Oh, our sweet Lily. She has always been a bright spot and a special piece of the puzzle of our family. But over the past five months, I cannot even describe or list all of the ways she has been a lifesaver, blessing, and gift to all of us – especially me. And oh, how we are going to miss our sweet girl now that she is going back to school.

Because we left most of her actual college stuff in her grandparent’s basement last summer, she really only had clothing and other necessities to take with her (and leaving all of her warm weather clothes here in Texas, since she won’t be needing them in a Rexburg winter or spring).

Goodbyes are the worst, but at least we know that we should be seeing her again at the end of April. We couldn’t get in enough hugs.

And since we had forgotten to use the confetti poppers on New Year’s Eve, Arthur and Derek decided to shoot them off as a special salute as Lily and Kevin drove away in the van. It helped a hard moment have a piece of fun.

Of course, we were tracking their progress as they drove across the country. It takes almost an entire day just to get out of Texas. They made it to Colorado Springs the first night, which was a little over halfway there.

They made it to Twin Falls on Friday, and they were blessed to have fantastic weather the whole way there, which was such a blessing! (Two years ago when they made the journey, they had to go through a terrible blizzard.). They were able to spend a few days in Twin Falls with Kevin’s parents, and got to spend a bunch of time with my mom as well. Kevin’s favorite part was finally getting to play golf with his dad on the golf simulator that he put together with him in the summer. You know, the project where he fell through the ceiling – ha ha!

On Monday, it was move in day for Lily, so she and Kevin drove to Rexburg to get her checked into her new apartment.

She got all unpacked and settled, and it is crazy to think that this is her last semester at BYUI. My baby girl is getting all grown up 🥹.

This semester, she is in an apartment with three other girls, and Kevin said that they hit it off right away and are already becoming friends. It makes my mama heart so happy, especially because of how she had no roommates in her apartment her last semester. Kevin ended up taking them out to lunch with Lily – at least the two that had moved in when he was there.

And before he hit the road and headed back to Twin Falls, Lily took him to her favorite place for hot chocolate. They had such a great few days together, and I am so glad that he was there for her, since I couldn’t be.

PS. Lily was super excited that in one of her classes she is reading the book Les Miserables by Victor Hugo, and so she had to send me a picture. So fun!