Braving new Territory

April and beginning of May brought us some new experiences.  We ventured out beyond our typical routine and had some fun adventures.  Brenna did her very first solo competition.  This means she got to dance a whole routine on stage at the competitions all by herself.  She worked one on one with a choreographer and killed it.    

The group dances at competitions are always a hoot,especially when your team is dressed up like mad scientists.   

Brenna also started a new dance technique- Ballet on Pointe shoes.  I can not fathom dancing on my tippy toes, but for a little ballerina like Brenna, it was a big day when she was fitted for them.  

Grant had a few new adventures- the top of which was exploring the Big Apple with his old man.  

We decided that when the kids have their sweet 16 birthday, they could choose a location for a one on one long weekend.  Grant decided he would like to explore New York City.  The trip had to be postponed from February until travel restrictions allowed, but just a few months later, they hit it up.  

They made it to Times Square, the Statue of Liberty, the 9/11 Memorial and museum, the Empire State building, pretty much all the essential tourist stops that you can fit in one long weekend. 

Every trip with David McArthur has a huge focus on the culinary aspect, so, of course, the fellas dined luxuriously and deliciously. 

I am sure the highlight for both of them was spending quality time together...as well as the store of tennis shoes.  Grant is a bit Nike obsessed and they happened upon a mecca of sneakers.  Dave said it was like stepping into heaven for our son.  

We are so glad they were able to pull the trip off! 

We have been so happy that we can meet as a youth group for activities.  We are still feeling like a new ward, so anytime we get to mingle is a good opportunity.  The oldest boys and girls class went thrift shopping and had to pick out something for someone else to wear.  Grant's outfit of choice (by one of his YM leaders) was this stunning evening gown.  

It was his first time wearing a formal dress...and hopefully the last.  Luckily, someone picked a pajama set for me, so I didn't have to deal with squeezing into my gown like Grant....it was so funny, though. 

Katelee has recently taken up a new sport-lacrosse.  We will see how she likes playing! 

Harrison started baseball.  While it isn't entirely new, he only played one season of coach pitch a couple of years ago, so we still felt like he was a rookie.  He is so lucky to be on the Phillies team.  They are so fun to watch and doing so well!

In true Harrison fashion, he entertained the entire crowd every game-from his pointing to me when he was going up to bat or running in, jumping for joy at each out his team got while in outfield, attempting to slide-while not really having any technique for it and just diving.  It has been pure joy watching him take up the sport...especially in moments like this when he got to stand in the pitcher's position...

I mean, safety first, of course.  Hahaha! 

It is just great that there are so many new adventures awaiting us in life.  There are so many people to meet, activities to try, traits to develop.  We are grateful for the routine and comfort of our everyday life, but novel experiences really add growth and spice to life.  New teeth (and wiggly teeth and gappy tooth smiles) are slightly frightening...but something I have come to accept, I mean we have no choice.  

I love that Easter celebrates the new every year.  It helps us reflect on being new people, not just seeking out the new entertainments.   We colored eggs, 

hid them around the yard and listened to a wonderful General Conference.  

Easter dinner 

we spent some moments discussing Christ and his Resurrection and how we become new through Him (also designing plates in to rabbit faces, apparently.)  Life doesn't have to be the same, we don't have to be the same.  That one of the greatest gifts.  

Spring has Sprung...and so have some Shingles

Finally out of quarantine, feeling hopeful with the fresh air, little flowers starting to burst, we started out the month of March.  I had been subbing and spent a day at the junior high in a PE class.  I have been strictly instructed to accept no jobs that would include Katelee and/or Grant's classes, so once I got the clearance, I hung out with some of Katelee's friends and got my sweat on with some neighborhood kids.  Things didn't go so well in one of the classes- those teenage boys did not appreciate me taking them out of the hand ball game and I believe retaliation came later to our house in the form of an egging...it was so bad!  Ok, so I really don't know if those unhappy students were the culprits-we first assumed it had to be someone mad at Grant (he had broken up with his girlfriend that week) but when our neighbors looked at their security cameras, it was definitely a group of youngins. Now our house has some permanent egg markings, but the good news is that the sulfur smell has finally disapated.

Anyway, I was so tired after subbing.  I started feeling really drained-walking up the stairs nearly required a brief lay down.  Soon after, I noticed a very tender rash on my side/rib cage.  I called my mom to ask how my dad's shingles looked, sent her a picture and sure enough I had been hit.  I had just had my second dose of the covid vaccine the week before and we are fairly certain the immune suppression and introduction of the protein triggered my chicken pox virus.  Shingles deserve no jingles.  

They are so exhausting!  Brian was in town for a visit, which was nice so he talked to me about the inner problems, the need to rest and I spent a few weeks really drained.  My horse pills helped and I mostly have recovered.  There are phantom pains like needles in my lungs, but hey, I can walk around and not fall to the ground in fatigue, so yay for that.  My family was so sweet and supportive- I got lots of texts and calls.  My favorite text was actually between my mom and Blake.  It read this, exactly.  "You are so welcome!" (a response to something before)...continued..."Love you! Kara has shingles."  No other elaboration, no explanation but really, none needed.

Luckily, I kept those painful bumps covered and only direct contact could be contagious, so the family still had a good month!  Dave took the older three for a ski/snowboard day.  They loved it.  It is yet to be determined if Harrison will get up the gumption to join them someday...he is pretty sure he will fall off of the mountain.  

After last year, there was no way we were letting Katelee's birthday get away from us.  We had barely been put on lockdown with Covid all over when her 13th birthday came around.  For fourteen, we had dinner,

 

presents (which included a new hairstyle- highlights and all)

lunch with dad and of course, cake.  

Our little Irish lassie is soooo great!  She has lots of friends and she likes to spend lots and lots of time with the lots of friends that she has!  Lagoon is getting ready to open, so she is postponing her friend gathering till the middle of April when the weather warms up and we can take them to Lagoon (drop them off, of course, she didn't invite me ;)  and then we will treat them to treats and dinner.  Katelee is sensitive and fun and smart as a whip.  She is a light and we love her so so much.  

Grant also had a big day in March- PROM!  He asked a friend from the swim team- Carlie.   

It was so fun to see him in a group with some of the neighborhood boys he has grown up with (Easton, Cameron, Cade Van Leeuwen.

They all looked dapper and adorable and so old!  It is crazy to think Grant is a prom man now.  Of course, he is not yet old enough to drive his date (or any other friends) so he didn't get to drive.  He isn't quite the old fellow he feels like he is.  Good thing Cameron is old enough, he could chauffer Grant and his date around.

They had such a great time!  

A lot of the boys in the group were from the swim team.  Grant had such a fun season.  We got to go to the end of the year banquet and honor all those great swimmers- especially those who got better, set records or were graduating.  Grant earned a few "prestigious" awards- "Participant Award" and "Energy Drink Award" Ha!  Not everyone could get school records.  At the end of the presentation, the girl who had the honor of being the "banana man" got up and had to talk about her job.  Being the "Banana Man" means the person who hypes everyone up-yes they bring bananas-but their focus is fun and building up the team.  She got to choose who the next Banana person would be and lo and behold, she chose Grant.  

We are so honored to have a Banana Man Son.  Grant really has had a great experience being on the team and we are so impressed that he is able to get up at 4:15am and get to practice.  I am pretty certain that would be a deal breaker for me with any team.  These kids are awesome!

The end of March we decided to hit the road for Spring Break and head to Arizona.  We haven't seen our down south family for too long.  We stopped in Las Vegas on the way.  We spread the kids all over when we got there- a couple at Brent and Kimberly's, a couple at Brandon and Malia's and we stayed with Russell and Lisa.  

Number one on our list was to spend some time with Grandma and Grandpa.  

Mission Accomplished!! 

Everyone met up for dinner when we got there.  Anna came to town too- so we had even more family to see! The boys spent some time at breakfast, the adult ladies went to lunch, Dave and the older three tried out an Escape Room at Alcatraz...which Max solved for everyone.  

It is just always good to see everyone.  Even Sloane was happy we were there!  Actually, she wasn't happy to see anyone but Dave.  For some reason, she was all about her Uncle David.  It was a mystery to us all! 

Our visit coincided with Carl's birthday so we got to sing to the birthday boy.  

Everyone gathered for a little get together- of course there were party hats.  

Carl is pretty much the greatest ever.  We are thankful for every year he is on this planet!  Here's to 83!  (I think that I have his age right!)

Six of the  McArthur 8 were able to be there.  While they missed Amy and Serena, it is a big day to be able to have that much McArthur blood in one room!  

We attempted a cool kid/teenage photo shoot that just looked wrong on us over 25!!  HA!  But it did have us laughing- and asking for help to roll us off the ground. 

After we had to say goodbye, we decided to spend some more time in Nevada.  We stopped at the Hoover Dam.  There were no tours going on, but it was pretty cool to see...and hot...so hot.  

We thought we'd take in some LV sights- we tried to swim at the pool 

of our resort, but you had to make reservations and they had limited capacity.  So we were able to do that for a whole 15 min.  Plus, there were legit mask police walking around...even while at the pool, if the mask was not on, you were out.  We tried to go to the M&M store and it had a line down the street, no thank you-not worth waiting for in the heat.  Every one had to be spread out, so people couldn't just go in.  We did make it to the Hershey's store, so yay!

We saw some scantily clad ladies with big feather headdresses and Brenna turned to me proposing the idea that maybe she should do that when she gets older.  She claimed we always tell her she needs attention and that would get it!  She was spot on there, attention getter- maybe not the kind we want to encourage.  Good thing she was joking...or was she?

Buffets were not up yet, so we had to splurge on the BlackTap shakes instead.  They are always a treat to the eye! 

Truthfully, we decided we'd had our lifetime fill of Las Vegas.  After we had been home a couple of days, Harrison was getting out of the shower.  He had yet to put on a shirt, and he just had on his little undies.  He gave himself a little wedgie so his little cheeks were hanging out.  He started this swaying walk around his room and turned to me saying, "Look, I'm a girl from Las Vegas."  Yea, I think he's had his fair share of the city.  

We got home just in time for Easter, but these little kiddos practiced their bunny hop while altogether.  

It was a much needed break, especially after the shingles and an egging...thankfully there is no PTSD and we can still color eggs and eat the chocolate ones.  I am just going to second guess my ability to discipline middle schoolers at PE.  

 

Birthday Bashes

With Covid behind us, we were free to let the birthday celebrations begin.  We already have a party filled month with Valentine's Day, Brenna's birth month as well as Grant's birthday, but we had to add in my get away for my delayed 40th.  

Grant turned 16 this month-kind of a HUGE deal.

  He went snowboarding with Michael for his "party" but the real celebration was just getting his license.

He hadn't quite finished up his driving with the Driver's Ed class, so it 12 days past his actual birthday, but it ended up being closer than we thought it would be.  We got a steal of a deal on Dave's previous work car (almost too good to be true-the tried to go back on the agreement-good thing papers had already been signed).  So, Grant is the luckiest child of all because he has a nice car to drive provided by his parents who love him dearly.  One of his gifts included a little car kit-lanyard for keys, air freshner, scraper, gum...all the real vehicle necessities.  He is loving his automotive freedom and I must say he has come a long way.  Being our first driver, I was so scared to teach him how to drive.  Maybe I should say that I have come a long way!  I maybe rode with him on his first excursion, gripped the handles above the window tightly and squealed multiple times.  The "you are really bad" expression as I jumped out of the vehicle probably didn't build confidence...but I am <less> scared to ride as he drives now. Poor Grant, gets to be the guinea pig child-I am going to attempt more calm when Katelee's turn comes around.  

Of course, he requested a new pair of fancy shoes and the dessert of choice was a pan of cinnamon rolls. 

We are so proud of Grant and how much he is growing.  In the past year, he has really shown some amazing dedication and responsibility (particularly with swimming and work).  It is nice to have conversations with him that while we may disagree, he listens and explains how he sees life and what's going down.  He has a bright future and we hope he always remembers that.  

Just 5 days later we celebrated number 11 for this little lady!!

Brenna continues to be a little energizer bunny-with her organizing, her talking, her cleaning up, pretty much everything in life.  She has a lot of plans...a LOT.  We have to remind her that not everyone has her plans, but we appreciate her goals and direction!  She got to skip school and ski with her dad on her very birthday-doesn't get much better than that!

Dave said she is so good.  She took a little refresher lesson and just took off like a little ski bunny should.  It is not surprising-Brenna is so balanced and coordinated.  She continues to spend hours and hours at the dance studio every week.  In fact, for her birthday gift this year, she begged and pleaded that she could sign up to do a solo performance at competitions this year.  So, she has been learning a jazz routine with her teacher Morgan and loving every minute of it.  We can't wait to see it live!

Brenna continues to be creative and productive.  Not every decision is endorsed by her loving parents though- take for instance, the time we told her she needed to do the dishes before we got home.  Her cousin Kloee was over and they thought it would be time efficient to just carry all the dishes up to the shower in the master bathroom and do them in the shower, in swimsuits.   We are going to stick to the kitchen dishwasher from now on.  She definitely makes life exciting and we love her!  I got to substitute her school class one day and it was such a treat.  The older two children have expressed that I never step foot in their classes (rude) and Brenna was over the moon to have me there.  She was a big helper and it was so nice to be able to see what is going on behind those locked doors this year!  We can't step foot in the building...safety issues.  It has been so frustrating, so I loved spending the day in her class.

Harrison and Katelee have been busy with school and fun as well.  Harrison wrapped up his junior jazz season and was a laid back baller this go around.  We loved watching every game.  

The rec centers near us weren't holding a season this year because of, you know, a world wide pandemic.  We found a league though and signed him up.  We are trying to balance safety and normalcy in life right now.  

Spectators were limited and we were asked to mask and spread out, but we were so grateful the game could continue! 

We had our annual fancy family dinner and dance for Valentine's Day...don't know where my pictures went for that.  But, the food was exquisite and the company exceptional.  

And then, it was finally the moment/days I had personally been waiting for!  My fortieth birthday trip of dreams!  I checked in to the posh St Regis hotel in Deer Valley and invited my mom and sisters up the first night.  We had gourmet hot chocolate in the lobby, went out to dinner and had swag bags Shannon made us.  I had a night all to myself and woke up to join my kids and Dave for lunch and tubing at Soldier Hollow.  That was serious good times. 

We are expert tubers.  Harrison was a bit hesitant at first, but then he was zipping a long without a care, right across the bumps and ice patches like the rest of us.  Dave took the kids home and joined me the next morning after I indulged in a massage.  We went swimming in the snow, sat in the hot tub and sauna and went to the Seafood Buffet for dinner.  Oh wowza.  I had really high expectations for this trip-partly because I picked it, also because I needed it and finally due to the postponement.  It was worth every waited moment.  One good thing about church being streamed for all home bodied people is that we were able to join in our stake conference watching from our hotel.  Pretty cool to hear inspirational messages about God from this kind of view...

I am so grateful that Dave pampers me and made sure my birthday was memorable-between the January stop and drops and this dreamy getaway, it was one for the books.  Every year as I evaluate getting older, I think how interesting it is that people celebrate my birth when I am looking at each guest feeling honored that they have been a part of my journey.  Forty years on this year flies by and what makes in meaningful are the people and experiences I have had.  I hope I am contributing to the memory bank of others as well.  Those fond feelings and influential exchanges do carry with us, through the years and beyond.  Yay for birthdays and yay for people! 

Planning to Be Forty and Fabulous...and Then We Were Hit

Finally a new year has arrived!  January came with promise of a an end to lockdowns and restrictions and mandates...and yet January 1 did not really make any drastic movements from December 31st.  At least we can say 2020 is behind us and those things we are hoping for, will come...please pray it is this year! Vaccines are just around the corner for us and I am sure that will help.  The church now moves youth into their classes and does ordinations at the beginning of the calendar year, so Grant got to start 2021 becoming a priest!  He is really excited and it was neat to have him set apart in our home with just us and a member of the bishopric.  With church being in our living room currently, he can get some good practice in before blessing the sacrament in front of a ward.  We are hoping he will be able to brush those luscious locks aside and read the prayers when he is doing it in an actual chapel.  The boy has some serious hair right now.  

 

Even though we have not been able to meet on Sundays with our ward, we have been able to do some youth activities in person, which is so nice.  We did a very special one this month providing bereavement boxes to our local hospital's labor and delivery department.  

The boxes were filled with blankets, bracelets, a little cap and note for the mothers and families in the case that they lose their baby.  I hope it is something that sticks with everyone who helped! I know I will think about it often.  

 Because I am now a district employee, I started working at the vaccine clinics the school district was providing to the employees.  It was nice to be substitute then-I felt like I was a part of something big and exciting!  Modern medicine is a miracle!  Thank heavens it is too, so that when the McArthur skin cancer genes turn on...

a doctor can recognize it and dig it right now.  David joined his brothers and father in some little basal cell experience.  It was a quick and easy procedure that will leave a somewhat gnarly scar.  

In and out and after a scan, he will be confirmed cancer free and looking like he had a minor run in with a ferocious feline.  Dave's doctor reassured him that after a "sanding" kind of process his money maker will have a hardly noticeable line.  We are glad!

This beauty received a student of the month award and was so happy to have her very own picture with the principal!

Of course this happened on a day that she had an ortho appointment and she wasn't there when they called her name and highlighted her for grades and being dependable...we were probably out getting a treat as we drove home.  Haha!

All through the month we were preparing for my big day-the day I entered the 40's club, a new decade, a new era for me.  Big plans had been rearranged (a canceled trip to Hawaii due to covid restrictions and actually me wanting to stay close and somewhere cold).  I had the dream trip planned- a posh Deer Valley hotel.  Well, just over a week before I was going to kick off my perfect celebration, Grant came home from swimming saying he was not hungry at all and was actually really tired.  He went straight to his room and went to sleep, holding his purchased but uneaten Subway sandwich.  When he woke up he had a super high fever-103.  And then we were were freaking out- thinking Corona virus finally hit our home.  Grant drank a bunch of fluids and then he threw up a bunch.  The puking made us believe possibly he had something else.  Then, when Grant woke up the next morning feeling fine, we thought maybe it wasn't covid after all.  Grant stayed home from school to be safe, got tested for swimming the following morning (so two days after feeling yucky) and sure enough, he had a POSITIVE test for Covid 19.  I got the phone call when I was working a vaccine clinic.  I finished my shift, Dave picked up last minute groceries to get us through our 10 days and we began a serious quarantine.  

The minute Grant wasn't feeling well, we asked him to stay in his room.  Once his test was positive, he was on his own for those two weeks...I mean I didn't leave him to fend for himself, I just mean he had no company from us...which I am not sure if he was grateful for or not!  Haha!  I delivered meals with gloves and a mask, we had Katelee use an upstairs bathroom and we all monitored our every possibly symptom.  Luckily, none of us had any!  We should have gone to be tested, but we showed no signs of sickness at all.  Grant did eventually start feeling a little lousy-stuffy nose, scratchy throat (mild), lethargic, headache...but he kept his smell/taste and had no respiratory complications, so all in all, he passed through really well.

It is so impressive to see how family and neighbors step up to check in with us...we had food dropped off, lots of texts and phone calls, activities and games bought for the kids to stay busy with.  We felt really lucky to have it pass through relatively easily. We did school work, grabbed take out, played TONS of games...35 different games to be exact.  Our favorite right now is Skull King.  We got the card game for Christmas and I'd say have mastered the atmosphere of it...

We turn on Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack, the 7 year old dons his Pirate Costume and we Yo-Ho-Ho the night away with bids and shouts.  It's pretty amazing.  

  The worst part of the Covid 19 was the timing-we were required to isolate during my scheduled birthday extravaganza.   Dave worked his magic to get his points and money deposited back.  So instead of a spa, I got a Harrison/Brenna relaxation day which was pretty magical.   After the massage of a lifetime, Dave told me I had to go to an address and pick something up.  I am a bit of a rule follower and told him I couldn't go in anywhere, so if it is just a pick up, why couldn't he stop and get it for me.  He insisted it had to be me, wouldn't tell me why or where I was going, 

 

so I maybe started crying and told him I hated stuff like that and I didn't want to leave the house to the mystery address but he reassured me I would be glad I did.  I stopped my tears, followed the GPS and pulled up to a little Marriott where my brother was standing with flowers.  Dave had flown Blake (and Caleb and Grace) in for the day to wish me a happy birthday since I couldn't leave.  Blake had already been vaccinated and wasn't concerned about getting sick, so he was fine spending the afternoon chatting, grabbing lunch and hanging out.  It was really thoughtful and I regretted my mid-day melt down.  

The following morning was my actual birthday.  The day we would celebrate 40 years of my living.  I woke up to breakfast and lots of decorations.  Late morning, there was a knock on the door.  When I answered it, there were the cute YW leaders with a bday banner and crown and treats.  

Dave was in full party planning mode and kept consulting his phone/planner.  The next thing I knew, the door bell rang again an hour or so later.  This time it was my dear friends that we used to live by in Draper that I haven't seen for a while.  We had a socially distanced (cold) porch visit and I loved every second of it.

After lunch, Brooke and Holly stopped by with their scheduled time!  Haha!  I didn't even know Holly had been in town so that was so fun.  They came right in the house with cake until their visiting hour was up...when I walked them out, my neighborhood pals were in my driveway doing a lip sync dance party for me!  It was epic.  

I was definitely feeling the love that day.  We tried to play some games, eat some food, but just when I thought it was time to sit, the doorbell rang and there was my entire family-pushing their way into the house, covid be darned.  Brad and Angelique even got some last minute tickets via my hubby to come for a few hours.  Of course, Grant didn't get to participate but with none of us having symptoms and our quarantine being nearly over, they felt ok coming in with masks on.  It was a wonderful visit and effort by everyone and especially Dave...just when I thought I could relax, I had a zoom call scheduled with my childhood buddies, which I need to do more often.  I literally was shaking from the over stimulation and burst into exhausted/grateful tears by the end...but it was an unforgettable 40th birthday.  

Dave definitely knows how to make things memorable.  Even his post surgery was denied because of our quarantine-the doctors wouldn't let us come in.  They wanted me to be talked over the phone how to check on his incision and remove the stitches.  Bless Paige's heart  and her nursing skills, she braved the contamination to save the day.  

I felt very blessed after my birthday, fortunate that Grant (and the rest of us) made it through his Covid 19 experience unscathed, honored to be a part of the tribe I am in-from my family to friends to church and neighbor associates, it was touching to be thought about.  Maybe that is all I need to focus on this year, making sure that people know I Kar-a bout them.  It's really what matters.