Life is moving along for Lily and Derek, both the good and the bad, but luckily, it has mostly been good.  They are settling into their routines, navigating sharing the van, making sure they have food, and taking care of homework and going to classes.  Happily, they are making time for some fun along the way.  Lily invited Derek to join her Dungeons and Dragons group, and they had a blast.  They meet every Thursday night.

Lily even “dressed up” for their first meeting, and sent me a picture.  Super cute!

On Saturday, even though Lily was feeling under the weather, she and Derek went to a nearby park to join in the fun and festivities there – including some great food trucks and games.  They had a great time, even though Lily was coming down with a cold.

I did have the funniest conversation with Derek about a dinner he was going to make, and discovering that he hadn’t bought chicken, or any meat, when he had gone shopping with his dad.  Oops.  He and his sister quickly went to Walmart to remedy the situation, and so he was able to make himself some bowtie pasta.  He also made himself pizza rolls.  I love how often they send me a picture when they have made a homemade meal – they are so proud of themselves, for good reason, and I am so proud of them.

The best part, is how they take care of each other.  Derek not only gave Lily a blessing when she was sick, but he also brought her some of the food he made, so that she would have some dinner that night.  I sure do love these kids.

They also watch out for each other in other ways.  For example, when there was a super fun campus-wide date night event, and Derek wasn’t finding a date, Lily asked one of her roommates if she would be his date.  Lily asked a super nice boy from one of her classes, and the four of them had a blast.

And in other news, we just found out that Lily not only got another academic scholarship from BYUI, but she also received a $500 scholarship from another organization.  So cool!  We sure do miss them, but we love seeing them thrive as they learn to be adults.