Starting to Pack

When I think about packing up our house, the task seems overwhelming. I started to pack up closets, the guest room, and the girls' rooms. Amy and Kristen did a lot of packing in their rooms over Christmas, but there is still a lot to do.

My first big packing project is the game closet. I went through all of the games, put extra pieces back where they belonged, and sent pics to the family asking about games we want to keep and games that aren't so fun to keep.

There are a lot of toys that I plan to keep for grandkids (and maybe I'm just not ready to part with them yet). So, I sent pics to the girls asking if there are things they want to keep.

It is a huge project to pack up a house. I don't think I went through things so well with our last move.

Amy's Calculus Midterm

Even though she was sick, Amy aced her calculus midterm with an 89.2%. That was missing just one question!

We are proud of how hard she is working.

Misha on TV

Well, we missed Misha's actual spot on tv, but she was interviewed on Super Tuesday for the presidential election. The interviewer from the Reuters news agency asked her opinion about Trump and Biden winning their party's nomination for president.

Her response was, "I'm not excited for it, and I wish the country would move beyond people in their 80s [as a choice for president]."

Our friend Carli saw the spot on Fox National News and sent us a couple of pics.

Jamaica - Day Eight

We skipped the exercise this morning as we had to be ready to go at 9:15. We were a little sad that our vacation was coming to an end. We would definitely return to Royalton.

We spent time packing, getting ready and then had breakfast at Ocean Point. 

We shared a taxi with Patrick and Ryan. So much faster than the shuttle! We arrived at the airport just after 11 am. Checking our bags and getting through security went smoothly and we were able to get into the Lounge with Chris’ Priority Pass through his credit card. Our flight didn’t leave until 1:40, so we had plenty of time to wait. 

We arrived in Denver just before 5 pm local time.

Ryan and the Weather

Funny moment with Ryan and Patrick as we were getting ready to come home from Jamaica.

On one of our last days, Ryan noted that we should enjoy the weather because it wasn't going to be nice at home.

I thought the comment was odd because even before we left for Jamaica, I had checked the weather at home and it was supposed to be in the 60s for our return.

I checked my weather app again and it still said 63° for Saturday, March 2.

So, when we were in the van driving back to the airport with Ryan and Patrick, I asked them where they had seen that we were supposed to get cold and snow.

She opened up her weather app and said, "Here."

Hmmm. And then I realized that the temps had been converted from fahrenheit to celcius.

We laughed about it and I said, "I thought you two must be pretty hard up for warm temperatures if you thought going from 80° to the 60s was cold!"

Jamaica - Day Seven

Today was a repeat of the previous mornings with getting up early to reserve a lounger, exercise, breakfast at Ocean Point, and lazy days by the pool. By this time, we had made more friends and enjoyed chatting and laughing and joking with them. We met Trisha and Tim, Nancy and Wayne, Karen and her husband, Gary and Haven, and Jeff and Michelle.

Karli (Karl-eye) came from the fitness center today brining rubber balls instead of dumbbells for AquaFit. It was easier to hold onto the dumbbells. The balls added another element to the exercise.

This was our last full day at Royalton. Instead of lunch from the grill, we ordered salads, hamburgers, fruit, and drinks from our butler. The resort had a temporary shortage of Diet Coke, so I was glad that Chris and I had a stash in our room fridge to drink throughout the day.

There were a few sprinkles of rain but nothing to shut down the pool side fun. For dinner, we met up again with Ryan and Patrick. This time at “Dorado”. It was supposed to be a seafood place, but there were a variety of offerings.

I had pumpkin soup, a warm bacon and mushroom salad, and a grouper filet with vegetables. When it came time for dessert, our server verbally shared the dessert menu and said that there was chocolate cake, chocolate crumble (or so I thought), and some strawberry mousse. I chose both the chocolate cake and the crumble. But, what she really said was chocolate rum balls! 

I changed my order when we figured out that that was what she was saying!

Our evening entertainment included synchronized swimming in the Hideaway pool. 

The performance was about 45 minutes long and surprisingly skillful and entertaining.

Going to the Dentist and Doctor in Utah

Kristen and Amy both had dental check ups in Utah. Both needed some work and new appliances, but I think they were able to get everything taken care of. 

Kristen needed to also set up a physical with a doctor to get her mission papers submitted. Amy was kind enough to go with Kristen, though the nurse wouldn't let Amy tag along for the blood work!

It is so nice for them to have each other to rely on.

Jamaica - Day Six

Happy Leap Day!

We visited Ocean Point for breakfast again.

A little something different for the day involved AquaFit in the pool with Andre from the fitness center. Chris and I both joined in. I would say it was a little easier for him at 6’4” to my 5’2” since the water was 4’4”. I could do all of the upper body workouts but any exercise with lunges or squats just didn’t work! Andre brought foam dumbbells for all of the participants to use. It was a surprisingly hard workout with the dumbbells and the resistance of the water! Even though we had done our two miles earlier in the morning, it was nice to get some more exercise in. 

Our afternoon included a snorkeling and swimming excursion on a boat tour with a visit to Rick’s Cafe. We signed up to go with Patrick and Ryan and enjoyed their company. The snorkeling was fun with a few colorful fish to see. I even saw a big conch shell. The workers seemed to be collecting the shells (probably to sell later).

Rick’s Cafe was crazy with other boat tours picking up and dropping off people. There were also people diving off the cliffs—some for the entertainment and tips and some for the thrill. 

I wasn't watching the guy that came from the top corner. He had a rough landing!

When it was time for us to return to our boat, we waited on the stairs for a bit while others tours were picked up and dropped off. It was kind of crazy. 

Since it was advertised as a “Sunset Cruise”, we arrived back in the bay outside of Royalton and watched the sun go down. 

We were also watching a storm roll in; it was definitely raining at our drop off point. The boat could only get so close to shore and then we had to slosh through the water the rest of the way. We were getting wet already, so no big deal. We did have dinner reservations at 7 and got back to the Royalton at 6:40. We were on the far side of the resort and had to race the half mile back to our room on the other side of the resort. Lots of exercise today! I don’t think I have ever gone to dinner with soaking wet hair and no makeup while on vacation, but we were meeting up with Patrick and Ryan again plus another lady—Marsha—whose husband had sent her to the resort for a few days all by herself. 

We arrived for dinner at “Hunter”, the onsite steak restaurant, met up with Marsha and then proceeded to wait for Patrick and Ryan for twenty minutes!

There was a Bob Marley tribute band singing and playing right outside of “Hunter”. We stopped to listen, but said goodnight to Patrick and Ryan after a bit.

Jamaica - Day Five

Today was a lot more of the same, though the sky was a lot less cloudy for most of the morning. 

Instead of breakfast at the main buffet, we chose to eat at Ocean Point. Much quieter and pretty awesome views. 

We hung out by the pool and made more friends. Funny moment of the morning was when I got locked in the bathroom. One of the stalls was missing a door knob on the inside. I didn’t realize until too late. I fiddled with the door knob thinking I was stuck in there until someone else came along to use the bathroom. Fortunately, I finally figured out how to turn the knob mechanism with a little oomph and was able to let myself out.

We got to watch the para sailers most of the day.

Today, for fun, we had a foam party and then trivia by the pool. Our “Thrive Crew” (entertainment staff) did a good job of keeping people engaged if they wanted to participate. 

Our dinner reservation was at 7 pm at the Italian restaurant on site called “Grazie”. It was okay. When you HAVE to cut the gnocchi with a knife, you know that maybe the Jamaicans aren’t quite proficient with Italian food.

Amy Making Connections

Amy met a guy by the name of Brandon Fish at the bank. He used to be our next door neighbor in Provo. She texted us, "How do you know Brandon Fish?"

He is a Vice President of Human Resources (I think) at a company in Utah and was impressed by Amy.

I send our Christmas letter to him and his wife, so when he walked in the bank he though Amy looked familiar.

They chatted and talked about what she was studying in college and that his degree was also in Business and Marketing.

When she was chatting with us, Chris and I both recommended that she connect with him on Linked In. 

Chris sent a message to Brandon saying that he had met our daughter at the bank.

Brandon replied, "“Well, tell her I think she did great and I was impressed with her professionalism.”

He continued "So crazy, when I walked in my very first thought even before I got up to her was like, man she looks like a Kline and the worst part is I then said nah that would be too much of a coincidence. Then when she reached out on LinkedIn, I thought no way, why didn't I say anything. I should follow my gut next time. Very impressed with her, sharp young lady you have there. I think I probably recognized her from the Christmas card Jolayne does every year. Small world my friend."

He also said that he would be happy to help Amy in her job search once she graduates. 

Amy: "Well, that was a tender mercy to meet him."

Misha and the Basketball Game

And the next night, Misha and her friends attended a Denver Nuggets Basketball game. As students they get the leftover tickets for pretty cheap.

Nosebleed section again. They were in the very last row of the highest section. Since she is prone to getting nosebleeds we were both hoping she didn't get one.

Her conclusion: "I think the Avs game was more fun. Hockey is exciting. Basketball crowd wasn’t crazy high energy tonight." (Maybe she just didn't feel it way up at the tippy top!)

Jamaica - Day Four

Manny and Lili had recommended that we go down early to reserve lounge chairs by the pool. Chris and I both went down around 6 am to take a dip in the hot tub and set our stuff on a couple of loungers. We were amazed to find that 75% of the loungers were reserved already. We both walked around the resort before breakfast. The path from one end of the resort to the other end was a half a mile. We did two full laps for two miles.

Being at the resort was kind of like being on a cruise ship where you spend most of the day relaxing. It always feels better to get in some exercise to justify sitting around for the rest of the day. We tried the breakfast in the buffet. Typical breakfast fare for US and UK tastes.

We arrived back at the pool around 9 am and enjoyed another day of relaxing in paradise. The skies had been overcast since Sunday, and today was no different. I try to tan a bit in the sun before I apply the sunscreen. After half an hour, we put up our umbrella and smoothed on the SPF. We met new people, cooled off in the pool (it was cold), sat in the tepid hot tub, relaxed on our loungers, and enjoyed lunch when it was cooked pool side on a BBQ. It smelled awesome. The jerk chicken, a Jamaican specialty, was good. I was glad that I got half BBQ sauce and half jerk sauce to cool the spiciness.

Our view for the day

Around 4:30, the skies became more overcast and the wind picked up. It seemed like a good time to get ready for dinner at 6 pm. Thus began our days of showering in the late afternoon before dinner. 

Our butler, Tianna, had made reservations for four of us at Armadillo, a Mexican restaurant. We met up with Patrick and Ryan. They had been enjoying Royalton for a few more days while Chris and I were at Secrets in Montego bay. I think they were happy for some dinner company. 

Following dinner, we wandered out by the main stage and watched a Michael Jackson tribute show. It was mostly dancing to a music track. Chris and I hung around until after 9 and then went back for a quick dip in the hot tub before bed.

Misha and the Hockey Game

Misha attended her first hockey game. She and a bunch of friends from work went to a Colorado Avalanche game.

Their seats were in the nosebleed section.

Misha, "I don't even get all the rules. Currently googling 'hockey for dummies.'"

Jamaica - Day Three

I didn’t sleep in. I think I was awake at 5:00 am. Booo!

Instead of the buffet, we had breakfast at the French restaurant. We noticed yesterday that it was an option and decided to try it instead. It was lovely. Chris ordered a mango smoothie and I had a power smoothie with chocolate, oatmeal, and peanut butter. It was quite tasty along with the rest of our breakfast. 

Today we are transferring to Royalton Negril but don’t have to check out until noon from Secrets Wild Orchid. We missed lunch. Good thing we travel with power bars and snacks. 

For this transfer, we had to get a taxi back to the airport. Chris had the number from the service that dropped us off at Secrets a couple days ago and arranged a time for them to pick us up. Chris had already booked a shuttle service or we might have just taken the taxi in the opposite direction to Negril. 

When we arrived at the airport, it was a bit of a rigamarole to be allowed back into the airport and then be taken to the shuttle loading area. We were some of the first to board the shuttle bus and then had to wait about an hour for the rest of the bus to be filled. We were definitely wishing that we had taken the taxi.

Waiting at the airport

Since we had already prepaid for the shuttle we opted to keep it. When we FINALLY left the airport, the drive to Negril was scheduled for an hour and 45 minutes. 

Our bus driver while driving.

After dropping some of the riders off at different resorts, our driver asked if anyone needed to stop at the bathroom; the whole bus responded with “NO!” Another “NO!” when our driver wanted to know if anyone wanted to stop for pics at the “NEGRIL” sign. We were all more than ready to be off the bus.

Four hours after our first taxi dropped us back at the airport, we finally arrived at Royalton Negril. Yay.

Do yourself a favor and book the taxi. In fact, if you book off of Viator, you can get a pretty good deal. 

The Royalton all-inclusive resort is divided into three sections:

1. Royalton Negril for families and Diamond Club members (approximately 400 suites)

2. Royalton Hideaway for adults only (100 or so suites)

3. Royalton Grand Lido, an Au Natural section (adults only as you might imagine with only 24 suites)

The all-inclusive includes all meals, snacks, treats, and drinks. If you don’t drink alcohol, soda water, sodas, Diet Coke, and water are your friends. 

For premium Diamond Club members in the adults only section, you also have access to a butler. A new perk for Chris and I. We used them to make reservations for dinner each night, to request drinks for our mini bar and ice, and to bring us lunch while we relaxed at the beach.

Our room

We joined with a group for dinner at Ocean Point on our first night in Negril. It was at the furthest point of the property. Since I am not a big steak eater, I had a tofu soup which was actually quite tasty.

We sat with a couple from Toronto (originally from Portugal)—Lili and Manny Pires. Since it started to rain, the tables were moved under awnings. 

Chris and I ventured down to the hot tub after dinner. It wasn’t terribly hot but felt great after a long day.

Singing in Church

Kristen has been adamant about NOT singing in church, but apparently it is okay if you are singing with all of your friends who are going on missions as well. 

They sang "I Need Thee Every Hour". I asked Kristen to record it but she sent me a recording from one of their practices. Apparently one of the girls dropped the music during the actual song in Sacrament meeting.

Funny Conversation About Feet

I always seem to get a rise out of my girls when I post feet pics. Apparently there are perverts on social media who like them "too" much.

I posted this pic on our family chat and asked, "Should I post this on Instagram?"

Kristen: If you crop your feet

Mom: I figured you would have an opinion

Kristen: It's not my fault there's freaks on the internet

Chris "cropping" the picture to repost in the chat as Kristen suggested.

Chris: I'm so funny. You're all lucky to have me.

Misha gave a thumbs down.

Misha: Please no

Mom: I don't have ugly feet

Kristen: Exactly, it would be better if they were ugly

Misha: It's the fact that you don't have ugly feet that is the problem

Amy: No free feet pics

Mom: So you're saying I could make some money?

Misha: Feet finder. There's lots of websites. And I hate that I know that.

Chris: You guys are just way too easy to bait.

Chris and I had a good laugh because we knew it would get a good response out of the girls.

Jamaica - Day Two

I was happy to sleep in. I woke up around 9 am (7 am Colorado time). It doesn't happen often, so I have to be grateful when it does!

Nice to not wake up at 3 or 4 am! 

We didn’t do too much to get ready for breakfast and visited the World Market breakfast buffet. It offered a wide variety of food. I ordered two eggs over hard. I’m not really an egg yolk eater, so usually over hard means the yolk is solid enough to cut around. Mine wasn’t today, so I was glad when I spotted some already scrambled egg whites.

We got our swim suits on and ventured down by the pool and beach. The water in the ocean was a bit warmer than the water in the pool. Brrrr, the pool was cold.

The skies were overcast; even though we had a beach umbrella, we didn’t really need to use it. The picture above makes it look as though it was colder than it was. It was still nice to sit at the beach.

I listened to Come, Follow Me podcasts and enjoyed a Sunday morning at the beach. 

Lunch was at the World Market again. Nothing fancy. We opted for dinner at Le Patio, a Mexican restaurant. It was actually quite good (better than the Jamaican food the night before).

The resort offered nightly entertainment and we listed for an hour before returning to our room.

Jamaica - Day One

Back in November, Chris booked a trip for the two of us during Black Friday for a week stay in Jamaica.

First, two nights at the Secrets Wild Orchid Resort (a Hyatt property) in Montego Bay and then the rest of the week at Royalton Negril (a Marriott property). 

Our non-stop flight from Denver to the Sangster International airport in Montego Bay left on Saturday morning at 9:40 am. Currently United offers one non-stop flight on Saturdays from Denver to Jamaica. 

We left the house at 7 am, dropping off a few things on the way. We parked at Pikes Peak parking lot and waited for a shuttle to pick us up. Two full shuttles passed us by without stopping. Chris called the info line for the shuttle and told them we were waiting along with a number of people and could they please send a shuttle since two buses were just waiting by the entrance to the lot.

The lady that answered said that the shuttles were on a schedule and would basically get there when they got there. The second time Chris called after being passed over again, the lady wasn’t any more helpful and hung up on him.

We FINALLY got on the shuttle and made it to the airport to check in. The airport was in a mess since the luggage system wasn’t working and all luggage had to be transported by cart to the planes. We waited long enough to make sure all of our luggage made it on a cart and then went to stand in line for security. That was slow too but we finally made it to the A terminal and stopped for a few minutes in the lounge and enjoyed a little breakfast. They even had scrambled egg whites next to the regular scrambled eggs. Yay me!

We headed to our boarding gate as they were just about to board the flight. One of Chris’ co-workers and his wife (Patrick and Ryan) were also on this flight heading to Jamaica to the Royalton Negril. Just random that they were going to the same place.

One of Chris’ flight hacks includes booking the window seat and the aisle seat with the hope that no one would choose to sit between us. We lucked out and enjoyed a little extra space in our row. The flight was busy but definitely not full.

We arrived in Jamaica five hours later. Chris had booked a service through Mobay Jamaica to take us on a fast track through immigration and customs. The airport was just getting busy, but we moved past everyone at immigration and then customs and were through in less than 10 minutes.

Some people report waiting in lines for hours. We stopped for a few minutes in the Mobay exit lounge. We could have had free drinks and a few snacks. We got some Diet Coke but opted to get a taxi to our hotel about 20 minutes away. FYI the taxi was $40, Chris talked them down to $35.

We arrived and were taken to the Preferred Member section of the property (because of Chris' status with Hyatt) where we checked in to room 1217. It was a little early for dinner yet (two hours ahead of our Denver time). 

We walked around the property to check it out, took some pictures and watched the sunset. 

The nice thing about this hotel was the app that allowed you to check the variety of different restaurants on site as well as the menus. If you didn’t have the “butler service” then you had to go and stand in line and wait for the dinner. We didn’t have the butler service. 

We went for dinner at 7 pm at the Jamaican restaurant and had to wait for about a half an hour. The food was so so. Chris order snapper and it came as a full fish and had to be deboned. There were lots of bones!

A Rare Manicure for Mom

Prior to leaving for Jamaica, I got a pedicure as well as the rare manicure. I know Chris loves the look of manicured nails; I just don't always have the time for it.

It didn't take too long to have my nails done, and I really loved the look.

President's Day

Misha didn't actually have the day off from school or work for President's so she drove back to Denver on Sunday evening.

Kristen and Amy left the house around 8:20 am to drive back to Utah.

Chris and I did some work and cleaned out more cupboards on Monday morning. We decided to go for a walk along the St. Vrain Trail in Longmont after lunch. The weather was perfect requiring only light jackets.

Kind of sad when you start to say, "We probably won't walk along here again."

I got some great pics though.

Purging for the Move

We have all been going through stuff in the house over the past couple of months trying to get rid of the extra things we no longer use. 

I had the Vietnam Veterans of America come on Friday but since the boxes on the front porch weren't all right close to each other, the worker left three boxes.

I called VVA again and scheduled another pick up for Monday. That gave Amy and Kristen the chance to go through stuff in their rooms that they no longer wanted. The pile of three boxes grew to about 10!

I have been going through kitchen stuff and the laundry room, and Chris began going through his clothes and closet stuff.

He wasn't quite through when the VVA guy came to pick up. However, there is a stake swap meet on March 9th that we can donate more things.

We will have some couches, furniture and beach items that we will have a garage sale for in April. Chris and I will not price anything but tell people to donate what they can to Kristen's mission fund.

A Quick Weekend Home

Kristen and Amy made a quick trip home to Colorado over President's Day. They flew in on Frontier on Saturday evening. Misha picked them from the airport on a round about way home and we all met up for dinner at Georgia Boys BBQ in Frederick.

We were happy to have them home for Sunday and then helped Kristen and Amy pack up the Mazda 3 to drive back to Utah. Kristen has found that she needs the car for her "practicum" class where she goes to an elementary school to get experience.

Fingers crossed and lots of prayers for her driving a manual in Utah!

Speaking in Church

My Bishop asked me to speak in church on Sunday. Turns out I had my little fan club of Chris and all three girls to cheer me on. 

Bishop Checketts had originally asked if I could speak back in August and gave me a topic then. Chris and I were out of town, but I fully expected Bishop to ask me again in November when it was his turn to conduct. 

Turns out, I had most of my talk already planned from the first topic he gave me. I had plenty of time to think about the topic over the past six or seven months.

It was nice to have my girls in church with Chris and I and to have them all be so supportive and complimentary.

Doing Taxes

Misha took advantage of being home this past weekend to work with her dad to get her taxes done. (When you are a poor college student, every extra amount makes a huge difference).

HWLF

For a time, there was a trend to wear bracelets that said "WWJD?" (What Would Jesus Do?). 

Now Kristen wears a wrist band with the acronym, HWLF—He Would Love First.