Teresa's graduation and Julian

Last Wednesday, my sister graduated from her Certified Nurse's Assistant program. For those who know my sister, you know that she has really struggled with school; what takes someone an hour to complete will take her several so she really has to work hard to stay at the same pace as everyone else. It doesn't make her any less smart, just means she has to put in significantly more effort.

During her senior year of high school, she was accepted to Northern Arizona University. Adrian and I drove her out there, went to her orientation, got her settled in and wished her well. Throughout the year, it became clear to her that she wasn't cut out to live so far away from family when she needed more support both emotionally and educationally. I made it very clear to her that I was not supportive of her leaving - it would be such a shame for her to miss out on the experiences and growth that comes with living on campus and becoming an individual. She still wanted to get into nursing so she started out with the CNA program in Coalinga and boy, did she make me so proud! I was worried that she would go up there, live with my grandparents and her friend who went with her, and fall into the middle of the pack, as is her usual. She flourished up there, getting great scores on her tests (probably better than I ever got in college!) and ended up getting valedictorian of the entire program! She's coming home to live with me and do her pre-req's for the nursing program out here and I am so excited...

When I got back from Coalinga to watch Teresa, Adrian, Gabriel and I did our annual trip to Julian with Nicole, James and James' mom, Karen. This is the third year that the three of us have gone up there during the fall/winter and the second time that we all did it together. James and Gabriel were buds and he spent the whole trip riding on James' shoulders. Unfortunately, we didn't get a ton of pictures, but here are a few...