Revenge of the Thanksgiving Day Influenza

Our little cutie crunching the leaves.

We were looking forward to lots of good food with Corey's family this Thanksgiving holiday. What we didn't factor in was a case of the flu that would knock us all out! Our little family had this particular virus the week prior to everyone coming to visit. Asher was sick for 9 whole days, and I thought I'd beaten it myself when it reared its nasty head right after I came home from work the week before Thanksgiving. NOT a fun experience, ...but the flu never is. Corey never officially came down with it, although he did claim feeling weak to his stomach (sympathy pains??). So, when the family came to visit we gave them fair warning, and they took heed and stayed with Aaron and Meagan for a few days. We were feeling better and the house had been sufficiently (or so I thought) cleaned and doused in Lysol. We figured we were free and clear of this vicious bug.

Thanksgiving day arrived and we were cooking and getting ready for the big meal (which did turn out pretty good in the end I must say). By the time we ate at 2:30, we were down by one: Claudia was sick and suffering upstairs. By 8 pm that evening we were down by two: Adam didn't quite make it home from his buddy's house without an unfortunate incident while driving back to our place. We though Rick had been spared, after all he'd had his flu shot, right? By Friday at 7 pm we were hurrying home from a restaurant: Rick would soon be down for the count too. Corey's poor dad had to travel home to Georgia (flying/driving) the next morning feeling TERRIBLE. I honestly don't know how he did it because I didn't even want to move when I was sick.

So there you have it. Our holiday was ravaged by a microscopic virus. Needless to say, pictures were at a minimum, as opportunities were slimmer than usual, just another of the casualties of our Thanksgiving. Our deepest apologies go out to our poor unsuspecting guests. I only hope Corey's parents will still let us come visit for Christmas, we will need another visit to redeem ourselves! We love you guys and really hope you are all doing better.

Corey and Adam.

Grandma Reitz and Asher(stealing yet another cell phone).

Grandpa Reitz showing Asher his new laptop.


Aaron and Meagan. (By the way, they'd already had that nasty flu about a month ago, and so were spared). Congrats on the new house you guys! It's beautiful!

I hope all of you had a very Happy Thanksgiving!

TAG! You're It...

So, I have been 'tagged.' I guess the deal is I have to write 6 things about myself, then tag 6 other people who will have to do the same. Here goes...

1. I've recently gotten interested in family history and found some interesting things! If you go back on my family lines I am related to a Pilgrim, the Plantagenets (Old English royalty), and further down the line...Charlemagne. I thought it was pretty cool.

2. When I was a little girl, I dreamed of being an Olympic gymnast. Mary Lou Retton was my hero! I did do gymnastics, but I started a little too old I think to ever be really great. I did love it though, and I guess it helped with cheerleading in the end (and some of my back issues now can probably be blamed on both!).

3. Dill pickles are my FAVORITE food. My palate is a little discerning as to which ones are the best though. My sister Jen makes some killer homemade pickles. Yum yum yum. (I hate sweet pickles though. Yuck.)

4. I dream of going to Europe. I look at vacation rentals and places to visit all the time, and maybe someday I will actually get to seem some of those amazing sights!

5. I was valedictorian of my college class. I think I am currently losing brain cells though (do pregnancy and motherhood make you dumber, or do you just feel that way sometimes?). Not all dumbs are blonde:)

6. I wear glasses from the kid's section. My face is small and narrow and regular adult glasses look ridiculous on me most of the time, so I am forced to look in the children's selection sometimes. The ones I have on right now are 'Mary Kate and Ashley', I am NOT kidding!

Soon-to-be-tagged bloggers: Alisha, Effie, Kayla, Danna/Ry, Jessica, and Aaron/Meagan!

Puppy Love and Pumpkins

This Halloween, Asher was a puppy aka "Goggie"(if you asked him). What a little cutie, floppy ears and all. Tuesday night we went to a Trunk-or-Treat for our ward. He understood the whole concept of begging for free candy pretty fast. He wasn't really into saying "trick-or-treat", but was good at extending his jack-o-lantern bucket up to the nice people giving him candy. If they weren't fast enough, they had to try to put the candy into the moving target that was his bucket. Not until we passed the last car did he really understand what was in there. A wrapped taffy caught his eye and he dropped to the ground right then and there and started rummaging through his loot. One saintly person was giving out little boxes of raisins, and believe it or not I think that was one of the first things he devoured. He just loves those shriveled up little grapes.

Checking out the hard earned loot.

Halloween night was much the same. He loved his puppy costume, and did get to trick-or-treat at a few of our neighbor's houses. Corey told me all he wanted to do was to go inside their houses or pet their dogs. Hmmmm. I am glad he's so friendly, but I may have a bit of work to do in the "don't-talk-or-go-with-strangers" department. He loved it when our doorbell rang. He'd run to the door and knock back to the kids on the other side. Then he helped give the kids candy. Thanks for all the help little buddy!




Oh yeah, we finally carved our poor pumpkins! They have been patiently waiting for us to turn them into the works of art they were destined to be. Okay, 'works of art' is a little much, but hey, we did pretty good for using paring knives! (Where are those pumpkin carving knives we used to have??)

These last few are from a fun night we had with some great people we have been friends with since we all lived in "Mormon Manor" together. (A bunch of cheap, old apartments that a lot of the newly-wed mormon couples lived in...for those of you who don't know). The night was full of food, homemade root beer (great idea Chris and Jess!), great conversation, and our kiddos running around. Fun times.

P.S. All this candy, at an arm's length away, is much to close. Somebody stop me! What kind of dental hygienist am I??