PASSED!!

I've been dreaming about this week for a long time. Free time galore! But free time has a way of slipping through my fingers, filling with neglected doctors' appointments, cleaning, cooking, and random home projects. I haven't put a meal on the table for months and my floors are only clean after the occasional cleaning company visit. And then there are things that I've really wanted to do but wouldn't let myself like taking a friend to the bank, store, and pharmacy and sitting with a man on hospice so he can reminisce about life in Mexico. And honestly, just being there for my family:

Claire is in this pile somewhere:

I graduated in December and passed the board exam 2 days ago. I am happy to announce that I will never again think about infant vaccine schedules or the interpretation of serum hepatitis B results. While studying for this exam, I diagnosed myself with scabies, adult-onset eczema, bronchitis, osteoarthritis, a UTI, and Graves’ disease, to name a few. I actually just looked this up and laughed out loud when I read: "Medical Student Syndrome (or Medical Student's Disease) is a form of temporary, anxiety-driven hypochondriasis that affects 70%–80% of students, often causing them to misinterpret minor, normal bodily sensations as signs of serious, life-threatening conditions."

Sybil on her 1,000th day of school. 

Her shirt says, "This is what an awesone 93 year old looks like"-- one of my favorite thrift store finds.

And my boy!

There have been a few tourists that have sent me pictures of him. This is from last week.

Listening to his conversation with Sybil on Monday wa hilarious. He has a way of bringing out the beast in her. While I was studying, I heard Sybil out on our balcony screaming and stomping, “You have nothing! I have everything! Like an electric scooter!” “You get to see dolphins? Who cares about dolphins! I can see the perfect dog, Porfirio every day. I feel sorry for you!” 

When I talked to him, he was grocery shopping. I asked him if he had anything green his basket. He said, "Yes, mint gum." I asked him if there was anything in his basket that came out of the ground. He said, "Yes, plastic is made from oil, which is underground."

New Years' in Arizona

Post-Christmas in AZ

Sara and Hudson's wedding at the Gilbert Temple

We hosted Sara's extended family for a New Year's Eve party at my parents' house.

Camelback hike

Private tour of the Phoenix Art Museum

Celebrating my Dad's 85th birthday, starting with an official interview.

Since I skipped my graduation, Lex wanted to do something to celebrate in another way. I opted for games. This game was a favorite: pick up a paper bag with your mouth and without touching the ground (besides the feet).

These were the 2 winners. A wall-sit was the tie-breaker, which ended in a draw.

We traveled to a small town on the border in Mexico to visit an orphanage. We brought them groceries and hung out with them for a few hours.

Cat hunting:

This little girl became BFFs with Claire:

We waited in the line to come back to the US almost as long as we hung out at the orphanage.

So David made use of his time by making new friends. He enthusiastically conversed with everyone whose windows were open. 

This guy was selling cookies. After encouraging him to attend church with his wife and 3 children, David directed him to Hunt's car, assuring him that the white man would buy cookies.

The girls decided to watch the Twilight series. They left during one of the movies and my dad told them they didn't have to turn it off--he was quite captivated by the vamp
ire movie, which made the girls giggle.

 

Christmas in New Orleans

I should have put this picture in the first update post post. This is a picture of Claire's Natchitoches family. They truly treated her as one of their own. It was so nice to hang out with them. And they directed me to something I've wanted for years-- a Santa painted on a Cypress tree knee-- which is very unique to Natchitoches.

The next day, we volunteered with the Patio Planters of the Vieux Carre. They have been holding Christmas Caroling in Jackson Square for over 80 years. Assembling the candles:

The line to enter went around the square, with thousands of attendees.

Of course, David did his obnoxious Mexican laugh for Feliz Navidad, which we mostly appreciated.

We helped break down the stage after. Last ones standing:

The sheep and wise men in the annual Christmas Nativity are getting a lot taller:

The brave midnight mass attendees at St Louis Cathedral:

 

Christmas morning.

Sybil told me "It doesn't matter that you give horrible gifts because I have GG."

Lunch with Olga and her girls at the famous Parkway Bakery and Tavern

Cruising around the French Quarter with the teenagers

Bad News: Nola professional sports teams kinda suck

Good News: Buying a private suite is relatively cheap 

30 guests were allowed, so it was mostly men and their kids. 

The women stayed home and did a girls night; I lost the one-footed standing challenge to a 12 year old.

Dinner with the adults. This guy is my favorite.

Loving Abuelo. Brian brought his guitar and David did some interprative dancing.

Baton Rouge temple trip

Farewell lunch

 

Recap paused

I don't often get to talk to Elijah (and even less now that he's on a remote island with spotty connection), but I love that kid. On Monday mornings I always wake up to a message: "whassup," "Supppp," or a "Hey mom." Every week he emails a brief description of his week and a spiritual thought. This week his thoughts hit hard--it was very applicable to some feelings I've been having. I seem to be seeing a lot of not-coincidences lately. Miracles didn't stop when Christ left the earth.

Here's an excerpt from the more colorful part of his letter today:

 "We saw parts of the opening of Carnaval which is definitely an experience...! There were many people in costumes and dancing! There seemed to be lots of competitions going on including that of who can wear less clothes without catching a charge for indecent exposure... everyone seemed to be tied for first! We were counseled to avoid it so we didn't see too much of it, but definitely enough."

I'm guessing he took this pic on Jan 6th, the first day of Carnival season:

 

Starting my Christmas recap

 Oh man, It's been too long. I took my computer on vacation with high hopes, but I am an expert at talking myself out of good decisions. I also really enjoy spending time with awesome people, which often takes priority over blogging. 

Speaking of awesome people, David jumped in the hot tub yesterday, ready to call his grandpa. I thought about calling him this week also when I was driving to the temple. But we can't call him anymore. Hector Sr. was an amazing man. We were able to spend good time with him over Christmas break. He had a fall in October which caused a good amount of mental and physical incapacity. But he perked up, recognized David, let me feed him, watched some salacious Spanish daytime television with us, and even snuck in a few curse words. 

We drove to Nola. Our first stop was for gas in AZ where David bought his first and last Powerball ticket. He did under the influence of Sybil. I didn't learn about it until after when everyone was dreaming about how they were going to spend their trillions of money. Of course we stopped at Buc-ee's. And our last stop before Nola was in Natchitoches where the town was rearing up for the annual Christmas festival. The weather was perfect!

When visiting places where you grew up but haven't visited recently, you remember little things like: Natchitoches is the only place I have ever crowd-surfed.

Claire and her former LSMSA suite-mate.

Funnel Cake!

More to catch-up to come...