Last Saturday, 24 October, was the Battlecreek Ward Luau. Kyle was asked to be in charge of the program for the evening and he did a wonderful job putting it together and emceeing. For the last month and a half we have been teaching the young women (12-18 female youth group) the
Hukilau, a fun Hawaiian hula that was actually created by the LDS Saints in Laie. Kyle also taught the young men (12-18 year old male youth group) the
Haka, a Maori war dance. They performed for the luau. Maile, Kyle's sister who has danced and performed the hula for several years, also performed, as well as his niece, Alohi. The bishopric did a hilarious Elvis number from the movie "Blue Hawaii." There was an incredible turnout and the whole evening was a huge success. I'll have pictures to share once I get them from my dad.
Another great part was having all of our family come. Kyle's parents came for the day; his mom played the ukulele and accompanied Alohi for her number. Maile & Parvin came with their family, of course, as well as Logan & Shayla. My parent's also came for the evening. Lots of fun.
And then...
Sunday night about 2:00 a.m. (Monday morning, I guess), when I woke up to feed Skyler, I felt really nauseous. It continued to get worse until I was vomiting and experiencing other unpleasantries. The next morning I decided to cancel the Stake Music Class I have been helping with and when we called a friend who lives right by the church to go hang up a note for us and she said her kids were sick, too, we though, hmmm; coincidence? Then we checked the computer and saw an email from a ward member via our "battlecreek sisters" yahoo group. Her family had it, too. It became apparent something nasty had spread at the luau. By Wednesday, the count of affected families had reached 39! Crazy, huh?
Most people had the vomiting and nauseau, etc., for about a day or two. But a few of us got to deal with it a bit longer. I still am, actually. Yep, it's been a full week now. I have had this unending stomach cramping/pain that has been miserable. Needless to say, I haven't been much of a housekeeper, wife, or mom this last week. I drove to the library and dropped some books off on Wednesday, but otherwise have been nowhere for a whole week. I have been able to get up and move around but wear out very quickly and mostly have been laying around watching my kids' tornado-like effect on my house. Thankfully, Kylene & Spencer have been wonderful about playing together and keeping each other entertained. And the TV has been on way too much this week. We cancelled preschool and the bishopric cancelled all ward activities.
On Thursday night a friend recommended I go on a liquid diet for 36 hours to clear out my system. I decided I would try just about anything, so Friday I drank way too much broth, jell-o water, Sprite, water, and apple juice. The stomach cramping went away which was so nice. But after 32 hours, I was too weak and had to eat, so I had some saltine crackers. Within 10 minutes, the pain was back. So discouraging.
Finally, sometime late Saturday afternoon, I started to feel little breaks in the pain. It has continued to get better, although it is not completely gone yet, but much better. I decided I needed to return to a normal diet as much as possible, to regain strength after hardly eating for a week, so that has helped me have a bit more energy. I am still not good for much, though! I hope after a good night's rest tonight, tomorrow will be a much better day! If not, I think I'll be calling my doctor. My house and kids sure need a mommy!
Kylene & cousin Bridget:
Pin the bow on Minnie.
Happy Birthday, our beautiful girl from heaven!
