It's been a month without a word! ...I have an excuse

Wow! It's been a month, and a jam packed month at that! I'll cut to the chase soon enough and get the photo overload up here soon. I started a post after I got home from my Utah trip but I also came home from Utah with a head cold. I felt pretty miserable with the cold so I opted for resting instead of blogging when I had the chance. It all seemed like a normal cold with runny nose, cough etc. Nothing too serious but it just continued without much improvement for so long! After about a week and a half I even got viral conjunctivitis! (basically pink eye without the gunky crusties) Between my nursing knowledge, the open access I have to pharmaceuticals, and my distrust for the medical system here I treated my own symptoms for a while. After 3 weeks I was still sick and last Wednesday my ears plugged up. Since Wednesday I have been nearly deaf! I have a new found appreciation for my sense of hearing. It is hard to function without it. Not only can I barely if at all make phone calls and talk to people face to face, it's hard even to think when the silence is so loud. I tried a barrage of remedies, solutions and medicines to clear my ears but nothing seemed to work. Finally on Monday I had had enough and I took myself to an ENT. I literally just walked in and told them that I can't hear well enough to call for an appointment and could they possibly work me in? The attending ENT was very kind and was able to accommodate me quickly. She did a complete exam of my ears, nose, throat and lungs and then started asking questions.

"Are you typically a healthy person?"   "Yep. Definitely"
"How are you feeling now?"   "Well, basically pretty good, I am just sick of not being able to hear"
"Do your ears hurt?"   "No, I haven't had any pain or fever, I just can't hear"
"You must have a super strong immune system because not only do you have 2 ear infections, you also have pneumonia. Your right lung is filled with fluid and your left has also taken on fluid. I would expect most people in your situation to be much sicker than you seem to be."
Well, I guess I'll take that as a compliment! I am now taking an antibiotic, a steroid, an expectorant and a nasal spray and expect to be 100% soon. No cause for worry!

Now I'll get to the good part, the pictures! I spent the 1st week of August in Utah (and a few precious hours in Texas!) and was able to see so many family members and great friends! It was a great trip and I felt really rejuvenated by it.

I was able to plan my flight itinerary such that I had a 9 hour layover in Dallas! It just so happens that this lovely lady and her darlings live in Dallas and we got to spend a wonderful afternoon together. Lindsey was one of my roommates at BYU and we hit it off right away and have been best friends for....ahem, 12 years!! Of course the time went by way too fast and I had to go back to the airport but I am so glad we got to have some real face time! It doesn't happen often enough!

The night before I left Managua for Utah I tucked the kids in for bed and said goodbye. A little while later Reid called for me and when I went in his room he had big sad eyes. He handed me his most special stuffed dinosaur, Sam, and said "Mom I want you to take Sam on your trip." I said, "won't you miss him while I'm gone?" He answered, "I want you to take him." Then he leaned in and urgently said, "Please bring him back." It was the sweetest gesture! I decided that Sam would enjoy seeing Reid's cousins, grandparents, aunts, uncles and friends in Reid's place and so began the Adventures of Sam the Dinosaur!

First stop, cousins!!!! TJ, Summer and Ricky. I was struck by just how kind and thoughtful they are. Lynn, you have great kids!!

Sam and I got to spend a wonderful day with Grandma Kitty! That day with Kitty was the first activity I planned in the itinerary of my Utah week. I so enjoyed the whole day! We drove from Logan to Bear Lake to see Elli too! She returned from her LDS mission to Vancouver Canada in March and it had been a long time since I saw her! It was a wonderful reunion!

 

Here is a miraculous story. Mitchell and I decided on Redick's name before we even got married. Mitchell's 5th great grandfather was Redick Newton Allred, a prominent LDS pioneer who crossed the United States in the mid 1800s with the other Latter-day Saints. Once he got safely to the Salt Lake valley he was called on by the prophet Brigham Young to head back out on the trail to rescue the Willie Handcart Company who had been stranded by early winter blizzards. They were in grave danger with no shelter, little food and clothing. Redick Newton Allred fulfilled his charge and rescued many saints from certain death. He has a great story! When we found that our first son, destined to be Redick Allred, was coming with a twin brother it was hard to choose a name for him that could match the neat story of Redick Newton Allred. In the end we chose Reid (the name appears in my family tree and we liked it) and his middle name is James after my brother-an awesome guy!- and after my dad's brother who passed away as an infant. James is a special name in our family and we felt happy that both of our sons had role models as namesakes. 

Fast forward to July of this year, my sister visited the Family History Library in Salt Lake City and learned that we had an ancestor in the Willie Handcart Company! We had no idea! How cool that Mitchell's ancestor rescued mine! The part of this story that made me weep knowing God had his hand in it all along is that my ancestor's name was JAMES REID! I am still in awe at this miracle for our family. I am happy that Reid has yet another faithful and stalwart namesake to look to.

Sam and I found James Reid's grave at the Smithfield Cemetery. 

Sam loved seeing more cousins!! Kaja, Bjorn and Matej were great hosts! It was so fun to spend a little time with Jessinna and Josh too. Thank you for letting me crash at your house!

My wonderful friend Katrina and I met at the Bountiful Temple and enjoyed the temple and some time catching up. 

It was a miraculous coincidence that deviated from my well thought out plan for the week and stopped in at DI in Bountiful. While waiting in the check out I looked over and saw none other than my dear friend and former roommate at BYU, Andrea! It has been forever since we've seen each other and it was a fun reunion! So glad I decided to do some impromptu thrift shopping!

Of course Sam loved seeing Great Grandpa and Great Grandma Harris! We had a very nice visit. It's always uplifting conversation with them.

My trip lined up perfectly with one of our best friend's birthday! Happy birthday Ben!! So glad we could hang out for a short while!

Sam was extra happy to see some of Reid's best friends. Peter was pretty happy about it too! The Homers were so kind to let me stay with them and even sent their fluffy, allergen ridden cats off to the cat hotel for a vacation while I was there! Tianna and I totally failed in the selfie department. Probably because we were enjoying our time together so much! She's another wonderful gal and our friendship hit it off from the first time we met. It's a completely perfect match. She and I get along so well! Our husbands get along great, and our kids are besties too! They are forever friends.

Violet is the best next door neighbor a girl like me could ever dream up! She and her family found their dream property and made the move the week I was in town. I got to help a little with the move and see their beautiful new nature land! Violet I'll miss having you as a next door neighbor but I'm so glad you're still close! Sam loved seeing Reid's friends Leila and Ava too!

These beautiful ladies and I coordinated our florals and spent a few wonderful hours in the Provo City Center Temple together. Are you seeing the pattern here? I have so many WONDERFUL, INCREDIBLE, OUTSTANDING friends! They teach me, support me, inspire me and are just great people! 

A bunch more of my wonderful friends and neighbors came to see me and enjoy an evening together. Not everyone ate s'mores but I sure did! I felt right at home again in the neighborhood surrounded by such great people who I love. Thank you all for coming to see me! I felt so loved!

Sam followed a few of my kids' friends to their gymnastics class one morning! We did Joy School with these cute grown up girls!

Sam was spoiled and got to ride the ponies at Thanksgiving Point!

Sam LOVED seeing Grandma and Grandpa Bair! I did too! We got to go to the Mount Timpanogos Temple together and then go help my brother James get ready for a big move across the country to Delaware.

I love this happy grandma moment I captured. Grandma brought Lily a silly new book about Elephant who is stuck in a quandry over whether to share his ice cream cone with his friend Piggy. Even baby Vida was enjoying the story and snuggles.

Meet my newest niece Vida Lynn! She was born the beginning of July and is the sweetest little thing! It is so great to be an AUNT!!

Vida's big sister Lily is also the sweetest little sassy thing! She's got a great personality and is so funny!

This sister of mine COMPLETELY SURPRISED me! She and her hero of a husband drove all night so that the 4 of us siblings could all be together before James moves all the way to Delaware! I didn't think she was going to be able to make it since they had just made the trip to Utah in July. What a fun and happy surprise!

James has always been so fun with kids! He posed with Sam and totally made Reid laugh! Reid was loving all of my photo updates from Sam's adventures!

Sam was curious about Reid's newest cousin. He thought she was cute.

I am so glad I got to be there when James blessed Vida at church. What a special day! It will likely be a while before all 4 of us siblings are together in one spot. I'm so glad it worked out!

 

I just have to say my trip to Utah (and my brief but wonderful stay in Texas) were wonderful! I was rejuvenated and reminded of how blessed I am! It's no wonder I've been lonely in Nicaragua, I grew accustomed to being surrounded by incredible family members and wonderful friends! If I've learned one thing over the last year, it is that community is so very important. Not everyone is so blessed with such a wonderful and large community of family and friends. This is a blessing that I do not take for granted. Thank you to all of my community, I feel so loved!

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The weekend after I got back to Utah we made a day trip to Zapatera Island. It's a small island out in Lake Nicaragua. We caught a motor boat from Granada out to the island for the day. 

Reid loved getting to drive the boat!

From the main lodge at Zapatera Island we took a short hike over to a lagoon. 

Everyone got in the lagoon and I was about to hop in when I noticed that the water looked GREEN! Like hazmat sludge kind of green! I decided I would rather stay dry and help the kids when they got out. Ew.

The silty sulfuric mud at the bottom of the lagoon is supposed to be really good for your skin. It's the fountain of youth! It definitely looks like it turned back the clock for Mitchell, don't you think? Haha!

 

I had a birthday that weekend and my sweet kids made this beautiful flower arrangement for me!

Another first day of school for these big kids!! They were counting down the days until school practically all summer. They absolutely love their school, their teachers and their friends. They love the routine and knowing they will do fun and engaging activities each day. I REALLY love their school too! The educational philosophy is based on the educational system in the Nordic countries like Finland, Sweden and Norway. They emphasize hands on, active learning activities and a large part of their learning time is spent outside. While they don't shy away from learning the STEM core subjects they also get regular exposure to art and music. Each week all of the kids have music class, art, carpentry, drama/theater and cooking. It is an absolutely wonderful school and I can't say enough good about it!

Big kindergarteners this year!

Reid is our silly guy

Redick is excited for school!

Audrey is in 2nd grade already!

When we arrived at school this large banner was there to greet and inspire everyone to "Aprender a aprender" to Learn how to Learn. Audrey was absolutely delighted to be "famous!"

One of the kids' friends had a birthday party at a cute little amusement park. It was a really fun time!

It was hilarious watching Layne try to drive this go kart! He got the hang of the gas pedal easily, never caught on to the brake and the steering was tricky.  He spent a lot of time doing donuts and running into the fence. By the end of the afternoon he did figure out the steering and was able to drive laps! 

We always love our beach days! 

Beach days are exhausting! We brought along a couple of friends on this trip too.

We have really taken full advantage of our time here this last year+. Our goal has always been to see and do everything possible and we are doing it! By now we have done most of the major tourist stops and are venturing out to more obscure locations. On Saturday we decided to see if we could find a trail up to the top of one of the largest and oldest volcanoes in Nicaragua. It is well off the beaten path and we had to drive around for quite a while and ask a bunch of people before we found a trail. 

These boys of mine are destruction machines! These pants were intact when we got in the car and about 30 minutes later we got out and he had hulk smashed a giant hole in his pants!

We technically followed a trail the whole way but it was really overgrown and it was a lot of bush whacking but we all made it up! These kids have gotten to be awesome hikers!

Overlooking a beautiful green blue lagoon

Congrats you made it to the end of this mega post! More adventures to come!