August little things

I’ve been trying to get back on my “little things” bandwagon for a while now.

I am so dang far behind that it’s overwhelming, so I’m just starting where I am (at least a tiny bit recent).

So let’s go back to August for a minute where Lu and I found ourselves in Wisconsin again for doctor appointments:

And then we came back to meet up with Claire who came home from The Netherlands within MINUTES of when we arrived, only one gate away.

Can you tell how happy Lu is about that behind her mask?

All about that over-the-moon happy jubilation back HERE, along with some school prep (that was two days before school started…yep, we do crazy things here in the desert like start school on AUGUST 4th!!)

Then these two headed off together into the sunrise of HIGH SCHOOL together for one year:

They even had a band to welcome everyone. So happy.

They came home happy and ready for our traditional cookie chat…complete with our favorite cookies:

Meanwhile Dave was in L.A. for his final class project for his graduate program.

Not sure why he’s not in that pic up there, but here he is:

Bad timing for the first day of school, but thanks to technology he could still join us:)

(Along with Elle who is always the best at keeping in touch with these little sisters.)

Funny pictures below, but I want to remember that Lu actually came around with me to deliver some little things to some of the women in our ward, and also that Bo Jangles is my shadow.

Always.

And had our little graduation final dinner with these Thunderbird graduates:

I wrote all about that back HERE.

(As of right now we still haven’t had the formal graduation…covid issues, but it’s gonna be great when we get there, and this was a fun night to celebrate all that hard work.)

So proud of this guy:

Favorite thing when Claire comes home late on the weekends and comes to perch herself at the end of our bed to tell us all about it:

Volleyball booster club meetings started up:

I got to babysit this little sweetie while his mama went to the temple:

My friend and I took our sweet girl from back when we were in Activity Days out for ice cream (she’s moved and we want to keep tabs on her):

Cousins rock:

So does my Relief Society Presidency.

Honestly I don’t know what I would do without those wonderful women. Love them each so much!

Did I mention Bo Jangles is my shadow? This is after we got caught running in a rainstorm:

Speaking of cousins rocking, Wellesley got to go visit her one cousin who was living there for an internship for the summer with her other cousins:

Those four are priceless together I tell you, love them all so much!

I went to back-to-school night at the high school, trying to memorize all of Lucy’s classes and personally introduce myself to all her teachers. Oh it is so interestingly different to have a daughter with special needs, makes nights like this so heart-pumping important…with worry and also gratitude.

Yes, that is cement, they didn’t finish the new floor before school started and guess what? It was just fine:)

Lu and I had matching hair one day, so of course, we had to take a pic, and I don’t know why Dave is looking stressed in the other picture…maybe that was one of the nights we were trying to plan our trip to Europe…

We had some serious planning going on for our upcoming trip to Italy and Switzerland. Oh my goodness. I did a lot of it but I had to call in the “professional organizer” for some of the decisions. A lot of work went into those plans. And also some “disagreements.” Ha!

That along with the predicted forecast made for some stressful prep times:

But OH!!! SO VERY WORTH EVERY MINUTE OF IT!

I scrambled to finish up things before I left town like I always do, and also fit in some b-day decorating:

(My friend was turning fifty…yep I’m getting to that stage!)

And I recorded my little devotional for the Come Follow Me App:

It features this “dark sunset” photo and what I learned when I took it:

(All about that back HERE)

Got it turned in in the nick of time, then we were OFF!

…To see some pretty grand beauty:

With these two couples we adore:

Even the airport floor in Venice is beautiful for crying out loud!:

Dave and I just watched the James Bond movie filmed in Venice after having just visited there and it made me look back at pictures like these with new awe:

(All about Venice HERE.)

And then the Dolomites:

Yikes that beauty!!!

Mixed in with our beauty missionary…love that we all got to talk to her in the middle of that trip!

Met up with my brother in Switzerland:

And topped it all off with paragliding in Grindelwald.

You can find all those posts over HERE.

Loved trying to teach Elle to cut hair over FaceTime:

The parent meeting for Lucy’s choir (MCO)…these guys are pretty amazing:

…and it’s also amazing that I happened to run into one of my old mission companions there too!

I mean really, it is a SMALL WORLD! Sure love her!

Max decided to transfer from BYU to UVU:

All about that big decision back HERE.

Meanwhile Grace was reading the whole Book of Mormon in ONE DAY:

And Claire was getting her SENIOR PICTURES taken.

How is that even possible??????

Volleyball varsity retreat on the right below and a typical night-time mask on the left below:

I mean, you gotta keep yourself all sparkly right?

Volleyball in FULL swing:

All about the beginning of the volleyball season back HERE.

It was the anniversary of when my friend’s daughter passed away. We wanted to commemorate in any special way we could.

Lu and I made some of our favorite chocolate cookies since that was what she loved.

I’m so grateful that even though I didn’t know that daughter of my friend’s, I feel like I know her through my friend. So grateful for that and for the beautiful stories she has shared.

Loved this: