Parenting
Growing up with “parenting experts” and having five children of my own, I’ve learned a thing or two about raising kids.
The biggest thing I’ve learned?
There’s no one “right way” to do it. We all have unique talents and personalities to bring to the table.
Hoping what I share here on 71toes.com will help stimulate your own ideas. Ideas for building stronger family relationships, creating a family economy, establishing family systems. It’s always good to see how others are doing it so we can add to our own “toolbox.”
Sending lots of love your way as you maneuver your own unique parenting adventure.
XOXO
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Some Time in Utah with My Big Kids
Last week my sisters and I got to celebrate my baby sister Charity’s 40th birthday. So much more on that to come, but for…
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The Night After High School Graduation: When the Letting Go Really Begins
It’s graduation season, and emotions after a child’s high school graduation have always been tricky for me! Makes me think of this post outlining…
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Celebrating Grace’s UVU Graduation
Two weeks ago Grace officially graduated from Utah Valley University with a degree in communications. Her college graduation celebration was unconventional because not a…
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Packing Up a First Year of College: Moving Lucy Out of Her Dorm
The day we moved Lucy out of her first college dorm after her first year of college is her story to tell. I’m sure…
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Helping Your Child Choose a College (Elle’s Story)
(Updated in 2026 as we head into graduation and college decision season—a time when so many parents are in the thick of helping a…
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Easter Traditions That Hold Us Together (Even as Kids Grow Up)
Every year as Easter approaches I find myself asking the same question:How do we make this holiday feel as meaningful as it really is?…
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Adjusting to Empty Nest Life: Finding Balance After Kids Leave Home
There’s a strange balance to be found in adjusting to empty nest life. After nearly three decades of raising children, Dave and I are…
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Visiting Adult Children: A Quick Trip to Palo Alto and San Francisco
There is something so magnificent to me about visiting your adult children and getting a glimpse into the life they are building. Dave and…
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Valentine’s Day Weekend with my Valentines
I got to spend Valentine’s Day weekend with not only my very own husband-valentine, but also with my kid-valentines, plus a couple of their…
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Another Birthday – This Time it’s Carson
Ok, I’ve been largely MIA around here. Been working so hard on getting this little blog “revamp” going, have you noticed it? So many…
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Visiting My College Daughter with Low Vision: Lucy’s First Semester
People have asked for an update on Lucy. For anyone new needing an introduction, Lucy is my daughter, and also an incredible college student…
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Preparing Lucy for College: A Journey of Grit, Growth, and Angels
Preparing a child for college is a big step for any parent. Preparing a child with special needs can feel like stepping into completely…
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The Beginning of College for Lucy – “By Small and Simple Things”
Yesterday Lucy became an official college student. Well, in all actuality, she started last week in a special “connections” class to kick things off.…
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A Simple Way to Connect With Adult Children Through Prayer
We all want ways to connect with our young adults, right? I mean, as parents we are in this funky land of “moving to…
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Lucy Takes on an Excellent College Prep Program for the Blind
Preparing Lucy for college has required a different kind of preparation. That’s why finding the right college prep program for blind students felt so…
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Graduation Day Emotions: Letting Go of Your Last Child
A week ago from yesterday Lucy sat on the same football field where all my kids have graduated, adorned with her own cap and…
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Letting Kids Go: Preparing for My Last Child to Graduate
So here we are, preparing for my last child to graduate this week. And life has been filled to the brim with festivities as…
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“Moving to the Bleachers” For Easter – Easter 2025
We got lucky enough to celebrate with most of our kids this Easter. The weekend was filled up with kids, grand babies, long walks…
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Squabbling Sisters Can Grow Up to be Best Friends
Here’s another post in my series of “sister posts.” Today I am here to give mothers of young squabbling sisters some hope. Because guess…
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Florida with our married kids after Carson’s Graduation — Goodbye Miami!
It’s so strange to be in a season of life with adult children moving away. Again and again. It makes any time we get…
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We have an official Doctor in the Family!
Yep, Carson is official. And I got a little teary as he stood with his classmates and recited the “Oath of Hippocrates,” pledging to…
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What to Do for FHE When You Only Have One Kid at Home
I have an update coming soon about what the big kids are up to, because they are up to a lot. And oh how…
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The Beginning of Claire’s Missionary Adventure in Australia
I wrote about Claire’s birthday in Australian birthday time (yesterday since she’s 18 hours ahead of us). But it’s her birthday today in America.…
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Claire’s Mission Arrival in Australia: Finding “Bubbles of Love” Far From Home
Let’s talk about my daughter’s mission arrival experience in Australia. Because through it I have developed an incredible gratitude for “bubbles of love.” And…
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A special way to send off your young adult
At the tail end of Home MTC for Claire, we had all the extended cousins over for “Pies & Ties.” This has become a…
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Sending Claire Off…How the “Big” Kids Took Their Sister Under Their Wings and Eased Their Mother’s Heart in the Process
I thought I would be ok just sending Claire off to the MTC by herself. You see, she has eight more weeks of study…
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What Is Home MTC? A Look at Claire’s Missionary Training at Home
I haven’t posted about some pretty big business around here as Claire has started her missionary service: what Home MTC is and how it…
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Lots of “little things” leading up to Claire becoming a missionary
Oh I have SO much to say about this “Home MTC” thing Claire is smack-dab in the middle of right now. But let’s take…
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Two big steps in mission preparation: temple and farewell for Claire
Oh my goodness. TODAY Claire starts the “home MTC.” And I have a million and one things to say about that. There are a…
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How to Navigate Family Reunions When Your Own Family “Grows Up”
I’m in the midst of writing a post about our giant Eyre family reunion to hopefully publish tomorrow. It was grand and I loved…
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Claire’s prep for two new adventures – mission and study abroad
Let’s talk about Claire’s prep for two new adventures: study abroad and a mission. As I type, she is already checked into her new…
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Our First Three-generation family Reunion
We were able to meet up with our whole family over Memorial Day. It was our first three-generation family reunion.
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Claire’s Mission Call Story
Claire has been preparing for something kind of quietly. But since it’s now been assigned, I’m here to say Claire is heading out on…
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how to “move to the bleachers” parenting adult kids
Through the years I have gathered some thoughts and advice for parenting adult kids. How do we “move to the bleachers” parenting adult kids.…
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four ways for young adults to learn to love themselves
Leading up to Valentine’s Day tomorrow, let’s talk about learning to love ourselves. Specifically, four ways for young adults to learn to love themselves.…
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How to Improve the Sibling Dynamic in Your Home
Depending on what stage you’re in with your family, it may sound impossible to improve the sibling dynamic because there are all kinds of…
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moving and transferring and volleyball all smooshed together: college life
Our college girls have a whole lot of life-moving-pieces going on up there in Provo, so let’s do a little update on that. Because…
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the start of a new chapter for Claire
As we made the trip to Utah to tuck Claire into her new experience in the dorms for summer school, I couldn’t help but…
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Our Fourth High School Graduation (And All the Feelings That Come With It)
A Birthday Digression First Let’s go back to graduation. What’s that you say? Not the right graduate? I know, I know, it’s all about…
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It Doesn’t Get Better, It Just Gets Different (Letting Go of Kids Again)
When Letting Go of Kids Doesn’t Get Any Easier I thought, when I was sorrowing away getting ready for Max to leave the nest,…
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When a College Volleyball Offer Changed Everything for Claire
We really thought Claire was done with volleyball…until a college athletic recruitment decision made it’s way into the mix. You see, she had gone…
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Moving Grace to a New College: Another Step Into the Big Wide World
Moving a college student to a new school feels different than the first time. Since Grace is transferring to a new college, this wasn’t…
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How to Hold Your Family Close When You’re Far Away – The Beauty of Family Traditions
Traditions have power. They can be like the glue to hold a family together in my opinion, keeping hearts united even when they are…
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Grace’s Departure for a Mission During COVID
Those last weeks before a child leaves on a mission are a strange mix of sacred, ordinary, and emotional. Especially when said child is…
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Letting Go of a Child Leaving Home: An End and a Beginning
Isn’t life just filled right up with ends and beginnings? Over and over again? Hopefully we learn from all of them. Letting go of…
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Once Upon a Time: Grace’s Temple Experience Before Her Mission
We may as well keep this week a “Grace” week with the posts, because there sure has been a lot going on in her…
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Home MTC and a reassignment for Grace
Welp, starting a mission during COVID is never dull. It’s met with unexpected changes, including a mission reassignment for Grace. Starting a Mission During…
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The Setting Apart
Grace was set apart to serve as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints a few nights ago. Having a…
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light and a new missionary-to-be
Receiving a Mission Call During COVID It is a beautiful thing for a mother to watch her child make big decisions. Especially when you…
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I Love Family Dinners
I came across a picture of this painting a little while back and I instantly fell in love with it. Because to me, it…
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Dropping Off Kids at College in Hawaii
I’ve learned that dropping off kids at college is never just a trip—it’s an emotional transition wrapped in excitement, exhaustion, and unexpected beauty. And…
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Reunion and Release: Letting Go of Adult Children
Letting go of adult children doesn’t happen just once. It comes in waves—reunions filled with energy and stories, followed by quiet goodbyes as they…
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Grandfather’s Secrets and Grammie Camp: Intentional Grandparenting
Let’s talk about the ripple effects of intentional grandparenting. Because my children have benefitted so very much from the care and love of their…
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the after-party…and a video of the whole deal
I still can’t quite believe it—Max is married! Watching your son get married and stepping into this new chapter has been beautiful, emotional, and,…
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Releasing Paper Boats Off to Sea — The Wedding
I’ve come to find out that watching your adult children marry is like sending a paper boat out to sea — you’ve nurtured it,…
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pre-wedding preparations
Preparing for your son’s wedding is an interesting journey as a mother—the details, the emotions, and all the little things in between. And underneath…
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out with the envelopes, and three things that have brought in Christmas beauty
In theory it feels like some Christmas seasons will be calm and slow. I can’t imagine that right now, because it seems like all…
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Taiwan — the end of Max’s island and a “double day” on to Elle’s
After our lunch with Max’s wonderful mission presidents, and a visit to their home and the mission office (last post), we took a LONG…
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Ten Ideas to Foster Strong Sibling Relationships
Sibling rivalry and squabbles are a part of family life, but there are a few things that you can do to help your kids…
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a mission release date for Max
Missionary Monday update on a Tuesday… Max’s friends started coming home from missions this summer. Many of them left right after high school (and…
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missionary miracles (and an update on Max)
Watching a child grow in faith while serving a mission is pretty amazing. From letters and pictures to unexpected connections, Max’s journey in the…
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the departure
There is something uniquely emotional about dropping your son off at the MTC. After all the waiting and preparing your heart, it suddenly becomes…
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Pies & Ties, Mission Prep and Setting Apart
Letting a child go is one of the most sacred and stretching parts of motherhood. And sending a son on a mission for two…
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When Your Son Leaves for Two Years: Letting Go as a Mom
Max is safe and sound in the MTC and I can still hardly believe it. We gave him one last hug and he walked…
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Max’s farewell weekend
Max’s missionary farewell was last weekend. That’s when the getting-ready-to-leave missionary gives a talk at church and lots of people who love him…
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God is in the details
I need lots of reminders about trusting God when sending a child on a mission. There are so many quiet worries about who will…
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once upon a time…
Once upon a time in a town in the middle of a desert a temple was built. The families in the area anxiously awaited…
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Max’s mission call
There are few moments in parenting that feel as emotional as watching your child open their LDS mission call. The waiting, the wondering, the…
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the BYU drop-off
After all the blubbering emotions of letting our son go, we headed to BYU for the actual college drop-off. And as hard as it…
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The Rollercoaster of Sending a Child to College for the First Time
Sending a child to college for the first time is something no one can fully prepare you for — and nobody warned me how…
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The “Repenting Bench” — How to Handle Sibling Fights
One of my favorite discipline tactics for younger children is what we call the “repenting bench.” We adapted this from my parents. Are you…
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Friday Q & A — Keepsakes and Combating Sibling Rivalry in Young Kids
Do you keep the letters etc in their memory books/journals {from THIS post about the letters I write to my kids on Mother’s Day…I…