Lundberg Alaskan Cruise

On Saturday Tony and I jumped a quick flight to Seattle and met the Lundberg crew to embark on a wonderful, posh, elegant adventure.  We boarded the ship "Joy" and discovered a room with a double bathroom sinks, and a balcony!  While the ship set sail, we enjoyed catching up with everyone and met for our first delicious dinner at Cagney's Steakhouse.  We all retired pretty early as the ship set sail.

Sunday was a day at sea, a relaxing day of exploring the ship, eating good food, reading and visiting.  We did spend a half an hour with a health consultant who tested our overall fitness.  I was pleased to hear the word "ideal" for both of us, although he still recommended an 800$ detox cleanse for our liver.  We politely declined.  I think we will stay with our free fitness blender and try to cut out the sugar for the same effect.  Rand and Pam both suffered from sea sickness because the ship was "dancing" on the sea.  For the rest of us, the rocking ship meant the best sleep of our life! We started to get a taste of the exquisite beauty of Alaska and its vastness.  Sunday night Mom and Dad gathered us for  Come Follow Me study and blessings.  I'm glad for the opportunity to see Mom's tender heart and Dad's confidence and power in giving blessings.

Monday
Monday was a full and amazing day in Ketchikan. We were up early to squeeze in a little exercise and then grabbed a quick breakfast before heading off the ship.  Tony, Lori, Blake, Russ, Mom and   Dad took a float plane to Misty Fjords and were blown away with the beauty.

"It was fantastic to see my Dad act that a little boy with a big toy.  He got to sit in the co-pilots seat and he loved it.  We flew on a BEAVER- a plane especially made for Bush pilots.  It flys slow, smooth and steady.  The pilot said that he could not remember the last time that he had such good visibility.  Hee took us farther than he normally would and he landed in a little lake after we swooped in side ways- in through a couple of long fjords - made of basalt.  It was unforgettable."

The rest of us went for a beautiful hike on the rainbow bird trail through the rainforest, meandered through town, and did a bit of shopping.  Then Winwards, Burrs and us met our tour guide for a sea cycle ride in the cove and through the estuary near Ketchikan.  The most fun thing happened: the owner of the company was a couple who had moved out of Las Vegas just as Lori and Blake moved in.  Ron is a dentist and flies to a nearby reservation island every day of the week to practice.  Vicki gives sea cycle tours, teaches seminary, and raises 6 amazing kids.  It was especially fun to discover mutual acquaintances and to find out that her daughter and son in law are in dental school in Kirksville Missouri.   I felt an instant connection with Vicki and am inspired by her willingness to give up comfort for adventure.  Their oldest son had chosen an alternate path, a second son was serving a mission currently and the son who was our driver was putting papers in.  She was so knowledgeable about the area and the sea. We learned that the community of Ketchikan used to be a floating logging community.  We learned that in the 90s the government destroyed 800 jobs by shutting down the pulp mill and logging operations.  Now cruise ships are the primary source of income.  We saw tons of wildlife; seals and babies, birds, sea stars, jellyfish, sea cucumbers and especially eagles.  About 30 eagles came for a feeding and we got to see them up close.  We were served pickled kelp and spruce jelly with salmon spread.  Our favorite part of the trip though was seeing the LDS ward building that the members had made out of cedar.  It was a stunning building with unique architecture and a cozy feel.  The smell was wonderful.

For me, meeting Vicki was the highlight of the trip.  We totally connected and I knew she was a covenant woman.  I told her I would send a resume to work for her in the summer.

There was a bit of tension on the way home when we realized that we were a bit late for the ship, exasperated by Russ calling us to say that they were pulling away.  Thankfully we weren't the very last ones, but I don't think we will not cut it that close again.  And we forgave Russ for stirring the pot. Mom and Deb and I went to the jewelry store on board and got our charm bracelets, which I planned to give to Eliza.

In the afternoon we got our turn at the on board race cars.  Now it was my turn to be carsick, but Russ and Rand and Tony were like little kids and we all had a good time.

We ate at Manhattans that night, another amazing meal with the best salad and bananas foster Tony has ever had. We also saw the show Footloose.  The show was well done, but were were all too tired to really enjoy it.  We all agreed if we had to go home today the whole trip was worth it.  The good news is we still have a wonderful 5 days ahead of us.


Tuesday
Yesterday we were in Juneau, Alaska's capitol.  We spent the morning in and out of shops and discovered a hidden park with a beautiful river running through it.  We toured the city museum and learned a bit about mining, the gold rush and significant women in Alaska's history.  Tony found a great Alaska hat for Max's black hat collection and I bought art for my laundry room collection.  We met up for lunch with everyone and had the best Halibut fish and chips (plus King crab leg, salmon chowder and slaw) EVER! This time we were not the last ones on the ship.  I spent the afternoon visiting with Pam and reading and Tony went off to do waterslides with Russ, Blake and Rand.  It was an afternoon of quintessential Alaska sights including icebergs, glaciers, whales and seals plus a continued panorama of beautiful shoreline and mountain peaks.  Last night's dinner was at the Bistro, a French restaurant, and probably our best meal.  We started with hors de vours like escargot, warm goat cheese salad.  Tony had an exquisite rack of lamb and I had life changing roasted duck.  The desserts were incredible:  creme brulee, flourless chocolate cake, Napoleon ice cream mousse.  Every time we eat, we cant believe the quality of food.  After dinner we found cozy seating on the observation deck and talked with Mom and Dad followed by a fun game of Scrabble.


Tony and I are sitting on our beautiful balcony with the sun high in the sky at 9:00 at night, watching the scenery of beautiful Alaska like it was a movie.  The temperature has been perfect.
Tony keeps getting us up early to workout before the crowds, which has been both painful and healthy :) . We usually meet everyone for breakfast and then head out on the adventure.

Today we were in Icy Point.  Tony and I spent the morning exploring the museum and "nature trail" then built a rather impressive Cairn on the beach.  What we lacked in height and stability we made up for in color, symmetry and interest. We worked well together, proving it is possible.   After a lunch back on the ship we geared up for our zip line ride.  It was higher than the empire state building.  Everyone loved it and said it was a great rush.  I did not, but I'm glad I did it,  for Tony.  We had dinner tonight and then were off to "Elements" a dancing magic show with bubbles, lights and acrobatics.  At dinner tonight we ordered the Lundberg kids from Warren to Betty (Lori, Tony, Russ and Debbie).  It was a good night to laugh and love and be together.

Thursday was a day on ship, which meant we could meet for a happy breakfast.  We spent our time together sharing the thing we love most about Mom and Dad.  Some of the things we said about Mom was that she is always kind, how she says things, that she can tell when we are sad.  We love that Mom and Dad are comfortable talking about sometimes taboo subjects, that Dad is a finisher, that he is skilled (brilliant) at mechanical things.  More tears that morning :)

We got to spend an hour on the VR deck doing virtual reality machines.  Ironically, those who get sea sick had no problem while those who don't get sea sick (Lori and I) got so nauseus.  We fought zombies, drove jeeps through dinosaur island, hanglided and walked a plank to save a kitten.  After recovering from the VR some of us were back at the gym, taking naps, going to art auctions and snuggling in with good books.  Tonight we had dinner at Teppenyaki, a Japanese grill.  Our chef was entertaining and charming, and the food was unreal.  Best scallops, filet mignon, and calamari of our life.  This was the night we all overate with gusto.  We then hurried (rolled) to our appointment for lasar tag.  This turned out to be one of our most fun memories.  It was freezing and windy and raining and we all felt like little kids battling the red team, a family from Alabama who bested us with a quick shooting 9 year old.  That night, we got roasted by a comedian, who especially picked on Dad.  Nothing bonds a family like being mocked in front of other people. 

Friday we enjoyed another breakfast together and then were off the boat to explore Victoria.  After a struggle (Too many Lundbergs In Charge) we caught the bus to the Buchart gardens.  They were worth every minute.  Stunning flowers and lovely, reverent gardens.  We also had the best ice cream gelato) sandwich of our life.  After the gardens Lori, Blake, Debbie and Rand and us explored Fisherman's wharf in Victoria.  I got shrimp burritos, street tacos, fish tacos and Tony indulged in more delightful fish and chips and toffee cake.  Rand Deb and I planned a business model based on the healing powers of Paw Paws and bought canadian smarties to take back to our kids.  Tony made an effort to scare me by getting the security guard to demand a passport, but I was on to him and only had a minute of panic.  That night we met in the lounge to talk and dance and thank Mom and Dad for the millionth time for the incredible gift they gave us.  Our relationships were strengthened and our appreciation for each member of our family was increased. 

Saturday morning we gathered for our last breakfast then boarded the shuttle to the airport.  Lucky Tony and I were home by 2:00 and found all the kids in one piece and the house in generally good shape.  Everyone else spent the day exploring Seattle and waiting in the airport-yuck! 

Father's Day

I wish we still celebrated Father's Day with a whip cream fight.  We don't and I miss having a big family with little kids.  Today was too quiet.  Cooper was with his birth family in Boise making connections and memories, but not with us.  Wilson is in St George disconnecting with anything meaningful.    Eliza spent the weekend at a lifegaurding class.  As a true introvert, she will need a lot of alone time to recover from all that social interaction.   Max is rejecting all family interactions such as family pizza night or time on the boat because he feels we are trying to control him.  Marcos craves interaction but drives people away with his inability to understand appropriate social interaction and personal space.  This is the messy middle.  I know it ends well.

Today in sacrament meeting I was thinking about water.  Water is what our body needs, but we have a lot of beverage choices:  chocolate milk, soda, lemonade, energy drinks, tea,  etc.  All of these promise to quench thirst  The only thing that satiates our thirst is water.   All the other beverages are water with a bunch of added ingredients.  Water sustains life.

Jesus Christ is the Living Water.   We often try anything else but Him.  We turn to media, other people, self help gurus, sports, money.  These are just substitutes for water and they won't satiate us.  Jesus sustains life.

Tiffany

Wilson called today.  Normally I keep the conversations pretty short because they usually involve dishonesty, criticism and lots of blame.  There was all of that as usual, but there was also more. I'm glad the spirit prompted me to stay on the line.  I’m glad I listened to the spirit and to Wilson.

Last weekend Wilson met with his birth Mom, Tiffany.  He said it was awkward because they all just acted like they were old friends, which they weren’t.  Also, Wilson probably just showed up without plans for lodging or meals or anything.  Poor Tiffany was in Vegas to party with her boyfriend and may not have been prepared for the Wilson package.  

Wilson said that during one quiet, private moment, Tiffany told him that she knew right away that he was not her baby (ouch).  He acknowledged that it hurt when she said that.  However, Tiffany said that she had fasted and prayed and felt like we were Wilson’s real parents.  I wasn’t sure how to respond when he just blurted out, “but, “I’m your baby.”  That was his direct quote, said with a little bit of a question mark.  I responded that yes, he was mine. I’ve done all the work that earns me that title.  I didn’t need to remind him that he was a hard kid.  He laughed and said that he had told Tiffany she’d dodged a bullet, because he was so tough.  Then he said she and I were the same personality, which I assume means we are both tough mothers.  

In reality I do have a lot of anger toward my kid’s birth Moms.  It’s a little unrealistic, I know, but I get so mad at the hole they left in my kids that I can’t fill.  

Wilson then surprised me with this question, “What do you feel about everything, Mom?”  When I recovered enough to respond, I told him I feel like there cannot be enough people to love you.  I told him  I feel like God’s plan is to connect families and gather his children, and adoption connects families through sealing a child.  I said I used to feel threatened, but don’t anymore.  

Then I said Mom stuff, like find a part time job so you have consistent income, go exercise, and eat your vegetables.  And I said:  I love you, son.  Because he always has been, and always will be, my baby.