After 6 weeks of fun in Utah and staying Covid-free (and 6 weeks+ of wondering if we were still going to be able to get our Visas and go to China this year), we woke up on August 4th to take Bri to the airport for him to fly back to VA for one day of training. We anticipated being apart for a few weeks as we thought he should stay there just in case we indeed got our visas, and then if we got lucky, the kids and I would fly to VA to meet him and catch a plane to Beijing. With Covid and flights being restricted into China, they were slow going, and the almost daily email updates from Embassy Beijing hardly ever addressed PCSers moving to China. They always addressed getting the evacuated families back. Needless to say, we started wondering if we would make it this year. But alas, Bri awoke to get ready for his morning flight and checked his email to find an email from Embassy Beijing telling us that they got our visas and that we all needed to be in VA the next day so we could do an early morning Covid test on August 6th before catching a flight to Beijing on August 11! Talk about last minute and no notice!
Bri got ready and said his goodbyes to Grandpa and Grandma.
Then Rhea and Savannah started waking up and we told them that we got our visas and were leaving the next day. Here's Savannah's reaction:
The girls and I ran Briant to the airport and on our way back, stopped and picked up Thomas at the Lighten's house where he had spent the night with his cousin Ben. Here we are comparing their heights before we see him again next summer. ;) It's always fun to see family!
We then ran off to our dentist in American Fork to pick up the kids' new retainers that luckily had come in the day before! Long story short, Savannah's retainer was awesome, but Thomas' retainer was so thin (much thinner than the one we got in Latvia), so I told them we didn't want it. It felt like it would crack just dropping it. They gave it to us for free and we went on our way. I suppose if there's a problem with his current retainer, it could help us in a pinch. We then drove back to Sundance and I packed for the rest of the day, taking a break only for a birthday dinner at Pizza Pie Cafe for Thomas with Grandma and Grandpa that they wanted before we left. They of course spoiled him with money and candy for the trip. :)
We were so relieved that we had actually celebrated Rhea's 12th birthday the day before and got to get her ears pierced before we left too! We also lucked out by getting our car ready to sell and had listed it on KSL and Craigslist. We had had people text about it and say they were interested, but nobody had followed through. My dad and Becky generously offered to continue working on getting it sold for us! Within about 4 days, they had a buyer! I'm so grateful, and I know it was a blessing from heaven, that it sold quickly with them only having to show it to 2 or 3 potential buyers before it sold. They are so busy and had a lot of new stress on their plate that week that I didn't want to add to. It was a tender mercy from Heavenly Father. Everything just fell into place. It was so hard to say goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa! Luckily we had done so much over the six weeks together and didn't have any regrets of not doing certain things together. So the sudden news caught us all off guard, and they kept saying, "We thought we'd have you for a few more weeks," but we had had such fun celebrating my birthday, Rhea's, and Thomas' in just the last few days together, so it felt like a natural way to give closure to our time there. We love them so much and are so grateful for their open arms and service to our family!
They helped us load our bags in the white Yukon and drove us to the SLC airport with our gazillion bags! PICTURE OF US ALL IN THE CAR
A few other things fell into place as well. First, our Covid test
results. After months of "quarantining" American style in VA with
online school and work, runs to the grocery store and physical therapy,
walks in the neighborhood and cemetery, and running around Oakwood with
friends, we then went on to have 6 weeks of fun and interacting with
family and friends in UT, and we somehow successfully tested negative
for Covid when we got to VA! We had a scare when our handyman Matt that
was working on our Alpine house, one day said that his son tested
positive for Covid. He explained that he may have been exposed so then
we may have been exposed as well. We of course were then afraid that we
had exposed my dad and Becky to it, so we took precautions and kept
down in the basement for 3 or 4 days until Matt's Covid test came back
negative. When he tested the results, we all cheered and threw off our
masks and ate dinner on the back deck together! PIC OF US EATING ON THE DECK Phew... Anyway, the
Covid test we took the morning after we landed in VA was the first of
three Covid tests we would endure (the nasal swab was awful!). Rhea was
the bravest, volunteering to go first.
We had no idea what to anticipate, but were caught off guard that it made me, Thomas, and Savannah cough. It was weird. Rhea had been so quiet, so when I started coughing, I thought maybe that was a bad sign. The doctor explained that it was normal though. Anyway, we survived and got news a day or two after our tests that we all tested negative. We were ALL relieved that none of us had it!
The other thing that fell into place were our accommodations in VA. With only one day to get packed, get flights, and get to VA, worrying about where to stay for the next week was near impossible. We had reached out to our friends Jessica and Aaron McKay in Falls Church a few weeks before to see if Briant could stay at their house one night until he figured out where he should stay after his training. They had offered when we left VA to let us know if we needed to ever stay with them. We hated putting them out, but thought we would ask them because it was just going to be Briant. Well, after Briant arrived, they insisted that the whole family stay the whole 6 days until our flight. I couldn't believe it! I told them that we would stay one or two nights and then go somewhere else, but they reiterated that they loved having us there. Not surprisingly, after a few days of fun with the McKays and enjoying our accommodations and being with our friends (instead of confined to a hotel room with only walls, a t.v., and internet), we didn't want to leave and decided to stay the rest of our time there. So we emptied the van of all of the bags and moved in!
The McKays were so generous with their space, food, meal making, craft supplies, etc. The kids made tie dyed t-shirts, baked goodies, we went sight seeing at the Manassas Civil War battlefield and got delicious, amazing custard, we "attended" Zoom church together, the kids played ping pong and basketball, jumped on the trampoline, explored the nearby forest trails, played games, we watched movies, and the adults went out for yummy tacos.
Jessica and Aaron also let Briant and I run use their cars
to run errands to get our medications and more suitcases to stock up on
food to help survive quarantine, etc. I also took their family pictures
for them since they didn't like the ones they took in Utah, so that was fun. Anyway, we
had an amazing 6 days with the McKays that could have been very boring
and dreary before heading into two weeks of isolated quarantine here in
Beijing without our comforts, and this wonderful family understood
that. We got each of the kids something that we thought would fit their personality--special ping pong paddles for Judd with some ping pong socks, horse stuff and a key chain for driving since she passed her driving test, an avocado pad for Kennedy with some earrings since she loves jewelry, and a leather covered "Harry Potter"-ish drawing notebook for Logan for all of his art. We are so blessed to have met them during our time in Falls Church and look
forward to them visiting us here in China!
Nail painting of course for Rhea on her birthday. 
An easy night of dominoes pizza when we asked if we could help with dinner.
And of course the dads had to have a ping pong tournament too. ;)
The kids loved to play games online together too. No surprise there. ;)
Manassas, VA Civil War Battlefield Site
Come Follow Me
Even on our last day there, the McKays helped to celebrate Rhea's birthday before we
left at 10pm on the 11th. Jessica made crapes for dinner and the girls
made cupcakes to help celebrate. It was an awesome 12th birthday for Rhea, especially because she got to celebrate twice!
Jessica and Aaron also let Briant and I run use their cars
to run errands to get our medications and more suitcases to stock up on
food to help survive quarantine, etc. I also took their family pictures
for them since they didn't like the ones they took in Utah, so that was
fun. Anyway, we
had an amazing 6 days with the McKays that could have been very boring
and dreary before heading into two weeks of isolated quarantine here in
Beijing without our comforts, and this wonderful family understood
that. We got each of the kids something that we thought would fit their
personality--special ping pong paddles for Judd with some ping pong
socks, horse stuff and a key chain for driving since she passed her
driving test, an avocado pad for Kennedy with some earrings since she
loves jewelry, and a leather covered "Harry Potter"-ish drawing notebook
for Logan for all of his art (his notebook came late and I got a video of him opening it and forgot to get a picture!). We are so blessed to have met them
during our time in Falls Church and look
forward to them visiting us here in China!
0 comments: