Phantom Cat

Leia has always been what we call a "scaredy-cat".  She doesn't like a ton of attention from us, definitely doesn't like to be held much, and will scurry away quickly at the slightest noise or movement directed toward her.

On Sunday, the girls were cutting her claws, as is their usual job. They're the best at it because Karissa is good at handling cats and Leia does like Victoria more than some others around here, but still, cutting Leia's claws is not an easy task! Luke can be done while just sitting there, without anyone holding him. Leia has to be held just right and needs to have soft whisperings spoken to her to calm her down.

For some reason, this particular time, she was hard to work with. I don't really know what happened, but she didn't cooperate and wouldn't keep still. I think part of the problem was that Victoria was doing the cutting and not the holding. She hissed really loudly at them, which she has never done before, and then took off like a flash.

We didn't think much of it, except we thought it was weird that she hissed like that. A few hours later, though when she didn't come out for the canned food we give them for dinner, which she loves, we started to get worried. We didn't think she got outside, because the only place we went to was to take dinner to the missionaries. We searched all over the house in all her favorite hiding places, to no avail,

We prayed for her that night and I fully expected to see her the next morning, rubbing her body against me just before my alarm went off, as she usually does and is the only real affection she gives me (because it's on her terms and I'm half awake), but she wasn't there. Nor did she come for breakfast that morning. Luke was extra friendly, knowing he was the only cat around which is pretty hard to do since he's already really friendly!

She didn't come to dinner that night either and I started to get really worried. I thought that maybe she was stuck somewhere, maybe even dead. Karissa and I had to go to an outdoor cheer meeting that night. Before we left to come home, Jason texted us a picture of Leia eating some food in the kitchen! He said she was on the guest bed, so he convinced her to follow him to get some food. She wasn't using her front left paw. She disappeared again after that, but we were so happy to know she was alive!

The next morning she was in my room when I woke up, just sitting there on the floor. She still wasn't using her paw and hobbled down for breakfast, then disappeared for the rest of the day, though I did find her hiding spot behind a bin in the storage room in the basement.

Same thing this morning, she was on the floor in my room when I woke up. I talked to her softly and gave her some soft rubs so she would trust humans again. She hobbled down for breakfast, even got two when Luke came in for his after being in the garage. She made her way to the top of the cat post where I gave her some more TLC and checked out her paw, which looked ok to me, but who am I to say? While I did my strength training she hung out on the post, but when I finished and went back into the kitchen, she was sitting on the counter! I walked to her slowly to gently get her down, but she scurried away, still not using that paw, and disappeared into the basement for the rest of the day! Jason saw her in her new hiding placed, but she wasn't there later today, so she may have changed locations, now that it was discovered by us.

So, now she's like this phantom cat who we never see, hiding in the basement all day. Limping to get her food and being all sensitive. It's so weird! Even though she wasn't very comfortable with humans, she loved playing with Luke and always followed me around the house, as long as I didn't pay her much attention. She always watched me prepare meals and watched us eat from the cat post. We miss our old Leia! Hopefully, she'll recover soon! We may take her to the vet next week if she'll let us get close enough to get her in the kennel.

(Btw, I wrote this last night, intending on posting it then, but obviously, that didn't happen. This morning was pretty much the same. Now she's the phantom in the basement again.)

I couldn't get a very good picture of her without her hobbling around, so they're blurry.

This was her and Luke when they would always cuddle on their favorite post all day long. You can't even tell there are two cats there!

She used to always spread out on Karissa's bed.

Motivation

Since we returned from our Utah trip I have had a renewed motivation that I didn't really have before we left. The change of scenery, inside and outside, helped us all to be a little more excited for the summer at home. This is a very good thing since we have learned that people in Michigan, and the running of the state itself, are still pretty careful. There are a few friends who my kids have been able to hang out with. Erik's friends' parents are more careful, maybe because they're younger? They only hang out outside in the yard. We have a mandate now where we will be fined $200 for not wearing a mask inside any public place or outside in a more crowded place.

So, I have been motivated to use this time to go through all my CDs (finally) and rip them to my computer so I can get rid of them, since I no longer have a working CD player. I finished organizing my photo albums that I was kind of working on during the quarantine, we're painting the hallway and Karissa's desk this week, and I have baked a lot of sourdough goods.

The night before we left Utah, my brother gave me a start from his sourdough starter. I was so excited to have one so I change up some of the things I bake and have some good supplies for baking if we are stuck at home for months again. Well, it slipped down from my pile of food in the refrigerator that night, so when we left the next morning, it wasn't there and I forgot all about it. I realized it was missing a few hours into our drive. When we returned, I decided to make my own starter, but it meant a lot of discarding. The option for not actually throwing the discard away is to bake with it. So I've made English muffins, pretzels (twice), cinnamon cake, pumpkin bread, cinnamon bread, and waffles. Finally, after about two weeks, my sourdough starter is ready to be put in a more permanent container and kept in the fridge where I can keep it and only have to feed and use every week or two. I have to say, though, that it was fun trying all those recipes. I know which ones I'll keep using and which I will not.

My workouts have been longer too because the kids are sleeping in more and I have no need to get back home in the morning. So I just keep running or biking. I go to a High Fit class on Saturdays in a parking lot and a bunch of us chat after the class for a while. We crave more socialization and I enjoy my Saturday mornings working out and then chatting with friends while my kids sleep and Jason does his run.

Some fun activities the kids and I have done together have been going to the lake, going on bike rides, playing tennis/pickleball, and playing games. Jason joined us for one of the bike rides, but most of these activities have been on weekdays when he's working.

These creepy birds kept coming up to us while we were eating our lunch.

They were too close for comfort!

The lake was perfect, but of course, a thunderstorm came through and we had to leave.

Rayven and Victoria before we ran back to the car to get out of the rain!

We learned that we need Jason with us next time because he knows what he's doing!

Victoria on a longboard.

Karissa, Austin, and Erik racing.

Austin is pretty fast on his rollerblades!

Olivia and Karissa (Karissa went with her family for a long weekend of camping- lucky!)

While Karissa was gone, we squeezed in another bike ride.

I'm horrible about before and after pictures, but you can see the yucky olive color of the baseboard before I painted it white. 

The hallways are grey and the doors and frames are white. Luke really wanted to go into Karissa's room, but she was painting her door on the inside!

The only downfall about all the motivation I had before, is that now I'm losing some of it! The "fire" is dying and I need something to light it again!

Family Fun

After our reunion at Eden, we went back to Orem to stay at my mom's house for the next week so Jason could work from her home and everyone else with jobs could do their thing. Since I'm not working right now, that meant I could still play!

I should clarify; only some of us stayed at my mom's house. Austin and Victoria stayed at Karina and Dan's house, up the street. Remember, Austin and Peter were inseparable and Victoria was usually with Mariah or Natalie, or both. Karissa was at my mom's for part of the time but went to Derek and Missy's in Draper for a few days to hang with Layla. Erik still got to see cousins for many hours most days, but it was fun for him to get some alone time with Grandpa and Grandma and have some downtime, which he usually needs.

I visited with Karina when she wasn't studying for her class or working at the hospital. We got to exercise together in the morning a couple of times and chat at night before she had to turn in early for her early shifts. When I wasn't working out with Karina, I swam or rode bikes with my mom. The bike path there is so nice!

The only two times that Peter and Austin were apart were Saturday, the day after we returned from the cabin, and Monday. On Saturday, just us six Mercados went to visit my dad's sister in SLC and her oldest son with his family. They're still being very careful in the Salt Lake area in terms of limiting numbers of people in a group for social events, so we kept it small. Since I didn't get to see my dad this trip, it was fun to connect with his sister.

We stopped by East High, where High School Musical was filmed. It's also where my Grandpa Gordon went to high school.

With Karen and Bill

On Monday, my mom paid for the tweens and teens (middle schoolers and highschoolers) to go to Lagoon. Derek's oldest, Jake, did all the research so it could work out. There was a super good deal going on for students ($35/ticket) and for teachers (me!). So I took the group of 7 and we went at the designated time we were given, with face masks and all! It's a small park, but very fun and Austin's first time at an amusement park with mostly roller coasters.

It started as a wet, cool morning.

Sometimes we wore our masks on the rides, sometimes we didn't.

Natalie is in the white sweatshirt.

Austin really enjoyed his day!

The other activities during that week included eating amazing sourdough waffles and french toast at Derek and Missy's on Sunday, a few hikes, swimming in the outdoor pool (we don't have many of those here in MI!), going to Kallie's dance recital, getting snow cones where Natalie works, eating dinner at Jaron and Jan's house (Jaron is Jim's oldest son), going on the Hike that we were warming up for with the other smaller hikes, and celebrating the 4th of July at Derek's.

Koki and Victoria 

Calvin and Erik when we made it up to Battle Creek Falls.

I'm getting better at selfies!

Nik, Izaak, and Erik playing with Grandma's toys.

And making forts.

Natalie and Victoria colored Karissa's and Layla's hair. 

Karissa chose purple, which is harder to see in her hair, but I don't mind!

Layla chose blue.

Mariah, Natalie, and Victoria

Kallie's dance recital will prepare us for what to expect with Victoria's.

She was so fun to watch!

Yoga with Grandma!

Washing the car with Grandpa.

Water slide at the pool.

Diving board jump at the pool.

Peter and Austin

Nik is the best eater I've ever seen in an 8-year-old boy!

Koki getting a snow cone from Natalie's work!

The Hike was supposed to be up Mt. Timpanogas. Victoria had decided just before we went out there that she really wanted to try it. I was all on board and so was Jason. We weren't sure about the other kids because of the fact that we live where there are no mountains, whatsoever, and at an elevation at sea level. Karina and Dan's family are experts at that hike and most of their kids have hiked it a few times. She told me to just see how my younger kids were on the smaller hikes and if they wanted to try Timp, they should try it. We had planned on having a younger group that would possibly turn around if needed.

So our first hike, on Saturday before we went to SLC, we hiked Rock Canyon. We went a little later in the day when everyone was ready, so it was hot. It was a 5 1/2 mile hike and had a climb, but it wasn't bad. Erik had stuffed his Camelbak with a bunch of hot wheel cars, and it was pretty heavy! When he kept stopping every 10 minutes in the beginning, I finally grabbed his pack and noticed the weight! We had a little chat about what not to bring on a hike. I don't think he even made it halfway, then he turned back with Grandpa and Grandma since they don't like the rockier spots of the hike anyhow. Peter was our leader at that point since he was the oldest kid with us who had been on the hike before. He led us very well!

Looking for shade!

Erik and Grandpa were good hiking buddies.

Peter and Grandpa

Of course, there's always room for climbing rocks! (Nik and Erik)

The group at the top!

I learned two things after that first hike: Erik would not be able to make the whole Timp hike and the others would be able to. Rock Canyon is a steeper climb than Timp, so I could tell Karissa and Austin would be able to make it by their energy levels and persistence. Also, the fact that the tradition is to have two king-size candy bars on the Timp hike! That would get any kid to go 13 miles!

The problem we had with the upcoming Timp hike was the fact that there was more snow and ice than there should be for a safe hike with kids. Also, we had some differences of opinion on what time to leave. It was going to be the day before the 4th when the men had off work. We were planning on leaving on the 5th and didn't want to be too tired due to waking up early on Friday, staying up late Saturday, and then leaving Sunday.

We made the final decision on Thursday at Jeron's house. He suggested that we hike up to Silver Lake in American Fork canyon. It's a 5-mile hike through some streams, with the possibility of an extra 2 miles up to a sword in a rock called Excaliber. It sounded like a good hike for everyone to go on and Erik was game, especially with a king-size candy bar (btw, the second hike we went on, which was pictured earlier, he did just fine!) The only problem for some of us, was that we were really pumped up for an all-day hike and thought that maybe 7 miles wouldn't cut it for us

Well, the hike was definitely steeper than the beginning of Timp. With our big group of about 20, we might have gone a little slower, but not too bad. And 4-year-old Izaak, did very well! At Silver Lake, most of us were ready to take on Excaliber. That extra mile up was basically going cross country up a very steep mountain. There wasn't a clear trail and there were lots of rocks. The rocks actually made it more doable for my boys to keep their minds off the steep climb. They always love to scramble on rocks on the sides of trails. This made it so they didn't need those detours and enjoyed adventure while they hiked. We did make a detour to another lake because there wasn't a very good trail, so we went more than that extra mile. The few people we saw coming down thought we were crazy bringing our kids up to the sword. We didn't know how bad it would be until we got there!

Izaak, in front of the group!

Crossing the water.

Natalie, Victoria, and Calvin

Mt. Timp is the white mountain in the distance.

What we were looking at as we hiked.

Another view of Timp behind us.

Almost to the lake. I think that's Grandma and Grandpa that we see coming up.

The lake!

Cooling off the feet.

Part of the group.

Another part, with Jaron and some of his kids in the distance.

Trying more selfies.

The base of the rocky formation of Excaliber demonstrated how crazy we might have been! But we were so close! We had to leave Koki (Karina's family dog) with her at the base since she wouldn't be able to grab onto the rocks like humans. It was kind of like rock climbing. We made it up and enjoyed the satisfaction of climbing a mountain and rock climbing, safely, in one hike. Making it down was the next challenge!

At the top of Excaliber, before crossing over to get to the sword. Not many pictures were taken in the process so I could focus on being safe!

Jake was content not to go over to the sword. 

The Sword!

I can't believe he made it!

Jeron, Heber, and Shelley. Our tour guides and bodyguards! Shelley is one of Jim's kids and Heber is her husband and mountain man! They took good care of my boys at the top!

Pointing to where we were!

As we were leaving on Sunday, we drove behind the mountain range where we caught a glimpse of where we hiked. That white part is the rock we were on, not snow.

All in all, it was so fun and a great adventure! It took us 7 hours, so we definitely got our all-day hike in!


The 4th of July at Derek's felt like Christmas or Thanksgiving with all the amazing food (the best pulled pork, ever!) and being with a big group of family for a holiday. We said our goodbyes that night so we could leave at a somewhat early hour the next morning.

Mariah and Karissa frosting brownies.  

Kodiak and Karissa

4th of July Cookies

Getting ready to watch fireworks!

The fireworks were amazing from Derek's view! We could see all the way to Taylorsville! You can see the Jordon Temple in this one.  

Right before we left for home.

At least we could look forward to seeing Gramms and Abuelo in Cheyenne, WY that first night! Jason's parents only live 2 1/2 hours from there and decided to take their camper up to have dinner with us and a quick visit. I'm so glad they did!

Gramms and Abuelo!!