Life at BYU

The rest of my time in Utah was spent getting Sarah set up with everything I could possibly think of that she would need, some snacks to keep in her room, a fun body pillow, a book shelf etc. I also spent so much fun quality time with my relatives out there who I know will be there for Sarah in a second when needed, what a comfort that is. I loved my time with my Mom, we had so much fun with our morning at the beloved Quilted Bear (a whole room of Salt City Candles!!!!) , fun lunches and dinners and getting to go to the movies one night!! We went down on Saturday afternoon and took Sarah out for a quick ice cream at the Creamery, I am still dreaming of that ice cream, it was SO yummy!! I was not excited about Sunday and saying goodbye to my sweet Sarah. I took her laundry back up with me to Kathy's so she could start with all fresh clothes. Saying goodbye was not easy, I adore that girl so much. Sarah is so fun. She is so adored by her sisters and of course her parents and I think of what she is doing every second of the day. BUT.....I KNOW that this is where Sarah should be, each day she is there she grows more and her eyes just sparkled like I have never seen them sparkle. She is SO HAPPY!! What more could I want for her than to see my little girl grow spiritually and make wonderful friends who she can be herself with. We are now True Blue BYU fans!! I am so thankful that I had this time with my family out in Utah and especially for this time with Sarah and to see her settled and to see her happy!! I love you Sarah!!

Freshman Orientation!!

Sarah survived her first night in the dorms (or should I say I survived her first night in the dorms:) Sarah did great and was happy as ever!! We headed down to Provo for orientation and Sarah was already off with her group for the day!! We went to pick up our tickets for lunch. I admit I got teary seeing all of those kids on the Helaman field playing get to know you games, there was just such a great spirit of good, clean fun surrounding the whole day I could not help but get teary and feel grateful that I was bringing Sarah to this school, surrounded by people with her same beliefs and standards. We went to the Marriott Center for the opening devotional and that was fabulous!! I kept looking for Sarah but did not see her. From there we went to the Wilkinson Center for the parents luncheon with a speaker. The speaker was Brad Wilcox and he was just amazing, so funny with great advice. I saw several people I knew and that was really fun. I then went to a class on first time parents to BYU and really enjoyed that as well. After that Sarah texted me that she was free (I had a bunch of stuff I had purchased for her and wanted to connect with her to get it to her) We met in the Bookstore, shopped a little and then met up with Mom and Colleen before going to Sarah's dorm and setting up her new stuff. Sarah had a great day of orientation and that night they were watching Tangled on the big screen TV at the Helaman field. Sarah raced off to meet some new friends just talking a mile a minute, SO HAPPY!! Oh, how it warmed my heart!! The 3 of us stopped for some mexican food on the way home, tired but happy!! More on our trip to be continued!!

Sarah moves in to Hinckley Hall/Helaman Halls!!

We woke up Wednesday morning and got ready to head down to BYU!! It was move in day!! We first had to stop at Bed/Bath and Beyond to pick up Sarah's bedding and accessories for her room that we had ordered in Va. It was one of many trips I had to make to get Sarah's room fixed up and ready to roll!! We got her stuff in Orem and were on our way to Provo!! We parked at Hinckley Hall where Sarah will live the next 9 months and were able between myself, Sarah, Mom and Colleen to carry everything to room 3209!! We unloaded her stuff and Sarah and Colleen took a quick trip up to the Wilkinson center to get Sarah's ID so that she would be able to eat as we heard the lines were getting terrible up there. By the time they got back Sarah's roommate Kristen was back and they got to meet. She is a darling girl and so sweet. She had left Sarah a cute card and some candy. The two of them ran off to lunch while we stayed behind and got things organized in Sarah's room. Kristen had some really cute ideas with organizing stuff so a dreaded trip to Walmart was in order. First we (the adults) went up and had lunch at the Cougareat and then looked around the bookstore ourselves and got the famous chocolate covered cinnamon bears (those are to die for yummy!!) Sarah was off making friends on her hall so we went to Walmart and got her some stuff and met up with her later. That night I got her some more stuff at Target (love the Target!!) and we ate at my favorite the Training Table!! I always loved the Training Table!! Sarah went to a big party that night with games, dancing etc. She was off to a great BYU start. The next Day: Orientation!!

BYU - Here Comes Sarah!!!

Well, my little Sarah is off on her college adventure at BYU!! I am so proud of her and how she has handled all of this change with grace and with such a positive go get em attitude. Can I just point out how different she is from her Mom when I went off to BYU and turned to Mom on the plane and said I did not care if the plane crashed so I would not be saying a prayer for safety-NICE!! I am sorry Mom for that!! It was hard enough for me taking Sarah and my stomach was in knots the whole time but we did have fun in the mean time!! Here is the low down on our trip:

We got to the airport at 4:30 in the morning which is 2:30 in the morning Utah time, early!! Sarah was a great flying companion for her nervous Mom but I did fine watching Modern Family with Sarah at my side. Only once did I turn to Sarah and ask her if she also thought it looked like we were flying into the mountain. She replied that not only was that not a mountain but we were nowhere near it!! Harsh!!

We arrived in Salt Lake to my phone ringing from Mom who left hours after us and arrived before us, the joys of straight through flights. Dale picked us up and took dropped us off at Temple Square in Salt Lake where we loved to see the Temple, went in the Tabernacle, Sarah and I toured the visitor's center and also the Conference Center and we went to the huge Deseret Book. We met Colleen for lunch at the JSB bldg. at the Navouoo House which was so yummy and fun. From there we went to visit Grandma's old house and Mom was brave enough to knock on the door and ask the current owner to go in and see the house. You have to love Mom!! The memories just flooded back of Grandma and wonderful times with our family and cousins!! I loved it. We went from there to Kathy's to chill before the big family dinner that night. It was so fun to see everyone and re-connect with my cousins. They are so much fun and great to laugh with and we have so many fun memories with!! We were all so tired, especially me and Sarah who had been going since the middle of the night that bed felt really good. We had a big day the next day: Sarah moves into the dorm. To be continued!!

Tamy and Trachel!!

Amy was SO excited for weeks for Rachel to come for a visit this summer!! She counted down the days for weeks!! They had such a blast together and were such darling YCL's at Girls camp!! We miss Rachel so much and it is always so fun when she is here. There is nothing like good, loyal friends and Amy is lucky to have Rachel as one of hers.

Jenn is 14!!! Happy Birthday!!

Jenn is such a darling 14 year old and had such a fun birthday and was so lucky to have a Stake Dance on her birthday!! How fun is that!! We had a bunch of Jenn's friends and Amy's friends over for dinner and fun and cake before the dance and then they all went to the dance together and had so much fun!! Jenn is such a darling 14 year old and I am so proud of the young woman she is becoming.

Things I love about Jenn:

1. Her sense of Fashion: she has such an eye for clothes and what looks good and is not shy about letting us know if we are not in style!!

2. Her love of the "In" pop star, Goodbye Joe Jonas, Hello Justin Bieber!

3. She is so darling and good with the little kids at swimteam and is the team Mom with the
little kids

4. She has the wackiest sense of humor and keeps all of us laughing at home all day long with getting stuck in buckets, dancing in her sports bra and all other wackiness!!

5. She is a very loyal sister and adores them and is their best friend!!

6. She has great friends, they are goofy and silly just like Jenn!!

7. I love Jenn's relationship with her Aunt Becky. They are two peas in a pod and just "get" each other!!

8. Jenn always tried to choose the right and that is not easy and I am proud of her for that

9. Jenn keeps our home organized and neat and clean, she is my go to when things get messy!!

10. I love my Jenn and I am lucky and blessed to be her Mom!!