Summer California Trip

It's always nice to walk together in person. We walk while talking on the phone all the time. 

This is the best way to enjoy the beach

Look at all those birds. Kristen has never seen anything like it. 

This year's trip to California was a bit different because I couldn't go until early August and I had to be back by August 10th. Kristen and Doug had been on a 2 week trip to Africa for a safari and I had to get back for Houston Hjorth's wedding. 

So, I flew into San Francisco on a Friday afternoon and took BART to Pleasanton/Dublin, where Kristen picked me up. We mostly relaxed and watched the Olympics. We ate dinner and chatted. We hung out on Saturday, watching Olympics, and not doing much else. Sunday morning, Kristen took me to meet Maria in Tracy, where I hopped in the car to ride with her to Disneyland. We had a great drive. After 3 days at Disneyland, I spent the night at Maria's house, then met up with Kristen in Tracy on Thursday morning. I showered quickly and she and I headed to the beach. We set up her tent and just enjoyed the breezes and the waves. We were only there for about 2 hours before we had to head back to avoid traffic. Doug thought we were crazy to drive for close to 4 hours for only 2 hours at the beach. We told him we'd just be sitting at the house, talking, so we might as well be in the car, then enjoying the beach. Doug gave me a blessing Thursday night. 

Friday Kristen and I went to the outlet mall. I didn't buy anything and Kristen bought a pair of shoes. A very uneventful shopping trip. We then went back to their place. I changed the sheets on the bed and finished packing. We stopped at Kim Cassetti's house on our way to the San Francisco airport. Her daughter, Emily, was there, and we had a nice visit for about an hour. Rob's mom recently passed and we talked about that. Kim, Rob, and Michael were with her when she passed and Kim feels like her mother-in-law was reaching for something. We told her that it's very possible that she was reaching for loved ones. That's what Kim believes too. She has great faith and a love of the Savior and belief in God. She's like a sister. We love seeing each other, even if for just a short time. We always pick up where we left off. 

Spiritual Things

I spent last week in California, part of it with Kris and Doug, and part at Disneyland with lifelong friends. Before heading to California, I was listening to "The Lazy Genius" podcast and she was talking about back to school. She said in the introduction that it was primarily for people with kiddos and suggested an alternate episode for those of us without littles. I decided to listen anyway. I'm so glad I did because she talked about opening ceremonies - creating ways to mark transitions. That made me think of back-to-school blessings, so I texted Doug and asked if he would give me a blessing while I was there. 

Thursday, the day before I flew home, Doug gave me a very nice blessing. Kristen took notes. My impressions were that I was blessed to be flexible, to be able to figure things out (interesting since I had just realized I needed to reconfigure 215 in a pretty significant way - a thing giving me anxiety), to enjoy my students, and to look out for myself. Kristen's notes included the following: 

I will be healthy and strong

I will have the ability to perform my duties

I will have the ability the discern the needs of your students and those you work with that I will be flexible and adaptable and able to adjust to keep me and my students in mind

Remember to balance myself and my students and those who rely on me (note from me: to me, this means my kids and some friends)

Enjoy the time with my students as I see them progress, learn, and grow

Foster friendships around me. Assist them and be assisted 

I'm grateful for priesthood blessings. I think a back-to-school blessing is the best type of opening ceremony. I'm glad I grew up in a house that set that foundation. 

Last week, I was blessed to attend the sealing of Houston Hjorth and Savannah Butler in the Manti Temple. The sealer was so great. He was sweet and infused just the right amount of humility and humor. It was a beautiful day. Sealing...lunch...reception. More than once, the sealer pointed out parts of the sealing and said he didn't know what it meant, but he finds it important or noteworthy. One that particularly hit me was the mention of angels. He said we don't know who the angels are. They could be people who helped Houston and Savannah make it to the temple, it could be ancestors, it could be their future children. He did say with surety that the room had more individuals in attendance than who we saw in the room. I wondered if dad was with me and I felt that he might have been. Why wouldn't he be in a sealing that meant a lot to me and to Starlyn, my dear friend. It's not that I had a certainty that he was there, but I do think he probably was there, watching and enjoying my time in a sealing in the temple where his parents served. 

Judy Sumsion, Starlyn Hjorth, and me after the sealing

Look at how beautiful the temple was

The day after the sealing, I drove to church and found my hazard lights stuck on. I know that can drain the battery. I toggled the switch that I thought took care of those lights and nothing helped. DANG. I drove home and looked up solutions. I tried resets and nothing helped. I had to call Starlyn and Lee. They came over. I prayed we could solve it. I looked at a different video and realized I'd been toggling the wrong switch. I was doing the parking lights, not the hazard lights. I found the right switch and fixed it right before they got to my house - the day after a long wedding day. They are so great. They did have to come to my house sometime anyway, because I had brought home all the food from the wedding lunch. It had to be refrigerated and I was leaving. I had plenty of room in my fridge because I'd been out of town. Everyone was done eating and I was happy to help. 

Yesterday, I went to an endowment session in the Payson temple. I got there early and had time to read the Book of Mormon in the chapel. I also had time to just sit in quiet. The organ music in the background was nice. All of the sudden, I was aware that "I Stand All Amazed" was playing. It's the only hymn that dad still remembered and sang in Swedish. It's one that I partially remember in Spanish. We sang it at his funeral and I sang it in Spanish. I also switched to Swedish and tried to sing the last verse in Swedish. 

As I write this, Allie has texted me that a fellow flight school student, who is a member of the church, offered to give her a blessing. She's going through a pretty stressful time with school. I think it's so sweet that he did that. She said he blessed her that things will be ok and that Heavenly Father loves her. 

I love these little reminders that Heavenly Father is aware of me and of my kids. 

I love this family! Libby and Emmett, Garret and Lanelle, Lee, Starlyn, Houston, Savannah, Lacey with Trey, Jared, and Colby

Manila 2nd Moms at Disneyland

Last week I was in California. As part of my trip, I met up with my good friend Maria Trump, who lives in Manteca, just 30 minutes from Kristen's house. Maria and I drove down to Disneyland. We stopped at Derek and Rachel's house for a bit. Maria and Rachel spent time talking about kids with special needs. John and Maria has Abby, a 19 year old with autism, and Derek and Rachel have Charlie, a 10 year old with Down syndrome. We showed up unexpectedly because I wanted to surprise them. I had just seen them on Wednesday at mom's house. They had driven all night Saturday, arriving at their house around 2:00 am. It was a fun little visit. 

Maria and I got to Anaheim around 4:00 and checked into our hotel. We were pleasantly surprised by the size of the room. It was very roomy and provided a decent amount of privacy. I took the couch bed. Maria had brought a mattress topper, which made it quite comfortable. Maria also brought blankets for us. We went to Downtown Disney and got delicious peach ice cream at Salt and Straw, then Maria went into California Adventure to watch the parade. I was blocked out. After the parade, we got dinner at Earl of Sandwich, then went back to the hotel. It was a great drive and a fun evening. 

Amy Bowden and Stefanie Nebeker, both from our American Fork neighborhood flew in Monday morning. We picked them up, got them settled in the room, then we all went to the park. We started at Disneyland. It was crowded, but not too bad. We went on a lot of rides and showed Stefanie the ropes. She hadn't been to Disneyland in years. Amy, Maria, and I are pros. We don't even need a map. We saw the flag retrieval ceremony and all enjoyed it. Then we went back to our hotel for a couple of hours to rest and cool off. We returned to California Adventure for dinner reservations. Maria is a genius. She gets a reservation at the Lamplight Lounge for 7:30 pm. The last table seated is at 8:00. We asked to sit outside. When 9:00 came around, we had VIP seating for World of Color, the show on the water. It was fantastic. We also enjoyed our dinner. A great way to end the day. 

Maria also has a trick for getting into California Adventure. We Uber to the Grand Californian. She said that there might be a guard controlling access to the high end hotel. She said she would say we were going to dinner. I jokingly asked "where are we eating dinner?" To which she responded "Storyteller's Lounge." Well, that's exactly how it played out. There was a guard. He asked Maria, who was in the front seat, if we were checking in. She said "no, we're going to get dinner." He asked where, and she answered, without hesitating "Storyteller's Lounge." I couldn't believe it. It's a quick way to get to California Adventure. 

Friends on the road

Rachel, Derek, Raine, and me - quick surprise visit

While waiting in line for Pirates of the Caribbean, I hear "Dana!" It was my former TA and Mel's good friend, Emily Burdette. She was also there for Monday - Wednesday. 

4 beds - each of us got our own bed

Mini-fridge, counter space, 2 sinks. Great hotel.

Amy Bowden, me, Maria Trump, Stefanie Nebeker

Amy, Stef, me, and Maria

Look at that dinner view!

Day 2 started at California Adventure. Like day 1, when it got hot and crowded at mid-day, we went back to our hotel. But, before gonig back to the hotel, we went on rides, ate yummy food, people watched, and went to the pass holders lounge. I got a fun watermelon drink and delicious flat bread. I had gone there before with the Wasdens in May. 

Stefanie said she really liked how we do Disneyland...good food, lots of resting, great strategy for getting on rides, mostly enjoying time together. Maria had heard about a "buddy pass" for Monster's, Inc. It was crazy. We literally walked up and asked for a buddy pass. They handed each of us a piece of paper that said Buddy Pass. We took it to the exit and got on the ride within 10 minutes. The regular line was close to an hour. No stroller required. No disability needed. It was nuts. I learned so many tips and tricks. We also rode single rider on Soarin' Around the World. The line was about an hour and we waited maybe 25 minutes. Tuesday was really hot and more crowded than Monday. When we went back Tuesday night, Amy stayed behind to rest because she felt an ear issue coming on. We saw Fantasmic and the fireworks on Tuesday night before going back to the hotel. I sure wish people would put their phones down and enjoy the show. It's the strangest thing. We stayed up way too late talking. These ladies are so great. 

Wearing my Monster's Inc shirt, so I had to get a picture at the ride

Guardians of the Galaxy

Put your phones down

Incredicoaster

Wednesday was a half day. It was noticeably crowded from early on. Keenan surprised me with a Venmo for us to buy churros. We rode a lot of rides in the morning, got snacks, sat in the shade and rested and talked. Thank goodness for free cups of ice water. Maria got reservations for Carnation Cafe, which is a great place to grab lunch. We sat inside. It was cool and the food was good. I got a turkey club sandwich. We were going to stay until about 5:00 and take Amy and Stef to the airport, but the park was really crowded and lines were long. We had a 6-hour drive back to Manteca. So, after lunch, we said our goodbyes and Maria and I got on the road. I helped drive a bit because we were tired from a fun 3 days. 

We might have even talked Stef into getting an annual pass, but they weren't selling passes, so she couldn't get one. 

Me and Amy at our favorite bathroom. The doors are painted to resemble playing cards - a nod to Alice in Wonderland's Queen of Hearts

Tired eyes, but very happy faces. Maria says she keeps her sunglasses on to hide the tired eyes. Good idea.