December 26, The boys and Mark had an extremely early flight, 5:30AM. That meant, leave the house at 2 am which meant little to no sleep. Jake chose not to sleep. They got into Abilene by 10:30Am, had some lunch and drove to the house. They got to meet Colt for the first time. We all sat together and exchanged Christmas presents and soak in some baby Colt grunts and stretches. Mark was pretty happy to hold his new baby grandson. It always makes my mama heart happy when we are all together.
Once on the ranch, Luke jumped right in the truck with Noah to go along with him to take the yellow horse to the vet. His eye is a nasty mess and his ear is a little drooped along with his lip. I couldn't tell if his lip and ear could be part of major eye infection, but I had a feeling he did some nerve damage to himself. It didn't look good. Noah dropped the horse off an hour away in Coleman. Noah and Luke also went hog hunting when they got back and Luke killed a hog. We settled the boys into a room with 2 queen beds and Mark and I planned to stay at the hotel for the 4 nights. This was his first visit and felt funny staying at the house. We had gone out and got something to eat, only to come back to a huge meal that Ester had prepared. We felt so bad that we had already eaten, but nobody told us any different. Meals are always a guessing game. The next day we all went to see the new house and the progress. Jake and Luke hung out at the shop watching Noah and Izzie work on trucks. We took Jake to his favorite lunch place, Underwood's. It is like going back in time and he loves everything about it. You walk down a row, cafeteria style and pick your meat, unlimited sides, roll, and pop. The little lady that works behind the counter reminds me so much of a character off the 80's sitcom, "Mel's Diner". She has the hair and make-up of an 80's waitress. Jake was as happy as could be. In the evening Ester had prepared a big meal for everyone. 
Thursday Dec 28 I woke at the hotel and saw a text from Luke that said three words, "I passed out.” I knew Luke didn’t feel great the night before when he was looking tired and not eating much. Jake had told me his throat felt raw. Back at the house I checked in on the boys. As soon as I got to the house, I was to take Jayden to her doctors appointment and Noah would stay with baby. I told Mark to take Luke to urgent care. Luke had passed out from a high fever in the morning in the bathroom and fell into the shower. I am sure he hit his head pretty hard on the tile floor and wall. I figured he had strep throat like the last time he passed out. I never even thought about a concussion. The clinic wanted Luke to go to the ER for a CT scan. We decided to keep an eye on him ourselves. At the house, we kept the boys pretty isolated. Mark too had his head cold and had them check him at the clinic. They tested them for Covid, strep, and flu, all were negative calling it a virus, a cold. The main thing was to keep Jayden, Noah, and Colt from getting sick, and anyone else in the house. Luke slept the day away. Mark checked us out of the hotel agreeing that we would sleep better at the house. We slept awful at the hotel and were so draggy and tired because of it. I also like being at the house to help. In the afternoon I had to work to keep Colt awake. In the evening Ester and Bale fixed tacos and rice. I took the food to the boys in their rooms. Our family has 3 rooms, one is the room I have been staying, one is a bedroom with a big tv Noah was playing his games in one room, and one has two queens the boys have slept in. It has been ideal for all of us. We joined Ester and Bale for a few games at the table. That was a fun way to get more comfortable and chat.
12/29 We made reservations at the very nice restaurant, Mable and Louise restaurant at 8:15. Cynthia is a waitress and was ours for the evening. It is a very nice, expensive restaurant. We wanted to take Ester and Bale out to treat them for the hospitality. We had a nice meal and good conversation. I think Mark and Bale could relate when they talk about business. It was nice to spend time just the 4 of us. We even ordered cheesecake desserts. Mark seemed to be feeling better. 12/30 Luke felt so crummy he laid in bed until it was time to head to the airport at 2. He did however get Jake up at 6AM to go with Noah to shoot a hog. Luke really wanted to go, but since he was so sick he wanted Jake to go for him. Jake and Noah went on a hunt, but came back empty. Jake didn't get his hog. He isn't much of a hunter like Luke is and it has been a couple years since he has probably even shot a shotgun. I know he was bummed. All three were feeling lousy and stayed upstairs until time to leave. Noah randomly bought a new gun and decided it was for Jayden. He wanted her to sight it in and took her and the gun to the shooting range. I went too and watched and shot a few times. It was a nice day to be outside and I walked back to the house. I know the boys would have liked to join if they could. They were just too sick. I didn't really think Jayden should be out doing that quite yet either.
Back home in Iowa, Mark and Luke were still feeling crummy and went to the doctor. Mark tested positive for Influenza. Luke had an ear infection. His throat was so sore and fiery red we were all sure he had strep, but did not. Mark seemed miserable and in a super grumpy mood. Jake refused to go to the doctor or take an meds. He would rather just sleep through it. New Year's Eve, Jayden and I went to the Hog ranch to start packing and loading the trailer to take to the new house. We had to make a stop at Walmart and Jayden got food to cook. We had Colt with us, so it made things a bit of a challenge. He needed fed when we got there and was wide awake. Jayden fixed maid rite sandwiches. I didn't know where to start on her house, so I took down her Christmas tree and vacuumed. That was as far as we got when Noah called and said his mom fixed lunch at 3:00 and wanted us to come to the house. Also he wanted her to go hunt with him. We dropped everything to go to the house for a meal neither of us were hungry for. Jayden had me watch Colt so she could go hunt. It was a gorgeous day, 70 degrees. I was glad Jayden could get some nice sunshine. It was the last nice day. I also took all the bedding from the boys room, did laundry, washed all surfaces, and opened windows. I never got sick! Even when Ester and Bale have had bad coughs ever since I arrived. New Year's eve evening, Jayden and I had been cleaning and packing at the Hog ranch and came back to a house full of people. Nobody told us anything was going on. Neither of us were dressed or ready for company, but we joined in and had dinner. Ester had been cooking and made lots of food. I felt so awkward not having a chance to fix myself up. Everyone that was there and arriving were all dressed up. There was around 15 people and we all played Mexican BINGO. I sat by Noah and when I ran out of quarters, he kept giving me some of his to keep playing. Every round you put in 50 cents. I ran out of money and never won a single round. It was pretty fun and they sure got into it! There was lots of hollering and excitement when a person wins a round and gets the money. There was plenty of snacks and drinks too. Jayden was tired and we both went up and got Colt to bed long before midnight. At midnight it is tradition for them to shoot off a few dozen rounds into the night sky loud and fast. That we did hear! This was a very different New Years from what I am used to. Welcome 2024!
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