It has been a busy, but great six weeks!!

We had visitors the first two weeks after Crew was born. Tamara came up the day Crew was born and took care of the other kids for us. She is always so good to drop everything and be there when you need her. Michelle and Cam came the next day and stayed for a few days. Michelle was so nice to bring me four meals to put in the freezer. The day they left, Leanne and Maryann came to visit. As soon as they got here Maryann mopped my kitchen floor and Leanne made dinner. Maryann also colored and cut my hair. I felt so spoiled and loved!! Next my Mom, Dad and Greggy came for a few days. That was so much fun because we didn't do a thing. We just hung out. Of course my Mom was constantly cleaning. She even cleaned my garbage cans. We laughed because my Mom took a picture of us all in the living room. Caden and Matthew were playing the gameboy, Greg was watching a DVD, I was on my phone, and my Dad was on the laptop. Thats how we visit now days. Before they left we took a hike in "our forest" behind our house. Marcus thinks we are rich because we have our own forest. It was fun to hang out with Greg. He is such a fun and funny kid. He had just got his wisdom teeth pulled and so we were making fun of him all weekend. Michelle and Ben came up next. She also brought dinner and some way cute shirts for me. She made a vinyl sign with the name of each member of the family. Thanks everyone for coming to visit. We felt really spoiled.
Our ward brought in some great dinners for a week too. Between all the meals, I didnt cook for a good two weeks. It was great.
So we had a quiet week of no visitors and then Crew got a temp of 102. This was five days before we were to leave for Lake Powell. I took him in to the doctor and they sent us right over to the hospital for test. His fever went right down, but they still wanted us there until they got the results from the tests. It was horrible to see how many times they tried just to draw blood. When they couldn't get it from his hand they tried his arm and then finally had to get it from his head. They also did a spinal tap, which I wasnt there for, but I could hear him screaming. And for the three days he had an IV in his arm. It was so sad to watch him go through it all. He really was a trooper though and didn't cry much other than when they were poking him. Anyway, he just picked up something viral, but because he was only 4 weeks its procedure to do all the blood work. We felt a little silly taking our little baby to lake powell, but really it was the best thing for him. His jaundice cleared right up. He is such a good baby anyway, but he hardly cried. He also had his first big smile there (I'm so excited I got a picture of it!) So we know that Lake Powell is Crew's favorite place to be.
First of all, thanks Chris and Laurie for an amazing vacation. They got the houseboat and Chris even brought his brand new boat for all of us to use. It was seriously a fun, relaxing trip. I highly recommend going to Lake Powell in Sept. The weather was amazing plus the water was so nice and warm. Our kids had the time of their lives. They literally played none stop all day long. Infact there were a few days when I hardly talked to Caden and Matthew because they were so busy. Sadie opened up to everyone even the dog, Hopper. It was fun to see her play with her cousins. We were all worried about the safety of all these kids but we decided it was probably one of the safer vacations with kids that we've been on. They all kept their life jackets on and just played on the beach. It's more stressful trying to keep track of the kids at disneyland. Travis brought a huge duffel bag of medical supplies thinking at least one kid was going to need stitches or break a bone or something. We didn't even get a bandaid out of it. Crew's jaundice even cleared all up. It was surprisingly nice and relaxing. It was fun to watch how the kids used their imagination while playing in the sand. It was a great time visiting and spending time with everyone. I love any vacation where we get to play in the sun and water. It was a perfect way to end the summer. Chris and Laurie, thanks so much for organizing and making this happen. Lets do it again next year!! I will post more pictures later.