Ok, and you may be asking who in heaven’s name is Ann Madsen? Well, she is one of my heroes. The wife of our director Truman Madsen who wrote many books that were, to be honest, quite over my head. He was a very smart man. And gentle and good, and we were SO LUCKY to have him.

But Ann? Well, that woman stood in front of our classroom that overlooked the white limestone of the city stretched out below and poured her love of Isaiah into our hearts. I don’t think there was one class where she didn’t cry when she talked about the poetry. The symbolism. The LOVE portrayed.

And she made us as a class teary too. Because we couldn’t not feel her love of those words she made come to life for us.

“His hand is stretched out still.”
“Fear not, I am with thee.”
“Awake, Awake!”
“I will be with you.”

I emerged from that class as a true Isaiah lover. Empowered by those words that Ann had helped wash over me that semester abroad. Since then this has been my favorite. My favorite scripture of all time:

“Fear thou not, for I am with thee.
Be not dismayed; for I am thy God.
I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee;
yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness…

For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand,
Saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.”

Oh it is just so beautiful. Placed in the middle of the Old Testament where sometimes it seems that we find an “angry God.” But no. He is angry with sin. But his hand will always and forever be “stretched out still.” No matter what.

He will strengthen us, help us, uphold us.

And He will hold our hands…fear not.

Oh I know that it doesn’t always feel like that. For me or for you. And especially not for our children.

Please hold their hands, God! We plead.

But those verses are most comforting to me when I’m in the midst of the “tempests.” They remind me that God is with me, even when I can’t see Him.

And He’s with my children too.

How we look for Him in the darkness. And we do find what we’re looking for. He is there.

Always.

So I have carried around this gift of Isaiah love for many, many years.

I forget sometimes, especially when I first pull out the Old Testament and it’s hard to get through. And confusing.

Why do I love this so much, I ask?

And then I get to the reading spilling out with love. Especially the reading for this last week: Isaiah 50-57, along with all the references to the Messiah. The verses used for my beloved Handel’s Messiah (ch. 53). The ones that remind me to “Awake, awake! put on thy strength.” (ch. 51 & 52…what does that mean for me right now?), I found a new gem this time around.

And it made me teary sitting there in my church pew:

O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted,
behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours,
and lay thy foundations with sapphires.

And yes, it’s talking about Zion. And how God will lay a foundation with stones with fair colors and sapphires.

But today as I read, Lucy heavy on my heart, along with others I know who are in the tempest, not feeling comforted. Oh there are so many ways and levels of tempests and being tossed!

And I felt like those sapphires were being placed directly on our foundations.

Sometimes we need to look back to see them.

The angels who have come.

The wings that have been lent.

And the precious ways our looming mountains have been paved and sometimes even flattened. Tunnels carved through.

Yes, I believe God is with us through it all. If we remember to look for the sapphires.

May you find the “stones laid with fair colors and foundations carefully filled in with sapphires” in whatever journey you are braving right now.

Sending all my love your way. May you feel the love of God through Isaiah like I did this last week.
XOXO

The post Paths of Sapphires in our Personal Tempests appeared first on 71toes.

I love how Murphy is cradling Ada so gently. (Of course, that doesn’t happen all the time, but love that Abby captured those two when it did.)

Oh man I love them.

And their mom and dad.

To watch your son be a dad? The best.

Those gals are growing up so fast that it kills me.

Love you forever, Miss Murphy and Miss Ada!

And your incredible parents too.
XOXO

The post When Abby Sends Photos of My Grandbabies appeared first on 71toes.

I especially loved that our church got to work hand-in-hand with another church in our community. We have joined up to help serve the homeless community for maybe ten years now, and I believe there is SO much power when church communities join up together.

This partnership started with a woman who wanted to make a difference. And because of her vision, she was able to get her Lutheran church involved in a ministry called La Mesa to help feed and house and give hope. Its mission is to “Care for the Homeless and Working Poor, Physically and Spiritually” and it is an incredible organization.

I’ve explained how our church got involved long ago, and how this partnership has turned into such a beautiful friendship.

So on our National Day of Service I got to be one of the people working at their La Mesa warehouse to receive all the donated supplies from our church. The gathering of needed supplies had been done beforehand in all of our church congregations in our area. And that morning it was pretty special to watch truck after truck pull in to drop off supplies to fill that warehouse to overflowing.

How it started:

The in-between:

I was the photographer for the morning.

It was fun to witness this line of trucks coming to drop off all the gathered supplies:

Our religion really does know how to show up, and this awesome other church sure knows how to make things happen.

Laurie (the woman from the other church who started La Mesa) was weeping with gratitude for all the support as all of us, both churches together, helped lug everything in to stack up high in that muggy, sweaty spot filled with God’s love.

Loved working together to stack that warehouse high and deep.

How it ended:

You can’t really see very well behind all those good people, but those shelves are now stacked so high with so many needed supplies.

You really could feel God in that sweltering heat woven tight amidst us all. Service has a way of knitting hearts together in such a beautiful way.

After all the warehouse stacking, we went back to our church building where every congregation in our stake was working their little hearts out on various service projects. Some of them were to benefit La Mesa and others were for hospitals and other organizations.

I loved this station of rock painting where people were working on some vibrant additions for an upcoming care place for the mentally ill.

“God IS good,” and oh how we can “be the light” when we work together to make a difference!

That’s what I learned once again in such a poignant way on this year’s National Day of Service in our area.

The post Our 9/11 Day of Service: What Happens When Two Churches Join Up appeared first on 71toes.

Oh it wasn’t all butterflies and rainbows, but I love that a trip like this, navigating frustrations and joyousness alike, paves a way to open up conversations. Not even necessarily on the trip itself (there was a lot of maneuvering and negotiating maps and logistics), but there’s something about being together that forges deeper connection going forward.

And NYC is one of my favorite cities.

My brother Eli and his family live in the city, and Eli is for sure the best NYC expert I know. He has a love for that city like no one I’ve ever seen and I love him for it. His wife Julie is pretty grand at being a city mom and working as a nurse, and the kids are rocking it too. Sports practices in central park, knowing the subway like nobody’s business, oh they are good!

And we loved getting to hang out with them a bit.

The High Line

We met up with them on the High Line (one of my fav. NYC spots). I LOVE how they have creatively built in nature into so many parts of New York. I mean, Central Park is an obvious and incredible thing. But having things like this High Line right in the middle of the city?

With architecture like this?

Pretty awesome.

They brought us bagels and we had a little picnic right then and there on that bench.

A Tour of Fashionphile

Then Claire brought us all to Fashionphile, her summer stomping grounds where she worked for the summer. I loved that all of us got to share that and ask Claire ten million questions. This picture doesn’t justify the excitement, but it does give you a little peek into that cool office.

That girl has become an expert at extremely expensive handbags. It was pretty fascinating to learn how they authenticate them and take precious care before resale.

Little Island

We split up and our little group headed to Little Island (another one of my fav. NYC places). It’s so ingenious how they brought spilling-over green and garden to this spot, above the Hudson River in such a creative way.

Biking Through the City

We did a lot of biking through the city which is the way to go.

Renting Citi Bikes is pretty awesome, either the electric or regular took us all over the place.

L’Industrie Pizzeria

Much to Dave’s chagrin, (and my delight), lots of the food Claire took us to get had long lines. I mean, what would be good food without long lines, am I right? I love when someone knows the good places to eat.

There was a line a mile long for L’industrie Pizza (Claire’s favorite). Can you see all those people below? Yep, in line for pizza. What you can’t see is how that line wraps around the corner and stretches all the way down the next street.

Getting closer…

Was it worth it? Yes. 100%.

Washington Square and Chinatown

It was fun to walk through Washington Square with all its personality.

Still have no idea how that guy defied gravity for his “biking man statue.”

Claire and I looked at each other and smiled in this area because it’s NYU, a spot I tried to sweet-talk Claire into applying to back when we thought that could maybe be a volleyball option. (We took a volleyball recruiting trip to NYC five years ago…how time flies!)

Then on to Chinatown maneuvering our way through all the fake handbags for sale spilling out across the sidewalk, another crazy line for a hole-in-the wall spot with delicious dumplings.

Biking Across the Brooklyn Bridge

We delighted in taking electric city bikes across the Brooklyn Bridge. Not as picturesque on the biking route, but magical just the same, and basked in the view from the other side.

There was a family there setting up for a wedding proposal and our girls were enthralled. So of course we stayed and they became best friends with the mother of the groom-to-be. (She’s sitting by them on the right below.)

Two Strangers and on Broadway

My parents and Eli had just seen a play called Two Strangers on Broadway and were so impressed so we decided to go.

It was so well done with only two people in the cast, can you even believe that?

Times Square

We wandered through Times Square en route back to the hotel. I have to say, Times Square isn’t my favorite place in the world, but it does make for some very good people watching.

And our girls sweet-talked us into doing this pretty hilarious thing before heading back to the hotel. You dance on this little platform while the camera revolves around you to New York music. A memory we for sure won’t forget.

The Beast on the Hudson

The girls had stars in their eyes about the “Beast” boat ride on the Hudson.

They hyped us up that we were going to get soaked but then just squirted us with giant water guns, not that impressive. Can you tell from Dave’s expression? Ha!

But so fun to see the Statue of Liberty up close and personal.

Plus we got to see that fantastic skyline.

Church in NYC

On Sunday we got to go to church with my brother. They normally meet where the NYC temple is (they have a church building in the same building, NYC style). But that building is under construction so they have rended a church building they share with another church denomination for now. It is so beautiful! They don’t build LDS churches like this!

It was so beautiful and stimulating. But it’s also where I got hit with a giant wave of sorrow for Lucy.

A succession of things happened that just broke my whole heart for her. I don’t know why it hit me right then, but I sat there smack-dab in the middle of a room full of Relief Society women trying with all my might to wrangle my tears.

It was so beautiful that this was the song we sang:

Luckily it was just such a beautiful day and I got a text that helped my heart be still more still. Gosh, this parenting thing sure isn’t for the weak of heart.

It was beautiful to stand outside of that building running into old and new friends in the fall sun. Love that Eli and his family just ride scooters and bikes down the NYC streets to get to and from church.

Sadly, Dave had to leave after church to get back to prepare for some work meetings. We missed him, but so glad he could make it as long as he did.

The Frick

Eli walked us over to the Frick, through beloved Central Park.

Such a beautiful former home that displays such beautiful art (that we couldn’t take photos of). I’ve always wanted to go to this one and never have.

Dinner at Eli and Julie’s

We rode bikes back to Eli and Julie’s when we were done with that Frick beauty.

We LOVED basking in that awesome family and the delicious dinner they made for us.

Ok and one more because I love them:

Seriously, I cannot believe how much I adore that brother of mine and Julie and their kids. They are the most giving, easy-going, curious dearly beloved people and I love that they are an example for my girls. And me.

We were in a time crunch and Eli, bless his whole heart, drove us to Times Square.

The Outsiders

We won the lottery for The Outsiders and lucked out to get a standing room ticket for one of us and I cried through that play, wondering the age-old question of how life makes sense for people like those poor kids, and for my Lucy.

After muscling our way back through Times Square and running into our NEIGHBORS of all people…

…we got back to the hotel and talked about choosing Jesus. Putting a stake in the ground somewhere. And I loved that Claire shared some good insight on this.

Our Last Morning

Our last morning was filled with everything girly and no schedule and delicious food (all the stops we had to fit in).

Claire’s favorite bagels for breakfast and shopping in SoHo:

And we ate at Mamas Too:

We hated it, can you tell? Ha!

Claire showed us so many things she loved.

And then we headed to the airport. I sent those girls off…grateful for the beginning of lots of conversations still to come. About their boys, their goals and dreams, how we can help, or not help. Adult children are the trickiest. And also the BEST.

As is NYC. Any time I can get it.

Other Trips to New York City:

• NYC with siblings and our little kids
• NYC with my growing-up family before Tal’s wedding
• The US Open with my growing-up family
• My brother Tal’s wedding in NYC
• Taking Max and Elle to the US Open
• NYC with Max & Elle plus Elle’s video
• NYC before Elle’s London internship
• More NYC…in the rain, The Statue of Liberty and traveling art
• “Bookend” kids in NYC — Brooklyn Bridge, cookies:), Wicked, art and Top of the Rock
• More with my “bookends”— Museum of Natural History, the Statue of Liberty, 9/11 Memorial
• Claire’s mother/daughter volleyball recruiting trip to NYC
• Indoctrinating kids with a love of NYC
• NYC with a special needs child (when Elle and Carson lived there for a short stint)

Ummmm, sorry that’s a LOT more than I thought. But there’s all the NYC content you can browse to your hearts content if you’d like! So many memories there it’s making my heart ache!

Here’s that video Elle made after our trip there (I LOVE IT!)…Grace and Claire, you got this for this trip?

The post NYC with Claire as Our Tour Guide: Three Days of the Best of the City appeared first on 71toes.

Right now I am at my brother’s retreat in Flims, Switzerland. It is amazing, (so much more about it soon), but BOY, I’m missing my birthday girl.

Thank goodness Elle and Grace are there to help her celebrate. Can you tell how happy we all are about that?

That Lucy loves her birthdays, so this means more than I can say to see these gals together.

And can you tell she’s pretty happy to have those sisters there to do our traditional streamers-on-the-door tradition?

Yep, she loves it.

Ok, some things I love about our Lucy girl on her big birthday:

—she is kind
—she is quick to apologize when she realizes she made a mistake
—her texts filled with hearts and love
—she is so aware of her friends and works to take such good care of them
—she is stubborn which makes her accomplish so much.
—She doesn’t take no for an answer, she knows how to make things happen.
—if she doesn’t know how to do something, she figures it out. She’s not afraid to ask total strangers for help
—she asks deep questions about God and wants to figure out how she feels herself
—she loves a good tradition and holds us to them
—she loves and FEELS beauty
—Lucy is always up for a good game night
—she is quick to make sure I’m ok if I’m a little quiet
—she gets so excited about rain
—she loves to read and gets addicted to a good book
—she kicks her heels and jerks out her elbows when she’s excited
—she glows, and she is my example in so many things!

Love you forever my dear 20 year old, I’m so so so grateful you are mine! Forever and ever!

The post Lucy is TWENTY Today! Happy Birthday Lu! appeared first on 71toes.

This was a long time in the making. I’ve talked before about how NYC has a special place in the heart of pretty much every single one of my Eyre family members. My dad served his mission there which I think must have been the “seed” for all the love. Then it trickled into all of us, especially my three brothers who have lived right there in Manhattan with their young families.

Years ago we took Max and Elle to the US Open on a special trip (back when they were in high school).

We always planned to take the next two when we could fit it in. As much as Lucy LOVES NYC (grown beloved because of a “bookends” NYC trip we took with Max when she was younger), she wouldn’t really want to touch this particular trip with a ten-foot pole.)

Anyway, the plan was to take the next two kids. Except we didn’t really make it fit in until last month. We had been dying to get there to visit Claire while she was doing her internship this summer, but couldn’t make it happen. Then I had this little idea: what if we make it happen over Labor Day and hit the US Open at the same time? Let me tell you, there were obstacles galore. But I felt such a pull to make it happen. A time in the lives of these girls when who knows when we’ll be able to make this happen again?

So we blazed a trail and made it happen.

Dave and I arrived a day earlier than the girls and got to get our bearings straight at the Open.

How We Maneuvered the US Open

Oh there is so much excitement at a tournament like this.

And also so many people!

We arrived in NYC late one night and maneuvered our way to the train to get to Flushing Meadows.

Some new friends we met at the hotel guided us there (it felt like the whole hotel was riding a wave to transport themselves to unfold into the US Open). That picture on the right above can’t really do justice to how many people were migrating over to that tournament from the train. The infrastructure to put on something like this is pretty incredible.

I was beaming with excitement, looking at Dave with wide-eyes, we get to do this! Which cancelled out the fact that it felt like a sauna so muggy from the rain and steaming hot. Ha! It felt like we were kids in a candy shop to be there, trying to be calm enough not to ping to all the different matches and focus on one at a time.

There are three (well, actually four) main stadiums at the US Open.

• Arthur Ashe is the biggest
• then Louis Armstrong
• The third is The Grandstand.
• And I think I’d count Court 17 in that whole “big stadium” thing because lots of pretty big names played there and drew a huge crowd.

There are a few different options for tickets. You can get just grounds passes that let you in and also give you access to buy all the super-pricey food (ha!). You can also get tickets for seats in Arthur Ashe, Louis Armstrong or the Grandstand. When you hold one of those babies you can not only get into your seat in the stadium you bought it, you can go to the “upper bowls” of the other stadiums as well, and sit wherever you want.

My dad and mom go here every year (have I mentioned my dad goes hog-wild over tennis, and plays in all the senior tournaments he can get his hands on?). Tennis things like this always lure him in. So those “experts-at-watching-tennis” showed us the ropes and told us to get Arthur Ashe tickets since that’s the biggest one. Then we could meander around to all the others.

One of the reasons Dave and I wanted to get there early was because that was the last day my parents were there so we got to overlap with them.

Love them so much!

But we didn’t really go with them. Because keeping track of my dad at stuff like this is like herding a cat. Plus we all wanted to see different matches. So we texted each other if there was a really good one.

We went from watching Osaka in Arthur Ashe:

(Sooo cool to be so close…since these were early matches with lots of seats empty we could go down and pretty much sit anywhere which gave us all kinds of stars in our eyes.)

We were with my parents to watch Khachanov in Louis Armstrong:

We watched lots of matches in the outlying courts, catching some pretty incredible rallies.

Just so fun to see the action from so many different vantage points on so many different courts. With humanity from all over the world rubbing shoulder-to-shoulder, amazed at the action and incredible talent unfolding before your eyes.

We got to see Osaka, Fritz, Potapova, Struff, Zheng and Swiatek among others.

Taylor Fritz was my favorite (he became so at Indian Wells since we had watched Break Point all about him before we got there).

And we got to be so close!!

We helped finagle my nephew and his wife to come sit with us (they were there too, visiting her family). Love them!

The US Open App

Another thing to note about the US Open (or any tournament like this) is that the app is SO AWESOME!

It tells you all about the players, which matches are on deck, who’s playing where and even what percentage chances everyone has to win. It was fun to watch Zheng’s match, especially since she ended up doing so well.

Dave and I stayed until the blasting sun sunk behind the horizon and our legs were going to fall off. The night matches were fun.

We watched Gauff and Zverev’s night matches on the big screen outside Arthur Ashe.

Plus get a famous Salt Hank’s french dip sandwich Dave had read about online. It lived up to the hype for sure.

Then we headed back to the hotel to revamp before our girls arrived on the redeye at 5:08am, another day of tennis awaiting with those girls whose delight is spreading through our texts like wildfire.

When Grace and Claire Joined Us at the US Open

I loved sharing all that awesomeness with those excited girls of ours, wide-eyed with amazement like we were the day before (and still were on the second day).

There’s something about the ambiance of being at an event like that that’s so electric.

This day was much more concentrated in the main stadiums so we hardly went to the outer courts.

Instead we pinged back and forth amidst the big ones on that very hot day with our girls.

I have to tell you, we hit the jackpot on matches this day! You never know when you buy the tickets who will play which days. How the schedule will go with rain delays, who wins, etc. And we really lucked out. I’ll tell you about it, but first, let’s look back when Max and Elle were there doing that same rigamarole with us:

And the girls:

Ok, there we go.

Sabalenka Match

It was pretty surreal to see Sabalenka from way up above:

Claire on the big screen (!!)

Ok, maybe this was the highlight or most memorable thing that happened.

You see, Claire is a magnet for jumbotrons. There’s something in the way she exudes excitement I guess. But sure enough, that camera found her during the Pegula/Fernandez match.

And it wasn’t just that they found her, they found the four of us at first, but zoomed in on her. And not just for a second. It was SO LONG! Long enough that Grace could pull out her phone and capture the last part of it. Ha! There was a moment you could tell she was thinking that thing would just move on, and then it just kept rolling. So she hammed it up and kept on dancing. Here are some out-takes:

It was pretty funny. And also funny that like three different total strangers came up and told her she did a good job. And she “understood the assignment.” HA!

Tommy Paul Match (and a Paige Paul sighting:)

This one was so funny because my girls were super excited to see Tommy Paul.

But then I realized their excitement was actually about how cool his wife (Paige Paul) is:) I didn’t know she was a famous influencer, but I do now!

What was even more interesting is that just as they were telling me about her on the escalator, Claire spotted her! And snapped a photo:

They also spotted her in the audience, can you spot her too?

This match was one for the books that came out with a Paul win:

Alcaraz Match

My personal favorite? Alcaraz up close and personal. Man those guys hit that ball so hard!

I was sure he was going to win the whole thing, dang that Ben Shelton who knocked him out! (Ha! I love Ben too.)

All the matches were awesome but my favorite parts were following these people I love around:

The Night Matches

I loved when the sun went down and things started to cool off. And the good tennis continued.

Tiafoe’s Match

We got to watch Tiafoe take a win too. And he was so gracious to the audience and to the guy he beat. Love that guy!

We got to watch part of that match with our really good college friends who happened to be there that day too.

Ben Shelton and the Williams Sisters on the big screen: big energy!!

We watched Ben Shelton and the Williams sisters matches from the big screen outside Arthur Ashe that night.

There was so much energy in that courtyard which was hard to leave, but we were nervous about crowds so we made our way out.

…listening on our little US Open radios for as long as the signal lasted.

An unexpected memorable ending on the subway

But leaving ended up being my favorite part. Because the Mets game happened to wrap up as we were leaving so there we were, and there was this huge jumble of humanity squished into the subway.

Oh the crowds aren’t my favorite, but there was something about standing there shoulder to shoulder, Dave holding up his phone for us to watch the end of the Williams sisters match that was so memorable. Everyone else was literally squished into our armpits watching too.

Those sisters lost, but it was sure a memorable night.

What We Learned About Attending the US Open

• Get Arthur Ashe tickets. They give you access to the upper bowls of ALL the stadiums, not just Arthur Ashe. If you’re going to the Open anyway, these tickets are so worth it!
• Download the US Open app before you go. It shows live scores, win probabilities, and schedules for every match happening simultaneously. You can follow your favorite players and even know which players are warming up on the practice courts. So helpful in navication!
• Arrive early. The outer courts in early rounds give you incredible access and you can get remarkably close to players warming up. Look up the times for each day, but know that the gates open before the time on your tickets.
• Dress for heat. Early September in New York is so dang hot and muggy (at least it was this year!). Wear light clothing, comfortable walking shoes, and bring sunscreen and sunglasses.
• The food. The French dip sandwich is so good (who knows if it will still be there next year but hopefully!). There is something called the Honey Deuce cocktail that is famous with two melon balls on the top. We’re not drinkers but people sure seemed to love those. The food is super expensive so be prepared, and maybe bring in some snacks if you can finagle that!
• Night session tickets are separate. If you want to watch the big night matches inside Arthur Ashe you’ll need separate night session tickets. That’s why we watched from outside both nights. But we didn’t realize that you can actually go to the upper bowls of the Louis Armstrong stadium as well as the Grandstand. That’s how we got to see Tiafoe.
• Take the 7 train from Manhattan. It takes about 45 minutes from Times Square to Flushing Meadows. We stayed in Queens becasue we thought it would be faster, but I think it’s just as fast from right in the city. It’s so easy and it lets you out right at that walking entrance to get into the open.
• Have a rain delay plan. Matches get moved around and delayed. The app helps you pivot to whatever is happening nearby, but be sure to check the weather so you can be prepared.

On to the big city recap after the US Open…coming soon!

The post Taking Our Girls to the US Open: Everything We Learned appeared first on 71toes.

This is always on my mind each new school year. Because it can be so easy for kids to get swept away in new routines and schedules and get a bit lost in the shuffle. Oh, it’s all so exciting: a new school year stretched out in front of them. But it also can be a bit daunting as kids search for new friends and a sense of belonging.

And it’s kind of crazy that right alongside this time when kids are building their own confidence, social media and the comparison game is in full force.

So how do we help our kids lean into the right things when they’re struggling? I’d love your ideas.

If you’re on my email list, you’ll know that I have a series of five weekly emails coming for the next five weeks. Each week I’m sending one simple idea for helping kids feel seen and know they matter. The first idea went out this week: this simple fingertip trick. It is so easy and works for kids of any age.

Anyway, lots more on that in the emails, but I wanted to take a minute to talk about “our” first days of school.

“We” have three kids who started into new schools this year. Yes, I’m counting this gal:

I mean, after so many years of sending off all my kids AND their friends to school, I gotta claim all the extras I can, right?

Murphy’s First Day of School

Murphy is doing her first year of preschool and is in a Chinese immersion preschool. How exciting is that??

Just as expected, that girl absolutely adores the structure, learning, social environment…and her teacher. She is thriving and sang me part of a Chinese song last time I was there.

Can you see the love in her teacher’s face? I’m sure she is showing Murphy, every day, that she matters.

I love.

Claire’s First Day of School

Ok and Claire started her junior year of college.

Have I mentioned that girl got into the programs for all three majors she applied for? Finance, Marketing and Business Management. I’m pretty proud of her. She chose Marketing, and she is head over heels in love with all that she is learning.

Even as an adult, that glistening girl of mine still needs to remember she matters. Knowing you matter is a basic human need, so yes. it can help us all.

Lucy’s First Day of School

And then there’s my Lu.

I don’t have a picture of the first day of school for that girl. But I pictured it looking a bit like this:

Maneuvering her way around that huge campus, hopefully using her cane! (I think since we were with her on this move-in day she wanted to show us she knew where to go from memory.).

How I hope and pray that every now and again someone walking on the other side of that sidewalk will hop on over and say hi. Tell her they like her braid. Something to remind her that even though this could be a lonely time, she matters.

Isn’t it amazing what a difference it makes when someone reminds us we matter? Let’s all show someone that today in honor of Lu. And if you have any prayers to send along, I’m sure she’ll take them.

XOXO

P.S. If you’re not on the list yet, sign up here and the next four ideas will land right in your inbox.

The post Helping Kids Know They Matter: Our First Days of School appeared first on 71toes.

I mean, Lucy has done this before. She had a whole year of college under her belt. She was even moving into the same dorm room for crying out loud. We thought we had this down.

Except we were wrong.

Moving a College Student with Low Vision: The Reality

Lucy was nervous. I know because she asked for her signature “special occasion” hairdo (three braids to a braid), and cried herself to sleep when she found out Claire couldn’t come with us to move her in. She was so worried about her roommates and asked for us to all pray that they’d be good.

Thank the Lord in Heaven that Claire worked it out to come after all, because she was the glue that held us all together with her upbeat attitude and her ability to pump Lucy up. Can you feel the energy??

We unloaded and situated and organized and divided to conquer all the tasks.

Oh don’t let those smiles on the two outside people fool you, we were nervous.

Dave was there too, and I’ll be honest, I bet the two of us may have beat Lucy in the nervous category.

Finding Angels Along the Way

Claire stayed at the dorm to help Lucy set up her internet while Dave went to grab the odds and ends we needed at Walmart and I went to pay tuition.

En route back to the dorm I stopped at the Institute building to will some avenues for Lucy to connect socially.

And there were angels there.

The lady at the desk introduced me to one of the teachers who introduced me to another teacher and the four of us stood at the reception desk and came up with a plan.

That’s when it hit me. I was leaving Lucy again and anyone and everyone she met last year is gone (transferred or on missions).

I thought of her all alone in that room for hours and days, on that huge campus filled with strangers she can’t see, trying to learn from textbooks she can’t read. And you know when you’re so worried about something and someone is extra nice to you about it and it makes you completely fall apart? Or is that just me? But as we stood there talking, these angels rallying around me, willing to seek out Lucy. I got all the information and gave them hers with tears welling up and had to get out of there or I was going to bawl.

Dave and I had a private moment together standing outside the dorm before we both went back in, full of our vulnerability of feelings and fighting back all our tears. This wasn’t going to be easy.

A Low Vision Student Navigating Campus

We walked across campus to help Lu sign up for choir auditions and it was pretty special to have her guide us from memory.

That music building is FAR and she took us right there. I had secretly emailed the choir director a couple days before willing him to still let Lucy try out (even though she thought she missed the deadline which she didn’t).

And do you know what? That man happened to be right there in person at the sign-ups getting ready to lock up his office for the evening. He was a gem (another angel) making Lucy feel comfortable.

I tell you though, Dave, Claire and I all looked at each other with big eyes wondering how this would go: Lucy singing a cappella to a stranger all by herself. That is scary business.

All the way back to the dorm Lucy and Claire sang together in that slanty afternoon sun…

…past the beloved and glistening A-Tower (have I mentioned my parents got engaged there??)

And those girls smiling together was a little gift to me and Dave: the award-winning worriers.

We said goodbye and drove away, leaving that girl to sort out that new life, in awe that this was happening all over again.

And her grit.

Every day she is doing this thing. And I honestly think it’s getting harder rather than easier. But she is showing up for it. And I’m so proud of her.

To the Parents of Kids Doing Hard Things

If you’re in a season of watching your child with special needs do something that feels impossible — college, independence, navigating a world that wasn’t built for them — I see you. The mix of pride and heartbreak and worry and awe is like nothing else. Lucy is teaching me every day that our kids are so much more capable than our fears tell us they are.

And the angels show up. They really do. In Institute buildings and choir directors’ offices and in the form of a sister who works it out to come after all. We’ll recogize them if we keep our eyes open for them.

I don’t know what your hard thing looks like today. But I know that somewhere out there, angels are being lined up for your child too. And for you too!

And your child’s grit, like Lucy’s, is something nobody can take away.

If you’re new here, you can read more about Lucy’s journey:

• Lucy’s diagnosis
• parenting a child with special needs: our journey
• how we sent her off to her first semester of college
• the miracles that happened along the way
• how Lucy navigated Greece and Egypt with her white cane

And if you’re looking for adaptive sports and activities for your child with special needs, the National Ability Center in Park City Utah is truly incredible.

The post Lucy’s Sophomore Move-In: What We Didn’t Expect With Year Two appeared first on 71toes.

But before I get to the move-in I need to start with my minuscule collection of photos I have from her BYU summer semester. A whopping grand total of four photos to wrap up that semester.

Thank goodness for my niece’s BeReals, and for a friend’s daughter who honestly made Lucy’s whole week by inviting her to go to a movie with her one night (above right).

She had her first college road trip to Yellowstone because of these three adorable girls below on the right. And that was pretty special.

Ok, but we did have some other things captured that I talked about before…like how my mother heart to send her off again, and there was her computer fiasco and some serious miracles. Oh, and there was that very special day when we worked together on moving her out of her dorm there (at the end of this post).

The In-Between Time

And then it was down to just the three of us in Utah. Well, just these two actually for a couple days when i had to be back in the desert to teach a class and go to the doctor.

The National Ability Center

Lucy was bound and determined that she was NOT coming home between semesters. I mean, she’s an adult after all, right. We told her great, figure out what you want to do up in Utah and we’ll support it. That’s when Dave and I found the National Ability Center (thanks to Claire’s boyfriend’s family). YOU GUYS!! this place is incredible! They have all kinds of adaptive sports and camps and activities to help people get out and do incredible things. I think this photo hanging on one of the walls explains it best:

I mean really, incredible right? Dave and I took a tour and when Lucy hadn’t figured out her two-week in-between-semester deal, we mentioned that maybe this could be a fit.

And she surprised us by being all in. (Surprised only because that girl has a hard time buying in to any of our suggestions these days.). It’s a long story but she took the same tour we did (with the most awesome tour guide).

Lucy took a few classes there (archery and cooking) and then started into a camp to learn some skills. This part didn’t turn out so great…it wasn’t quite the right fit for Lucy (she already knew how to do most of the things). She did get to participate in the ropes course of that camp though, which she LOVED.

And that girl was suddenly hit with a giant case of homesickness. So we got lucky enough to spend one week back in the desert.

Back HOME for a bit

It felt so good to have that girl home even for a minute. She delighted in Bo Jangles and I delighted having her on the back of the tandem bike again. We played games each night.

And to me, there’s nothing better than cooking in the kitchen with my kids. I think this is Lucy’s love language too, so we spent a lot of time here:

Lucy baked cookies to make a little extra money from her cookie business until they were coming out of her ears. Our whole kitchen was spilling out with her work and mine (home-made meals are Lucy’s favorite).

She drummed up all these orders herself, and let me tell you, that girl worked her heart out!

She also set up a game night with her favorite family, which we all loved.

Then that girl was ready. She was anxious as could be to get up to move back into USU. She was so nervous about wanting to try out for the USU choir, nervous her roommates were all already there (all freshmen doing the connections courses). So much more about that move-in coming, but let’s touch on just a few other things.

Other August Happenings

Of course, there was so much going on aside from Lucy’s journey. I wish I still did monthly “little things” posts because man, I love to remember this stuff! But let’s go for just a minute into the recesses of the photos on my phone and some notes I took to remember some of the other tip-of-the-iceberg things that happened in August. I already talked about some of them, but here are a few more things I want to remember. While in Utah after all the move-ins and move-outs, we got to do a few things:

• have a special dinner date, listening to her cousins open their mission calls in that beautiful and hilarious Zoom call and on Instagram
• Dave and I got to go to a fundraiser in honor of my high school friend who passed away a couple years ago. They are building a house in his honor at “The Other Side Village” community and I loved going to that event (tried to get Lu to come but “no thank you”), Joseph Grenny and employees who were formerly homeless taking us into another world with their stories and hope. I loved that Dave got to meet so many of my high school friends, all wanting to do so much good in the world, and that I got to see them again too. I am so lucky I got to go to school with and be influenced in so many good ways from those good people.

• Picked up Claire and Sam from the airport, fresh from over a week with his family after their summer internships.
• Met up with friends who are in Utah for lunch, met up with Grace for dinner in Midway (with Lucy, Sam and Claire too), sitting on a porch surrounded by hollyhocks and under bistro lights…and happened to see some friends there too!

That place is GOOD, highly recommend!

• sitting under the warm glow of those bistro lights surrounded by incredible women celebrating the goodness they have found in the world along with celebrating that amazing woman we call Saydria. So lucky to be able to join in to this incredible tradition for the first time.
• Sneaking into Saydi’s kitchen after the dinner to do a family facetime call for Elle’s birthday, floating her cake in her sink, feeling so much love for both of these birthday girls and my family

• Loving being together with all those amazing women for Saren’s birthday flower-picking celebration too (talked about in this post as well)..and enjoying those flowers after!

• Got to hang a little bit with my grand babies…and kids.

• While in Utah I got to attend Claire’s friends wedding with all these women and girls who have become my dear friends too, love them so much!

I had to sneak out to catch a flight, my heart starting to race to teach my first gospel doctrine class the next day. It was on Job. And I LOVED learning from teaching.

In the desert I got to be at two of my cute nieces baby showers, both having little boys.

There’s nothing like a good baby shower to reconnect with people you love all excited about those new arrivals on their way.

• I finally pulled up my ranunculi corms, so late and neglected that they came out silvery and baked in the hot desert sun.

• We went to the Noah Kahan concert with some friends and I’ve been thinking about confidence ever since (and also listening to Noah Kahan, I’m a new fan).

• carpooling with my friends for my communications council training, sitting nestled in that chapel filled with people who are trying to do work I’m YEARNING to do with them: connect to other religions and truly love our neighbors. It’s like this little piece of REAL and good that I never knew existed in our church and I’m so excited to be a part of it.
• hanging out with good friends, and some meeting for Dave and Max and Elle for some ideas they have brewing for a possible business:

• Played mahjong, brought dinner to friends, Dave and I joined in with the Pothiers at the temple for my niece to receive her endowment
• my friend Tonia and Lucy took maybe their last date to the temple for baptisms, (since Tonia is breaking both our hearts by moving next month), made food for the baby shower, went to the dentist, got my allergy shot, Lucy baked cookies for all the young women, and the three of us got to sit together in church just like old times.

After we moved Lucy in, we were kind of in need of something to take our hearts and brains off of that business so it was so perfect that our friends took us on the best bike ride:

We got to go to the new temple visitor center:

Our other friends took us to Bear Lake:

…with a much needed stop to help Lu with the finishing touches on her new dorm room…BLESS OUR FRIENDS’ HEARTS for coming along, did my mama heart so well.

And you guys, LOOK AT UTAH!!

I can’t get enough!

Phew, I gotta stop, it’s too late! But it was a big month and worth remembering some of these things before they fade into the ancient recesses of my forgetting brain.

Lucy’s college move-in coming next.

The post The End of Summer for Lucy, and Other August Happenings appeared first on 71toes.