From SLC, John flew to Detroit, to pick up his car. He spent the night with the Daltons and drove to Cincinnati early Sunday morning. The kids and I arrived in Cincinnati about midnight. We slept in until 10am so we were grateful that my dad’s ward meets in the afternoon. The Parks had arrived the day before. We were so excited to meet baby Landon for the first time! Sunday evening James got his Patriarchal blessing from my Dad’s patriarch, David Thompson. What a sweet experience — James has great opportunities/blessings in store for him. Monday morning we (The Edwards, Parks, my dad and us) drove to the Indianapolis temple open house. The temple was absolutely beautiful and peaceful. We loved being there. We all stopped at Crackle Barrel for lunch on the way home. I was grateful the Parks came and could spend some time with us. They are leaving the Army soon and moving from Georgia to Texas where Colby took a new job.
Baby Landon is almost one
Tuesday morning John, Emma, James and I drove to Southern Virginia University. The Edwards kept Eliza and Tessa. Emma wanted to check out the campus before she decided on 100% BYU (Provo or Idaho). John’s BYU Bishop, Madison Sowell, is the Provost and invited us down. We were given the royal treatment. The campus is old and small but the spirit and depth are tangible. Provost Sowell gave us a two hour tour. He introduced us to professors, showed us the theater, choir rooms, dorms, library… He introduced us to the President and the Dean of Admissions. He gave us all t-shirts and made us feel like family. He and his wife took us out to dinner and also gave us a walking tour of the neighboring town. They gave us the keys to the campus “guest house” where we spent a very comfortable night. Emma was impressed and can see herself there. The next morning we walked around campus again, said goodbye to Provost Sowell — with hugs and kisses and him saying, “Emma is like a daughter to me.” How do you say no to that?! We drove up and around some of the Blue Ridge Mountains and tried to envision this being Emma’s home next year. It took us about 6 hours to get back to my dad's and we were grateful for a very successful campus tour.
Friday we finished up our summer packing and had one more follow up doctor visit for Tessa’s neck. The surgeon thought Tessa looked “good to go!” Saturday morning John left at 4:30am to drive to Michigan, turn in his car, and catch a flight to Shanghai. Dad and Marcia drove the kids and I to the airport. It was sad saying goodbye to them. It was especially hard saying goodbye to dad — life has been hard for him without mom. He is now facing big, stressful decisions with dating and a possible move.
Our flight to Chicago was fine, but once in Chicago we were delayed five hours! The kids were fine with all their electronics, fun things in their backpacks, Garett's popcorn, McDonalds and Chilis — but I was feeling exhausted from the 49 days away from Shanghai. I couldn’t wait to get home!
It is great to be home! The kids were so helpful unpacking and getting back into a routine for a few days. The day before school started, I walked into my room to this (three kids on my bed on their phones) — and I said, “Summer is over. It is time for school to start!"
