The Drop Off

The Drop Off

We headed out SUPER EARLY in the morning...like 3am early... to drive to Utah. We were driving two cars down loaded up with all of Reilly's stuff. We had walkie talkies with us from Tyler's work and, let's just say, they kept us entertained for hours.

We stopped in Montana for an enormous breakfast that really turned out to be brunch. We made it to Utah before we were ready for any kind of meal. You've gotta love Montana Club breakfasts!!

We did stop in Idaho Falls for a dipped cone and butterscotch dilly bar run!! (Yep, Tyler does have ice cream on his face.) Trying to get to that Dairy Queen took us to parts of Idaho Falls I have never before seen. It turned out it was on Pancheri Drive. Crazy. (The street is named after the family of my college roommate's in-laws.)

Finally we pulled into SLC ,checked into our hotel, and ran down to Provo so that Reilly could get the lay of the land. Provo was in her GLORY!! It was my favorite time of day...the golden hour. The sun was just beginning to set and the mountains were aglow. It was gorgeous!! Tyler and I were loving it. Reilly was starting to look a little tense and nervous. We checked out her apartment complex, went to her school, and ran a few errands. Then we hit Swig for drinks and pink cookies and drove up to Kirk and Meki's house to see that new nephew of ours.

Kirin was OF COURSE adorable!! He was the perfect anecdote to our nervous tension. There is nothing like snuggling a new baby to get those endorphins pumping. He is such a little cuddler and we melted at the sight of him.

The next day we met up with my sister-in-law, Marissa, and our niece on Tyler's side, cute Liv.  Tyler's brother Brett was in Oregon working as an EMT with the firefighters there. (The poor Pacific Northwest really took a hit this summer.) It was so fun to see Marissa and Liv and we had a great visit with them.

All the Johnson cousins...they are a small but cute group. Kameron better have all boys to carry on the family name. :)

These two girls adore each other!! They are also the cutest little pen pals.

Later that afternoon we met up again with Kirk's family. We went up to Park City to play and eat. It had been so long since we had been up there. I can't believe how much it has changed just in the last three years. We ate and wandered around. We went to a street fair and hung out for a few hours. Then we needed to get a few more supplies for Reilly and needed to go back to Provo. (Move in was the next day.)

We drove the Heber way back down to Provo. We stopped in Oakley where my Mom lived for a few years...and Kirk and Jordin went to high school. It hasn't changed that much. It is also where Tyler and I went on our first date. We went to the Oakley parade and rodeo on the 4th of July in 1993. Look at us now!!

The place that blew my mind was Heber!! It was completely unrecognizable. It is huge and apparently the new trendy place to live. Hard to believe it used to be a sleepy little town with nothing going for it but the Dairy Keen. So crazy.

Then it was onto my favorite part...Provo Canyon. My mountains were calling. Oh, before that...another shocker...when did Deer Creek Reservoir become a place that people liked to hang out at? There were boats, water skiers, and wakeboarders galore! Deer Creek was jam-packed. Unbelievable. In my day it was only the fishermen and the windsurfers. The kids from the dell would occasionally go swimming and cliff jumping but even that was fairly rare. I couldn't believe my eyes when we drove past. Boy have things changed.

Then it was onto my neighborhood...

"So, you see, my heart is held forever by this place..." ~The Winter Sea

We drove into Springdell and it worked it's magic. Oh I noticed small changes here and there...the tree with the rope swing is gone and it hurt my heart a little. How many hours of my life did I spend spinning and swinging over that pond? How many squeals of joy and delight did it provide? Another tree  has been planted in it's place... waiting to grow tall and strong and for another rope swing to be tied to it's limbs. But besides that the place and it's spirit remain. One of my kids said, "I love how it feels here." Me too.

After our trip down the canyon we stopped at the cemetery  to pay our respects. We weren't prepared with flowers but the kids did their best to decorate the headstone of their Grandpa. I think he would be pleased. Tyler told funny stories about his dad and made us laugh. I think he would be so proud of his amazing grandchildren and son. 

It was getting late and we were were starving. Where to eat on a Sunday in Provo? Yep, Chuck-a-rama!! The Chuck-a-rama in Provo holds special memories for me. My grandparents used to take me to dinner there all the time when I was in college. When Tyler and I started dating he would come along too. My sisters and I have so many fond memories of eating there with our Grandma and Grandpa McKinnon. My kids love a buffet and we never go...unless it is a good one...like at the Davenport Hotel or something. So this suggestion was met with joy!! Maybe it isn't gourmet but I loved every minute of introducing our children to the joys of scones with honey butter and apple beer!! I want some right now!! It was neat to be there and share memories of my grandparents with our children. 

We then drove out past where my grandparents used to live on Geneva Road and continued on out to Utah Lake. That lake is so interesting and un-lake like. The kids kept saying "this is the weirdest lake ever". For reals.  Especially compared to the lakes around here. We are drawn to water like nothing else in our family and not a one of us felt any urge to jump in or even so much as dip a toe. It  is a good thing because that water is disgusting and I was forbidden by my parents to ever swim in it. But it is a rather pretty place to take pictures. So we did.

The next morning was THE BIG DAY...drop off day. I woke up with a pit in my stomach. Even Reilly lacked her usual bravado and was subdued and a little green. We needed to be in Provo early. She needed to check in at her apartment complex and at her cosmetology school. I dropped off Tyler and Reilly to get those things done and took the rest of the kids to go bum around. We did some back to school clothes shopping. (I hadn't done one bit of back to school shopping and school was starting in less than six days!) Then it was time to unload and move her in.

Here are some pictures of her new digs...

The apartment she lives in is for six girls but some how Reilly lucked out and has her own room...for the time being. The 6th roommate has so far been a no show. She likes her roommates. Especially these two.

One goes to UVU and one goes to BYU. Her other two roommates are seniors and are rarely seen and rarely mentioned. But these two girls were new just like Reilly and they have hit it off. I was surprised at how many kids attend other schools like UVU and yet live in what I think of as BYU student housing. I also like that her apartment complex has more of a dorm like feel to it. They have RAs and everything. Boys were offering their services to help carry in Reilly's belongings. She was pretty excited about her life. Once we got her unloaded we headed over to Los Hermanous for a goodbye lunch. That place was such the date spot when I was at BYU.

Good news! Apple beer on tap!!

Then we took a few family pictures...

Ailey and Bryn wanted pictures with Reilly that they could frame for their new rooms. (Oh yes...the big room swap is happening!!) I guess Kameron didn't want in on the picture action. Ha ha.

Then we got her stocked up on some groceries. Takes me back to my college days!!

We intended to drop her off then but Reilly said that she "wasn't quite ready" for us to say goodbye so we left her to get settled and decided to go play for a few hours and told her that we would stop back by at 6pm.

After we dropped off Reilly we headed up to one of my very favorite places...Sundance Ski Resort. That place was like a second home to me growing up. It was the last stop on our school bus route. We would turn around there. We used to put our skis on the school bus in the morning and then in the afternoon we get a ride from a parent up the little road to Sundance after school and night ski. Tyler and I even had our first unofficial meeting at ski school there when we were little kids. My family loved it there. We skied there all the time and were regulars at the Tree Room. Not to mention the summer theater, horseback riding, and hiking. It is fabulous. I was excited to share it with the kids. They loved it!!

How could you not?

I loved pointing out memories around every corner like, "Here is where Kelley's ski once fell into the water.", "Here is where there used to be a drinking fountain on the bridge and we used to make wishes while we were drinking what we called 'lucky water', "There is where I nearly wiped out a crowd of people when I fell at the finish line in a ski race", "There is where the bunny hill used to be that Kelley skied down on her butt", "Here is the lift where Stacey fell off of and Kelley was hanging by her neck", "There is the mogul hill that the ski patrol had to come get me and Stacey off of", "Here are my favorite suckers...only eat the blue raspberry and chocolate mint ones...NEVER the cinnamon.", "There is the hill that Dad and Aunt Lori yelled at me and Aunt Stacey once when we were kids and didn't know them", "There are the lockers that I used to put all my stuff in", "There is the restaurant that a boy that liked me used to work at. He used to sneak me coconut shrimp", "There's the house I used to babysit at" and "There is the road that goes to the house of my jr. high enemy"... and on and on....

We had to buy some Sundance gear. I used to live in Sundance clothes. I'm glad to be restocked. Ailey decided that this was the place to spend her birthday money. Smart girl.

Kameron was much more interested in these bad boys!!

Sadly the Tree Room wasn't open when we were there. No coconut shrimp for me.

After our afternoon at Sundance it was time to say goodbye to Reilly and head back to Salt Lake. She had made some great progress on her room. Things were starting to look cute! That night she texted us this picture.

It was NOT EASY saying goodbye...Ailey and Bryn probably had the hardest time that day. 

Poor Brynnie

And then we told Reilly that we loved her and drove away...THAT was hard. Since we were all a blubbering mess we needed to do something to cheer us up. We drove to the Provo Temple and got out and walked around. I don't think I truly appreciated just how pretty the Provo Temple is while I lived there. It really is so beautiful.

The mountains around it aren't too bad either!! I love Rock Canyon.

We walked around and took pictures. We sat on the grass, said a family prayer, and just chilled out. It was much needed respite. Such peace to be found on those grounds...inside the temple and out. Then we decided that we really needed some frozen custard and shopping!!

Nothing beats the blues like IKEA!! 

(Especially when you have new rooms to decorate after the ol' room switcheroo!!)

Back at the hotel we read the sweet letters that Reilly had left for each of us. 

We face-timed with Reilly who was having a grand time!! She and her roommates had gone to an ice cream social and when they came home they saw that boys had already come and decorated their doors with funny signs. She was doing just fine and was happy and excited about her new life. Good!!

The next morning we were on the road for home. This is how these two roll!! Hilarious.

FYI--My roughest day was when we got home that night and I walked downstairs and into Reilly's empty bedroom and cried my eyes out. But hey, now we are several weeks in and we are all doing fine. :)

August

August

I am not going to lie. August was rough. All the prepping to move Reilly to Utah took an emotional toll. It's hard launching children out into the world. It was extra hard because in the last three weeks that she was home she was quite enjoyable. There were lots of long talks, lots of laughs. It was nice. But then I would get the occasional screamed, "I can't wait to get out of here!!" and I would be thinking, "Yeah, me too!!" and then I would blink back tears because on the one hand it is definitely TIME and on the other hand it's SUPER HARD to let go.

My sister, Kelley posted this on my FB wall:

This is a sweet little saying that I have heard a million times before and never really thought too deeply about; probably because I was the one being given the roots and the wings. Well, believe me, this took on a much deeper significance as I read it on my FB wall now that I am the parent giving the roots and wings. The roots are easy...the wings are MUCH harder than I thought they would be. I don't feel like anyone really warned me about just how hard it would be...more like terrifying...and wrenching...to drop your kid off 700 + miles from home and just drive away. Just another parenting milestone that I was ill-prepared for...even though I had spent the previous month worrying and secretly crying trying to imagine what life would be like with all our kids not under one roof. I was just completely unprepared for how SHORT childhood is. It is so short. It goes by so fast. I just thought that by eighteen, kids would be more mature, smarter, wiser, have their lives together...yeah no...that didn't happen. I thought I would be sad but feel like "Yep! You are ready and prepared to go!" I never had that feeling. More like 18 year olds are giant irrational toddlers who think they know everything and really know nothing or just enough to get themselves into trouble.

A friend asked me what it was like trying to parent from 700 miles away...difficult. It is like Reilly is that giant irrational toddler with a blindfold on madly running on a winding mountain top with steep cliffs on either side. Tyler and I can see her toddling around as we yell warnings and instructions from below. "Stop!!" "Watch out for the edge!!" "DANGER!" "Rock slide!!" and she barely registers our voices on the wind. That is what parenting a young adult from 700 miles away feels like. Another friend described it to me this way...that anything you have to say to your child now becomes "advice". Ugh... it's true. Usually unheeded advice at that.

On the other hand it is exciting and wonderful because it's nice to see your child where they want to be and doing what they want to be doing. I certainly don't want Reilly staying in Spokane and living in our basement. But the whole family dynamic is a bit weird as we all find our way. We are finding a new normal now and it will all be okay, right?!

So back to August...

Our nephew was born!!

 This was us when we heard the news that Kirin was here safe and sound. We were all in a big group text with my siblings and here we are toasting his arrival. He is the CUTEST and sweetest boy too!!

That face!!
He is Kirk's mini-me and also looks a lot like his big brother Kaiden.

Kameron headed out for his first week long High Adventure Scout Trip in the mountains of Montana. This was also the first scout camp that Tyler has not attended with him and I fretted all week long worrying about him falling off a cliff, getting lost, or getting eaten by a bear. (A real worry as they had to bring bear bags, bear spray, bear bells and the leaders brought guns.) He survived...and had a great time. They got to go river boarding which looked AWESOME!! It is on my to-do list.

Pics from the Internet to give you an idea...

Tyler did go up for the last night and texted me photographic proof that Kameron was still alive and unmamed. (Is that a word?)

Ailey made two big batches of strawberry lime fruit leather and it was delicious!!

We did A LOT  of summer reading. The tent came in quite handy for lazy afternoons.

We had our last Girls Day for awhile...we did it up in style with shopping, dinner, and a movie...only to come home and have a major 80's movie marathon after that!! (The guys were in Montana.)

We went to church all together as a family and I made everyone take a million pictures.

Everyone was THRILLED!!

We had our annual Johnson Family picnic and croquet tournament at Manito Park. We usually do this on Father's Day, but since we were in California on Father's Day this year, we did it as a Bon Voyage for Reilly.

Our attempt at an Eight Is Enough homage...

Then it was game on!! Every Johnson for themselves.

This is our game of choice. There will be crying, yelling, swearing, and screams of cheating. There will be mocking and gloating and bragging... and much laughing. Wusses are not allowed to play. This is the Game of Kings in our family and we have one reigning gloating bragging undefeated Grand Poobah.

Here he is with his game face on...

The King

The Usurper

The Heir to the Throne

The Lady in Waiting

The Princess with a Heart of Gold

The Evil Queen

The realm

A bloody battle ensued.

A mallet was broken and blood WAS shed, The King was dethroned by the Usurper only to have him inform us that he let the Usurper win as she was about to be cast out from the Kingdom. He's a treacherous and wily King and, only he knows the truth, but I feel that we all gave him a darn good battle, perhaps our best, and he's undoubtedly full of it. I came in second and I was THRILLED.

Then we went to wander in our favorite garden as twilight was falling and took a few turns around it.

The place is magical!!
(My picture quality...not so much.)

And it's the lovely Johnson Sisters...

Wishes were made!!

As August wound to a close I tried to eat as many peaches as I possibly could...

This was my favorite go-to August meal: peaches and cream, corn on the cob, and homemade bread. No, I did not lose any weight this summer. Shocking.

My roses have been beyond splendid this year. I have 14 different rose bushes and they were all, and still are, amazing. Here is a sampling. I also read a fun novel about rosarians and it got me even more rose crazy. Hard to believe!

We celebrated the year mark of Tyler's heart surgery and are so grateful that things have gone well this past year. The state of Washington burned and we had so much smoke that it looked like thick fog was in our neighborhood. We could barely see our next door neighbor's house one day. Ash was falling from the sky. The air quality was horrendous. Our stake did a special fast for rain and low and behold it started raining before the next Sunday.

The day before we left a wonderful friend of mine brought over a college care package for ME. She is the absolute best and has already been through all of this before.  We stood laughing and crying in my garage. I was also in a frenzy to prepare for my big Funky Junk Antiques Show that was right after I got home and I had been painting and sanding like a mad woman when she came over and brought me this:

It definitely came in handy!!
 I am so grateful for good friends who have gone before and light my way.

I took random pictures of normal sights in our house...

The last night before we left for Utah we had the smoke blow out for one glorious day. We had the best family dinner out on our deck.

We were all eating and laughing and enjoying being together and Tyler and I looked around the table and had another moment...another how can we already be at this stage moment. It was a fantastic night and a sweet memory for all of us I think.

Then it was time to load the car and head to Utah...