Update 8 April 2012

Happy, happy Easter!!!


Last week, Carlos’s asthma flared up again. I spent Tuesday morning in a desperate rush as I tried to quell his coughing. Even his nebulizer treatments weren’t enough, and the persistent coughs triggered Carlos’s gag reflux and caused vomiting. (Yummy, I know.) So the little guy spent the day at home with one outing to the doctor’s office. Carlos carries his asthma at the bottom of his lungs, which means that he easily gets infections like pneumonia; his doctor heard some wheezing in her stethoscope and prescribed antibiotics right away. I was surprised by her rather proactive approach, because Carlos was not as symptomatic as he’s been with previous infections. However, within 12 hours of the initial dose of antibiotics, I witnessed a huge transformation in Chub-chub. Carlos, who had been whiny and lethargic all weekend, returned to school the next day as his bouncy, active self. Thank goodness for modern medicine!

When he was not subdued by the asthma, Carlos spent the rest of the week obsessed with hunting for Easter eggs. He woke up, grabbed his Easter basket, and began hiding plastic eggs each morning. Then, after school, he hunted for the eggs and, if he had time, hid them and found them again. I even had to stop him from sleeping with his basket of plastic egg shells! The funniest part of the process was that Carlos often didn’t remember where he had hidden the eggs and needed my help. Silly Chubber!

I spent a little time each evening trying to teach the kids about Easter. We focused on learning the meanings of “atonement” and “resurrection,” and it was hilarious to hear some of the kids’ failed answers. (Carlos: “It means Jesus sinned us.”) It took a lot of energy, practice, and reteaching to make the message stick, but the kids finally got there. I was so proud of them for learning “what it’s all about” without referring to Veggie Tales!

On Thursday, Kirk ended his wintry trip to Kazakhstan, Russia, Finland, and Switzerland and returned to the ever-pleasant California sunshine. He read the first and second Hunger Games books during his travels and was eager to see the movie. Evidence: we were sitting in the movie theater only one hour after his plane landed!

More than a month ago, Kirk’s dad Brad asked us to join the Monson clan in San Francisco over Easter weekend because Brad and his siblings needed to sort through the belongings of Grandma Monson. We saw it as a great opportunity to visit with relatives and reserved the weekend for just that purpose. As Easter drew nearer, I doubted whether Kirk would be up to *more* traveling after two weeks on the road. However, he was excited to spend the weekend with family and extended the trip into a sightseeing tour of California’s famous coastline. We drove up highways 1 and 101 on Friday and were pleasantly rewarded by stunning views of the ocean, mountains, and rolling spring green hills.  

We arrived at the mission in San Luis Obispo around noon and squeezed our way into a very special Good Friday service. The priests passed a full-size cross around to the congregation, and everyone had the opportunity to help carry the cross. We also enjoyed very beautiful background music by the choir.

Later that afternoon, we arrived at Hearst Castle. George Hearst made his fortune in silver during the California gold rush (which Arianna is learning about in school this year). He invested his money in thousands of acres of fertile California land, on which he began a cattle business that continues today. George’s son William grew the family fortune through a nationwide media business and was one of the wealthiest men in the world during his lifetime. He commissioned Julia Morgan to design a castle on his father’s cattle land; from this pristine yet isolated property, he managed his 90-some media agencies.

The castle is a unique blend of many of Europe’s most famous churches and palaces and includes artifacts as old as 3500 B.C. (Fun fact: its dining room served as the visual inspiration for the Great Hall in the Harry Potter movies.) 

Still, the castle has some very modern touches, such as glass mosaic tiles infused with gold foil for the indoor pool’s flooring. We all enjoyed touring the castle and its gorgeous grounds, but I especially felt that the exquisite castle set atop those rolling springtime hills was a glimpse at my personal heaven; wherever I directed my eyes, they feasted!

That evening, we watched the sun set over the elephant seals in Cambria and ate some of the Hearst Ranch free-range beef. We spent Friday night in Cambria and were able to stop in and visit the elephant seals again Saturday morning. There was one elephant seal in who kept watching us with friendly puppy-dog eyes, but Kirk said we couldn’t take her home. (Female elephant seals don't have trunks.)

We made several scenic stops as we drove along the coast toward Big Sur. The pristine inlet and waterfall at Julia Pfeifer Burns National Park reminded Kirk and me of our Caribbean anniversary cruise last year. The kids were even more impressed by the variety of spring wildflowers and went on an unauthorized flower-picking spree.

Saturday afternoon, we arrived at the mission in Carmel. Because Arianna’s class has spent so much time learning about California’s history—with a special emphasis on the missions, it was very special for her to see yet another famous mission.

The Monson gathering did not materialize as we had expected, and we ended up Saturday evening sharing a family dinner with just Brad, Aunt Sue, and Uncle Mike. Still, it was fun to catch up and to have some special focus time together. 

We all joined Kirk’s local Monson cousins on Sunday morning for a fun Easter egg hunt. (Yes, Carlos was excited to finally live the dream, so to speak.) Afterwards, we carried on the tradition of eating Grandpa Monson’s beloved “Easter Egg Special” and then attended church together. One of my favorite things about living in SoCal is that we get to spend so much more time with relatives; our kids loved playing with their second cousins!

We spent the better part of Sunday afternoon and evening driving home through the lush springtime hills. Kirk commented that the kids probably have no clue how fortunate they were to visit so many beautiful places; it made me reflect on the blessed lives that we enjoy but often fail to appreciate—so much like kids on a road trip!