Sunshine and Blue Waters

Hello!
Well it is June; not sure how that happened, but it did :)

lighthouse at the end of
our UTV tour, Aruba

I can't NOT write about our family vacation, even tho it was a little while ago now. We took the family on a cruise vacation, and returned almost 4 weeks ago (gasp!)

*Reminder: if you click on the photos they show up bigger. On a pc, anyway. Don't know about on a phone.

We chose the week right after BYU finals, since David and Teresa had tests to take, finishing up the semester. One day AFTER their last test, they flew home to arrive at midnight, then we flew to Panama the very next morning! A whirlwind for them, but we all managed.

In a nutshell, I got my wish, of sun, sun, sun. Temps in the 80s and glorious sun :) :) :) Stop in Miami, then on to Panama City. We stayed the first night in a hotel in Panama, then we drove to the other side of the country to get on the ship in Colon, Panama.

David's bag stayed in our layover stop, Miami. Bummer! And blah. It took many phone calls and pleadings and very complicated arrangements, since we were actually not staying in Panama, at that point--we were leaving in 12 hours to then be at sea for a week. They had to put the bag on another, local airline and were going to attempt delivering it at our first cruise stop, the next day, in Cartegena...Bottom line was "success," (yippee!) but not without lots of drama/damaged bag anyway leading up to it.

CARTEGENA. The first stop after the ship left Panama, was Cartegena, Colombia. We disembarked and checked out all kinds of animals native to the area. They had an outdoor zoo, of sorts, with colorful parrots, anteaters, lots of birds and other small mammals.

Monkeys kind of roamed around. They're like stray cats, over there. The bummer was, they ate trash. Like goats! Not just tasting it. They totally ate the trash.

Teresa had just finished her orinthology class, so she was on "bird watch!" She had all kinds of bird facts and behaviors to share with us throughout the trip.

Then we took a "highlights tour" of Cartegena, with castles and markets and the touristy statue I had found on tripadvisor..."Los Zapatos Viejos," or the 'Old Shoes.'

tricky posing for these, since the metal of the statue
was pretty hot...the sacrifices we make :)

Had to take some token touristy pictures. (This was while Frank was on the phone, trying to get David's bag delivered to the ship. He missed most of Cartegena, boo :( -- but the bag did get delivered.)

Back on the ship! Next stop, the island of Curacao.

Snorkel Success photo! All faces can be seen,
all looking in the correct general direction.
(Photographer is also underwater, slightly
disoriented: not exactly sure what's
fitting into the viewfinder at that second)

JET SKI ON THE OCEAN. Our outing on Curacao was jet skis! I have never

Fun photo op:
Teresa sitting in the "R"
David on top of 1st "A"
Kara in the 2nd "C"
Frank in the 2nd "A"

done this on open ocean waves.

Teresa dives down to the ship

The waves were choppy and it was wild and exhilarating, and I thought I might actually die -- haha, kidding kind of!

Our guides took us around the island so we were on the wavy part for maybe 20 minutes.

Then inland a little, to calmer bays. Check out interesting houses and hear stories of the history of the island.

Then we got to snorkel over a sunken ship, in about 15 feet of water--not too deep, so visibility was good.

Next stop, Bonaire.

SCUBA AND SNORKEL PARADISE.

Iguana friend crossing the road

didn't take the camera on the actual dive.
But this is walking back: here is the
WATER we were diving/snorkeling in!

Here was where we had booked a morning with a dive shop; David, Frank and I (Kari) are scuba certified, and Teresa and Kara did the Discover Scuba course. The reef is pretty close to the shore, so we walked out and they call this "shore diving." No boat necessary, to take you out to the reef.

It was a sunny day with good visibility, and even when you are in warm waters, a wet suit makes a dive comfortable. This part of the island was protected from wind and big waves, so it was calm. It reminded me how much I love the ocean, and why I like diving and snorkeling so much.

bandanas a MUST for all the DUST :)

Next stop, Aruba.

UTV TOUR OF THE ISLAND.
Aruba is actually a lot of desert, and rocky or lava-like coastline. We took UTVs (2 people per vehicle) on a bumpy, dusty tour of the island. We stopped at one point for some nice coastline photos. We also had suits on under our clothes so we could climb down into the "lava cave"
area, and jump in.

Teresa takes the plunge

Each day was sunny. Our New England sun-deprived bodies were not quite sure what to do with all that Vitamin D! It was awesome.

yep, it's windy

Kara climbs down into the cave

We got back to Panama and rented a car, to then check in at our airbnb house and spend some time sightseeing Panama.

large ship, coming through

THE CANAL. Of course we had to visit the Panama Canal! I had no idea, really, what a feat of engineering this amazing place is. The museum showed how so many countries contributed money, equipment, labor...thousands of workers building the locks. And to maintain it...wow, a strict schedule of cleaning and deep-cleaning while not in use, closing some parts, periodically, to give it proper maintenance so it will continue to function for decades to come.


HIKING. We also found Soberania National Park, and hiked one morning there. Panama has even more wildlife than Costa Rica.

We saw birds (Teresa had us stop and listen, at one point: "do you hear that? It's a toucan"),
little tiny frogs, leaf cutter ants

leaf cutter ants

marching across the road and up a tree, lots of lizards and we even startled a 6-foot long snake who bolted as soon as we came around the bend.

There was also a sloth sanctuary closeby. They rescue sloths who are abandoned or injured. We toured the sloth sanctuary, butterfly pavillion, and frog center.

Kara and the butterfly: eating :)

shhhh...sloth sleeping

visiting the Panama City temple

The place we stayed (a man had 2 homes on his acreage) was just a stone's throw from our church building. We could see the steeple from the kitchen window. The man was super-nice, and he had a 12-year-old son. We told him we would be going to church Sunday morning there, and he said, "Oh, you're Mormons? I've met missionaries as they walk around the neighborhood. The Sister missionaries helped my son with his English lessons. My wife keeps telling me we should visit church there, and we never have gone." We invited him to church with us, and he came :) He is Jewish, and his wife is Christian. It was a fun connection to make with him.

Whew! Well there you have it in a nutshell.
I won't write the volumes that I could, on the fiasco of getting back...

*Frightening thunderstorm weather in Miami that ended up getting our flight canceled, along with thousands of other passengers on dozens of flights.

*At 2:30 a.m., still in the airport, we finally booked flights back for 2 days later, leaving from the OTHER side of the state! Ha. (laugh or cry: take your pick)

*We did drive to David and Diane's for one night (Frank's parents), so that was one happy unexpected visit they got from some grandkids.

All in all a glorious break. I am still so happy we went, and we had sun and warmth. (And did I mention sun? and that it was warm?)

Back to reality, but still floating from the vacation!

All 3 kids have started their internships/jobs at this point. And yes they are all getting paid, best news :) David and Kara take the train (public commuter transportation) into Boston for theirs, and Teresa is back in the Salt Lake area for the summer.

Frank is in Barcelona at the moment for work, and I have a little over 2 weeks left of the school year, to tutor my kidlets at the elementary schools.

Have a great week! :)
Kari

Palm Trees and Pencils

Hola Familia!

Here's a quick note to summarize the last couple of weeks.

We have Kara back from her volunteer experience in Fiji, so that is a good thing! She took some super long flights to get home, but now one of us has been "over" the North Pole. The last leg of her flight took her from Hong Kong to Boston, OOOOOoover that point on our earth!

David and Teresa are into their home stretch of the semester. A couple of days of class this week, then a reading day and then finals start. Ugh! But then they can breathe, until the next round. David has 1 more semester.

SUMMER JOBS. David has an internship here in Boston this summer, so he will be home. Yay! The company gives up-to-the-minute cost of living details for cities all over the world. Other companies hire THEM when they need to relocate someone, since they can tell them how much is housing, groceries, gas, etc., around the world.

Teresa is 9 here!
That turtle is heavy

Teresa has an internship in the Salt Lake area this summer, so she will NOT be home. Waaaaahhh! She will be studying and collecting data from the birds, small mammals, and other wildlife in a region west of the Great Salt Lake. The land is a big training ground for the Air Force. She won't be working for the Air Force, but all the data this company collects on animals and the environment, is reported to the Air Force.

Kara's job/internship is also with a company here in Boston. (Yay, again!) I can't remember the department she'll be working in, but it's marketing or finance or something.

WARM WATER. But before all that starts, we get a family vacation :) :) David and Teresa will finish their finals in about 10 days, then fly home and the NEXT day we'll fly to Panama. There we will begin our cruise, from Panama to Cartegena Colombia, then to 3 small islands close to Colombia. Curacao, Aruba, and Bonaire. Warm temperatures for me, hanging out with some of my very favorite people. This will be the last few days of April/first week of May. Can't wait!

BOOK RECOMMENDATION. Here is a book I read recently, after listening to Zak Ebrahim's story on a TedTalk. Wow. He is the son of the man who planned the bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993. His amazing story had me hooked for the 9-minute Ted Talk, and then I looked up his book (the "full" story) in the library and read that.

Truly, if you have 9 minutes, it is a great Ted Talk. Then if you have some 10-minute snippets in your day to spend reading a pretty short 93-page-or-so book, he tells his whole story and it is So. Perspective-Changing. And. Uplifting. The Ted Talk is called "I am the son of a terrorist. Here's how I chose peace."

His book is called "The Terrorist's Son; A Story of Choice." Well worth your time.

HOLY WEEK. Yesterday was Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week and the day of Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem. I wondered what was the significance, of him entering the city on a donkey?

Triumphal Entry: the people place
palm fronds on the road in honor
of the Savior's arrival

It did fulfill prophecy: that the Savior would come on a donkey. But I looked it up further and the donkey is an eastern symbol of Peace. A King -- a leader of a kingdom -- can ride in on a horse, which is an animal of War. OR the king can ride in on a donkey, which is an animal of Peace. Hence one of the names Jesus is recognized by is the King of Peace, or the Prince of Peace.

Have a beautiful week!
Kari

NYC and Dengue

Hola Familia--
Well I wrote this about a week ago, and never sent it!

VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE. Kara is in Fiji at the moment, teaching English to local kindergarteners. She had a nasty bout with Dengue Fever (DEN-gee, with a hard 'g' like 'get'), brought on by a disgusting mosquito. Can't think of a single good thing about mosquitoes...bat food, I suppose. But bats can eat other things too. Let's say NO to mosquitoes. It was basically 8 days of fever, rash, nausea, vomiting. Feeling like you'd rather die, you may know the feeling from stomach-flu. When you're away from home it's worse, I think!

But she is finished with that, and was able to eat food this week. She and a group of friends went exploring another island (Fiji is a series of beautiful islands with this crystal clear, blue water) this past weekend. Gorgeous, just like a postcard. She'll be there another few days.

9/11 happened at 10:02:14--here's a
clock from one of the rooms

MY BIRTHDAY. I was super-spoiled for my birthday this year. Frank had meetings in New York City this week, and I joined him for a couple of days. It was kind of a 9/11 trip for me, going to a photo journal museum of sorts, getting dozens of stories, photos, and memorabilia about the trajedy and recovery efforts.

Model UN

One of David's favorites
the original is at the MoMA
(Museum of Modern Art)
right now!

David was also in town that week, with his byu "Model U.N." class. The whole class spends the semester preparing for a week of activity with 3000 other college students from around the country. They come prepared to represent specific countries in U.N. discussions and goal-setting, or problem-solving sessions. BYU's countries were Italy and _______, can't remember the other one.

close to the World Trade Center

So, on my birthday we got to meet David for dinner and we all went to My Fair Lady at the Lincoln Center. I love that music! I was humming it all weekend.

TEMPLE VISIT. Saturday morning Frank and I went to a session in the Manhattan Temple. It's amazing to have the normal bustle of people on the sidewalks outside in the big city, and then you step inside and it's so peaceful.

9/11 MEMORIAL. Then we went back to the hotel and changed, and took the subway to the 9/11 memorial. It's a beautiful display at the site where the Twin Towers used to be. They have created beautiful waterfalls in the footprints of the actual buildings, and carved names of those who lost their lives into granite surrounding the waterfalls.

Well my blog time is up. Happy Friday tomorrow! Spring may even come to us in the Arctic North pretty soon :) :) :)

Kari

Melting Snow and Coconuts

Hello, Family--

Just looking outside at the 'almost-melted' snow! We had a week of above-freezing temperatures, and it rained a little in there, too. I can see most of the yard now, and only patches of snow.

boat shot

SPRING IS COMING. In 3 more days, in fact! Friday was one of those "teaser" days, where it actually got up to 61, or something wonderful like that! I went outside after school and took a long walk. Beautiful, beautiful.

TEACHING IN PARADISE. Kara just finished her first week of teaching the local kindergarten kids in Fiji. She was going to go with a friend, then the friend backed out at the last minute.

Speaking of beautiful, it is Just. Gorgeous. There! Here are some pictures she has sent.

She landed, and then took her big suitcase on the bus to a resort for a couple of days. At that resort, there were 'coincidentally' some people -- about 10 -- from the same volunteer program she is with, there to take a vacation weekend.

bus stop

(People start and finish their volunteer experiences different weeks. These people had already been volunteering for a little while.) So she met them all and hung out with them, then they all went back to the volunteer "bunk-house" together.

view from inside the bus

VOLLEYBALL WINS. Otherwise, we've been watching the BYU Men's Volleyball team play this week. As usual, they are really good. Gymnastics was televised on Friday too. Always fun to watch them, but they don't get televised too often.

OH--speaking of gymnastics! It's crazy what these girls can do at the college level. Avery has been following Shannon Evans, a junior on the BYU gymnastics team. Avery recreated Shannon's floor routine on youtube -- it's really fun! Here's the link for Avery's routine.

Kara with some new
5-year-old friends :)

UCLA also has an amazing athlete on the team right now: Katelyn Ohashi. She has earned five scores of  "10" this year, 3 of them on floor and 2 on beam, or something like that. She's this little tiny girl, only 4 foot 10 inches, and she has so much fun doing the routine it can only make you smile. Here is Katelyn's floor routine on youtube.

CLEANING OUT. I'm still doing the Marie Kondo thing, chipping away at our bins in the garage and other places in the house.

I went to the dentist this week, too. Happily, it was uneventful :)

Have a great week, and especially this Wednesday...that day will be SPRING!

Kari

Snow, Splint and Survival Kit

beautiful snowy mountain range

Hello, All--

The weeks have slipped by a little, it seems!

Let's see if I can give a summary of the last couple of weeks...well, 3 maybe?

Kris, Mom, Me, Avery

LOOKING FOR SUN. I went to Arizona to visit the sun and warmth. Turns out they were both coincidentally out of town for a couple of days! Ugh!

So I left 40 degree weather in Boston to get to Tucson and get...40 degree weather and SNOW! Ha, can you believe it!

Trent is getting so tall :)

Mom's backyard

then a couple of days after the
snow: all gone! At 61 degrees
I could take a walk outside

It's okay though. I got over it. I still got to visit with Mom.

One day we drove to Kris's house, and we got to see Avery, Trent and Jessica :) :) :)

dice game: Tenzi

We went to Red Robin and of course I had to order Onion Rings. The perfect combination of salt and grease. And they delivered it in a tall, tall tower that reached above Avery's head.

AND, extra treat: the last day I was there, was an "overlap day" with Kim and Duane. Nice to visit with so many over the 4 days I was there.

at least her nails were painted :)

UNEXPECTED MISHAP. Of course, it was a rude awakening on Sunday morning when I was there, as Mom called me into her room because she had broken her foot. Ugh! She had dozed off in her recliner chair in her room, as she sometimes does. She did not realize her foot had fallen asleep. She woke up, and stood up, ready to go to the next place...her foot turned and she broke the outside bone, the one connected to her pinky toe. Blah.

We spent a couple of hours in the Emergency room, where they rolled in the x-ray machine and took pictures, and determined that it was a "nondisplaced fracture." They wrapped it with a splint, so she couldn't move the foot. She went to another appointment later in the week, and they said it was positioned well so they could leave the bone in the place it was, and wrap it better. 4 weeks with a heavy-duty brace. Not a very pleasant surprise!

our Games Night group

FRANK'S GAME NIGHT TURNING 50!! Frank has now 'caught up' to my decade :) He turned 50 last Sunday. We of course celebrated with a Games Night, and a good time was had by all. We pulled out Outburst -- we've had that one since we were married, believe that or not! Very comical, as the answers were so dated...referring to TV shows like Dukes of Hazard...

Kara holds the phone up for David and Teresa
to watch Frank open his gifts
(they facetimed in for gift opening)

OLD GUY'S SURVIVAL KIT. The kids pooled together to get Frank a "survival kit," now that he's 50...you know, prune juice, fiber crackers, preparation H. Kara and Angela wrapped the gifts, then Kara came back here to the house. She facetimed with both David and Teresa simultaneously, so they could see him open things.

(Their REAL gift was movie tickets for us, and a restaurant gift card. They do know how to celebrate a birthday for their pop!)

Birthday Pie before she left:
her 19th bday is actually
next week but we had
a mini-celebration
before she left

KARA'S NEXT ADVENTURE. Then last week, we sent Kara off to Fiji. She will be there for about 5 weeks, teaching English to the local kindergarteners like she did in Bali last fall. She had a friend she was going to go with, then at the last minute her friend could not go. So, she's winging it on her own. We're using WhatsApp to text and send pictures back and forth, and she texted to say that she made it to the right places and had her orientation Monday. Tuesday she started work in the schools.

hug before she left -- okay I woke her
up! I was leaving for school and
Frank would take her to the airport
a little later :)

Well that sums up the past couple of weeks! Meanwhile Massachusetts temperatures are c-r-e-e-p-i-n-g upwards. In the 40's this week, and Friday it should hit 61! Yep.

Empty-Nesting it for a few weeks

SIX MORE DAYS until spring, you know :) :) :)

Have a good week!
Kari

all her clothes laid out for the suitcase