August 6

Tomorrow morning Abby and I will board a plane and fly to Chicago so she can begin her sophomore year of college in a few weeks. (She's going back early to start her on-campus job at the college post office. Maiden of the Mail she'll be.) 

Since it's her last complete day in California for a while, she had the controls when it came to the meal plan. The result was Nations for lunch and chicken parmesan for dinner, and then we topped it all off with ice cream from Meadowlark this evening.

It's so surreal to realize that she's already a college sophomore. (And I know that later this week, it'll also be surreal when it truly sinks in that Logan should be a high school senior --that'll be a doozy-- and when Isaac starts his sophomore year of high school and Brady begins seventh grade, but she's my oldest so everything she does is in new-to-me territory as far as parenting goes.)

Anyway, I know she's not super duper thrilled to be going back because she's a bit of a homebody, but I'm confident that she'll have a great year. She's living with her best friends and I know that once she gets into the swing of things, she'll be just fine. Better than fine.

So tonight, on the eve of the next leg of her life's adventure, I'm grateful for the summer months we've had together as a family. And I'm grateful that she loves her friends and her school (even if she can't quite remember how much she loves them at the moment). And I'm grateful that she's always within God's grip, even when she's away from us. They're all beautiful, beautiful gifts.