Gearing up for Christmas

Decorating strategy: get EVERYTHING out of storage so that it looks like a million Christmas elves vomited in your house= motivation.

At our ward Christmas party:

Sybil's letter to Santa read: "I don't want anything because I know you're not real." 

Elijah is still a wishful thinker: "For Christmas please bring me Porsche 911, $1M, HellCat."

Ice skating: Sybil and Masha

Iris and Ava

Surgery day at school

Later that day, I got a frantic call from a friend who told me Sybil had a scooter accident and there was a lot of blood.  911 had been called but after I did a neuro assessment, I told the cop that there was no need for the paramedics (we were on a remote path). 

The next day, it was Elijah's turn. There were conflicting assessments about whether there was an ulnar fracture after a SLEEPWALKING incident! Elijah insisted that it was not a fracture; he knew better than the radiologist. When a second x-ray with the orthopedist confirmed no break, Elijah declared that we could take him off our insurance plan and that he would assume all future medical care of himself.

David and Sybil have been lighting the menorah every night.

Iris decorating Christmas cookies with her friends

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was truly amazing and miraculous. There really is nothing better in this whole wide world than hanging out with family, besides hanging out with family while eating yourself into a coma.

Hunt and Sarah were so nice to let us stay with them which meant that the cousins had so much more time to get into trouble:

We went to the rec center to workout, climb walls, play pickle ball,

and hang out

The teenagers had a blast this time. They were often off galavanting at night. They went to explore abandoned planes, play jackbox, buy junk food, and who knows what other shenanigans. 

One of my favorite parts about the trip was the family talent show. Everyone was required to participate. My dad went first and did a summersault! The man is 82! I was challenged to do a summersault this summer. I got my head down around my knees and then choked. My dad is my hero.

We were all rolling with laughter throughout most of the show. Everyone was required to participate. There were jokes, skits, ear wiggling, catching marshmallows in the mouth, and piano and violin performances. David tried to make a fart noise with his armpit, but it kinda turned into a striptease. My favorite talent was probably Jakey who said he was going to hold his breath for 5 seconds, but couldn't do it because he was laughing so much.

Here's a teaser of David's striptease:

The 3 best friend cousins had a sleepover most nights.

While the men and older kids went shooting, the women and kids walked through the Riparian Preserve. Sybil decided to explore the murky bottom of the canal and our good friend Zoe had to rescue her.

Feeding animals

David, Elijah, and Claire went for a private helicopter ride. The pilot got out his "before takeoff checklist" to make sure everything was in order. Elijah freaked out because he thought the pilot was reading his "how to fly a helicopter" pamphlet. Elijah later earned the nickname of "Ralph" for obvious reasons.

Temple time

One of the temple workers approached us and cautioned us not to be nervous because a General Authority was there (Jon was in the other room). David asked him what the GA looked like and also if he was handsome. I'm sure David would have continued asking salacious details if Lexi hadn't stopped him and told him we were related.

 

Formula 1

This year, Formula 1 came to Vegas for the first time in a while. David scored some tickets for the practice runs because he's on the board of UNLV. He took Iris and they were right in front of the new Sphere. 

For the actual race, he and Elijah got box seats that were hosted by the friends of the racers. They had access to all kinds of places and saw a good number of famous people. Elijah went up to a famous influencer who invited him to go play blackjack with him. 

 

St George

     Normally, I'd be very stressed right now, with Christmas cards, parties, concerts, presents, but mainly because of a final exam in pathophysiology for which I feel utterly unprepared. Now, I find myself paradoxically calmer, but because of a very unfortunate circumstance. A few days ago, on December 6th, the 80th school shooting of this year occurred, and it was at UNLV. My professor was on campus and she and her students had to be evacuated under duress. Because of the trauma related to this incident, UNLV teachers were allowed to end the semester however they thought appropriate. We were given the option to have our current grade become our final grade without having to take the final exam and quizzes that were scheduled. So here I am, catching up on blogging. 

    One quick highlight is that yesterday David got a colonoscopy at the center where I work. He loved talking through the diarrhea process with the kids. They loved it even more. He took a speaker into the bathroom and blasted some very suspicious sounds he found on YouTube so that he could see the looks on our faces when he came out. The highlight for me was putting a needle and catheter in his median cephalic vein of his ante cubital fossa. I always look at those huge veins lustfully.

     Family trip to St George

Stopped in the Valley of Fire

the rock thrower

Elijah's up high on this one and Iris is up front

Sybil, jumping. 

She climbed high to the ledge and David, to my horror, yelled, 

"I bet you can't jump from there! 

If you move your arms fast enough, you can fly." 

Temple open house

Elijah and Hadley went on an all-day date with a group of friends for Sadie's dance.

No date is complete without Goat Yoga.

While they were out, Sybil whispered to Brigham Young and Iris and I did some thrift shopping.

We also visited the site of Mountain Meadows Massacre and listen to a podcast about it.

And we met up with the Esplins to eat bingsu (Korean shaved ice).

The trip was awesome. We stayed with my Uncle Jim and Aunt Kathy and had breakfast with David's Aunt and Uncle, Rod and Janet and cousin Jake and Harmony.

Claire at her Winter Formal. She went with her besties.

Third graders built games. 

Sybil and her group made a basketball game.