the one starring rapunzel

Once upon a time, I had this roommate named Jessica. One time Jessica stayed at my house in Bountiful and we had an epic sleepover with 10 kids. Jessica was the most awesomest person some children had ever met. Little girls got to brush and braid her luscious locks. Little boys got to hear story after story. Basically they never wanted her to leave. Ever since then, the girlies and Owen have been begging for her to visit again. Jess was in Logan for Thanksgiving, and since Bountiful is halfway between Logan and Provo, it only made sense that she stayed with us once again. She may not have completed all her homework, but it was all worth it. She got to see something quite memorable. My mom and I aren't afraid of hair dye. We tend to be quite adventurous. I wanted to bleach the underside of my hair and my mom had been toying with being super blonde again for awhile. Today we went for it. I went first and was quite pleased with the results. My mom has a bit of a longer story.

Round 1 resulted in this lovely fluorescent orange mess. We decided the bleach hadn't been left on long enough, and decided to give it another go. It couldn't really get any worse, right?

Wrong. That is not a wig people. That is real-life Disney princess hair. We had a good laugh.

Owen came in...

Me: Owen, does she look like Rapunzel?

Owen: Huh? She looks HOT!

Mom: *nearly throws up a little bit while laughing*

My mom and I ran to Walmart (because we tend to get ourselves into these kind of messes late at night when nothing else is open) and picked up some color to go on top. I don't have pictures, but I assure you her hair is now a reasonable color. And that is the story of how my mom turned into Rapunzel.

happy thanksgiving

We decided to go non-traditional this year. We had a leopard print tablecloth and the only turkey we had was a table decoration. We had steak and smoked chicken; so much better than turkey. My mom and I will be going shopping tonight, not with the intent of buying a whole lot, but because we love people watching.

And then there were 12.

While we were waiting for tests results, the doctors thought that Drew had some kind of cold sores on his head. I wasn't convinced. My mom and dad have been by Drew's side for a week and neither of them have any sores. I thought it made a little more sense when the results came back as Shingles. I was a little surprised that my mom or dad didn't get any, but figured it was because Shingles mostly affects the elderly. I'm starting to think that the sores on Owen's face are similar to Shingles. They have lasted much longer than Hand Foot Mouth should and he hasn't had the Chicken Pox shot yet. My dad has Shingles now. He had Chicken Pox as a kid, so he never got the shot that protects against Chicken Pox and Shingles. Owen has been on antibiotics and my dad got some today, so we should be fine for Thanksgiving. The Marsden's are still going to come over, but no one else is. Shingles can be dangerous for pregnant women and 2 of my cousins are pregnant. My grandpa was required to get the Shingles shot for work, but my grandma never had it. Even though we shouldn't be contagious anymore, everyone decided it wasn't worth the risk. This will be one of the smallest Thanksgivings we've had, but I think it will work out well. Instead of having 30 people over, we will have 12. That means we will all fit at our dining room table!

Strep and Shingles

Test results for Drew came back. He was Shingles and an ear infection. Because his ear was already compromised, the Shingles settled in his ear. Sam and I got the Chicken Pox shot, which protects against Shingles, when we were little. Drew was too young to get the shot, so he ended up getting a mild case of Chicken Pox as a baby because Sam and I were contagious from the shot. Because he got the Chicken Pox, he didn't ever get the shot, but that meant he wasn't protected against Shingles. Usually older people get Shingles, so it's weird that Drew has them at 13. We've never been normal medically though. We have weird genetic appendicitis that doesn't show up on any of the normal tests and I was the 15-year-old that no one believed really had blood clots.

the one where drew comes home

I'm feeling a bit better, but Sam is getting worse. We stayed home from church today and got to bring Drew home. We are still waiting on test results, but some of them won't be back until Wednesday. Depending on those results, Drew might have to go back to Primary Chidren's to get IV medications. We are somewhat quarantined until we know what he has. If he can't stay hydrated, he'll have to go back on IV fluids. We have to keep blankets under Drew and then wash them every few hours. No one is allowed to be right where he is so we can hopefully keep anyone else from getting sick. We have 2 super soft blankets from Costco. I brought one up for Drew. When Owen saw me about to cover Drew with it, he lunged for Drew's couch, crying, "Noooooooo!" He burst into tears the second it touched Drew because that meant it was contaminated and he couldn't use it. My mom and I ended up running to Costco for super soft princess and Spiderman blankets so everyone could have their own.

awesome neighbors

I've been feeling kind of sick for about a week, but I've gotten so much worse. I was bone-cold last night. I laid in bed with 3 comforters and a sleeping bag over me, but I could not stop shivering. I woke up once an hour all throughout the night. My throat feels like it's about the diameter of a pencil. My dad headed up to the hospital and my mom came home. A blessing and a Lortab later, I was feeling human again. My grandma and grandpa brought the kiddos back home and now Sam is feeling sick.

I've posted about the Marsden's a few times. They have gone to Goblin Valley and Capitol Reef with us a couple of times. Today Dave took Owen to his house so my mom and I could each have a nap. Later Owen came downstairs and told us Kimberly was going to stop by later. My mom and I came upstairs and heard the clicking of the stove starting. Thinking it was Sam trying to roast a marshmallow or something equally as messy, she called out "What are you doing?" Before we turn the corner into the kitchen, Kimberly responds, "I've come to make you dinner!" We have awesome friends who take rambunctious, contagious 4-year-olds who can't play with friends and then make us yummy dinner. The Marsden clan is planning on coming to our house for Thanksgiving. We'll see if we can get everyone healthy by then.