Swim Camp and Park City

And finally! The moment Ana had been anxiously, excitedly, stressfully, happily been waiting for since she signed up in January--BYU swim camp! 

Ana only had maybe three or four major freak-outs the morning of swim camp, worried about everything from not having the right shoes to anything we did that might delay our arrival or make her in any way late for registration. 

But, I could understand her franticness. Ana worked so hard to get to swim camp, raising half the cost of the camp, working hard on her swim team and to improve her strokes, and going over the packing lists, rules, and schedules about 600 times. She wanted to be as ready as possible. 

She was also so relieved and thankful that she arrived at Swim Camp in good health. Up until we left Maui, her health was fairly iffy and her doctor wanted her to prepare to not be able to go. I'm so happy that her prayers were answered and she was all better in time to go (well, besides being a little weak, but she said she regained her strength through the cafeteria). 

She has always been "going on 17", so I can see why she was thrilled about the mini-college experience. I myself was thrilled that she ended up with the sweetest roommate and friends. I'm also glad that during that whole week I could trust her to take full advantage of the excellent coaching, swim instruction and of course unlimited food in the cafeteria. We also knew we could trust her to keep the rules, be a good friend and example, and to learn as much as she good. I love having such a responsible daughter. Thanks Ana!

After we dropped Ana off at Swim Camp (whew!), we got to pick up one of Cam's BFFs--Heath! Heath lives in Saint George, so when we decide to fly-by Saint George this year, I called Heath's mom (another old friend--she was actually one of the leaders in my YW when I was growing up in Henderson!) to see if we would by chance cross paths at another point, and wouldn't you know it, she was in Northern Utah that same week that we were. We stole Heath away from his mom and older sisters (Yay! he said, No more shopping!) so he could come join us up in Park City at Jonah's parents' house for a few days. 

Of course, even though they only see each other for a few days or a week every year, these guys are forever best buddies, as if no time has passed at all since they were three and making paper ships. I hope someday they get to live by each other again. 

I drove back down the mountain from Park City to meet Heath's mom when it was time for them to head back home, so I thought, why not just make a quick visit to Ikea?! You know, walk around... get the kids some lunch.... Again, it's another missed attraction when you live in Hawaii. But oh my heck!? What was I thinking!? It was "Free Kids' Meals" Tuesday and nothing is more crowded than a place offering free kids' meals in the middle of Mormon Utah!!! At least I saw some people I knew (welcome to Mormon-ville... we all 16 million of us seem to know each other one way or another) and the kids were especially hungry and thankful when we finally got our (free) food. 

We also came down the mountain one evening for an off-the-hook ice cream party with all of my Beer (my mom's side) cousins who are currently living in Northern Utah. Oh heck yes!!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE my cousins. It was awesome. Ana was gone, so I was sad she didn't get to hang with one of her BCFs (Best cousins forever) Livy, but it actuallyl worked out okay because Cam shone through and became Mr. Personality for all the girl cousins, even directing them in a little gymnastics/circus performance. What in the world? What planets aligned that night?!

Anyway, my cute cousin Lyndsi came and brought her boyfriend Ofa (we got to again Lyndsi again later the next week and get the full scoop, so it was great to have met Ofa before that), Jennifer came, my cousin Jerilyn's son Andrew came (we missed him when we were in Vegas), and of course cousin Eric and his wife Amy hosted us at their new immaculate and darling house. Their three girls are just the bomb-- so much pizazz and personality and fun-- and I loved seeing them all at their own home. So fun. Can't wait to see everyone again next year, but I hope its sooner! 

(hint hint, come to Maui you crazy people!)

And finally, we spent that week while Ana was at Swim Camp recovering. Remember how I mentioned that Elsie came down with strep throat after her trip to San Diego. Well, come to find out, my poor little nephew Gabe had strep (plus majorly and chronically enlarged tonsils, which have since been removed) and my dad and a few other relatives at the same time. So, that sore throat I had had since we left Vegas of course also turned into strep throat. I had been fighting it back because we were traveling and I didn't want to be sick and miss out on the fun, but once we arrived at Jonah's parents' home (and they were gone for most of the time we were there) and I relaxed for a day, it hit full bore. Luckily, I happened upon a miracle cure online (cayenne pepper tea) and was able to swallow without pain after two days. But, both Jonah and I definitely had the infection for almost a week. Jonah healed up fairly well though. On the other hand, I never got my body to start working right again and for the following three weeks, I had what seemed like altitude sickness. A great doctor finally saw me and said my immune system had done too well against the strep and had nearly knowcked me out. And though I luckily didn't have rhematoid fever, my blood volume was low enough that it was causing the constant heart palpitations, shortness of breath, headaches, and major fatigue I had been suffuring from since the sore throat stopped. Sheesh. Thankfully, this stupid "recovery from strep" that last three weeks took place while we were places where there were plenty of other adults to help take care of the kids and plenty of other cousins to entertain them (see future posts about Bear Lake Reunion).

The doctor prescribed an intensely iron rich diet (not the first time in my life that's been prescribed to me, but that's another story) and Jonah took the bull by the horns and made me ginormous spinach-strawberry (to help absorb the iron) smoothies every day, fed me meat at every meal, and let me eat unlimited microwave chimichangas in bed (surprisingly high in iron and low in sugar). I eventually healed up and it was such a relief! 

It was a crazy six months of weird health problems, I tell you what. It happens that way though... one bad knock down to your immune system and it seems like it takes months or years to get back to normal. It all started when I got bad anxiety on a scary flight to San Diego back in February, which then probably caused me to finally contract the walking pneumonia that had been going around (maybe that's what Ana had in April-May?), which then kept me weak enough to catch strep (I've never had it in my life.. why now?), which then meant my finally overzealous immune system  knocked out my circulatory system. Dumb. But, nothing like it to make you grateful for when you do feel great and healthy!

Well, back to the story-- the week went by too fast for us and for Ana. But, she was glad to see us and especially excited to show us around the cafeteria. 

The final Swim Camp event was a swim meet. But oops, I forgot to take photos. (Ana has a ton and maybe I'll have her do her own blog post.) But, I do have a photo of the crazy divers that also had their final event in covered pool area. I had flashbacks to when my sister Sonna used to dive competitively. It was horribly scary. I think my kids will stick to swimming. 

Detour! or Scenic Route!

Our friends let us stay one more night after they left so we could get an early start in the morning. It was a lazy Sunday, so we decided to take a detour on our trek up to Northern Utah. At the last minute, I picked a dirt road that was supposed to eventually get us to Bryce Canyon, but we weren't too sure...

Oh well! Here we go!

There were some awesome stops along the dirt road, like this canyon out in the middle of tousands of acres of sagebrush. We were also glad to see other humans after three hours of driving alone on dirt roads, hoping that the Ox kept to its guns. 

We were greeted around every corner with a breathtaking view. How does one small area of the world contain so much grandeur?!

And then thankfully, we found pavement again and the scarlet orange hoopdedoos of Bryce Canyon. We were running a little late so we didn't actually go in the National Park, but the kids were still in awe at the road side pinnacles. 

Annabella, Utah

After about three more hours, we reached our destination for the night--our friends' sheep ranch in Annabella, Utah, which is about an hour south of Provo.

We've been meaning to visit the Lawyers' sheep ranch for years. Literally. Like since 2001. Oops. We should have come sooner. We could immediately tell that it was a place we could have spent weeks. Not only are the Lawyers the very best hosts, but they run a full working sheep ranch, with sheep camps, working horses, sheep dogs, and all the big farm equipment. Plus Annabella is just lovely (at least, it is in the summer... I could guess that it maybe wasn't so in the winter).

They even have Adam's family's original cabin still there on the land. Stay tuned for future visits here, and hopefully there will be photos of us on horses up in the hills herding the sheep. 

Lake Powell

These are going to be some of your run-of-the-mill Lake Powell photos... except, darn! I didn't take my camera went we went exploring the canyons. Just go to someone else's blog about Lake Powell and pretend its us, K?

The house boat stayed in the marina and we just took the ski boat out for rides and canyon exploring. It was a crowded weekend out on the lake, so we were actually relieved to be able to just base out of the calm and quiet of the marina, with its full sized showers and regular bathrooms and calm nights. Plus, the kids really just wanted to ride the tubes and jetskis and didn't care about exploring as much as I did, so it was a great way to do it. 

We even got Jonah out on something other than a water ski! What the what?!

I had never experienced the strange and marvelous houseboat culture of Lake Powell. It was great. They are like strange, slow moving yachts, but in a way, much more functional ,yet not as luxurious or seaworthy. I love the little add ons, like the slides and diving boards and BBQ areas and playgrounds. I also love how people try to make them like floating houses, but not like Sausalito Floating Houses, more like track houses. It's just so strange and interesting and surprisingly fun. 

Jonah and I were seriously amazed at how lucky we were to get to go hang on this massive boat with these guys. It was a great introduction for me to Lake Powell, but maybe I'll be too spoiled now when we go and won't feel satisfied on an only one-story house boat. :) 

Wahoo! Thanks Spencer and Katrina! Great fun!

You Guessed It-- "Leaving Las Vegas"

But, one more Vegas attraction before we go. Some time ago, Sonna and Sloan happened upon a great little spot called the Nelson Ghost Town. I've lived in the Vegas-area for about 20 years total, and I somehow never knew about this little gem. We got some great photos that I wish I could share here, but my memory card got corrupted and we're lucky to have these few (for real... and the memory card failure happened a year to the day after the New Harmony fire! We need to avoid June 27th next year).

Our old friends from when we lived in Vegas right after Ana's birth met up with us out in Nelson, and Ana and Taylor tried to recreate some of the photos we have of when they were toddlers. 

They also have three boys younger than Taylor, so Cam enjoys when we all get together, and I'm sure Taylor enjoys the change of mostly girls in our family. 

They were just the cutest little buddies back in the day. I can't find my copy of this photo that they are trying to recreate, but here's another one from a playdate back when they were 18 months. 

(The little boy in the back did not visit Nelson Ghost Town with us.)

The views of the Colorado River canyon below Hoover Dam were stunning. 

Desert colors are sublime. 

Leaving Las Vegas

 Once again, however, our visit had to come to an end and we started another adventure. 

This adventure was our one surprise adventure for the summer... at the last minute, Jonah's old friend Spencer happened to invite us to his in-laws house boat on Lake Powell for the weekend. He just happened to be heading up with his family on the weekend we were supposed to be in Saint George anyway and invited us to come along! Wahoo! We made the hard decision of skipping a trip to Saint George this year in lieu of this rare chance to hang on a houseboat. Jonah's family had spent many a vacations down on houseboats, and even my own mom did a Girls' Camp houseboat trip one year while I was up on Blakely working (grrrr... should have flown back for that one...), but I had never gone. I'd driven by Lake Powell many times and always wanted to go, and was so excited to finally do it!

So we left at 4 am to beat the heat and the traffic and set out towards the sunrise on our well-known I-15 road to Southern Utah. We stopped in Saint George long enough to fill up with veggie oil at In-n-Out and we were on our way to the lake.

Get your rest now, little beauties!

Cousin Fest, Close Up

Sonna and I must have some weak genes because our kids mostly look like our husbands. Don't get me wrong, our husbands are awesome and our kids are lucky to look like them. But still, I know every parent hopes to pass at least some physical characteristics onto their kids, if not for any reason but to physically see the continuation of their ancestors into the future generations. 

But thankfully, when I look at photos like this one of Gabe and Po, I can see at little a smidgen of a family resemblance. There's a photo of Sonna and I on a lawn chair in Pullman that is similar to this photo, but it might have been lost in the fire. Maybe my sister has a copy, and I'll add it in later. For now, below is a close up of the photo of Sonna and I when Sonna is about 18 months and I'm probably three.  

 Well, even if Sonna and I never get some little tan kids (which would truly be a shame because Sonna has the most beautiful skin and hair in the world), we sure do love these little toddlers, even with all the trouble they bring... 

 Sonna took us out to one of the must-see attractions in Vegas, the new Desert Springs Preserve. It's fantastic. It's finally the museum I always wanted in Vegas when I lived there. The kids will now forever equate visiting Vegas with going to the Springs Preserve, especially since we even went back for another visit after this marathon one pictured below. They wanted to take Jonah and show him all the cool exhibits. 

We also took the opportunity to photograph ALL the Fegert cousins to make prints for our parents of all of their eight grandchildren at once. Yes, everyone was hot and uncooperative, but we finally and thankfully got a few good shots...

 (Po is NOT that short. I promise. It's just an optical illusion caused by Riley's gargantuaness and Po's slouching.)

And here's the winner. Personalities and all. 

Can you tell how much I love my kids and nieces and nephews?!? The joys of my life. 

Hello Las Vegas!

Because our time was cut short last year by an impromptu visit to my dad in San Diego and then the fire in New Harmony burning all of our stuff, we didn't get much Vegas time in 2012. So this year we planned about 10 days at my sisters' house in Henderson, which is a suburb of Las Vegas. I "grew up" in Henderson, so I definitely have an affinity for the place. It's Memory City. I mean, come on! Home of my first everything. First grade, first love, first date, first kiss.... hey kids! There's my high school! Look! That's where we used to roller blade! Oh my heck! That house looks exactly the same!! But nope. Nobody cares. The kids and Jonah... they just go for the extended-family time and the pool hopping.  

But, in any case, Sonna is always a wonderful hostess and feeds us so well and always has loads of things planned for us to do. The first on the agenda was a picnic in their newly-finished beautiful backyard and with their recent family addition Evan the Guinea Pig (see above). 

But the truly exciting newish family addition was baby Luke, Sonna's third child. Jonah and the kids, minus Elsie who was with me when I came to the mainland in February, had never met this cutie and it was love at first sight for everyone. Who can help but love this happy, smily, loving baby!? He is so freakin' adorable!!! 

It was also great to reunite Ruthie, Gabe (aka Reggie) and my kids, of course. We luckily also got loads of time with my brother's daughter Riley, so it was Fegert Family Cousin Fest (um, yes, Fegert is my maiden name and I somehow survived, thank you). Po was especially loving Fegert Cousin Fest since Riley and Gabe/Reggie are  only six months and three months older than her. We were worried they would all terrible-two tackle each other, but they actually played really well together. And then there's Elsie and Ruthie, who are only six weeks apart. And luckily Cam and Ruthie pal up pretty well too, so it's really just Ana who is lonesome. (Yet, I think she secretly enjoys the alone and adult time.) 

We did a massive amount of swimming, especially at our friend Shannon's house, since she was out of town and let us use her pool (and let Jonah and I sleep at her house while our kids stayed at Sonna's. Score!). 

My dad and his wife Roxanne live in Henderson too, but they are slowly relocating to San Diego, so they offered to take all our kids with them on a weekend trip to their new place in San Diego. Um, of course! A childless weekend?! We'll take it.

While the kids were gone, Jonah and I helped Sonna and Sloan with some house projects and also took our car to get the windows tinted. The new AC unit Jonah had ordered for the car had finally showed up, but they sent us the wrong part! Since we didn't have time to wait for a new one, window tinting seemed like the next best option to help us survive the Southwest heat. We found an incredible deal and the guys did an amazing job on the tinting... and we were so happy.. and then they reminded us to NOT roll down the windows under any condition for three days!? Oh my heck. We forgot about that part. Jonah and I had to open the doors to the car at every red light so we didn't combust. We started laughing so hard. Here we were on our rare childless weekend driving around in a literal sauna.

So, we were reasonable, and went to the movie theater and watched three movies in a row until the sun finally went down and we could drive back to Sonna's. I think we borrowed Sloan's truck the next day for our great double date with Sonna and Sloan for Thai food and LuvIt Custard. Then Jonah and I went and explored the new casinos and City Center on the Strip and sadly discovered that we aren't as young or calloused as we used to be and finally collapsed in exhaustion from all the walking and from having to avert our eyes from all the lasciviousness of downtown Vegas. I think we slept all Sunday just to recover. 

When the kids got back from San Diego, we discovered that Elsie had strep throat. I started to feel a sore throat too. More on this later. But regardless, the kids had an amazing time. 

Early that next week, I took Ana in to get a much needed haircut. She also got a mini-blow out. She loved it. For the first time in years, she wouldn't wash her hair for days. She just sat around all day brushing it. Cute. 

(My kids took their In-n-Out visits very seriously-- it's another missed attraction here in Hawaii.)

My kids were real troopers as we dragged them all around Henderson and Vegas visiting family and friends-who-are-like-family.  But I was in heaven. I love visiting old friends and family SO much. It's manna for my soul. The kids... well... they like reuniting with all the friends and cousins, but I think they would put "adults wasting time visiting and talking for hours" as one of their top five worst things. Sheesh. I need to plan some more adult-only get togethers and leave them home in front of the TV. Remind me for next year, okay?

But one visit was especially magical for the kids, and that was visiting my late cousin Jerilyn's husband and boys out in Summerlin. They have a great pool, and Aaron's wife Libby is a delight. We had a cookie buffet. We even got to watch the NBA final game with Aaron, and watching sports with Aaron is one of Jonah's all-time favorite things to do. Aaron is a total crack-up when it comes to spectating. But the best part is that every time Cam sees Matthew and William again, they instantly reconnect. These three are like peas in a pod. I love it and it warms my heart. I miss Jerilyn so much, so this is a little glimpse into heaven for me, and it reminds me that family bonds can never be broken. 

 

(And here is the world's worst picture, but If I don't put it in, I may forget to write about this and then I won't have it recorded for posterity....) 

And one more bonus-- Sonna held a Voice Camp during the second week we were there. She had organized it so Ana could be there and participate, and it was totally worth it. The other girls in the group happened to be one of Ana's first friends from when we lived in Vegas and the daughters of friends of Sonna and myself that we've known since before we were all this age. Sonna, our old friends, and I were so glad to have all of our girls together. Sonna did an amazing job and the final performance really proved how much the girls improved. I hope she does the camp every summer (hint hint Sonna!)

And finally, we really got to spend some good time with my younger brother Tyler (Tyty) and his gorgeous and wonderful girlfriend Jerica and of course my darling and perfect niece Riley. Po calls Riley "my best friend" or "my cousin Riley". They get along so well. I love it so much, but it also breaks my heart that we all live so far apart. Cute Tyler is such a great dad though and has really handled all the challenges of single-parenthood with aplomb. I hope he (hint hint) settles down soon as has a few more siblings for Riley. Just had to put that out there!

Okay, more from Vegas coming up....