Implant Missing in Action

When we took our family vacation to California last summer, we never could have guessed that we would be returning this summer for a second go around. But a family member decided to get married and the marriage took place in California, so we loaded up the family and headed to the west coast once again.

This was a marvelous opportunity to see some of the places we saw last summer as well as to see some new spots. The wedding took place in Oakland in the Oakland Temple.

We were staying with friends in San Francisco the night before the wedding and as we drove the 45 minutes to the temple, something happened in the backseat of our van. The two kids involved have slightly different stories as to what occurred, but the result was that Ammon's implant was knocked off of his head. This in and of itself is not that strange as the implants come off at times, but what was weird about the situation, is that we couldn't find the implant for the next 24 hours.

We got to the temple just in time for the wedding since we hit some traffic en route, and we had Chance park the car and take the kids to a neighboring church as the ceremony was only for adults. We reminded Chance that he and the kids were supposed to meet us at the entrance to the temple in about an hour for pictures. We felt confident that the implant would be found once the van was parked and everyone could look around the seats. When we met up with the kids for pictures however, the implant had still not been found.

Chance's dad went out to the van and looked all around in between pictures, but couldn't find a clue as to where the implant had gone. Ammon did not appreciate not being able to hear very well and I don't blame him.  We ended up taking the wedding pictures, eating at the luncheon and attending the reception that evening all without an implant (despite a couple more full-car-inspections). Poor Ammon. We looked and looked all over the place and could not find his implant anywhere. It gave Ammon a headache having to strain to hear, and he wanted to go back to our hotel.

The following morning as we packed up to head back home, we still hadn't found the implant. We were at a loss as to where it could have gone. Just as we were leaving the hotel, Ammon's sister was rummaging around in her backpack when she found the missing implant. It had somehow bounced into the backpack on our drive the day before.

We were elated to meet that little implant again. Ammon most of all naturally. Thankfully, he had had the implant during most of the vacation as the wedding was on the last day that we were in California.

Our family loves implants.

The Golden Gate Bridge as fog rolls in

Giant Redwood Trees

Cowboy(aka Chance) in a redwood tree

Ammon bonds with a giant redwood tree

Camping with Chance

Our family went camping up in the mountains this week. If you are going camping, you really want Chance to come with you. He is an avid outdoorsman and enjoys doing things like making a fire and maintaining it, putting up hammocks, putting up tents and exploring the great outdoors.

Chance decided to forgo sleeping in the tent and opted instead to sleep out under the stars.  Chance may not hear the morning sounds while camping, like birds chirping, the river gurgling or the sound of trees rustling in the wind like the rest of us, but he is awakened by the light. Deaf or not, you can not avoid the light from the rising sun when sleeping outside.

While I lay in the tent going in and out of sleep early in the morning, I heard a sound that I figured what either soft rain falling or a fire crackling. When Chance unzipped the tent and announced that he had a fire going so we could come out now, I realized that it was indeed a fire. I was hoping the sound was a fire because that would mean warmth. It was about 44 degrees when we woke up.

Me and Chance's little sister made our way to the camp chairs around the campfire and started warming up while Chance made hot chocolate. That is right, he starts fires and makes hot chocolate for you in the morning which makes him an excellent camping buddy. And a good fine son.

Chance got the morning rolling for the rest of us, and then after breakfast, he headed down the canyon to work. Chance is taking some time off later in the summer so he couldn't spend the entire day in the mountains, but he packed in a lot of activity while he was there.

He brought up his mountain bike and did some exploring. He also got down to the bathroom faster than the rest of us. Chance made popcorn over the fire and spent some time enjoying the view from the hammock.  You could hear the stream quite well from the hammock if it was quiet.

Chance proved himself to be an invaluable camping buddy and we may need to make sure that we never go camping without him as long as he lives. Having someone who will get up and make a nice warm fire for you to come out to, is worth their weight in gold when the temperature is nippy in the morning. Plus, he is a fine conversationalist.

Making popcorn over the fire

View from the hammock

The fire Chance and his sister built

Chance tries to save a wounded butterfly