THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS!: UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY!!!

Man, why didn't anyone tell me how hard it was going to

be to leave my kid in Utah and come home???

When we arrived at the dorms where Riley was signed up to stay, I could not bring myself to leave him. This initially caused some serious tension. JD and Ry felt I was being judgemental. They both assured me boys do not keep living quarters the same as girls. They also assured me that the entertainment they had was normal for a boys apartment. At times I can go with the flow, but other times I am not willing to budge. My gut has become pretty good at leading those decisions over the years. After a crazy afternoon, and some lost money, we found a place we could all agree on.

I THINK, LOL

I was stressing out the entire way home over the

"WHAT IFs"

After a month in Logan, he is happy. He loves the place we found, he loves school, he is enjoying his job, and all is well. I have to say, I thought my kids leaving on missions was hard. I am beginning to think it is not as hard as sending them to college. At least on a mission you get weekly emails:).

I LOVE MY KIDS GROWING UP, BUT I HATE IT AT THE SAME TIME!

Alyssa and Jake have been sitting on camp chairs since they were married.

Our neighbor asked us if we could think of anyone

that would want this table and chairs. We were happy to deliver it to these cute kids!

Alyssa assured me she would look in on Ry.

He assured us it was not needed :).

Since our kids keep ending up here, we have decided to become BIG fans!

Jake was sick when we went to tour campus.

We were sad to not have him in all the pictures.

Shari was an amazing tour guide.

One of the interesting things Shari showed us was Gramps'
baby brother Douglas' grave site. JD was born on the 15th anniversary of his passing.
JD and Riley both have Douglas as a middle name.

We may or may not have gone to the Aggie Ice cream shop

more than once while we were in Logan.

I can't believe we are only going

to have two kids at home, again.

Alyssa graduates from her multi-media design program in June.

I can't wait to go back out to Utah and see our kids!

Shari took us to all the popular picture taking spots!

After moving Riley in on Saturday the plan was to head home.

Britton and Riley were pretty sure that was not the plan.

Britton really wanted to stay for the Air Force VS Utah State basketball game.

We really needed to be home Monday morning, so we wanted to say no,

After saying NO a million times, and seeing tears that I am unsure if were real or not,

we gave-in and decided to stay one more night.

I am so happy that we did. JD's parents

came down to watch the game with the boys.

Shari, went to the game also.
I find great comfort in the fact that she lives so close to my kids.
She is seriously one of the most kind hearted people I know!

As you can see it was a big party.

The long day's drive was worth the memories made!

An added bonus, we got to spend one more evening with

our kiddos and family before heading back home.

At about 2:30 in the morning I woke up and knew we had slept in.

It was so bright outside, I thought it was morning. I got dressed and then I looked at the clock.

I tried to go back to bed and the thought kept coming into my head that we

needed to get up and leave right now. I knew if I woke up JD he was going to be really mad. (I have a tendency to wake up at crazy hours and want to travel. He does not love it) I tried to go back to sleep. The feeling to get up felt like something more than a crazy idea, I decided to take stuff out to the car then wake JD up. :) As I walked outside snow was coming down hard. We all got up and were gone by 3am.

The roads were already covered in sleet. Coming up the canyon cars wrecked in front of us, we became immobile for a short time. It was an amusing morning, but we were able to keep moving forward. It took 21 hours to make it home.

We were all relieved to finally make it home!!!

We were all very grateful that parts of the drive were beautiful and clear.

I feel blessed by the guidance and direction the spirit brings to my life.
I love this quote by President Nelson.

President Nelson in a talk from 2009 said the following,

Today’s technology allows us to use wireless telephones to exchange information rapidly. Recently Wendy and I were on assignment on another continent when we learned that a new baby had arrived in our family. We received the good news minutes after that birth had occurred half a world away.Even more amazing than modern technology is our opportunity to access information directly from heaven, without hardware, software, or monthly service fees. It is one of the most marvelous gifts the Lord has offered to mortals. It is His generous invitation to “ask, and it shall be given you; seek,and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”¹This timeless offer to provide personal revelation is extended to all of His children. It almost sounds too good to be true. But it is true! I have received and responded to that heavenly help. And I have learned that I always need to be ready to receive it.