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. 

ALOHA!

For Christmas we went back to our beloved Hawaii. It was just exquisite. Nothing like being with the people you love most with no other distractions. We booked the trip way back in early September when Jordan was having her struggle to give her something to look forward to, and also in the realization that these kids are growing up so fast that we need to cherish every second together.

We left on December 21. It happened the be the 32nd anniversary of the very first time I ever went to Hawaii and my love affair with the islands started! I went when I was 14 years old on December 21, 1985. It was fun to be heading back for another wonderful Mele Kalikimaka!

This has to be one of my favorite flight tracker maps ever! SLC HNL!  We arrived that afternoon and got settled in and relaxed and enjoyed each other's company.

On Sunday we went to Church. It was Christmas Eve. The Ward did a cute Christmas sacrament meeting. Every thing in Hawaii is simple, yet it was sweet and so nice to think of our Savior's birth. On Christmas day we spent the day together and just enjoyed each other's company. It was delightful.

On the day after Christmas, it rained like crazy. In fact, I've never seen it rain so hard for so long in Honolulu except for the time I was there during Hurricane Iniki. It poured all day. We stayed in the room and watched movies and talked and it ended up being a wonderful day anyway! We ordered a pizza for take out and brought it up to the room and had a ball.

The next day we went zip lining! Wow! That was a blast! I'm not gonna lie - I was nervous. But once we got all tethered up and on our way - it was a kick! The guides we had were so fun and we were with another very nice family from Florida and it was really great!


Later that evening we met up with our neighbor, Sister Farr's daughter. Her husband is a base commander at Pearl Harbor. She arranged to have him take us on a private submarine tour. That was so cool. It was amazing and makes me proud to be an American. I loved it!

 One evening, Jordan and I were wandering around the Hilton property. They had a timeline history of the Hilton Hawaiian Village. I saw this and it reminded me of the time that Steph and I were staying there during one Hurricane Iniki in 1992. I mentioned that earlier. It was during the time I had come home from my mission and was waiting to go back out. Steph and I went over and happened to pick the time when that hit. It hit the island of Kauai the hardest, but Oahu received it's fair share of damage. I'll never forget the Hilton Superpool being full of sand and seeing rivers of water with palm fronds where streets used to be. Steph and I still laugh about it to this day. We had all been ordered to stay in our rooms so we just took a nap. My mom called and couldn't get over the fact that we were sleeping through it. Steph said to her, "well, what else are we supposed to do?" I really wasn't nervous. We were in a concrete building and the hotel did an excellent job keeping us informed and safe.

On the last day, we went up to Laie. Don and the girls were going to do baptisms and I went to do initiatories. There weren't enough workers so they weren't doing initiatories that day so I went and watched Don and the girls.

. 

It was just a wonderful time and I am so thankful we had the opportunity to go. I love Hawaii, but I love my precious family more and it was so wonderful to be with them for an exquisite week!

ALOOOOOOHA!