Done: College Freshman Year

The jury was out in August on just how normal the boys first year of college would be.  Classes were mostly online, masks were required, dorm lounges closed up within a few weeks and almost all the events that make your first year experience a blast were cancelled or postponed, including freshman orientation, sporting events and school sponsored dances and activities. Even the basketball nets were removed from the hoops outside the dorms as a way to prevent kids from conjugating in the area as the cases in Utah started to increase.  This didn't seem to stop the boys from still finding ways to find fun...and catch Covid.  In fact, in addition to Covid, Ty managed to also catch mono, just in time for his first semester finals.  So while I have always encouraged the boys to work hard and play hard, I think it's probably fair to say Ty probably played a little harder than he worked...haha .  In the meantime I would guess Connor worked a bit harder than he played based on the fact he probably took four photos throughout his whole freshman year.  So if there seems to be a disproportionate amount of photos with Connor, you know why. :)

Ty's first overnight hike to the top of Timp

Connor enjoying his first overnight hike up to Timp.  This time it was a tad bit chillier...

Halloween weekend including their first home football game as freshmen.  Ty was excited to have caught the ball during one of the field goals.  And yes, he's clearly wearing a "friend's" coat...

Fun times with friends!

Getting in some night skiing at Sundance

Ice Castles in Midway

Trips to southern Utah

The boys celebrating their 19th!

Celebrating mission calls

Ending the school year off with a trip to southern Utah with Uncle Paul to do some canyoneering.

This band of kids grew pretty close through the year and what a better way to end the year than a trip to Florida shortly after school got out.  They split their time between the Orlando area and Sanibel where Cade lives, spending their days in the pool, on the lake, at the ocean and at SeaWorld.  A perfect way to end this chapter before starting on their next one...missions!

So that's a basic rundown of their first year!  

Spring Break 2021

With the boys in college and BYU not having an official "spring break" I wasn't sure what to plan for Sage's spring break.  With it being race season for rowing she wasn't excited to miss the double practices they'd be having during the break because those really help to get them prepped. And while I was anxious to get away and it's a nice break for us to visit Jack rather than him always coming to us I did dread making the trip with Nova.  Unfortunately leaving him would be worse with his separation anxiety but bringing him gives me a bunch of anxiety since he cries a good part of the trip. The pros outweighed the cons though so once again Sage and I found ourselves squeezing Nova into an already larger than allowed case, hoping that just maybe he would remember he had done this before and would be ok.  At first I thought things would be OK when he went to jump into his carrying case as we were packing things up,  Of course that ended up being just for show.

I always feel a little bit of anxiety before leaving on a trip, worried about making the flight, getting Nova through security, did I pack everything, did I set the house alarm, etc.  Well, it doesn't help when you go to call Uber right before you are scheduled to head to the airport only to learn there are no available drivers. Then I tried Lyft and the same thing happened.  Thankfully my sweet neighbor Amtul who had just arrived home was able to drive us on  short notice but not without having to listen to a crying Nova who was trying to fight his way out of his carrying case.  It was going to be a long day of travel at this rate...

Thankfully after a rough start in the car and through the airport, he finally calmed down on the plane.  To the point I was worried that the melatonin we had given him in hopes of calming him had maybe killed him.  Sage was asleep on my lap for much of the flight but after several hours of no movement in Nova's case I made Sage check on him since he was under the chair next to her.  As she unzipped the case out came Nova's head!

Nova and Luna back together...

One of the things I had arranged before our flight out was for Sage to meet with a rowing coach who runs the Park City Rowing Academy out at Jordanelle.  We spent our first day checking out his venue.  It is absolutely spectacular!  We both agreed the coach was lovely but understandably it would be a big change from her current club that has over 100 rowers and is able to be on the water year round to this club which he trains just a handful of people and for obvious reasons can only be on the water a few months out of the year.  In the meantime until they have started digging on our house I don't think we'll be rushing out so she'll enjoy the rowing in Florida while she can.

What is crazy is that just across the parking lot on the other side of the reservoir, the water is frozen!

Next we were off to get in a day of skiing with the boys! They've been lucky to get in a few trips this season while at BYU but Sage and I hadn't been for a couple years since last year we were unable to go due to Covid.  We made the drive to our old stomping ground, Brighton, which usually has some of the best snow due to it's altitude and what a great day we had.  It started to snow during the second half of the day which made for really nice conditions.  How fun it was to watch the three of them and how happy I was to see Sage enjoying it...especially since she had sprained her ankle a week earlier when she fell off the dock while washing down one of our jet skis.  Connor has always been the speed demon and Ty is really getting good at snowboarding considering he made the transition from skiing just a couple years ago and has only had one lesson!

Of course one of my priorities on this trip was to get up to Heber and meet with the architectural review committee to better understand what they will and won't allow in our design.  It's hard not to dream of the day we will be breaking ground on this lot and Jack will no longer have to commute. Unfortunately, a spring start doesn't look to be in the cards.  Fingers crossed for this summer.

One of the nights we were there, Ty was gathering a bunch of friends to head up to Sundance for some night skiing.  They had all bought passes earlier in the season that were about to expire so while the conditions were not great they wanted to use them before it was too late.  I loved that Ty encouraged Sage to join them and she was equally as excited.  Too bad they hadn't waited a few more days as a big storm arrived and brought a good amount of snow but they told me they still had a great time.  On our way back from Heber Jack and I stopped in to catch a glimpse of them.  Connor decided to sit this ski trip out.

Ty getting comfortable being on a snowboard rather than skis and looking to catch some air...

Here we are hanging out with everyone at Sean's new place.  It's hard to believe this will probably be the last time all the cousins are together for a couple years since the boys will be leaving on their missions this summer.

On Saturday night into Sunday a large amount of snow had arrived in the mountains so Jack, I and Sage thought it would be fun to take Nova to Sundance to enjoy it!  It only makes sense to take a husky to see the snow...and oh did he love it!  Nothing like a fresh snowfall on the trees!  So beautiful!

We always have such a great time in Utah.  It really feels like a dream to someday be able to spend half our time there and half here in Florida.  But what makes Utah the favorite of the two is getting to hang around the people that matter most a bit more...my family!

Countdown to TUESDAY

Gone are the days of mission calls coming by snail mail in a big white envelope.  Instead they arrive digitally via email, usually on Tuesday mornings and typically two weeks from when you submit all your paperwork.  The boys had started on their mission papers back during the Thanksgiving/Christmas break getting in doctor and dentist visits and going through the interview process.  By mid Feb everything was in.  I had read that the Friday before calls are emailed out, if you check the missionary portal and you have an assigned missionary email, then you can expect your call that week.  Sure enough, when we checked they had been assigned emails so we knew on Tuesday, March 2nd the calls would arrive.  At around 9:30 am mountain time Connor called to tell me that he had gotten the text alert that his call was in his missionary portal.  I had been waiting all morning to hear from him but with the time difference could hardly stand the wait.  Ty was still sleeping when Connor frantically called me but within a minute of  being on the phone with me,  Ty was up checking his phone too to see if he too had the alert.

It's kind of become a thing for kids to announce their calls to friends and family through live feeds on Instagram, Facebook, or Zoom on the evening the call arrives so that more people can participate and share in the moment. I wasn't certain the boys would be able to wait to read the email until the evening so  I suggested that if there was a chance they would be tempted to sneak a peak, they better call me right away as I certainly didn't want to be waiting around all day if they already knew!  They decided the night before that it would probably be best if they opened them up with Jack and I on the phone first so we could be there as they read it for the first time.  This way they'd also have time to let it soak in before sharing the news with everyone else later in the evening.  As a mother of twins, I couldn't help but worry about one getting called to some exotic location while the other being called to some place less exciting. All missions are wonderful but let's be real, being called to someplace like Tahiti is going to gather more excitement than someplace like Oklahoma which is where I was called and without doubt was the best mission for me.  I knew the boys had their preferences and I just didn't want one of them opening up their call for the first time in front of all their friends and being totally stoked while the other was trying to put a smile on his face to cover up maybe a bit of disappointment that would of course be short lived.  It's only natural for twins to always be comparing themselves with each other.

I don't know who was more nervous about hearing where they were called to serve...me or them.  I seriously at one point thought I could throw up.  I felt so anxious, worried, and excited at the same time.  These are my babies and the thought of them leaving me for two years is something I can barely imagine.  After a quick call to conference Jack in with us, it was time to hear where they'd be spending the next two years of their lives.   While I can't say I'm thrilled to send my boys off to third world countries, I can say I'm absolutely thrilled that they have both been called to spanish speaking missions in the same part of the world.  They will now truly share their own twin language.

So Connor has been called to Oaxaca, Mexico and will start on June 8th...

and Ty has been called to Concepcion, Chile and will start on June 15th.

They made their official announcement later that night in the dorm lounge surrounded by friends.  Here are just a couple photos that include friends from NYC, OH, and FL that came to support them which I thought was so wonderful. 

After spending the next couple days doing a ton of research on both missions and joining every parent FB page, I can say I've already planned in my head a vacation to Connor's mission when the time comes to pick him up and I have no doubt Ty's mission will also be a place we'll look forward to seeing.  Now time to get them prepared! So excited for these two amazing boys!!!