The End of Summer for Lucy, and Other August Happenings

Welp, Lucy is braving a whole new year of college. Doing impossible things every day as she marches forward trying to maneuver everything college. I feel like we were a bit naive about this year. We figured by now we all have some experience under our belts. But I have to say, we’ve all been through the wringer a bit with this one.

But before I get to the move-in I need to start with my minuscule collection of photos I have from her BYU summer semester. A whopping grand total of four photos to wrap up that semester.

Thank goodness for my niece’s BeReals, and for a friend’s daughter who honestly made Lucy’s whole week by inviting her to go to a movie with her one night (above right).

She had her first college road trip to Yellowstone because of these three adorable girls below on the right. And that was pretty special.

Ok, but we did have some other things captured that I talked about before…like how my mother heart to send her off again, and there was her computer fiasco and some serious miracles. Oh, and there was that very special day when we worked together on moving her out of her dorm there (at the end of this post).

The In-Between Time

And then it was down to just the three of us in Utah. Well, just these two actually for a couple days when i had to be back in the desert to teach a class and go to the doctor.

The National Ability Center

Lucy was bound and determined that she was NOT coming home between semesters. I mean, she’s an adult after all, right. We told her great, figure out what you want to do up in Utah and we’ll support it. That’s when Dave and I found the National Ability Center (thanks to Claire’s boyfriend’s family). YOU GUYS!! this place is incredible! They have all kinds of adaptive sports and camps and activities to help people get out and do incredible things. I think this photo hanging on one of the walls explains it best:

I mean really, incredible right? Dave and I took a tour and when Lucy hadn’t figured out her two-week in-between-semester deal, we mentioned that maybe this could be a fit.

And she surprised us by being all in. (Surprised only because that girl has a hard time buying in to any of our suggestions these days.). It’s a long story but she took the same tour we did (with the most awesome tour guide).

Lucy took a few classes there (archery and cooking) and then started into a camp to learn some skills. This part didn’t turn out so great…it wasn’t quite the right fit for Lucy (she already knew how to do most of the things). She did get to participate in the ropes course of that camp though, which she LOVED.

And that girl was suddenly hit with a giant case of homesickness. So we got lucky enough to spend one week back in the desert.

Back HOME for a bit

It felt so good to have that girl home even for a minute. She delighted in Bo Jangles and I delighted having her on the back of the tandem bike again. We played games each night.

And to me, there’s nothing better than cooking in the kitchen with my kids. I think this is Lucy’s love language too, so we spent a lot of time here:

Lucy baked cookies to make a little extra money from her cookie business until they were coming out of her ears. Our whole kitchen was spilling out with her work and mine (home-made meals are Lucy’s favorite).

She drummed up all these orders herself, and let me tell you, that girl worked her heart out!

She also set up a game night with her favorite family, which we all loved.

Then that girl was ready. She was anxious as could be to get up to move back into USU. She was so nervous about wanting to try out for the USU choir, nervous her roommates were all already there (all freshmen doing the connections courses). So much more about that move-in coming, but let’s touch on just a few other things.

Other August Happenings

Of course, there was so much going on aside from Lucy’s journey. I wish I still did monthly “little things” posts because man, I love to remember this stuff! But let’s go for just a minute into the recesses of the photos on my phone and some notes I took to remember some of the other tip-of-the-iceberg things that happened in August. I already talked about some of them, but here are a few more things I want to remember. While in Utah after all the move-ins and move-outs, we got to do a few things:

• have a special dinner date, listening to her cousins open their mission calls in that beautiful and hilarious Zoom call and on Instagram
• Dave and I got to go to a fundraiser in honor of my high school friend who passed away a couple years ago. They are building a house in his honor at “The Other Side Village” community and I loved going to that event (tried to get Lu to come but “no thank you”), Joseph Grenny and employees who were formerly homeless taking us into another world with their stories and hope. I loved that Dave got to meet so many of my high school friends, all wanting to do so much good in the world, and that I got to see them again too. I am so lucky I got to go to school with and be influenced in so many good ways from those good people.

• Picked up Claire and Sam from the airport, fresh from over a week with his family after their summer internships.
• Met up with friends who are in Utah for lunch, met up with Grace for dinner in Midway (with Lucy, Sam and Claire too), sitting on a porch surrounded by hollyhocks and under bistro lights…and happened to see some friends there too!

That place is GOOD, highly recommend!

• sitting under the warm glow of those bistro lights surrounded by incredible women celebrating the goodness they have found in the world along with celebrating that amazing woman we call Saydria. So lucky to be able to join in to this incredible tradition for the first time.
• Sneaking into Saydi’s kitchen after the dinner to do a family facetime call for Elle’s birthday, floating her cake in her sink, feeling so much love for both of these birthday girls and my family

• Loving being together with all those amazing women for Saren’s birthday flower-picking celebration too (talked about in this post as well)..and enjoying those flowers after!

• Got to hang a little bit with my grand babies…and kids.

• While in Utah I got to attend Claire’s friends wedding with all these women and girls who have become my dear friends too, love them so much!

I had to sneak out to catch a flight, my heart starting to race to teach my first gospel doctrine class the next day. It was on Job. And I LOVED learning from teaching.

In the desert I got to be at two of my cute nieces baby showers, both having little boys.

There’s nothing like a good baby shower to reconnect with people you love all excited about those new arrivals on their way.

• I finally pulled up my ranunculi corms, so late and neglected that they came out silvery and baked in the hot desert sun.

• We went to the Noah Kahan concert with some friends and I’ve been thinking about confidence ever since (and also listening to Noah Kahan, I’m a new fan).

• carpooling with my friends for my communications council training, sitting nestled in that chapel filled with people who are trying to do work I’m YEARNING to do with them: connect to other religions and truly love our neighbors. It’s like this little piece of REAL and good that I never knew existed in our church and I’m so excited to be a part of it.
• hanging out with good friends, and some meeting for Dave and Max and Elle for some ideas they have brewing for a possible business:

• Played mahjong, brought dinner to friends, Dave and I joined in with the Pothiers at the temple for my niece to receive her endowment
• my friend Tonia and Lucy took maybe their last date to the temple for baptisms, (since Tonia is breaking both our hearts by moving next month), made food for the baby shower, went to the dentist, got my allergy shot, Lucy baked cookies for all the young women, and the three of us got to sit together in church just like old times.

After we moved Lucy in, we were kind of in need of something to take our hearts and brains off of that business so it was so perfect that our friends took us on the best bike ride:

We got to go to the new temple visitor center:

Our other friends took us to Bear Lake:

…with a much needed stop to help Lu with the finishing touches on her new dorm room…BLESS OUR FRIENDS’ HEARTS for coming along, did my mama heart so well.

And you guys, LOOK AT UTAH!!

I can’t get enough!

Phew, I gotta stop, it’s too late! But it was a big month and worth remembering some of these things before they fade into the ancient recesses of my forgetting brain.

Lucy’s college move-in coming next.