Meeting the Mediterranean

It has been a minute since Dave and I went on an ADP President's Club trip.  When the destination was announced last year as a Mediterranean cruise, we knew this was the one we wanted to make a reappearance with.  

We flew out a couple of days early to spend some time in Athens, make sure we didn't have any travel hiccups or delays that would cause us to miss our boat, and because I do not adjust to long distance travel well.  It was a perfect place to get acclimated.   

Athens was phenomenal.  We dined overlooking the Acropolis, spent some time there as well.  We went to the Acropolis museum (and by that I mean I explored it and Dave sat on the benches inside til I was ready to leave).  But he did love journeying up to the Parthenon and looking around.  The history of that city is incredible.  We loved walking around with the exception of the blistering heat.  

We pretty much felt like we were going to melt into a bubbling puddle and decided walking was not our best option, so the electric bike tour alleviated the heat just a tad with a little breeze.  

It seriously was so fun.  

We zipped along the small streets, up and around the palace place with the changing of the guard all the views and historical sites we could fit in.  

Plus we got to chill with our guide Alex, who took us to eat some of his favorite local snacks.  One of the highlights of travel is getting to meet and connect with fabulous people and see their lives, perspectives and culture.  We love Alex! 

We do wish we had grabbed more street food and gyros in Athens, but we had a couple good meals.

Dave wasn't sure the Mediterranean diet would be up his alley, but he ended up loving the cuisine.  Not necessarily the Greek salad that I kept ordering, but much of the other local fare.

We said goodbye to our little Athens experience so we could board the ADP boat and meet up with his colleagues for the cruise adventure.  

There was a welcome party and meet and greet where Dave connected with the ADP peeps and we were off!  Our first port was in Santorini.  

We strolled the streets, took in the scenery, overlooked the beautiful water with the white buildings against the cliffs,

had a surreal lunch overlooking the sea, and took respite in shade whenever we could. Santorini was beautiful.

Our next port was in Kusadasi Turkey.  We chose to take the tour of Ephesus and it was amazing! We didn't do the longest tour because, again, we were in fear of the earth/sun scorching us out of existence.  There was in fact a spontaneous fire that ignited off the side of the road as other tour groups were leaving after us, they had to evacuate.  But, anyway...

It is unbelievable what is preserved still from this ancient city-with so much left to uncover.  We loved every bit of it.  We walked little around the port and then our friends asked us if we wanted to sign up for a Turkish bath.  We did indeed.  

We traveled a short distance from the port to a little hotel that had a mini spa in the basement.  We had to start our couples Turkish bath in the sauna for an exceedingly long amount of time where I was sure I was going to perish.  I got up and told Dave I didn't think I would make it and had to open the door to stick my mouth out and get fresh air.  Finally our service ladies came to retrieve us and escorted us to a room where there were giant marble slabs for us each to lay on.  They had me roll down my swim top and those gals scrubbed us good.  They drenched us with water, had these long towel things they would squeeze out immense suds and foam us up.  They lathered and scrubbed, rinsed and massaged a bit. We are big fans of Turkish baths.  

After feeling refreshed and revived, we made it back to the boat for a day at sea and to prep for Dave's award ceremonies.  

One of the reasons we wanted to go on this President's Club was because Dave hit his 15th Club- which is a huge accomplishment.  He was recognized on stage and the crowd went wild ;).  He works so hard and we are so proud and lucky to have his ethic and drive as an example to our family.  ADP has been challenging, but good to us for sure.  

Our final destination on the cruise was Mykonos, Greece.  We were going to take this boat tour we hopped on as an extra excursion, but when the loaded all the passengers on this ship, the winds were whipping so fiercely, we had to get off the boat and cancel plans, which turned out to the best ever.  We walked to the Hertz car rental and the two of us spent the day exploring the little island at our own leisure.  

We stopped at multiple bakeries/eateries and beaches.  Did we happen upon a nudie beach, yes we did.  Did we stay and get in the water?  Yes we did.  When it Greece, right? 

Final night party was gold themed and lots of music and celebration.  

It was a really great trip.  Next time head that way, we will do it when we are not in danger of heat related maladies, but we sure would love to see it again.  How lucky were we!  

The kiddos did great at home.  Katelee mostly just ran the house (as Grant was away in Minnesota for sales) and did a wonderful job being momma.  I am sure she liked the freedom and opportunity to run the fam as she saw fit.  We had hidden tons of these little animals around the house, I labeled them on the bottom with their number so throughout the trip, they would happen upon a little dino or chicken or what not.  They found most of them, but there are a few missing so the fun will continue for months to come I guess!  

 

We Be Trippin

Summer has been going according to plan...lots of sun for some, lots of sunscreen for others, as exhibited in this side by side of my leg and Katelee's.  

Katelee started off this month traveling down to Lake Powell with her friend Berkeley and family.  Berkeley invited a couple of guy friends as well, which turned into Katelee bringing home a 'buddy' for the summer.  We missed her during the Fourth of July celebrations

I mean, who would choose Lake Powell over that delightful image?  

Independence week was full of fun- a movie with Jaylee and Porter

the local parade followed by swimming and sparklers

at our neighbors, the Sanchez's. 

The morning of the 4th was a family 5k beginning and ending at the city park.  I have been doing some jogging/walking each week so I thought I would join the peeps this year.  

Harrison pretty much killed it, coming in 3rd in his age division and he didn't even know he was doing that well.  He wanted to go faster, but he stayed with Dave- so next time that 1st place may be around his neck!  I, however, am fairly certain my feet will never be the same.  I mean, I did great, but the dag gum plantar fascitis has got me good.  Checking that off my list.  

We love eating at our house and enjoying the fireworks with family on the 4th, but it was a crazy one- a fatal accident, a gun shot fatality by police after the show as everyone was leaving.  Brenna went with friends to the carnival a night later and there was the full police force surrounding the rides...it was unsettling.  

The next week was GIRLS CAMP for my ladies.  

When Katelee asked to go to Lake Powell over the 4th I made a deal with her that she had to go to her LAST girls camp and do it without any complaints...cuz I had been hearing grumbles.  And so she started off with her sis and a smile.  

Brenna had a great time and when I asked Katelee if she liked it she said, nope.  hahaha!  But, I had so many people come up to me after saying how impressed they were with Katelee.  She and I had a discussion before about how at this age, as a youth leader, camp and much of life isn't about just what we want but being there for the others and making it great for them.   And she did just that.  Our little neighbor came back thinking Katelee is a bestie, an adult leader said she watched Katelee make bracelets and serve the little gals for hours in pretty much a crafting sweat shop.  She may not have loved it, but she made it so others could and I adore her for that.  

Brenna had another camp (third for the summer!) up at OFY in Idaho.  She was so brave and went all by herself-without a friend or roomie.  

She got to do a ropes course, white water raft, skits, etc.  All the campy stuff.  She called homesick one day which was super sad, but when I got up to Idaho to pick her up at the end of the week she was good.  

Would she do it again?  No she said she would not...but she learned a lot and stuck through it, growing and finding the good.  Very proud of this little camper who now finished up all the camps and could spend fun time at home and doing dance, of course.  We were happy to have her home for the Demolition Derby and annual Bees game we go to each summer.  

Harrison got to do a couple night campout while the girls were gone.  There was a minor moose attack, but Shannon and Paige saved the people and all was well. 

Next year he may have some YM activities/camps to keep him entertained, but this year, we had to keep looking for things.  He and I had a taste off date...(I would happily encourage this activity again ;) )

While Brenna was at OFY, I took him and his buddy to the float preview, 

and he has been trying to keep up with his ballin skills.  

 Katelee was MIA for most of July- Powell, Girls Camp and then the trip she has been waiting for TONGA!!!  It was her turn to have a humanitarian experience (as Grant went to Columbia when he was 17) she chose the South Pacific Isle of Tonga....  

Dave took Katelee out to LA in the morning to meet up with her group at the airport.  They shopped and went to a nice dinner place and then he dropped her off.  Right before she was boarding, she called telling him she forgot her camera in her bag at his hotel, and she had literally 20 min before her group would be loading onto the plane.  He called me and asked if he should even attempt to get it to her and I said, 'if anyone can do it, you can.'  It was a literal miracle of catching an uber just as he walked out, getting dropped off in the right place, having a break in a line, a worker not noticing he wasn't flying til tomorrow, a kind employee letting him through and a mad dash in flip flops to her gate.  He explained it to me like a group of people were chanting, clapping and cheering him on as he met up with her...she may explain differently, but miracle of miracles, the girl got her camera, and that made her (and us) so happy.  

I won't be able to give the trip recap justice, so I will just give some highlights.  The group started off with some play time in a mud bath and fun in Fiji.  They got to spend their first weekend exploring a private island, which was just magical.  

During the work week, they worked hard.  Digging, rebar, hauling, sweating and smiling.  That was what the trip was all about- building and connecting with the locals there.  

They got to spend evenings at mutual activities, family home evenings, a luau, and her most favorite local activity- an intense Rugby game between the HS teams on the different islands. The championship game ended in a rainstorm and wild chaos as the home team barely won.  Katelee said it was the most hype event she has ever been to and loved it soooo much.  

The Tongans loved this service group and adopted them as friends and family...and possibly potential spouses!  haha.  Katelee came home moved by the love that was extended by complete strangers who came up and hugged and accepted and adored them.  Katelee did have one extreme attack by gluten.  She said it was the worst that has happened in years and it took her out for a good day or two.  

Luckily she had an incredible trip leader, Jenna who took care of her and Katelee made an eternal friend with a girl, Liv who stayed by her side and kept her company while others did the work and events.  

The absolute adventure of the trip was incredible- the private island, the clear waters, the cave swimming, etc.  But the best part was hearing about the love Katelee experienced.  She developed lasting friendships that can cross the country and the world. She was immersed in a culture that throws its arms open to engulf each person.  She was able to see how people live and are content with a completely different environment and econmic status and she was able to see how we all are one.   Trip of a lifetime!  

Finishing School and Starting Summer

May kept us hopping with lots of fun (and exhausting) activities!  Brenna continued her dance competitions and conventions.  She had a solo this year and a front aerial in a dance-both of those pushed her pretty hard.  Through blood, sweat and some tears she grew a lot!  

She had a lot of supporters at her recital, where we learned that Dave does not want Harrison to join Brenna's dance studio,

so good thing his interests lie elsewhere.  He's been playing hard with this group of boys.  

Grant left to try his hand at another round of summer sales, this time in Minnesota.  Thus far, he loves the land but not the people.  

We've been living lacrosse here and mostly loving it.  It was such a roller coaster ride the end of the season.  Katelee's team made history taking region and being ranked number one in state! 

But they had a huge heart break in the playoffs losing in the semi finals

 to a rival local team.  It was a hard one to swallow because there was some sketchy things that went down, but our girls had an amazing season and we loved watching them all, especially cute number 22!

Katelee even made the All State 2nd team, which was super exciting to see.  

She will play over the summer a little bit before she leaves for her HXP trip, so she can keep up those stick skills for senior year! 

The lacrosse gals all went to the girls choice MORP dance together following a game one Saturday.  Katelee took Bryson and had a great time with him.  

Cute cow folk looking swell.  

Finals, projects, presentations, reports, phew...we did it all.  Katelee had some tough classes and survived it all.  The cute caboose rocked his county report and 

designed these letters for his elementary school display.  The kid has some serious art skillz that are used not only for designing jerseys! 

We were all happy to start summer break...well, mostly.  Our man Harrison was teary on the last day of school.  He was reflecting on how fast he is growing up and feeling nostalgia laced with sadness because he says he can't remember being little.  He told me he wished he had just loved being little and understood how great it was.  

Our tender hearted deep thinker has to say goodbye to 4th grade, ready or not.  That pic was taken on a random spring Sunday when, unplanned, the kids were all matchy matchy for church.  

Our very first weekend of summer was a celebration for Caleb and Adri!

We loved getting to be there for their special day!  

It was too bad Grant was already in the midwest for sales, but the rest of us had a great time congratulating the newlyweds.

Brenna took her job as the soda barista very seriously.  She designed a menu and was a natural soda-rista.  She had one minor breakdown when she ran into the woods after she realized she forgot their Taylor Swift hand towels gift but she left the station in good hands with her assistant, Harrison.  

Yay for weddings! We were sitting in the sealing room, where the brides family and friends face the grooms family and friends, with the altar in the middle where the couple will come and kneel.  Toren, Rachel's husband leaned over and said, "we could take them."  I was pretty confident in that until I realized who would be on my team.  Our physical prowess is not mighty, but boy am I grateful for the steadiness and support of our families! 

While we had started the break, we still had at least one school related task to attend to-the ACT test for Katelee.  We had it scheduled and unfortunately, it was only being administered an early Saturday in the beginning of June and hour away.  We made plans for Katelee to go to bed early, make all necessary preparations etc and be calm for her exam.  

Well...then Katelee got invited to a concert- for free.  She wanted to go so badly and promised she'd be home early.  Was she?  Of course not.  Did she miss the last train home?  yes, yes she did.  So, Dave had to go pick her up and we just kept saying everything would be ok.  Her calculator, pencil, ID, confirmation paper, everything was ready to go, we would get enough sleep and zip up to the test early.  When she and I left the morning of the test, all seemed well.  I decided I would go to the temple while she was testing to burn time.  As we were about 30 minutes into the drive, I notice Katelee shuffling around on the ground in the car.  I inquired if she was ok and had everything.  Katelee hastily replied, 'yep, yep. I am good.'  I could tell something wasn't right, so I did a mental check list sure we had grabbed everything on the list.  But when I looked down, I just saw Katelee's cute feet in socks.  I said, "Katelee...where are your shoes."  She frantically emphasized she had grabbed them, then stopped in shock and slapped her hands over her mouth saying she put them on the car.  Whelp...those suckers were long gone.  I was going to have to let her use the sandals I was wearing to the temple and maybe I could borrow shoes from Rachel who lives not too far away from the school she was testing out.  But then I said, "Katelee, what shoes were they."  Yea, they were mine.  My adidas that I wear all the time. 

 I was hoping maybe they flew off in our hood and we would get them as soon as returned so I stayed calm, sent the girl off in my shoes and ended up walking the dirty aisles of Walmart for flip flops to wear to the temple.  The checkout lady would not help me cut the packaging so I moved on over to customer service hoping someone would have pity on me.  Good thing I know Jesus didn't care what shoes I ended up in at his house, I was there, it was an adventure  and no, we never found my shoes.  Bless this child and her speedy pace of life. 

This child continues to be our extra organized, structured woman.  She came in my room one night showing me the heatless curls she was trying and I busted up and had to snap a pic.

Brenna has an extensive bucket list for summer that I have to remind her do not have to all be accomplished, but it is a good list to give her ideas of what to do when she is bored. 

This giant cake was on the list...it was decorated with chow mein noodles, pretzels, raisins and nuts.  It was a sight to behold. 

Brenna did get to go to her first FSY with her friend Luella in June, starting her summer with something so fun.  She had a great time in the dorms and learned a lot!

Another bucket list activity was the drive in... 

Brenna, Harrison and I had a great time at Inside Out 2.  We snagged pizza and treats and had a perfect summer evening.  We made sure to do it when this guy

was at his YM camp because he does not enjoy the drive in movies.  He was having a great experience rock climbing and adventuring with our church young mens group.  

Dave was the only adult leader that made it to the top of the rock climbing/rappelling wall and he was rightly stoked about that.  

He was away for his birthday doing what he does not love at all (camping) but we made sure to celebrate him later.  

While Brenna was busy at FSY one day, I decided Harrison and I should venture out to explore.  We went to the Golden Spike monument, somewhere neither of us had ever been.  

It was a fun one and done location for us.  I had told Harrison we should go take the drive without any electronics for him...2 hrs there and 2 hours back (I didn't realize it would be that long!) and he survived.  It was a long day but we had fun and stopped at Maddox's for some delish food on the way home.  Bucket list item completed.  

We have still had some tournaments (lacrosse and basketball) and Harrison got to do the BYU basketball training camp which provided him with some swag he was stoked about.  Two camps down and a whole lot of fun so far!  Summer is sizzling!