A frequent joy at our house is listening to Yaks pray. It always includes "Hen'ly Fawder" and lots of "bleth". "Bleth the gospow, bleth our cheekies, bleth daddy at work, etc." Boo always reminds him in the middle of his prayer to "say lots of things". She's then shushed by me and Yaks and he must start his entire prayer over again. Then he'll clear his throat and start over. Then he'll open his eyes and see that Boo isn't folding her arms and say, "Boo, fowd yer arms!" and then he'll start it over again. Needless to say, there's a LOTTA praying going on around our house! One of his all-encompassing phrases has been, "Bleth all of our fam-i-lee," which has taken on a new meaning this week.
My brother Tim became ill this past week and was hospitalized for several days with an infection, accompanied by dehydration, fever and unconciousness. I remember when he was young and in poor health, my mom would stay home with all of us kids and my Dad would be the one to stand vigil at the hospital, go to work and then return to his bedside after work. Now that my Dad is in poor health himself, it was really touching to see that our "first responders" were Ryan and Josh (both brothers-in-law), who both left work to give him a priesthood blessing, searched Tim's apt. for his medications, relayed updates to the family, and stayed there with him for much of the day.
The following day, I was anxious to go check in on him, assuming that he wouldn't have any visitors. My aunt Janet called and offered to watch my kids so that I could go, and not only came over to our house so that they would be more comfortable, but brought "new" toys, crafts, treats and lunch along with her! Little Yaks told me to tell Tim that when he's feeling better he could, "borrow my Kun Fu Panda show or come to my house and sit right here and watch it wiff me." The kids had a marvelous time playing with Meg and Paige (Thanks, Sarah for coming along), and I don't think they missed me a moment!
Little did I know, Tim would have LOTS of visitors. Cath came up, my mom came down, Cousin Rachel (the doctor of the family) came over from work, and Josh stepped through the door, just as surprised to see me as the other way around!
Yesterday was Father's Day, and Josh selflessly sacrificed his Father's Day doting, for a drive up to the Cache to spend the day with the family up there (Tim's recuperating under mom's watchful eye and a plate of oatmeal cookies). My Dad is having some testing done this week in preparation for a Deep Brain Stimulation procedure at the end of the summer (like a pacemaker for the brain). Once again, I was surprised to see that Peter & Catherine, Emily, Andy &Jill had all made the trip with the same desire to help and support. The boys rigged up mesh nets around the cherry tree so the birds won't devour the cherries, the girls fixed lunch for everyone, and the kids enjoyed the yard and the toys.
I didn't realize it, but it's been my moms first real break in a long while.
It's been fun to see all of us kids growing up in every way, and becoming more responsible for ourselves and for eachother, instead of relying solely on our parents. I'm particularly touched to see how our in-laws fill in the holes with their skills and talents. I sure love each of them!
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Last week for FHE, we did a little lesson on the roles of a father. In addition to talking about all of the things our Dad does, I quizzed the kids on some Dad (Josh) trivia to see how much they knew. Some of their answers made me laugh aloud.
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Last week for FHE, we did a little lesson on the roles of a father. In addition to talking about all of the things our Dad does, I quizzed the kids on some Dad (Josh) trivia to see how much they knew. Some of their answers made me laugh aloud.
1.) What color are Dad's eyes?Boo: Brown Yaks: Brown
2.) What is Dad's favorite food?
B: Cucumber Y: Pickles (insert chirping crickets here. Whaaaa?)
3.) What is Dad's favorite restaurant?
B: The restaurant by his work where he eats pizza. (The Pie Pizzeria) Y: A Cars one
4.) What is Dad's favorite thing to do on vacation?
B: Play with the puppies Y: Play games
5.) What is Dad's favorite movie?
3.) What is Dad's favorite restaurant?
B: The restaurant by his work where he eats pizza. (The Pie Pizzeria) Y: A Cars one
4.) What is Dad's favorite thing to do on vacation?
B: Play with the puppies Y: Play games
5.) What is Dad's favorite movie?
B: Pirates Y: Batman
6.) What color is Dad's favorite tie?
B: Purple Y: Blue
6.) What color is Dad's favorite tie?
B: Purple Y: Blue
7.) How old is Dad?
B: 30 Y: 3
8.) What is Dad's name?
B: Josh Y: Y-A-K-S!
9.) Who is Dad's favorite friend?
B: Puppy's mommy (she calls herself "puppy's mommy" to her stuffed dog)
Y: Dell (our next door neighbor)
4 comments:
Oh, I hope your brother is on the mend. And I'm sorry to hear your dad has been doing poorly. My dad had deep brain stimulator surgery a few years ago for his Parkinson's. It helped a lot with the tremors. I hope all goes well. I loved the Paulsen Kid dialogue once again. You write it down perfectly. I can just hear them saying everything you write.
We had twice daily e-mails from my mom throughout Tim's hospital stay. She was so frustrated to not be able to help helself because of her own health. Those Farrer girls sure know how to pitch in. I'm glad Tim is getting lots of love from all around. Your kids are adorable - as always.
Love the prayer description! How true is that! At least they're getting alot of practice in (as the food gets cold).
Glad Tim is on the mend--and that you were able to head up North to spend time with your family.
Love every member of the Hale family. We'll say some pwayos for Tim and your dad as well! Way to stick together and just do what needs to be done! Hang in there! XO
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