Catching up with the Parr's!

 I realized I have not updated this blog in a year and a half! So much has happened! I think I'll try to put in some highlight of the past year and a half!

 First, I got to go to China again with Don in September 2019. It was neat because this time we got to go to Xi'an. Xi'an is famous for the terracotta warriors.The Terracotta Army was constructed to accompany the tomb of China's First Emperor as an afterlife guard. There are thousands of detailed life-size terracotta soldier models represent the guard troops of the first emperor - Qin Shihuang. They were so fascinating. Here are some pictures. It was so crowded that better pictures are on the internet, but here are some that Don took. 

These fun people were the tour group we went with. Don and I were the only Americans. There was a mother and daughter originally from Singapore now living in Australia, the older couple was also Australian and the younger couple was from England. They were the nicest people and made our tour so fun! 

This is the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda. It is also a famous Xi'an landmark. 

This trip to Xi'an was a quick weekend jaunt that Don and I took from Shanghai as Don was there on business. It was really amazing to visit!

So Don and I got a special surprise on the way home. We got upgraded to Delta One on a one year old A350! It was fantastic. I'm a bonafide Aviation geek so you can't imagine the smile I had on my face! It was so nice that I was actually disappointed the flight was only 12 hours! Talk about getting spoiled! 

 

In November we went to Hawaii for Thanksgiving. It was so lovely. Dad and Danna joined us and that was super fun, too! We were able to go to the Lake Temple. Don went with Jacie to do baptisms, while Jordan, Dad, Danna, and I went and did an endowment session. It was so neat to be in that beautiful temple with a beautiful spirit. 

In February 2020 Don let me accompany him to Dominican Republic. It was about 85 degrees so I was incredibly happy. It's no secret that I don't love winter. There is a lot of Christopher Columbu history there. It was a fun, quick trip before Covid 19 put the stops on travel for awhile.

In July 2020 Don and I did the funnest bike ride. It's called the Desperado Duel and is down in Panguitch near Bryce Canyon. It was so fun because everything was crazy with Covid so the distraction was fantastic. The scenery was awesome and it became one of our favorite rides. 

In October 2020, Delta retired the last of their 777 airplanes. Having flown on them a few times to and from China, we decided it was be so fun to be on the retirement flight. We flew to Atlanta and then overnighted. The plane was flying from Atlanta to LAX. From there they fly it over to San Bernardino for retirement. Our pilot's name was Captain Holland and he had the nickname Dutch. He was such a cool guy and told us fun facts about the 777. 

Here are so more pictures from our fun flight! 

It was fun to be on the flight. It was full of a bunch of Avgeeks (aviation geeks) so we met some really nice people. They even gave us a special flight number DL8777. So fun. It was so unique and Don and I had so much fun on our little adventure.

In December, Jordan graduated from the University of Utah! She did it in 3 1/2 years. She majored in Early Childhood Education. She graduated Magna Cum Laude! We are so proud of her! She had a rough start, but she jumped right back in and got it done! 

We were supposed to go to Italy in May 2020 to celebrate graduation but with Corona virus, that didn't happen. We took a quick trip to Florida and sent the girls to DisneyWorld for a day. The day before we drove down to Cape Canaveral and had a look around. 

This is the girls heading in to DisneyWorld. They sent us a picture of their monorail ride into the park. They had a ball. 

In March, our poor Cooper boy was not doing too good. He was in a lot of pain and the vet was certain he had cancer. We had to say goodbye to our 5/5 best boy. It was so heartbreaking. Because he was the best dog we couldn't allow him to suffer. I miss him everyday. We were so blessed with another beautiful Golden Retriever with a beautiful golden heart. He was an unabashed Mama's boy and my heart broke in two. On his last day, we spoiled him rotten. The girls took him for a last ride in the car and bought him a hamburger and ice cream cone from McDonald's. He loved it and enjoyed it so much. 

Cooper always gave us his best. He was so loyal. I have loved all my sweet dogs. Cooper and I definitely spent the most time together as I don't drive anymore so I was home with him all the time. He was the best companion and kept me company all the time. He would follow me everywhere. In January Don changed jobs and works from home now so that helps. Cooper left such a huge void that if Don wasn't working from home, I'd be so lonely! We love him and hope he and Sandy have had fun romping in Heaven and hopefully not comparing notes too carefully. Sandy might be a little miffed. She never got on the furniture or slept on the bed. Cooper always did! I'm certain Sandy was glad she got to grow up with the girls whereas Coop had to hang out with boring me all day! Our precious dogs. Sure hope they are with us in the next life! They are the best examples of being Christlike. Loyal, loving, charitable. Love them! Here is a picture of Cooper just being cute!

Last weekend I was privileged to join Don again on another business trip. He had to go to Jamestown New York. Jamestown is in the middle of Kirtland, Ohio and Palmyra, NY. So we took a quick trip to some of the Church History sites. That was certainly special!

This is the Kirtland Temple. 

Palmyra Temple

The Sacred Grove

Hill Cumorah

It was really neat to see these places, especially as we have been studying the Doctrine and Covenants and Church History this year. I'm so grateful to belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I'm so thankful for the events that took place and that we were able to see it. 

So this is a catch up of the events of the last year and a half. So thankful for my family! 

Parallel Universe

I titled this entry Parallel Universe because that is exactly where I felt I was when we took Jacie to COLLEGE! It was shocking when Jordan started college, but when the baby hits that milestone and the realization that your children are ADULTS, it becomes shock and awe!

Jacie started at Snow College. It has been 3 weeks already! We took her down on August 17 as that was move - in day. She is roommates with a friend from school named Sarah. When we got down there we met her other three roommates and I felt such a great relief. They are all such nice girls and none of them thrive on drama. I think Jacie felt a great deal of relief, too. So far they really seem to enjoy each other and Jacie is really enjoying it.

On move - in day, our wonderful friend and neighbor Kai who just got back from his mission, came over to say hi. I think Jacie felt a great sense of relief having a "big brother" figure down there with her. And he is big! About 6'5"! She even had to call upon him last week when some kid followed her from a class they had together into her class. He's not even enrolled in the class but stayed the whole time. It freaked her out a bit, but she texted Kai and he came over after class and walked her back to her dorm. (The kid had taken off by then.) It was comforting for all of us to know Kai had her back!

Jordan is in her Senior year at the University of Utah. I joke around that she really doesn't live at home - she just camps here between school and work. I'm very grateful she still is here or else Cooper and I would be soooo lonely!

I just love these angels and I can't believe how fast the time went by. I still feel like it was yesterday that I was walking Jordan to preschool!

I'm so thankful they have the opportunity and earned scholarships to help them further their education. They are learning and growing and I could not love them more! GO UTES! GO BADGERS!



Jacie outside her dorm!

St. Maarten!

I have had St. Maarten on my bucket list for years. Mostly because of Maho Beach. What is so special about this beach you may ask? Well, it is right by the runway of SXM which is St. Maarten's airport. I mean 50 yards or so behind the runway so when the planes land, they come literally right over your head! Airplane spotter's paradise! Don and I decided to go in April as we could get pretty good rates and it was right after peak travel season.

It did not disappoint. The bigger airlines have flights coming in from about 10:30am until around 3:00, while the commuter airlines come and go earlier and later than that. I'm all about the big airliners so we spent a great deal of time at this beach. I'll post some awesome pictures.

St. Maarten was hit by Hurricane Irma two years ago. There is still a lot of damage that is visible and on some beaches around this bay you can see boats still washed up. We drove around the whole island on Sunday after Church and you can still see damage. Trees broken and gone and makeshift roofs on some places. Even still, it is a cool island. I just loved it.

We went to Church on Sunday and it was great. A very tiny branch. I had been talking to Don and we were talking about two of Jordan's friends who were serving in the Barbados Mission. I was wondering which mission St. Maarten was in. Well, my question was answered when I walked into Church and there was Jordan's friend Peter serving in that branch! It was so cool to see him. I got his mom's phone number and texted her later to tell her that Peter was diligently serving and doing well. It was so fun to see him. I was in the PTA at Centerville Jr. High and Peter was an SBO and so I knew him from that and always thought he was a real nice kid.

Anyway, I'll share some photos of the wonderful view of the planes we saw. I definitely hope to return to St. Maarten and sit on the beautiful beach and watch planes come and go again!



I got really giddy when a "Delta Belly" flew over! 






KLM A330







This time of year Delta flies 757's over and I happen to really love them. So graceful.

On the way home Don had to make a quick trip to New Jersey for a meeting he had so we flew to JFK, drove to Jersey and spent the night and came home the next evening. While at JFK I had so more fun views of some big birds.



Don snapped this picture of me gawking. It's hard to tell but there are three A380's out that window. They are huge and it was fun we got to see a couple come in. It really was a plane spotters delight!

I'm so thankful for this opportunity. I feel very fortunate to do one of my favorite things - fly! It was also special to be with Don. Sure do love him.

Aruba!

So as you can see, I've been very spoiled this year. Jordan and I ran off to Aruba for her fall break. We had enough Marriott points to go for only two nights but it was just what she needed to recharge her battery and unwind. We flew out on a redeye on a Monday night so we got to Aruba in the early afternoon on Tuesday. We checked into our room and went down to the pool. They have an adults only pool and it is kind of the rainy season in Aruba so it wasn't crowded at all. It is so quiet there and Jordan fell asleep and slept for a few hours! She totally relaxed. The next day was overcast, but it was still very warm and probably good because when Don and I went to Aruba for our Anniversary two years ago it was actually quite hot and the sun is very strong. Jordan slept again for quite a while and we just chilled out, read books, and enjoyed not having anything required of us. We snapped a photo of us chilling by the pool. 

The next day we had to leave. I went out to the pool for a little while and Jordie was relaxing in the room but before she could come down, the heavens opened it it rained like crazy. It was okay though because we got ready to go. We had to check out by noon and they recommend getting to the airport three hours early to get through security and customs and our flight was at 3:40 so it worked out great. It's hard to tell in this picture but it was raining. It is still beautiful!


We had a lovely time and even though it was short and sweet, it was wonderful. Jordan fell in love with Aruba much like I did so I think we'll save our pennies and try to get back there again!

China 2018!

Don had to return to China again for business and since I enjoy going with him and I have a Visa I figured I better take advantage of this wonderful opportunity. He had to go to Beijing which is near the Great Wall so how could I miss an opportunity like that! We flew out on a Tuesday here which put us into Beijing on Wednesday evening. On Thursday Don had appointments so while he was out, who did I meet up with but Carol Gu! My Chinese BFF! Carol was the amazing angel who took such good care of me when I was in China two years ago doing the procedure to seal off a blood vessel to direct more blood flow to the back of my eye in an effort to slow down my RP progression. Well, they moved from Changchun to Beijing in an effort to make the hospital more easily accessible as it's way easier and faster to get to Beijing than Changchun. So I connected with her before we left and she came to my hotel and we had a lovely visit. She is incredible. She has the best memory and the best heart. While I wouldn't wish RP on anybody, it has afforded me the opportunity to meet some of the most amazing people. My only regret is that I forgot to take a picture!

So Michael Zhang is an excellent host. He made arrangements to take us to the Great Wall! We also went to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. It was a holiday weekend so I'm not sure if that is why Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City was so crowded but it was! Don and I were joking that the population of Beijing is 21 million and we thought all 21 million were there plus tourists. It was still cool and interesting. But back to the Great Wall. Being a holiday I thought it would be busy there but it wasn't! Michael took us to the Mutianyu section which is a little further away from Beijing so doesn't tend to be as busy as the Badaling section. It was really amazing. Here are some photos.

I snapped this picture at a park in Beijing because it is so iconic of old Chinese buildings. 


We were in Beijing for five days then flew to Shanghai for another three. We stayed in a different area of Shanghai than where we were last year because the hotel we stayed at closed. It was near the river and very beautiful. This first night there Don and I went for a walk along the river and caught this beautiful picture of the moon. It was the Autumn Moon Festival (that's the holiday I mentioned earlier) so the moon was full and beautiful.



Here is a different view of the Pearl and some of the Shanghai skyline. Shanghai is a very cool city wish some great buildings. On our very last day we met up with John Higginson who is a very dear family friend. He came into Shanghai the day we were leaving so we had to meet up with him. We took a picture with the three giants in the background which are skyscrapers that are popular to the Shanghai skyline.


It was so cool to see John and he speaks Chinese so he's pretty comfortable getting around. We had a hard time getting a taxi because the drivers wanted to take people further to make more money. This was when it was good John spoke Chinese because I don't think we would have gotten a taxi without him. We went back to the hotel to grab our bags and then got a taxi to the Mag Lev Railway station. the taxi driver didn't really know where to drop us off so he dropped us off in the wrong place and it took us nearly a half hour to get to our platform. By this time we were getting late for our flight and by the time we got to the counter to check in for our flight they had closed the counter so we couldn't check our bags. In fact, the agent hurried us through security and we were on the last or second to last bus to the plane (because they weren't loading from the jetway.) If we had been about 5 minutes later we would have missed the flight. The cool thing is we got to fly home on a brand new A350! It was only a few months old. It was nice - the seats were comfy, good entertainment system, and me being the airplane geek I am, I loved having the opportunity to be on a new bird. Unfortunately I didn't get a very good picture, but I'm the only one who cares about that stuff!
It was a great trip and I'm so thankful I had the opportunity to accompany Don again. I really love the Chinese people and I keep praying that the government leaders will allow missionaries into that great country. What a blessing the gospel would be in those wonderful peoples' lives.

Why I Can't Get Rid of My Skis!

So pretty soon we will be moving just up the street. In preparation, I've been going through everything, getting rid of stuff we don't need or use, in hopes of making the move a little easier. I came across my skis. My K2's. They are old. They are of 1990 vintage. I've had other pairs of skis since that I've sold and could get rid of. My skiing days are long since over. So why can't I get rid of these?

I was laying awake Sunday night thinking about this. And it occurred to me why. In Winter 1990 I was enrolled in a skiing class at the University of Utah. We would go up to Brighton once a week, pay like $5 for an afternoon ski pass and have a great lesson. It was a ball. I was skiing on some clunky old Fischers that I had gotten years before. They were heavy, worn out, well used, and the bindings were not adjusted right. It's actually a wonder I never broke my leg. But I loved them. One evening my dad came in and asked me if I'd like to go for a ride. I thought that would be fun to have some one on one with him. He drove me right over to Herman's Sporting Goods (remember that?) and walked me back to the ski section and told me to pick out a new set of skis. I couldn't believe it! He said I needed to be outfitted properly in order to enjoy my skiing class. I got these beauties with new boots and bindings! My first run out I crashed several times because the edges were so sharp and I wasn't used to it! Soon I adjusted and I skied more vertical feet than could be counted that winter and the next two until I left on my mission.

I realize that is why I can't get rid of them. I didn't ask for them. They were given to me. It was such a pleasant and sweet surprise. I was (and still am) so appreciative of that kind gesture of Dad's. Then I realized this had much deeper meaning. It is just like our Savior's gift of His Atoning Sacrifice. We didn't ask for it. He just gave it to us. We get to choose whether or not we accept it. I'm going to make more of an effort to recognize His gift, accept it, and use it in my life, much as how I used these skis! I took care of them, appreciated them and I'm going to keep them around to help me remember a wonderful lesson I got out of why I can't seem to get rid of these particular skis! I also want to appreciate our Savior's gift, His love, and use the Atonement to draw nearer to Him.

Another Jump Across the Pond

I am so lucky. I got the opportunity to take another jump across the pond with Don. He had to to back to Stuttgart to the same trade show he went to last year. Last year was so perfect because it fell on Spring Break for both girls so the whole family went. This year Jordan and Jacie had different spring breaks and neither one fell during the show so I just went. While I missed the girls I had an absolutely exquisite time with Don.

When I was 13 we read the Diary of Anne Frank in English class. I admired her so much and have always hoped to go see where she spent her years in hiding. Luckily Don and I were able to arrange it so we could go. We flew nonstop from SLC to Amsterdam. When we landed, we went straight to the hotel at the airport and dropped our bags and jumped on the train into the city. I had gone online two months before and got tickets to the Anne Frank house and the only time they had available was 11:45. Our flight landed at 9:15. It ended up giving us a great amount of time to get to where we needed to be and even some time to look around for a bit before our tour time. This is the outside of her house. I didn't get any pictures inside as it was dark and lots of people but we bought a book with some photos. It was extremely narrow and small and hard to believe 8 people lived in that space for a little over two years. This is the Prinsengracht Canal that was outside her house. It was beautiful. I was so grateful to go see where this occurred and it gave me a greater appreciation for the measures these people went through to simply survive a very dark time in history. Unfortunately 7 of the 8 people hiding here did not survive. It sure made me want to treat my fellow human beings with more kindness and love.
After the Anne Frank house we took a Canal tour. Unfortunately I dozed through most of it because the jet lag hit me, but when I was awake I was impressed by the canals and the buildings surrounding them. Amsterdam is a very cool place. We then went through the Royal Palace. Don loves old buildings and this was cool because it is still in use, but the public gets to see a great deal of it. We spent the rest of the day looking around the palace and saw some other cool things then got on the train to our hotel - or so we thought! We ended up going the wrong way and we went quite a ways before the train stopped and we could get on in the right direction. But is was still cool because we saw some windmills that the Netherlands are famous for and some beautiful countryside.

We then went back to the hotel which was at the airport but the view of the runways wasn't as great as it was in Paris but I still enjoyed it! The airport was actually quite fun. KLM had put in a cockpit of a retired DC 9 along with an engine. I never did get to go in the cockpit because there were so many kids in there, but I did grab these photos of the engine.

The next morning we jumped on a flight to Munich. I had also always wanted to go to the Dachau concentration camp as I've always been interested in WWII history. When we landed we went straight to the car rental and grabbed a car and headed right to Dachau. That was something else. Most of the photos are on Don's phone but we did buy a book that talks about the history and shows some of the photographs. It was very interesting but extremely sad. It is hard to believe humans could treat their fellow beings that way. We spent a ton of time there and then went and checked back into the hotel. We then got on a train and only rode for a block to this awesome hill that is specifically for plane spotters! It was awesome! We saw a few birds come and go. On the way back we noticed this parking garage with a great view of another runway and as we walked up we got so see an A 380 take off. It's the little things that make me happy! Don is good to indulge me!

The next morning we went to Church. We went to the International Ward so the meeting was in English. It was their Ward Conference and it was a great meeting. It's so awesome because the Church is the same in Munich, Salt Lake, Honolulu, or wherever you might be!

We then drove down a secluded road and changed our clothes then drove up to the Neuenschwanstein Castle. It is the very iconic castle that graces most German tourism materials. It was so cool. We went on a tour of the castle and then had an authentic German dinner after. I love German food! Sehr lecker!

Then next day we headed over to Stuttgart. That was fun because we got to go on the Autobahn. I think Don enjoyed putting the pedal to the medal. We rented a Range Rover Evoque so it wasn't a huge slouch of a car, but we thought it would have been real fun to be in a Mercedes or BMW for a real German driving experience! We drove straight to the Convention Center and got the show set up.

The next few days Don went to the show so I stayed near the hotel and enjoyed the beautiful weather. It was amazing! About 75 degrees and sunny. Around the hotel is a wide sidewalk and the Mercedes Museum is nearby. There is also a nice plaza where I just hung out and enjoyed the sunshine.

One day the Stuttgart soccer (fußball) team was practicing. I think it was their division two team. I went in and watched for awhile.

The Mercedes Benz factory is in the background and you have the soccer players in the foreground - talk about a completely German picture! It was quite fun to watch and again - I couldn't have asked for better weather!

This is the Neckar River. It was so calm that day.

One night Don and I were meeting Matt who is the Sales Rep in Europe. We were wandering around waiting for him when who should we run into? The missionaries! We had a nice visit with them and then took a picture to text to their parents! Their parents were thrilled! It was fun to see them out doing the work of the Lord. 

It was such a nice trip and I'm ever so grateful Don lets me tag along. Europe is great, but I still have to say I love America and I am so thankful to live here.