What to do with myself

Another week of freedom for me. I tried to set up shadowing doctors for fun, but my connections fell through. So I'm cleaning grout, installing bathroom fans, declogging tubs, and fitting in all of the dental and MD appointments that have been neglected for the past year. 

Waiting for vaccinations:

I actually threw away a diaper bag that was about 2 decades old. I got it for free from the UofM hospital and it had been converted into a junk-toiletry bag. This kid definitely doesn't need a diaper bag anymore:

 

Senior, Sophomore, 5th grade

Last Sunday, Claire suggested we try a family Be Real chat where we all post a picture of what we are doing at the exact moment she indicates. For the first post, David texted a picture of the toilet he was using. First and last.

First day for the high schoolers.

Iris is taking her first 3 AP classes this year.

Sybil's soccer practice was canceled twice this week due to extreme heat, which gave her extra time to be mad at me. She tripped on the the other side of the room and still got mad at me.  The multifaceted nature of my infallibility is perplexing. She wrote me a letter while I was studying for my final this week. The letter said: "Count the number of pieces. The number you get is how mad I am at you." The accompanying envelope had a large chunk of her hair that she had cut. I did not count the hairs.

One of her tween looks on her first day of 5th grade.

Senior year means that Claire is home most days by 10am, so she and Elijah had plenty of time to talk on his p-day. They haven’t talked for a while but were on the phone for over 100 minutes; Claire claimed it was purely talking in circles. From what I heard, there was not one contention-free sentence uttered. Some of the topics of discussion: Is Elijah is a nice person, is it weird that Claire used Grace’s prom dress, is Claire or Elijah more humble, who is more stupid. A few of the lines I heard from Claire's side: “Go outside and catch a lizard if you need more protein.” “You sound so stupid right now.” “I don’t believe that you live in a grass hut and have had malaria five times.” They talked about Claire’s boy interests and Elijah said he never brought girls to our house because we were too embarrassing. Claire said she never tried to be embarrassing. And he said: "That's the worst part."

Jon made a quick visit to Vegas. We went to Tacos al Gordo:

And he made it to part of Sybil's game:

My finals are done and I have a few weeks of freedom. I started it by tackling my closet and we finished the second season of Stranger Things with the girls.

Celebration of Iris

This was one of the highlights of last Sunday. I sat in the corner of my parent's office and watched my mom catch up on reading the blog. She asked questions, giggled, grunted, corrected my spelling and grammar, and noted that Sybil is officially in the tween stage of crusty expressions.

Of course, my parents' house turned into a den of pantsing and wedgies. These two remarked that they enjoyed wedgies, but the ensuing rug burns on their butts told a different story. 

2 firsts are marked by the following picture:

1) Hunt asked me to take a picture of him

2) The reason Hunt wanted a picture was because this was the only time in history that Hunt was more dressed up than David. It was Hunt's first day directing after being called into the bishopric.

David said that he's old enough that potential injury is not worth the glory.

Therefore, arm wrestling has been passed down to the next generation. 

Birthday celebrations:

Iris = 15

Fernando = 39

Sybil Elizabeth Udall = 111

Sybil often asks me if she can have the Udall's Vespa when they die.

The main reason for the trip to AZ was a bday present for Iris:

a little boy band from Utah: Riff Wood.

These girls got matching outfits for the concert:

Claire and Esie made a sign stating that there was a bday girl in the bar so Iris got a serenade by the band and the whole audience. After the concert, they waited in the merch line to talk to the cute band members. Esie was bold enough to ask one of them if she could get his number if she did the Worm. She got the  number. I'm pretty sure I taught her that move.

Next birthday event for Iris: watching the Legally Blonde musical at the outdoor theater in Red Rock.

Of course I had her birthday announced there and screamed her name for everyone to hear. 

On her birthday, she wanted to get all of her birthday freebies: Starbucks, Ulta, Sephora. She invited a hoard of teenagers over to eat pizza and hot tub that night.

I loved listening to Elijah talk to my mom last Monday. He talked about his love for Bible bashing, even though he admitted he shouldn't do it. He said he went up against a man who had been studying the Bible:

 "longer than I've been alive! And I totally won--he was so mad!"

He also talked about the challenges of being a Zone leader: missionaries serving who don't necessarily want to be there. Elijah said, "I change their view of the mission from serving out of a sense of obligation to something that is exciting, so they get FOMO."

And then he explained FOMO.

Hash stash

Iris loves discovering obscure indie groups. For her bday, she invited a good friend and we are in AZ to see Riff Wood, a sold out concert geared towards teenaged girls and their eye-rolling fathers, which is exactly what I predict for tomorrow night.

Yesterday, a car full of 7 ladies went thrifting. Claire has been in rare form this trip. We've been suspicious that she has a hidden hash stash. This is Esie in the front seat, trying to escape Claire by moving her seat forward. Notice Claire's feet.

Retaliation:

The men got back from hiking Humphreys and we went to the temple.

Taiwanese dessert got mixed reviews. The grass flavored pudding was lacking.

Tonight we'll have a bday dinner for Iris, honorary Grandma Sybil, and Fernando.

I took this girl driving a few times last week.

"The fat one is the brake, right?"

"Wait, I don't use my left foot at all?"

Summer lovin'

We had so many good visits from family and friends this week. 

Sybil is learning how to use a flat iron because we need one more skill to carry her to teenager-hood. Last night, we had friends over to make pupusas and swim. Sybil strutted around in Claire's heels all night. Ironically, she told me she would definitely wear them to church today, but she wasn't wearing underwear (as per usual), and she hadn't showered since Tuesday. That girl has some interesting priorities.

Sybil's makeover by Addie.

I had a very similar makeover by Sybil on Friday.

David flew down to AZ where they enjoyed the game from a suite since Jon threw the first pitch. I would have liked to go down, but it was my first day of OB/GYN rotation [This week has been awesome and I really wish I could permanently shadow doctors instead of ever  having to practice]. 

This girls is getting ready to fly to coop!

Mid-week visit from Jacob and Rod.

This is what happens to the hair of those who swim instead of shower:

And this is what happens to those who swim after getting a makeover at Aveda while dad is getting a haircut.

Quick temple trip before pupusas:

Pics from Puerto Rico:

Please note his spectacular pants. His email this week began with: "This week was LIT!!" and ended with great spiritual insights.

A large percentage of my call with this kid last week was him trying to convince me that it was possible for him to "appreciate" the emails I sent him even if he didn't read them.

Everything is awesome!

There are 11 people sleeping in this house. The quiet hours of the morning are wonderful. Especially Sunday morning because I don't have to worry about homework or exercising. 

Andrew and Ashley and kids came in town yesterday. Our freinds Craig is in town also. Nest week, we will have Jacob and Rod staying with us. I ove that Las Vegas is a stopping place for our loved ones.

David washed all three of the cars yesterday. The third time around, we went with him. The girls got their free fountain drinks and as soon as they got in the car, I asked Iris and Sybil shilch one of them was going to be nice and share.

Iris: "I'll be nice to you Mom."

Sybil: "You only need one nice daughter."

Claire went on a 2-week tour of church history sites. She said the spiritual aspect of it was wonderful, but not so much the social aspect. Last night I went to pick her up with Iris and Vincent. This morning my throat is sandpaper sore, because Metalica sing-alongs will do that to me. Then Iris insisted that I stop head-banging while driving.

Here's a new path near my house that I discovered yesterday. I went rucking (walking with a 20 lb vest). 

I should have taken kids. The last hike Sybil went on with her father was Timpanogas a week ago. She sent me a text afterwards: "We only hiked to the saddle because I threw up." A fourteen mile hike plus altitude sickness will do that. She loved soccer camp and Iris had a blast at BYU Young Authors Academy.

Finishing off with an awesome experience I had this week. I was able to give a talk last night at the baptism of a good friend. She called me earlier this week and told me that she wanted to talk. She was nervous about her baptism and especially how her husband would react to it. He hadn't been supportive of her church attendance so she didn't intend to tell him about the baptism until afterwards. We knelt down and prayed in the church late on Thursday night after an emotional chat. Last night, we witnessed Yuri's baptism with her two little boys AND her husband.

One more spiritual experience from David when he was in El Salvador. After he came home, he received an email from a young woman he met at the temple. She and her friend had just been called to missions in Peru and were visiting the temple. She said that even though she and her family do not have much money, she had decided to go on a mission after reading this quote from Elder Packer: "I speak to that young man who doesn't have any idea how he can finance a mission. I do not know either. But I do know this: if you have faith and determine that you will go, there will be a way."

When she saw David, she only had $5 in her pocket, not enough money to get home, and was very hungry. David offered her and her friend rides home and gave them each money for their missions. Knowing David, he probably also gave them something that consisted of 95% sugar and 5% blue food dye.