Start of a New Chapter for Lillie Part 2

We left Hawaii and made our way to Utah. The first thing we did was see all the cousins and and Aunty that were not in Hawaii. There are actually three cousins who live in Utah, and one came in from out of town, Keala. Unfortunately we didn’t get any picture except for the one below with Kawika. I guess he is our favorite now in Utah!! 

Next we had to get Lillie ready for BYU. First day, we checked in at her new complex!!!  We worked hard throughout the day. We walked the aisles of Target and Walmart with many other families doing the same thing, buying all manner of storage bins, kitchen stuff, and school supplies  

We think her room came out great!!

The campus was all aglow with excitement. 

Lillie was loving seeing her new surroundings. Day two, we took her on campus to see all her classes and to get used to her new environment. It was nostalgic for us to walk around with Lillie, albeit we nearly died walking up the hill to get to the main part of campus, walked seven miles cris crossing the campus to find all her classes. 

The path pictures below is the same path that Lillie’s nana walked to school every day as well!!

The dreaded stairs. 

Joseph Fielding Smith Building

The Library

The Bookstore

The candy section of the bookstore, a place her dad stopped often to get treats to help him stay alert in all his classes!

In the Cougareat, they had a local

place to get spam musubi and other favorites of Lillie!

The testing center!!

The science building still has the same pendulum that swung when we went to BYU. 

Large class sizes will be different for Lillie!

There were so many new buildings. They were all so new and clean!

The MARB

Stairwell of the library will be come her walking life. 

On day three we did one last food run and lunch at sizzler!!  Steak for Lillie. And then it was good byes. We will miss Lillie a lot. She is such a good girl, smart and diligent!!  She will do so much over the next several years!  We are excited for all her adventures. 

The day after we left her she sent us these pictures. We think she is adjusting just fine!!  Makes us happy! 

Start of a New Chapter for Lillie

On August 16 we embarked on a long trip that would take us to visit family in Hawaii and ultimately drop our baby girl off at college in Utah at BYU!!  When we left it was technically the first day of her new school situation, so we took a first day of school picture as we left the house early in the morning as our flight for Hawaii was at 6AM. 

Hawaii was beautiful as ever. Hot and humid

But beautiful!  

A few days after we arrived a threw a graduation party for Lillie. It was held at a place called Natsunoya Tea House and we served all of Lillie’s favorite Japanese food!!

Most of her aunties and uncles and cousins were there from both sides of the family. For Lillie, she had never met some of her cousins. She was overwhelmed with all her relatives gathered together to celebrate her. 

Lillie’s parents (haha):

Lillie’s only living set of grandparents:

Lillie’s Auntys and Uncles (most of them. Uncle Stew and Aunty Shelley on the left, then Aunty Annie, then Aunty Kanani and Uncle Joe, and finally Aunty Momi and Uncle Terry on the right):

Lillie’s cousins (except for 6 of them who were not in Hawaii):

All of Lillie’s first cousins, their spouses, and all of Lillie’s first cousins once removed (haha):

We all had such a nice time being with family. Everyone that attended the party was related to Lillie. Lillie loves her family!!

After dinner we had a short program in honor of Lillie. We showed a slide show of Lillie’s life and talked about all her accomplishments and Lillie played a piece on her violin for they group!  The family loved it as most had never heard her play!  

We took an overload of pictures with all her cousins:

Cousin Katy:

The Miyahana Cousins:

The Miyahana family:

Dad’s side:

The oldest and the youngest cousin:

Haliaka:

Nika—who will be teaching in Ogden and will visit Lillie in Provo:

Justin:

Amethyst:

Kekela and his wife:

Makakoa:

Shaners:

The President of BYU Hawaii:

Paul—the one she nursed back to health in 2014:

Ian:

When they were small he would carry Lillie around on his shoulders. They still do it today:

Hawaii was so much fun!  Next up, a nostalgic return to Utah!!

Good Bye to the Atkinson Twins

Last night we went to see the Atkinson’s and say good by to their twins who are also off to college. The Atkinson’s have been our good friends since our Capitol Hill days and Lillie, Mirabel and Sofia have been friends all along. It is hard to believe they are off to college already. Mirabel is headed to Virginia Commonwealth University, Sofia is headed to William and Mary. They are so smart and ambitious. We know they will do well at college, including our Lillie. It was sweet to see them. Below is a picture they tried to recreate in the current. Haha. Very cute!