Boliva or Bust

Megan is going to the Santa Cruz, Bolivia mission and reports to the MTC in October. We are all excited for her. I am jealous of her opportunity to be forced to learn and speak Spanish. Learning in class in helpful, but it is so much easier when you are forced to use it everyday. Bolivia should be interesting. It is a very poor, land locked country in South America. It has variety of rugged mountains, the beautiful Amazon forest, and the altiplano landscape. Megan is going to the land of extremes and superlatives. When I was doing some research on Bolivia shortly after she received her call, I ran across an article in the National Geographic about the Bolivian Wrestlers. Apparently, the women get dressed up in their culture's traditional attire and wrestle it out in the ring, letting their braids, skirts and peticoats fly. I just love Culture!



This will be an awesome growing experience for her spiritually, physically, emotionally, and psychologically. Sunday, Megan spoke in church along with a good friend of hers that is called to serve in the Guatemala City, Guatemala Mission as a nurse. They both spoke beautifully. We were wondering if Megan was going to speak long enough because she wrote out a rough outline the night before and had not practiced or timed herself. She did just fine. Following the meeting, the huge Hernandez family got together and had a giant feast at Steve and Gloria's place. It was good to see a lot of the family there. It is evident that Megan has a lot of love and support. She will be missed but truly blessed.

Michael and A&P are friends!

Thank goodness for Professor (2) Michael took A & P I and II from professor (1) last year and hated every minute of it. Her teaching style was so watered down and then her tests were complex and incomprehensible. It didn't matter if he had studied the information because half the time he could not understand what the teacher was even asking in the test questions. This semester he is retaking A & P II online. Tuesday was his first test. I was nervous for him. He needs a good grade in the class to have a strong application for his Rad tech program. I think he was nervous too and not sure what to expect. After he finished the test I picked him up from the testing center and asked how it went. Michael said, "I hope I am not jinksing myself, but it was easy. It was what I had originally expected all A & P tests to be like." At that point he did not know his score. I was worried he might be jinksing himself too. Later that night his test score was posted online. He got and A! We were ecstatic. What a relief! Michael still has many tests to go, but I know he can do well. We are so glad that his studying pays off this semester.

It Smells Like Home

We were welcomed home to our little apartment by neither duck or raccoon. However, it still smelt like home, it still looked the same, and besides newly paved roads, not much had changed. We made it through our first week of school and to celebrate we went to the Boise fair Friday night. We ate buttery corn on the cob, elephant ears, fresh squeezed lemonade, and fair famous Pronto Pup corn dogs.

Besides the food, there is plenty to do at the fair if you have the money to waste on it. We window shopped, checked out the 4H building and the commercial building, saw the baby quail hatch, and watched strangers show their cows. We avoided the carnival rides solely because they cost a fortune. $1.00 per ticket and it costs 3-6 tickets per ride per person. How do families afford this? We couldn't rationalize spending $10 dollars to go on the ferris wheel. It already costs too much to get into the fair. Michael had to keep reminding me not to compare it to the Cassia County Fair. It was hard not to none the less. We did have fun though. The smell of cotton candy, the lights, the people watching, it all made for a great Friday night date.

Will we go next year? I don't know; probably. I'm sure we could live with out it. But if we don't take advantage of the time now... We wont have many more experiences with out crying children and added costs to ride the little ponies. So Boise Fair, you may see us next year.

Amy's Home

Amy arrived home from the Phillipines at 1:00 am Friday morning. The whole family was there to greet her at the SLC airport. She is adjusting very well to post-mission life and is such a funny. She has a silly accent and often slips foreign words in with her english. Saturday Sarah Jones was able to stay and visit with us till Monday this morning. It is so great to see family and old friends again. We are all glad she's home and happy to be finished with all the home projects.

Finished with Clinicals

Clinicals are officially over. Michael says it was a very eye-opening experience. I'd have to agree. There are definitely things I wont miss, like the sounds and smells associated with assisting residents to the bathroom or commode and looking at the pureed garbage food. One little lady has the bad habit of grinding her teeth. Man, does it make the squeakiest and most irritating sound! I didn't know teeth could even make that noise. However, I will forever miss seeing my favorite peeps. Hearing their great histories, and listening to their loud laughter. Now all is left is our Idaho CNA written and practical test. Wish us luck!

Summer School

We are taking a CNA course this summer at CSI. So far it has been a good break from work. We are hoping this will help Michael's RadTech application. Plus it will give us both experience in the medical field and hopefully make it a lot easier to find a good job in Boise when we move back. This week we start clinical at Parke View. It should be an adventure. Peri care is about to get even more embarrassing than it was on the manikins. I'm sure we'll have some interesting stories to share soon.

Memorial Day

This memorial day we met up with Michael's extended family at the Rupert Cemetery. It was pretty hilarious when we pulled up. They were chillin with their umbrellas and lawn chairs gathered around Grandma and Grandpa Hernandez's grave. It looked pretty silly. Michael claimed it must be a Mexican thing... We talked there for a while then moved over to Michael's mother's grave. Holly battled cancer and passed away when Michael was only a sophomore in High School. I never did have the opportunity to meet his mother. It made planning my wedding an emotional and tender time for me not having her there. I really wish I could hear her stories of what little Michael was like back when. I miss her... and look forward to meeting her some day. Holly and Steve have a beautiful family. I am very glad to be a part of it.