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Jayden Home Visit From College



Jayden came home for 2 weeks in Iowa before heading back south. Here is a recap of her time here in Iowa. Saturday we drove and drove, and some of us even slept. We all were happy to have her home, even her cat and her horse. Sunday we went to church. It was so nice to all be there together as a family. We ate lunch at our favorite El Azteca restaurant. It was a little on the cool side, with a sweatshirt when we went for a ride out in the hay field with Jayden.   Monday- We started the morning meeting Grandma W. in Ames and spent some time with her. They have missed each other not seeing each other since Christmas. They ate out and did some shopping. I had already had a lunch date planned with my Ames friends and it is hard for the four of us, Laura, Carolyn, and Sue Ann, to all coordinate to meet. Carolyn gave a tour of the Huxley library where she know works. What a perfect job for Carolyn, she is such a social person and gets to work with the children as a program director. She loves her job and the library is so neat and organized.  After lunch, I went with  Jayden to have her genetic counseling and testing. The counseling was ridiculously long, an hour and a half that could easily have been 20 minutes. The test results will take 3-4 weeks to see if she has BRCA2. Many prayers will be said for the results. I am praying the gene will stop with me. 



Tuesday- Maggie, Jaynie, and Jayden spent the day together. They really didn't quite know what to do on their outing. It was too chilly for miniature golf, which Jayden wanted to do. They ate lunch and went to a few stores. They ended up coming back to our house and watching a movie. It was nice that they could spend some time together. In the evening I took Luke to his dog project meeting. 











Wednesday- Jayden has been on her own schedule and sleeps in late in the mornings. After lunch we went to Libby's to visit baby Evie and to see her house. Neither Jayden nor I had seen Libby's home since they renovated it. Evie was adorable as ever and a little grumpy. She was tired and Libby said she only takes little cat naps and never sleeps very long. She is starting back to work one night shift per week at the hospital. The house was amazing. Matt is very talented and has made a lot of furniture, and the two of them have done all their home's construction. They did the foundation of the new addition, walls, floors, ceiling, and painted and updated the kitchen. It is so  impressive all they have done. They used corn crib and barn wood on much of the interior. It was fun to visit Libby. Our time was cut short so Jayden could zoom with Noah and their attorney over the gun/hunting charges. In the evening, Grandma and Grandpa Muench took the younger grandkids out for dinner for cousin Rylie's 18th birthday. Jayden, Jaynie, Maggie, Rylie, Jake, and Luke ate at Hickory Park together. After, they went back to the grandparents for a few rounds of Sequence. Mark and I went to Mark's training workout and then out to eat at the Irish Pub Dublin Bay. 

Thursday morning Jayden and Mark went to the gun and hunting trial for Noah. The trial was over the charges filed against him and the confiscation of his gun. They thought the judge was nice and it went well. They won't know the outcome for a couple weeks. The attorney doubted Noah would get his gun, best case scenario he gets a lower fine. In the afternoon Jayden and I rode horses and in the evening, then she took Luke to his horse project meeting. Grandma and Grandpa Wahlert came and watched. It started pouring down rain. After the meeting in the indoor arena, they got soaked unsaddling and putting the horse in. Here at home, Jake was mowing and kept on going in the rain. After awhile we made him come inside. He was a mess. It has been so incredibly dry until this week. It has been a rainy week and things are greening up and the dust is finally under control. The crops needed the rain so it was welcomed.

 


Friday morning Jayden and I drove to Ankeny, where Jayden went to garage sale with the ladies, and I went to see my friend Jolene, Jayden went with Grandma Connie and her group of ladies that go almost weekly, Elaine, Joan, and Judy. The ladies all together are a hoot and Jayden got a kick out of them. They finished the day with lunch at Applebee's where I met Jayden and took her back home. My friend and high school classmate, Jolene had surgery on Monday. She has stage 2 breast cancer and had a mastectomy. I could relate and have been through the surgery so could empathize with her. She will have many more surgeries this summer including a CSF surgery. She has had a rough few years and her summer will be extra rough. So soon after her surgery, I only visited briefly and brought Jolene a meal I had prepared and another for the freezer that she could cook in her crock pot. She was very thankful and seemed to be doing well, all things considered. It was another rainy day, small light showers on and off. We went home through Ames and visited an eyeglass store and each picked out eyeglasses and I also got sunglasses. We also bought some plants. Jayden picked out most of them and she wanted to plant them all in her own way. It was really cute and she really enjoyed it. 





Saturday Morning the weather was nice, so went to the Grand Junction driving range. With all Luke's 2 golf lessons, he has a good feel for hitting and was coaching and giving pointers to all of us. He has gotten really good at it and can hit far. We also had to go to get my favorite ice cream at Spring Lake. 

 Keaton graduation, Plant veg plants, karla visit, pizza at Karens Karla seizure Cousin party

Sunday we had too many places to be in too little time, so we decided to have couch church. We watched our church online in the living room. 

Monday Jay keeping up on orders, buying new shirts, Cynthia, Breakfast at Grammars, mega windy, went to Mawgee's for family photos and grill




Tuesday- Jay and I went to work in Ames at Overflow. We ate lunch, went and picked up our new eyeglasses.  I have had my glasses for years and it was time for an upgrade. The style went from the small frames to the large frames. It will take me awhile to get used to the new look. I am not one who likes change. Jayden looked adorable in her new glasses. She hasn't owned or worn a pair since 7th grade. No masks in the eye doctor, that was a nice change.


The rest of the week was full too. Jayden baked pies with Grammer, she made lemon meringue, chocolate, and cherry. Jadyen and Luke helped Grandma with her tomatoes adding mulch and staking cages around them. We had a fire pit and weenie roast and smores on our patio. Jayden met Ali after work and got a bite to eat while in the car. We went to Torrie's bridal shower. There was also an older cousins party that Jayden really didnt enjoy. Everyone is coupled up and she always feels like a third wheel in the group.  While home, she was keeping up with her Rocking J business taking orders and shipping them out through the help of Cynthia. It wasn't too handy, but she was able to keep things going. Cynthia may have shipped an order or two to the wrong person.  




Jayden's time back in Iowa was short and it went fast. We crammed as much in the time we could with a little bit of everything. Family time, cousin time, cousin shower, eating out, family pictures, cat naps, horses,  eyeglasses shopping, flower planting, driving range, backyard fire pits and more. And like that, 2 weeks were over and she boarded an airplane leaving Iowa and headed south. 






Jacob was so busy doing his thing that he barely got to spend time with Jayden. He is always working on  a car or truck, tearing apart and engine or working at Nate's. He drove Jayden to Des Moines so he could spend some time with her and drive back home after we ate together. The rest of us followed in our Tahoe. We went to brunch at Cracker Barrel before taking Jayden to the airport. Her flight left at 1:20. I knew I would see her in a month, so that helped me not feel so sad. The reality of it is, this will probably be the new norm, her traveling and flying out to see us a few times a year, and likewise us traveling to see her. I don't like it. I wish so badly that she could be closer, even 4 hours isn't terrible. As a mom, I sure like having my girl home. I am outnumbered in our home and there is just something special about a mom and daughter relationship. We are so close and she is a best friend. I hate that she is so far away. It is time to let her go and let her spread her wings and venture out into the world to make her own choices and choose her own path. I know that God led her where she is and it is part of his big plan for her. I am happy that she is happy and I will find joy in that. 


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