Florida

Emmy's gymnastics team, but only including the Platinum and Diamond levels, had planned a trip to Florida. Yes, there was a meet to compete at - but that was just an excuse to go and have a fun time in a fun place after such a cruddy couple of Covid years. Emmy actually wanted me to go as one of the chaperones, so I signed us both up. We didn't know when we signed up what date the meet would be - it could have been on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. So Emmy knew there was a chance she'd have to miss out on the competition . . . or, if not the competition, then another activity the group would be doing on Sunday. 

And, as it happened, our team was scheduled to compete on Sunday. Emmy was quite devastated, to put it mildly. I actually think it was ideal - otherwise she would have missed out on something that she would only do in Florida, like the amusement parks, etc. She gets to compete in Colorado with her teammates all the time, so to miss out on that was kind of ideal really. But I think it made her feel silly to be going to Florida but not competing. I think she also felt like a "true" gymnast athlete to have a meet all the way in Florida. So I got it and was bummed for her. I did reach out to a BYU gymnast, Angel, that had a story in the New Era a few years back. The article was about her choice to not compete on Sundays - even at the cost of national-level competitions. Anyways, Angel responded to me and was amazing. She then even emailed Emmy and it was super-sweet. It didn't make Emmy happy to not be competing, but hopefully it helped in some small way.

Anyways,  so we still went to Florida and had a great time. We flew out of Montrose on Thursday at noon:

Emmy and Ruby. There were 11 girls, 4 chaperones, and 2 coaches on this trip. On the way out, we flew to Houston, then from Houston to Orlando. As we were landing in Houston, our next flight was already boarding to Orlando. So we booked it, as in literally running, through the huge airport and made it just in time. It was intense, but a memory-maker event for sure. Emmy commented, "I felt like we were in the movies." Adorable.

Orlando and the surrounding area was huge and beautiful flying into at night.

After getting our rental cars (and the girls and pregnant coach getting lost in the airport for 45 minutes), we all got into a car and made our way to the coast to Cocoa Beach. We stayed at a hotel that was a 3-minute walk to the beach. It was an ideal location. As soon as we got settled in on Thursday night, around 10pm, we went for a walk to the beach.

The girls were excited to finally be at the beach and were excited for the next day - Beach Day!

The girls all had to turn their phones in at 9pm and then they would come to the adult room and grab them and breakfast in the mornings. It worked out well. Here are some of the girls, starting with Emmy, Risha, Abi, Anna, Keira, Audrey, and Brecken in red. 

Luckily, Friday turned out to be the warmest day of our entire trip - so perfect to spend at the beach. It was in the low 70s and cloudy. The water was quite cold (freezing in my opinion), but the girls were in and out of it all day long having an absolute blast. I managed to dip my toes and maybe got up to my ankles, but that was enough for me! We saw a small shark close to shore - plus lots of dolphins. We rented boogie boards and the girls loved riding them. It was really just a great day for them.

Abi, Anna, Risha, and Emmy - trying to get up the courage to get in the water. And once they did, they pretty much stayed there all day except for lunch break. :)

Emmy, Audrey, and Kiera. 

Cute pose! Top girls: Emarie and Ruby Jane. Middle standing row: Audrey, Abi, and Kiera. On their knees: Brecken, Anna, Risha, and Reese. Finally Olivia and Emmy. :)

Gotta love gymnasts on the beach!

KJ, on the far left, is their head coach. :)

That night we ordered pizza and just hung out at the hotel. The pizza slices were the BIGGEST slices I have ever seen. Like one slice equaled a regular 1/2 pizza. It was crazy, but also delicious. 

The next morning, Saturday, we packed up our stuff and made our way back to Orlando - Universal Studios to be exact. It was a cool and drizzly sort of day. The drizzle and humidity made it feel soooo cold! But the rain did let up completely by early afternoon and so that was good. We all started out together, then the girls divided up into a few groups and the other moms and coaches just did our separate things as well. I hung out with Twyla, who doesn't do the mask thing and so we just walked around, ate, etc. It was fine with me - I didn't feel the need to ride to the rides (pretty sure I would have ended up with a migraine), especially with it being so cold. The rides would have pushed me to freezing, I am sure. The girls had such a great time! Emmy's stories were fun and her group got in about 5-6 roller coaster rides.

Emmy and hot butterbeer (from Harry Potter). We (as in the whole group) waited in line for like 45 minutes for these. They did not disappoint. So warm and so delicious.

That evening we checked into our rooms and the coaches took the girls to Applebee's for dinner. Us moms went to some sushi place (similar to a Benihana actually) and I got delicious salmon. The girls had fun at the hotel, ordering Door Dash, running back and forth and up and down to each other's rooms, swimming for like 10 minutes in the outdoor freezing pool, etc. It was fun watching them having a blast. :)

On Sunday, Emmy and I were pretty much doing our own thing. We were together in the morning, then they all went shopping for an hour while we stayed back at the hotel. Actually, I had agreed to order their lunch and pick it up - and whoa was that an ordeal. But luckily it wasn't too late . . . The girls came back, got ready for the meet, ate lunch, and then headed to another hotel for their competition. Emmy and I drove to walk around the Orlando temple. It's beautiful, of course. But it was still quite chilly (colder than Saturday) and so we didn't spend too much time out of doors. But we got a few pictures and then headed to church. There was a service from 2:30-4:30, which was perfect as that was pretty much when the other girls were competing. The youth at church even invited Emmy to their activity that night, ha. She didn't go of course, but it was still nice and welcoming. After church, we met up with the group at a hotel for a buffet dinner. After that, it was back to our hotel and lots of giggling and fun for the girls.

Monday morning we were up bright and early and met at the hotel lobby at 5:10am. The four of us chaperones had dropped off three of the cars (Emmy and I were staying an extra day and so I kept one car) at the rental place the night before - to make it easier and quicker for Monday morning. The group had reserved 2 Ubers and me (ha) to take them to the airport in the morning. So Emmy moved into my room and went back to bed, while I drove a group to the airport. I got back by around 6 and tried to sleep, but it wasn't too restful. 

But, anyways, Emmy and I got up and then headed to Disneyworld! About a week before the trip, Emmy sent me an email asking if she and I could stay an extra day and do something fun. I didn't think her coach would be too excited about that so I had Emmy check with her. Her coach, KJ, was super excited, gave Emmy the flight information so I could change it, etc. So I worked on changing our flights, adding an extra day to our car rental and hotel room, and purchasing tickets for Disneyworld (Emmy's choice.)

I am glad we did Disneyworld, but I am not sure I need to go back ever again. The roller coast rides are much more geared for elementary-age kids. It was SUPER-DUPER crowded - and we were there on a random Monday in January?! Strollers and old-people carts crowded the pathways. Lines were atrociously long - one ride that Emmy really wanted to do, something like the 7 Dwarfs Mine Shaft, never had a line shorter than a 140-minute wait. Needless to say, we didn't do that one. Our first ride of the day, Space Mountain, was probably a 90-minute wait. But it was super fun. :) The other attractions/rides were probably closer to a 45-minute wait. It's just that you pay so much money and then get to do only a handful of the rides. But whatever. It's an adorable place and felt very nostalgic . . . or something. I loved just being with Emmy - and not 15 others, ha. It warmed up to the 60s and the sun even made an appearance! It was a delightful day. 

We took the ferry ride (as opposed to the monorail) over to the Magic Kingdom. The morning was still a bit chilly and thus the ferry ride was freezing! But it was still a bit fun.

The cutest caramel apple ever. Oh, the girl is pretty dang adorable, too.

Emmy bought this cute sweater, plus some super-cute Mickey mouse Vans (shoes).

Random "parades" would happen - which mostly meant workers were yelling at everybody to get behind the yellow lines. It was actually annoying. But Emmy, even at 14, still loved seeing the princesses. :)

Yep, we twinned it up for the day! We went a couple days before the trip and found these shirts at Target. Cute. :) (And way less expensive than the shirts at the park, of course!)

Space Mountain was a blast! My smartest move of the day was buying a "lightning pass" for it again in the evening - at 5:55. The timing worked out perfectly: we had just finished up one ride (perhaps Pirates of the Caribbean) and trekked it over to Space Mountain and made it at exactly 5:55 (even though they give you an hour lee-way). We got in to the ride in less than 10 minutes - which was way less than what the current wait-time was: 80 minutes. It was the perfect way to start and end our day at Disneyworld!

We had such a fun evening that night: going out to dinner (back to the Benihana place as it was next to our hotel and delicious and Emmy wanted it), picking up treats at CVS, and then watching a movie (You've Got Mail).

Tuesday morning we got up at 5:45, checked out of the hotel, dropped off our rental car, got shuttled to the airport, and got on our flight back home. This time it stopped at Denver - which had gotten some good snow! When we had loaded for our flight to Montrose, the plane had to be de-iced for about 15 minutes. All went well and it was a great trip and I was happy to have gotten to go (although that night, after getting our "bill," I was a little less happy . . . haha.) All the gymnasts had a wonderful time and that was truly the purpose of the trip!

Another Driver

 So Jonas passed his driving test last Thursday and is now an officially licensed driver. In some ways it relieving - because it means I don't have to be in the car with him driving anymore. In other ways, it's terrifying as this is the riskiest thing he will most likely ever do. But he's a good driver and so all should go well . . . 

A few other fun happenings so far in 2022:

The first Saturday of the month we "kidnapped" the new YW and had a waffle breakfast. Even Lucy was surprised when a group came and nabbed her! We have 6-7 new youth and had a good time that morning. 

I didn't get all the pictures of all the YW, but here are some:

Then last week, in between working (I had to pick up an extra shift last week and this week due to my other-half having Covid . . . ), I got the chance to go cross-country skiing. It was awesome and beautiful!

Me, Heather, Liz's sister, and Liz. I don't really know Liz nor her sister well (obviously as I can't even remember her name . . . it was kind of different . . .). The ladies were all fabulous and we really had a great time.

A little late, but here is December's 2021 calendar. . . 

Emmy and I leave for Florida in the morning!!! I am sure I'll have plenty of pics to share of that trip!

The last week of 2021

 So of course we always love going to Midway . . . and so when my parents had a 17-year old guest coming (My parents met her parents and family while serving their mission in Germany.) we made sure to make it over there. We decided to have the kids go earlier that week so they had a more days to be up there with Melody (the German teen). I had to work Monday and Tuesday and Ben had to work Tues-Fri. So it's a long story, but in the end and due to snowy conditions (especially over Soldier Summit), Ben and the kids took the train to Provo. 

But before we left, per my dad's request, the kids all took a Covid test. Jonas and Lucy were pretty hilarious! Luckily they were all negative.

Shockingly, the train arrived in Provo on time - 9:30pm. Paul Formisano was in Provo and so he kindly picked them all up and drove them to Midway. Then he and Ben came back down to Provo. Paul drove Ben to the train station at 4:00 am for his ride back . . . only to find out it was delayed until 3:30 that afternoon. (The train was coming from the Sierra Nevadas . . . you know, they only got like 17 feet of snow on Donner Pass. Wimps that the train was delayed. Kidding.) So Paul drove Ben back up to Midway so Ben could hang out with the family.

My parents had made reservations for lunch at the Cafe Galeria in Midway. They have these cute outdoor igloo seating that made it extra special - especially with the snow that was coming down that day. How fun.

I think this shot was taken inside the igloo, but I don't really know . . . ?

It was a little bit cool in there, but the space heater helped.

After that, my kids, Melody and mom walked about the Zenger's home (i.e., mansion). The Zengers are in my parents ward. Sister Zenger owns about a million creches and puts them out on display in her home and opens it up for visitors to walk through and admire. :) Ben and my dad quickly rushed through it and then headed down to Provo. (Ben's trained ended up not leaving until 6:30 pm - 14 hours delayed. Oh well. He slept on the train and made it back to Montrose by 1am.) My kids really enjoyed checking out all the different and awesome creches. 

On Tuesday, my parents and Melody dropped my kids off at Park City to ski and snowboard. What should have taken them about 40 minutes, took them 90 minutes due to traffic. Ugh.

But the kids had a pretty good time. The boys had fun - but it was snowing all day and Miles' goggles were pretty bad. But the boys still had fun. The girls got a bit lost, ended up on a not-fun black diamond hill and Emmy's ski kept popping off . . . Emmy was a bit frustrated by that. But it was none the less an adventure for the girls as they had never really skied on their own. And Park City is huge compared to what we normally ski at. The girls and boys both said the lines were pretty long. Again, we are not even used to lines where we normally go. But I still think it was a good day for them.

On Wednesday they all went thrift-shopping in the morning. Emmy bought some jeans, Lucy some cute shoes, and Miles a hideous leather jacket. Then they all went bowling and had a good time there, too. After lunch they headed over to skate at Midway's Ice Rink. I had left Montrose at about 9:30 and ended up passing them on my way to the house. I dropped off my stuff, sadly paused the awesome book on tape I was listening to, and went and watched the kids at the Ice Rink. They had a great time! They stayed until the Zamboni came out and kicked them off. :)

It had been a while since my kids had skated, but they did great. Melody was a good skater, too. Fun and beautiful times in Midway. 

After a yummy dinner, we headed (in some light snow) to Thanksgiving Point to its Lumanria display. It's so awesome! We went a couple years ago and just loved it. I loved it again this year. It's nice to be outside, in the cold (it was cold!), looking at Christmas-lights galore. It's magical.

This is the only picture I got. I don't take too many pictures when it's cold because I don't want to freeze my hands. :)

On Thursday I took the kids and we all went skiing at Park City again. But we stayed on The Canyons side of the resort. The snow was great! We saw the boys only at the start and finish of our ski day - they had a blast and loved skiing the double-blacks, I guess. The girls and I ended up on a black and I wanted to cry. I hated it so much. It was just steep and moguls. Puke. I actually discovered I don't really like skiing anymore and I am not sure I want to ever do it again . . . I don't hate it. I am just old and I get cold. It needs to be a sunny, total blue-bird of a day. Then I'd consider going. :) The girls and I had a good day, though, really and it was fun just being with them.

This was the only picture I got of our entire day skiing. (Such a pain taking off my gloves, etc. And cold! But for this picture, I was riding in the gondola). We saw a moose on our gondola lift - so cool and so fun!

We got home and then my mom and I headed down to SLC. My parents surprised me: originally my mom had told me we were going to the theater (just she and I). Since the show was Anastasia, my dad didn't really want to go and so I was going to go in his place. Well, it turned out that it wasn't Anastasia but . . . Hamilton! My tricky and awesome parents! The only problem: a big storm was coming that night and so it kind of put a damper on my excitement. I just hate traveling in the snow. But I was up for tying . . . My mom and I made it as far as Kimball Junction (usually about 25 minutes from their home, but took us 50) and then turned around. It was a white-out. The roads were horrible. We were going 30 MPH and so would end up late to the show. The snow wasn't letting up. We had already passed three vehicles, including a heavy-duty truck, off the side of the road. So we called it quits and drove back home . . . What a bummer. :( But . . . on Friday my mom called the ticket office and we were told we could come down at 7 (the show started at 8) and put our names on a list. If there were unsold tickets by 7:50, they would give them to us . . . 

So that was the plan for the evening. But during the day the kids were able to get out and enjoy the 8+ inches of snow that fell during the night. It was beautiful and the kids had so much fun! (We had originally planned to drive home on Friday so the kids could make it to their Stake New Year's Eve dance . . . but it got canceled because of a storm that was coming through Montrose. Which was such a bummer for the kids! But probably worked out well so we didn't have to drive back in crazy, snowy conditions . . . )

Cute grandma. :)

Snow much fun!

I took a bunch of videos, but still didn't even upload all of them. But click here for my youtube channel if you want to watch some.

After sledding we went to the movie theater and watched Sing 2. My mom said it was "cute." So cute she fell asleep during it. :) I thought she was being generous in her critique of the movie. But it was kind of fun to watch, I guess. I think my kids liked it. I mean, Lucy listed it as her fav movie of 2021. What the?!

That night, the kids all had plans: The three older were going to the Wasatch County Rec. Center for its Teen Party. All the youth from Heber and Midway were invited, I think. They had an okay time . . . they didn't really know anyone, of course. Miles and Melody (and Emmy some of the time) just walked around and talked and did a few things. Jonas watched the dance for awhile and then walked around with various different groups and kids. He said he had fun. Emmy was just with Miles and Melody or by herself. Apparently Jonas didn't want her hanging around him. Lame-O. But whatever. Balloons dropped at midnight and so at least they got to celebrate the New Year. Lucy stayed home (not old enough to attend) and watched Titanic with Grandpa. Perfect. She's been wanting to watch it again for quite some time. She told Grandpa when to fast-forward it, ha. :)

My mom and I headed back down to SLC - this time with much clearer roads! We got there and as soon as it was 7, we checked in with the ticket-office and gave them our story and our names. Then we grabbed some yummy street-tacos and then came back and waited until 7:50. When we checked back in, we had been assigned awesome seats - almost as awesome as my parents' season-tickets. They usually sit in row F, in the middle. Well we got row G, just barely off-center. They were amazing seats and we actually sat next to a couple from our old Sandy ward. (I didn't really know them.) But we also saw, and visited during intermission, another couple - that I knew well - from our Sandy ward. Ha. She was actually my YW president for a time and he was the bishop at one point and did a few "marriage-prep" sessions with Ben and I. Anyways, it was fun to see them. But the show was absolutely amazing and just a blast to watch. I loved it so much.

Hamilton with my mom - so great! 

And here's a cute picture of cute Melody. She got along with all of my kids - but Miles especially. They are like 10 days difference in age, with Miles being older. The two of them stayed up late - like 2am - and would play cards and other games. Melody was also really sweet with Lucy and seemed to like her a lot. 

We headed out Saturday morning and had a fairly decent drive home. There were stretches of sketchy road, but not much at all. The sketchiest part was from GJ - when Jonas was driving. :) But we made it home and then the girls had 4 friends over for a "party" - complete with card games, playing in the snow, eating food, etc. They got to stay until midnight and so it was a fun and late-night for them. The boys went to a dance at the Elks lodge and had a good time, too.

Alright, to wrap up the year, here are the 2021 Interviews:

Here's the video version: https://youtu.be/OoPTqp-7cNo

Here's to a new and better year - please!!! :) I don't want to hear covid, corona, omicron, delta, rapid, PCR or anything of the sort anymore!