First day of school.

Before he left for work this morning, Brad asked if I wanted to meet him for lunch or if I'd rather bask in my aloneness.

I'll be basking.

Tonight, when I was setting out plates for our buffet-style dinner, I had a near breakdown.  

We only need five plates now.

It was a very quick trip to Utah, but I'm so glad I got to spend some time with my family.  Jenny hosted this dinner with the nearby siblings and I loved every minute of it.

Although, this may have been where the real party was...

Jessica's new home.

After driving for two days (during which we got to take a purely delightful break in Fort Collins to see Braedyn, Julie, and Lauren Johnson, who were dropping Braedyn off at CSU), we arrived in the great state of Utah.  Today, we went up to USU and got her all moved in and her pantry shelves filled.

It was impossible for me not to relive my freshman days at BYU as we got her settled into her dorm room at USU.  Poor Jess got to hear story after story of scratchy sheets, dips in kitches, and freshman romances.  It was all I could do to leave and not move into her dorm room with her.

By evening, I had run out of excuses to stay, so I had to leave her there and drive back to my inlaws' all by myself.  It wasn't pretty, and I probably wasn't safe to drive.  On the way, I stopped at The Training Table to drown my sorrows in a stroganoff burger and cheese fries.  It helped considerably.

When I arrived at the Bitner homestead, Lois greeted me with this:

"I thought you might need this," she said with tears in her eyes.

She knows me so well.

Jessica's birthday!!

She wanted a low-key celebration, so we invited a couple of her friends to join us for dinner at HaNaBi.

Then we all came home for some brownies and ice cream.  This girl does not like cake.  I don't know what to do with that...

Abby and Kaylynne stayed the night, since Jess and I will be leaving tomorrow morning to drive out to Utah State University, where she'll start as a freshman.  It would be an understatement to say emotions ran high.

 Today, I got my brief taste of Real Summer.

 After a delightful Mi Ranchito lunch with my sisters, we congregated at my parents' house with the kids to do what we do best--sit on the porch, drink cold beverages, and solve the world's problems.

Lukie thought the best part of the day was that he perfected his trampoline flip.  I thought the best part of the day was the whole day.

Just for fun, Lois got a bunch of coins at the bank and had the kids do a Money Dive in the pool.