well, i guess it turns out that the flu we've all had lately isprobably swine flu... yea. paul had it first, he started feeling generally crummy (fevers, aches, sore throat, etc.) on saturday (after biking 15 miles, working half the day on campus, and playing racketball for an hour and a half), and sunday he didn't dare drive to church cause he was so dizzy... after spending all day monday at home and sleeping phenominal hours sunday and monday, he was mostly better and was back to school on tuesday (again, sarcastic, hooray for three day weekends). tuesday rayna and i felt generally crummy and had pretty bad fevers, afton never got it really bad (knock on wood), but she did have a mild fever the last two days too, and she didn't even complain too bad about nap time. i'm still feeling pretty bad (dizzy, disoriented, sinus pressure, body aches, etc), though i don't have a fever anymore. and it's kinda hard to say about the girls, though they don't have fevers anymore, and they've been pretty active again. rayna had a really bad fever yesterday, enough to worry me...
anyways, it was almost relieving to have paul come home today and tell me that the powers that be on campus have been sending out warnings to all the students to stay home if they're not feeling well, and to the professors to be more lenient to sick kids... etc. there have been confirmed cases of swine flu on campus, and most have not been too severe, but still take 3-4 days to get over. but it's relieving to know that there is really a reason to feel this bad! i hate it when a cold or flu or allergies knock me out, cause it always seems that it jsut shouldn't be that bad, cause it's
just the flu or whatever, but when it's swine flu and it's literally been killing people, it makes more sense to feel like you've been knocked over by a steamroller or two. that being said, i'm really glad we've all been recovering, and managable in our complaints. and i'm really, really sorry to everyone i've come into contact with over the past few days (i've been to two grocery stores, and wal-mart, and the library! i keep forgetting things, so i have to go back, but now i wish i hadn't!).
if anyone we've been playing with feels like they may be coming down with something, i recommend you take a day or two to be sure it's not swine flu before you get out and about too much! if you're looking for more info, i recommend
this site though i didn't find it til we were mostly past everything. also our biggest consistant symptoms have been really high fevers, headaches, and really bad dizziness/fogginess. so watch out for that. sorry again if we brough this to you, and best luck getting past it!
looks like fun, huh?
cheesy grin...
beautiful picture!
and posing
and posing...
and posing
a wild mushroom, (or probably toadstool, what's the difference anyways?)
and afton's stick too, of course
loving afton's new shoes, and rayna's cheesy grins!
bubble blowers double as toe rings, didn't you know?
she almost looks shy... and pretty in purple :)
ranya's not shy though! (yes, i think that's a bead in her mouth)
and playing bubbles, 
lots and lots of bubbles. 
friday night was dinner and a party, wth TONS of presents! better than Christmas!
including some pretty dress-ups :), a spray bottle (her favorite), cards, bubbles, bubble wands, cereal, bubbles, paints, and some various and sundry clothes and toys.
the girls had a great time watching grandpa, naomi and others doing the hokey pokey (they did join in too, but i obviously caught the pic when they were just watching).
and last but not least, afton loved her blue bear cake.
