The passage of time is so interesting. It just seemed like Claire had been on her mission for fourteen years and we’d never get her home. And then, BAM! She’s been home for almost a month and a half. We got her for a whole month of that and I have to say, we felt pretty happy about that.
Probably no one more than Lucy. Can you tell up there? And down below??
Oh she sure adores that sister of hers and makes no bones about it.
I already talked about her grand return, and what we did with the family all around until her homecoming at church. Then a quick sister trip to Palo Alto.
The timing was so perfect that it was spring break on the heels of Claire coming home. And I already talked about the part of that where we got her up in Utah to ski to our heart’s delight and meet our new baby Ada.
Phew, that’s a lot already, right? But the party continued…
We also got to sneak away with just these two for a few days.
One More Week Before Claire Left for Utah
Then we had one more week with Claire at home before she moved up to Utah.
We jammed it with as much as we could trying to get her ready to launch and trying to catch up on so much after leaving for two weeks…and really, after putting life on hold ever since Claire got home.
We took sunset bike rides, Bo prancing along between us.
Lots of bike rides…
Claire made us dinner and we read through my old mission letters…the ones I wrote and also the ones I received.
We picked random days to read of her mission journal.
Thank goodness for FaceTime to see “our” babies:
We went to the temple.
We took Claire to our Speaker Series in the big city, the last one of the year with Jon Meacham teaching us so much about history.
We got to hang out and do things like go to Costco (a real treat for Claire), and have Sunday dinner together.
Claire helped so much with my salad group prep (steak caprese salad):
…and drove my brainfood route with me while trying to keep up on her HXP zoom calls and trying to get set up for BYU classes and find a job.
Wicked
We went to Wicked (the play) with the tickets Dave gave Lucy for Christmas. Both girls were incredibly delighted about this which made it even better.
Lucy was on the very edge of her seat the whole time, wiping tears from her eyes during “for good,” whooping and hollering in her favorite parts.
Her excitement made us all love the experience exponentially more, Dave, Claire and I all looking at each other with wide-eyed amazement with how adored that play is by Lucy.
Dumpling Tutorial
Claire taught us to make dumplings and we invited some friends to join us. I loved having everyone encircling the kitchen island, the kitchen alive with talk, talk, talking and learning to roll out the dough, fill and make the perfect little pockets for the meat Claire whipped up with chopsticks.
Claire did this SO much in Australia and I loved learning how it was done, watching/helping Claire who knew exactly how to do it.
We all sat around the kitchen table eating the fruits of our labors, even Lucy liking those dumplings.
A Father’s Blessing
We finished up her packing and wrapped up our time post-mission together with Dave giving Claire a father’s blessing.
I don’t think any of us were really ready to send her off again. But luckily it was into the arms of her sisters for a concert (another sister trip Grace and Elle organized to celebrate Claire being home) and then on to “real” life.
There are so many things for her to situate but man alive, I sent up a silent prayer of gratitude over and over again for that month we got to spend together. Filled up with so many reunions, family, friends. Sheesh!
It is a pretty amazing opportunity to watch a missionary return, filled up with such new wisdom, maturity and goodness. There’s just so much to be learned living far away and focusing on God. Of course, in life there is ALWAYS so much to learn, and she has her new set of obstacles and life-lessons to learn as she settles into this next phase.
But I’ll just wrap up saying I’m just so grateful for missions.
AND returns from missions:)
A month sounds like a perfect amount of time to decompress and soak up your loved ones before returning to some form of structure. It’s great that she made a group of girlfriends before leaving so she’ll have a familiar place to land and won’t have to start entirely anew.
It must have been so wonderful for Lucy to get this special sister time. Excited to hear her post high school plans!
Yes it was so great for those two to be together, and for that time with family. She is now safely encircled with so many good people up in Utah and I know it’s the way things go as kids get older. But I do miss her! So glad we were able to cherish that special time together.
I’ll share Lucy’s post-high school plans as soon as she gives me permission:)
XOXO
I really appreciate that you’re respecting her wishes on this! It means more to your relationship than you know.
Oh I’m so excited you had that month and now you can visit whenever you like!! Wahoo for moms hearts!!
What is she taking in school?
She’s still taking lots of generals right now, trying to figure out what she wants to focus in on for her major.
xoxo
Did she meet anyone she wants to date? I see that so much now in RMs coming home & dating each other.
How do you do finances for adults. I know you pay for their education, which is an amazing gift. What do you do about paying for housing? Car? Food etc? Do you pay for everything or what are they responsible for? We are heading into this phase soon.
I also would LOVE a post about this! About to be there myself and I have NO idea what I’m doing haha
Ha! No she didn’t meet anyone she wants to date on her mission, but we do know some people who met on their missions and I think it’s pretty special to have that common bond.
I have written a post about finances for adult kids that I can’t find right now. I’ll come back and link it here as soon as can. For now, I’ll just say everyone does this SO differently! Dave and I put a lot of time and energy, with and without our kids around, to figure out what we wanted to work in our own family. Your own answer may be different. But again, I’ll share more details when I can!
xoxo
I don’t know her personally so maybe it’s not a great fit for her, but could she do pre-MTC mandarin tutoring for hs and college students called to mandarin speaking missions?
You mentioned it took her a while to get a hang of the language, so she may be especially passionate about helping others learn a bit before they leave so they feel more confident once they’re abroad.
It will pay better and be far more flexible than typical retail or food service college jobs, plus it’ll keep her language skills fresh.
Several things. The missionaries are already handing over a boatload of money they saved up their lives to go on the mission. That includes the time spent at MTC learning the language. Also missionaries even if they had the cash to supplement to language learning have very few months where they know where they are going and what language. And too busy wrapping their life off and doing 17 gatherings for farewells and combination of trips and photo shoots as they will be gone a few years.
She just means she has not been settled yet completely in Utah. It’s a college town. Thousands of students popping in and out for missions.. I think it was mostly to brag about global humanitarian experience she will soon be doing, while helping with volunteering locally with mom. I am sure she will find something soon. I am glad she had some time between getting back and going back to classes and a job.
Confused again. Wasn’t she going UVU?
So Lucy is 18 and can’t go in the temple will you all to do a session? Huge elephant in the room. Did they change the rules? I hope they did.
I’m a little bit lost with the first part of this comment? But in answer to the end, Claire played volleyball at UVU for her freshman year. Then went on study abroad to London with BYU. On her mission she decided to apply for, and got accepted at BYU so she transferred since she’s not playing volleyball any more and felt like it was a better fit for her. But she is so grateful for all she learned at UVU!
I’m missing where the temple stuff came from, but yes, Lucy can go to the temple. She does baptisms there every week with my friend which is the sweetest. She was able to go on a special date with Claire when she came as well. She has not received her endowment yet so she doesn’t go to the temple sessions. She will decide when she’s ready for that step.
XOXO
That’s a good idea on the pre-Mandarin tutoring…or even teaching at the MTC. I told her she should look into that. xoxo
Your family is beautiful! Unrelated, but I’m hoping you can help me understand the lay of the land. I am traveling to the Mesa Arizona Easter Pageant for the first time. I have a daughter with visual impairment. Can you offer a suggestion of what time I should arrive to get a seat up front. Two hours before start time? We will be attending on a Tuesday evening. I appreciate any help you can offer.
Hi Joni! I’d just suggest getting there early. They sometimes have spots reserved for people with vision impairments which we have been so grateful for. I’m not sure how that works this year since we haven’t been yet, but I’d ask an usher for sure. Hope you enjoy it!
XOXO
Lucy doesn’t go into the Temple? Updates about Lucy’s college plan for next year.
See above answer for the temple and also above about college plans. I’m waiting for the green-light from her to share 😉
xoxo