I always do a “snapshot” of how each new year looks right at the beginning.

Because I like to hold onto memories like nobody’s business.

And here we are already half way through MARCH and Grace is getting home from her mission TODAY, so I figure I better get busy snapshotting it up real quick for how the beginning of 2022 looks.

We have two kids at home…soon to be ONE, and we are holding on tight to this sister-togetherness-love for as long as we can get it. Sometimes this sister business sure doesn’t manifest itself as “love” (there’s some good annoyance going on along with the love), but there is something so special about watching those two take off in the truck for school each morning, Lucy’s impossibly heavy backpack in tow, Claire the ever-caretaker big sister.

They have just packed up their lunches, we’ve held our little devotional (at 6:50 each morning), Dave has measured out Lucy’s shot and made a hot breakfast for them (he’s the BEST).

As they sit at the counter and I do Lucy’s hair (yep, in the kitchen, kinda gross I know), we talk through a few verses of the Old Testament (that’s what we’re studying for Come Follow Me this year for church) and sometimes we can actually get those tired girls of ours to contribute some thoughts to the conversation 🙂

This is Lucy’s school preparation. Every morning:

And I swear that backpack is filled up with rocks, it is SO HEAVY. Probably not the best for her back post surgery, but she won’t have it any other way.

She also HAS to have her hair in a braid every single day. Sometimes I can get away with doing a more fancy one, but one braid in the back is pretty important to her. So if you ever see her with something different, talk it up, will you? (ha!)

They bask in watching the sunrise together en route to school. If they are late they will get “swept” (a new thing the school has come up with for late-comers), so they hustle, and I love to imagine mother-hen Claire dropping off Lucy right at the front so she can run to choir and then getting herself to class.

They sometimes make up dances together. They fill up the house with happiness at dinner time. Lucy makes Claire roll her eyes sometimes and Claire does the same to Lucy, but there’s a lot of love going on. Nothing like sisters.

Lucy just finished her basketball season (basketball manager) and is having a little bit of a rocky road trying to figure out what’s next. She likes to be busy and social, and she’s finding that to be so tricky as her vision dwindles so rapidly. She has been to two classes at the Foundation for Blind Children (very much a “labor of love” to get her there), and we are all holding out hope that she will be more accepting of what is offered there. She still LOVES to read, although her “reading” has turned into listening for the last few years since she can’t maneuver her eyes to see those words on pages any more. She listens to books as she takes apart and puts back together Lego creations, she loves to keep her room tidy and she’s a super particular about where everything goes (with good reason, she needs that stability). She has amazing teachers in school who make me cry every time we have an IEP meeting, and is super conscientious about grades, and really good at advocating for herself when she decides that’s what she wants. She writes the sweetest notes and when she gets in a dark place of sadness about the state of her vision (which is happening more and more often lately), she has an amazing ability to go into her bedroom and revamp, and come out a little later all sunshine and wanting to help me with whatever I’m doing.

And I adore her more than I could ever put words to.

Claire is one busy senior, and senioritis is real I tell you! But she is maneuvering this senior year and friends and fun and work and college thoughts pretty beautifully I have to say. She is nearing the end of her last club volleyball season. There was a time when she thought maybe she wouldn’t even do club, thought maybe she was done with volleyball, but she is so incredibly happy she did. (back HERE) She ADORES the girls on the team and the coaches and the challenge of being on such a high caliber team. They have been traveling a ton for tournaments here in state as well as out and this is a busy time. She doesn’t have a ton of classes at school (but I have to say she works hard at the ones she has and she’s a great student), so she was able to get a job as a receptionist at a dentist office in the afternoons and she loves it.

Claire applied to NYU, Boston University, Utah Valley University, and Point Loma. I don’t want to ever gloss over the college application process because boy howdy, it is a grueling one! She is still waiting to hear back from the first two but is honestly mostly deciding between Point Loma and UVU at this point. She wants to be in the West. She has had several schools reach out for her to play volleyball which is so flattering and exciting, and she has received two formal offers, and is in the midst of trying to figure all that out. These college decisions are tricky I tell you!

Grace has been living out her best life over in Texas as a missionary.

More about her experiences with some posts HERE.

We talk every week on Mondays and she has maneuvered the ups and downs of life as a missionary so beautifully (in her biased mother’s opinion). We got her “last letter” on Monday and it’s all set to post tomorrow, it made me cry. SO grateful for all she has learned that has taught me so much as well.

I helped her apply to UVU (tough to do from your mission), and that is a story in and of itself, but she is all set to go there in the fall (transferring from BYU Hawaii). Did I mention there are twenty-seven cousins on Dave’s side of the family there? Yep, it’s going to be a good place.

AND I CAN’T WAIT TO HUG HER IN A MATTER OF HOURS!!

Elle and Carson are in Miami where Carson is working his tail off in his second year of podiatry school and Elle is doing freelance graphic design. She quit a job working for a fitness apparel company a few months ago and still works for them on the side, but had so much work from other companies that she decided to give up the commute and work from home. And she loves it.

As inspired by Dave everyone is loving “hot yoga” these days (we do it together every time the kids come to town).

Max and Abby are in Utah, Max still has some school left (he transferred to UVU from BYU which tagged on some extra classes, but he loves it!), and he is working at a small mapping company doing what he loves. These guys are the cutest as well, love them so much!!

Abby is in between jobs right now which worked out perfect that Max’s work took them both on a cruise a couple weeks ago.

Lucky kids!

Gosh I love all these married kids!

Dave and I keep thinking life will slow down.

But it doesn’t.

And that’s ok.

Dave has his fingers in so many different things, and is working so hard. He still gets some pickleball in as well as his new love of hot yoga in the midst of the work.

And he’s the best dad to these kids who adore him.

I am loving working with the women in our church congregation and trying to scratch away on my new cello:)

And Bo? Well, she’s doing well too as our little shadow. Here’s her favorite spot:

Oh gosh I could go on and on, but I’m out of time and I’m sure you’re done reading.

There you have it, a small snapshot of life as we know it {near} the beginning of 2022

More detailed posts about things mentioned here:

Lucy’s basketball manager career

Claire’s volleyball club decision

Lots of “Missionary Mondays”

Other “snapshots” through the years

Similar Posts

16 Comments

  1. This may be random, but I am wondering about BYU vs UVU as a college of choice. Especially now that Max has transferred, Grace is transferring, and Claire is considering UVU…. I was surprised to see that none of Claire’s choices included any of the BYUs. Is there a reason for this? So far, all your kids have gone to BYU in some form or another. Plus BYU is only around $6k/year and UVU is over $20k…! How do Max and Abby afford this? Living expenses, insurance, tuition, etc etc …. just on Max’s income? Just curious!

      1. Ok, good questions. Max transferred because he felt the program he is studying is better at UVU. He loves the small class sizes and is really happy with the change. Grace was ready for a change (most of her friends have moved on from Hawaii, and she’s excited to be closer to Max and Abby and all the cousins), and she feels like UVU is a better fit for her. Elle had a wonderful experience at BYU Hawaii. Claire is kind of wishing she had applied there, but just really wasn’t interested in BYU. I don’t know why. We have nothing against BYU, every kid is just different. As far as payment goes, Claire has an academic scholarship available there for in-state tuition and Grace is working on the same thing. Max has in-state tuition and also great grants, and Abby has been working this whole time as well, she’s just in between jobs at the time I wrote this.

  2. What is Claire looking to study? And what about Grace? Your family is amazing- thank you for sharing your stories with all of us!

    1. They wish they knew! They are undetermined on majors right now, although they sure have a lot of ideas. We shall see!

  3. I’m curious – why do they nearly always go to church run uni etc?

    Is it because they don’t want to be around non-members?

    I don’t get it.

    Also, did you manage to stop Bo barking so much?

    1. I certainly can’t speak for any of the Pothiers’ experiences but I can speak for my own. I’m a member of the church who did NOT go to a church school but went to Penn State because of a family tuition discount. While I had a wonderful experience, starting out was incredibly lonely. I didn’t drink or party or swear or watch rated R/sex heavy movies, while those were all very regular activities my peers took part in. I was obviously friendly with people in my classes and clubs but I didn’t make any “best friends” because we didn’t do the same sorts of activities outside of class.

      Again, that’s my own experience only so take from that what you will. I will also note that UVU is not a church affiliated school. It’s just in Utah and is near BYU.

      1. Thanks for the input, Ciara. BYU (church run uni) both in Hawaii and in Provo are great universities that provide great education at a really low cost. There are so many kids from all over who gather there so I think that’s fun for kids who have never been surrounded by kids in their same religion…and also ones who have! It is definitely not to separate from those not of the same faith, it’s just what so many friends do and it’s so affordable. We have really encouraged our kids to go back East for college…ok I should say “I” have encouraged them because that’s what I did for my Freshman year and man alive, it was the BEST for me. But so far no one has taken the bait. Maybe Lucy will be the one…

        And to echo Ciara, UVU is not a church affiliated school. Just one that is situated in the same valley with BYU.

        And no, we have had no luck whatsoever with Bo and that crazy barking. I tried everything suggested but haven’t been consistent so I need to get back on that!!
        xoxo

  4. Thanks everyone for the questions!
    Just an FYI, I do love questions and I’m so happy to share here in this spot. Love learning from others as well, keep the thoughts coming! And generally I leave comments here for the public even if they have an edge to them because I think it’s a good way for us all to learn from each other.

    But I do have to say I draw the line at comments that are not kind about others, especially those in my family. Say what you want about me, but know I will never leave comments that degrade others nor will I respond to them. Period.

  5. Also, randomly I will say that I think it’s completely appropriate to wear a swimsuit in a cruise terminal when you’re about to head to the beach. Just for anyone wondering my personal opinion ❤️

  6. Randomly I will agree with you. Your blog readers are not mind readers as to the location so it was a fair question. So why not just explain that when asked vs delete the picture and the question? ❤️

    1. Because the question was asked in a very unkind way . I don’t allow comments like that, want to keep this space positive.

    2. Why should anyone have to answer any question about someone’s under clothing choice? Little loan not even their own picture the questions were being asked about…..
      Let’s let all humans under clothing choice not be a topic Of discussion anywhere! Let’s normalize that really is not okay in ANY circumstance.

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