Memorial Day

Memorial Day was low-key and only involved our immediate family. Rebekah had a concert Friday evening, so we didn't leave for Island Park until Saturday morning. We stayed at Grandma Hendricks' cabin and fished when we wanted to. Rachel's family was at their cabin, but we actually didn't interact with them because they weren't feeling great. Grandma Susan and Grandpa Dennis didn't come up because of the poor weather forecast. When the weather turned bad, we just stayed in and chilled at the cabin. On Sunday we attended church at the A frame, then came back to the cabin for some relaxation.

Ana getting corn for her hook on Friday.

Winnie, Rebekah and Ana fishing. It was chilly, hence the hoodies/jackets.

Miriam fishing. She still hasn't ever caught anything.

Winnie with the one and only catch of the trip despite fishing some on Saturday and Monday.

Seth getting ready to cast.

Andrea chilling at the cabin.

Family fishing on Monday.

The longer we sat on the bank, the lower Rebekah sank into her chair.

Ana is 16!

Ana had a drawn out birthday: First we had a family dinner on Sunday, May 21, then she got to perform at the end-of-year ballroom show on her actual birthday, then she invited friends over to the church for pizza and games on Saturday, June 3. Why did it take so long to get together with her friends? That's what happens when your birthday is around Memorial Day weekend. She decided to wait until the holiday and school were over so more people would be in town. Then we took Ana out to dinner on Wednesday, June 7 at a restaurant of her choosing, which happened to be Olive Garden this year.

Ana and Rebekah pet Peach in the side yard while Uncle Doug visits with Grandpa Dennis in the background. Ana chose 

Ana's raspberry almond cake. I asked her if she wanted to bake it. She declined, so I made it. She did the decorating, though.

Easton talking to Winnie. Winnie's cute freckles.

Grandma Susan opening a card for her birthday while Miriam smiles for the camera. Since Grandma's birthday is two days before Ana's, we had a combined birthday dinner.

Seth petting Roscoe after dinner. Ana chose carne asada for the entree.

Ana opening a card. Ana received Converse-type shoes and a yarn winder from her parents and money from grandparents and Uncle Doug.

Ana's friends playing Jackbox games in the cultural hall at the church. We hauled in couches and chairs from the lobby and rockers from the mothers' lounge so the kids could be comfortable.

Ana and Lilli Mickelsen on one of the couches.

A blurry picture of the kids singing "Happy Birthday" to Ana before she blew out the candles. Ana, Lilli Mickelsen, Samantha Park, Miriam and Winnie, Adyssen Rudd, Haley Jäger, Asher Montaño, Khalee Burgess, Jo Dietz, Hannah Abney. Everyone at the party who wasn't related to Ana was one of her friends from ballroom.

Ana the birthday queen with her awesome dollar store decorations.

Ana and Seth with their Olive Garden entrees. Since it was for Ana's birthday, she got a free dessert and chose little Italian donuts with dipping sauces. They did not disappoint.

Yellowstone

It had been a few years since we'd gone to Yellowstone in the spring, so we picked a free Saturday (there weren't many to choose from, but gratefully April 29 was open), invited Grandma and Grandpa Scott and Aunt Jessica, and headed north for a day. The park had only been open for a couple of weeks, and not all of the roads were open. I assured the kids we'd be sticking to boardwalks, so they wouldn't need hiking boots or poles or anything.

Miriam's feet are still bothering her, so we borrowed a wheelchair to spare her some pain (hence our plan to stick to boardwalks). Aunt Jessica had a wheelchair, too. We should have realized that not all the boardwalks would be clear that early in the season.

We chanced upon seeing a few geysers that erupt less frequently than, say, Old Faithful. So that was cool. I thought it would be fun to take the boardwalk all the way to Morning Glory pool, but with all the snow on the boardwalk, that made it less than fun for those in the wheelchairs and those pulling the wheelchairs through the snow. Once we had made it that far, the choices were to continue on the trail until they hit the road by Biscuit Basin (which was a shorter distance), or turn around and go back on the snow-covered boardwalks. We split up: Seth, Grandpa Scott, Ana, Miri, Winnie and Aunt Jessica continued on the trail which quickly became just a path in the dirt while Grandma Scott, Rebekah and I went back for the vehicles. Their forging ahead and our retreat and drive worked out; we met up at Biscuit Basin at about the same time. 

At that point, we ate chicken salad sandwiches for lunch, then headed to the Fountain Paint Pots. Jessica opted to stay in the car while the rest of us traversed that loop, then we drove up to Mammoth for a quick look before turning around and coming home.

Miriam, Aunt Jessica and Seth waiting for Old Faithful.

Grandma walking on the snow that covered plenty of the boardwalks. Aunt Jessica and Miriam had to get out and walk several times because there was no way to push wheelchairs through that snow.

On the boardwalks around Old Faithful.

Andrea talking pictures of Winnie on the snowy boardwalk.

Watching geysers.

Watching Grand Geyser. This one erupts every 6.5 hours, so we were lucky to catch it.

Ana taking a picture of Rebekah along the Fountain Paint Pot trail.

Family selfie at the Fountain Paint Pot area.

Crowding on the petrified tree outside the Mammoth visitors' center. The center was about to close, so we stopped long enough to use the restroom. We had hoped to go on the Upper Terrace Drive, but (surprise!) it hadn't opened yet. So we made a quick pit stop and turned around to come home.

End of year for Rebekah

Oh, boy. When you're a senior, there's a lot to the end of the year. What's ironic is that during all of these end-of-year events, Rebekah was no longer a student at Bonneville High School. She finished up the rest of her classes at the end of the second trimester. She continued to participate in jazz band (zero hour, so before school technically starts) and musical (6th hour, so at the end of the day) just for fun. She played with symphonic band at their concert, but she would just basically show up and sight read. 

Rebekah got a job at Discovery Elementary as a duty aide. It fit perfectly in her schedule; she'd wake up, go to jazz band, come home for an hour or so, go to Discovery to do her job, then go straight back to Bonneville for musical rehearsal. She'd come home after regular school hours. 

Tuesday, April 11: Band concert

Rebekah performs a solo with the jazz band during their pre-festival concert.

Saturday, April 15: Youth symphony dinner fundraiser

Rebekah and Seth eat dinner at the Idaho Falls Symphony Youth Orchestra fundraiser dinner at Hillcrest High School. Rebekah played one of her solos as part of the dinner entertainment. Andrea baked a bunch of potatoes. We didn't solicit our friends and family for this fundraiser because it was Rebekah's last year in the symphony and because we had solicited them for two other fundraisers that month.

Monday, April 17: Band dinner fundraiser

Rebekah performs "Charade" with the BHS jazz band during their dinner show fundraiser. This event raises funds for the combined Hillcrest/Bonneville marching band, High Desert Marching Band. 

Ana and Seth dance after eating pulled pork sandwiches.

Miriam and Ana dance to the swing music.

Rebekah reacts to accidentally playing the wrong thing (she wasn't the only trombone to do so). She performed with her high school jazz band and the Jazz House Big Band, an area band that she subs for.

Monday, May 1: Final jazz band concert

Rebekah performs a solo during her final jazz band concert in the BHS Little Theater. She had several solos that night, and no matter the time signature, style or key, she managed to work "the lick" into every single one of them.

Thursday, May 4: Idaho Falls Symphony Youth Orchestra performance and recognition

Rebekah receives a certificate and a giant Symphony in recognition for her four years of participation in the Youth Symphony. She also had a trombone solo that traded off with a trumpet solo in their last number of the evening.

Seth, Rebekah and Andrea at the end of the concert. It was May the Fourth (Star Wars day), hence our T-shirts.

Friday, May 5-Saturday, May 6: Solo and ensemble

Rebekah participated in solo and ensemble by performing two solos: an accompanied trombone solo and an unaccompanied euphonium solo. She qualified for state on both solos. Rather than traveling with the school, she came with her parents and stayed with us at a sketchy hotel with barely enough room on the floor for her sleeping bag. (I had made the reservations before we knew she was coming, so we only had one king bed.) We did a little bit of shopping, eating and visiting along the way.

Rebekah trying on some ridiculously tall shoes at a Goodwill in Boise and standing next to Andrea for scale.

The sad seal we found at another thrift store.

Seth feeding the Scotts' goats a peanut. We visited Uncle Jon, Shelby and Tayzlee at their home on Friday evening. The other members of the Scott family were traveling for team sports. 

Our delicious Columbian food we had for dinner. 

Rebekah warming up for her euphonium solo. We learned that the warmup rooms were all in a different building--the building we had just come from. Rather than traipsing back across the College of Idaho's campus to the warmup rooms, Rebekah just stepped outside the building. I followed her so I could take some pictures. I think she was not amused, but I still sneaked a few.

Rebekah receiving feedback from one of the judges after her solo. Rebekah took first in the state with this solo.

Playing her second solo, an accompanied trombone solo. It was tricky finding someone to accompany her. Rebekah contacted several pianists who were not going to be making the trip to Caldwell, then contacted someone who lived in Caldwell and made arrangements with her to be the accompanist, then found out her student teacher in band (1) would be coming to Caldwell and (2) had accompanied someone else playing the same piece in the past, so she already had experience with the music. It turned out perfectly. Rebekah took second in the state with this solo.

Rebekah listening to her friend Eli performing his cello solo. Eli ended up taking first.

Rebekah and Seth headed back to the van to head home.

Saturday, May 20: "Bright Star"

Rebekah loves participating in the pit during musicals, so she planned to do so her senior year. Then the choir and drama teachers announced that the musical would be "Bright Star," a bluegrass. Not many high school kids can play the mandolin or banjo, so some of the band kids had to play their parts on keyboards. Rebekah played the banjo parts. 

The pit also needed a guitarist. I guess there weren't any high school students who were good enough or interested n participating, so Rebekah wrangled Seth into playing in the pit. The last time Seth was in the pit at BHS was during our senior year when the musical was "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat." Rebekah attended the rehearsals during school. Seth joined her for the Saturday rehearsals. It took some time and practice, but he got the hang of it, and it all turned out really well.

Seth and Rebekah before a performance.

Rebekah in the pit during a performance. Seth said it was amazing; Rebekah would be on her phone filling out job and scholarship applications, then she'd quickly put it down and start playing. He thought she'd miss her cue because she was on her phone, but she was listening and following along.

Rebekah and Seth exhausted after closing night.

Tuesday, May 23: Senior awards

Rebekah's slide at the beginning of senior awards night in the gym. It says "Graduating with her Associate of Art from Idaho State University; attending BYU-Idaho studying music; Received BYU-Idaho full tuition plus lessons music scholarship; Participated in fencing (3 years), pep band (4 years), concert/symphonic band (4 years), jazz band (4 years), drum major (2 years)."

Rebekah receives a blanket and recognition for completing her associate degree from ISU in conjunction with her high school diploma.

Rebekah posing with the other seniors who graduated with honors. Rebekah graduated summa cum laude, so she got a medal and ropes.

Friday, May 26: Band concert

Rebekah plays euphonium in the final high school band concert of the year. 

Rebekah received the Louis Armstrong award. This award is given to a student every year who achieves excellence in jazz band and performance. Seth received this award in 2000. Uncle Kent received it in 2005. The director handed out other awards for pep band, music student of the year, etc. I honestly thought Rebekah deserved each and every one of them. That kid put everything into band.