Michael's Trip to Utah for the Arizona game

Michael had a great time on his trip to Utah this weekend so go to the Arizona game with the boys. He got some Charlie time, too! They all went out to dinner at Tucano's after the game. Jonny and I had a quite weekend at home. 

Go Cougars!

First Day of School for BYU Boys

I asked Andrew and Daniel multiple times for a "first day of school" picture, but they were busy so I stopped asking. Then Daniel needed a code for a streaming service, and I teased him about it. "Interesting," I said. "Because I have been asking for a picture for days and now you want something." Minutes later, he sent me these two pictures. "You mean these?" he said. I laughed and laughed. It was so cute because it was obvious that they scrambled just then to take the pictures. I said, "Nice try. Andrew is wearing his Disney backpack." Daniel said, "I knew you'd catch that." I laughed for a solid 20 minutes about that. And, of course, I gave them the code and would have either way but man, do I love my boys!

Taking the boys to BYU

August 25, Tuesday

I'm grateful we've been able to be on this trip to bring the boys up to Utah! We all had a prayer with Jonny and then he headed to school. Dad got Bosa donuts for us. We had another prayer for safety at Andrew's request. We wanted to leave at 8 AM but it was 9 AM by the time we pulled out of the driveway. We got gas at Safeway and got on the road. I rode with Andrew and Michael rode with Daniel. I thought we might switch it around a little bit but it just made more sense to keep it how it was. I've had all summer with Daniel and not much time with Andrew so I'm glad we got to ride together. Andrew and I made a stop at a rest area an hour south of Flagstaff. He drove the first part and then I drove from the rest stop to the pizza restaurant called Fratelli's Pizza in Flagstaff to meet his friend Ava. Her boyfriend was there, too. They had already ordered their pizza so we got a big meat pizza and I got a slice of cheese and we enjoyed our food. Andrew got some time to talk to Ava so that was really nice. 

Michael and Daniel left a few minutes before we did. Andrew drove again. They got gas so we ended up passing them. We stopped in Page for gas and I took over the driving. We drove all the way to Panguitch and stopped at our regular Silver Eagle gas station and had Subway. Then Andrew took over the driving the rest of the way.

 

August 26, Wednesday

I'm so grateful that everything worked out exactly how I hoped it would today! We left the hotel a little after 8:30 AM and made it to King Henry about 10 minutes before check-in started at 9 AM. There was one family in front of us. We had done all of the pre-check-in assignments and so it was very smooth. Shortly after 9 AM, the line got very long so I was glad that we got there a little bit early. Everything worked out perfectly. The only issue we had is that the app that's supposed to open the door to the apartment wasn't working right for either Daniel or Andrew so they both got a physical key and they'll have to turn it back in next week. They really don't want to do that and would prefer a physical key but that's how it has to be. They were the first ones in the apartment. 

I started working on the damage form while Michael and the boys brought everything in and they were done in a few minutes. Daniel was on a mission. He wanted to get completely unpacked and settled in immediately. Once he got everything unpacked, he was almost giddy talking about how excited he was to decorate his room with his posters. When he was done, he came out and told us to come look. He did a really good job. 

Andrew still has quite a bit to do. I helped them the best I could. Daniel kept asking if I could help with things and I just did whatever he told me. We got a Walmart order with all of their household goods like laundry detergent and deodorant and toothpaste. They got all that put away and then Daniel finished up in his room. We decided we may as well go grab some lunch and go to Walmart and get the groceries before it got too crowded there. Nathaniel texted and asked if we could take him to the law library so we picked him up, took him to lunch at Panda with us, dropped him off at the law library, and went to Walmart. The boys didn't need much help from us as far as getting groceries. It wasn't as busy as we thought it would be at Walmart so that was nice. Next, we headed over to campus. We were going to go straight to King Henry to put away the food and then Andrew was talking about going to the Smith Fieldhouse to see if he could work out there and Daniel mentioned that all he needs is his ID card and they give him a bracelet and he can use it. I told Andrew we should stop at the Wilk to do that. I told Michael if there was no line they could just wait for us and we would be quick and that's exactly what happened. There was no line at all. We came out and waited for them to come pick us up and Nathaniel walked over to us. Apparently, he had seen me on Find My and thought we were there to pick him up but it worked out fine. He rode over to King Henry with us and helped us bring in the groceries. One of their roommates was there with his family. They were just dropping some things off and going on a vacation and then they would be back next week. The boys got everything put away and then we took Nathaniel over to his house. Daniel stayed at the apartment but Andrew came with us. Charlie was up so we went in and played with him for a little bit. Charlie smiled so big when we came in. He never would come over to me and give me a hug but he went over to Michael a couple of times. We had fun relaxing while he played. 

Then they wanted to get him ready to go to dinner at Olive Garden so we picked up Daniel and met them over there. We had a nice dinner together. 

We asked Nathaniel and Audrey if they wanted to just go home and put him to bed or hang out and they thought they better just put him to bed and we thought that sounded like a good idea. Daniel wanted to play Catan so we went over to their apartment. Surprisingly, Michael won! Usually, Daniel kicks our butts. Before we played the game, we read scriptures and had a prayer together. I encouraged the boys to read Come Follow Me on their own from now on since I didn't know if we would get another chance while we're here. After the game, we said goodbye to the boys and headed out. Andrew headed over to the Smith Fieldhouse. We came back to the hotel and had some time to relax.

 

August 27, Thursday

We've had a wonderful day and got to spend a lot of time with Charlie! Michael and I picked up the boys at King Henry and went over to Nathaniel and Audrey's house to get Charlie. I called Nathaniel on the way and asked if he thought it was a good idea to just put Charlie in the car and have us take him from there so he didn't get upset watching Nathaniel walk away and that's exactly what we did and it worked perfectly. He didn't even make a peep. We parked in the visitors lot and went into the Wilk. The only bummer was that the elevator we needed wasn't working. We went up to the textbook floor and got all the textbooks that Andrew and Daniel needed. 

Then it was harder to go back down because the elevator was broken but Daniel knew a different elevator go to so that was great. We went to the bookstore and bought game day tees for everyone and also some chocolate covered cinnamon gummy bears. Andrew was so excited to get them, too! Then the boys went back to their apartment and Michael and I took Charlie home for his nap. 

While he slept, I was able to get some tasks done on my phone and so did Michael. Nathaniel and Audrey left early for the ultrasound appointment because they were going to go to the store first so that worked out great because I had told Nathaniel it would be best if they were gone when Charlie woke up and it worked perfectly. I think it was about 1:30 PM when he woke up from his nap. We took him to the bathroom and then I fed him a ton of Greek yogurt and Michael gave him some Cheerios. It was so cute because he kept wanting to go back into his highchair and we didn't really know why. I even tried making him oatmeal and he refused that but he would drink his milk when we gave it to him and he ate some more Cheerios but we couldn't find his crackers. 

Michael spent a lot of time playing blocks with him and so did I. He's more willing to go to Michael even when Nathaniel and Audrey are around than to me but he always gives me the biggest, sweetest smiles. 

Andrew went to explore the Smith Fieldhouse and figure out how he can use it to work out. He wanted to run but the track team was there using the track so he went to the fitness center at King Henry and he said that was OK. He ended up coming over to Nathaniel and Audrey's. Daniel was happy at his apartment by himself. They met another roommate, Mason, but he's not moving in until next week. So Andrew came over and we hung out for a few minutes and then we headed over to Sam's Club to meet Daniel there to get his TV. We decided to go to Chuck A Rama for dinner. So we headed to Sam's Club to get the TV and then went to dinner and Nathaniel and Audrey arrived right when we did. We enjoyed our dinner together and then they took Charlie home. We got all our stuff organized in the cars and Andrew and Daniel took the TV back to their apartment and then they went to the movies with Nathaniel. They all watched The Fast and the Furious. Michael and I came back to the hotel and we've just been chilling and it's been fantastic.

 

August 28, Friday

We've had a wonderful day with the kids! Michael and I drove over to Andrew and Daniel's apartment and parked Andrew's car and we all got in Daniel's car and he dropped us off at the Marriott Center. There's a convenient place at the top of the stairs when you go past the Harmon building and that's where he dropped us off and picked us up. We said goodbye to Andrew and he went off to join his orientation group and Michael and I went into the Marriott Center to go around the parent fair. 

We collected a bunch of flyers that we thought would be helpful for the boys. We stood in line to get a mini cougar tail but they only had chocolate ones left. Then we went in and watched the Cougar rally. It was pretty cool because Andrew got a really good seat. He was in the front row all the way to the corner by the stairs. 

I never did get to see him on the big screen, though. It was pretty much the same show as last year but it was still fun. They were done at 10:40 AM and the convocation didn't start until 11 AM. Nathaniel had texted us saying that Charlie had slept in until 9:20 AM and we might be able to go to an earlier lunch because he might not want a nap at 11 AM like normal. So we decided to leave and Daniel came to pick us up and then as soon as we got to the car, Nathaniel said Charlie actually did go down for a nap so we ended up going to Daniel's apartment with him to hang out until they were ready. We met another one of their roommates named Owen and his mom. They were getting him moved in and then he wasn't going to fully move in until next week. We chatted with them for a bit and Michael and I got some tasks done on our phones. Then as we were about to leave to meet Nathaniel, Audrey, and Charlie at Molly's, we met another roommate named Noah who is going to be in the bedroom next to Andrew. He was there with his friend and chatted with Daniel for a few minutes and then we went to Molly's. There was a pretty long line but it wasn't too slow and we all enjoyed our nice lunch. I got the brisket, mashed potatoes, and potato and corn chowder and two cookies. I shared half of my cookies with Michael and Daniel. Everything was delicious and I was so full!

After that, we picked up Andrew on campus and headed over to Nathaniel and Audrey's house. About an hour before they needed to leave for the movie, I realized there was a couple more things I wanted to do at Andrew's apartment so Daniel drove us over there and dropped us off. I helped Andrew with a couple things and the King Henry lady named Suze had to bring a mail key to their apartment because they never got one. When she brought it, I knew for sure they didn't receive one because we were the first ones in the apartment and we never saw it anywhere and there's no hook anywhere or anything. Usually, they have a hook on the wall behind the door but it wasn't there. The mail key has a huge keychain thing on it that's teal and says apartment 104 and it's very clear what it is. Nathaniel, Audrey, and Daniel all went to the movies. 

Michael was there to watch Charlie when they left and then Andrew and I came over so I could help with Charlie. 

Andrew hung out with us for a bit and then we had to say our goodbyes to him. He was going to meet some friends to go to the We Are the Y activity tonight at the stadium. He gave each of us a long hug goodbye. I've started the habit of not letting go before the kids do and he hugged me for a long time. We played with Charlie and fed him some Greek yogurt and had fun with him while they were at the movies. Once the kids got home from the movie, we chatted for a bit and had a prayer together and then Daniel drove us to the hotel. We saw Nathaniel's landlady on the driveway with a broom. As we went around the corner, I realized she was going to sweep all the pine needles by herself. She was even wearing church clothes and later told me she had just been to the temple. So, I told Daniel to stop and we got out to help her. I think we spent a good 20 minutes with her sweeping up her driveway and she was very grateful. Then Daniel took us to the hotel. We went to Ruby River Steakhouse and had a nice quiet meal together and then got ready for bed.

Dad and Jonny had fun at Osaka tonight!

August 29, Saturday

It has felt like a very long day and I'm grateful to be home. We left the hotel right at 6:30 AM and Michael ordered the Uber and we got to the airport and to our gate in plenty of time for our 8 AM flight. Dad picked us right up at the airport and took us home. We came home and I did some organizing and we got the mail and things like that. Everything was nice and clean when we got home so I really appreciated that. I took a good nap. Later, we all played Phase 10. We ordered Asian City for dinner. We enjoyed our food and Michael and Dad sat on the couch and watched some football. Dad went to bed early and we had a prayer with him. Jonny had gone to the gym but got to say goodbye to Papa tonight. It's been a great day.

Jonny's Birthday Party

We celebrated Jonny's birthday at Animal Kingdom, but today he had a party with his friends. Jonny's friends started coming over for his party at 6 PM. I went to Cane's to buy everybody food. This time I got smart and went through the drive-through so it didn't take forever. The boys all enjoyed the food. They ate and then we did cake and presents. Then they went out to the pool for quite a while. They came back in and watched an old game of Fortnite that Jonny had played and had fun commenting on that. Everybody left around 10:30 PM.

Andrew's New Car

We decided last night that we should look for a car for Andrew. I was worried that we didn't have much time before he left for Provo. He wanted to go car shopping tonight. By the time we left, it was around 5:30 PM. He really wanted to start at AutoNation Honda Chandler. He said he didn't have a specific car to look at but he wanted to start there so that's what we did. We walked around that lot and then drove around the Toyota lot and the Nissan lot. The guy at Honda Chandler had told us they had another lot down the road that was all used cars so we thought that sounded great. Unfortunately, we had a hard time finding it. Finally, Andrew pointed and says I think it's down that way and so we went down there and he was right. It's basically hiding behind the Cadillac dealership. He had been pretty excited about the idea of a Silverado. I wasn't thrilled about that idea but I was willing to consider it. However, the first car we happened upon in that lot was a black 2019 Honda Pilot. It's basically the same car that we already have but three years newer and a much lower trim level but it only had 67,000 miles on it. We were pretty shocked at that and surprised that the price was reasonable. We both said, that sounds pretty perfect. So he looked at another Silverado in that lot and it was too expensive so we went to the office and asked if we could test drive that Pilot. As soon as we drove it, we knew that was the one. As soon as we saw it, we knew it was the one but driving it just confirmed that. He and I both took it for a test drive and when we came back the guy gave us some time alone in the car and I was trying to get a hold of Michael to come join us there to come look at it because if we really wanted it we needed to buy it tonight. They wouldn't even let us do a deposit. So Andrew and I sat in the car and prayed together we both felt good about it. I didn't even need to pray about it, I already knew it was the right one. It was so weird because we thought, we should probably look at some other cars but we said, how could we find one even better? It was absolutely perfect. So Michael showed up and he also drove it and we decided to buy it tonight. We had a great experience and I'm so grateful we got that car. I was marveling that it was less than 24 hours from the time that Andrew talked to us about it and we decided we should get another car to actually having the car. I'm so grateful! What a tender mercy that was! 

Andrew's Birthday

We had a wonderful day celebrating Andrew! We had a regular day at home getting some important tasks done for the boys for school, so that was great. We went to our Osaka dinner reservation. It was delicious, of course. While we were at dinner, Andrew and Jonny got the idea to go see Spider-Man Brand New Day tonight. So we stopped at the house and dropped off our leftovers and got the movie cup. Then Andrew opened his presents and we went to the movie. It was pretty good. Then we came home and had a prayer and got ready for bed.

Happy Birthday, Andrew!

Disney World Part 5: Hollywood Studios day and going home

August 15, Saturday

Last night, everyone had fun at Epcot. They ate snacks at a bunch of places. I know Michael and the boys bought food in Mexico but Daniel said they took the food and ate it in Norway. Nathaniel and Audrey bought the school bread in Norway. Today, we had a wonderful last day at Disney World! The plan had been to get up and be ready by 9 AM. Charlie was up and getting into everything so they decided to just take him to Hollywood Studios. We weren't quite ready yet. Jonny was still fast asleep when I got up close to 8:30 AM so I took my time getting ready and it was about 9:40 AM when we went to the bus stop. Michael stayed behind with Jonny. I know we were on the bus on the way to Hollywood Studios by 9:55 AM. 

Our first lightning lane was for Tower of Terror. Nathaniel had already gone to Toy story land and Galaxy's Edge with Audrey and Charlie. Nathaniel, Andrew, Daniel, Emily, and I all rode Tower of Terror together. It was a pretty tame one, by comparison. 

By that time, Michael and Jonny and Dad all arrived. Dad voted this morning and didn't show up till that time and Emily had to go meet Jonny at the front to let him in with her pass. Andrew went with her. Daniel and I hung out by the Num Num cookie snack bar and had our cookies. Eventually, we all met up there. 

Next, we headed to Toy Story Midway mania. Nathaniel and Audrey had already ridden that and then when they met us by the Num Num cookies we said hello to them and they had a had their Num Num cookies and then they went to the Mickey Mouse show. The rest of us rode Toy Story Mania and then Papa and Daniel joined them to ride Mickey and Minnie. 

Apparently, Charlie loved the show but fell asleep and he really loved the ride. Papa bought him a Mickey stuffed toy. We rode Slinky Dog Dash and then Andrew, Emily, and I all got our lunch at Woody's lunchbox. 

Luckily, we were able to find a spot in the shade to eat. 

Everybody else got their lunch. Michael and Jonny went to ABC Commissary but after standing in line Jonny said he didn't want anything there so they went to Backlot express. Everyone else went to ABC Commissary so we met them there and helped them find somewhere to sit. We sat with them for a little bit and then Nathaniel and Audrey headed out to rest and give Charlie a nap. I offered to take him back to the villa for his nap but Audrey said she was tired too and so was Nathaniel so they went together. I told them they should go ahead and order a Minnie Van so they did. The rest of us didn't have much to do because we didn't have a lightning lane till 5:30 PM so we went on Star Tours. Then we had a long conversation about what to do next. We stood off in the shade and there was another lady there listening to us as we figured out what everyone wanted to do. Emily, Daniel, and Jonny all wanted to go back to the villa and go swimming. Dad joked and said if you all are gonna be boring I'm just gonna go home. It's kind of what he ended up doing. He offered to drive the three of them to the villa instead of having them take the bus so that was nice. After we were done talking, I looked at the lady and chuckled and said sorry for all the drama. She was very kind and clearly from the UK and she said you all have so much love for each other and I loved it. Michael, Andrew, and I all headed over to Epcot. We took the Skyliner and we had to switch at Caribbean Beach resort and we took it all the way to Epcot. 

Michael and I went to the patisserie in France and got a brie and apple sandwich for him, a Mickey macaron for me and one for Andrew, and I also got an almond croissant. We got four ice waters because I was dying of thirst. We miraculously found a place to sit. Andrew went to all the way to Club Cool to buy a Monster and walked all the way back and joined us. We enjoyed our treats and then we walked over to the American pavilion so Michael could get a funnel cake. 

From there, he left back to the villa. I headed over to Norway and finally tried the school bread. It started raining pretty hard by the time I got there. Unfortunately, the school bread was pretty underwhelming. I found a covered spot outside of the bakery and had a few bites of that and tried to wait out the rain. 

When the rain stopped, I walked over and met Andrew at the American pavilion and then we went to take the boat from Epcot to Hollywood Studios. It took about 25 minutes. We got here at about 6:30 PM. Our dinner reservation was for 6:35 PM so that worked out great. I walked up and told them there would only be eight of us and she said to let her know when the whole party was here so Emily dealt with it when she got here a few minutes later. We had to wait quite a while for a table. I know it was 7:09 PM when I was taking pictures of Charlie after we first sat down. They seated us in a little room in the back that we've never been in before. It was just us and two other tables so it's kind of private but still pretty loud. Nathaniel and I each got the sampler, Audrey got the chicken pot pie and they got fries for Charlie, Daniel got the pot roast, Andrew got the pasta, and Emily and Jonny got the fried chicken. We also got two orders of onion rings as appetizers and everybody gobbled those up. Nobody even asked about dessert. We were all full. Emily was able to use her discount again so that was really nice.  Audrey thanked me for the meal and for the whole trip and everyone chimed in and said thank you so that was very nice. 

I paid the bill while everyone went off to go on Rock 'n' roller coaster with their lightning lane. Jonny and Andrew were able to ride it a second time with extra lightning lanes. 

Nathaniel and Audrey headed over to Magic Kingdom and the rest of us waited for Andrew and Jonny. I thought Jonny would want to go back to the villa but he said he'll stick it out. Daniel wanted to go back so he went by himself. Michael had to wait forever for a bus to go to Magic Kingdom and Emily, Jonny, Andrew, and I also took a bus from Hollywood Studios to Magic Kingdom. We got into Magic Kingdom and had to wade through the huge crowd to get to the teacups where Nathaniel and Audrey were going next with Charlie. They had just gone on the carousel. Audrey couldn't ride it but I was able to sit with Nathaniel and Charlie and that was really fun. He cried through most of it, poor thing. I think he was just really tired. 

After that, Emily and Michael and Jonny all went on Jungle Cruise, Andrew and Nathaniel went on Space Mountain, and I went with Audrey and Charlie on it's a small world. He was so sweet. He kept smiling and pointing at things. I could tell he was tired, though. 

After that, Audrey found a place to sit and I headed over to Big Thunder and the six of us rode it together. There wasn't much else to do after that so we all made a beeline for the bus. We got there just as a bus had pulled up but there were a ton of people. They filled that bus and luckily another one was right behind it so that worked out perfectly for us.

 

August 16, Sunday

I'm so grateful we made it to our connecting flight in Dallas! There were some frustrations today but that's really all that matters. I got up this morning at 7:45 AM. Dad was supposed to come at 9:45 AM and the goal was to leave by 10 AM. We didn't do too badly. I'm grateful we found time for a family prayer. I think it was about 10:15 AM by the time we got out of the villa and got in the cars and left. I checked us out on the app. We were late to church since it started at 10:30 AM but actually, Emily's car made it in time for the Sacrament. It was her, Jonny, Nathaniel, Audrey, and Charlie. The rest of us went with Dad. After church, most of us got changed into our regular clothes and we headed over to the world's biggest McDonald's. We had to do two separate orders. Dad got pasta and I got a Philly cheesesteak sandwich and everybody else got regular McDonald's food. I also got us an order of 13 cookies and everyone enjoyed those. We gobbled them up. 

It was around 1 PM that we got our food and we all ate and then almost everyone went upstairs to go exploring. I know Andrew and Michael played air hockey. By 2 PM, I really wanted us to get going. So Dad and Emily drove us to the airport and we said our goodbyes. We waited with Nathaniel and Audrey as they got checked in and checked their bag. As they were waiting for the agent, we got the notification that our first flight was delayed by 32 minutes. So we told Nathaniel and Audrey goodbye and Michael and I changed our clothes and we headed over to the American counter. The agent's name was Luigi and he said there was a flight after our connecting one but it was full so if we didn't make it we'd have to be in Dallas for the night. I can't tell you how relieved I am that we made that connection. They made up a ton of time in the air. They said they left 47 minutes late but only arrived 18 minutes late. But then there was no gate for them. At first, the pilot told us we were going to have to sit there for half an hour and the entire plane groaned. Then, luckily, they got another gate. The flight attendant explained that a lot of people had short connections due to the delay and many people were very nice and stayed in their seats so we could rush off the plane. We literally ran to the Skylink. It was so full at one point that I couldn't even balance myself. We got to the next stop and as soon as we got off the escalators, our gate was right there. They were boarding group 9 of 9 and we got on the flight just in time. I was so grateful! The only bummer was that even though we made it on the flight, our checked bag didn't. American said that the bag is still in Dallas and it should be arriving in the next 24 hours. So we took the Skytrain to the cars and drove home. The boys put out the trash cans and now we're all getting ready for bed.

What a wonderful trip! I feel so blessed!