Lauryn's Farewell & BYU Move In

The day finally arrived when we were flying out of South Carolina to take Baylie to BYU. We were headed to Utah by way of Las Vegas. The baggage limit is 50 lbs. Baylie made it just under the wire!

We got bumped off the first flight through D.C., which would have got us into Vegas at about 8:30 p.m. We ended up on a later flight through Chicago that got us in at 11:00 p.m. The strip is always amazing to see at night.

Reminder that 11 p.m. Vegas time is 2:00 a.m. South Carolina time. We were tired!

The reason we went through Vegas was so we could be there when Clara went through the temple for the first time. Tiffani's whole family was there together. What a special moment. Grammy, Grandad, Erik, and Shanelle were also there. I love being in the temple with family.

friends and family in front of the temple

While most of us were in the endowment session with Clara, Jalen, Baylie, and Asher did baptisms.

Jalen, Baylie, Clara, Asher, Lauryn

Later that evening we joined Tiffani's ward for an activity at a really cool hot spring called Warm Springs Recreational Ranch. It used to belong to Howard Hughes.

The kids and Tiff did a little cliff jumping. I hadn't packed a swimming suit so I missed out.

Not sure what they're doing, but they think they're cool.

the grands at pool side

Asher, Baylie, Lauryn, Grey (Clara's boyfriend), Clara, Jalen

The next day was Lauryn's missionary farewell and the other reason we were in Vegas. Lauryn is going to serve in the Mexico City Northwest Mission.

Clara also spoke and they both gave really great talks.

Clara's boyfriend is going to my mission in Argentina so I made alfajores and mantecol. (The mantecol didn't turn out for some reason.)

I also found a Mexican candy store and bought some of my favorite candy for Lauryn to try.

We wore the folks out.

We had planned to drive back on Monday, but decided to head home Sunday late afternoon. I wanted to stay with Tiff, but when we got to Grammy and Grandad's, I was glad we had decided to leave early. It was nice to sleep in the next day and Jalen was able to have a more stable school day.

Baylie and Jalen rode with Shanelle and Asher. (Erik had flown home the day before.) I rode with Grammy and Grandad.

Tiff's pomegranate tree is so pretty. It's how I imagine the tree of good and evil.

On Tuesday, we picked up Asher and did baptisms at the new Lindon temple. It has two baptistries!

I forgot to mention that David flew out that morning to join us. He made both his flights without any trouble.

Temples always have such beautiful grounds.

Wednesday David and I went to the Walk With Christ. After experiencing that in June, I really wanted him to have the same experience.

Thursday was the day we moved Baylie into her dorm. She had been going stir crazy and was very excited to go. 

We moved in most of her stuff, but then needed to make a Walmart run. Her roommate Clayre had already moved in so we took her with us. She is such a sweet girl! While walking into Walmart, we ran into Jayden Black, one of our favorite missionaries. Such fun

We bought A LOT of stuff!

After several hours, Baylie was all moved in and her room looked fantastic. I was so happy to see her surrounded with pictures of Christ and motivational quotes. 

Later that day her room - roommate, Tessa, moved in. She was also very sweet. She also decorated with pictures of Christ and motivational quotes. It made my momma heart happy to know that Baylie is living in such a room and that these roommates were so sweet. Baylie stayed in her room, which was a little weird for me, but very good for her.

Tessa, Clayre, Baylie

David and Jalen flew home on Friday so David could give music lessons. Jalen was going to stay with me, but Grammy and Grandad had a mission reunion and I was going to be at orientation all day, so he went ahead and flew home. They made both their flights without any trouble. (I had changed them from Chicago to Washington, which ended up being a good choice. They would have been stuck in Chicago.)

Tiffani joined me for the student/parent orientation. Her girls had already gone to summer semester so she was mostly going just so I wouldn't be alone. I love her.

BYU does a pretty amazing orientation. So much energy and entern

I'm a little embarrassed to admit that the first time I got teary eyed was when the ROC flag got raised. Ridiculous. (ROC stands for Roar of Cougars - "the official and energetic student section for BYU Athletics.")

After all the celebration, there was a devotional. And this is the heart of BYU, prayer, hymns, and always remembering the higher purpose of higher education. I love this for Baylie.

I was going to go to some breakout sessions, but I ended up skipping them. Tiff and I went to the Bookstore and then Baylie asked us to come back to her dorm. I was happy that later that evening she also wanted me to go to the evening orientation at Lavell Edwards Stadium with her.

We didn't know we'd get split up. The students were sent to the south end zone to make a giant letter Y. 

There was more entertainment and they kept right on going even when it started to rain. 

Fire dancing

Fight Song

It was wrapped up with an amazing drone show.

I'm glad I got to experiencing these events with her.

Fun fact - I sat by a couple of really nice ladies at the evening event. One of them was the mother of the Vocal Point percussionist. The other was a sweet lady from Alabama who had just driven across the country with her son who had recently returned from a mission in Madagascar. Later I found out that Baylie had been sitting by her son! What are the chances?! They've now been on two dates...

I flew home without any trouble on Saturday. I did have to buy a Firste Class pass to fly from Chicago to Columbia, but it was worth the $17. I would have been bumped if I'd tried to fly economy.

Baylie was asked to play the piano for church on Sunday. She also met a new friend - Kianalei Hiller - who lives on her floor. Her mom, Maile, was Tiffani's roommate and dear friend. Her grandma Holly is a friend of mine from Optavia. Such a small world!

Meanwhile back at the ranch, I spent six hours on Monday deep cleaning Baylie's room. I have never seen that much dust in my life! Even on the walls! It now looks nice and fresh and I have taken over half of the closet.

We miss our girl, but we are so proud of her and happy for her.