The Ray's Days

Wednesday, October 7, 2026

9/11

Friday was the big day and we were ready! We got our beemer packed up Thursday night and got to sleep early.

Because we had a 4:30 wake-up to be able to make it up to rexburg in time for orientation.

A little car preening before I walked her to her orientation and then walked to mine.

It was different than it was 10 years ago. 🤣 they had info tables set up with all sorts of clubs and services and swag.

And then there were 3 sessions we could choose. I went to a mental health, financial aid, and letter writing - I only did that last one because the others were full. 🤷‍♀️

Then we all went together for the night opening with the Meredith’s and the new student welcome. It was really, really good. I cried like 8 times. I’m just so happy Adi is there and happy.

Woot!

After that we headed to her apartment. Move-ins started Wednesday, so we were coming in late and she was excited to meet everyone!

And then we got there and there was just one girl there and her room mate thought she was gonna have her own room so she had moved into both sides, so that was a rocky start. But they are very nice - at least the 4 I met.

Adi checked out the piano as we unpacked the car.

We unpacked a few things, but willow still had a lot of stuff on Adi’s side and we decided to break for lunch.

Cute green theme!

I guess we got her iCard before lunch. 🤣

The new temple! Straight down the street from the operating temple. So cool!

We ate at Curry Pizza which has been featured on Diners, Dives, and Drive ins, or whatever that show is called.

We did a little more unpacking and planned our night. I wasn’t sure if Adi would want to stay at her apartment or stay at the hotel with me, but I was happy when she decided to come to the hotel with me for one more slumber party. .

We got treaties at Walmart and watched movies in our room and went to the pool and also someone tried to come in our room and it was terrifying.

And then the front desk guys grilled me on why we were in that room and it was wild. And also not the nicest hotel, but fine enough. We were sups tired and the beds were sups comfy so it was a good night!!!

Tuesday, October 6, 2026

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.