Hallie's 1st Temple Trip

On our last day of quarantine the bishop had set up appointments to take all the new beehives to the temple. Because the temple has been so busy they needed to go during school but since she couldn't go back to school anyways we talked to bishop and decided to let he go with them. This is one of the dresses she got for her birthday and she couldn't wait to wear it.

They had a great time doing baptisms and although she was nervous she said it was super easy. Afterwards they had Costa Vida before coming home. I'm so glad she got the opportunity to go with the rest of the girls her age.

Happy #12 Hallie

It feels weird to say but it's true Hallie is 12!!! She is so fun and one of the pluses of kids getting older is they also become your friend. Hallie is very intuitive and notices when something is wrong. Although I wish she liked to shop more she'd prefer to be reading a book. She has grown up a ton and is liking young women's. The drama has been very minimal which has been nice. I want her time find and have good friends its so important but also so hard to find good friends...especially as a girl. She still spends the majority of her time with Paige but branches out every so often. She is doing very well as school and has rebounded nicely after quarantining. She is great at the piano although she hates to practice. We still wont let her have a phone do to some situations we have had with her and her chrome book(hiding it and playing/reading on it during the night instead of sleeping). I hope she figures out sooner than later that we can be her biggest help and ally if she will allow us to. I know I didn't figure that out very quickly and I don't want that for her. She is becoming more responsible in some ways. We have been leaving her home to babysit occasionally while we go out. She also has done a little bit more cooking and baking than she used to. She still loves soccer and is looking forward to indoor this fall. She still loves all things books and reading. She is such a great part of this family and we love her lots.

We were still quarantining for her birthday but Paige was so sweet and brought her over a little cake and present.

We did tacos for dinner and Caesar salad for dinner

This is my attempt to make a soccer ball funfetti cake. Its funny none of our kids really love cake but some of them still request it for their birthday which is totally ok with me but interesting all the same. 

She got this sweatshirt and wears it pretty much anytime its clean.

Happy birthday beautiful girl

6462 Summit Cove-Plants, Mulch, and Rock Are In

 The yard is making great progress and we are in the process of working on getting approved for sod. It has been so wonderful to have all the rain recently to make it all possible. The mulch is all in but we are still waiting for rocks in certain places around the yard. It's coming together

Covid Hits the Brower Family

 Remember that time I mentioned that Matt wasn't feeling well and so we went hiking without him...well he had Covid. He started not feeling good over the long weekend so on Tuesday he called to see where he could get tested. They said he couldn't test until Thursday. So he quarantined in the guest bedroom until he went to get tested on Thursday well the results came back negative and so we figured it was a different virus and Matt joined the rest of us upstairs in the main living area. I told him if he still wasn't feeling well by the following Monday we needed to get another opinion about what it could be. Kim has used the iv mobile providers before and loved them so I started looking for one in our area and found a couple. I called and made an appt for them to come out on Tuesday since they were full Monday. Tuesday came and a lady came to give Matt and iv to help him feel better and to retest for Covid. The girl was terrible at ivs and stuck him 10 times before deciding to be done. I felt to bad because he already felt so terrible but she did do his Covid test and it came back POSITIVE. She said since he had had symptoms for 9 days at that point that he only had to quarantine 1 more day a which seemed strange since he was so miserable he wasn't going anywhere anyways. But now we had all been exposed. I'm not going to lie I panicked a little about what this could mean for our little family but felt reassured everything would be ok. 

Over the next couple days Matt continued to get worse. He couldn't sleep, didn't eat because he felt nauseated. On day 10 he actually ran a fever. The mobile iv owner came on Wed and actually got an iv in Matt the 1st try and gave him an infusion with a bunch of vitamins to help his body. At this point he was back quarantining in the guest bedroom and was miserable despite all the things we tried. Thursday I had a different IV company come and do an infusion again hoping it would help something. The nurse that came was a traveling ICU nurse she was super knowledgeable and made me feel better about the situation. Matt's fever went away but he couldn't even walk the stairs without needing a break. It was the sickest I have ever seen him. When Matt first got sick I started him on supplements and ordered more when we found out he did indeed have covid. Although I had been nervous about the rest of us no one had really had symptoms. Hallie hadn't felt great for about a day and a half but nothing like Matt had. I was supposed to work the following Monday and I had to get tested in order to go back to work so I went and got myself tested only to find out I was positive as well. Monday I called the pediatrician to have Liam seen and be tested as well since he was under 3 and I took the girls to get tested as well. Come to find out we were all positive. I then panicked a little more not knowing when we had started symptoms and if it would get worse. We headed home to quarantine some more. This time we did every 2 hour pulse ox  and temp checks. Matt was the only one that was occasionally low...which had been the case for about a week. So he would do some deep breathing to get it back up and then we would retest 2 hours later. We watched a lot of movies, puzzles, and just hung out. By day 15 Matt finally felt better and more like himself. None of us ever had anymore symptoms but did our 14 day quarantine just to be sure. I loved Amazon during this time. I would jump on and order things that would show up sporadically over the weeks for the kids and us to do. Although Matt was working form home he was so sick he didn't work for a week so he was glad to be back working as well. Amy brought us this cute care package to help pass the time with stuff to make caramel apples and a few pamper things. 

The weather was beautiful so we got outside for fresh air at least once a day with a good walk. We also picked leaves and made crafts. It was for the most part pretty fun.

I only included one of our tests just to refer back to what they look like. I was to some extent relieved that we all got it at the same time so we weren't quarantining for months at a time. It was a really hard time for Hallie to be out. The online school was very different and honestly kinda useless. When she went back she was very behind and struggling in a couple of her classes. They gave her an aide to help her during her lunch and it was so hard to see her struggle. The transition to junor high hasn't been easy for her. I actually don't love how the school system is structured here. Growing up I went to intermediate school for 6th & 7th grade it slowly taught you about having more than one teacher and the different expectations. In the Valley they go to elementary school until 6th grade and junior high for 7th the transition from 1 to 7 teachers and totally different expectations have been a shock. She'll get on top of it but I hate that its hard.

I'm still not sure how I feel about covid. There is so much fear surrounding it but I really think if people would take a look at their lives and change their eating, sleeping, and lifestyle that it would help it not be as scary. But for some reason no one is focused on that. It all just seems really strange.

6462 Summit Cove-Interior Projects Continued

 This cover a months time of projects Aug 15-Sept 17. I wish they came together fast but sometimes thats not the nature of the project. I was so happy when Ikea got some of their dressers back in stock we were needing a couple. Liam has been using plastic drawers in his closet since he was born which has been great but with him getting bigger the clothes weren't fitting as well.

We also finally decided on swings for the foam pit space. I bought 3 and I think they have been great. SO fun

I have wanted to decorate our front porch for fall since we moved in. I think next year I may add a few more things but I love how it turned out. I saved the pumpkins so maybe we can plant our own next year...we'll see

This wall in the work out space needed something. I decided I wanted to do wallpaper but I wasn't sure what kind. When I found the graffiti wallpaper I think Matt initially thought I was joking but liked it was well so I ordered it and LOVE it. It doesn't go with anything else in the house but it's perfect for the space.

It went up pretty easily and adds so much to the small space

Hiking to See the Salmon Run

 Since we moved to the valley I have been wanting to go see the salmon run but I keep finding out to late and by the time we could go it is over. I saw it on the Ogden Valley Moms page that they were running currently and I wanted to make a plan to go. Matt hadn't been feeling well but said to go without him. So we loaded up and headed for the mountains I figured it would be good for all of us to get some fresh air and for Matt to have some peace and quiet. 

It was pretty warm to start I was more than ready to get into the trees and cooler air. The kids were all really excited to be outside and hiking...we'll see how long that lasts.

We stopped to take quite a few breaks and get drinks to make sure everyone stayed hydrated.

The views of Causey Reservoir were beautiful from the trail although it is so sad how low the water level is right now.

The colors were just starting to change. You could tell the different types of leaves by the color they currently were. All the aspens were yellow that day and so pretty. The kids all did a great job staying together. The trail is a 2.5 mile hike each way so I was a little concerned they'd get to tired but they didn't.

Yay! We made it. Initially as we looked at the stream/river there were very few fish and I thought in my head...was this really worth it?! But after we ate and had more water we ventured further up the stream and found many many more there. Their bright orange skin made them easy to see and so fun to watch them, There would be an occasional fish that would get stuck and die. The kids decided to get sticks and free all the fish that were trapped in a n effort to try and save them. I just enjoyed watching them play and put my feet in the water.

Liam mostly enjoyed jumping on rocks in the river

Just as we were getting ready to leave I heard a lady slide down the hill that dropped into the stream. When she fell she hurt her ankle badly...it looked like it might have been broken. No one had cell service so her husband stayed with her and the kids and I said we could run back and call for help. It gave the kids the umph they needed to get back I think. About 1/2 way back we ran into another group of hikers and asked if they had cell service...amazingly enough one of them had enough to make an emergency phone call. After we knew there was help on the way we lessened our paced briefly before the girls wanted to run again to make sure that help was coming. Shortly before we made it back we passed a sheriff and 2 paramedics. They asked us if we knew what was going on so we told them and they called in the rest of the info so they could get more help because they were going to have to carry her out. Just as we got back to the car we saw 2 more paramedics with a stretcher on a dirt bike tire that I assume they were going to haul her out on. We were all pretty relieved to be back to the air conditioned car and to more water. We had run out shortly before we got back. Now it was time to go home and take a good shower. It was such a fun experience and the kids did so well.