Yeah, yeah ... it's been a few weeks since our last post. Ok, nearly a year! We're total sucks. Things have been pretty crazy. I guess we'll tell you about it. We'll start with a top 10 list...in mostly-chronological order!
1. Hurlin' in Moab
We took a trip down to Moab earlier this year with some family and ended up having to stay at a KOA. The campground was pretty much full, but they offered us the option of staying on the far end of the playground area–which seemed great since it was further away from the other campers. Turns out they never stop offering that option once the campground is full ... they just pack more and more people into that playground area until the tents are touching!
We cooked up some canned chili and other fixins for dinner and, as usual, tried to get our kids to finish their meal. Then we went into town and treated them to ice cream. Ruby declined. That should've been the first sign of a serious problem. We didn't think much of it.
Once we returned, we noticed a few new neighbors setting up camp near us ... slightly annoying, but it was nightfall, so we assumed they would be the last to arrive for the night. I guess we know what happens when we assume...? Yep, you have one of the worst nights of your life.
Once we FINALLY got the 3 girls in their sleeping bags ... and some of us know how hard it is to get a 1 year-old to fall sleep in a tent(!) ... we heard more people arriving and setting up tents within the 20 foot radius. Another group of "dudes" were sitting around the fire drinking and talking way too loud. It was awesome.
(Warning: not for the weak-of-stomach!)
After an insane period of trying to drown out the noise, we all fell asleep. At around 1am I half-awoke to a strange gurgling sound ... then a chewing sound. It took a few minutes to wake up and realize it was inside the tent. I grabbed my phone and turned it on to get a little light. It was a scene from a horror movie. Under a strange bluish Blair Witch style light, I saw a little girl's face covered in vomit ... still soundly asleep, but likely dreaming of eating a wonderful meal of curdled chili and cheese. The smell started to fill the tent and my mind started to explore our options. If I get up and make a big deal of this, Sonoma would wake up and it would take another 2 hours to get her back to sleep. If Ruby wakes up and comes to full consciousness, the stench and mess all over her hair, face, clothes and sleeping bag will likely make her scream and cry ... not only waking up everyone in our tent, but also everyone in the campground. I had but one choice. I had to silently clear out the vomit as best I could and let her (and us) finish the night with our new friend, Bile.
I grabbed a pack of wet wipes and scooped up handfuls of extra-chunky-and-funky chili and tossed it out of the tent door. It seemed she had eaten 19 lbs of chili without our knowledge. When I finally got it as cleaned up as best I could (and she slept through it all!), I tried to get back to sleep. The smell made it quite difficult...but after an hour or so, I finally nodded off. Within 20 mins, the hurling recommenced, and the same clean-up process followed. Then, a third. The 19 lbs of chili consumed, must've been more like 45 lbs. Her weight in chili was now scattered outside our tent door. What fun.
Holly awoke to the noise, but could do little but try and make sure the other 2 munchkins stayed asleep. By now it was 3am and just as we were about to fall asleep, another car arrived to set up camp–less than 20 feet away. They were quite possibly the world's most inconsiderate young couple in the western hemisphere. He yelled at her to bring him a drink, they threw their poles onto the ground and spoke at full volume to each other as they set up the tent, hammering stakes into the ground and all ... the tent, I was sure would be the size of the Taj Majal based on the time required to loudly set everything up.
Wide eyed, enormously irritated and sleep-deprived, Holly and I waited until the wonderful sound of silence as they slipped into their sleeping bags and turned off their flashlight. Ahhh, MAYBE if we're lucky we can get a few hours of sleep before Sonoma wakes up. Yet, once again, we were violently yanked from our newly found slumber by a sound even more unexpected than billowing bile. The new neighbors had forgotten something. What better time and place to share the magic of sexual intimacy than at 4am at a campsite next to dozens of other tents? And if you're gonna do it, you should do it right and not refrain from releasing many loud pleasure noises. And to add a cherry on top, they had some pretty impressive endurance! UGH!!!
When all was said and done, the sun was going to rise within a few hours and we had gotten a wink ... maybe two. I grabbed Sonoma oh-so carefully and slipped into the car to sleep in the back for the final few hours. Apart from wishing I were 6 inches shorter, it was one of the most appreciated few hours of sleep in my life.
Needless to say Holly and I were zombies the next day. Ruby was too weak and ill to do much hiking or traveling, so the entire trip was pretty much a bust. We did get a few shots during a couple of very mild hikes. See the photo gallery for those. And that was our 2011 southern Utah nightmare. Let's hope it stays a 2011 thing.
2. Yellowstone
My mom's family had a Zollinger family reunion up in Yellowstone. There was no vomit or breeding neighbors, so things were a smashing success! Sonoma still didn't sleep all that well, so one morning Holly went for a very early drive to try and get her back to sleep (4am-ish). After a while, she drove up to an overlook and realized the sun was about to rise. She pulled out her camera to get a few shots from the car (it was cold outside), and suddenly realized that a black bear cub had appeared right next to the car. Sonoma was asleep and the car was off, so it didn't notice her whatsoever. No mama bear was spotted, thankfully. She snapped some great shots of it as it foraged just a few feet away from the car. It was the only sighting of bears for any of us, so it was quite the treat. It was great to see the family and good times were had, but you had to be very mosquito tolerant, because those blood-suckers couldn't have cared less if you were wearing repellant or not. They were immune to all brands, and there were millions of them!
3. Disneyland
Olivia was going to turn six in August and our 10-year anniversary falls just a few days after that. I had joked with Holly that if nothing else maybe we can at least get back to our Honeymoon location at least once every 10 years. The joke had been going on for a few years now and I realized that there is always a bit of truth and hope in every joke of that nature. I started saving for Italy and it's a good thing ... it really did take a few years to get enough dough for that, mostly because I had to figure out what to do with 3 little girls for a week! I talked to my sister, Laura, in L.A. and she agreed to take them (thank you!!!). What a saint. It then hit me that we'd be leaving on Olivia's birthday and that we'd have to take the girls to L.A. in order to drop them off. So ... why not make it a HUGE (and expensive) month of fun? I started saving for a birthday bash at Disneyland as well.
A few months before the trip, I took Holly and the girls to a restaurant for lunch and ice cream, then pulled out the tickets to Disneyland. They ALL freaked out and jumped and screamed. Then I pulled out the tickets to Italy and Holly's jaw slowly dropped and she sat in total silence for over a minute. She was bewildered and beyond excited. (As was I).
The day at Disneyland really was quite magical for the girls. Apart from being quite crowded (when isn't it?), it was a pretty perfect experience for them–and a 9am-10pm day at Disneyland REALLY wipes you out. Sheesh!
The next day we had a great time hanging out with Laura, Sugata and their girls, and packed up for Italy.
4. 10-Year Anniversary in Italy!
I invited my sister, Stacy, and her husband, Ben, to come along with us on the trip. They had never been and really had been wanting to for many years. I've obviously been to Italy many times. First for the 2 years on the mission, then a few times following, including our amazing honeymoon. I was thinking that after all the times I had been there, it was mostly going to be just a fun tour-guide experience of showing them all the great sites. Fun for me, but nothing amazing like going for the first time. But I was blown away. It was just as or more magical for me than ever before. The architecture, food, and culture is absolutely stunning and enchanting. We would love to find a way to live there later in life. It's such a different pace from the US.
Stacy and Ben clearly fell in love with it as well. We started at a villa just south of Tuscany, and from there we hit Florence, Lucca (amazing!!), Pisa, and Cinque Terre–where we swam in the Mediterranean Sea and hiked between a few of the towns. For the last few days we went to Rome. On the way down we stopped in Arezzo where we met up with some of my good friends, Chiara and Silvia, and wandered around the hilly town for a bit. It was great to see them after all this time.
Rome and the Vatican are some of Italy's most amazing places. The history, art, and architecture are mind-blowing and epic. One of the highlights was on the night before we left. We went to a classical piano concert among stunning ruins, we were on the front row. It was sublime! Next time we'll make sure we hit the Amalfi Coast and Bolzano, near the Austrian border. And there will be a next time -- hopefully much sooner than 10 years from now!
We have some amazing photos from the trip, check them out.
5. Trips Back East
Starting in July, I began taking trips out to southern Connecticut, near NYC. One of our primary clients needed me on-site for some work. While out there, I really started to love the lush green region and the idea of living in a spot that is to close to so many amazing places, like NYC, Boston, D.C. etc. We were still planning on moving to Thailand in early 2012 to open a new office for Advent. Major and severe flooding hit Bangkok about this time and our opportunities for new clients weren't working out as well as we had hoped. Our future plans were beginning to get hazy.
6. Painting
During 2011 my brother Sam got back into painting and since we visit them often, I began to learn to paint as well. I've only done a few and really need to commit or not, but at the moment it's a fun new occasional hobby. And Sam is REALLY creating some amazing stuff ... to the point of selling them through various venues. Mostly it's our sister-in-law
Jen, who is selling his stuff through her interior design clients. Pretty fun ... and worth mentioning. Check out Sam's work here:
http://www.samuelsmithart.com
7. Terror on the Crimson Trail
It was 6am in early October and I was feelin' ambitious. I was doing a lot of trail running, but hadn't done any of Logan Canyon's famous hikes. I decided Crimson Trail would be a fun one. Note to self: don't go on early-morning Monday runs in the canyon where you have no cell signal unless you bring along a companion. (Ever see the movie, 128 hours?)
I hadn't done the hike in years and didn't realize until I was about half way up that the loop was a VERY steep hike/run up to the trail. It was over 2 miles to get up to the top where the trial then traverses along the top of the "china wall" cliffs of the mountain side. Once I was up there I was feeling pretty awesome and was really running hard and pushing myself. Right at the halfway point of the run, I was coming down a little dip and my foot hit a rock and my ankle rolled inward while my leg snapped outward. My ankle was severely sprained and I sat in the dirty trail in agonizing pain as I stared at my no-bars-in-these-places phone. It was clear I was going to have to get down the mountain on my own. I couldn't walk on it at all without enormous pain shooting through my leg and foot. I wondered if it was broken. I tried to hop on one leg up and down the dips along the trail that runs oh-so-close to the cliff edge. I lasted only a few minutes before the reality set in that there was no way I had the endurance to do this for 2.5 miles.
At that point I did what any little sunday school kid was taught. I said a little prayer. (this is SO cliche, it's funny!) When I opened my eyes, I noticed a very interestingly shaped tree branch on the ground. I hopped over and picked it up. It came up perfectly straight to my left hip and then angled at a 45 up to my right shoulder. The point at the angle had a large knot and dip, perfect for a hand grip. This tree grew and molded this branch, then discarded it just for me at this moment! It sure seemed to be destined for me. It was the perfect crutch for getting down the mountain. It served as a replacement for my injured left leg with a structure that allowed me to use both arms to bear all my weight. It was also long enough that it helped ease my decent on the steep terrain. Pretty serendipitous!
After a few hours of hobbling, I made it down the mountain and back home. The next day I had it X-rayed and looked over by a specialist and he said it wasn't broken, but a Grade 3 sprain, the worst you can do. There were major tears to the ligaments. He also said that my ankles look like that of a 50-60 year-old. I've beaten them up pretty well over the years. I best take it easier on them, I suppose!
8. Sold Our Casa!
Yep, after just 3 short years of having our house on the market, we FINALLY sold the thing! We lost a small chunk of dough, but it was a great learning experience. The learning curve was steep for me ... doing all the renovations without any real background, but by the end I was swingin' a hammer at least 3 times without hitting my thumb! We loved the neighborhood and ward. We loved being so close to Holly's parents. But we knew it was time to take the next step in our adventures and venture on ... see #10.
9. Holly Stay-at-Home
Apart from a very short sabbatical when Sonoma was born, Holly has been teaching at USU every semester for the past 5 years. January 2012 was the beginning of her full-time stay-at-home-ed-ness. It's been a bit of a rollercoaster. She LOVED her job teaching English to international students. She loved interacting with people of so many different backgrounds. It was a very fulfilling job–and required very few hours each week. It has been very hard to leave behind.
She loves parenting and does it amazingly well. The one problem is that she cares SO much about it, and helping our kids become kind, selfless, obedient, polite, intelligent little creatures, that it becomes quite frustrating when it doesn't go quite that well ... without a fight! So the fight continues. She does an amazing job and the girls love her tremendously. But that doesn't mean they don't try her patience to the very end! :)
10. Connecticut/Bangkok ... same thing!
For quite a while we were sure we were destined to get back to Bangkok. We loved our time there, we still had a lot of connections, and there were quite a few business opportunities. However, over the past year fate had a different plan for us. My trip out last Feb to win a major contract fell through, and while I was there I had a dream that seemed quite clearly an answer to some of my questions/prayers. And as the year progressed, things along the east coast continued to improve (business-wise) and digressed in Asia. The floods hit Bangkok and really did a number on the region for a while during this same period of contemplation as well. Lastly, I began getting strong feelings that we shouldn't distance ourselves so far from family. By the end of this year, it was very clear that Thailand was no longer an option and that CT/NY was the next step for our family. A few weeks ago we finalized the plans and will be moving in mid-March. I will be going out solo in Feb to line up a home and all the other logistics. We're very excited to be out there. We have several friends in the area and the schools are some of the best in the country. We'll be some of the poorest ward members, as the area is very affluent region, but it's a great opportunity to grow Advent and help our kids experience a slightly different culture and see some amazing sights. NYC, Boston, D.C. etc are all on our list, and flights to Europe and such are also much cheaper from JFK – just 45 mins away. It'll be a very exciting new adventure ... which is just the thing Holly and I are constantly craving. Wish us luck!
We expect we'll be much more regular with our blogging once we're out there since more family than ever will be far away from us. Thanks for reading this James Mitchner length novel!!
