California!

This past week, I traveled alone back home to see my long lost brother Gregory give his homecoming talk (he just got back from Rio de Janiero, Brasil where he served a mission for the LDS church for 2 years), and then to spend some time with my family for Spring Break. This was the first time I have traveled for a break from school, because I usually stay home and clean and take care of Austin instead of doing anything fun. This is a great picture of what Atascadero looks like right now. Flowers and fruit trees are blooming, the grass is so green and there are lots of animals. It honestly looks like the Shire from Lord of the Rings. And I LOVE it. Unfortunately, the weather decided to gang up on me and it rained almost all week. I got to do some fun things though, like run with almost all of my siblings, watch lots of good movies, and play with my aunt's new baby chicks.
I also gained some confidence in my physical therapy schooling. My grandmother has a myriad of health problems, but had developed a new pain in her back. It was very debilitating and she could not handle it on top of all of her other ailments. I was able to do an assessment and give her some things to do to help reduce her pain and strengthen her weak legs. She was very thankful, and I was absolutely amazed that it actually worked. I also helped my sister with her swimmer's shoulder, and she is on her way to a full recovery.  Hooray for PT!
On Monday, we took family pictures. This is hard for our family. All of us have trouble keeping our eyes open for any period of time. Fortunately, my aunt is our photographer so she is patient with our disability. So we get lots of pictures like this:

Here are our best 2:
(i.e. everyone smiling, no one's eyes are completely closed, etc)

All the children. I know, we look alike. Except for the blonde in the center. She was adopted (not really, but we tease that she was)

And... this is what happens when you take too many pictures. Hannah gets grumpy, Mariah goes emo, dad can't open his eyes anymore, and Greg leaves.

 Then, I come back to this:

Ignore the beautiful mountain. Note the snow and brown drab landscape. No wonder I get depressed in the winter. I'm used to green pastures and nice refreshing rain.  I am glad to be back with Austin, though. Poor guy ate cooked carrots for dinner when I was gone :(