One Year Older and Wiser Too

While many people despise the month of January, we have to pay homage to the day of my birth, so I think there has to be something good!  We have had an extremely snowy winter thus far, albeit it began late- but the kids (Grant especially with his season pass) are loving snowboarding.  Definitely some good to be had in a month that provides such powdery happiness.  

We basked in the winter glory for my birthday activity as well...

Harrison, Brenna, Dave and I went out for pizza in Park City and then to explore the ice castles I  have heard so much about.  

Did we wear snow pants?  No.  Were our knees and bums frozen and wet by the end of our adventure- absolutely.  

Dave wasn't a fan of crawling on hands and feet and he only indulged us once or twice on the ice slides, but we had a great time venturing into tunnels and caves

illuminated by colorful LED lights.  Of course we missed Grant and Katelee, but it was

such a fun evening.  The frost bitten noses and toes were worth it.  Happy birthday to me!  

Grant is doing his 'last' of everything at high school as the year goes on.  This month wrapped up his high school swimming experience.  We went to support him on senior night.  

Brenna couldn't make it with dance (boy is it hard to get everyone in one place anymore), but we are proud of how Grant has stuck with swimming despite having to get up for 5am practices...which means waking up at 4:25am with the rest of the team- the seniors all pictured below.

He also had an added obstacle with having a broken neck last year, so we are all just so grateful he can walk, let alone swim.  

Coach Powers has been a great support and resource to Grant all through high school.  It was fun to see him encourage him that night and everyday through swim and chemistry.  Powers is pretty much the teacher Grant goes to whenever he has to do some attendance school catch up...which might be often.  

Congrats on all your accomplishments, senior swimmer Grant!

Swimming finished! Year 41 of life completed for me and on to year 42.  While I am undisputably one year older, one year wiser is definitely debatable.  I had heard so much growing up that you get older and realize you don't know as much as you thought...amen to that.  That realization can't equate to wisdom, can it?  One year older and chubbier too...yes, one year older and battle scared too...yes.  Maybe the experiences awaken us and that can bring wisdom.  One year older and more reflective too- absolutely.  It isn't that I am having a mid-life crisis, but I find each year I am sitting back more often and wondering how I got where I am and what do I even know?  The answer is not a lot!  And I guess I am ok with that.  I do know that when one visits an ice castle, one should wear snow pants when sliding down slippery frozen water slides.  I can be taught, but the wisdom is coming in miniscule drips to my life cup!  Here is to year 42!

 

Christmas and a New Year

The odd but comforting thing about life is it keeps on chugging along, despite death, despite tragedy and heartache, despite challenges or life change.  We know Grandpa would want the kids to have a wonderful Christmas and we spent the holiday remembering him and trying to look for the good despite the hard times ahead.  

Harrison was thrilled with his FSU jersey and helmet- Grandpa would be proud...but a Crimson Tide set would really have been in his honor.  Grant got a snowboarding pass, Katelee some shoes and a mini fridge.

Grant gave me my most favorite blanket, Dave and I exchanged stockings and  

Brenna was thrilled (and not surprised, despite the pic) with her Lagoon season pass.  

It was a low-key day, spent playing games after church!  We (and when I saw we I mean ONLY me and Dave) loved that Christmas was on a Sunday this year.  It filled our heart with the true Christmas joy and the kids reluctantly agreed...after they changed out of their Sunday best.  haha!

We still have a couple of kids who will hang out with us as we ring in the New Year, so we played games, ate delish food, 

and of course did face masks per our tradition.  Dave loves it so much, as documented here.   

Fine, our dinner out to Ruth's Chris may be more up his alley.  A new year brings a lot of pondering, a lot of goals and lot of unknown.  The past few months have had me searching for what I DO know.  I don't think these questions are already answered completely, but I do know that the future can be bright.  There are certainties in life and in ours it is our rock of Jesus Christ.  We've been through a lot, a lot only He can know and all that only he can pull us through.  So, as we face a new year, absolutely we will do it together, and we will do it with Him.  

Til We Meet Again

The day we flew back from Disneyland, Dave met us in the airport and let us all know that he was actually leaving that evening to head to Arizona.  His dad had been hospitalized due to an adverse reaction (a poisoning really) from a medication.  Dave was able to go for a few days and help his mom and care for his dad.  We already had plans to go to Arizona for Thanksgiving, so we knew we would all get to see Carl then.  

We took turns visiting as only a few people could be in the room with Carl at a time.  Unfortunately, Harrison was too young to be admitted but he got to FaceTime with his Grandpa and send love.  

When we weren't at the hospital, we were catching up with all our family in the desert going axe throwing, playing at Uncle Brian's escape room, making Thanksgiving dinner, eating together and riding Malia's horse.  

It was really hard to head home with Carl in the hospital, but there were plans to move him to a rehab as soon as he was able to swallow and keep food down. 

 Dave and his sibling spent a lot of the Thanksgiving looking at facilities.  Once we got home, it became apparent that Carl was going downhill.  Dave flew back out again to spend time with his dad and send along all our love we could possibly relay.   His siblings gathered later and collected videos/notes to read to Carl as he spent his last days in his home.  On December 9th, Carl Junior McArthur took his last breath.

His funeral was held December 14th and we split up to travel (half of us flew and half of us drove due to skymiles, schedules, room in the car etc).  Dave took Katelee and Harrison, Grant, Brenna and I flew and made it to our hotel at around 3am.  Our sweet neighbors and friends contributed to help us with travel expenses and gave so much support that we truly appreciated.  

The service was small but streamed and I am sure many, many people tuned in to reminisce about a man who certainly impacted thousands.  Dave and Brent spoke, the sisters all shared memories, 

and it was a difficult but tender day.  Dave's siblings are never all together, so we were grateful to spend a few hours eating afterwards surrounded by love for our Dad/Father-in-law/Grandpa/Brother/Uncle/Husband.  

 

We went home to spend the rest of the Christmas holiday very reflective and appreciative for the memories we have of the best Dad/Grandpa the world has ever seen.  

We really could write pages and pages of Carl-isms- the cute, funny things that he said that made us giggle, of times he bore his testimony and taught true doctrine whether formally or as part of everyday conversation.  The pages would include all the times he ran into people he knew everytime he traveled, the pages he kept of books he read, apostles he met, scriptures to share.

He was a man that everyone loved and he loved everyone.  You could not help but adore him and feel honored that you were part of his family.  His arm wrestling, dancing, country singing, karaoke, jokes etc just added charm and joy to a celestial kind of man.  

It was so hard to say goodbye, but boy do we cherish the memories and the impact Carl has had on the world and each of us personally.  

We can not wait to hug him, have him kiss us on the cheek as he always did and show us to the food because you know, when that reunion happens with him again- there is going to be good food!  Words cannot adequately express the hole he has left, but the hope and anticipation of seeing him again is truly a gift.  Love you forever Carl McArthur!

When You Wish Upon a Star...or Win a Radio Contest

 We have a neighbor who wins contest after contest on the radio- mostly Disneyland trips, often concerts and cash.  She is certain people can win with positive attitudes if they never give up and keep trying.  So, I thought it couldn't hurt to make a few attempts.  I entered contests, tried calling in, put in keywords for a good 5 months.  One morning I was driving Grant to school (when he still had his neck brace and wasn't driving himself yet) when I decided to tune in to the station to see what name they drew.    The announcer said the winner is 'Kata McArthur.'

Now, I know my name is not Kata, but I kept entering and it would auto correct from Kara to Kata for some reason.  So, I yelled out (to no one in the car) "That's Me!"  My friend, radio contest mentor, Kristen, immediately called me and told me she was pretty sure they drew my name.  I let her know I heard, and I had to hurry and call because they only gave 10 minutes before they would draw another winner.  You better believe I frantically called and heard myself pleading my case to the radio hosts.  They were laughing on-air telling me they were sure no one else would come up with that story and they changed my name in the system from Kata to Kara and badda bing badda boom- the McArthur family won 4 tickets to Disneyland for 2 days.  Dave and Grant didn't have any desire to go, so the rest of us planned a trip and when November rolled around, it was upon us! 

We flew out on a Sunday night with our new swag that our Disney master gifted us and arrived to our hotel across the street from the park in time to see the fireworks going off!  We set our alarms and hit the sack super excited! 

Our tickets were one park per day, so we decided to do California Adventure first.  

We woke up super early, made sure to include ponchos in our bags cuz it was drizzly and made our way over to stand at the rope for the opening.  

We had a whole plan in place, run to Radiator Springs Racers so we didn't have to pay extra for the fast line, but just before the rope dropped, the employees informed everyone that the racers wouldn't be open until it was dry, and it was closed at the moment.  We were all sorts of in a tizzy.  I mean, you map out your day for ultimate ride experience to minimize wait time and maximize ride opportunities!  Plus we were new to the genie plus reservations, so we ran one way, then one of the kids wanted to run somewhere else and we stupidly used our Genie Plus for Guardians right away before heading to 

the new Spider-Man Web slinger ride.  

That was mostly the only mishap of day 1.  We had a few irritable moments, and we stood in line for the racers when it shut down and had to get out of line-the rain kept teasing us all day.  So, that was our longest wait for 40 minutes or so.  But, magically, we walked by later when they were re-opening the ride and got to nearly walk right in and ended up riding it 3 times!  

We rode Guardians a whole bunch because it's the greatest ride of all time, the kids suckered me into riding the Grizzly River ride (since we were "already wet" from the rain, why did it matter).  

There were a couple rides that never opened with the on and off again rain, but we got to do all the rides we wanted-lots of times.  

It was our first time doing the pin trading, which we all really loved!

The Christmas decorations were up in a lot of the park, and it was just adorable!

It was such a fun day!  We decided we could handle the rain because the crowds were light, and we could roll with the rides closing alright if we timed the opening perfectly like we did a few times. 

We could handle rain, right?  Well, little did we know the flooding/deluge ahead of us for day 2.  

It started pouring at rope drop the next morning, even with our ponchos and umbrellas we noticed we were getting soggy.  But, we had a plan and had worked out our kinks yesterday, so were ready to run right to Star Wars land for the ride we had never been on.  We had good placement, right near the front, but when that rope dropped- the horde of people started racing and the rain was pouring and the flooded Disney streets were filling and the ponchos were starting to cover our faces.  Katelee took off like a marathon runner, I had hold of Harrison's hand as his poncho was twisting, he started yelling, "Mom I can't see."  I was so caught up in the mob I just replied while tugging, "It doesn't matter!!"  hahahaha.  We were absolutely soaked by the time we got to the line, but hey, we did it.  

And thus began our day with pruney feet and soggy britches on the bottom.    Star Wars was super fun though.

We definitely had more of a challenge in keeping spirits up with the downpour.  We had to talk Harrison down after someone told him he wasn't the best gunner on the ride, 

he and I had to head back to the hotel after I lost my credit card and he had to change socks/shoes because he was squeaking out water with every step.  The struggle was real, there were no parades or outdoor shows due to weather...but there were plenty of indoor escape opportunities...

lots of good food 

which we felt we had to indulge in...

so that kept the smiles coming

Again, the lines were short, so we tried to just be so glad we got to ride 

so many attractions so many times...except Harrison was not ok with how many times we "MADE" him ride Indiana Jones because it was too loud and spooky.  

It was not an exaggeration when I say we were pooped by the end of the night.  We stayed til a few minutes to close looking like drown rats but with bellies full!

 We all talked about our favorite parts and Harrison said some of his favorite moments were how the workers were so nice and "care so much for your safety, like how they always have you pull on those yellow tabs.  They are are kind of like parents or just good friends- just knowing you being ok matters to them." Haha!  It was not the response I was expecting, but trust Harrison to teach us a valuable life lesson at the end of an amusement park vacation.  

I need to start looking for ways to win again.  This may have been a one and done radio win experience, and boy was it worth it.  Loved making the memories with my best people.