Trip to Utah Part 4 - Coming Home is a Big Adventure

We had a real adventure getting home to Kazakhstan this summer.  After we arrived at the airport and checked in (about 3.5 hours early so we wouldn't inconvenience our rides to the airport), we were sitting around waiting for our flight to Houston.  I got a notice on the phone that our flight was delayed.  We had a pretty tight connection planned in Houston, so I was a bit concerned, so I started reading.  A huge thunderstorm was hitting Houston and flights were being cancelled and delayed.  After about 30 minutes of watching, I saw our flight into Houston was going to miss our window to catch our flight to Frankfurt.

I went and got in line at the gate and started to wait.  With six travelers to Kazakhstan I knew we were going to be a handful.  And we were.  The problem was getting us somewhere where we could get a flight into Nur-Sultan.

We had a very nice customer service lady who helped us figure it out.  We had to go through San-Francisco, catch a flight from there to London, and from there take a flight to Nur-Sultan on Air Astana rather than Lufthansa from Frankfurt.  The issue - the flight to London was the next day at 18:30.  We decided we'd take the flight to San-Francisco that afternoon rather than try to get our bags, stay at a hotel in Utah, and potentially miss a flight to SFO.  It's always better to be at the hub for international flights and Utah isn't a United Hub.

After we got our tickets, we boarded quite quickly on a flight to San Francisco.  The flight was bumpy, but otherwise uneventful.  We had booked a hotel from SLC and so when we landed we got our bags and took the shuttle to the hotel in San Bruno.  We checked in and then walked a block to Wendy's and ate dinner.

World Travelers getting ready to head back to Kazakhstan

Waiting for our shuttle at SFO.

Dinner at Wendy's

We had planned on going to San Francisco the next day on the BART train, but we didn't want to take all the carry-on suitcases.  It cost more to store the bags at the airport than to just rent a van for the day, so we rented a van.  The next morning we got up and ate breakfast and then took the airport shuttle and checked in to our flight and checked our big bags.  Then we picked up our van and drove to San Francisco.  While we were driving we hit traffic and I missed an exit.  We were talking about things and I suggested that we go to Fairfield to the Jelly Belly Factory rather than see things in San Francisco that we had seen a few years earlier.

That suggestion was met with enthusiasm, so we stayed on the freeway (I-80) and drove to Fairfield. After stopping to get directions, we found the factory and had a wonderful tour.  We bought 5 bags (2 lbs each) of belly flops and then got in the van and drove back toward San Francisco.  We stopped to eat at Chipotle (Mexican food is one thing we really can't get here).  We made it to San Francisco with enough time to stop and see the piers for a few minutes before driving to the airport and checking in.

Driving on the California Freeways!

At the Jelly Belly factory entrance.

Waiting for the tour to begin.

Starting the tour.

Factory floor.  Pictures hanging are made out of Jelly Belly beans!!!!

Flavoring the beans.

Waiting to be polished!

Adding finished beans to the conveyor belt 

When we lived in Iowa, the girls went to Grant Wood Elementary school which was name after the artist who painted "American Gothic" (in the center).

The factory robots were a hit!

Smelling!

Abraham Lincoln!

Yulia picking out her custom flavors!

Lunch!

View of San Francisco as we returned from Fairfield

Quick trip to the Pier.

Alcatraz in the background

Bold gulls!

Heading back to the van.

Standing next to our ride!

Our flight to London was uneventful.  Heathrow was under construction, but we had plenty of time and so we were relaxed.  We spent a few hours waiting and then boarded our final flight home to Nur-Sultan - or at least that's what we thought.

After we were flying for awhile, the captain came on and said we were landing in Moscow.  We had some kind of mechanical issue.

We ended up spending about 10 hours hanging out at Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow.  We were taken care of with food vouchers.  Communication wasn't great, but we got new tickets and got on the regular Moscow-Nur-Sultan flight.  We ended up at home 2 days late, a bit tired, and with another adventure under our belt.  

It's nice to be home.

In the air again!

Resting at Heathrow.

Resting in Moscow.  It's really hard to tell airports apart in pictures.

Eating burgers for breakfast (3:00 a.m. in Moscow) using our food vouchers.

Trip to Utah Part 3 - Young Women's Camp and Family Reunions

Papa's Note: We had Veronika write about the adventure that she and Lina had attending Young Women camp with the Mountain View 8th Ward girls.  I'll pick up the writing when we talk about family reunions a bit later.

***

This year, we were finally able to go to Girls' Camp for the first time! We haven't been able to in the past, because of issues with the timing. Lina and I were really excited as we went shopping for supplies we would need while we were there. On Monday, the day we were leaving, we packed our supplies in tubs that Oma bought us, and drove to the church building. Our dad dropped us off, and we waited for the others to arrive.

Waiting in the shade for the other girls to arrive.

This photo was taken right before we left to camp.

We had an interesting experience on the way up to Bennion Creek, the campsite. It had started raining while we were on the highway, and once we drove into Spanish Fork Canyon, we made a turn up a road that wasn't paved. As we drove further up, it started raining harder, and the roads began to be very muddy. Sister Waite, who was driving her trailer in front of everyone, started to make a turn on the road, and her trailer got stuck. What was worse, was that it started slipping down the side of the hill, because the road was too narrow. We had to wait for about an hour until some of the husbands of the Young Women leaders were able to calm everyone down and get the trailer out. Luckily, the rest of the way up was less difficult, although each car was zigzagging its way through the slippery mud. Everyone made it alive and in one piece.
After that adventure, we had a lot of fun at camp!We took turns making our meals, and did a lot of fun activities and projects.

Helping set up the tents. It was a bit hard because the ground was wet.

Resting by the campfire after a long day.

Opening bags full of surprises after receiving matching hoodies.

Warming ourselves by the campfire. The smoke was constantly in our faces.

Sitting by the campfire early one morning.

The Mia-maids were making breakfast, and I made most of the bacon.

Contemplating whether to get in the water or not.

One of the girls, Jackie, decided to swing into the water.

When I jumped in, I realized that the water was freezing!

Learning how to make boondoggles.

My dad, who volunteered to help out for 2 days of camp, is talking to Sister Davis.

Papa talks to everyone about his life choices that brought him to where he is now.

Lina and her friend, Addie, were working on their boondoggles late at night.

Working on a fun project.

This was a fun activity to test our first aid skills.

Working on projects in pajamas.

Playing games.

Learning how to make anklets.

Charades.

More games.

Even though Girls' Camp was really exciting and an amazing experience, I was glad to be going home. Spending 5 days up in the mountains without showering, sharing one bathroom with 30 other people, sleeping in tents, and being away from civilization, made me appreciate the comforts of home.

Home at last!

***

While the girls were away at camp, we made a trip down to Ephraim and Manti to see the last year of the Mormon Miracle Pageant.  We stopped and swam at the Activity Center in Ephraim and then went and dropped off our things at Clyde and Becky Bailey's house (Becky is the daughter of my Dad's Uncle Arch).  We went and ate the turkey dinner at the Manti armory and then went back and visited with the Baileys for a bit.  We ran into my cousin Jeff Huffman at the dinner, so we had a nice visit with him as well.

It was a bit rainy, but not too bad.  We had agreed to meet my friend Jonathan Peterson and his family.  We finally connected with them and sat near them and their extended family for the performance.  We got a bit of rain, but it let up toward the end of the performance.  There were a lot of nice things in the pageant, and we were glad we went, but we could see why the Church is moving away from such large-scale performances and commitments as well.

Manti Temple.

Sitting and waiting for dark.

The sun peeked out for a minute!

We spent the night at the Baileys and woke up early.  We stopped by the pancake breakfast, but it was a bit crowded, so we drove to Ephraim and had breakfast at McDonald's instead.  After McDonald's we stopped by the Peterson's house (Jon's parents' house) and visited with them for a bit before heading home to Payson.

On Saturday morning we had a reunion planned at the Payson park.  Once the girls were home from their girls' camp, we joined everyone.  The Petersons stopped by so that Kate could see Nika and Lina since they really missed each other.  They still Skype and chat - the two years they were here in Kazakhstan was so much fun for all of them.

Nika playing with Kate's Ukulele

Peterson - Willardson photo

The Reunion was the Crane Reunion, but it was mostly just our family and a few of the Aunts and Uncles.  It is harder and harder to get everyone together, so Mom decided this would be the last year of the reunion.  We had a good time hanging out, eating, telling stories, and just enjoying each others' company.

Kid cousins hanging out at the park.

Kids playing Croquet

The Girl cousins minus Emma who was babysitting in Las Vegas!

Our little family!

We go home and visit our family each year.  It is one of the best benefits of working in Kazakhstan.  We really love seeing everyone, so each small or large reunion is time that we cherish.  This year was no exception.