Well, this is a first: combining two Small Squares months into one post! It had to be done; I’m too far behind. As usual, both months were jam packed and mostly with fun things. We spent time in Utah again and it has started to feel like we are in Utah so often we should just live there. Just kidding. Sort of. Seb went to camp with the guys in our congregation and had a great time and likely never showered or brushed his teeth (I know better than to ask). Sam went to Alaska with his mom and three sisters to celebrate Lorna’s 90th birthday. We continued to get our college girl ready for her freshman year and then I took her out and deposited her in Logan at Utah State. That was a surreal moment, climbing back into my car to drive back to California without her! Here then is a little of what July and August 2022 were like…

First off, Simon continued his work in Kenya. July and August were a little tougher than he had experienced before but he stayed the course and made it through. His determination and discipline and desire to serve and teach is pretty incredible. We are so proud of him.

So so proud of this kid. It is quite the experience to live and serve in another country for two years, navigate all that entails and teach people about Jesus Christ.

About a month before college started we took Sophie up to Logan for her freshman orientation to get her set up and get her ID card. It was a fun day. Long for her, kind of fun for me and Sam. Logan is beautiful and the USU campus is great.

We actually spent close to three weeks in Utah in July. We handled Sophie’s USU orientation trip and took a trip top Moab as a family for the first time. You can read all about that here.

We enjoyed some of our favorite Utah things…

Went to our favorite Nicklecade TWICE with the fam. It hits just right every single time. We are obsessed with it and our obsession grows each time we visit. Why? I do not know.

We visited with our dear NYC friends the Rileys and had okonomiyaki night. It was unbelievable in all the best ways.

We celebrated Joel and Kendra’s sealing in the beautiful Provo City Center LDS Temple. It was a gorgeous day and these two are so wonderful together. Great time with family.

The main reason we spent so much time in Utah was to celebrate Sam’s mom turning 90. She is the most vibrant, busy, active 90 year old you will ever meet. She spent two weeks in the Holy Land and Jordan just this past spring! This lady continues to amaze us all. It was a joy to celebrate her!

It was a jam packed fun nearly three weeks in Utah and meant that we had lots of family time.

Once we got back in late July, Seb headed off to camp with the young men of our congregation.

While Seb was at camp I did a few projects here at home, painting my laundry room, primary bathroom and accent wall in my office blue. Lots of work but paint is so much fun for making an immediate change. Here is how my office looked when it was done:

And the accent wall int he nook of my bathroom:

Also, while Seb was at camp Sam was in Alaska with his mom and three sisters on a birthday cruise present for Lorna.

ALASKA MAN! He had a great time.

For about a week I had no Sam and no Seb (and obviously no Simon because #kenya) so the girls and I took a day trip to Napa and St. Helena. I hadn’t spent time in Napa since 2021 and was craving a good meal at Rutherford Grill, one of our Bay Area favorites. We had such a nice, relaxing day in Napa.

Then suddenly it was August and the countdown of taking Sophie to college was upon us. It snuck up really quickly. It had been a busy summer and we really weren’t home a lot. Suddenly it was almost here, taking a kid to college.

I started the month of August with a visit down to Fairfield to see my dear friend Holly and a bunch of her kids who came into town to visit. We have known and been friends with the Bennion family for about 15 years; they are like family. Holly has MSA which stands for Multiple System Atrophy. She was diagnosed back in 2018 and it has slowly robbed her of her body. There is no cure and it is a miserable disease. I love being able to visit with her as often as I can get down to Fairfield :).

The Bennion/Redfern/Anderson/Hall girls (and Chris) came up to visit on their way back to Utah and Idaho. It was their first time seeing Casa Toscana and it was so wonderful to have them in our home!

Casa Toscana was beautiful at sunset even in the horrible heat. We had the worst heat wave from late July into mid August. THE WORST. Global warming and the climate crisis is real and alive here in Northern California.

Sam and I went to a Monster Truck Jam and we were like kids in a candy store. Super fun. Definitely a return visit next summer.

The pup continued to be cute…

These two were waiting patiently for me to take them somewhere!

Seb began soccer life with his buddies on a rec league in Loomis. He hadn’t played soccer since he about five so we weren’t sure how this was going to go. The coach has been great and he picked things up quickly. He has a lot of stamina and speed and isn’t afraid to get in the mix to get the ball. It has been fun to watch him enjoy a new sport.

We began the Sophie goodbyes…

And then I drove out to Utah with my oldest daughter, my perma-buddy for her freshman year at Utah State University. We were so busy with getting out there and unpacking and getting her set up that there wasn’t a lot of time for emotion. It literally did not hit me until I was almost back home, driving through Tahoe and listening to Arcade Fire and then I cried for about a minute. Not because I was sad but because it marked the end of an era, just like when Simon left on his mission. These older two kids of mine will never really live at home again as kids. As happy as I am about that I am also nostalgic for all of the wonderful things about raising them both. Raising Sophie has been a joy. The last two years of her life have been incredibly difficult and painful and a struggle so dropping her off at college felt like both a triumph and a fragile uncertainty. And it is probably both in equal parts at different times.

First we stopped for a night in Riverton to see grandma and say goodbye…

Then we were off! That car couldn’t have been packed more to the gills. And it was crazy busy and hot and felt a little endless with the dorm move in. Pro tip – bring more than one parent or helper to move your kid into the dorm/apartment. Just the sheer amount of lugging stuff from a parking lot across the green and up a flight of stairs is endless. Many hands make light work. I will remember this for next time because it was just the two of us and it about killed us.

I took a few days after I dropped her off to visit with my mother in law and see some friends that I normally don’t have enough time to visit with. Then I made my way back to California. On the way out of town I passed by the salt flats and decided that I needed a little photo shoot. I always want to stop and I always have a car full of people so it doesn’t make sense. This time it was just me so I lived it up for a few minutes.

That wraps up July and August. It was busier than I remember!

Share