Chain-breaking.

I actually broke down last night from the stress of all this school crap for Kyle. Its not that we don't have a lot of options, its just that each option has so many potential bumps in the road and its nearly impossible for us to make a decision right now without worrying that its the WRONG decision. We're in that 'hurry up and wait' phase of life drama.

Of course, talking to my mom makes me realize that EVERYONE is having trouble with something (parents, sibs,extended fam, etc.) This makes me feel not alone, but doesn't really make me feel BETTER. I've never been the 'misery loves company' type. Knowing that other people are struggling mostly just makes me feel worse because now I'll lose sleep over them too.

So anyway, I woke up this morning feeling kind of down, but also determined to not have the day be a total bust. So, imagine my surprise when my mom called me laughing to say that my little brother won a 60-second run through Best Buy. (Basically, everything he could load onto his cart in 60-seconds is his to keep for free.) He did it this morning and walked away with a 50-inch flat screen TV, a new digital camera, a PS2 and a laptop. I decided this must be good news for the rest of us, because if one person gets so much positive energy coming their way, SURELY it will trickle down to the rest of us. Laughing, I called my brother to congratulate him and while I'm on the phone with him I hear a voice over a microphone in the background call out his name. I hear him say (to someone else), "I just won WHAT?" and then CLICK. He hung up!

A minute later he called back to say that he won an additional raffle for a Nintendo Wii. This sealed the deal in my mind. Good things are coming my way too :p Lucky for Heavenly Father, I don't need TV's, cameras, or Wii's. But, I would LOVE some guidance, certainty, and encouragement. So - I placed my order and will be waiting patiently to get it.

I'd like to thank my bro, Gavin, for breaking the negative chain that has been holding us all down. Way to "make it rain!"

Hope you are all having a GREAT day!

Dusting her off.

I took a little break from my blogging duties these last few days. We were trying to enjoy our last week of Christmas break. We also had the "fun" news that an essential program to licensure (for Kyle) will probably be kaput in the next year. Luckily we have several options, but not-so-luckily neither of us feels entirely qualified to make any major decisions anymore. Not to worry, we'll definitely get through this.

In BETTER news, we enjoyed a great 3 days in Manzanillo last week. We spent 90% of our time at the beach. I've come to realize that when going to the beach, one will always enjoy oneself more if one has the privelege of being accompanied by native Californians. Now *they* know how to hang at the beach!

I took a few pictures, but of course I'm too lazy at the moment to upload them; so check back later.

The kids went to school all this week and they are thrilled beyond thrilled to have friends and learning to keep them occupied. I'm afraid that other than the beach and the zoo, we managd to bore them to tears this Christmas break. They both enjoyed their presents from us (few) and from their grandparents back in Arizona (plenty.)

A special shoutout to our friend The Hawkes for keeping us entertained this Christmas break. It would have been only a fraction of the fun it was without you guys.

Now, we're back to our regularly scheduled semester. Kyle starts at 7 am on Monday morning.

Bring it on!

I think that for the last 3 years I've had a journal entry for January 1st titled "Bring it on!" It pretty much sums up how I feel about the new year. There's a crazy sense of excitement this year as I feel like we're making some headway in medical school. We're halfway through our 3rd (!!!) year. I remember talking to other students and their wives when we were med-school babies (aka first semester) and thinking that 6th, 7th, and 8th semesters were lightyears away. But alas, here we are and I have enough experience now to know that this semester will fly by like the rest of them.

2007 was a pretty great year.

Guthrie turned 5 years old!!! How on Earth do we have a 5-year old. He's so mature (sometimes excessively so and I wish he would slow down a bit.) He started his official "Kindergarten" year of school, which felt anticlimactic because Mexico starts school earlier than the U.S. and technically he was in school all of last year. His Spanish has blossomed like I never thought possible and I can confidently say that he knows more Spanish than I do at this point. I might have him beat in proper vocabulary, but he's WAY over my head in slang and playground talk. He has started reading and writing. His drawing skills have improved so much and now he tells us that he wants to be an artist when he grows up. (He also wants to be a rockstar, a doctor, and a garbage man;) ) He has his own fashion sense, which usually involves a t-shirt with a button-down short-sleeved shirt layered over it. He loves to "surprise" us and lock the door to his room only to emerge fully dressed. He tells us that he looks "sharp". If you know his Grandpa Hunter, you know where that phrase comes from. Overall its been such a fun year watching him reach a new level of childhood. I love that he's at the age where everyday holds the potential for a lifelong memory. I try to keep that in mind when I want to lose my cool with him. I hope he always remembers this point in his life as a great one! I know I will.

Adeline is just Adeline. I know Kyle will agree with that. She is hilarious and frustrating and endearing at the same time, all the time. She has the highest (pitch) voice you'll ever hear and no one we know can hear her talk without telling us its the cutest thing they've ever heard. She has the wildest imagination. Give her a My Little Pony and a plastic cup and she'll make up adventures all afternoon. One of my favorite things is the lurk around the corner and listen to her made-up dialogue for her little toys. She's finally starting to use her Spanish a little more, and while its not exactly accurate, the mistakes just add to the cuteness factor. She wants to be a princess when she grows up. She has an impressive collection of princess dressups and these things have seen better days. Most of the seams are ripping out now and all of them have some tatter and wear to them, but that doesn't stop them from being "byooooootiful". She also has a little pair of tap shoes that a friend handed down to her and she wants to wear them with every outfit. I made the mistake of letting her wear them to church one day and the entire congregation was chuckling as she crossed the (tiled) floor over and over again. They're no longer allowed outside of the house. :p

Sullivan has just grown leaps and bounds. I can hardly believe that one year ago he was just my teeny 6-month old baby. As a matter of fact, I can hardly believe that it was only this past July that we returned to Mexico from our visit home, and at that point he wasn't even walking! Now he holds his own with his big brother and sister. Not only did he learn to walk, but he learned to run, jump, and climb. He can scale our front gate so high that I can't even reach his feet anymore. Needless to say he's not allowed in the front yard of the house anymore. He says quite a few words in babytalk and just melts our hearts every minute of the day. Just today I was watching him in his PJs as he played with toys and his siblings. I told Kyle I just wanted to roll him up in a ball and take a bite out of him because he's JUST SO CUTE! Kyle said he knew just what I meant.

Its almost overwhelming when I think of how much I LOVE these munchkins. I sometimes feel bad for them that they have to put up with me for their mom, but I'll keep trying to work out the kinks.

Anyway, I look forward to what 2008 has to offer.

*Kyle will finish his 3rd year of medical school and half of his 4th!
*I will finally get the perfect job that lets me work from home and take care of the kiddos.
*Guthrie will turn 6 years old which sounds WAY older than 5 for some reason. He will start his 3rd year of school in Mexico. He will become fluent in Spanish. He will improve his reading and writing skills.
*Adeline will turn 5(!!!) at the end of this year. She will start learning to read and will continue to do well in school. She'll learn even more Spanish. She'll learn to ride a bike.
*Both kids will learn to keep their rooms clean. MWAHAHAHA.
*Sullivan will turn 2 years old. He'll talk more and more and I'm sure at one point I'll wish he would go back to being a baby. He'll get interested in the potty and maybe he'll decide that its fun to watch 30 minutes of Sesame Street so Mommy can take a shower alone.
*I will keep up the jogging and finally run the 10k race that my friends and I keep talking about.



(thanks Serin for the idea:p)

Our friends, The Hawkes, invited us over to celebrate Christmas Eve with them. We ate a delicious dinner (I provided the potatoes, gravy, and rolls), re-enacted the nativity scene, decorated gingerbread houses, and overall just had a great time.

Guthrie and Adeline could hardly wait for the present-opening. They changed into their new PJ's from Grandma Guthrie and looked so cuddly, I just wanted to SQUEEZE them all!

Kyle's family has this wonderful tradition. After Christmas is all set up and the kids are asleep in their beds, mom and dad get out the cheese, crackers, salami and sparkling cider to relax before the chaos of Christmas morning.

These last pictures are from our ward Christmas party a week or so ago. :) I can't believe that after tomorrow, our 3rd (!!!) Christmas in Mexico will be over. It seemed like we'd be here FOREVER and now we're definitley on the down-slope.

Gingerbread fun!

My sweet friend Christine, baked us homemade gingerbread pieces and brought an amazing assortment of candy for us to decorate gingerbread houses. (AMAZING is an understatement considering she had to find them here in Mexico where most candy is CHILI flavored.)

This is the beginning. We had a lot of fun constructing houses that could withstand the earthquake made by 12 people piled around the table.

I got a kick out of the way she threw her arm around my neck for the picture. AWWWWW!
You can see here that we're making some progress as far as decoration goes. :)
Look behind me at our pretty poinsettias that Kyle planted! Its just so festive I can hardly stand it ;)
2/3 of my men. :) Guthrie had SO much fun and I know Kyle did too, even though he tried to pretend he was too cool.

Adeline posing (with a silly face) and her finished product. She did a LOT of this herself. I'll admit I helped with the little banana tree to the left. You know you love it.
Guthrie had a TEENY ;) bit of help from Kyle. He did design and construct the chimney column on the back of the house all. by. himself. He was so proud of his house. He kept telling people, "I have the coolest house ever. Do you want to see it?" (Even though they had ALREADY told him they loved his house and no doubt saw it countless times in the course of the activity.)

The greatest gift of all!

This week was our first official Christmas break week. Kyle is completely done with his rotations for the semester. Overall he really enjoyed them. If he had to pick out a specialty from his rotations at this point (Cardio, Gastro, Psych, Pneumo,ER) he would probably prefer ER. He was kind of happy to realize that was his favorite, because before this we were both pretty lost as to what he would enjoy doing. He just happened to be working late at the hospital one night when they had a serious trauma come in and came home with a total adrenaline rush. Not that it was great to see someone hurt, but he realized that he could handle himself well enough in these situations.

Other firsts for Kyle: 1st time stitching a wound close, 1st (and 2nd and 3rd) Pap Smear, to give; not receive ;), 1st time to roll his eyes in disgust at Mexican doctors and the belittling manipulative tactics that they sometimes use on patients. He had some good stories.

The kids Christmas Festival was among the CUTEST things I've ever witnessed in my life. It made me laugh out loud (once inappropriately). They used voice-over narrative to tell the nativity story, and I'm pretty sure they hired some Mexican Soap Opera actors to do it, because it was pretty dramatic-sounding. (Think Breathy, Soprano voice, seductively saying, "Joseph, I just can't wait!") Of course, the meaning wasn't entirely lost to me and I was touched that they can even mention Jesus and his life in a school environment. (1 point for Mexico) The dramatic voices were accompanied by solemn background music and then, with no warning, the latin-themed Christmas music would blare over the speakers and all the kids would break out in these perfectly choreographed moves. Like I said, SUPER cute.

Note to Family: I had my friend make you a copy so you can watch it on Christmas or before or after or whatever. I think you'll see what I was laughing about - you don't have to speak Spanish to find it funny ;)

Anyway, with the kids being sick all last weekend and just being run down - I spent the majority of the week just basking in the ability to be lazy. I even ditched my running buddy on Monday, Tuesday AND Wednesday (which led to a chastizing email; my quick apology; and our subsequent forgiving and forgetting.) I was actually feeling pretty gross from too much sleep, food, and downtime. Luckily, Kyle was slightly more motivated that I, and he continued to put in a good 4+ hours of studying everyday. I tease him about it ("I can't believe you love your books more than laying with your shower-less wife in the messy family room watching re-runs of Scrubs.") but really I'm glad he's keeping his groove. On Thursday and Friday, we still didn't do much, but I did at least get my run in those days and avoided being a bad buddy AGAIN. At some point in there, I did a lot of baking and we took a big box of goodies to the mission office so they could deliver it to an elder outside of the city. (Short version: Beth has a ward-member with a son serving here in Guadalajara - so we took advantage of the small world that is the LDS church and delivered him a Christmas package.)

Thankfully today we have some Christmas activities planned. A few friends are coming over for hot dogs and gingerbread houses. We'll get to do them twice this year because the Hawke's also invited us over for Christmas Eve to do a traditional dinner, a nativity reinactment, a gingerbread village, and our traditional Christmas Eve pajama-opening. (What are the chances that they do that too??? I thought it was a sign that we should do it together since we're all away from family for the holiday.)

So, I guess we let the festivities begin!

And the greatest gift?? Of course, the GREATEST greatest gift is Jesus' sacrifice for us all and now the gift of His gospel in our lives. But the other greatest gift is that I am no longer sleep-deprived, I'm getting to spend hours and hours each day with my husband and kids, and Christmas is almost here! Does it get any better??

American Academy Christmas Festival

Right after the performance, I gave Guthrie a hug and took his hat off. I immediately felt heat radiating from his head. Kyle thought maybe it was just warm because of the insulated hat, but I could tell during the program that he was tired. He kept yawning and looked so tired. He told me that his "hands hurt" and he couldn't do the moves to the songs. :(

Kyle and I had originally planned to make the night special (Sully was w/ my friend for the night.) so we decided to try taking them out to dinner. Guthrie claimed he was *so* hungry. We went to Chili's and no sooner had we ordered, Guthrie laid his head down on Kyle's lap and promptly fell asleep. One touch to his head confirmed the fever was definitely there. We ate quickly while he slept, and then drove home as fast as we could.

The next morning, Sullivan woke up with the same fever. We spent the last 48 hours with 2 sad, whiney, sleepy, feverish kids. I think they're both feeling a little better now - so we're going to attempt our ward party tonight.

Yesterday I rocked Sully for most of the day. He was finally willing to sit down on the chair alone for a minute so I could eat and use the restroom. Time kind of slipped away from me and I ended up on the computer for about 15 minutes before I realized I hadn't heard a peep from him.

It just broke my heart to see my poor guy crashed on the chair like this. This was about 5:30 pm and he slept the rest of the night off and on. (Waking up only to cry and have his diaper changed.)
Because Guthrie was sick, Adeline went to the school party on Friday all by herself. The kids didn't have to wear uniforms. Adeline picked out her outfit and told me she wanted "4 ponies" in her hair. lol!

Tagged!

I was tagged by ASHLEY !

Hmmmm, I don't think I can come up with 7 *interesting* things about me - but I guess it didn't say they had to be interesting; only random. Random is something I can definitely do.

1. I have gypsy-blood. Not genetically, of course. But I can hardly stand to stay still for 2 minutes, let alone stay living in 1 house for more than a year. I sometimes complain about moving all the time and having "no roots", but I wouldn't have it any other way. We've been married for 6.5 years and are currently living in our 10th house. We will move again to NYC and again to wherever our residency is (all within the next 2.5 years.) By the time Guthrie is 9 years old, he will have moved 11 times. I don't really know how to Spring Clean. . .I prefer Spring Moving. (although, truth-be-told we usually move in June.) I'm hoping that its not politically incorrect to use the term "gypsy" so loosely. Please let me know if that is actually offensive to *real* gypsies.

2. I dropped out of high school when I was 16. I woke up one day and realized that I really, truly, unequivocally hated school and if I was forced to step through those doors one more day I just might come unglued. For some reason, my mom was in an understanding mood that day. I withdrew myself, drove to the local community college to take the GED, enrolled in college, and took the ACT (I scored a 33) all in the same week. My younger brothers and sister were really excited when I did it. They thought it would pave the way for them. It didn't. My mom wasn't so understanding when they declared their hatred for school. Go figure.

3. I am a self-proclaimed birth junkie. I want to have a million kids. I love children, but more than that; I love birth. I never took drugs as an adolescent(maybe that should be its own entry) but I think the "high" I feel after having a baby has to compare. My last baby was born in a tub at a birth center in Phoenix with midwives. I have dreams of having my next baby at home with no one but my husband and myself. I can't think about it too much though, because I might convince myself that I need to have another baby *right now*! And really, that's not what I want. So, if you're pregnant and want someone to come hold your hand, or massage your back, or just cheer you on; you know who to call. If I thought it wouldn't horrify you, I would offer to show you all of my videos of giving birth. Don't worry, I know it would horrify you ;)

4. My husband and I met on a blind date* I planned on getting married when I was 25* I actually got married just after I turned 19* This has always embarrassed me for some reason* The older I get, the less I care* For 2 years prior to meeting my husband, I went out with no less than 20 blind and first dates* I went on ZERO second dates* I wouldn't have gone on a 2nd date with my husband* It bugged me that he didn't ask for my phone number* It bugged me so much, that I proceeded to convince myself that he was the *only* date in 2 years that I would have actually enjoyed seeing again* He called the next day* I was pretty dumb thinking he couldn't figure out how to get my phone number* I'm glad now that he didn't ask for it, I would have made up an excuse to not give it to him* My mom still laughs at some of the lies I would tell a guy to avoid giving out my phone number.

5. I have no taste in music. I recognize when I hear a song I like, but I couldn't name 3 current bands/groups/musicians without embarrassing myself. When left to my own devices, I will listen to Country music, the Wicked Soundtrack, or some really old Dawson's Creek soundtrack that has "It feels like home" by Natalia something-or-other. (See, I told you I can't name singers; and for all I know, she's not even a CURRENT singer.) I listen to the same 6 CD's in our CD changer over and over again. So much so, that my 5 year old can sing almost every word to "My baby loves me just the way that I am." Yes, he even says the "damn" word. When I sing it, I always say "darn." Still. I use swear words at other times, but can't shake the habit of editing Martina McBride. 2 of the 6 CD's are for kids. The Discovery Kids make a *mean* (as in good) kid's CD. If you see it, buy it. If your kids don't like it, I'll give you your money back. *You* might not like it. I will *not* give your money back for that.

6. I really, REALLY like to bake. I love the finished product and the relative cleanliness of the process. I don't really like to cook (as in dinner); more pans, dishes, ingredients, and mess involved. I probably cook a solid meal twice a week. I try to cook large meals so the leftovers can count for tomorrow's dinner. The other days we enjoy quesadillas, frozen entrees, and pasta (which hardly counts as cooking in my book.) I try to tell myself that I'll enjoy cooking in our future gourmet kitchen. I haven't figured out what my excuse will be after that.

7. I'm pretty non-confrontational. If you're ever in the mood to be assertive, condescending, opinionated, rude, overbearing, unfair, or otherwise intolerable; I'm your woman. I'll never call you out on it. I have a hard time being friends with people who are confrontational. Truly confrontational people are driven completely nuts by my lack of confrontation, and they usually want to fight my battles. I won't even confront my husband for the most part. I'm a subtle clue-dropper. My clues are usually too subtle. Sometimes he confronts me about this.

I tag. . .Serin, Tanya, Shanda, Kaylea, Jenn, Becky, and Dusty.

I promise, you won't hurt my feelings if you don't do it. It would be fun to find out more about you though.

Waivers SHmaivers.

Tonight, Kyle and I went to dinner and a movie to celebrate his 28th birthday.

Happy birthday, babe! I love you so much. I can't wait for the days when your birthday means a trip to Hawaii and expensive presents. I have a feeling that when those days come, we'll be longing for these adventurous times here in Mexico. Thanks for all you're doing for our family. *BIG KISS!*

After our date night, we headed for the basement where we parked. We were exiting the parking garage through one of those circular concrete ramps. As we're driving up the ramp, I see this. . .

I got pretty excited because this is the kids' school. It has really been a wonderful school for the kids. They put so much effort into making it more than just a drop-off for kids. They really want our kids to learn to love education and to make friends.

If I didn't love the school before, I DEFINITELY love them after I saw this. . .

See that 3ftx3ft picture of the blonde girl with pig tails with the incredibly contagious smile?? Yep, that's MY little spunky blonde girl. I SCREAMED when I realized it was her. Isn't it hilarious that they can put your child on a billboard here and never even ask your permission?? (Of course, I would have given it to them.) How cool is that to have my daughter plastered all over the wall of the local mall?? If any of you are in the neighborhood of Plaza Pabellon in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, you should definitely stop by to gush :p

Child of the Week

This was a special day for Guthrie because he is the "Child of the Week." Kyle and I were supposed to plan a short activity for the class and basically just show up to make Guthrie feel special. How cute is that?

Kyle wore his white coat and brought his stethoscope. He talked to the kids about being healthy and then let them all listen to a heartbeat. We also brought them pictures to color of a doctor.

Sullivan wasn't all that happy to be kept waiting in the corridor before we went into the classroom.