There is something very sacred about having your whole family together after the first child leaves to spread his wings. And then the next. And before we know it, the next. And each of those steps makes the snippets of togetherness heavy with importance and beauty. We had one morning all together and we didn’t do anything overly fantastic or amazing, but we were all here. All eight of us. And that was just a good thing to have.
Well, I guess one fantastic thing was this platter of pancakes Elle got, because pictures cannot do that gigantic thing justice!!
Max and Abby unwrapped gifts, I’m always so overcome with gratitude for the generosity of so many.
Elle took off to Spain.
I got to drive her to the airport just the two of us and loved watching her head off on that grand adventure. Love the pictures that kept popping up on our phones of all the beauty places she found over in that part of the world.
We tried to wrap up as many loose ends as we could here at home and then headed up to Utah.
…and helped Max and Abby move into their first home together…a little duplex they lucked out to find close to campus.
It was so fun to be there that day, excitement filling up the air. Target shopping with their wedding credit, Costco, grocery store, Cubby’s, everyone was so excited to help and it was so fun to see their cute little place and share in the excitement they have to set up shop. So fun to be able to watch their world of marriage and life beyond begin.
You aren’t officially “moved in” until you bake cookies in your own oven so obviously we had to help them with that:)
Loved being part of the “Utah scene” of Eyres for a few days.
We did hot yoga with Sayds and Julie/Eli and Abby, hated the hot, but loved the company, and there’s just something so good about stretching and pushing your body in that way. I love yoga, need to do it more.
Games and yummy food at Saydi’s cozy home:
Winter beauty all around:
…that caused stuck cars and frozen fingers, but so many good memories!
Brunch with high school friends (so great to catch up with them…love them so!),
Sledding at BCRANC with everyone + Schwartz family + Maureen…best friends since childhood. Amy (Schwartz) lives in London and it was so fun to see her and her family when we visited there a few years ago…and so fun to have she and my best high school friend Mo who were both essentially part of our family growing up.
All mixed up together with cousins in all that beauty snow.
I’ll let the pictures tell the story because I’m out of time…
Max and Abby’s little duplex is THE cutest! How fun being able to help them get settled!
What a cute house! What do Max & Abby do for work?
Thank you! Max is full-time school and volleyball, Abby is working and taking one class to support the family for now. They are struggling to make it by but they are figuring out real life and I think they are doing a pretty great job!
I'm not sure why parents would stop paying for college due to their children's relationship status. I'm glad to hear that Abby plans to pursue her degree. With just an associates it's very hard to "support the family" with low paying wages. Why not encourage her AND Max to prioritize their education now while they can?!?! It's not just for wages, of course, a college education is a great way to refine thinking and growing in your early 20s. I feel sad that Abby isn't able to pursue that opportunity and be married. Why are they mutually exclusive. Once Max has graduated and is no doubt "supporting the family" Abby will be having babies and have missed the opportunity Max is having now. I know her 20 year old self is happy to do it but doesn't seem like an enriching longterm plan. Very sad.
I too hope she can transfer her credits. I admire your parents valuing education with all (I think?) of the Eyre siblings possessing bachelor's degrees, so I hope she's able to finish.
Oh I'm sorry if that wasn't clear, Abby is definitely pursuing her degree as well!!! She and Max both hold that as a very big priority.
The highlight of my December! Love you Shawn’s! Totally stole a picture or two! xo
Love you too Mo!
xoxo
Max and Abby's first home is so cute.
Provo is set up for married students with families. They have a better housing set up than your sister when she first had a baby.
Since BYU is church affiliated do they have some sort of automatic transfer for spouses of students? I certainly hope Abby is still pursuing her degree! I bet they’ll have tons of fun as “special” roommates.
They don't have an automatic transfer but she has her associates degree and is in the process of transferring over to get her bachelors degree.
I certainly hope she had the opportunity to earn herself a bachelors degree the way Max is.
So fun fact- that exact apartment is the one me and my husband lived in while we were at BYU. We raised our first little boy Jack there till he was 2. So many good memories. Ben and Ashley Eyre are our good friends:) Small world!
No way, that's crazy! It is such a small world!
Is there only one college in Provo? They aren’t room mates. They are a family.
No there are a few options which is really nice.
How or where did Max and Abby meet?
I wrote a little about that back here: https://71toes.com/2018/10/a-boy-meets-girl.html
But Grace made a video interviewing them about all that and I need to post it here!