General Conferece

General Conference weekend!

We picked up Elijah on Saturday night and then headed to the Provo Creamery. Fortunately for us, Elijah's friends had also all just arrived there. Unfortunately for him, we asked Sybil to please call Elijah "dad" in front of his friends. She didn't rise to the occasion, but he got her back anyway: Elijah told Sybil that all food is 100% likely to contain fecal matter. She didn't eat breakfast the next morning and barely touched her lunch.

Elijah wanted to shake hands with the GA with whom he had a personal scripture study session in Puerto Rico. Elijah was impressed with his extensive cross-references and that they spent 45 minutes on one verse. They snapped a pic in the GA lunchroom after conference.

We attended conference with the youth who committed to finishing the Book of Mormon. 

They got a tour of missionary headquarters:

On Saturday night, Elijah went to a mission reunion; I shadowed Lex for a telemedicine shift, and the rest of the group went for a hike and got chocolates at the Hatch Family store.

The tween who hates selfies:

Here's my fearless co-pilot for the trip back: Iris.

Iris gives weekly lectures to her FFA club on types of cheeses in preparation for the state competition in the Spring. She will go to nationals next month.

Elijah and David are in Nola for a Saints game.

They visited lots of family: Macu and Daniel, Aunt Ruthie, and the abuelos:

David's headed to NYC for the rest of the week and today I got official notice that I will start my job in one week. My original goal was to study like a madwoman in order to brush up on my clinical skills, but life gets so dang busy: relief society visits, fixing cars, attending cross-country meets, kids' doctor/dental visits...just life.

3 Spanish updates: 

1. Claire experiences anti-American sentiment on a daily basis. 
2. She was told a sure-fire way to identify a tourist in Spain: they are the only ones who eat while walking.
3. I was severely disturbed that Claire repeatedly said, "GraTHias." Spain has worn on her!

 

Spain and the best-dressed dog

The first 2 days I spent with Claire were gloriously unremarkable. We woke up late, made the instant oatmeal I brought, and she went to class while I hit the hotel gym and tackled my to-do list. The second day, I scaled the hotel stairwell 5 times, which my calves are still complaining about. Claire commented that I walked around like I had pooped my pants for the rest of the trip.

On Friday, we attended institute graduation and a dance after. 

On the hour bus/train ride to the chapel, which is on the temple square:

Saturday= a day trip to Avila

Although she said she's been lost "at least a million times," Claire navigated us through buses, subways, and trains. 

Claire and I had a very non-Garcia trip. We didn't run from site to site to suck out the marrow of every second. We went to a museum, the convent, and a few cathedrals, but we also sat on a bench and solved pressing world mysteries: 

Chickens have vestigial fingers on their wings.

Giraffes can get scoliosis in their necks.

There are 11 American Catholic Saints.

The W in WC stands for water, not wash.

There are 4 LDS branches in Iceland.

What babies look like whose pregnant mothers took Accutane.

Monastery vs convent vs cloister.

Avila is known for a few things, including Santa Theresa, La Carmelita Descalza. 

Here's her right ring finger:

And this well-preserved medieval wall

Churros

There's a typical Avilan food called "yema" or yolk. The area is famous for its wine, and egg whites are used for wine purification. Leftover yolks are given to bakeries to make treats. 

On the way to the train, we ran to the city center to get yemas and found that a massive Santa Theresa celebration had been taking place all day, but we missed it because we had been solving the giraffe scoliosis mystery. This is all that was left of the celebration by the time we got there:

And, by the way, the yemas, pretty much just tasted like yemas--which is great in an omelette, but not as a candy.

I went to 3 Young Single Adult activities with Claire where 3 people asked if I was Claire's sister, all of whom are now my best friends. Although I'm sure they assumed I was her sister not because of my youthful looks, but because it's creepy for a mom to go to YAS with her daughter.

On Sunday, we ate the remains of Claire's previous meal prep. It was the first time I've eaten cooked cucumbers.

Here's Claire cutting an onion for the first time for food prep for the following week:

While I was in Spain, Iris, Sybil, and David ate out, chilled at the office, and there was a late-night (early morning for me) call from Sybil saying that she was spooked by the worst movie line ever: the Joker's "Want to see a magic trick? I can make this pencil disappear." 

David's office will be undergoing remodeling, so they had: Take Your Dog to Work Day. He sent the family this picture and got the following comments:

This is the first time Porfirio out-dressed Dad.

There's no way he was the calmest dog there.

He would never just sit there: that's fake.

 

Spanish blogging

This may be my first time blogging in Europe, because who wants to blog on vacation? This girl is in classes, and I did the tourist stuff in Spain about 6 months ago, so I'm blogging.

This month has been big for David. He went on a boys' trip to Mount Jefferson (Oregon).

About a year ago, I got an alarming text from an unknown number asking me for David's SS#, a copy of his birth certificate, and his resume. It all came to fruition last week when he received the Ohtli Award, which is one of the most prestigious honors bestowed by the government of Mexico on individuals residing outside of the country.

The most exciting part of the night for this girl is that someone asked her if she had registered to vote, which means she looks a whole 2 years older.

Here she is at a youth activity:

 

This girl and I took a quick trip to Flagstaff for a soccer tournament.

Doing the worm:

She traveled in style on a private plane.

David made a quick trip to hike Timp with his boy. 

We called Elijah on Labor Day. He said he was heading out to go bridge jumping and trash bagging; he even sent videos.

Here he is saying goodbye to Clay, who is on the way to Ecuador.

Iris has been studying up on dairy products to teach at FFA. Here she is at a youth 9/11 service project.

Staining the fence.

Sybil has had 3 cross-country meets. Running in 104 heat = no bueno.

A few weeks ago, Sybil and I were picking up some ladies for church. They were trying to find a way to remember her name. One of them said, Sybil sounds like "sebo o seboso." They explained that those words are slang for "dirty," which would have been an apt description of Sybil about 4 months ago, when she bathed once a week (on a good week).  But then 6th grade science happened, where she was introduced to microbiomes, which has translated into her taking 2 showers a day, keeping Clorox wipes in her room, and now refusing to eat yogurt and cheese because bacteria are used to make them. Just today she took out her trash and refused to bring her trash cans back into her room, insisting that she will no longer produce any trash.

If you couldn't tell, we are in full swing with the tweening.

But a part of me is desperately grasping onto her childhood. Last weekend we made a fort, and I read Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites to her in it. I may or may not have paid her to let me do that.

And there's Claire. I talk to her most mornings while I am walking the dog. She told me about a conversation she had with her friend: "If my parents weren't related to me, I would never talk to them." Claire said she loved talking to her parents; her friend said she had never heard that from a peer.

Claire just went on her first date in Spain. There's so much tea to spill (as the saying goes), but I probably shouldn't spill it. I told her to write it down so her posterity will some day chuckle about cultural variance. Just one quote, "Your family still accepts you even though you are vegetarian?!"

AND happy birthday to David! We just got back from his 5th bday celebration. Tacos al pastor and bingsu with friends.

 

Drop off

Claire asked Elijah: How do you feel about your younger sister starting college starting college the same time as you?

Elijah: Great, because we will have more opportunities to compete!

After father's blessings, we went to the airport where Claire inspected my eyes closely for tears. Yep, she found them.

 One of Claire's biggest fears was that her roommate would be crazy (there was some trauma with her roommate from boarding school a few years back). We've been praying for a good roommate. Claire just texted and said her roommate is from Ghana and has been praying for a Christian roommate. God is good.

Outside her dorm

Inside IE. It's in a highrise in the business discrict of Madrid.

David and Claire found pupusas!

Madrid temple

David's priority was a Real Madrid game.

Sybil and I dropped Elijah off in Provo, where Sybil watched probably about 15 episodes of Liv and Maddie--meaning that Elijah told us he had to stay with his roommates, so we chilled elsewhere, which I totally understand and approve. One of my favorite parts of the trip was that he kept mumbling somthing under his breath and when I finally figured out what he was saying, I had a great time making fun of him. Every time he sent a text, he would say, "Can I send?" which was a rule on his mission. I really hope he's asking his roommate for permission now so he doesn't get in trouble with the mission president.

I was restriced from taking too many pictures. Here's 50% of the pictures I was allowed to take. It's in his apartment complex.

This is a picture I was not allowed to take. These two had a heated debate about whether Sybil is Mexican, which she finally conceded the next day after she was promised a drink from Swig. Elijah recorded her and played it on repeat.

Claire and Elijah both had their first classes today.

Elijah = 346 miles away

Claire = 5620 miles away (or, more appropriately, 9028.42 kilometers)

Minus 50%

 And then there were 2--only 50% of our kids at home. The 2 who flew the coop are fiercely independent, but in different ways.

Claire: Yesterday I spoke to her, and she said that on the bus after church she thought, "If this bus crashes and I die, there is nobody on this continent who will know or care." But then she said something upbeat and the conversation continued.

Elijah: As I dropped him off at his BYU apartment, I had a flashback to when I dropped him off at daycare the first time; he basically slammed the door in my crying face as he said, "Bye, Mommy." This time, I was expecting it.

Recap of the week when everyone was together:

Festivities included: Marguerite's bday, my parents' anniversary, Elijah returning from his mission, Claire going to the temple for the first time, and church talks from both Elijah and Claire.

Elijah had a hard time taking off his suit that weekend.

Claire prefers others to brush her hair. My mom obliged.

Girl walk on Saturday morning. The boys went to the gym.

Claire and her bestie got their endowments at the same session.

Claire and Clay--who is now set apart as a missionary and will be going to Ecquador soon.

Party time:

Monday morning: my mom walked Sybil to the bus stop.

In other news, Sybil has had this song stuck in her head for the past month: "I like big butts and I cannot lie, you other brothers can't deny." She's singing it right now, in fact. But it was interrupted by a juicy burp, which she said tasted good (Nobody else is allowed to burp in her presence).

Elijah explaining his health regimen to my mom:

Monday evening was family pictures. The full set is yet to come.

At one point during the pictures when Elijah was staring off into the distance. When I asked him what he was thinking about, he said, "Puerto Rico." 

There was calm for a short period of time.

Sybil wanted to play the bass in the school orchestra but there were 2 problems: she was too small for the instrument and I "forced" her to play the violin bc we already have one at home to practice. 

Iris teaching her the ropes:

David left with Claire and although Sybil would claim that she didn't miss her sister, her absence was felt: Sybil slept on my floor after she left.

Other signs that Claire is gone:

There are green grapes in our fridge that haven't been eaten. Claire devoured green grapes.

There are no more half-eaten cans of black beans in the fridge.

She is my only child who cleans without being asked.

She was the only one who filled the ice machine with water.

No more updates about her howel habits.

No more long talks with me sitting on her armchair while she cleaned her room.

But, now that the vegetarian is gone, we eat meat galore!

And even though Elijah is gone also, he's been gone for 2 years. As soon as I woke up this morning and remembered it was Monday (P-day), I thought about looking at my phone for messages from him. There weren't any, but we've been texting all day about his classes and about a guitar he wants to buy.