Florida COVIDcation

Erik has been home from his mission for just about 16 months now and finished up his first year at Utah State -- first semester was living at home doing school online and second semester was living in Logan doing school in person.

The original plan several years ago was for Erik to come home in September, head to a niece's wedding in Georgia in October and then continue on the Florida to see his mission sites. But COVID disrupted all those plans, including the wedding. March 2021 came around and Covid seemed to be doing okay. We thought for sure by October things would be even better. So we booked our trip to Florida, a year later than originally planned.

The Saturday before we left, Ash went to Homecoming and the next Monday we caught the red-eye to Orlando.

This was Alex's first time on a plane, and he was pretty excited. Our early morning arrival gave us the chance to rush to the beach to catch the sunrise, something Erik had done several times when he was serving in the area.

We enjoyed our beautiful morning, but our late flight also tuckered us out a bit. So after driving through one of Erik's areas and stopping for lunch at a Wawa gas station (one of his favorites), we found a park to have a snooze before checking into our hotel.

The next day was Sea World. And this is where things went a little south for Ash. Her date from Homecoming texted her to say he tested positive for Covid. And despite being vaccinated, later that day she began to feel very tired.

Thankfully our hotel was pretty central to most things we were doing. She ended up being okay for the first half of the day but then needing to go back to sleep.

Universal with Harry Potter World was on our agenda along with Gatorland and my favorite, the Kennedy Space Center.

I grew up watching Space Camp and the Challenger explosion. I would often play astronaut in our unfinished basement with my dad's motorcycle helmet on, pretending I was going to the moon. I spent one summer checking out books from our library (two blocks from my house) about space. I was going to be an astronaut one day. The Space Center was a dream come true for me. And an even bigger dream was seeing a rocket take off. They happen a couple of times a month and we happened to be in town the day one was launched. We set our alarms for 5:30am and got to see it from our hotel window against the dark, night sky. That was a pretty awesome experience.

On Sunday we went to one of Erik's last wards located in Sanford and afterwards visited the Orlando Temple site. We headed back to the beach with Ash (at this point she had missed several days of activities). The crowded Sunday afternoon beach was a much different beach than the quiet early morning beach we were used to.

Our last day was Disney's Animal Kingdom. Pure magical is all I can say. Disney definitely knows how to do things right. This park had such a different feel than Universal. While we were there, a park ranger (not sure what to call her) approached us to tell us that is was national Okapi day and would we like to go behind the scenes and meet one. Tyler and I both looked at each other like what was the catch. How much was it going to cost us? Was it really national Okapi day? There was no catch. She took us behind the gates to where they keep the animals and we got to meet an Okapi up close and personal. Unfortunately, they wouldn't allow us to take pictures, so you'll just have to take our word for it. We easily spent 45 minutes where no other tourists were talking to these keepers about Okapis and feeding him his lunch of leaves and tree branches. It was really quite an amazing experience.

And just like we began our trip with a beautiful sunrise, we ended our trip with a beautiful sunrise. Florida was an amazing trip. I'm so glad we were able to make it happen.

COVID-19

In the beginning . . . as in last March . . . it was rare to know anyone with COVID-19. Over the past seven months, it has slithered and crept and inched itself ever so close to our family and finally struck this past week.

The day before our fall break trip, I got the dreaded Scarlet Q letter from the high school informing us that Ashlyn has been exposed to someone with COVID. She immediately knew it was her tennis partner whom she sits by in seminary.

Now what to do?

It had been eight days since that day of exposure and Ashlyn was showing no signs.

Do we go?

Do we stay home?

The decision was made to get her tested and head out.

First stop was Moab and a sunrise hike to Delicate Arch. As we came around the bend to find the arch, we also found others who had the same idea. Quite a few in fact. But you never would have known that many people were up there due to the silence. It was a very reverent few minutes as we all watched the grandeur and beauty of the morning unfold before our eyes.

In Denver we loved on our baby, hiked some more, and took our missionary Nate and his companion Elder Hales out to dinner (with permission).

Upon returning home, there was a message about Ashlyn's test. I called the next morning.

Negative. She was free to return to school.

Fast forward a few days. Kiersten informed us that her and Jason had been exposed to COVID. Jason stayed home from work for a day or two and got tested which came back negative.

Fast forward a few more days to today. Nate messaged us to say that Elder Hales had been feeling sick Monday night. They both got tested. Elder Hales's came back positive while Nate's was negative. However, Tuesday night Nate began getting little headaches which have been on and off for 5 days along with a sore throat. He's pretty sure he has COVID too.

There is nothing worse than being sick when you are away from home. I sure hope those two boys are going to be okay and that someone is taking care of them. I know they are in the Lord's hands. This is where faith steps in. When you are powerless to do something for yourself, Jesus Christ is the one with power to heal and save and make things right. I have to trust that they will be okay.

And so with that little bit of news . . . we are all lying low for a few days.

The Manitou Incline

Ummm . . . my last post about hiking had me searching for my post about my last big hike we did in Colorado. The Manitou Incline.

It wasn't there.

I searched and searched and searched.

And finally I realized that I never documented it anywhere else besides Facebook land.

That hike was a crazy hike too. Not as long but just as intense.

For spring break we headed to Denver to recreate another time we had gone when Alex wasn't in the picture. However, this hike was new. Tyler and Alex stayed behind while the rest of us set out to tackle a hard thing.

2744 steps. 2000 foot elevation increase. 1 mile up. 75 minutes. Slow and steady put us on top of the world.

That vacation also took us to a fun park called Bananas,

the Denver Mint,

and the Zoo.

We watched some March Madness,

discovered a cute bookstore to rival Powell's in Portland,

and celebrated Ashlyn's birthday, something that's happened a few times over spring break. We even made sure she had her celebratory ding dong "cake."

Mamma Mia and Angel's Landing

Can I just say I love my family. I love having a mom and sisters and daughters who are always on board with my ideas. I left the boys to fend for themselves over UEA weekend and took off for sunny, warm St. George for some bonding, laughter, and to forget about life for a few days.

With a car full of crazy women, crazy things are bound to happen. Stuck in the middle of the freeway with stop and go traffic, we needed a little diversion so we unrolled the windows, cranked the volume, and shared our love of Abba with the world around us.

When I purchased the tickets to Tuachan's Mamma Mia, I had no idea that front row really meant front row. We've all been in love with the movie and to see the play was just as good.

When we visited Zion's several years ago, Kiersten decided then that she wanted to conquer Angel's Landing (or Hell's Landing as I coined it) at some time in her life. I broached the idea the next day and we were off. Two miles up with a half mile to go, I seriously just about called it quits. When I saw this view, I knew my heart could not take whatever it took to get to the top, and frankly I was shocked that they let anyone navigate that last half mile unsupervised.

But my trusty comrades, or should I say naive billy goats, coerced me to the top.

Our bishop, who I discovered is terrifically terrified of heights, summited with the priests this past summer. I figured if he could get this picture of Erik, I could also conquer this terrifying feat. 

All I could think about as I clambered up this mountainous precipice was please don't slip and fall and two, what comes up, must come down. I also refused to glance down as I was headed up lest I get vertigo, plummet to a tragic death, and become an angel myself. 

The tricky part of the entire climb was negotiating around people ascending and descending all while not letting go of the safety chain. 

It's a long way down if you do.


But the view was worth it. Spectacular.

Would I do it again?

It's like childbirth. Immediately after my feet were planted on more stable ground I said no way. But time has a way of erasing those fears and thoughts. I might could do it again.