The College Drop Off

 

We left very early on a Thursday morning after Labor Day to drive down to Southern Idaho. The kids could check into their apartments on Friday morning. Kam and Ailey drove in one car and Tyler, Bryn, Beverly, and I drove in another car. 

Bryn really wanted to come with us so that she could see where the kids would be living. She missed two days of school that week but she did not want to be left behind and that meant that Beverly was along for the ride too.

Bev's a good little traveler and we made good time. When we got to the turn off for Rexburg... Ailey and Kameron took the exit and we continued on to Idaho Falls. Kameron is rooming with one of his mission companions and his brother. He doesn't know any of the other roommates. Jared and his brother paid extra to move in early and they were already there and eager for Kam to arrive. Ailey went with him so that she could check out the apartment. Kam and Ailey are living in the same big apartment complex. Kameron was able to move in and unload all of his stuff early which was really nice.

We checked into our hotel in Idaho Falls and got settled. Later Kam and Ailey met us at our hotel and then we all went out to dinner with my Aunt Bonnie, my cousin Wendy, and her daughter Miley who will be rooming with Ailey.

We met everyone at Texas Roadhouse. It was good to visit with family and catch up on all the latest with everyone. My aunt was in town from Boise visiting her mother so I was glad that we got to get together for dinner before she left town. It was so good to see everyone!

After dinner Kameron drove back to Rexburg to spend the night in his apartment and Ailey came back to the hotel with us. We found out that the girls could officially move into their apartment at midnight. My cousin Wendy drove Miley and Ailey to Rexburg to scope out their apartment, claim a room, and drop off their stuff. Kameron came to help them unload. Then Wendy drove the girls back to Idaho Falls in the very early hours of the morning.

The next day we met up with Wendy and Miley at Target and did a big shop for the girls apartment. After that it was onto Rexburg to help them get moved in. We stopped in to see Kameron's apartment. He was getting his room set up and didn't need any help. The girls, on the other hand, wanted our help. Lots of it. We got them all unpacked and their room decorated. Wendy scrubbed down everything so that it was clean. She was the real MVP this weekend!

Their apartment is really nice. They are sharing a room and an attached bathroom. There are two other bedrooms for a total of 6 girls in the apartment. Kameron came over to the girls apartment to check things out. He lives on a different floor in another building in the complex. They aren't in the same ward either. Suffice it to say, Kameron refused to allow me to take a picture of him in his room. I wasn't allowed to take any pictures in his apartment period.  Boys. He said that he would send me one of his room. I'm still waiting.

The cousins. I think Kameron and Miley look a lot alike. There is definitely a family resemblance.

Me with my cousin Wendy.

The whole drop off crew!

It was a fun and exciting atmosphere at BYU-I as kids were being dropped off, moving in, and trying to meet everyone. Tyler had to watch Bryn like a hawk as she was constantly being scoped out by the college boys who had no idea that she was only 13!! LOL.

After that the kids had all kinds of freshman orientation activities and events that they had to attend. There was also an orientation reception for the parents that we attended. I was thrilled to see that BYU brownies are also served at BYU-I. If you know, you know. 

Tyler, Bryn, and I wandered around the campus. I was pleasantly surprised with how nice the campus is and how compact and easy it is to navigate. It really is like a smaller BYU. We ran into the kids here and there on campus in between their activities. The kids got their schedules, student IDs, bought their books, got all that they needed from the bookstore, and tracked down where all of their classes were.

That evening Kam and Ailey decided that they both wanted to go out to dinner with us and then be dropped off at their apartments in plenty of time before all of the evening back-to-school activities began. We had dinner at a little BBQ place in Idaho Falls called Pitmaster BBQ Company. They had delicious cornbread and red cream soda ON TAP! You won't find any red cream soda in WA! Sad.

The next morning we got our favorite Kneaders for breakfast. Bryn and I did a cruise through DI and I found some great Christmas stuff for my booth and we found the creepiest doll for our "doll in the fall" thing that we are doing for Halloween. We did a big Costco run for both kids while we were in Idaho Falls and then delivered it to them in Rexburg. All day the kids had meetings and activities. In between Kam's things we picked him up and did a Walmart run with him. The Rexburg Walmart was an absolute ZOO!!! I've never seen anything like it. Hundreds of students and their parents with carts piled high! It is also one of the biggest and nicest Walmarts that I have ever been in. They had the most complicated checkout procedure...lines marked and snaking all the way through the store...due to the unbelievable number of people. On our way out we ran into our friends, Tim and Janelle, who were dropping off their son. 

A few hours later it was Ailey's turn to do a Walmart run. The crowd had died down slightly. We got her loaded up with groceries. Rexburg was chilly. Tyler and I had to buy sweatshirts. We didn't pack any kind of jackets or anything with long sleeves for trip. Brrr. Rexburg is cold just like everyone says!

That evening we said goodbye to Miley and Wendy. We had the kids come with us to take pictures by the BYU-Idaho sign as all freshman need to do (and were!) The sign is located just across from the Rexburg temple which is really pretty!

We took one more family photo and then it was time to rip off the Band-Aid and tell the kids goodbye. All around us were crying parents and kids. That at least normalized the goodbye because there were tears all around from us too. I don't know if Kameron cried but he did hug Beverly extra long. Ha ha! It was hard to say goodbye to Kameron because we just got him home and had so enjoyed having him back and now we were saying goodbye again. It was hard telling Ailey goodbye. Bryn was having the hardest time of all. It's no fun being the one left behind. Finally we managed to drive away and we drove directly to ice cream. We went to G's Dairy Delights and ate our feelings.

Their ice cream scoops are massive! We each ordered two scoops in a cup. We were expecting a Baskin- Robbins sized scoop and got these monsters. I couldn't even begin to eat it all and had to throw half of it away. I think Bryn did too. We have never thrown ice cream away before!

We drove back to Idaho Falls and checked out the city to see what was new. We drove past the house where my Aunt Bonnie grew up. I have memories of going there with her to visit her parents. We found an awesome gourmet corn dog food truck. That's where we had dinner. It was SO GOOD! Then it was back to the hotel for the night. Both kids texted us pretty regularly that night with updates of what they were doing. Beverly thoroughly enjoyed the hotel. Look at her snoozing away like the Queen of Sheba in her luxury digs.

This dog does NOT know that she is a dog but she is also the cutest thing ever! 

We got up early the next morning to drive home. It was hard (as it always is) to drive away from kids living in another state. Not a fan. I want everyone to eventually move back to Spokane! Dare to dream. We planned to stop for lunch in Butte, MT because Tyler's co-workers told him that he had to try the pork chop sandwich that Butte is famous for...unfortunately it was totally gross. Super disappointing. We went to the original pork chop sandwich place and it was NOT good. Several restaurants make a pork chop sandwich in Butte so maybe we need to try somewhere else?! I don't know what the hype is about because the food was bad! We threw away all three pork chop sandwiches. They were disgusting. At least Butte had a park with old school playground equipment. My favorite! We had to get out and stretch our legs so why not play on the equipment?

These crazy swings were REALLY fun!!

Also while we were in Butte, Bryn left her phone in the restroom of a truck stop. It was a good 15 minutes later before she realized what she had done. Then we had to turn around and drive back. Luckily her phone was still there. It had been turned in to the manager. Thank goodness! Yay for honest people in Butte! We stopped in St. Regis for huckleberry shakes at Reilly's favorite place. Reilly was right! The shakes are amazing and that redeemed our nasty lunch!

The kids called us on our way home to tell us all about church and their new wards. Ailey's ward is really on the ball and has all kinds of activities scheduled and Kameron's not so much. Both kids sounded good and were looking forward to their first day of school. We got home to a very quiet and empty house. That is going to take some getting used to but we are so grateful that Kam and Ailey have this opportunity to go to college and to go there together!

Both Ailey and Kameron had great first days of school and even sent me First Day of School selfies! I was so proud!

September 2022

 September 2022

September was a big month for us. So many changes and new beginnings. It was full of special times for our family. We started out the month spending several days at Hayden Lake over Labor Day. We had an absolute blast!! It was the perfect way to cap off the summer. Before we headed to Hayden Lake, Bryn had her back-to-school conferences. We met with her advisory teacher, got her schedule, and picked up her school assigned lap top.

We rented a lake house for 5 days on Hayden Lake. We've never spent any time on this lake before. It was a great adventure! It's so fun to explore other lakes! We loved it! We also really liked the lake house. It was big and had great accommodations. The dock was really nice and had a boat slip. We loved the view and the water. The house sat higher on the hill and you had to walk down to the water. But it wasn't too bad and we had a beautiful view of the lake from the deck. I can look at water for hours. It is the most calming and Zen like experience for me.

View from the house. 

The dock.

The first afternoon that we got there it was smoky from forest fires around the state but not too bad. We did a lake cruise and took some family pictures. The light was really nice. I had planned to do professional family pictures this summer after Kameron got home but with the new baby on the way we decided to wait until the baby arrives.

Our entire vacation was perfection. It was so relaxing and enjoyable. We spent every minute possible on the water, the boat, or on the dock. Pure bliss.

Gorgeous water!!

We tubed and wake boarded every day. Reilly took a break from water sports this summer to grow that baby! Good idea! She kindly took all of the videos of the wake boarding runs. She's a gem!

This picture of Reilly makes me die laughing! I did not have permission to post it on the socials but she said that the blog was okay. LOL. I am forever grateful!! 

Ailey doing her TikToks, Snap Chats, Instagram, and BeReals. Because you know...18.

Even Beverly went for a swim. She's not a big fan of swimming but it was hot. 

Here she is with her hype squad! You can do it Beverly!!

She would swim from the boat to Reilly and back. She did it a couple of times and then she was done!

This dog does not lack for love! 

I mean really...could you ever get tired of that view?

One day it rained and it was delightful! We swam as it sprinkled (no lightning). Swimming in the rain is so fun!! Once it started coming down in torrents though we went inside. 

These two boys did NOT join us in swimming in the rain. LOL.

Growing up we would always have a rainy day on our weeks at the lake too and they turned out to be some of my favorite days. On this particular day, I read, napped, and listened to the rain on the roof. It was very cozy and reminiscent of the rain on the roof of Lilac Lodge. It's such a comforting sound. 

The kids (and Tyler) played video games and the Oculus. We watched movies and played board games. The rain didn't put a stop to our fun!

The rest of the days that we were there were sunny and beautiful! Early mornings on the deck looking at the water was a favorite place to hang out.

One morning Reilly and the girls made one of my mom's signature hot breakfasts. Hunter had coffee brewing. That smell reminds me of mornings at my mom's house. I love the smell of coffee in the morning. It felt like my mom was there with us! Reilly was even cooking our breakfast in my mom's black robe! Ha ha! Mom would've gotten such a kick out of that!

Every day we were out on the dock as soon as the sun hit it and we stayed out all day!

We had dock picnics for lunch every day. It was wonderful!!

We napped in the sunshine! Look how sweet kids are when they are sleeping! Even at 21!

We would stay out until the sun went down. Then we would head inside to eat late easy dinners like: taco salad, pad thai, Hawaiian haystacks, pasta salads, cold cuts, rolls, cheese, dips, veggies, fruit, and easy things like that. No one wanted to be slaving away in the kitchen.

After it got dark we played games. We played so many games...spoons, cards, poker, trivia, Yahtzee. We were up late every night talking and laughing. I loved it! All of the people that I love the most together and having fun!! It doesn't get better than that!

One night we did the Tortilla Challenge. Holy Moly. Those tortillas hurt. 

Ours were cold from the fridge. Use room temp tortillas or don't play with this crew. 

The videos that we have from this *game* are some our funniest family videos. I thought I was going to hyperventilate laughing!! After games everyone would sack out on the couches and watch movies. I was having to wake everyone up at around  2 am most nights and send them off to their beds.

This house on Hayden Lake is my definition of perfection:

A traditional white house with black shutters, nestled in the trees, and on the water. I don't need anything more grandiose than this! Tyler agrees! Now to find one for ourselves!!

The days went by too fast as they always do. We hated to say goodbye to this beautiful lake and view! But school was about to start for Brynnie and we had Kam and Ailey to launch at college. I am so grateful that we had this perfect respite! It was just what we needed! 

Bryn started school the day after Labor Day. Kameron and Ailey were still in town so they got to see her off and participate in our first day of school traditions. 

The one thing that Bryn REALLY wanted for her first day of school outfit was a pair of purple pants! LOL. We found her some! Ailey did her nails the night before too. She's looking very grown up.

Since these two were still here we made them jump in the picture too!

Then it was time to drop Bryn off at school and everyone wanted to come along!

We were relegated to the back seat.

After the drop off, the rest of us went to breakfast as per tradition. It was fun to have Ailey and Kam join us this year! Bryn had a great first day and it was fun for all of us to hear about her first day. It is beyond CRAZY that we only have one kid in school. This is also the first time in 12 years that we haven't had a kid in high school. Bizarre.

We crammed in a bunch of stuff the last few days that Kam and Ailey were home. I had an appointment at the DMV to get my enhanced license. (Tyler had his and both Kam and Ailey got theirs this summer.) I had Kam help lug a bunch of heavy furniture to Midtown Market. Gotta use those muscles while they are still in town. Ha ha! We did many last minute Target runs! Cookie runs! Reilly came over every night that last week. One day she brought us these crullers. They are our very favorite donuts and Spokane does NOT know how to make them but she found a place and ordered this box for us. Some even had cherry frosting!! The best of the best. There were some VERY HAPPY Johnsons! That box was demolished in 5 minutes. Maybe less! I made huge batches of my grandma's buttered cheerios and her malted milks as requested.

We had Chinese food delivered one night and we all got very specific and personally relevant fortunes! 

Ailey wanted a mother/daughter day of going to lunch and mani/pedis. Who was I to deny that request?!

We had a great time together! Ailey and I nearly drove each other crazy her senior year but boy I am going to miss this girl! She is so fun and hilarious! The house is going to be so quiet without her!

I'm going to miss that sassy little face! Bryn would burst into tears every time she thought of Ailey going to college. I was right there with her. Kid #3 doesn't make it any easier.

We had a bon voyage family dinner. I made all of the kids food requests. Ailey, Reilly, and Bryn made dirt and worms as the requested dessert. Reilly told the kids goodbye and we took some pictures on the deck. I am bawling in all of them. Ailey is too.

Kids growing up is hard! Especially since we just got used to having Kameron home again and now we are sending him off and Ailey too. Lots of feelings. Lots of tears. As per their personalities, Ailey had been packed up for weeks and Kameron packed at the last minute the night before and left all sorts of crap (and garbage) in his room despite the fact that I had been nagging him to pack for 2 weeks! Ugh. As I raged cleaned his room upon our return it helped with missing him. :)

All too soon the big day came and it was time for them to head to Rexburg. More on that in another post. Too much to include here.

Reentry into our lives after the college drop off was rough for the first week. It was really quiet. We had gone from a jammed packed loud busy house to just the three of us. It helped that Ailey facetimed us constantly...especially for Bryn who wasn't used to being without her big sis. Kameron we would hear from maybe every 3-4 days. No lie... we heard from him way more while on his mission. LOL. It helps that Bryn is a busy girl. She is on the go with school, friends, piano, cello, XC, and church activities. Life has NOT slowed down. We have things every single night except now we only have to be at one place at one time so that helps.

Cross Country started and filled our month with practices and meets. So fun! XC is the best sport to watch! I enjoy *encouraging* Bryn from various locations around the course!! Most of her besties are all on the team with her so that makes it extra fun. This year they bumped the distance up to a mile and a half for 8th grade. She did great!! Bryn was in the top 10 every meet this month except for one. That one was held during a downpour and the kids were slipping and falling on the wet grass. It was awful.

Tyler and I were at every meet. Sometimes we were joined by Reilly and Hunter. Sometimes even Ailey via FaceTime who would be screaming from the phone as Bryn ran past. It's fun to cheer for our girl! A bunch of our good friends have kids running XC so it's fun to hang out with all of them twice a week too! Bryn couldn't have a bigger network of people cheering her on. 

Sunday afternoons and evenings are definitely the quietest time at our house. Tyler is done with his meetings and high council duties by noon and I am usually done around then too. We've been trying to go on bike rides or for walks in the afternoons. It's actually been really fun! We love to hop on our favorite Trail of the Coeur d' Alenes and ride 15-20 miles.

We want to get in all the biking that we can before the weather changes. This month it was usually in the 80s or high 70s. It doesn't matter where you hop on this 73 mile trail...it is always beautiful.

We love the stretches along Lake Coeur d' Alene. Since it has 135 miles of shoreline we can ride a big chunk of the trail next to the lake. The rest of the trail heads into the woods and along the river. Also pretty.

We tried to predict how long winter would be this year! 

Tyler and I went out for brunch with Hunter's mom and dad and also Reilly and Hunter. With a wedding and baby on the way we all wanted to spend more time together and get to know one another better. Reilly and Hunter were weirdly freaked out by the thought of their parents hanging out together. Worlds colliding and all of that! I wish we would've gotten a picture. The owner of the darling restaurant we went to is one of my good friends and it turns out that she is also good friends with Hunter's mom! We were all delighted by that! 

My friend Celeste saw Reilly and made a beeline to her and then saw me and Tyler and was excited and hugging us and then she turned around and saw Hunter's parents and was astounded!! She kept saying "How do you guys know each other?!" I know her from the vintage world and Colleen knows her from when they were both nurses together years ago. Celeste has known Hunter since he was a baby and she has known Reilly since she was a little girl. She was over the moon about their engagement, baby, and the merging of our families. She was crying talking about how much my mom would've loved all of this! It was really special! It is also a great connection that bonds us together a little more.

Tyler started his stake high councilman duties. He was assigned the ward that we were in when we first moved to Spokane 20 years ago. It's fun for him to be back in that ward again. The bishop is a good friend of ours too. It's a good fit for Tyler. He is also over various stake events. Interesting. He is enjoying being part of the stake high council and stake council. He has several good friends who are part of the stake council and in the stake presidency. I also had a bunch of meetings this month with our stake primary presidency. We have a big stake training coming up.

Reilly's had her first big ultrasound appointment. She and the baby are both doing well. He is definitely a boy. He is measuring bigger than his due date so his due date might get moved up two weeks into January. She has another ultrasound to check his size coming up. He was not cooperative for getting a picture of his face! He reminds me of his mother! I had to jump up and down and dance around to try to get her to move so that we could get an ultrasound picture of her face. Here are my two cents on this: the personality of your baby in utero is their personality. 100% !! At least that was the case with all four Johnson kids. The baby is also starting to really kick... powerfully enough that Hunter can feel it. That is always so exciting!

Reilly, Tyler, and I took Bryn and a group of her friends to the Fair. Chaperoning a bunch of giggly girls isn't for the faint of heart. It took three of us to keep tabs on them but they had a fun time and so did we! We ate all the things.

We walked all over and checked out all of the exhibits. Hmm... I feel such a kinship with this black sheep. I wonder why?! LOL. 

Sidenote...Kirk named his cabin "Black Sheep Lodge." I love it.

The best part of the fair was the high diving show (so cool!) and eating as much cotton candy as possible. Success! We also kept track of a whole gaggle of girls and shut that fair down. Double success!

We are so grateful for this girl who decided to come along and hang out! She's really fun!

In other Bryn news...piano lessons started up for her. Reilly and Bryn had a sisters day and got pedicures. I am so grateful that Reilly lives close and stays super involved. It has been so helpful and makes Bryn feel less alone. Brynnie has also been doing some baking and cooking. With Ailey out of the house if she wants treats she needs to make them. I am not a baker. 

She's a good one!

Midtown Market had their Fall Open House. After the college drop off I was super busy preparing for that and working on Halloween projects for my booth. I spent a day revamping my booth from my usual décor and merchandise to Fall, Halloween, and Thanksgiving décor. The open house was a HUGE success!! That was exciting!! My sales were fantastic! All my hard work paid off.

Queen Elizabeth died the day that we were driving to Rexburg. Sad. I love the Royals. We left town early that morning and had been out of service while we drove through the passes. When we stopped for gas I had a text from Reilly telling me that the Queen had died. We went into the gas station/truck stop in St. Regis, MT and everyone was talking about it. I got up in the middle of the night, a week later, to watch the live coverage of her funeral. It is definitely an end of an era. I'm not a real Prince Charles fan. His reign will be interesting to observe.

The three year anniversary of my mom's passing came and went. Kirk and I always say that this day can just come and go and that we are only going to focus on happy days like her birthday but it's hard not to pause and reflect. It's hard to not acknowledge the day. Kirk and I talked a lot throughout the day about how best to go about this especially with our kids. Many people called, texted, and checked in with us too. That was lovely. The people who aren't lovely to us... were not lovely. No surprise there. How many years need to go by before they stop taking jabs at us. I guess it is easier to be mad at me and Kirk rather than being mad that mom died and not having anyone to blame. I hope one day the unlovely people find some peace. It has to be absolutely exhausting lugging around all of that anger and hatred for three years.

We finally got the call that the Camry was repaired and ready for pick up. Tyler sent the kids down to Rexburg with his Acura. What a LONG and annoying process! Now we have to drive down to Rexburg again and switch out the cars. The rest of our month was filled with time with friends, book club, activities, sports, and more sports. 

September was a bit of an emotional roller coaster. Exhilarating highs and some heart-clutching lows. But the ride has been exciting as we've begun a new chapter in our lives.