A great day today--Brooklyn came home from her European tour through France and Spain with Sotto Voce Strings. Hooray! We really missed her. She's handling the change in time zone beautifully. I, on the other hand, am experiencing all the jet lag for her. I'm seriously dragging. I've plopped myself down on the couch with a laptop (as a pretext for productivity.) It seems unlikely that I will move again this evening.
So yeah, a blog. Last I left off, we were merrily camping in Durango with Papa Kay for Memorial Day. We arrived home late on Friday, and I headed to work Saturday morning. I worked Sunday as well, but by the time I got home I felt a little off. I'd had a stuffy nose for weeks (allergies), but this time my skin felt a bit achy as well.
Since I work with babies in the NICU, I try to be extra vigilant about not spreading germs. I took an at-home COVID test, and uh-oh--a big fat positive.
I wanted to cry. After dodging the pandemic for years, COVID finally caught up with me. Even worse, we'd all been exposed. With a limited number of at-home tests in hand, we then tested Annika (because she'd had a runny nose) as well as Brooklyn and Talia (because they were supposed to go to FSY camp the next day.) Annika and Brooklyn both came back positive--drats. My suspicion is that Annika brought the virus home from summer school and kindly shared. Brooklyn was super disappointed, but not terribly surprised. She'd had a sore throat on Thursday, but didn't think much of it at the time.
Talia wasn't feeling her best, so even though her test was negative, we suspected she actually had COVID. Sure enough, when she went for a rapid test the next day, it came back positive.
Now it was girls against boys with all four Wheeler gals expressing their positivity while the men held strong. Eli and Jason rapid tested on Monday and came back negative. However, when Eli's PCR results came in a couple days later, it turned out that he was positive after all. Boom.
Our blooming roses were a good reminder that life still goes on.
Fortunately the quarantine timing worked out for Jason, Eli, and Annie to drive to Omaha for the College World Series and Hummel Day Camp. Eli and Jason sure seem to be enjoying their CWS tickets! Eli's even got his glove ready to catch a ball.
Jason was also excited to get to the Midwest so that he could participate in the "Bacoon" Ride with some co-workers from APMA.
In case you are wondering, "Bacoon" is a tribute to the loads of bacon served along the Racoon River trail. From bacon donuts to bacon burgers, you certainly won't go hungry!
We'll just hope that Jason stayed outside and kept his distance because sure enough, he ended up testing positive for Covid as well while in Omaha. Covid has been the hardest for Jason in terms of a lingering cough. Still, we are really grateful for the vaccinations that seem to have kept us from getting sicker.
Next adventure: Hummel Day Camp! Eila flew in from Washington for the fun, so these guys were like the three amigos.
Oof, that sun is bright!
Rumor is they all had a great time, although Annie did have to skip the last day due to an extremely sore neck. Here they are at the closing ceremonies.
Snuggled together for a show.
Speaking of cousins, I have NEWS. Or, more accurately, the Wilhoits have news. Adam has accepted a job with the U of U Health, meaning that they are in the process of moving from the Pacific Northwest to Salt Lake. This is a huge deal that really merits its own post, but I thought I'd let you know here since I'm super far behind in this blog and might not get around to sharing it for a while. Can I just say that we are so excited for the Wilhoits to be moving close?! I just wish I could make the process of getting from Point A to Point B a little less stressful.
Backing up a little bit, out in Salt Lake Covid quarantine was also stressful in its own way, but our creative Talia found the best ways to handle the strain. She crocheted this adorable top...
When our quarantine was nearly complete, Talia and I took a Mommy-Daughter camping trip to isolate together in a tent near Causey Reservoir. While there, she started teaching me to crochet covies as well.
Splashing through the creek back at camp. Brrr!
Nothing like watermelon to cool off on a hot summer day.
The next day I was able to pick Brooklyn up from BYU Provo where she was attending FSY (For the Strength of Youth--a church camp). She had to join her group two days late due to Covid, but still had a remarkable experience. On the way back, I took her on a short hike to Battle Creek Falls.
I'd missed this gal! Actually, I'm still missing her. Now she's in Florida for a CADCA (Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America) conference.
...and pulled out her watercolor paints. Oh, how I love her artwork!
Meanwhile, she whipped out the cutest narwhal ever. Love this gal!
Here we are taking our paddleboards out for an inaugural spin on Causey Reservoir. Glad Talia was there to help pump! The paddleboards were great though, and Causey is stunning.
Roasting dawgs on our ladies night out. (For the record, Brooklyn was at FSY while Jason, Eli, and Annika were still in the Midwest.)
On our way home we hiked Malans Peak through Taylor Canyon. A definite climb, but lovely.
Beautiful as the vista was, the time with Talia was even lovelier.
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