Aspergillus and Bermuda grass and Cottonwood, Oh My!

Today was Spencer's pulmonary and allergy skin tests. I didn't get the complete results of the lung test, although the technician said there was a huge improvement after he gave him the inhaler. And he was asymptomatic today. But the skin test was amazing. He had a positive reaction to 14 out of 15 environmental allergens. The worst were the grasses. The nurse said he had an amazing amount of energy considering the extent of his allergies. He's always been snotty and we figured he probably had seasonal allergies, but we didn't know how extensive they were. Here is the complete list: alternaria (?) , aspergillus (mold), bermuda grass, orchard grass, black cottonwood, western sycamore, dog, cat, ragweed, rye, scale (?), dust mite DF and DP, and cantaloupe. I told him he needs to live in the dessert where nothing grows. The good thing is that he has had much less snot since we started him on the nasal lavage and nasal steroid spray.

Dinnertime Talk

Dallin (holding up a drumstick at dinner): "What is this?"
Us: "It's a chicken leg."
Dallin: "Someone went to the farm and took the chicken's leg?!"

Tyler: "Did I eat enough dinner to get dessert?"

Spencer: "What movie is this from?..." We often play name that movie in which we say a line from a movie and everyone has to guess what movie it is - the boys are much better at it than we are.

Scripture Time

We try to read about half a page in the Book of Mormon every day with the kids (morning during the school year and evening in the summer). But sometimes I wonder how much they are really getting out of it. Spencer pays attention well - he participates in our discussions while we read; Tyler holds still but doesn't know what we're reading about if we ask him; and Dallin doesn't sit still or listen at all. So Dave came up with a brilliant idea. He tells the boys a word they need to listen for. The first person to hear it gets to tickle Dave's feet. They really get into it. Even Dallin is right there, listening and giggling when he gets to tickle. I love it when an idea works. Sometimes you've got to be creative with kids.

Beach Hike

We went on a hike along the coast today. It's a new trail that was just opened to the public recently. We had to check in and check out, since it goes up near the nuclear power plant.


There were some beautiful views of cliffs, jutting rocks and beaches down below.


This was a sink hole that formed 10 years ago. Before that it was an underground cave. It was cool to hear the water roar in and out.

After the hike we drove down to the beach. It's a fun place with lots of rock formations to climb on.
The kids had fun throwing rocks in the water
And collecting shells and awesome rocks to put in their ocean room.
Spencer and his cousins climbed all over these jagged cliffs up above the water
While Dallin found a smaller, safer cliff to climb. Everyone had such a great time it was hard to leave.

Pioneer BBQ

Yesterday was Pioneer Day, the day that Mormons honor our pioneer ancestors.

Today we celebrated by having a big BBQ and playing games in the field behind the church.

It was still quite warm, so there were lots of water games.

And tug-o-war. The kids had a blast.

Happy Birthday Dallin!

Dallin turned 4 years old today. He started the day off by making and eating muffins, of course. Then I let him stay in his jammies as long as he wanted to, or until we had to go somewhere at 3:00.

He's been wanting this "Silly Monster" cake from my cake decorating book for months. It's one of my kids' favorite books - they love to look through it and plan the next several years' worth of birthday cakes they want. I have to admit - I do enjoy making them. I can't come up with creative ideas on my own, but I'm great at copying other people's ideas.

Dallin unwrapped his presents so fast he barely looked at each thing before moving on to the next one. He even started to blow out the candles before we were done singing Happy Birthday to him. He's been looking forward to this day for so long you'd think he'd want to savor it a little bit, but apparently not.
We invited Kristen and Nathan's family over for an instant party. The pinata was a hit, and luckily no one got hurt. Overall a quick but successful birthday party. I decided around noon that we really should do something for his birthday today. It's a good thing Kristen called to nail me down to a time.

Dressing up

My boys love to dress up, but not as your typical superman or batman. They get creative and combine all kinds of things. This morning Dallin was Muffin Man

And Tyler was some kind of Harry Potter/knight. They crack me up, and they're not even trying to be funny. They are taking themselves very seriously. Dallin told me he was flying to save someone. He even has blueberry muffin residue on his face.

Twilight Addiction

Can you believe summer vacation is halfway over? We walked/rode bikes over to the school after dinner tonight, and it felt like forever since we'd been there. The kids had fun playing on the equipment and pointing out past and future classrooms. Spencer commented, "This place brings back so many memories." The weather has really cooled down the past couple of days (which is good since the A/C has completely stopped working and the A/C guy and I keep playing phone tag), and it felt lovely on the walk - breezy and cool. One thing that is very different here compared to back East is that the schools have open campuses, just like in all the movies set in southern CA. The classrooms are in different buildings (usually 4 per building), and the hallways are outside. I really like it, except for those few rainy days. And I love that we are so close to the school - just 10 houses away. It's one of the reasons we bought this house.

We stopped by Kristen's house on the way home (I wanted to borrow the next book in the Twilight series - it's addictive), but they weren't home, and when I called her cell she told me she had them in her car to give me. I guess I can wait another hour or so. I wrote a quick positive review on http://www.goodreads.com/, and then I read a bunch of other reviews. To my surprise, people tore the book apart (which is odd since it's been hugely popular and everyone I know loves them). I guess from a literary standpoint it's no good?? Well I never did like the depressing literary books they made us read in English class. All I know is that the book pulled me in from the first chapter (which is a necessity for me or else I won't read it), and I couldn't put it down. I'm not a reader, remember? Well I read it in just 2 days, which is like some kind of record for me. So Stephanie Meyer may have her flaws with character development and plot, but I sure can't wait to read the next one. Make sure you vote in my poll on the right.

Outings

Yesterday we watched the kids while Kristen and Nathan went on the youth temple trip with Christopher and Jonathan (his first time to go). The day went well, especially since I spent most of the day reading Twilight. It is so good - I knew I would enjoy it. In the middle of the day, Dave took Spencer, Tyler and Dallin to the beach. They came home all excited about the wildlife they'd found. Plus there happened to be an event going on at the beach with lots of booths - crafts, sea animals and info about seat otters and elephant seals. They came home with bracelets and pelican hats they'd made, along with the usual shells and such they collected hiking on the beach. They even found a dead stingray in the sand, but of course they left that there. Last night we watched Definitely, Maybe while exercising, then I stayed up way too late reading. I should go to bed early tonight, but somehow I always get a second wind when I have a good book to read.

Muffins!

Dallin is our little baker. Whenever I make muffins, cookies, cakes, etc., he climbs onto the counter to help. His favorite present for Christmas was his baking stuff - mini cake pans, mini muffin tins, chef hat and apron, and a bunch of muffin mixes (the kind where you just add water). We thought about getting him an Easybake Oven, but they were all pink and I didn't want another bulky toy. So I put them in the oven for him, but other than that, he does the whole thing all by himself. We got his birthday package from his WV grandparents yesterday, and they sent pirates and muffin mixes. They were a huge hit - in fact he wanted to make the muffins last night, but I told him he could do it this morning. He's saying "Mmmmm!" in this picture. Now he's running around the house pretending to be a superhero named "Yummy Man!"

Allergy-Free

I just discovered a great line of allergy-free goodies for Brennan called Enjoy Life Foods. All their products are free of milk, wheat, peanuts, tree nuts, soy and eggs, and it's all made in a designated allergy-free facility. I've bought their chocolate chips before at the health food store, and they're delicious. They don't taste weird at all - just pure milk-free chocolate. But the health food store didn't have anything else from that brand, so I just found a website called http://www.glutenfreemall.com/ that sells a whole bunch of Enjoy Life stuff, including cookies, snack bars, bagels and CANDY BARS! I was so excited when I found it. It's all rather expensive, of course, but I bought a bunch of cookies and candy bars to have on hand in case of an emergency. Why am I so excited to give Brennan unhealthy foods? I guess it just makes me sad that he misses out on so much, plus he's so tiny I feel the need to beef him up.

Random Updates

1. Dave bought a T.V./DVD combo from Craig's List to put in our home gym.

2. I finished reading The Host, which I borrowed from Kristen. I loved it and haven't gotten anything else done. My house is a mess, I tell you.

3. Spencer had an appointment with the allergist yesterday. She gave us new meds and scheduled a pulmonary test and a skin test, just like what Brennan had but testing for environmental allergens instead of food ones.

4. Brennan has been in just a diaper all day (see #2). At least he's dry and it's hot (see #9).

5. Tyler had a friend from school come play today. I was so embarrassed about my messy house when his mom came to pick him up.

6. I have a primary meeting tonight. I hope it doesn't go too long because I want to watch a movie while exercising.

7. Dallin's favorite letter to write is "M" and his pencil grip is improving.

8. Tyler started the 2nd piano book today and is beginning to play with both hands.

9. Our A/C is not working 100% today. It goes on and off. When I asked Dave why everything seems to be breaking lately, he said maybe it's because we have money to fix it right now. Good point. I shouldn't complain.

10. We ate sliced tomatoes and grilled zucchini from the garden last night. How satisfying.

Our Home Gym

Dave's been working hard to get our little home gym set up. He always educates his patients about the importance of exercise, but he didn't feel like he was getting enough himself. The family practice doctor he works for suggests an hour a day for cardiovascular health, but Dave's lucky if he gets 20 minutes. And I just go 3 times a week. We usually take turns in the morning - first he runs, and when he gets back I go to Curves while he showers and gets ready for work. It's just hard to find time for both of us to get away to exercise, so he figured it would be good to do it together at home after the kids are in bed. First he found a treadmill on Craig's List for just $100 (he loves Craig's List and checks it every day after work), and then he got a recumbent bike at Wal-Mart for $110 (he researched it, and it got excellent reviews). Last night was our first exercise session in our garage. We got the kids to bed later than usual, so we started out doing 20 minutes on each thing and then switching. We opened the garage door to cool it down, since it was such a cool, breezy evening. We like to watch movies in the evening, so the plan is to set up a T.V. down there. But since that hasn't happened yet we listened to a book on C.D. instead, which really helped the time go by fast.

Brothers

It's fun to watch how two little people with such different personalities can get along so well. Spencer and Tyler are best friends. Spencer takes his role as older brother very seriously and always watches out for Tyler. He reads to him, teaches him facts and prepares him for whatever he's getting into that Spencer has already done (kindergarten, primary, scouts, swimming lessons, etc.) Tyler totally looks up to Spencer and runs to tell him any news he has heard (even if Spencer was standing right there hearing the same news). They have bunk beds, but every night they crawl into the same bed and sleep snuggled together. Of course they still have their moments of wanting the same chair or the same pajamas, but those moments are few. What's hard is when a friend invites one of them to play, leaving the other one behind. This is especially difficult when Spencer is the one being left behind. He doesn't know what to do when Tyler is gone. I just hope they're still this close when they grow up.

Gratitude

Dallin's often uncooperative about getting his picture taken, but every once in a while I'm able to catch him anyway. I love this picture because it's such a natural smile for him.

The talks in sacrament meeting today were about gratitude. It's a topic I love and have been working on over the past year. I remember a talk in general conference in April 2007 about the importance of gratitude - not just for our obvious blessings, but also for our trials. It's easy to be grateful for our trials after they're over because we can see how things worked out and how much we've grown because of them, but the conference talk challenged us to be grateful for our trials while we are going through them so that they will be lessened. I decided I would try to do that. It wasn't long after that that someone threw a rock in our big living room window one night while we were watching a movie and totally freaked me out. I remembered the talk and tried to be grateful for the experience, and it really did make it seem like less of a big deal. A few months later Brennan was diagnosed with multiple food allergies, and I left the allergist's office in tears as I thought of all the foods he would never enjoy, including cake and ice cream for his first birthday. My dad came up and gave us blessings, and in them he told us of all the many blessings our family would receive because of Brennan's condition, similar to the word of wisdom. I have tried to find aspects of his allergies to be grateful for, although it's been hard to do. So anyway, I have a strong testimony about expressing our gratitude. Here are a few of the things I am thankful for today:

1. air conditioning
2. the ants are gone
3. Brennan has starting folding his arms during prayers - it's the cutest thing
4. my sharing time went well today
5. leftover Chinese food for dinner tonight - talk about easy
6. the primary water activity was successful yesterday
7. we haven't lost the hamsters we're watching for our friends, although they have escaped a couple of times
8. Tyler slept through sacrament meeting today - he really needed it
9. Dave cleaned out the garage while we were at the primary activity yesterday to make room for our new exercise equipment - he even vacuumed the whole floor

10. Ibuprofen

Sharing Our Testimonies

You never know when you'll have the opportunity to share your testimony. Last night Dave and I went to the monthly PA/NP dinner meeting. It was at a scrumptious restaurant right down the street from Dave's work. We sat at a table with two male nurse practitioners, and as usual, they were shocked to hear that we have 4 kids. No one around here has more than 2, plus people think we look young. Then when we told them we weren't done having children, they seriously thought we were crazy. So they asked about our religion. Certainly only religious fanatics would have so many children. One man was Jewish and his wife is Mormon, although she's inactive. So he knew a lot about our religion already, but the other man had lots of questions. He'd had several glasses of wine by this point, so it was hard to know how much he was understanding, but he was curious and respectful, not critical. He wanted to know the connection between American Indians and Mormons, since he'd heard there was one. We told him that the The Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ and a record of the people in ancient America, the ancestors of the Indians. We talked about Joseph Smith restoring the gospel to the earth and translating The Book of Mormon. He was very curious about our view of Jesus Christ and how we believe people get to heaven, so we briefly discussed the plan of salvation: where we came from, why we are here, why we need a savior, and how we can return to live with Heavenly Father. Finally, we discussed the importance of temple work. For a relatively short conversation, we really covered a lot. Too bad we didn't have a pass along card to give him or tell him about http://www.mormon.org/. Oh well - we'll see him next month. I'm just so grateful to have a strong testimony, so that when people ask me what I believe, I know what to say.

It's me against the ants

So I've spent the last day and half spraying ants with Windex in my pantry. When the bug guy came a couple weeks ago, he warned me that his spraying outside the house could force ants into the house because they have no where else to go. Turns out he was right about that. First they appeared in our master bathroom and random places throughout the house. I sprayed Raid and placed ant sticks around. Then they focused all their attention on the kitchen - on the counters, in the drawers, in the dishwasher, and around the sink. It really wasn't too bad. I'd kill them and they'd disappear for a little while. Then 2 days ago I had the thought - boy, I'm glad they haven't found the pantry yet. That's always more of a pain to eradicate. Yesterday morning we discovered about a million ants scurrying around the pantry, excited about the mother load they'd discovered. Do you know what a pain it is to take everything out of the cupboard? Well I do, and I wasn't in the mood to do all that work. So I just cleared out the main shelf where most of the ants were, threw yucky stuff away, and killed all the ants. We were out of Raid, but my dad told me recently that ammonia kills ants, so I got out the Windex and went to town. It was just as effective as the Raid but seems safer to spray all over our kitchen. I kept reminding myself of the dad from My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Every 30 minutes, all day long, I returned to the cupboard and sprayed stragglers. They seem to be coming from under the stove, and they just kept coming and coming. I called the bug guy, and he said that the heat is also bringing the ants in. He said he remembers that tons of ants came out from under our cement patio when he sprayed, so there's probably still some under there. He's coming tomorrow to spray in the house and search for where they're entering the house. I hope it works, because I'm not getting anything else done around here. And all our boxes of crackers and granola bars are getting soggy from the Windex.

It won't be long now

I get so excited when I find actual veggies in my garden. I mean the greenery is lovely and all, but the edible part is what it's all about. We've had a lot of sun and heat recently, and I guess that makes the garden happy. Dave increased the watering to twice a day. We don't want the plants to dry up, after all.

We will soon have cantaloups coming out of our ears. There are at least 8 that are huge already. They just need to brown up a tad. Too bad half our children are allergic to them.
I got a packet of mixed pepper seeds this year. I didn't know it would start out yellow - for some reason I thought they would all start out green and change colors. So this was a fun suprise.

I planted all beefsteaks this year. I just love huge garden tomatoes.

Cooling off in the evening

It was over 100 degrees yesterday, so we rode bikes in the morning then stayed in the house until 5:00, when it was nice enough to play outside again.

After Photoshop - pretty silly, I know, but it's fun for me

Before Photoshop - pretty bland and boring

I happened to catch this picture of Spencer while trying to get Tyler on the swings. But they were moving so fast and my camera has just enough of a delay that I missed Tyler completely.

Brennan has been kinda cranky the past few days. I'm guessing it's because he's getting a bunch of new teeth. He's also discovered biting and hitting. As soon as I remind him to "Be soft!" he quickly starts to rub our cheeks.

Tyler had a tummy ache and fever yesterday. He was happy at this point because we'd gotten his fever down and he had a long nap. But he relapsed soon after and slept through dinner. He seems to be back to normal today, though, thank goodness.

I had to put Dallin in time out this morning because he was stubbornly refusing to help with chores (all I wanted him to do was hand me the dishes so I could put them away). He proceeded to scream and pound on the door and throw toys around in his room. But after we all calmed down he agreed to clean the sliding glass door and work on letters, since the dishes were done by that point. I need help thinking of incentives for him, because if he decides he doesn't want to do something, there doesn't seem to be anything I can do or say to change his mind. Time out seems to push the restart button for him, but he hates it so much that there must be a better way.

When life gives you shredded beef, make Carne Asada Tacos

I bought a huge package of thinly-sliced beef for our July 4th BBQ because I wanted to make kabobs, but it was sliced even thinner than I realized. Half of it was too thin to put on skewers so we had to cook it in our grill wok. Saturday night we used the leftovers to make teriyaki stir-fry, which was fabulous. Then last night we marinated and grilled the rest of the meat to make carne asada tacos from a recipe I found on http://www.allrecipes.com/, called Taqueria Style Tacos - Carne Asada. They were SO good. Here's the recipe, with a few changes I made:

2-3 lbs carne asada (very thinly sliced beef)
soft corn tortillas
taco toppings
Marinade:
1/3 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
4 cloves garlic
2 limes, juiced
1/2 cup oil
1/2 - 1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp paprika

1. Mix all ingredients of marinade and add to beef in large Ziploc bag. Mix well and refrigerate 1-8 hours (the longer the better - it makes it so flavorful and tender). Grill over medium high heat in grill basket. Since the meat is so thin, it will cook very fast. Chop into smaller pieces if needed.
2. Fry corn tortillas in very thin layer of oil over medium high heat. I use my big pan so I can do 3 at a time. Cook just until it starts to turn light golden. Turn over and cook the other side the same. Drain on paper towels. Don't overcook or else it will be too stiff to fold.
3. Fill tortillas with meat, lettuce, tomatoes, shredded cheese, salsa, sour cream, guacamole, and cilantro, although we liked the meat so much we put fewer and fewer toppings on it because we didn't want to cover up the flavor.

I love a quiet house

I used to feel sorry for my mom when she had to stay home with a napping baby while we all went out and had fun with dad. Now I know why she didn't seem too upset about it. Yesterday we were all going to go shopping to spend the money Spencer and Tyler got for their birthdays (which were 2 and 3 months ago - aren't we pathetic?), but by the time we were ready to go out the door Brennan was ready for a nap. So I decided to stay home with him while Dave took the 3 big boys. I did laundry, cleaned the kitchen, blogged and made French bread pizzas for lunch when they got home. Nothing too exciting, I know, so why was I so happy? Two hours of peace and quiet. It was lovely. Spencer bought a bike, and Tyler bought a scooter and Star Wars Battlefront II Play Station game.

I'm all about the organization

I love it when things are organized and run smoothly- my house, a vacation, a meeting, a party or vacating the park after fireworks. Last night we hosted a BBQ dinner - everyone else went to the beach in the afternoon, since it was the Utah people's last day of vacation, and came here to eat before we all headed off to the park for fireworks. We especially like these fireworks because 1. they are so close to our house 2. it is an amazing show, right over our heads (like back East, battle field style) and 3. they are so organized! I mean seriously, there were huge crowds of people, and we got out of there and drove home in 10 minutes. We paid our $5 for parking and only had to walk a short distance. There was plenty of space to sit because the park is so huge - lots of sports fields all over. We sat next to the bounce houses so the kids could do that and play at the park, plus we were close to the exit. They make all the roads one way and have tons of workers with flashlights directing traffic. They even open up a back way up a dirt path that helps get people out, which we were parked right next to. It was a fun evening, and no one cried during the fireworks. Brennan actually sat completely still, staring up at the sky and occasionally saying, "Whoa!"

Happy 4th

This morning we went to a parade. We were going to go to the annual flag raising and pancake breakfast at the stake center. But honestly the program is just too long - and it gets longer each year. Plus Dave's wrist is still a little sore and swollen, so he didn't want to go if he couldn't help with setting up the chairs. So we slept in 'till 8:00 instead. We sat in front of Dave's new office to watch the parade, along with his coworkers. His doctor rode a horse in the parade. The kids were excited about all the candy thrown to them.

Mom, dad and grandpa all came up for dinner last night at Kristen's house. Some of the kids ended up congregating around grandpa for stories. Then we went to watch a little fireworks display next to Dave's new office, put on by the place that sells them. We've had some late nights this week, so we're just relaxing at home this afternoon before heading out to watch the fireworks in our town.

Out of the House

One of the hardest parts about summer for me is the difficulty in getting out of the house. I just don't like to go shopping or run errands with 4 boys in tow, and they certainly don't want to go either. So I end up putting it off until it becomes an emergency. A couple days ago we were completely out of milk, so I woke up at 6:00 and went to the store before Dave left for work. Yesterday I had to buy a new faucet for the kitchen sink because ours started leaking huge puddles onto the floor. We've been wanting to replace it for awhile because it was getting more difficult to turn off. But you know how hard it is to get around to things like that. Well having no running water in the kitchen is very motivating. So I was going to go to Home Depot yesterday morning, but Dallin threw up the night before and I wanted to watch him in the morning to see if he was well enough to go out or if anyone else was going to get sick too. By the time I figured he was okay, it was time for Brennan's nap. And if I don't get out of the house before Brennan's nap, it usually doesn't happen. He woke up around 3:30 and no one wanted to go, but that was just too bad. I was going nuts without water. So we finally got to Home Depot, and they had lots to choose from. It takes me so long to make decisions like that. I kept going back and forth between 2 faucets that I liked, and it didn't help that the boys were distracting me by pushing each other in the shopping cart, up and down the isle, and telling me which faucet they wanted. I finally chose one and came home, and everyone was starving for dinner. When Dave came home he told me I bought the wrong one because I got one with a seperate sprayer. Our old one has a pull-out faucet/sprayer with a seperate air gap for the dishwasher. But I had a primary meeting last night, so I didn't have time to exchange it. The plumber is supposed to be here any minute now, and I guess we'll find out if it'll work or not. How much longer until Spencer is old enough to babysit??

Allergy Update

We got the results of Brennan's blood work yesterday. When we were at his last allergy appointment, she ordered quantitative IgE levels for all his allergies. When we did his skin tests last fall, it was just a positive or negative result for each food. But the blood test tells us exactly how allergic he is to each thing, and we can do repeated tests to follow the numbers and see if they go down. Overall, the results were very good. The levels were lower than she thought, and he was even negative to almond (yay - a nut he can eat!). And his allergy to walnuts was very low. Interestingly, he was the most allergic to casein, which is a milk protein found in all kinds of things, even products that say "lactose free" like cool whip and some soy cheeses. It was even higher than peanuts, which really surprised me. Unfortunately he had a weak allergy to soy, which was negative on the skin test. I've replaced all dairy projects with soy, so I'm not sure what to do about that. I'm guessing I should keep giving it to him since he's doing SO much better skin-wise and he needs the nutrition. But I'll have to ask his doctor about that one. Another new allergy was sesame, so I guess I have to stop giving him those sesame crackers I found. The wheat allergy was relatively low, so it'll be interesting to see if it goes down.

Getting the blood drawn was quite a story. I left the other kids with Dave because no one needs to see their baby brother screaming from a medical procedure. When I got to the lab there was just one phlebotomist working (the last time he had blood work there was another lady there to help me hold him down), so she said I'd have to hold him myself and I might have to come back another time if she couldn't get it. Amazingly, he didn't make a peep when she stuck him, and she got it on the first try no problem. Apparently he has excellent veins. All he did was tense up his arm. What a trooper.

At the Bay

We all (Kristen and her boys, Emily & Troy and their 5 kids, and me and my boys) went to the bay yesterday. This adorable little girl is my niece Sabrina. First we went to the little aquarium, then the shell shop, and finally we got salt water taffy and played at this cute park down past the embarcadero. The little kids played at the park while the big kids (ages 6 and up) caught hermit crabs and found a big purple jellyfish down by the water. Fun was had by all, except Peter who slept in the car, woke up sad then threw up. Why is it that every time our family gets together, someone throws up?