Christmas performances

 First off, we had Miriam's band concert on Monday, December 15. Due to their last concert having standing room only at the BHS Little Theater (seriously ... how has that auditorium not been expanded?!), they scheduled this concert at the Hillcrest Performing Arts Center. Miriam played with the jazz band (vibes and auxiliary percussion), percussion ensemble and both concert and symphonic bands.

Miriam on the vibes. She had a couple-measure solo on the glockenspiel for "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer."

With the slappy guy. I'm sure he's got a name.

Talking to grandparents after the concert.

Then on Wednesday, December 17, Miriam traveled with the bands to three different assisted living facilities to perform for the residents. I tagged along as a bus chaperone (but didn't even get assigned to the same bus as Miriam) and shot pictures. I saw two childhood friends' parents at different facilities, which is a little eye-opening because in the past it's been my peers' grandparents who have been in such places. 

Miriam playing bongos.

And the tambourine.

And on Thursday, December 18, Miriam and the rest of the jazz band performed at the Church's Giving Machines in the Grand Teton Mall. It was a busy week of performing for this kid.

Playing vibes with jazz band in the mall.

Rebekah and Nathan had traveled from Delaware to Utah and then Utah to Idaho to spend time with us but didn't arrive until Christmas Eve. They were interested in performing at Lincoln Court, so I called very early on to see if we could come on Christmas Day. They apparently only serve breakfast and lunch on Christmas, so we came during their lunchtime (11 a.m. to 1 p.m.).

At first I was discouraged at how few people there were to listen to us. It seemed like many of the residents were leaving to spend the day with families. But my attitude quickly came around when I realized that anyone who was staying there, even if they were few in number, ought to be able to enjoy some Christmas cheer in musical form. By the end of our time there, however, the dining room filled up pretty well. 

We ended up with more material than we could squeeze in during the two hours and had to cut out a few of our songs. That's a great problem to have.

Rebekah playing Miriam's electric drum set.

Andrea playing piano while Ana sings.

Rebekah on trombone; Nathan on piano.

Seth singing and playing.

Miriam on drums; Ana on ukulele and singing.

Miriam on cajon, Ana on uke, and Seth singing "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch." He really leaned into it and had fun.

Winnie on piano.

Ana singing while Nathan plays. We're really spoiled to have Nathan a part of the family. There were a few songs Ana was interested in singing, but I hadn't practiced them at all. Nathan took a quick look at them and said, "Yeah, I can play that."

Andrea and Seth singing and playing uke/guitar.

Winnie and Miriam playing a piano duet. They totally picked out and practiced these pieces on their own without my encouragement or instruction.

Group photo outside the facility after our performances. Grandma Susan and Grandpa Dennis came partway through to listen to us and kindly took this picture.

Even though it was after Christmas, I'm still counting our family's Giving Machine performances in this post. Seth, Rebekah and Nathan, and Ana all had the opportunity to perform at the Giving Machines at the Grand Teton Mall.

This was the first time the Giving Machines came to southeast Idaho, so this was kind of a big deal. Our family had visited the machines in Salt Lake a few years back, so we were familiar with this form of donation. Seth and I had the opportunity to learn much more about the machines because we were called to serve on a stake committee that organized a shift at the machines.

And how did we receive this assignment? My parents were the head of the Idaho Falls East Stake Giving Machine Steering Committee. (Try saying that five times fast.) So naturally they asked if they could have us work with them. Our stake's shift was on December 31, so in the time leading up to that day, Seth and I attended meetings, educated the youth and adults in the stake regarding the machines, contacted individuals in the stake who expressed interest in making treats or entertaining, and designed announcements and lanyards.

The day of our shift, Seth and I spent eight hours at the mall (10 a.m. to 6 p.m.). Seth was in charge of the entertainment, so he ran the sound board and mics and helped those who had signed up to sing/play. I stuck around to help him and my parents in whatever way I could. I also ran to Subway to get us (Seth, my parents and me) lunch and took the kids to get Jamba Juice after their performances. It was a full day, but it was also very rewarding.

Seth performing in the morning. Up until the week of our shift, we thought the Giving Machines (and therefore the entertainment) wouldn't be opening up until 11 a.m. Then we learned that the head honchos of the Idaho Falls Giving Machines actually wanted to open up the machines at 10 when the mall opened and not at 11 when the stores opened. That left a whole hour of unscheduled entertainment, so Seth magnanimously filled it with his guitar and vocals.

\

Rebekah playing trombone.

Nathan accompanying her on piano. The two played one Christmas song and then switched to some jazz standards. Even though the Giving Machines are purposely set up around Christmas, we got permission to play non-Christmas music during our shift since the holiday had already passed.

Ana singing and playing the uke. She mostly played Beatles songs.

Ana playing/singing while the family listens.

Christmas trees

 The Saturday after Thanksgiving (November 29), we traveled to the woods to find our Christmas tree. Although there was exactly zero snow in the valley, we traveled up to Mike Spencer Canyon and found some snow there. 

Seth invited his coworker Melanie to join us, and we think she may never want to accompany us on any more adventures. While she acted as though she was having a good time, we questioned the veracity of that because the poor girl was wearing a light jacket, jeans and sneakers. I would have been cold and miserable in that attire, but she seemed in good spirits.

Tyson started up a slope and then cut back down and followed a little gully. Seth (and almost the rest of the party) went up the slope. Then we ended up scooting down the other side of the hill on our bums and coming back out the gully with our trees in tow. I worried that we had basically consigned Grandma to death by making her go down that steep hill, but between me scooting down (first with Canyon in my lap, then going back up to help Grandma down) in front of her and Tyson following behind her, we managed to keep her alive.

After getting our trees, we went back to Grandma's for Thanksgiving leftovers.

Miriam helping Canyon up the slope.

Tyson holding back his dogs while Grandpa cuts down his tree. After going all over the mountainside, he ended up taking the tree that was immediately next to the tree Tyson chopped down.

Group photo after harvesting four trees: one for the grandparents, one for our family, one for Tyson's family and one (illegal) for Ana's apartment. Andrea, Ana, Seth, Miriam, Winnie, Melanie, Bennet, Oakley, Easton, Grandpa, Tyson, Grandma, Canyon, McKall.

Ana's tree in her apartment. Her roommates were astonished that she brought a real tree. In order to keep the bucket upright, Ana had to tie a string around the top of the tree and attach it to the top of the blinds. 

Fall miscellany

 Thursday, September 4: Dinner and the temple

Miriam, Ana, Winnie, Andrea and Seth eat dinner at Texas Roadhouse after picking up Miriam from marching band at Hillcrest. We had a few gift certificates that we were able to use.

Us at the temple. After eating dinner, we went to the temple to perform baptisms for the dead.

 Saturday, September 6: Daddy-daughter date

Winnie and Seth eating Orange Leaf.

The two after they participated in a pirate-themed escape room. They had to find the rum.

 Sunday, September 7: Puppers

Dixie kisses Peach. Peach may look like she's enjoying it, but she was definitely indifferent.

Dixie sporting Winnie's yarn creation.

 Saturday, September 13: Dates of all kinds

Seth and Miriam at Edwards Theater getting ready to watch Demon Slayer.

Nathan and Rebekah on a picnic date in Delaware.

Seth and Andrea eating Fiesta Ole and watching a movie at home.

 Tuesday, September 16: Sweet setup and relaxing

Andrea getting ready to run on the treadmill and watch her movie. Seth got a sweet deal on a little projector, so we pinned a piece of white poster board on the shop wall and watch our movies when we run.

Seth spends quality time with the dogs on the hammock.

 Wednesday, September 17: Stretching and reacquainting 

Toad loafing on Andrea's chest while Andrea tries to do her post-run pilates on the lawn.

Ana and Hallie Williams smile during a class at BYU-I. The two were in the same ward as small children, but the Williams moved away to Shelley. The two girls remembered each other (Hallie is Rebekah's age). Almost immediately after that class, Ana asked to have it waived because it was a campus orientation-type class, and Ana is already very well versed with the college.

 Thursday, September 18: Parade of Homes and backyard cuddles

Winnie peaks out the window of a house we toured as part of the Parade of Homes. Winnie wanted to see all the fancy new houses, so we bought tickets and spent a couple of days touring homes.

Winnie climbing down the wrong side of a ladder in one of the fancy homes while Grandma Scott watches.

Peach kisses Seth's head while he's lying on the back lawn.

 Saturday, September 20: Mommy-daughter date

Miriam and Andrea enjoy Orange Leaf  together.

 Sunday, September 21: Andrea's birthday

The awesome birthday cake Miriam made and decorated for Andrea's birthday. It recreates the scene from Return of the Sith when Anakin's legs are on fire.

Andrea with her cake.

 Friday, September 26: Homecoming parade and play time

Miriam sits on the band float to play a bass drum. If you look at the row of heads, you can see her sunglasses and headband. That's the only time I saw her when I went to watch the parade. The band was supposed to have more room, but the football team took over one of the floats so that band and another organization had to share.

Peach chews on a new toy in the back yard. We had been trying to teach Dixie to play with toys because she doesn't seem to have much interest in them.

 Saturday, September 27: Sandwiching, lurking and going to Homecoming

Winnie hauls both of our cushioned stadium seats down the stands at Madison after watching Miriam's marching band perform at their first competition of the season.

Toad hangs out in the trailer while the family works on cleaning it out after it spent the entire month in Island Park during archery season.

Miriam and her date Kaiden at the Japanese Friendship Gardens.

Being silly for their pictures. Both of these kids spent the entire day at a marching band competition, then came home and got cleaned up for their date. Miriam had asked someone else to the dance, but that fell through when the kid didn't get the necessary permission slip turned in (he doesn't go to Bonneville). Miriam's friends helped her get another date. Kaiden is a nice kid that Miriam knows from ballroom and band.

Miriam and Kaitlyn, Miriam's best friend. They were in the same group. I shot their pictures.

 Thursday, October 2: Dinner

Rebekah and Nathan eat dinner together. Most of the pictures they share are of the two of them eating.

 Monday, October 6: Vet trip and an interloper

Dixie sees the vet due to her nose losing hair and getting sore. It took a few vet visits and prescriptions to figure it out, but it turns out she had both bacteria and fungus on her snout. Two rounds of antibiotics, a package of anti-fungal wipes and a tube of ointment later, Dixie's nose is finally better.

The dumb chicken that decided to hide out by the fence in our front yard. The problem with that is that Dixie is a certified chicken chomper, and she found every weak spot in our gates. She escaped to get this guy. We have since added extra latches, pins and cane bolts to make sure she can't get out to chase the neighbor's chickens that end up on our property.

 Wednesday, October 8: Scripture time

Seth reads from the Doctrine and Covenants with his nose and chin inside his shirt.

 Thursday, October 9: Date night at BYU-I

Seth and Andrea take a selfie in the Thomas E. Ricks gardens at BYU-Idaho during their weekly date. We drove to Rexburg and walked around the gardens, periodically taking pictures of each other and sending them to our kids to see if they recognized where we were.

 Tuesday, October 14: Quilting

Grandma Scott and Andrea tie a quilt together in Grandma's basement. The quilt top was sewn by Jiammia Scott, and Grandpa ended up with it. Grandma decided to finish the quilt and give it to Rebekah and Nathan for Christmas.

 Tuesday, October 16: The making of Hobbes

Rebekah works on transforming an orange shirt into Nathan's Halloween costume.

 Friday, October 17: Hunting 

The foggy road Winnie and Seth went on. They had a hard time finding anything to shoot at ... for obvious reasons.

Winnie's first time driving the truck.

On the lookout for wild beasts.

Napping on the way home.

 Saturday, October 18: Protest

Ana and her homemade sign at a protest in Rexburg.

 Monday, October 20: Hunting, take 2

Winnie poses on her last hunt of the season. Even though she didn't harvest anything, she enjoyed it.

Winnie and Seth.

 Wednesday, October 29: Snacktime

Winnie and Miriam eat their after-school snacks on the kitchen floor.

 Tuesday, November 4: Unchaining

Grandpa Scott works on getting the chain loose from underneath the van. The transmission went out on the van, so we towed it first to one mechanic (to confirm we needed a new transmission) to another (to pay more than $1,000 less than the first mechanic to get it fixed).

 Sunday, November 9: Cat snuggles

Andrea lies on the couch and snuggles with Toad.

 Monday, November 10: Pet time

Seth, Miriam, Winnie and Ana snuggle with Peach, Dixie and Toad. It's not often that we have all our pets in the house.

 Tuesday, November 11: Prong collar

Winnie tries out the new prong collar we bought for Dixie. We paid for some one-on-one dog training, and the trainer suggested that maybe a prong collar would help with Dixie's pulling.

 Wednesday, November 12: Exhibit night and concert

Winnie's display at Praxium showing what she and her group learned about the mystery of Roanoke Island. Every trimester the school holds exhibit nights so the kids can show their parents what they've been learning about.

Miriam adjust her stand during her end-of-trimester concert at the Bonneville Little Theater. We went straight from exhibit night to the concert. Seth drove separately so he could get to BHS earlier and set up the video camera (we've been commissioned to record the concerts), and Winnie and I came later. Unfortunately, I sent my coat with the keys to the car with Seth. So Winnie and I had to get a ride with some of Miriam's friends who happened to be going from Praxium to BHS. My good camera was in the locked vehicle, so I only took a couple pictures of this concert on my cell phone.

Miriam playing bass drum during the pep band portion of the concert.

 Friday, November 14: Plant life

The new plants and planters Andrea bought and installed in the dining room. After seeing Melissa's jungle of plants in Virginia, Andrea decided to buy a few.

 Saturday, November 15: Sadie Hawkins

Miriam poses with her friends during a photo shoot in downtown I.F. before going to the Sadie Hawkins dance. The theme for the dance was "Heist," so her group of friends decided to dress up as characters from the game Clue. Miriam was Mrs. Peacock.

The girls with their costumes and weapons. Google didn't like it very much when I searched "how to tie a noose." 

Miriam and her dagger. Good vibes.

Instead of the picture where the girls show off their corsages, we took a picture of them with their weapons. It was fun walking around downtown with the costumes and props.

Kaitlyn murdered Mriiam.

This was, by far, my favorite dance shoot. It was a hoot. Unfortunately, the dance wasn't as good a fund raiser as the band (who was hosting it) had hoped it would be. Seth and I were chaperones and saw how few kids showed up. It ended up being basically a band party.

 Sunday, November 16: Family walk

Andrea, Winnie, Miriam and Seth walking the dogs on a Sunday afternoon.

 Wednesday, November 19: Another dog walk and a clinging cat

Peach and Seth walking through the church field.

Toad perches on Miriam's shoulders while she does her homework at the island.

 Friday, November 21: Burley Temple

Andrea, Winnie, Seth and Miriam pose outside the Burley Temple. We attended the open house, and Seth's former mission companion met him there so the two could catch up. Before touring the temple, Seth heard one of the hosts explaining that the stained glass windows had "potato bugs." We later had to tell him they were saying "potato buds."

 Tuesday, November 25: Train ride

Ana with the poster she made for one of her English classes. She prefers the Oxford comma. I do not.

 Tuesday, November 25: Train ride

Rebekah and Nathan on the train to Washington, D.C. to spend Thanksgiving with Kent and Melissa. Kent and Melissa  had recently moved from Virginia to D.C. I'm just realizing that I don't have a single picture of our Thanksgiving in Idaho. We had dinner at Grandma and Grandpa Scott's house on Thursday, then we hosted the Grover Thanksgiving at our house the following Sunday.

 Sunday, November 30: Post-Thanksgiving

Nathan reacts to Melissa's dog, Teddy, sitting on his lap. According to Nathan, he's "emotionally allergic" to dogs. But apparently he didn't feel the need to kick the dog off his lap.