What a relief to travel home without blowing snow shutting down the interstate! The forecast had called for snow on I-70 and blowing snow on I-80 so we opted for I-70 and reserved a hotel a few hours from home. Half the family enjoyed swimming in the hotel pool while they other half of us watched. I just wanted to be home safe and check out our wood floors and boy, I wasn’t disappointed! We made it home safely and in good time. We saw the Sheriff vehicles and the National Guard blocking off roads where they are investigating the start of the Marshall fire. My co-worker said she knew eight families whose houses burned down and that a family ended up staying with her family. I work with wonderful people and I missed them and our students while I was on our break even though I was having a lovely time with our family.
BEFORE & AFTER
And the registers I love way too much. Lol. The entire first floor is now hardwood except for the tile in the bathroom and scratches caused by dogs and furniture and maybe the humans too are all gone. Suddenly the main floor looks like it needs repainted but I think that will have to wait. We’ve got a lot going on this semester!
Speaking of school and work, our second day back ended up being a snow day! Well, they expect the children to go to WebEx meetings until 10:30am and it turns out me too (but I wasn’t on there for long because none of our students showed up to them). It was a joy to be home to help Natalie with her Seesaw assignments, bake M&M cookies, unpack from our trip, and get a few other things done. Hubby was busy pretty much all day with WebEx meetings but it was great to all be home.
Our first Saturday home Michelle and Natalie got their 2nd Covid vaccine dose, Maisie got to come home after getting an extra nail trim at the groomer, and we got to move furniture (but not area rugs) back into the main floor. Home doesn’t quite feel right without a dog in it.
Then, that first weekend I didn’t feel so good and got tested. Surprisingly I came back positive so the whole family had to go get tested and quarantine while I attempted to self isolate. It seems to be the EXACT same thing Hubby had weeks ago and he tested negative twice. Actually, a third time. Everyone’s test results came back negative… except Danny’s. Danny had been feeling sick while we were in Utah (so had Natalie) with those exact same symptoms as their aunt in cousin while we were there and those tests came back negative too. So either we had a whole bunch of false negatives or Danny and I had false positives or it took us getting the other crud + Covid to finally bring us down. Who knows? It felt like I had strep throat and then got better on its own. I am grateful that at least I was able to catch up on all the childrens scrapbooks while I wasn’t feeling well. It was tiring to go back to the school but my co-workers were so kind and thrilled to have me back at work I didn’t mind being worn out.
VOLLEYBALL IN ARIZONA
With visiting Utah, a torn apart house, and being sick Kate’s first ever out of state volleyball tournament kind of snuck up on us! Over Martin Luther King Jr. weekend Kate and I got to fly to Phoenix for the huge Fiesta MLK Classic Tournament. We didn’t really know what to expect but had our plane tickets and approved hotel reservations so set off. We flew in Friday night and got to sit next to a lovely BYU alumni couple with three month old twin girls. Luggage arrived safely and we quickly got a Lyft to our hotel and checked in. The next morning we were up before the sun was, completely ready and walking to McDonald’s for breakfast to the sight of palm trees as the sun came up. Got a Lyft to Kingdom Courts and met up with Kate’s team. First they helped ref another game, then played and won. It was a joy to see how well this team works together and how they interact with each other. Both the teams they played first and second they were very evenly matched but they lost to the second team. I was proud of them for knowing they worked hard both sets and didn’t get down. Kate helped ref again and then played for the third and final time for day one of three. That team really knew how to spike the ball and were tough opponents. Once again I was glad to see our team finish strong and not get upset when the game didn’t go their way. By this time everyone was exhausted and hungry and I let Kate go eat with a family that was also staying at our hotel but only had one seatbelt left. So I decided to walk to In-N-Out before getting a Lyft back to the hotel. I love eating there but I should have taken a Lyft there too. Turns out that volleyball facility is in an part of town that I probably shouldn’t have been walking alone around in. But obviously everything turned out fine and I made it back to the hotel around the same time as Kate did. We just chilled, then walked to Denny’s for dinner, then chilled some more before going to sleep early.
It was great to be able to sleep in because for day two our team was part of the afternoon wave. After a lovely team lunch at a farm to table restaurant that had great outdoor wedding vibes, our girls went on to win their first match. And then they helped ref/score/line judge and then they won again, this time coming from behind. Once again they were such a joy to watch and that second match was thrilling from start to finish. I don’t have as many photos because another mom and I noticed Kate had her best plays when my camera was in my pocket so it stayed there except for the third sets when we already had an official win in the books. Lol. They didn’t finish until it was dark out so I was very grateful that one of the player’s grandpa let me borrow a hoodie from the time he served as an Army National Guard pilot in Afghanistan. He then also gave me a ride to our hotel when he realized it was on the way to theirs. Kate headed off with the other team family staying at our hotel to eat at In N Out while I tried out our hotel restaurant and it was delicious. It took us a little longer to relax to get to sleep after such an exciting afternoon but we tried our best since there is one more day of the tournament and it is single elimination this time.
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