RIP Peep

 It was a sad day in The White House over the weekend.

We woke up to find Lottie's bird, Peep "sleeping"

 on the bottom of his cage.  Charlotte was devastated.

Gigs made him a coffin out of a cardboard box and dug

 a hole for him outside in the rain by the back fence.

Lottie said a few words after we buried Peep

then Christian said a little prayer.

Peep was survived by his wife, Snowwhite (Snow for short)

who now occupies the birdcage alone.

It's kind of sad.

On Sunday we attended church and Oliver spoke!

He spoke about his passion for studying concussions (CTE),

and how having the right helmet whether it is for 

football, biking, or motorcycles

can protect you from CTE damage and even death.

(Oliver owns about five helmets that he wears around the house

just because he likes wearing them. 

 On my computer, I have a file called "Ollie with helmets on".

Inside the file are about 100 photos of him wearing a 

variety of helmets over the years.

Most of them I took in secret.

Some kids always have a ball in their hands, maybe it's a fidget spinner,

and some kids won't let their phone out of their sight.  

Ollie wears helmets).

He likened helmets to God's Priesthood and how it can be a protection in 

life when it's hard and temptations attempt to knock us down,

the Priesthood of God can lift, bless, and protect us.

I was very proud of him.  I just love that kid!

And it was pretty cool that Umi and Grandpa could

 Zoom in and listen to him speak from Utah!

(I guess there are a few positives from all this Covid business).

 

Evening Ride.

 There isn't a prettier state than North Carolina to ride

a motorcycle. I mean, it's gorgeous here!

The windy roads are long, with endless trees and green for miles and miles.

One of my favorite past-times has been riding on the back of

Christian's motorcycle for a ride or a date together.

Now that I have my own bike, I can ride behind Christian but this

time on my own bike, and I'm really enjoying it.

This evening after dinner, we drove around, loving

the beautiful spring weather.

We pulled over into a church parking lot to watch the sunset.

I ordered my helmet, but it has yet to arrive, 

so I've been using one of Ollie's helmets from his vast collection.

He seriously has like 10. You know, he's so obsessed with helmets

and safety that after we bought my bike, he helped me pick out a helmet.  

So I know I will be ultra-safe.

And cool, too.

When we came home, Ollie was at the table playing the guitar

with his helmet on. (Of course, he was).

Then I helped Jane decide whether to cut bangs before her mission.

They'd look so cute!!

But the verdict is still out.

Ollie takes flight!.

 Today was a big day for our family.

Today Ollie left for his 2-year mission in Interlagos, Brazil!

Christian had left earlier for the airport on a work trip in San Fransisco,

so Gigs, Lottie, and I accompanied Elder Nielson 

to the Raleigh/Durham airport to say goodbye and send him off.

Early this morning, I went to the boy's room while it was still dark outside to

get them up.  I stopped in my tracks for a few minutes looking

at Ollie sound asleep in his little bed.

I knew this was the ending of a chapter in our family dialogues and

I tried to push back the tears as I woke him up.

It was a dark rainy day, and I usually love dark and dreary

days, BUT not this time.  Today seemed overwhelming and sad.

We were silent in the car except for a playlist of Ollie's favorite

songs and music playing, which made everything worse and

unnecessarily dramatic!  

We arrived at the airport with plenty of time,

we exchanged letters with each other; he had written each of

us a note, and we had written him letters too.

My letter came with a little present- several packs of Bubble Yum

cotton candy gum.  I told him he and his companion could each eat

one piece each month, and when the packs are gone, he'll be home!

Ollie and I both LOVE that gum (no one else does!).

We sat in the airport waiting room, and he fell asleep on my shoulder.

Tears dripped from my eyes as I felt the weight of his head.

I smelled his hair and looked at his hands.

Oh my goodness, how I'm going to miss him!!! 

Finally, it was time to say goodbye, and we hugged and cried and hugged

and cried a lot more.  I felt so sad but so proud at the same time.

I thought it was very fitting that his ticket printed his name as

NIELSON/OLIVERCHRIST

That's exactly who he is- a believer in Christ!

This is one of his favorite scriptures, and it relates to

him in his life more than ever right now found in 

The Doctrine and Covenants 24:10:

"...Oliver shall continue in bearing my name 

before the world, and also to the church. 

And he shall not suppose that he can say enough 

in my cause; and lo, I am with him to the end."

He marched in the TSA line and soon disappeared into the crowd.

We saw him again after he got through security and

waved a giant goodbye to us. 

 I broke down in tears and didn't stop crying all day. 

Having Christian gone made everything 500 times worse.

I felt so lonely and sad.

When we got home, I saw his breakfast bowl and plate sitting out still,

and his dirty clothes near his bed.

I had to remind myself that he's NOT DEAD and it's going to be OK

And I've already done this two times, and everything was just fine,

I'll just need some time to help me heal.

I climbed into my bed and took a nap; Lottie and Gigs watched a movie,

And we all felt horrible together.

Then the sun came out, and I took Angus on a little walk so I could

cry and pray out loud at the same time.

I asked the Lord to please help me find peace right then!

I KNOW he'll be fine; I KNOW he'll be safe,

I'm just sad for, well, me. 

I know that sounds selfish, but I will miss him

driving my car and taking us to pick up Lottie at 2:30 every day.

I will miss hearing his music and seeing his helmets around the house.

I will miss talking about motorcycles and wearing matching gloves 

on rides together.  There are so many things I'm going to miss.

I'm happy for him, but I'm sad for me.

Later I got a text from him as he loaded the plane from Atlanta 

to his final destination in Brazil, along with a few photos.

His eyes looked bloodshot, but he seemed really happy.

He had found his district and his companion, and he seemed ready.

He needed to connect with his group.

We texted for a few minutes, then he left, promising me he'd get to 

call me in the Brazil MTC the next day.

And somehow, I didn't feel so horrible anymore.

Helmet Lab

Today we all piled in the car and drove to 

to Blacksburg, Virginia, where Ollie attended a helmet lab

conference on campus at Virginia Tech.

He was the only high schooler invited and was so excited to be there with 

the top engineers and scientists in helmet safety

which is his passion and has been for years!

You know, Ollie is obsessed with helmets.  

He wears them to dinner, wears them around the

house, bedtime, scripture study, in the car, and sometimes just for funsies.

At the end of the weekend, we attended the post-conference meet

 and greet him in the lab with him.

It was really cool watching him excitedly show us around the lab and

explain the variety of helmets, super secret helmet technology,

 and testing equipment.

He hopes to go to VT when he returns from his mission in 2025.

He's always had a deep

passion for helmet engineering and safety development.

He's such a good boy!

We toured the campus and loved feeling the college vibe.

Claire was especially inspired since she's

attending Wake Forrest later this month to receive her CNA

and then will transfer to Utah for school in January for the Spring semester.