Yellowstone

 I had wanted to take the girls to Yellowstone in the fall, but our first attempt fell through because of the weather. Instead we waited a couple of weeks, invited a friend and went on Saturday, October 10.

Ashley Harrison had previously served as a missionary in our stake, and we had kept in touch with her in Nevada after she went home. She is currently attending BYU-Idaho, so we texted her the night before to see if, by chance, she could spare a day and come with us. She had never been to Yellowstone before, so we got to show her Norris Geyser Basin, the Artist Paint Pots, Gibbon Falls and Old Faithful.

We left home at 7:30, picked up Ashley in Rexburg right after 8, spent the day in the park, stopped at the Old Faithful General Store to get ice cream right before closing time, then headed home, arriving right after 8 p.m. We saw four bison and a herd of elk bedding down next to the Madison River, along with a bunch of ravens, at least one squirrel and license plates from 39 states.

Rebekah at Norris.

Family picture at Norris.

Winnie basking in the steam of Veteran Geyser.

Watching the paint pots.

Andrea, Seth and Ashley at Artist Paint Pots.

Watching Old Faithful at Observation Point.

Winnie is 8!

Turning eight is a big deal in our house. Since there are so many festivities that come along with this milestone birthday, we kept Winnie's actual birthday quite low-key. Grandparents and immediate family members came over for dinner following the last session of General Conference on Sunday, October 4 for a dinner of broccoli cheese soup and breadsticks.

Eight-year-old Winnie with her cake at Grandma Scott's house.

Ana lighting candles on Winnie's cake while Bekah, Winnie and Miriam watch. Ana and I made the six-layer unicorn cake.

Andrea serving the cake. It's tricky cutting tall, skinny pieces of cake.

It's magical!

Ana tasting the gum paste unicorn horn sprayed gold.

Seth, Grandma Susan, Grandma Hendricks  and Grandpa Dennis.

Winnie opening presents while others watch. She received scriptures with her name on them, a journal and a Wonder Woman doll from us; $20 from Grandma Susan and Grandpa Dennis; a baptism dress from Grandma Scott; a magnifying glass a little stuffed unicorn from Miriam; a tie-dyed shirt from Ana; a hug from Bekah and a coupon for a free cupcake from Barnes and Noble from Aunt Jessica.

Giving Aunt Jessica a hug as a thank you.

Blowing the party blowers to get the cash. Grandpa Dennis had rolled up the bills in the blowers.

Winnie with her stack of cash.

Opening her scriptures.

A four-generation picture of Grandma Hendricks, Grandma Susan, Seth and Winnie.

Then on Friday, October 9, Winnie had 10 friends over for a unicorn themed birthday party. Months before her birthday, she said she wanted to wait until we were moved back into our house to have her party there, but as her birthday drew closer, she decided she didn't want to wait until then. So we prayed for good weather, and our prayers were answered. The party was held in Grandma and Grandpa Scott's back yard.

We had all the girls find their unicorn names and write them on name tags. Then they could get their pictures taken with photo props.

Winnie with some of the photo props.

Winnie showing her friends (Chloe, Nora, Ensli, Cora, Kailey, Lily) her $1 D.I. walking unicorn.

Rebekah taking pictures of sunflowers and hornets. I had asked her to pick up my camera and take pictures of the party since I was busy running a party. She did, but when Grandpa Scott came out with his camera, Bekah decided to shoot other subject matters.

Then the girls all made unicorn dream catchers.

Andrea helping Ainsley while Winnie, Lily and Savannah work on their dream catchers.

Ana wielding the hot glue gun.

Winnie's finished product.

The girls played freeze dance until Seth arrived with the pizzas.

Dancing (or standing around) to the music.

Seth with the pizzas. Ana ready to serve them. The girls looking over the food options.

Ana, Bekah, Seth and Miriam eating dinner and laughing over a book Seth found at D.I. that illustrates how not to care for a baby.

After eating, the girls went on a treasure hunt complete with puzzles and clues. Each girl got a turn to find the next clue and solve the puzzle.

Andrea reading the introductory letter for the treasure hunt and delivering the first clue.

Getting balloons down for the girls so they could pop them and retrieve one of the clues.

Grandpa sportingly allowing his picture to be taken after being decorated with unicorn horns.

The party participants playing with the treasure: ribbon wands.

Then we decorated and ate cupcakes while Winnie opened presents from her guests.

Ana prepping frosting. She put some in a cup for each girl, then went around and asked what color of frosting she wanted. Ana squirted some gel food coloring into each of their cups so they could stir it up and apply the frosting.

Winnie and her blue frosting on a pink and purple cupcake.

Winnie thrilled with the giant unicorn she received from Ainsley. She screamed when she saw it and hugged it tightly not knowing there was a plastic ball tied to it. The ball whipped up on the end of its line and bonked her on the head, much to the bemusement of everyone.

Finding the ball that bonked her.

Rubbing her head after getting hit.

Afterward, the girls chased Miriam around the yard with their ribbon wands as they waited to get picked up by their parents.

Throwing a party for the youngest is quite different than throwing parties for any of the others. All the girls were able and willing to help: Bekah shot pictures; Ana was my righthand gal and assisted with everything; Miriam interacted and played with the girls. And I learned after the first one to hold the party when Seth isn't working so he can get the food. 

Each of our girls has chosen the theme for her 8-year birthday party. Rebekah's was Greek mythology. Ana's was ancient Egypt. Miriam's was A Series of Unfortunate Events. I can unequivocally say that Winnie's unicorn party was much easier as far as décor goes. 

Winnie had a memorable couple of days with her actual birthday and then her party. And she can't wait until she gets baptized at the end of the month.

Gwenism #27

 Waiting for the results of a strep test at the doctor's office.

Gwen: (Reflecting on the fact that she had to stick her tongue out to be swabbed for the test) When you get tested for COVID, do you have to stick your nose out?

House update

 All good things come to an end, so after Aunt Patty returned from her five-week trip, it was time for us to find new digs for the family while our house is under renovation. Gratefully, we've got grandparents nearby, so we divided and conquered. Our travel trailer is now parked at Grandma and Grandpa Scott's house, and Seth, Winnie and I sleep in there. (We are using the other bunks for storage.) Miriam sleeps in the guest bedroom at Grandma Scott's house. Bekah and Ana are sleeping in the extra bedrooms at Grandpa Dennis and Grandma Susan's house. Peach is living in the field at Grandma Susan's. We've been in our new living situation since August 9.

Grandpa Scott and Miriam in the guest bedroom where Miriam is staying. We also set up my computer in her room. 

Ana petting Flee at Grandma Susan's house. It didn't take long for Ana to befriend the normally aloof feline.

Rebekah doing homework on Grandma Scott's living room floor. I particularly like the pillows she is using to prop herself up.

Winnie treating herself to a lunch of pickles, yogurt and string cheese at Grandma Scott's house.

Now on the the house itself!

Winnie and Miri pretending to be a fire in the framed fireplace in the living room.

View from the north side. Concrete was poured for the apron and the step just days ago.

View from the northwest. New garage is on the left with the walkthrough door pad poured. Concrete was also poured for the air conditioning unit closer to the corner.

View from the west. We now have a pad and step for the sliding glass door from the living room to the back yard.

View of the living room from the northwest corner.

View of the kitchen and dining room from the south.

Fireplace framed in in the master bedroom downstairs.

New concrete after the drains and vents were placed in the master bathroom.

View of the master closet/sewing room. The ceiling has been torn our partway for the HVAC.

HVAC in the ceiling of the master bedroom.

HVAC coming from the furnace in the crawlspace up through the kitchen area.

When they tore out the carpet, we found this lovely stuff on the stairs.

The ceiling wasn't going to be replaced in this upstairs bedroom, but after they took the shingles off, it rained and leaked through the ceiling. 

The old master bedroom with no carpet.

Ana's old bedroom with no carpet.

View of the music room from the entry way.

View from the east of the front of the house. Covered patio with concrete and a step. Once the step was poured, we realized that the gable was not centered over the front door like it's supposed to be. So we will be getting a door with a sidelight to help everything look aesthetically pleasing.

There should be just a little bit of framing left to do in the master bathroom, then we hope things will move along from there.