Cherished Places

What do you do when you are told your 11 month old son has less than 13 more to live?

You take an RV Road Trip / Family Vacation to the places that are cherished to your family.  Places that are special to you now or places you want to be special to you in the future.  So, pack up the family and head out on a 2800 mile trip 4.1 states (being in Montana for like 5 miles counts as only 0.1 states…sorry Montana) to see 8 National Parks or Monuments we did!!!  And what an amazing trip it was!!!

We planned a large loop up to Yellowstone National Park with stops in Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Calf Creek Falls, Dinosaur National Monument, Grand Teton, Lava Hot Springs Idaho and ended with a few days in Zion National Park.  Our goal was to take pictures and make memories, for far sooner than should ever happen, the only things we will have left are memories and pictures.  We also wanted to visit places that we knew we would be back to during our lives so we would have the opportunity to remember Charles and thank God for how He has blessed us in the midst of losing Charles.

The trip was such a sweet time for us.  We enjoyed time away from the routine of our life at home with Charles while seeing some amazing places.  This was really the first family vacation Amelia and Wesley were old enough to run around on their own on.  We were sad we could not do and see more, but we enjoyed every second of the trip.  A few of the highlights were:

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• Amelia going on a 6 mile, round trip hike, with Brian to Calf Creek Falls…and walking 4.5 to 5 of the miles on her own
• Amelia and Wesley’s first S’mores Roasting 
• A few hours in the Lava Hot Springs pools in 45 degree weather.  This time was more special because Charles loved soaking in the warm water while either Kim or Brian held him.
• Amelia and Wesley officially sworn in as Jr. Rangers in Grand Teton National Park
• Seeing Amelia and Wesley experience their first wild animals in Yellowstone, including bears and bison
• Charles. He was content. He loved nature, the fresh air, the cold weather, the sounds of laughter...a lot of laughter, his stroller, his hikes in the rain in his stroller & constant snuggle time. He loved it!

We ended our trip in Zion National Park.  This was especially significant to us for many, many reasons.  Kim and Brian have enjoyed Zion on an almost annual basis from the first summer we were dating!  When we found out Amelia was sick, we planned a trip to Zion when she would have been 11 months old to give thanks for still having her.  When she went into heart failure, 5 months before the trip, we prayed we could still make it.  Those prayers were answered when we completed the trip, 10 weeks after her transplant and capped off the hardest year of our life until that point with a hike to the top of Angels Landing with our campus pastor from undergrad who also married us.  When we received the news about Charles, even before the shock wore off, before we could really comprehend what this meant and could wrestle with the “WHY” questions, we dreamed and asked if it would be possible to get Charles to Zion, to the places we loved, and the places wanted him to see, places like the Narrows and Angels Landing.  Angels Landing, with a 2 year old and a 4 year old, on top of Charles, was out of the question, but many of the other places were within reach.  We even had ice cream with him in Springdale, a nightly treat while we are in Zion.

We captured memories and pictures we will have for the rest of our lives and we have places to go back to and give things for the blessings we have in our lives!

Blessings

Amelia, Wesley, Kimberly, Brian and Charles