I miss this kid. He sent me this picture to show me his new haircut.

My favorite thing about this picture is his smile. The second thing I saw that was he has one tie hanging up in his closet. Congratulations my boy, I'm proud of you for hanging up one tie.

Other news: 

     David will be going to the White House this week for a party with the Bidens in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month. Last week we went to the Hispanic Caucus, but I can't post pictures of us in fancy garb because I forgot to suck in my gut for the picture. 

     After over three years, I was released as Relief Society president. It has been an absolute honor to serve in that capacity; the calling changed my life. At the time I was called, I had only attended RS 2 times in this ward. I had never met my counselors, but with them met all of the women in the ward and sat with the women through times of delight and times of pain, loss of hope, faith, family, and even loss of life. 

Here is an excerpt from my testimony last Sunday: 

     I have learned about ministering. As a presidency, we have often remarked that when we talk to women about ministering, one of the most common things we heard was “I am not good at this, I should have done better.” It was sad to hear this. At the same time, I have similar feelings now as I am released. “I was not particularly good at this. I could have done better.” Did I do enough? Serve enough? Love enough? The answer is always “no.” At times I have felt like a clown, trying to walk in shoes that are a million sizes too big for me, tripping over myself. I have come to realize that these feelings aren’t bad. They are useful. They prompt us to fulfill the measure of our creation. But more importantly, they make us realize the need for our Savior, the perfect minister, the perfect shepherd, a perfect example. Through covenants, we, as imperfect beings, are bound to perfect beings. Bonds strengthen us and endow us with power and grace. With Him, we are enough.

     Claire and Iris were both called to the presidencies in their Young Women's classes. Claire was called as 3rd counselor and proclaimed that she was the only third counselor in existence. She said, "What does that even mean? That's embarassing!" Funny girl. Yesterday we went on a 10 mile hike. Iris was at a birthday party, so couldn't attend, but Sybil ran most of the way up, and Claire ran most of the way down.

     Sybil is on a soccer team that practiced near enough that she can scooter there. Last week, she saw a bug in the bathroom, so I jokingly told her to pee on the lawn. She went outside, removed her PJ onsie and popped a squat.

In the past week, 3 other momentous things happened:

1) I started full-time school to become a Nurse Practitioner

2) Our good friend Zoe moved in with us and we helped her get an accounting job and buy a car.

3) Jeremy, Scharlotte, and family drove through and stayed with us on their way to drop Katie off at college. I apparently lost most of my camera photos, so the only one I have is of Katie giving Sybil a beautiful makeover:

Labor Day weekend

This has been a wonderfully empty weekend; not much on the agenda. David got a kick start on his goal of being a botanist. He also spent some time prepping for his newest of titles: Professor David. He's teaching finance at UNLV. 

Sybil had a soccer game. Also this week, she's been praying that she would be selected to be on the student council. She had to make a poster, get a letter of recommend, write a few pages of essays, and was interviewed. She said one of the interviewers cried when she talked about helping her best friends from Ukraine learn English. She was accepted!

Iris babysat and attended a school fundraiser where she was "pied" (a shaving cream pie was rubbed on her head) to raise money for the clubs she has joined: Varsity Quiz and FFA (Future Farmers of America). Personally, she raised a whopping $13 which entailed 13 shaving cream encounters, a pretty raw deal if you ask me. 

We don't see much of Claire these days. She visits her BFF in the oncology ward daily. And part of the incentive to get her back from Natchitoches was that she would join a rowing team in Vegas, which is a pretty tall order in the Mojave Dessert. The drive is an hour each way, so she spends a good amount of time in the minivan which is considerably cleaner since Elijah drove it, but the AC is broken and the engine light came on again (we taught her how to monitor the hot/cold engine gauge). She has added to the pile of fallen-off car parts on the side of our house and regularly leaves the car unlocked with the keys in the cupholder, hoping the minivan will be stolen. 

David and I just carried Elijah's belongings to the garage. It's strange seeing his heavily edited belongings reduced to 2 boxes and stored next to the Christmas decorations. It's been one week since he gave his farewell. I was mad that morning. That's the word I used to describe my feelings that day, but I'd probably more accurately call it fear. My concentrated time to build our relationship was at an end. As I saw it, our relationship going forward would be reduced to sporadic and short emails. Had I done everything possible and necessary for this kid? Had I done enough?

3 miracles happened in my last week with Elijah that were reassuring (4 if you count the fact that I creamed him in ping pong). First, there was only one point that Sunday when I had full control over my emotions. It was when he gave his talk, I was able to sit in the second row and listen without getting emotional. When the next speaker got up, I lost it again and had to leave. Second, that night the sister missionaries came over and taught a discussion in our home. The teenager they were teaching was from Mexico and they asked Elijah to read the first vision in Spanish. As he read it, the spirit filled our home. It reminded me of every time I said those same words on my mission-- a testament to truth. Third, the next few days with Elijah were awesome. In the past, sometimes it felt like the harder I tried to get close to him, the further he would push me away. But we had some good bonding time and by the time we said goodbye at the airport, I was calm and reassured.