Despite, me being sick with Covid, the rest of my crew has been asymptomatic and Trevor actually tested negative. The CDC changed the regulations indicating that the fully vaccinated don't have to quarantine, but should mask up. After talking to Stacie, Patrick and Shelli, Trevor decided to that he, Kaylee and Trace (he took my ticket) would go to Orlando for the Citrus Bowl. They went up on the 31st and had a fun day watching football bowl games and having a nice dinner with Stacie and Patrick, Shelli and her friend Bob, and Holly and Dave Rasmussen.
The Citrus Bowl was on the 1st and they had a fun day tailgating before the game and a great time at the game despite the Hawks losing in the last couple of minutes, 17-20. I'm glad they were able to go to the game and enjoy themselves.
Our time in Iowa was fun while it lasted. We arrived late on the 22nd and spent the first few days at Grandma Becki's house. Trevor, Kianna and I went for a walk on the trail behind our old house. It looked like a graveyard with all the trees gone due to the Derecho and new ones planted with white cylinders around them. Kaylee enjoyed some time with Lily Ford.
We also enjoyed time with the Langfald's. As usual, Sam went all out providing us with a fun-filled Christmas Eve. She recreated the Price Is Right game and did an amazing job. Uncle Mike smoked us with a meat extravaganza full of burnt ends, wings, ribs and Philly cheesesteak. We love his smoked meat.
On Christmas Day, we had monkey bread and then went over to my dad and Sue's house where we had taco pie with them, Rod and Jada. We played some cards and then went to the new Kurt Warner movie, "American Underdog". It was an excellent day.
On the 26th, we transitioned over to my dad and Sue's house. Upon arriving, my dad mentioned he had had a rough night and was a bit congested. We tried to keep him at the other end of the table as we played cards. Later that night, we went over to the Flender's house for a little party with our old small group.
On the 27th, we found out that my dad had a rough night and was feeling pretty lousy. Sue went and bought a Covid test and sure enough he tested positive. It was at this point, that our time in Iowa took a turn for the worst. We canceled all of our plans for the next few days. After much debate, we decided that we would rather spend our quarantine back in Florida and not risk being unable to make our flight home on the 29th. We rented a car and were on the road by 1:30 pm. We made it to Nashville, TN before taking a break for the night. We arrived by 8:30 pm on the 28th.
On the 29th, I woke up with a sore throat, so I took a Covid test that came back negative, so off to the beach we went. During the night, I ended up taking another Covid test and this time it came back positive. From there, I spent my time quarantined in our bedroom and everyone else stayed away from me. Thankfully, my symptoms have been mild with the worst being a stuffy nose, back pain and a sinus headache. Thankfully the rest of our crew has stayed healthy so far.
It was a bummer not being able to see everyone while we were back in Iowa. Sue ended up testing positive as well. Thankfully, my dad had a very mild case. We're praying Sue does too. I guess this is life during a pandemic...
Today is the day we picked to celebrate our family Christmas. We started off by going to church, opened gifts, had a yummy meal of brisket, mashed potatoes and fresh green beans. We ended our day by watching, "A Nativity Story", focusing on the true meaning of Christmas. It was a wonderful day together with our crazy crew.
