Cruisin to 50

 We have been very blessed by the growth of eXp, The Real Estate Company Curtis joined just over 4 years ago. Curtis now has over 7500 agents under him bringing in a generous Revenue Share check each month.

About a year ago Curtis proposed the idea that he takes his family (Mom, Dad, sisters, and spouses) on a Cruise.  He wanted this to be a trip of a lifetime, something memorable before it was too late, money, bad health, death, fill in the blank for any number of reasons, etc. I was good with the idea and thought it was very generous of him.  I know how much Curtis loves Cruises. Of course, his family was thrilled.  The discussions started with his family about where to go and when. This is one of those things that could have been talked about but never actually executed.    I think it officially got on the calendar about June of 2021, we would be taking a Western Caribbean Cruise from March 20-27, 2022.  We didn't exactly know which ports we would hit because COVID was still a threat, and a few times there was a chance that our cruise could be completely canceled.  

That was a big step to even get it on the calendar.  Curtis' sister, Audrey, used to be a travel agent.  She pretty much took over the planning and did a great job of working out little details and making sure everything ran smoothly.

About 10 days before the trip, I got sick with a sinus infection.  Luckily I got some antibiotics and was feeling much better in a day. As luck would have it, Derek got sick a week before the trip.  When Derek gets sick, he gets sick and it lingers.  He went to the doctor, but he was still pretty sick up to the day before.  The Cruise was set to leave from Orlando, FL on Sunday, March 20th. We had planned to fly to Orlando on the 18th, hit Universal Studios (Orlando) on the 19th, then meet up with the rest of the family and get on the ship on the 20th.  Ughh What to do about Derek, flying with sinus issues is a nightmare.

Derek was a trooper, he flew out with us on the 18th. Mike and Alisa (Curtis' sister) were on the same flight.   Our layover flight was delayed a few hours in Houston, we just sat and sat on the tarmac for about three hours. Finally, we arrived in Orlando, then we had to get COVID tests before we could get on the boat.  We got to the hotel late and exhausted and I know Derek didn't feel well. We planned that we would get up early and head to Universal, but Derek would stay back at the hotel and sleep as long as he could.  The hotel gave us late checkout until 1:00 p.m. by then Derek was feeling well enough to join us at Universal for the afternoon and evening.  I'm glad he did because he did say that ended up being one of his favorite parts of the trip.

After the Jurrasic Park ride, Trey got wet

Harry Potter Hogsmeade

Once upon a time, Trey was a Delorean for Halloween

Derek joined us. These two hit Jurassic Park and got soaked.

Onto the Boat.  The entire family arrived, we all passed our COVID tests, nobody missed their flight and everyone made it onboard.

COVID testing clinic

Curtis waited outside with our luggage while the family did COVID tests.

Atlantis Resort in Bahamas

Grandma Shauna and Dax    

Parkour, a Milestone, Camping.

 For several weeks, I have been trying to get try into Parkour lessons.  The coach was never there, bad communication by the gym yada, yada.  We finally got Trey into lessons.  He had a great time and we hope to continue throughout the summer.  It is a nice cool place when it is blazing hot outside. He was sore the next few days.

Trey doing a backflip.

Meanwhile...Gas is OUTRAGEOUS

I thought it was bad when it was nearly $4.00/ gallon a few years ago.

Curtis had a BIG birthday.  He turned 50 on Saturday. We started celebrating with his family in March on the Cruise, then we had a mini celebration in Las Vegas.  His office wanted to do something so they had a surprise Birthday Lunch for him on Tuesday before I went out of town, Derek and Trey even came.  Dax would have but he had his Calc 3 class.

It was a fun event.

The next day I had to leave to go to Girls Camp.  Not my favorite thing to sleep in a tent, but I survived.  It was much warmer this year than last year.  That made the nights much more pleasant. The girls had fun, it was successful.  I'm glad it is only once a year. I'm campaigning once every two years.

Pam Kubricky, Megan Otting, Taryn Johnson, Tatem Service
Lilly Lines, Hailey Avalos, Ruby Cramer, Kandyce Rodriguez, Me, Raquel Ellsworth, Tessa Layden

Now it was officially Curtis' Birthday and back-to-back Father's Day.  I came home from camp about noon.  We celebrated his Birthday and opened a few gifts with the kids, then waited a few hours and did Father's Day.  Curtis had to leave town early Sunday morning to go to Orlando for the EXP Shareholder meeting. I think he felt loved.

For Curtis' Birthday, Derek found some promotion where you could buy land in Scotland and be named a "Lord"  Curtis is now, Lord Curtis Johnson.

Lord Curtis

This is what Curtis got for Father's Day

Las Vegas and Lake Powell

 In true Curtis fashion, we decided to go to Las Vegas at the last minute.  About 7:00 a.m. on Saturday he figured out a plan and by 10:30 we were on our way to the airport.  Las Vegas and close and easy to fly to so we did.

We mostly hung out at the pool and walked through the Hotels.  No shows this time, nothing struck out fancy.  We had a great time doing nothing.  We stayed at the Four Seasons, which is actually inside Mandalay Bay.    

I had never actually seen the famous Las Vegas sign.  It wasn't too far from our hotel so one morning I took a walk down there. I went early to beat the crowds and I ran into Elvis.

The Hotel heard Curtis had a birthday coming up so they sent a cake.  Too bad the maid took it before we finished it even though I told her not to.

Chocolate in the center, surrounded by mousse. Delicious!

Every time we go to Las Vegas I like to see the Atrium at the Bellagio, it is always spectacular.

We didn't actually take any pictures together.  That is a problem.

Curtis took me to this certain store and bought me a bracelet.

We also ate some beautiful, yummy food.

Derek agreed to pick us up at the airport.  We didn't realize he was leaving for an activity with the Young Men to go to Lake Powell Tuesday afternoon.  We thought it was Wednesday. He had his bag packed and we dropped him off on our way home.

One of his adult leaders has a client who has a business that rents out Luxury houseboats to fancy people.  Lake Powell is in a drought and business is way down.  He generously lent the Yacht to our YM group.  The owner said they just needed to pay for gas and food.  Aside from gas being $5.50ish a gallon right now.  That is very inexpensive considering they also rented a ski/surf/wakeboard boat and two jet skis.  

I have yet to see pictures from the trip, but I pulled this picture off Google, which I believe is the actual boat they were on, Getaway Three.  They were spoiled rotten, they got the first-class treatment, even a boat pilot. These boys are 16-18 years old.  The bar has been set. The boat was amazing, with two kitchens, several bedrooms, and sleeping for up to 30. They had 15 total.

Hopefully, we will get to see some pictures.  Derek tried wakeboarding, but his favorite was the Jet skis.

The End

 This week was rough with some good stuff thrown in.

It started out last Sunday by visiting my Dad.  My brother and I had visited him the previous Thursday and we were starting to see a shift in his health. That Thursday day we got a text from one of the nurses that he was irritated because one of the med technicians was trying to shave him, he had formed a fist and was getting ready to punch them when the nurse walked in and stopped it.  Totally unusual behavior for my Dad. He seemed more confused (than usual) about who us kids were, and had difficulty having a conversation.  The next two mornings we received Voice Messages that he had fallen in the night.  We decided to visit him on Sunday again to assess the situation.  He was noticeably weaker, he had a difficult time getting in and out of his chair, difficult time walking, and just seemed generally weaker. We brought him dinner and had Philly Cheese sandwiches with him and although his appetite is getting smaller he ate on his own. We asked his facility for a walker (not that he would use it) and they also mentioned they thought he may have a bladder infection.

Monday was the start of the last week of school for Trey.  He has been having migraines again.  I have had to pick him early from school more than once in the past week.  Monday I got the call a little earlier than usual to pick him up and he said his headache was worse than ever.  Trey has not had a normal school year ending in two years because of COVID in his 5th-grade year and migraines his 6th-grade year.  I just want him to take his finals and for this year to end happily. 

Tuesday his headache and stomach ache were pretty bad, he stayed home from school and missed his PE Final. Oh well. I talked to his neurologist and she recommended he start taking one of the migraine prescriptions he was given a year ago when he started having the migraines. He just needs to make it through two half days.

Tuesday night I was in my office and Trey came in to hang out.  He has been taking a Computer Science class, which he really enjoys, and there was a project he had really put a lot of time into and he couldn't get the code to work.  He told me he checked his grades and they were better than he thought.  Well, that is great news.  He told me he got a 100% on a project that he didn't think he did very well on.  Well, then that is Fantastic news.  He started crying, I asked him why he was crying because you can't get better than 100%.  He said he didn't think he did very well on the presentation and he messed up on some parts of it.  Then he had a dream that he got a 40%.  He was dreading checking his grades.  He was so happy and relieved when he finally checked his grade that he was shedding tears of joy.  That was a good thing.

Wednesday/Thursday-Trey made it through the end of the school year, the headaches are better once he started taking the meds. Apparently, he missed one last Algebra assignment on Tuesday.  His teacher was very kind to give him the worksheet and let him work on it Thursday evening even though the school year had ended.  He was able to turn it in and he ended up with a C in the class, which I'm ok with.  He did struggle this year in Algebra.  We will take a C and be happy with it for now, but I'm going to have him do some brushup of Algebra over the summer. That was a good thing

Thursday afternoon my Brother and I went to visit my Dad.  We had spoken with Hospice earlier in the week, they were going to take him off his meds and just keep him comfortable.  When we arrived on Thursday my dad seemed very incoherent.  There was a woman by his bed tucking him in and talking to him.  Turns out she was another Memory care resident thinking he was one of her kids. We redirected her and sent her on her way.  That is such a sad place, I hate that my dad has had to be there for the past 4 years. The nurse said he was only eating food that was easy to get down like soup and ice cream.  She fed him while we were there.  I still don't know how he seemed pretty incoherent, but still having tremors in his hands.

Friday- the Hospice nurse updates us and there is a definite decline in my Dad.  We his oxygen level has dropped from 97 to 90 he can no longer swallow.  Darrell and I stayed until about 5:00, then we came back at about 9:00 p.m. and stayed until 11:30 p.m..  I don't think my Dad was even aware we were there.  He seemed more restful than the previous day.

Between visits, Curtis and I had tickets to this exhibit at Phoenix Botanical Gardens.  I had never been there and I thought this exhibit looked pretty cool.  This artist did blown glass displays among the plants at the botanical gardens.  It was very cool to see lit up at night.  The kids always went to the Botanical Gardens for field trips.  I had heard multiple kids say it was the most boring field trip.  I have to admit I don't think that is a very interesting field trip for the kids during the daytime to just look at cacti.

Saturday morning we had planned to go back at about 9:30 to be with my Dad, we wanted to be there when hospice checked on him. Right as I was getting to walk out the door, Hospice called and said my Dad had significantly declined overnight his heart was racing, he had a fever, and his body was showing signs of shutting down and he thought my dad would pass within a few hours. 

The usual drill, I met my brother there, the hospice nurse was still there for a bit.  My dad had "Death Rattles", which when it just sounds like wheezing to breathe but it isn't.  A sign of death. His breathing was more labored. About 11:00 the CNA came in and gave him more morphine we started talking about all my Dad's dog that have died because "All Dogs go to heaven"  he took a few gasps, there was no pulse and I could see a tear coming out of his eye.  I think he made it to the other side, greeting his dogs and my Mom.  definitely a bitter-sweet moment. I checked my watch it was 11:28 a.m. 

It has been so hard these past several years watching him decline with dementia and not enjoying life.  We always felt like putting him in Memory care was a prison for him, but we didn't have any other options.  I'm so happy he got out of that prison.  We will miss you, Dad, you were such a hard worker, you loved all nature, the outdoors, and animals. Rest In Peace, we love you.

Graduation 2/3

 Another Big week for Derek... High School Graduation.  The last few years have been rough with COVID shutdowns, online Google Classroom, Derek's own personal health issues, and transferring from Hamilton High School with his friends to online school at El Dorado High School.  He finished strong and we are proud of him.  He didn't want to participate in Graduation or make a big deal of it.  I told him he needed to,  especially since his graduating class at El Dorado was only 30 students, graduation would be about 45 minutes, easy peasy.  It was a fantastic Graduation, the school still went all out, but it was so short and sweet.  I think in the end Derek was glad he did it.  I would say it is kind of unusual/odd not to know any of your classmates at graduation..

Derek sitting next to his unknown classmates and the Valedictorian

Derek is getting really good at smiling for photos.

Part II - Now for the Celebration.  For the past several years the moms of the graduating Seniors put together a combined Grad party.  It is a great way to celebrate these kids that have known each other most of their lives.  When 8-10 Moms work together it is a fantastic event without being too burdensome for any one person.

It was a really fun night, plenty of people stopped by to share their love with the seniors.  Derek and all the Grads enjoyed it.  These are all great kids moving forward as adults. Derek cleaned up about $400 in cash plus a few gift cards with unknown amounts.  Yea, it was worth celebrating after all.

The Grad Moms Jill Lueck, Heather Skousen, Lanae Jones, Pam Kubricky, April foster, Janae Thomas, Me (missing Anna Knauer)

The Grads, Derek Johnson, Garrett Kubricky, Ben Jones, Case Lueck, Robert Foster, Weston Thomas, Kaitlyn Skousen, Annalena Knauer

Annalena and Maren Knauer




In other news, Trey is finishing up his 7th grade school year.  For some reason, he has been sporadically having a headache and an upset stomach.  I had to pick him up at the nurses' office twice this week.
For a class assignment, he made a rocket out of a two-liter bottle.  They were supposed to shoot them off at school.  He said they sent one-off, it went way too high and landed on the roof of a building so they aborted that mission.  He hopes to set it off this week. 

He did make it to the end of the year swim party for 7th graders at Hamilton Pool. He had a good time and his headache subsided for the day.  School gets out on this coming Thursday.


Curtis' back has really been bothering him.  I think sitting on the benches at the Stake Center made it flare up again.  He is trying a new "herbal remedy" to help with the pain. That was an experience going to that "store" everything is so secretive, cash only, leaving with your product in a black unmarked bag.  Hopefully something gives him some relief.

Escape to nowhere and Prom

 This week Curtis was feeling overwhelmed with work and life.  He decided to drive over to Southern California to help some of his eXp friends open up a new office and meet with some people.  I thought he would be gone about a week.  Curtis started his trip in San Diego and it ended there very quickly.

This is the second time in the past few months that Curtis has gone out to California and it is just turned into a hell hole.   Drug addicts and homeless everywhere.  Crime runs rampant. He left home Wednesday morning, and he texted me Thursday evening and said he was coming home, I didn't think he was serious.   I thought possibly  I would see him Friday afternoon.  Nope, he pulls into the driveway at 3:00 a.m. Friday morning.  He did not want to be there a minute longer.  Although he did stumble across my favorite flowers and he sent me a picture.

I also think he wanted to be home to see Derek off to Prom. It was fun to see them off. Jocelyn asked me earlier in the week if I would take her shopping for makeup. Jocelyn doesn't drive yet, and her family is always busy working.  I was happy to help her.  We also got her shoes, picked up a tie for Derek, ordered flowers, and got everything taken care of for Prom.  At first we were not having a lot of luck with the shoes, then we went to DSW a huge shoe store and she found them.  They were perfect, just what she was looking for.  I knew they were perfect when she was so excited about them that she came home and showed them to all of my boys.  That is when you know you have the perfect pair of shoes.

The flower exchange with the perfect shoes

I had to run to up Flagstaff with my brothers on Friday.  We had planned this several weeks ago.  We needed to check on my Dad's house and I also took the Malibu up to Steven and transferred title to him.  It was a pleasant trip to Flagstaff.  The drive went well, the weather was perfect, the line at the DMV was minimal, and the renters in my Dad's house were maintaining it well.  The neighbor's house across the street (The Grapes) went up for sale.  Not a surprise, we knew the original owner had recently passed away.  Steven said it looked like they were cleaning it out. They are asking 1 million.  I hope they get it.