Moms Away Weekend: Whirlwind Recap.

I took a weekend trip to Utah with my mom. Didn’t sleep much. Totally worth it. Packed every hour with quality connection with my people.  

One thing that was not planned this girly weekend was realizing how much we would miss Quincy. Does being in Utah make it more difficult? I didn’t think it would, but suprise! Love, Joy, and Grief are very powerful emotions. Jamae Willardson tested positive for the flu and was quarantined/moved into the sick bay in the MTC this weekend. She looks, sounds, and feels 50 levels of pathetic. It’s quite sad, actually! She had a high fever Thurs and Friday and slept between her district classes via zoom. She was devastated to miss her temple appointment this weekend and spent all of Pday in complete isolation. Since she was in quarantine and there were no comps in the sick bay with her on Saturday or Sunday, the branch president encouraged her to call home as often and for as long as she’d like. This ended up being a little blessing in disguise because we typically get a 30 minute check in while she does laundry, but this weekend she we got to have Jamae over face time for most of Reese’s bridal shower. Soyoung held the phone and they spoke exclusively in Korean. Soyoung said, “Be so proud! She understands me and I understand her! That is the goal. She sounds good!” Jamae was already missing her new native Korean sister, Bae Jamine, big time. She realized how much her skills have exploded by living with a native speaker. 

I’ve only been in the Marriott center twice, ever, and both times were 20+ years ago. When I looked up on Saturday night and saw the MTC lit up it hit me just how close in proximity I was all weekend to my super sickie daughter. Her visa just arrived and in 10 days she’ll be headed to Seoul Korea!! It was surprisingly hard but also heart filling to know my girl is right there, just one block away, doing tough things and growing and serving (and coughing and puking 🤣). She is in good hands. 

Of course I took a video of the national anthem played on a CELLO for her! The performer was byu cheerleader Ammon Montenegro. Another nod to my missionary and to my cellists at home, who were watching the game on tv, and our many young cellist friends, who future cougars, and currently serving missions all over the world.

I love my niece, Taylor. She is the oldest Lawrence grandchild, and was followed by 6 boys until Reese and Quincy came along. Reese, Quincy, and baby Sloane were flower girls at her wedding. Taylor had her 4th baby just 7 weeks ago and is the most darling young mom, ever. And snuggling sleepy baby Harvey was just the best. I do not kid when I say these hours gave me life. 

Reese and I ran errands for like 6 hours on Friday. It was a marathon. She picked out two dresses she wants me to wear to her wedding and reception, and we loved just being a duo. It’s been a long time.

Also, let it be known that Utah is the motherland of cute dresses. I would have happily bought these next two pretty pretties to come home with me if I hadn’t been on an assignment to buy wedding attire. Look at these! So girly and fabulous! Oh well. Still fun to try on.

Reese’s bridal shower was a hit. 

Reese and I shared a room at Mark and Melinda’s and stayed up until 4am talking on my last night in Utah. Then I dropped her off with Logan in Provo for their living ordinance appointment, then spent the morning with our favorite Ryan. A fresh haircut, a debrief of the basketball game, and a quality face to face catch up on life were everything. He took my mom and I to the airport for our afternoon flight and I left him with snacks, the biggest mother hug, and a makeshift hóngbāo because I couldn’t find any real ones in Utah. Never enough time. 

Mark and Melinda are prepping the house Amy recently moved out of to sell. New paint, fixtures, flooring, etc. 

Reese and Logan went through the temple with Izzy Jo and then to a Newton family gathering on Sat afternoon, so my mom and I spent some time with Mark, Melinda, and Brock working on the house. I “helped” with a ceiling fan instal and swept and vacuumed up all the new carpet installation fuzzies. 

We had planned to stream Song Sung Blue (you know I love me some Neil Diamond and still haven’t seen this movie!) on Friday night, and everyone kindly sacrificed a movie night in favor of a wedding announcement addressing assembly line. Big thank you to Melinda, Amy, Taylor, and Soyoung for helping us knock these out. And thank you to my mom who basically gave up half her birthday party for the cause of serving a young and overwhelmed bride. Lady did not complain as she had the dream job of holding baby Harvey so Tay could help us complete this daunting task for Reese. 

I finally got to meet Soyoung/Jenna/Sister Jeon and Reese were companions in LA for a few transfers. Soyoung is from South Korea and Reese and I helped proofread her BYU applications on the mission. She got in and is currently a student at BYU. Soyoung also works at the MTC and has met and talked to our Quincy a few times 😍. She’s the sweetest bridesmaid ever and helped a ton with invitations this weekend. Love her! 

Time with my sister, Amy! So good to catch up with her on new changes happening in her life. I also got to introduce her to Kristi Aase at Reese’s shower. Turns out they live right by each other. I think this will be a well timed and gratuitous friendship. And neither of them even knows about the other’s supreme knowledge of broadway show tunes, yet.

Taylor makes beautiful, perfect children. (Shout out to king Grayson, happy 4th birthday, buddy!) Several hours with this guy asleep in my arms or across my chest while we visited was the greatest. I didn’t know I was ailing before I went to Utah, but this alone absolutely healed me. 

Happy 79th birthday Grammie!  Can you believe we didn’t take a single photo of all the girls at her birthday celebration? Melinda was the queen party planner and hostess this weekend and I’m forever grateful to her for her generous hospitality. She gathered Amy, Kelsea, Reese, Me, Taylor, and my mom and treated all of us to the best dinner at their country club. We did not butter Lady’s nose, but we did all sample her Oreo cake. 

If you want to catch mark, you’d better be up early or on the go! On Friday, I got up at zero dark thirty and went to mark and Melinda’s gym with them and had my legs destroyed by their trainer. Mark fed me a German chocolate protein shake (first in a sample shot lol) and some mysterious veggie packed gummy bears after. These kind of tasted like apple juice if apple juice  was made out of kale and spinach. But also they were kind of delicious and so fiber dense they fixed the havoc that high altitude likes to play on my insides. 😂 

Just some medieval torture devices disguised as gym equipment. Fun fact: I have very strong legs, but apparently have no balance. Haha neither does mark though so we both wobbled around on the box lunges. 

Until next time, Utah!

The only thing that could have made this weekend truly perfect would be if I had been able to see Aaron’s mom. We did talk on the phone, but it was not a good day for her to have visitor, so I unfortunately missed out there. But I did get to hug Janae and Jana and Madeline, Abby, and Hanna. And the time with my mama was really special. We found cookies everywhere, had some laughs (“because it’s the right thing! Put your coat on!”) and had time to just talk and process and speculate and reminisce together uninterrupted. At one point, we parked in a church parking lot and did exactly that. No one hunted us down and I got to just be with my friend. My mom is a great listener and is full of wisdom. I loved all of this quick trip. 

There was so much love in this weekend. I came home feeling so full, I could burst.