Lopes Up

 Last week I took my third kid to college.  It was the most pleasant one yet.  Eliza and I packed her car full of makeup and clothes and headed to Phoenix.  GPS took us on a goosechase and we ended up with the truckers int he middle of the desert.  We kept ourselves awake by singing at full volume, eating candy and blasting cold air.  We limped into Phoenix about midnight and collapsed into our blessed hotel beds.  Eliza was a ball of nerves, but we arrived at 9:45 sharp and immediately got lost.  We walked all over campus with suitcases and backpacks until we found her dorm.  The other roommates were asleep or in class so we got busy setting up her room.  Just like my freshman year, Eliza's roommate had embraced the idea that the first one in gets the most closet space and best bed set up, so we rearranged a bit to make room.  Happily, I didn't problem solve, but let Eliza practice her self advocacy skills.  Once we got her room setup we went for a burrito (lots of happy memories there) and to do a final Target run.  We checked out where the church was, bought some GCU swag and then it was time for me to go.  We had dinner together at Olive Garden, because it is Eliza's favorite then she dropped me off at the airport.  

A couple of things stand out to me.  First, I am really blessed to have such a beautiful, capable daughter who is sweet and kind and empathetic.  Second, I have no idea what her conversion is to Jesus Christ and I will be curious to see how it emerges.   It will likely not look like mine, and I'm getting better being curious and trusting.  

Whew

 August and September have flown by.  It's been marked by a few highlights.  

Henry's birthday party and Oliver's blessing:  I rode the shuttle up to Provo a day early to spend time with Betsy in preparation for her move.  It was an emotional experience going through James' things one last time.  It made me miss him and feel so hopeful for ho Heavenly Father works things out with mental illness.  It was especially fun to see Jeff and Betsy's new house coming together.  

Max's football games:  Max has chosen to disconnect from everything family related or school related, with the exception of football.  He's tried really hard to stay involved and has played in a a few games.  We are glad to have him connected to anything.  

Eliza home and starting school:  It has been a total ray of sunshine to have Eliza home this month.  We've been thrift store shopping, she's planned and cooked meals, and had our butts out running every morning at 6:00am.  She started school after labor day and we leave on Tuesday to move her in!

Amy's visit:  I loved having Amy come for a visit.  Her amazing gifts are like healing balm to every member of our family.  We finished a mini triathalon on Labor day together including a run, a swim and a bike ride.  On Sunday we went hiking at our favorite spot in Kannaraville and even got to hike in the dark with the beautiful moon.  One of the most powerful things that Amy said during one of our good talks helped me to define a new goal.  She said that she longs for a daughter so she can provide every need for her that wasn't filled in her own childhood.  Then she stopped and realized that her future daughter won't have the same needs she has.  She identified that the best we things we do for our children is to not require them to fill our emotional needs.  I am totally inspired by this.  

Jake, Callie and the boys come:  To celebrate Jake's 30th birthday, we babysat the boys while Jake and Callie went hiking in Zion.  We had so much fun snuggling Oliver and Henry and enjoying their pure love and joy.  Callie introduced us to some amazing breakfast shakes and powerballs.

Grandparent's Day.  Tony smoked a turkey and we enjoyed a lovely dinner with our grandparents.  Might be a new St George annual tradition.  

Powell Miracle:  Yesterday we had a miracle.  We were supposed to meet all the owners at Lake Powell to learn to drive the houseboat.  Eliza was excited to go.  Sam was excited to go.  Tony and I were ready for a ski.  At the last minute Sam backed out and it really hurt my feelings to have neither of the boys .  When we arrived at Wahweap we stopped to get gas and Eliza noticed that the tire was a funny color.  Tony touched the hub and it was burning hot.  We were in deep peril of the hub seizing and possibly breaking the axel up if we went any further.  We unhitched the boat and started making calls for a repairman.  Of course on a late Saturday, there was no one available except for some guy named Doug in Big Water that said we could bring the boat and tire to him.  It was our only choice.  We unhitched the boat and went to explore the houseboat.  We are pretty excited about it.  It's a floating lake cabin and is going to be so much fun.  It had a slide!  After exploring the houseboat we went back, removed the tire and drove ginergly to Big Water.  As we reflected, we were so grateful the tires didn't seize up.  So thankful we made it all the way to Wahweap.  So thankful this happened this weekend instead of in October.  We didn't get to ski, or even get in the water, but we were so glad only to have been with happy Eliza and no angry teenage boys!