Quincy plays cello in church

Quincy and Lance played a lovely arrangement of I Am A Child of God in Sacrament Meeting on Sunday. It was perfect and Quincy wasn’t nervous at all. I’m so proud of her for getting to the point that she willingly shares her talent in a way that contributes to the Spirit in church. We went right before sacrament meeting to tune, and to warm up, they ended up playing the other piece they have polished up as prelude music. It was so beautiful. Lance went to YM in his ward and said to text him after our sacrament was done, and he’d come back. When he came back in, he had a bunch of Quincy’s “creeker” friends with him. Ethan Austin, Isaac “Chloe” Johnson, Zach Shefchick, and Davey Saumweber. After the meeting they were joined by Landan S, Benny H, and Jacob B and as they circled around her and visited I felt so much gratitude that her efforts to invest deeply in friendships was returned in support. It was so good for her to have a moment where she felt so much love…especially considering how hard she works to make sure she is there for others. She is such a force of connection, it amazes me. 

First Day

Back to School is upon us! 

At Cooper Elementary we have Sloane in 3rd, Bear and Esme in 2nd

At Barker Middle School we have Soren in 5th

At the High School, we have Freshman Corbin in 9th and Junior Quincy in 11th 


I just started my last senior year at University of Arkansas with a plan to take as heavy load as I can handle both semesters so I can graduate in May


Corbin and Quincy also started Seminary. We’re meeting in Bella Vista m-f at 5:45am this year and it has not been easy on them. I’d say this is the most difficult year to date for the Willardsons to get to seminary on time. It has also been the best year socially for Willardsons. They don’t see many friends during the day because of schedules (especially Quincy who has a separate lunch because of ignite), but they have friends who want to gather after school and week nights and weekends and it’s nice to see that their leisure time is filled to the brim with really wonderful people and we love that our home is a gathering place for them. But even with going to bed very early during the week, the early mornings are rough. 

Pictured below are Soren, Sydney G, Will S, Baylee G, Q, David S, Isaac J, and Corbin. 


And lastly at Brigham Young University we have Reese, starting her Sophomore year. She will complete fall semester then serve a mission. Papers are submitted and she is anxiously awaiting on her call! 

Reese is living with Finley and Kristina again this year and going back to school was a harder adjustment this year than last. She’s ready to go on her mission right now and misses Arkansas more knowing she will be leaving in January for 18 months. 

It’s going to be a year of learning and leaping and hard work and trust and growth! 

Scrubs

Look at cutie Q in her medical scrubs! She’s so excited for the medical ignite program. Future doctor, right there! 😍

Daughters Trip: Iceland

Just returned from a 10 day (really only  8 days with travel time) adventure with Reese and Quincy. It was incredible. A dream, really. A whole week with my two older daughters was basically a bestie extravaganza. We laughed and cried and had a million new experiences together and loved it so much. I already have a very close bond with my girls but this trip together was just sacred time for the two of them, for us, and for each of them to experience some personal growth as well. It was so wonderful and the timing was perfect. He deserves his own post but I’ll just add here that Aaron deserves some kind of award for being the generous and supportive husband and father that he is. We love him so much and there really are enough ways to thank him for making this trip a reality. 

Ok just so I don’t forget to add anything I am posting mediocre, unedited lists and photos. Nothing special but it’s my practical approach to just get something  documented. I made slideshow reels on my Instagram. Here is a photo log of our trip. We visited 5 countries in 10 days. I’ll do one post for each country. 

2 Wed board flight to Chicago then red eye to Iceland.

I wanted to visit Iceland more than any other place and would have been delighted to only see this beautiful country, but when the daughters and I brainstormed our objectives for this trip one of the things important to both of them was to “cover as much of the world as we can.” They had shiny new passports and wanted to get some stamps in them. They wanted to see several different cultures and compare them. So we opted for Iceland plus a speed tour de Europe.

3 Thurs

Arrive Reykjavik rent car

Reykjavik city rainbow road, sweater shopping church, crepes, record store 

Blue lagoon 

Saw horses 

Hotel check in

Skogafoss waterfall hike 

4 Friday

breakfast at guest house 

Played with Begla the smartest dog we’ve ever met. 

Frolic in our Icelandic Wool sweaters in a meadow (for obvious reasons) 

Vik black sand beach 

Lava Cafe sandwiches and chocolate croissant 

Sweater and chocolate shopping 

Basalt Cliffs Dyrholaey and Reynisdrangar rock formations and Reynisfjara Black Volcanic beach in Vik and puffins 

Seljalandsfoss Waterfalls

Litli-Hrútur volcano hike -this was a main event for our Iceland trip. We’d hoped to hike during the 2 hours of darkness to see glowing lava but weather and unsafe volcanic gas emissions changed our plans. We went in the day instead. The lava flow slowed down the night before our arrival so we couldn’t see large eruptions unless we were willing to do a 20 mile expert level hike to the crater (with like gas masks and stuff—-that’s a no from me) but our 4.5 hour hike to see the lava fields and a great view of the smoking volcano crater was just right. Really incredible stuff. 

Return rental car and fly to London on red eye

This country was so breathtakingly beautiful. Second only to Norwegian fjords as the most place I’ve ever been. There was so much more to see and do, I hope to go back someday.

Bball with the Metfielders

A few times a week Corbin (and usually Soren) meet up at the Bella Vista church building or metfield park to play basketball for a few hours with several of the young men in Metfield ward. They love it. There is only one other incoming freshman boy in our ward, so I’m grateful to the boys who are a grade above and below Corbin for including him in their shenanigans. They gather to watch sporting events, play video games and watch movies, but it’s usually basketball for hours and hours with anyone who will play.