Farewell, August

 It's hard to imagine that August is closing her doors, 

making way for an elegant September.

August has been good to us, 

but it is also one of the busiest months to date.

 So many milestones, so much change, 

and so much growth all packed tightly in August.

"August's whisper grows ever near,

The fading warmth brings forth a tear.

As summer walks, hand in hand,

September sings o'er fields of land."

Jane Moves In

Early today, we moved Jane into her apartment.

She lives in a lovely area with lots of space and a laundry room

bigger than mine. 

So, she'll be just fine!

We stopped for lunch, then went to the store to get

apartment stuff, and it was going fine until it wasn't.

Emotions were flying around Target in every direction,

and Jane felt anxious about making decisions.

Do you like this print?

Do you like this fabric?

Do you want this size?

Do you like the look of this?

Do you need one of these?

Near the end of the trip, she had turned off so

 I wasn't asking her questions anymore,

I was just throwing things into the cart.

She was equally offended as she was relieved.

After, we met up with Jane's mission leaders, 

President and Sister Barcellos for ice cream.

They were in Provo, dropping their daughter off at BYU, too.

 They are the most wonderful, warm, and dear people ever.

I can see why Jane LOVED them on her mission.

During our visit, they ministered to me and Christian with spiritual guidance 

and support, sharing some incredible, faith-filled personal experiences. 

In between bites of ice cream, I listened to them share their 

unwavering confidence in the Lord and His grace.

It left me feeling truly inspired. 

I was so thankful to hear them testify of Christ and to share

their love for Jane and their confidence in her and her work on the mission.

We left our meeting incredibly grateful for this power couple

and their influence on Jane's life.

Jane has mentioned to me before that there are only a handful of people

she wants at her wedding, and the Barcellos are at the top of the list.

I can see why.

Then we said our official goodbyes in the hallway

of her apartment.

It was hard to do.

We will see her Christmas break! 

Only 93 more days!

Go, Jane, Go!!!

Jane In Utah

 It was so fun returning to good 'ol Provo to drop Jane off at BYU

and seeing familiar scenes and faces!

I've been so grateful for this week and the time spent with Christian and Jane! 

It's been so fun to connect and share a hotel room with her so we can

stay up late to talk and fall asleep to a movie.

 We've gone out to eat, did some shopping for school stuff,

 had fun discussing classes and boys and making Swig runs every day!

One morning, we dropped her off on campus for orientation and 

then, we tried not to stalk her throughout the day.

But we still did a few times.

It's fun to see her in the wild.

One afternoon, Christian and I visited Sundance and drove up 

Provo Canyon, where we met up with Page and saw her

new beautiful home that is being built.

What a view she has!

We searched for Autumn colors in the mountains and were blown away

at all the changes we're seeing in Provo.

I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a little bit sad.

If I had it my way, Provo would stay in the 80's & 90's.

Today, after Jane's orientation, we went to the bookstore

to get Gigs his favorite BYU-famous 

chocolate-covered cinnamon bears.

We also ran into Jonah, our nephew from Arizona.

He is so adorable, and before I knew it was him, I got Jane's attention

and secretly pointed to a group of cute boys,

(who were in the distribution center getting garments, no less) 

and said to her, "Those are the boys you need to get with."

Then we realized it was Jonah!  It was so fun to see him. 

Meanwhile, back at home, things are not going great. 

Lottie has been feeling very anxious about us being away. 

She's also not happy about her new class schedule, and nighttime is 

particularly difficult for her. I was surprised to see how much 

she's struggling with us being away.

I asked my wonderful neighbor, Caroline, who lives in the next pasture over 

if Lottie could hang out with her during the day. 

Thankfully, that has helped a lot. 

It's been determined that Gigs needs to work on his compassionate side. 

But all in all, everyone is healthy and safe, and I have been

really impressed with Gigs getting himself and Lottie up for school,

making sure lunches and dinners are made.  He's a champ and deserves

every last chocolate-covered cinnamon bear!!

Then, this amazing photo popped up in 2007 of Ollie (in his car seat)

sitting next to Jimmy in a neck brace because he was attacked by some wild dogs

at the ranch in New Mexico and needed stitches.

Jane is in the middle seat smiling at me, with Gigs 

facing Jimmy in his car seat.

Gosh, I miss these simple days!

Jane's Little Cloud

 There was a little storm over Stillestead this morning

when we woke up. 

Jane has been anxiously dreading this day for the whole summer:

Moving day.

Packing up her things, saying goodbye to her siblings, leaving

beautiful North Carolina, Stillestead in particular, and

attending school.

She knows it's natural and right; it's just a bummer.

Jane has always struggled with change. She tends to see it in a negative light. 

I think this may be due to lingering PTSD from our accident as a child.

This is something she is working on.

So am I!

I hate it, too!

This change, this move, has been like a summer storm 

swirling around us for months,

 and today, it broke, and the rain came down.

She said her goodbyes to Gigs and Lottie.

Then Lottie showed Jane a few photos she had made 

 before sending her off:

It made us laugh and lightened the mood.

It's been fun playing Peter Pan this summer;

checking off the Hot Girl Summer list, 

serving, exploring, and playing some more.

And now she has to grow up. Again.

The Longest First Day of School In History

 Today marks one of the busiest weeks in Nielson history!

Here we go...

7:25: Gigs and Lottie say their goodbyes to Claire

before heading out for their first day of school.

Lottie is going into 7th grade, and Gigs is a BIG senior!

I waved goodbye to them as Gigs drove the Swagster

past me, and I saw Lottie longingly gazing out the window

in shock.  Her face was screaming,

"Mom, I don't want to go back to school! HELPPPPPPPP!"

Also note: Gig's monthly canker sore to 

ruin the first day of school!

Those Clark Cankers are always dependable in 

ruining anything and everything.

8:30: Finish packing up the last of Claire's 

things to load in her car.

9:30: On the road to SVU with Claire at the wheel, 

Jane snuggled in the backseat with all her stuff and me in shotgun.

 (Christian had left earlier for Maryland to pick up a car part and 

we planned to meet him in 

Virginia with lunch (Cafe Rio, no less) around 1:00).

12:00: Text from Christian: 

"I got the part, headed to grab lunch, be on campus around 2:00".

1:00: Make it on campus, where President Cordon requested a

 meeting with the girls and me.  What an honor!  

Bonnie is one of the most classy, sharp, and incredible women on the planet, 

and I am SO GLAD she's the president of SVU!

2:00: Incoming text from Christian:

 "The truck's power steering went out as I driving on the freeway. 

Luckily, I was getting off at the campus ramp exit.

 I'm close, but I will need to be towed."

2:30: Wrap up at SVU while trying to stay excited and optimistic, 

even though I know the truck will need to stay in Virginia to get fixed.  

Now what?  Tomorrow, we head to Utah to drop Jane off at BYU.  

Ugghhhh!  I am stressing out now.

3:00: Meet Christian on the side of the freeway with

 sacks of Cafe Rio in his hands.  

We take it to the park to eat but are all in a bad mood.

3:30: Discover that Cafe Rio DID NOT ADD DRESSING FOR OUR SALADS.  

There is no worse fate.  I think Christian, right then and there, 

developed a stress canker in his mouth that was bigger than Gigs'.

And I cried for the missing dressings for our salads, 

the broken down truck that Lottie and Gigs would be coming home

 on their first day of school, and I wouldn't be there, 

and that my girls were leaving. 

Then I had a little breakdown.

4:00: Head to Claire's apartment, where we discover her room is DISGUSTING!  

I feel like I am a pretty upbeat person; you know, 

I can make the most of crappy situations, except this might have

 been the last straw.  

I was NOT about to leave Claire in this dark, stinky, dirty apartment,

even though I know she's a big girl, has been on a mission,

and has lived away from us.  It just felt wrong.

 

4:30: Move Claire to a new apartment—a better situation all around. 

The moral of the story is don't judge an apartment from an online photo, 

even though that is literally how you judge an apartment. Duh!

5:30: After we help Claire move in her stuff, 

we head to the store to get groceries, 

toilet paper, sheets, and other necessities for college kids.

6:45: Return to the apartment and unload while

Christian is on the phone with a car rental place.

(First day of school 2024)

(First day of school 2008)

7:00: Go to a drink place called Straws, similar to Swig 

(at least she has that!!), where I leave my PURSE.

(Remember, we are going to Utah tomorrow!  I need my license to fly!!!  

Also, I HATE FLYING, and I'm anxious about that activity!!)

8:30: Arrive at the airport car rental and discover 

MY PURSE IS MISSING; I freak out and retrace my steps.

It's got to be at Straws!  I do some investigating only to discover that not 

only do Straws close in 30 minutes, 

but THEY HAVE NO PHONE NUMBER! 

Jane reaches out to them via Facebook Messenger 

luckily, they respond with:

"We haven't seen any purse."

My heart is dead.

8:41: Miraculously, we hear back from Straws, 

and it turns out they DO HAVE MY PURSE. They don't close until 10:00 

(still on summer hours). They will hold it until closing, 

!!ANXIOUS REMINDER: I'M FLYING TO UTAH TOMORROW 

AND NEED MY PURSE. Also, we are over an hour away!!

9:55: Broke all kinds of speeding laws to get to Straws before they close,

get the purse and then said goodbye to Claire, 

which was heartbreaking for Jane! 

They won't see each other until Christmas break.

 Luckily, we'll be back next week to pick up the truck, 

so it's not goodbye for me.

10:15: Leave BV and my oldest child and head back home.

1:30 am: Make it home to a sleepy, quiet house.

2:00 am: Shower and end my day with a prayer of gratitude, 

that regardless of the rotten day, we're all fine, and we're all safe.

And we're going to look back on this day and laugh.