10/5 & 10/6

 Yesterday started spirit week. Each grade had a theme - Delaney’s was sci-fi and Frankie’s was western. D wanted to paint her face green but we couldn’t find any at Target and I threw ours away very recently - which is why I struggle with throwing things away. Anyway, D settled for a foil hat and franks with the camo.

I got a text that morning that Joni was in town! We met up at Sarah’s and got to visit for an hour and it was such a fun surprise! I miss her!!!

I made plum chicken for dinner and got my whole list plus a lot of extras add-ons done throughout the day. 

Today I had an hour long call with Ginny about all the things and then a call with one of our stake comms people who has a food truck next week that I’ll be helping with. This calling has been such a huge adjustment and learning curve, and as far as coordinating councils go - DC North is a tricky and very busy one since we have DC, the state capitol, and the temple & visitors center within our boundaries. 

I walked over to Sarah’s for Inklings and stayed chatting till 12:30. It was so nice just to sit and spend time with friends. 

I’m slowly decorating for Halloween, organizing girls memory boxes, and helping Frankie clean out her closet. It’s national taco day, so I made chicken tacos and beans and rice and I packed a plate for Frankie. I picked her up from school and took her straight to piano. 

I got to talk to all my people today and everyone is doing really well. Adi said she’s a 7/10 and I say that’s pretty darn good for the first month of college!

9/10

 On Thursday we went to the Orem temple to do baptisms. I wanted to take Adi to the temple and Laura had some family names so it worked perfectly. Then Adi had just done her hair so Laura and I did the baptisms while Adi was the witness, and then we all did confirmations. We had 2 different people point out the dragonfly in the stained glass near the baptistery. The second guy told us that inside the dragonfly was blue, but from the outside it looks red, so we verified and it was very cool.

We really should have taken pictures before we got our hair wet, but you know. 

We had plans to meet up with Lily after her classes, so we did some more shopping. Laura spotted this skull king expansion pack and I’m nervous and excited to play it!

We got to see Lily’s cute apartment and meet some of her cute roomies. 

We went for pizza and got the lowdown on Lily’s first few weeks and it was so good to see her and see how well she’s doing!

These cute besties all grown up!

Laura got a picture of me getting a picture, always lovely. 

My emotions were/have been high as we prepared to help our girl on her grown up journey. And then memories pop up that twist the knife and 😭😭😭😭.

Traveling without all of my kids means missing out on lots of things, like football games. Their first away game of the year!

9/9

On Wednesday we shopped till we dropped! It was so fun! All the best stores - Marshalls, Ross, Home Goods, TJ Max, Trader Joe’s. We started the day with a big ol’ Marathon sody and then we got Adi stocked up on all the things.

We went to Laura and David’s fav lunch spot and then that evening Adi really wanted to float in the Great Salt Lake, so off we went! So that was down to Riverdale, back to North Ogden, then to Salt Lake, and back. So. Much. Driving. 

Anyways, the salt lake is drying up, so we drove all around the park and then we had quite a ways to walk just to get to the water. 

The bison crossed the road right in front of us! It was wild!

The problem with floating in the disappearing salt lake is that you have to walk out quite a ways even in the water, and as you walk through the water, your feet sink in the squishy sand. It was up to my calves and pretty nasty. 

I still would have done it for my Adi-Cakes but she was like, no, I don’t want to do this anymore! All our fav Utahs assured us that people are finally coming together to fix the problem and help the lake, so we’re hopeful that someday we’ll be able to float happily. 

9/8

 Early Tuesday morning Matt dropped Adi and I off at the airport for our Salt Lake City flight.

It was also the first day of seminary and we got a picture. 🎉 

Adi and I had a layover in Dallas where we got brekkie. Our flights were long and we didn’t get to sit together and my seat mate got into a tiff with me about putting her bag under my seat, which she felt she had every right to do. I told her I didn’t think that was right and she quickly said “I do!” So I let it go, but I did put my feel where I needed to under my seat, and as it happens, that was sometimes on her bag. 🤷‍♀️ *a picture for Frankie 

One good thing is that we somehow got extra legroom seats. 🎉 And lucky duck Adi got aisle seats both flights, while I was a middle seat girlie. 

I found a screaming deal for car rental and even though I was nervous from our Croatia experience, everything was smooth and easy. And that is how I managed to drive around for a week in a beautiful bmw suv. I’m not really a car person, but I do see the allure of a bmw now. Such a smooth ride and fun to drive!

We got Culver’s for dinner (see the very random first pic on this post) and drove down to Provo to see Frey’s cute new house. They took us to walk around Utah Lake and then to ikea where we had the best time helping Adi pick out all the things! Our girl owns pots and pans! She’s so grown up! 😭

Us east coast girlies were pooped so after ikea we dropped the boys back in Provo and headed up to McCombs in North Ogden. So that was Salt Lake to Provo, 30 minutes back up to ikea, back down to Provo, and then to north Ogden. I spent a lot of time on I-15.

And a cute shot of Lu with her high school besties. She actually ended up staying an extra night to do dinner with them. ❤️

And finally; our cute Friday night lights girlie. 

9/6 & 9/7

We all went to church and everyone loved on Miss Mia.

And we came home and everyone loved on Miss Mia. 

Babies are just magic. 

Even big waking babies. They’re the best!

We packed and we played games and just had a lovely, quiet day. 

It was getting real! Adi was very nonchalant about packing and I stayed up with her later than I wanted going through things with her. 

She did a pretty good job though. There are maybe 5 things she left that she wishes she had, and lucky for her Matt is coming for a visit soon!

9/5

On Saturday we got a later start than I wanted, but then lucky us, I got the opening time wrong so we ended up arriving a few minutes before they opened. 🤗

Carter is a very cautious rider, meaning he doesn’t want to ride anything. I tried really hard to encourage him to ride the little roller coaster but he wasn’t hearing that nonsense. And then it scared Emmett so I was glad he didn’t ride. 🤣

I told him though that he had to choose something to ride. We walked around a little and he watched some rides and chose the airplanes. 

We rode a few times but then the rides closed because of lightning in the area. 

Lucky for us we were right next to Boo Blasters which is an inside ride, so we rode that like 5 times and got food and rode out the storm. 

After that I convinced Carter to ride the hot air balllons with me. We were holding hands and he was anxious but not as terrified as his face looks. 

They loved the bumper cars!

They would ride and then run back around and hop right back on - no line!

The girls went and rode some big girl rides and then we’d meet up. 

Emmett’s a brave guy!

While they rode the swings Carter and I rode the train. 🤣

It was a really fun day!

The boys faces! 🤣

We stayed all day from open to close. 

While we were gone Alexis and Mia went to lunch with bride-to-be Ami and bestie Alyssa. 

Of course Carter chose the horse that doesn’t go up and down. 

We all love a good raft ride!

And then we convinced Emmett to go on the log ride and he loved that one. When we only had time for one last ride, this is what he chose, so just he and I went and it was getting dark and it was so special. Core memory moment. ❤️

Delaney’s face. 🤣

And a normal face shot. 

And that is one tired and happy crew!