Grand Canyon 3.0

Last fall and this fall, we went to the Grand Canyon 3 times each (one of the trips was a David-solo trip). While I do agree that it is beautiful, I hope to not go there 3 times next fall. These pictures are from our most recent trip. 

Cousin hikers:

Claire, Elise, and Elle ran ahead 

and I stayed with Sybil, Livy, and Iris.

Sybil wanted to hike ahead.

Livy was exhausted at the end. Sybil to the rescue!

Rim2Rim2Rim

The 4 crazies (David, Hunt, Jon, Tyler) did the crazy hike. Lex and I hiked down to meet them starting at 11pm. I think we got to them 1.5 hours later--it was a tough hike--Tyler's first time.

Family breakfast the next morning:

the crazies

 

Finals are over (for me, but not my teenagers)!

I few days ago, I finished a book for the second time: Better, by Atul Gawande. He's one of my favorite authors these days. In the final pages, he writes the following:

 "Write something. I do not mean this to be an intimidating suggestion. It makes no difference whether you write five paragraphs for a blog, a paper for a professional journal, or a poem for a reading group. Just write. What you write need not achieve perfection. It need only add some small observation about your world."

Last night we had a Posada in our house: pozole, tamales, a 7-coned piñata, and 30 people I didn't know. It was wonderful. This morning I sent out an invitation to the Relief Society hat anyone can come over to have a bowl of pozole because I still have so much that I'm afraid to carry the huge vat from the garage fridge to my stove. So the ladies will arrive in 45 minutes either to warm, cozy soup, or a river of pig bones and hominy in my kitchen.

Here's a quick picture dump since I've been delinquent for 2 months:

A quick visit from Jon.

The Halloween school party. Sybil stayed true to the hot dog. Claire bought that outfit when she was about her age. Sybil had been a hot dog for at least 3 years. last year she was a hot dog old woman and this year she claimed she was a hot dog cheerleader, but didn't really want to carry the pom-poms.

The most important part: the candy exchange

Claire and David made a quick trip to Houston to go to the mission farewell of a good friend.

Zoe was my "patient" for a video I had to make of my nursing assessment. 

I am now well acquainted with her tympanic membrane.

Iris and her friends at homecoming. I hosted them for "Brunch and Bouquets." Which is where they hang out all morning, eat, and assemble bouquets. Then they got ready. I curled a lot of hair, and then we went to park for pictures. They had pizza at our place before heading to the dance.

Usually Homecoming is preceded by a varsity football game.

The only varsity team at Iris' school is chess, so their homecoming game wasn't as action-packed.

Sybil at her piano lesson. I realized that I hadn't taken a pic of her halloween soccer outfit/makeup.

The spooky team.

Stephanie came in town and we went to a pumkin patch.

Sybil's favorite Halloween candy:

Iris' spooky orchestra concert:

My white coat ceremony:

Iris hosted on Halloween:

Ok, this was a poor attempt at writing. I'm sorry Atul Gawande, but I need to go make a pig bone river in my kitchen. 

 

Look how cute this kid is! Sybil and I were able to facetime him before school last week.

Advantage of having 2 older sisters: if you wake up 10 minutes before you have to leave and tell your mom that it's crazy hair day, mom can whip up a re-creation.

Iris' LVYO concert. Last minute they asked to help in another group, so she had to sight read on the stage.

Today Iris bore a wonderful testimony in church. There were a few comments about her hobbling up to the microphone. We are all hobbling today (except David who is a buff hunk of muscle).

Because yesterday, we did 17 miles at the Grand Canyon:

Claire and I ran down South Kaibab. 

Sybil ran also with a few men in our ward.

One last note on GC:

Claire: You listen better with your eyes closed. 

Me: Nah

Claire: Why do you think we pray with our eyes closed?

Elder Anderson mentioned that the winter Olympic will be in SLC in 10 years. The last time that happened was when I was on my mission and I got a few referrals from it. Crazy to think that Sybil might be on her mission then!

 

Playing catchup

Here are some pictures to help jog my memory from the past 3 weeks or so.

Claire found a Puerto Rico shirt at the thrift store so we took a picture to send to Elijah. Thrifting is what the girls wanted to do on Labor Day, so besides clothes, we also got Sybil a mid-century modern dresser for her new room. She moved into Elijah's old room since she doesn't like sleeping on the ground floor anyway.

 One more note on thrifting. Below is a picture of Iris practicing for her audition for Honor Orchestra. I had to take a pic to send to David since he was hiking the Grand Canyon with work buddies. She gets pretty nervous in these situations, so we decided that afterward we would celebrate by going to the Goodwill bins for the first time. I was not prepared. Note to self: next time wear gloves. We spent $25 (pricing is by the pound) and bought a whole lot of items like a skiing suit: much needed since we haven't skiied in years and since the suit is a few sizes too big. 

For National Bike to School day, I had to work, but Sybil left bright and early by herself and sold donuts with her BFFs.

As a member of Student Council, she also participated in the homecoming parade. As noted from this picture, she was overjoyed that her sisters and I were there to support her. 

She's screaming "MOM!!!"  in this picture.

One more Sybil tidbit: I find a lot of these pictures on my phone. I also find her flipping her hair in front of mirrors, talking to her reflection, and practicing different poses. I also find videos of her singing. I'll have to post a really cute one she made for Elijah.

Absolutely loved having brunch with 2 awesome ladies. 

We sent the picture to Elijah. I'm guessing he might have been a little jealous.

I got a new calling!

The young women came over to make Halloween cookies.

The primary program was spectacular, but now that we don't have a kid slobbering on the microphone or screaming the lyrics, it takes on a new flavor. Sybil had a solo part of a song, which was lovely.

Claire's HOCO X2

The friend group wanted to do a separate outing, so she got to go twice. She never really went to the dance, because they don't do that here. Instead, first they do Brunch and Bouquets in the morning with matching PJs, then they get dressed for pictures. This is Claire getting anxious about leaving on time:

Then the parents come to take pictures

Zoe came also for moral support. Claire didn't really know this group of kids and it was a bit awkward for her. After pictures, they went to dinner, did an escape room, and watched a movie (Claire and her date went home early though, separately).

This weekend was the Hoco with all of her besties. The funny part though, is that she didn't know the girls very well. Her best friends (besides Mikayla) are these guys.

And now it's conference weekend.

The Saturday sessions were amazing!

In between sessions, I studied and took a quiz. David took the girls out to buy ridiculous Halloween decorations and also to meet up with a man he mentors.

Today, Brad Willcox will speak. He came and spoke to the youth last weekend. Claire and Iris both got big hugs from him. One of my favorite things he said:

DON'T LET THE WORlD CHANGE YOU 

WHEN YOU WERE MEANT TO CHANGE THE WORLD!!!

On to Conference!

Monkey bread is baking in the oven and Music and the Spoken Word is playing.

Claire is asleep, the other 2 are setting up Halloween decorations, and Zoe is getting ready to do homework. David is outside reading because perfect weather has finally arrived to Vagas.

 

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.