April 8th/9th/10th New Zealand

Because of how time zones work, our flight took off on Tuesday, April 8th in the evening and we landed on Thursday April 10th in the morning in New Zealand. 

Doneen and Alan picked me up to drive to the airport together. Our flight was to leave at around 6 so the goal was to be at the airport by 4. We got checked in with no issues. 

 

Dion, Summer, Dad, Diane and Ryan arrived together and we met them at the gate. Danielle was flying from her home to meet us in L.A.

Very shortly after we arrived at the gate, Dion and Summer went to the Delta lounge. Dion is all about the lounge.

Not long after, I got a text from Dion that said, "Something is wrong with me"  That freaked me out so I went looking for him. I did find him nearby standing by a trash can looking decidedly ill. He was very pale and in pain and not sure if he was going to throw up. Looked like a kidney stone to me which was very scary (worst pain I've ever experienced). 

He kept saying maybe he should just stay home. I definitely didn't want that! He said, "if this was you, would you get on that plane?" and I said "yes!" haha. I figured he could survive the 2 hour flight to LA and then we could reevaluate at that point. He started to feel a bit better so he and Ryan and Dad went into the family bathroom where they gave him a blessing.  He was able to get on the flight and had no issues but he drank tons of water and was nervous.

 

We arrived in LA and met Danielle, who luckily landed only a few gates away. We had a few hours layover so we ate dinner in shifts and Doneen and I went on a couple of long walks. There was a large group of missionaries in the waiting area so Dad shared the first article of faith in Maori with them.

  

Dion had gotten us premium select seats (the best seats besides the pods with lay down beds) which was amazing. We all loaded up and had extra leg room, a pillow, blanket and some other goodies to help with sleep. Felt like the seat was full of stuff before I even sat down!

I've never been on a flight this long so I was a little nervous. Doneen usually gets pretty nauseated when flying so she took some dramamine. We were using an app that was supposed to help avoid jet lag so it told us when to have light, dark or try to sleep which I tried to do as well as I could. I watched some movies, they fed us dinner and I got up what felt like a zillion times to go to the bathroom (was trying to drink plenty of water). Bonded with the flight attendant while doing deep knee bends in the middle of the night. There was a point at which I decided to see how close we were and the flight info said we had over 6 hours left! LOL

We had all filled out the necessary paperwork online so getting through customs wasn't bad. They warn you over and over not to bring any food into the country, even snacks that you purchased and have opened so we all ended up throwing away a bunch of snacks. (I had packed enough snacks for both flights...or so I thought). The fine is $400 if you forget and leave snacks in your bag so that didn't feel worth the risk. But I missed my gum the whole trip! (we never found any in the store!)

Here we are in front of the airport as we left to get our rental cars.

I am a nervous passenger especially in a foreign country and on the wrong side of the road so I had made a decision to go in Dion's car since he has done left side driving a bunch of times and it was Ryan's first time. I didn't think my gasping and potential screaming would help Ryan as he practiced. So it ended up that Doneen (also a nervous passenger), myself and Dad all squeezed into Dion and Summer's car while Danielle had a whole back seat to herself. 

The airbnb was really great! 

Arriving at the Airbnb

Entryway

living room where Danielle liked to sit and look at the city lights

lovely view of the harbor 

pool not heated but we decided to do some cold plunges to take advantage

dining area...no kitchen pics?

Once we were all checked in, we decided to go to lunch at a restaurant in the nearby harbor. We walked over (Dad opted for a nap instead) and went to a restaurant called Grangers. The food was fish and chips, burgers etc. and it was amazing. We all thought so.

We had been notified that there was parking pass available for the temple dedication but we needed to go pick it up at the church near the temple. So after lunch we headed over to the temple. I forget the name of the sister who met us there but she was in charge of the open house/dedication with her husband so we felt really grateful she was willing to meet us.

We walked around the temple a bit. 

We were met by a cute cat that turned out to be the "temple cat". He was fed by the construction crew and now just hangs around the area. Dion got some selfies with him.

We tried to fill the day with a few things so we weren't tempted to sleep so the next stop was a Botanical Gardens nearby. The entry fee was FREE which was awesome and it was quite lovely. We walked around a lot and were able to get Dad a scooter so he had no issues (though he almost ran a couple of us over a few times)

 Dinner was at Zabrone, a small Italian place that was very yummy. The guy was cranky on the phone (phone calls never went very well...they couldn't never hear us well) but everyone was super nice once we arrived. 

We bought some groceries and discovered that we were too sleepy to make many decisions but it was a good time trying to.

Once home I taught everyone a new game "Tapped Four" and we played until about 9 when we were all very ready for bed!  We were proud of ourselves for staying up and playing cards!

Good night!

New Zealand 2025

 I don't remember the exact timing of everything but at some point in maybe January 2025, Dion texted our sibling group chat to say that he was thinking about taking Dad to New Zealand for the Aukland temple dedication and asking what we thought. Would Dad be up to it? Could he afford a ticket?

We all thought it was a great idea and, with no rent or car or other expenses, Dad could certainly buy a ticket to New Zealand and would probably love to do so. Since he was in New Zealand on his mission when the first (Hamilton) temple was built, this seemed like a nice bookend kind of trip.

Some time passed and I didn't think of it again really. Then Dion starts sharing some emails/messages between him and some authorities who are arranging things for the temple dedication. He was trying to get dad a seat inside the temple for the dedication but it was proving difficult. The people he was talking to were very kind and trying to be helpful though in getting Dad into the church next door to the temple. It was all interesting but had no effect on me.

Then Dion said, "So maybe we should just plan to go and attend a session at a local chapel. What are your thoughts? Which of you can come? I can pay for flights and a place to stay."

I'm not kidding when I say that my brain just could not comprehend what he was saying in that text. I texted back that I was confused. Was he now saying he was going to pay for Dad's flight?

He clarified, "I would pay for flights and accommodation for anyone on this thread that wants to go"

Well, holy cow! I definitely wanted to go but it felt so crazy and weird and generous. I texted Dion and said that I was definitely in if he really wanted to do it and if others wanted to as well.  If it turned out to just be dad and him, I was ok to back out and let them have their time together.

In the end, we ended up with everyone but Daren and David on board as far as siblings and Ryan Owen and Summer (of course) were on board as well.

We all scrambled to make sure people had passports, TSA precheck etc. Dion purchased airline tickets for all of us and it was set. 

Dion set up a whole google doc for choosing Airbnb, activities to do, place to put all our information so we could travel easily (passports and whatnot). He originally chose a very nice looking airbnb but the owners weren't responding so after more searching he discovered some reviews stating that the place had rats and was very dirty. Thank heaven we could get out of that in time!  Summer found a different place right near the water in Half Moon Bay. 

Dion made arrangements for a tour of Hobbiton as well including lunch. 

We were going to New Zealand! April 8-17, 2025. Epic family trip.

Michigan March 2025

I went for a quick trip to Michigan because my boss is out of town on a vacation of his own. I was so glad to be able to visit even though it was a quick trip. 

I usually take a direct flight through Delta but it is always expensive. This time, since I didn't have to be at work on Monday and since the girls were still in school, I decided to try to get a cheaper flight. I ended up going with Southwest. I saved some money and I also get a companion pass to use in the fall. So that seemed like a good deal. The downside is that I also had long layovers both ways.

Early morning flight but a beautiful sunrise!

On the way there, I spent 7 hours in the Chicago airport. It wasn't too bad but that's a long time. There was an airport club I could go to but when I tried to go, they said I had to come 3 hours before my flight, no sooner. So I got some steps in, walking all around. I kept hearing an announcement for a non-denominational service. This intrigued me. It was a Thursday at an airport and they have a church service? Well, I had time to kill so I decided to check it out. It was a nice little service, about 30 minutes and there were like 10 people in attendance! I was a little afraid I'd be the only one. Anyway, that was kind of fun. When the 3 hours before flight arrived, I went to the club and it was completely full so I had to join a line. When I finally got in, there was literally one seat at a super crowded table. I squeezed myself in and wondered why I was there. haha. I texted Dion for advice and ended up getting myself a free soda and cookie. 

The food didn't entice me unfortunately. I didn't' stay too long, deciding that the roomy airport was better than this crowded club. The place was full of students from West Point so I snuck a picture for Dion.

The flight was uneventful and I arrived in Michigan and got my rental car. The car place was kind of pushy and sales-y but luckily I had prepaid so that was easier to just get what I had planned.

I arrived at the Hill house right about dinner time and we enjoyed a lovely dinner of stew with some homemade cinnamon rolls for dessert! Then we played a card game I brought and luckily everyone liked it! It was called Tapped Four. I had originally put it on my list for things to get people for Christmas after I played it and liked it...but then it seemed perfect to bring to Michigan so I bought it early.

The next day, the girls took the day off of school and we had a day out. We went to breakfast (McDonalds for pancakes), stopped but the local farm store to check out the chicks, grocery store for movie treats, went to a matinee (Dog Man-better than I expected!).  After the movie, the the girls wanted to eat at Panda Express. Panda is like 40 minutes away but, what the heck, we had nothing else going on! So we drove there and had lunch. 

By the time we got home, Amber was home from work. I took a nap. I have a ridiculous need for naps these days.  Once Branden got home from work we decided to go out for an early birthday celebration for him. He wanted Raising Canes so we drove another 40 minutes or so to get that. It was super yummy! We stopped at a bakery for dessert to bring home. Then when we got home we played Tapped Four again!  

Saturday we slept in. I never sleep in so I was surprised to discover that I had (although the time difference helped I'm sure). The kids did chores around the house for a bit. I can't remember what I did? Did I help? Did I relax while everyone else worked?  LOL literally can't remember. I think I did vacuum.

We went to Hobby Lobby for some browsing and shopping. The girls had some money burning a hole in their pockets and Amber needed some stuff for primary. We had lunch nearby at *can't remember*--one of those restaurants like Chili's that has every kind of thing. We then went to Costco for family grocery shopping. Then home for a nap again!

That night we played games again for awhile and then, suddenly, Kaylee got very sick. She was acting like she wasn't feeling super good...just kind of laying on the couch...but suddenly she began to throw up! She ended up throwing up a bunch of times all evening. I definitely didn't want to get it. Once Isabelle went to bed, the adults watched Severance together which occasional needs to pause to help Kaylee. Poor girl!

The next morning I stayed home from church due to Kaylee being home sick and also my desire to not have a migraine. Kaylee was doing a bit better but still not eating and just hanging on the couch. We watched some tv together and I packed up to head home.

I left around 3 to return the car by 4. My flight was at 6. Sadly I had a delay so I had wished I had made my car return later but I just did some reading. My layover was in Denver this time and I will say that I give Denver top marks for comfortable seating! They had couches and other bench type things all over which is so nice if you have a long layover instead of those uncomfortable chairs with no ability to lay down. My flight got delayed by a couple of hours in the end so I used those couches. There were actually people laying all over the place! And I wondered if this airport is so comfy because they have a lot of delays? haha The place seemed set up for this scenario.

I arrived home around 2 am and didn't get all the way home til after 3. Bed by 3:30 am.  Sooo tired. But so glad I went!

February 23, 2025

 Frank had a business trip starting today so I decided to invite Ryans family over. I also invited Heather, Jansen and Ember since it was Ember and Heather's birthday on the 22nd.

I made stew and homemade rolls. Then I also made a chocolate cake for a simple birthday cake. Turned out I have no powdered sugar (I still can't believe it! It must be hidden somewhere) so luckily I had a bit of store-bought icing that I'd purchased for activity days. I just put a little bit since store bought is never that delicious.

We put 27 candles on the cake for Heather's birthday!

the kids were super cute and we had fun playing games.

We played cards and some bananagrams with Ryan and Kristal before Heather and Jansen arrived

Kristal was awesome and entertained the kids when they tired of us playing cards