Going back in Time

We went camping with Ryan's brother Jason and his family the first Labor Day weekend after we finished school so Sept of 2014.  I have never liked camping.  I hate living with-out modern amenities. 

          But Ryan loves it, and of course so did the kids. 

Brother!!

Fire!

Church!

This is the  LDS Pine Valley chapel in Pine Valley Utah.  It is the oldest chapel in Utah.  Built by the early Saints. 

          Why hold one child on your back if you can hold two?!

Jason has 4 girls close in age!!!  Arms full!

Kjersti peeking out of the tent.  She didn't walk yet so she had to crawl around in the dirt.  Which is harmless.  But I wasn't thrilled because it was pokey and she cried a lot. 

 

Lots of cousin time.  So sweet to see them all bonding. 

We were there for 3 nights.  And, I have to be honest - they were hard for me.  I think when my youngest is 4 or older, it will be better.  But with diapers and potty trips to yucky toilets with a 3 year old girl, I was pretty over it by the time we broke camp.

What I did love (Yes,-there was something I liked!) was the coolness of the higher elevation and the yummy smell of the pine trees.  The wind blew through them in the evenings and mornings and it was lively and the scent divine. But I could have loved that scenery and smell from a cabin with a nice bathroom and kitchen!  I'm just sayin....I love modernization!!  I'm SO glad I wasn't a pioneer!  But I felt a lot of gratitude at our Sunday services for my ancestors that went before me and in very difficult times and circumstances settled southern Utah and established their religion away from the persecution they experienced in the eastern US. 

Illness and Heartache, Cousins, and the Fourth of July - 2021

Gracie with Meanie at Dr Sullivans office in Las Vegas

Gracie's BELOVED tortoise Meanie was sick.  (She got the name Meanie because she is so dang stinking mean! Tortoises challenge each other by bobbing their heads at one another.  Meanie stalks the yard bobbing her head at everyone.  Even our huge 80 lbs Sulcata tortoise-- gets challenged and chased by Meanie. )

Meanie stopped eating and was hiding in her burrow.  When we finally got her out she looked terrible.   It was so sad.  We rushed her to our vet here locally and she said it was beyond her scope and to take her to Vegas.  

These are the results of Meanies x-ray.  It shows stones and intestinal blockage.  The only treatment involves surgical removal of the stones.  Surgery on tortoises is difficult and must be done by a specialist--because it requires sedation on a reptile and cutting into the bottom of the shell. 

After consulting with the specialist, we had 2 options.  Putting her down, or trying the surgery.  Of course we had to try surgery. How could we tell Gracie we wouldn't give it a try?  If we were broke and still in school, then surgery wouldn't have been an option and I would have had the surgeon just tell her she needed to be put down.  

I was so grateful that Ryan's brother was in town for the 4th of July with his 5 girls.  It was a good distraction to alleviate the stress of the impeding surgery.  Gracie and Aubrey are very close.  They were born 4 days apart, and she went with  Gracie and I to Vegas to comfort her--as we knew the news would be surgery or euthanasia. 

So, with our tortoise delivered to the specialist on Friday, and surgery scheduled for Monday, we spent the weekend doing fun things like making tie die shirts and going on truck rides.

We also set off our own fireworks in the backyard. 

With beautiful blue Lake Havasu in our backyard, we had rented a large pontoon boat for Monday.  

It was so fun driving around the lake on a hot day--only 115 degrees --feeling the wind on our faces and riding the tube.   That pontoon boat  could get up to 45 mph, so the tube was perfect and fun!!

            Everyone got multiple turns. 

But I was a nervous wreck.  We knew surgery would start around 10:00 our time.  Which was 9 am in Vegas. 

So we tubed and waited for the news if Dr Sullivan was able to remove the stones and save Meanie's life. 

The call came, and the vet talked to Ryan.  He said the bowel was completely perforated and not repairable.  He said he could not save her and was asking permission to stop the surgery and euthanize her.  Of course we had to agree. 

It was pretty heart wrenching to see Gracie go through that pain. At that moment I was sooo grateful that her little Charlie dog had just joined our family in May on her 11th birthday. 

After lots of tears, and sunscreen,  and more tubing, the day ended with sunburns and exhaustion.

They crashed on the way home.  But look at her sweet Charlie. 

             Gracie is an artist and always makes things beautiful. 

After I was able to go to Vegas and pick up Meanie, we planned her funeral. 

And it was emotional and tender and sweet.

           She is resting in a beautiful spot in our backyard that Gracie picked out. 

Goings and Comings

   

June 14th-19th took us to Salt Lake City to attend InterMountain Suzuki String Institute.   It was cancelled last year -pandemic-and I have to say,  it was lovely staying home.

Jace had several sheets of music to learn.  We decided to drive up to SLC instead of fly--so we could leave our van there for the summer--as rental cars are mostly unavailable and terribly expensive post the pandemic.  It was great because it gave Ryan and Jace an extra 7 hours to practice while I drove us up I 15.

 Practicing in a moving vehicle is a challenge--and I heard a lot of weird sounds and laughing from the back seats whenever I would go over bumps and the cello would sound like it was farting. 

Classic Jace pose--waiting his turn in Masterclass for his private lesson. 

On Saturday, all the groups performed.  It was fun to watch them grow musically during the week. 

Jace did not disappoint, he played with finesse, and precision.  We were proud of him!

At times, Ryan and I divided and conquered.  Kjersti had her own music agenda. She was not part of the camp because of the limited students because of COVID restrictions, so Mrs Moench provided private lessons, group lessons and a performance class for her younger students.  She also has a darling Grand- daughter named Ella, who is also a violinist. Kjersti and Ella love each other. 

I was able to take them on an adventure to the SLC Aquarium--and it was so much fun! I had a blast with them. 

They also  attended to their practicing, 

and they both did a fabulous job performing on Saturday morning!  Kjersti's cousin-Suzannah -is the pianist. We are so lucky to have so many musicians in the family. 

Afterwards we went to Day Murray Music so Kjersti could have Jared show her some Ukuleles.  It was her reward for working so hard during the week.  

Saturday evening, when all concerts were over, Uncle Paul came and picked us up in our airplane and flew us home.  We stopped in St George,  so we could pick up Gracie and Charlie. Gracie loves that she is a pianist and doesn't have to go to the string instrument camps.  She was enthralled in cousin time.   

She cried the whole way home because she had such a fabulous week --she didn't want it to end.  And our camp was so wonderful we didn't want it to end either.  So-here's to happy endings.