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.

Biggest 2 weeks ever

We started welcoming family the day before Elijah got back.

Visiting Red Rock

Waiting for the missionary

Elijah said afterwards that it was hard hugging me, because old Puerto Rican women wanted to hug him all the time and her had to find a way out of it. Being grouped with "old women" didn't sting so much after Atticus asked Lex if she was my mom.

When asking Elijah how he was feeling, he said, "Companion separation anxiety is real" and "This feels wrong; I should be teaching somebody."

Sybil: "I can't believe I skipped school for this."

Iris got in on the hug action late bc she had some issues signing out of school.

We went straight to the stake center where we watched the stake president interview Elijah. Elijah said that the last day was the hardest day of the mission. When the president told me to take off Elijah's tag, Elijah told me, "Don't do it."

Claier asked Elijah if he wanted burgers for his first meal back. He said he'd rather have a tuna sandwich- he came back a healthy man.

Now, I am in Provo and David is in Spain--so much more to catch up on.

 

End of an era

 Sunday nights = family hot tubbing

Not sure when this will happen again with this group.

August = life-altering

This month, all 4 kids had/will have huge life changes.

Sybil started middle school. 

She no longer scooters to school; she takes the dreaded bus.

She made a deal for the rest of August to speak to her parents in Spanish 100% and practice piano 45 minutes a day without complaining, in exchange for a hot dog squishy.

Iris turned 16 and got a license!

She's busy with her lifeguarding job (probably about 20 hours a week), drives to seminary/ school, and participates in a million clubs.

Claire is moving to Spain and will be going through the temple.

We have been turning her spaghetti-strapped dresses into long skirts and have donated mountains of clothes, trying to fit everything into a few suitcases.

Elijah will be home in less than a week and will start at BYU.

Claire asked him if he wanted a burger for his first meal back in the States. He said, "No, that's junk food." This kid has been restricting his caloric intake to 1500, tracks his macros, and wants a tuna sandwich as his first meal.

 

I'm NOT fun

One of my favorite things is when my kids tell me they are bored. Unfortunately, this hasn't happened in a long time, probably because they know my response: "Congratulations!" I rarely feel the need to entertain my kids, but I've been trying to be the fun mom now that Ivan is visiting from Mexico. Some of our activities for this last week of freedom: 

Sunday night dinner and games with friends, followed by the traditional family council in the hot tub.

Flipin Out Extreme, the new Spiderman movie, then Target, Pinball Hall of Fame, 

church soccer (where I got a black eye), Cowabunga Bay, Blue Man Group (where Ivan was a participant):

a night out with new friends, and a Relief Society water aerobic class at our house

Happy sweet 16 to Iris today! 

She wanted to hike 16 miles for her 16th bday, so she and David are in Yellowstone.