Alaska Cruise

This last week, Matthew and I left our kids with Emmalee while we, my siblings and their spouses, and my parents celebrated my mom's 70th birthday and my parent's 50th wedding anniversary by going on a cruise to Alaska. I'll be honest, I was not excited to go. It was expensive in an already expensive year. It was yet more time away from my kids. But it was my mother's dream come true and Matthew agreed to go to show his love to his mother-in-law.

I fasted at the beginning of the month that the cruise would be worthwhile and I believe it accomplished all the goals. Couples had a good time with their spouses, children had a good time with siblings and in-laws, and my parents reveled in time with their children. Added bonus: Matthew has found his travel option of choice. He loved it. For a man who gets angsty when it comes to travelling, I am happy to support him, especially if it facilitates more travelling. He's already dreaming of where we are going next.

We went to Juneau, Sitka, Ketchican, and saw glaciers, waterfalls, arctic wildlife, and beautiful scenery. We shopped, hiked, played games, ate a ton, watched shows and generally enjoyed being together. Prayers answered.

Us in Seattle about to get on the ship.

In the elevator in all of our silly glory

Us in Juneau in front of the Mendenhall Glacier.

After we saw the glacier we did an extra hike through the woods. It was beautiful and I definitely got my steps in for the day.

We saw the most amazing whale sculpture,

and really cool totem poles.

We saw the Marjorie glacier - only a few ships get to have access to this pristine part of the world.

We stayed outside hoping to see a chunk fall off, no such love. We did get to see a chunk come up from under the sea which was pretty cool. It looked like a giant whale coming out of the ocean. Nope, just a large chunk of ice.

Us getting absolutely drenched on our hike in Sitka. We had a ton of fun hiking through the forest, especially knowing that if we had attempted this with the kids they would be miserable almost from the beginning. A lot more steps today.

Do you see all those coats? It's middle of July. Thanks Alaska. We still love you.

The darling couple who inspired this trip. Thanks parents. We love you too.

P.S. I should say for the record that the kids enjoyed their time with my sweet niece Emmalee and their cousins. Dude and Cousin A joined a jump rope camp for the week. Luca didn't want to go so while the boys jumped their hearts out she hung out with Emmalee's two babies while their mama cleaned the apartment getting it ready to move out of the next week. But after that week we were anxious to get back to our own beds and just be our little foursome again. And the kids enjoyed their souvenirs. A moose stuffie for Luca and a salmon wooden sculpture for Dude.

Tooth Fairy

Luca lost a tooth. She has notoriously misplaced her fallen teeth and had to write notes to the tooth fairy apologizing and praying for mercy so she has gotten better about keeping track of them. This one she put in a bag and taped it to her wall. 

The problem was, I didn't know she had taped it to her wall, so after searching for what seemed like forever under her pillow and around her night stand I gave up and just left a dollar under her pillow. The next morning Luca was so happy that the tooth fairy had gotten her note and now she was getting a stuffie.

I had no idea what this meant. I didn't know she had written a note and at that point I still didn't know she had taped it to the wall. I asked if she had found the money under her pillow. "No." She didn't see any money in the bag taped to her wall so she took that as a sign. She didn't even think to look under her pillow. After a gentle suggestion, she looked and came back, maybe a little crestfallen but happy with her dollar all the same.

While she was out playing, I finally found the note. It's double-sided.

It says, "Dear tooth fairy, If you could get me a stuffie that'd be nice. I'm willing to wait. If not, that's alright. If there's no money in the bag I'll know. Love Luca"

Poor girl; especially since she would have gotten a dollar regardless if I had actually seen the note previous to leaving the money.

Port Orford

 A few weeks ago Dude complained that he was ready to burst with the need to go somewhere and have an overnight adventure. Matthew was at work, so I told Dude to make up a presentation and give it to his father. I told him he would have a better chance at being listened to if he presented in a clean space with a respectful attitude. I also told him to be prepared with a list of things he'd be willing to do to earn such an adventure.

Dude took it all very seriously. He cleaned up the upstairs, he made diagrams on the presentation tablet I bought years ago for seminary, he conducted himself with the utmost respect. He did a great job, and Matthew and I both agreed. But then the problem became what kind of adventure and when. Dude didn't seem to care so much about the what as long as it included an overnight stay somewhere as quickly as possible; it couldn't wait until August. So we found the closest free week available and looked for places we could rent along the Oregon Coast that we could pay for with Matthew's Marriott points.

Matthew couldn't come with us because he had projects that would need more of his time. So the week after I got back from Young Women camp, we celebrated the 4th of July with a quiet day at home, and Tuesday the kids and I took off.

We spent Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday in Port Orford, Oregon (a small town an hour north of the California border). We found out the first night we were there that the kids have family history in that town. Matthew's mom called to tell us that Port Orford is where her grandparents moved to when she was a little girl and she would go visit them there every summer. She gave us instructions to go to Battlerock beach park and the Prehistoric Gardens. 

Wednesday morning, that's where we went. The kids LOVED Battlerock beach park. They explored every tidepool, touched as many anemones and sea stars they could. We climbed battlerock itself, walked along the beach, climbed some more rocks, and they played in the sand. It was a wonderful morning. At one point, Dude asked if we needed to be anywhere else. I loved the look on his face when I told him he could take all the time he wanted, a mixture of relief and joy.

Eventually we walked home, got something to eat and headed to the Prehistoric Gardens: a grouping of miscellaneous dinosaur statues set in an old-growth forest with a path carefully guiding you through. We did it twice just to fully get the experience. It might have been a little young for the kids but they claimed they enjoyed themselves all the same.

Thursday we did a small hike in town and had lunch before the second leg of our day's adventure. We found a lighthouse with a beach rumored to host some cool rocks to find. We hiked down to the beach where nothing much was to be found, but for the next two hours or so the kids were in more child heaven playing in the sand and waves. I got bored a time or two and wanted to call it quits but I didn't have a good enough reason to drag them away and thy were having so much fun that we stayed and stayed and stayed.

Friday morning they had originally wanted to have a couple last adventures before we left, but by the time we got in the car they ditched their plans in favor of making it home as quickly as possible. Perfect. Everyone, Matthew included, was ready for us to be home.

When it seems like you have to tell your children "no" a lot, it was nice to be able to say "yes". Thanks Dude for advocating for yourself.

Young Women's Camp 2022

I haven't been to girls camp in a lot of years and after a really busy June I wasn't ready to be away from my family for 4 days. On Tuesday morning, the first day of camp, I read in my scripture study, the story of the widow that is asked to sacrifice to feed Elijah and then is blessed for that sacrifice. I'm pretty sure that was not a coincidental thing to study that day. I needed that principle to keep my heart focused on what I was being asked to do here at camp - support, love, and keep the young women safe.

Just like the woman I was asked to sacrifice for others and just like the woman I was blessed as a result. I loved feeling the love my Heavenly Parents poured into me to give to the young women in my cabin. I loved making and renewing friendships with women I don't get to see very often. I loved witnessing how introverted women and extroverted women all bonded with the young women in special ways. There is not one ideal form of a Young Women's leader so long as there is charity. It was beautiful to see that in action this week.

It was also beautiful to come home Friday night to the poster my sweet daughter.