Day at the Park

The kids didn't have school Monday, neither did 2 of their cousins.

We all biked to the park where we played soccer, hide and seek, and made boats.

Boat Racing

Arizona Beach

This might be the closest we get to a beach in AZ. 

Actually, probably not, but it's fairly close to our house and

dog + water = fun for the kids

And the water level was a lot lower, so we didn't almost die this time.

Can you spot the bald eagle?

I had to take a picture of her running because baby running=wonderful.

When we got back, Elijah and I went for a run. 

2 miles to the park, 

relaxing and talking, and 

2 miles back. 

That night E, C, and David stayed up until forever watching Stranger Things (language edited out).

I was tucked into bed at a reasonable hour.

Perfect day.

Thanksgiving

The girls and I hung out on Thanksgiving Eve 

while the boys (David, Fernando, Elijah, Max) went to see a movie. 

The girls wrote letters to the Christmas elves asking why they hadn't come yet. 

Iris also asked to borrow magic so she could fly 

and wanted to know if our elves were going to go out on a date. 

If so, she would make them special outfits.

The elves came last night and wrote notes to the girls.

They asked Claire to eat turkey...unsuccessfully.

She still claims to be a dessert-atarian.

Claire taped this to our door this morning.

"Dear Mom and Dad, This thanksgiving season I am thankfull for you. Thank you for taking me out to eat and for the new comfy socks [we took Claire out to celebrate her grades]. I wanted to tell you that the tamales [I made homemade tamales a few days ago] were magnifasent. I think you are very thoutfull, caring, butiful, jolly, hard working, and generes. I hope you have a graet Thanks giving. Sinsirly your favorate 9 year old"

While I was cooking, the girls wrote and rehearsed a special Thanksgiving play 

which they performed after lunch and a cold dip in the pool (Claire, Sybil and Livi were the only ones crazy enough to go all the way in).

Elijah wasn't in the pic because he was too busy watching football. 

Now, Elijah and Max are here watching Stranger things (edited for bad stuff)

and the girls are spending the night at Esie's house.

Bedtime

This is how these 2 came out when I told them to get ready for bed.

Elijah with a shirt down south, shorts and underwear on top.

Other notable item: On Sunday, Sybil took her diaper off and ran around the church lifting her dress at people.

Visiting Teaching

    Yesterday I gave a talk in church. The topic was Visiting Teaching. {In our church, we are asked to visit a few women each month, to teach them and to love them.} I am imperfect in many areas, but I have always tried to be a good, faithful visiting teacher. I believe that it is a physical manifestation of my gratitude to God.
    David read one of my drafts for the talk and he said that it didn't have enough hellfire and damnation in it. David's middle name is Hellfire-and-Damnation.
    Here are the personal experiences that I shared in my talk.

Experience 1  
       When I had recently moved to a new ward, there was a woman who had a daughter the same age as mine. I talked to her at church and tried texting her various times to set up playdates for our girls. But she was unresponsive.
     Then I was assigned to be her visiting teacher.
     It was like magic.
     All of the sudden, she became much more open to me. She invited me into her home. We went on jogs together and did exercise videos at her house. She confided in me. I learned that she had been through a nasty divorce and the custody battle for her daughter was tearing her apart. She was very guarded, keeping to herself, but I could tell that she desperately needed someone to talk to. I know without a doubt that she needed me and I needed her. And our Heavenly Father knew that.    

Experience 2
One of the most memorable visit I have made. I had a lesson prepared, but when I entered the house of the woman I taught, I could tell she was flustered. She was trying to speedily put away her Christmas tree before I got there. She was embarrassed it was still up a few months after Christmas had passed. I decided to ditch the lesson and we took the tree down together. Her teenage daughters even came in to help us out. One of her daughters was struggling with health problems and was having a difficult time transitioning to Relief Society. Nevertheless, she was happy to work along beside us. Now, taking down a Christmas tree might not sound extremely memorable nor magical, but that night it was.
       This dear lady I took the tree down with was Barbie Wilson. 2 weeks ago, I visited Barbie in the hospital. She had just had a minor procedure and the doctor told her that she would be released soon. I reassured her. We chatted and made plans to go out to lunch a few days later. But a few days later, Barbie passed away.
      Although the past few weeks have been difficult for Barbie’s family, they have felt comfortable enough to let my companion and I into their home, help clean and organize, and arrange meals for the family. I have no doubt that the reason they have felt comfortable enough to let us in is because of the relationship we have developed with Barbie through visiting teaching for over 4.5 years. My companion and I have been reassigned to teach Barbie’s daughter and I know that through the guidance of the Spirit we will be able to help her grow to love Relief Society and form relationships with the amazing ladies there.

Experience 3
      A few years ago, I was assigned to teach a woman and her daughter. I assumed I was assigned to them because the mother didn’t speak English and I was able to speak to her in Spanish. But I learned that Heavenly Father can see much more clearly than I can. He knows why certain women need us as visiting teachers, and why we need them. And this time it had nothing to do with speaking Spanish.
      I learned that the mother wasn’t interested in coming back to church. It was her daughter. From the outside we might have seemed an unlikely pair to become fast friends. Olivia was about 2 decades younger than me. She was a single mother, fresh out of high school and just coming back into activity in the church.
     Olivia is a strong woman who grew up in an environment that was often unsupportive and sometimes hostile. I began picking up Olivia, her son, and sometimes her sister every Sunday to go to church. I took Olivia to RS activities so she could bond with other, strong women. When she decided to move out of her mother’s apartment, she and her baby came to live in our home for a month while she waited for her apartment to be ready. She learned what it felt like to be cared for and how to trust someone. 
     Olivia has attended the temple to do baptisms for the dead several times, and is preparing to take out her endowments soon.

Iris' first gymnastics meet

This was at the end of her floor routine

Her score was 8.8.

I think that means she's ready for the olympics.

 She learned this move from me.

Not really

This is what Marker Addiction looks like

Some babies need a pacifier to lull them to sleep.

If you don't have a paci, 

give her a marker. 

Even if you don't,

she will find one

after you put her to bed

and she will wake up looking like this

Windshield bug

I went out to take the kids to school and found this...

the biggest windshield bug I've ever seen.

Carpen

Claire: Mom, I learned how to carpen yesterday.
Me: Carpen?
Claire: Yes, carpen. It's what carpenters do.

She and Fernando are making a drawer for a desk that Claire and I pulled off the street while we were jogging together a few nights ago.
Fernando was an apprentice carpenter at 10 years old.
Claire is learning the carpen arts at 9.


This is the Carpen Artist celebrating getting to the bottom of her cauldron full of Halloween candy:

My Scout

This boy is pretty awesome. School has been so much easier this year. He usually gets his homework done before he comes home and his grades, for the most part, are great. He struggles most with English and I wonder if that has to do with catching up from Mexico, but I doubt it. For his elective this year, he chose 3D art. He is doing great in his second year of Latin; as always his favorite subjects are recess and PE.
I went in to kiss him goodnight about an hour ago and he was setting up a booby-trap.
E is always creating something. On Sunday, I emerged after my afternoon nap to a kitchen cluttered with oil-coated containers. I think the Sunday before it was "perfume." The main ingredient was mouth-wash sprinkled with orange tree leaves.

If it doesn't challenge you, it won't change you

David sent me the pictures for his EPIC Rim2Rim2Rim hike.

Here are the boys:

David, Jon, Brad, David the younger

These manly men started in the wee hours and ended in the wee hours the next day.

The Davids

David the Younger drove down from Provo, but was under the weather.

Can you tell by his facial expression?

 David and Brad, the ultra-marathoner, ran most of the way.

Brad is my BIL's bro.

 Scenery shots. 

David claims next time he goes to the Grand Canyon, he will go to enjoy the scenery instead of going to be a manly man, although that's a fate he can't avoid.

More beautiful scenery:

Today she was storing wipes. 

With the shoes on the wrong feet, of course.

Storage

Today as Sybil and I were walking, I noticed her bend over a few times, stand up, then pop something into her mouth.

She had stashed fruit snacks in her shoes. 

No socks. 

Sisters' shoes offer abundant storage.
Yesterday it was at least 10 crayons per shoe. She threw such a fit when I emptied one shoe, that I didn't even try the second one.

And she's convinced that putting underwear over her diaper is as good as shorts.

Maybe I shouldn't let her leave the house like this.
Or

Maybe I should.