BARF-O-RAMA

Luke in his German speaking role

Warning *spoiler alert*…this post gets personal.  After trudging through rain and fog for the first week of my parents visit, we were all giddy with excitement at the thought of sunshine and mountain views...but the first sunny day also delivered a stomach virus to poor Luker. It hit him the night before his first German speaking part in his class play.  We thought at first it might be nerves, but as the night wore on we realized that it was indeed a very aggressive bug.  Although the virus hit him hard, it fortunately hit him fast, and he somehow rallied to recover enough to make his German theatrical debut.  As I watched him stand up there with perfect German coming out of his mouth I just had to smile with awe and pride. I couldn't believe that was my boy speaking fluent German-- it just seemed so surreal (and regretfully so confusing--I didn't have a clue what he was saying).  With Luke relieved to be through his performance, Chris scheduled to return to Switzerland from Korea, and the rest of us pumped to have sunny skies we planned our first mountain adventure.  But alas, our bad luck continued.  Chris arrived home with just enough time to take two sleeping pills in his attempt to get back on a normal sleeping schedule when the stomach virus hit the rest of us.  Within 15 minutes.  I've always wanted my husband to bond with my parents, but this was more than any of us could have bargained for.  With all four bathrooms being put to good use, poor Chris was left to manage a sick Levi AND Isaac as my parents and I had all we could handle trying to manage ourselves.  It was really a night from hell-the worst case scenario you just pray never happens.  And the only thing that kept me from crying was watching Chris tackle his worst nightmare (dealing with puke), half asleep (rubber gloves up to his elbows), soldiering through what must have been the most disappointing homecoming ever.  At one point with his eyes at half mast he mumbled, "this is a barf-o-rama, I'm so tired, I don't think I can do this".  But, he did in fact pull us all through.  His reward: waiting with the feeling of impending doom for the virus to hit him.  We calculated that it was roughly a 48 hour incubation period.  So, Chris bravely decided to come with us for a drive through the mountains and some easy "recovery" hiking to take his mind off of what was inevitably on it's way.  Our goal was to have him home BY the 46 hour mark.  He was a warrior, and pushed it to the limit…we were delayed in traffic, and Chris turned greener by the minute as I raced towards home.   We made it home at the "47:45 hour mark", and Chris was "man down" the minute we walked in the door.  Amazing, even the Swiss flu viruses are right on time!  I can only hope that after paying our dues of battling illness and braving the rain and cold, we are in for some excellent weather and healthy travels for the remainder of my parent's stay.