We stayed at a Blue Bay all inclusive resort, which meant that we ate way too much, but it was heaven not having to worry about cooking or finding meals. We spent our days sunning and reading on the beach. Pete had a conference that he attended the first two days of the trip, so I hung out on the beach with my friends. We did yoga on the beach in the morning and that was about it as far as plans were concerned. Pete and I got couples massages at the spa after dinner--it was heaven. The next day, I got a manicure and then caught up on sleep and reading. In the afternoon, we worked out at the gym and hung out in the spa saunas. We attempted to play tennis, but my tennis elbow is still giving me grief, so that didn't go over so well. We spent Valentine's day on excursions to Coba and Tulum to see the Mayan ruins. I loved riding rickety, old bikes through the jungle and stopping to climb the tallest temple in the area. Half way down, we saw a black iguana sunning on the rocks. On the drive out, we got pictures of the crocodiles living in the lagoon. Tulum was an incredibly beautiful ruin, built on the cliffs overlooking the turquoise ocean. We spent about an hour in Playa Del Carmen shopping for the kids, where we spied wild boars behind the shopping center, rooting in garbage. Such a different world. I am always struck by the local houses, so humble, with thatched roofs and small, wooden shacks. I feel a bit guilty living the high life when down the road, poverty is so rampant. As a former sociology teacher, its very interesting to me to think about what life is like for other cultures and how they must think of Americans. I'll save that for another post.

We spent Valentine's evening dining at the French restaurant, dressed up in our finery. Pete was very thoughtful, as always, and had planned to give me little gifts each day of the trip for Valentine's. Have I mentioned that I act like the man in our relationship--the one who forgets anniversaries and all the thoughtful actions? I hate to admit it, but its true. Anyhow, it was fun night, that we spent talking about how each of us had met our spouses. Great stories.

Monday, we did yoga in the rain, and then spent the day lounging in the sun. We took canoes out on the ocean and sailed on a hobbecat. In the evening, we dined at the Italian restaurant, and ate far too much . . . again, but the conversation was great. That evening, we watched a circus show that was very entertaining, sort of Cirque de Soleil on a small scale. Tuesday, Pete snorkeled off the back of the hobbecat, and I tried to go parasailing, but the winds were too strong, so instead, I got to relax before our afternoon flight home.

We were grateful to Erin and Jared for watching our kids while we were gone. Couldn't have done the trip without their willingness to help us out. We were happy to come home to the kids and get back into the swing of things, although I'll admit to missing the solitude and ease of our vacation life!