All Shook Up

 Ana's current therapist is a part of the community theater scene, so somehow during one of their sessions Ana learned about the Ammon Arts Community Theater putting on a summer production of All Shook Up. She auditioned for the musical and got to participate as part of the ensemble. All throughout her spring semester at BYU-Idaho, she was commuting to Thunder Ridge High School three times a week for rehearsals. As always, Ana poured her whole heart and soul into it, and it was a great experience for her.

All Shook Up is a retelling of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night but with Elvis music. The show ran July 30-August 4. 

Ana's bio in the program.

Jailhouse Rock.

A statue in the statue garden.

This musical was a great fit for Ana because it involved a lot of swing dancing. Thank you, ballroom.

Ana with fellow cast members.

Family selfie after opening night.

Getting a hug from Grandpa Scott following her performance opening night. Nathan and Rebekah came a different night because they were sick. Some of us were also able to attend on closing night. Besides our family, Grandpa and Grandma Scott, Aunt Jessica, Grandma Susan and Grandpa Dennis, Aunt Jessica, the Wildes, one of her roommates, several of her friends, and even her dental hygienist who she had invited the morning of attended. Ana did a good job recruiting patrons.

Snowbird

Miriam and Winnie grew up hearing all about Snowbird: the lodge, the slideshow, the alpine slide, the pool, the yearbook kids, the zip line, etc. Then when they were each respectively old enough to attend the yearbook camps we would go to every summer at Jostens staff members, the venue changed to Zermatt. Although Zermatt was lovely, it wasn't the same as Snowbird. So as a mini vacation this summer, Seth and I took Miriam and Winnie an on overnight trip to Snowbird so they could see the place they always heard about from their older sisters.

We drove down the morning of July 31 because none of the rides/attractions at Snowbird open until 11. We had purchased our all-day passes online, so when we got there we picked up our passes and tried a little of nearly everything. The zipline and alpine slide are gone, the bungee drop was closed, and the trampoline had age and weight restrictions (only Winnie qualified to go on that), but we did everything we could.

Winnie and Seth on the tram. This is one activity Seth and I never got to do while at yearbook camp because the tram ride took too long. We had to stay where the majority of the kids were and shoot footage of them doing the fun activities while we could.

Miriam on the tram.

Looking out from the top of the mountain. Notice how far away Miriam in standing from the edge.

Andrea on the mountain coaster.

Miriam, Andrea and Seth on the chairlift. Winnie opted to stay at the bottom and ride the mountain coaster over and over again while we enjoyed the scenic ride up and back down. Not pictured: the ropes course. Miriam chose to sit that one out due to her fear of heights. The ropes course was a first for us as well.

Chilling in the hotel after we felt we had gotten our fill of the resort.

Andrea and Winnie headed to the pool. Both of us got sunburned at Snowbird.

Winnie pulling faces while Miriam laughs in the hotel.

The next day we spent some time in Salt Lake City before heading home. First we went to the Gilgal Sculpture Garden--something I had heard about years before but never got the chance to see. Then we went around Temple Square to go inside the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, see the new visitors' center, and check out the art and history museum. Then we went to the Cathedral of the Madeleine but didn't enter the chapel because a quincenera ceremony was taking place. It was still neat to see the cathedral through the chapel windows.

At the Joseph Smith Sphinx statue in the sculpture garden.

Posing with the ceiling of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.

Looking out over the city from an upper floor of the JSMB.

Looking at the art.

The new visitors' center basement.

The Christus at the visitors' center.

The cathedral.

Rebekah and Nathan move west

After 10 months of living in Delaware while Nathan finished his degree, Rebekah and Nathan moved all the way across the country so Rebekah could finish her schooling at BYU-Idaho. This required a lot of work: selling all their furniture, packing up all their belongings, cleaning their apartment top to bottom, installing a hitch and cargo rack, having the elders help them lift and install their rooftop carrier, mailing several boxes of books when they proved too much weight for the Toyota Camry to handle, and finally hitting the road. They had carefully planned out their entire trip and stayed with friends and family of friends every step of the way.

All of Rebekah and Nathan's belongings in/on/around their car.

Apparently if you have a plastic bin too close to the exhaust pipe, it will melt. Rebekah and Nathan found this out the hard way, unfortunately. They ended up ditching everything that got ruined (which, thankfully, wasn't too much) and duct taping some weights in the bin's place to balance out the weight on their cargo holder.

They also got to work in several Church history stops, including Nauvoo. Finally they pulled in to Idaho Falls on July 7, exhausted after 13 hours of driving. They stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Scott in their upstairs suite but spent most of the waking hours at our house. It was a blessing being able to have all of us around for a few weeks while Ana was also home between semesters at BYU-Idaho. 

Recreating their Nauvoo band days. Apparently the bandwagon doesn't get pulled around Nauvoo any more?! 

Bowling at Homestead Pizza and Bowling shortly after Nathan and Rebekah arrived in Idaho. Seth was in New York City for work when the couple got here from Delaware, so we went without him.

Ana moved back up to Rexburg on September 9; Rebekah and Nathan moved to Rexburg on October 2. They had hoped to buy a trailer house, but the one they put an offer on ending up having extensive water damage, so they pulled out of that transaction and instead were able to line up an apartment. It's the upper half of a home northwest of campus. Nathan is working as an adjunct faculty member of the music department while Rebekah attends as a student, so it's a blessing they were able to find a home in Rexburg so they didn't have to keep commuting from Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Fourth of July

With Winnie getting ready to enter high school and Miriam starting her third year, both of our younger girls were invited to participate in the Fourth of July parade by marching with the band. But neither of them really wanted to. So we needed a good excuse for them to ditch. With that in mind, we organized a camping trip for the family and were delighted when both sets of grandparents were able to come.

Grandma Susan and Grandpa Dennis scouted out and set up a spot for us at Birch Creek on Thursday, July 2. We joined them later that afternoon, and Grandma Scott, Grandpa Scott and Aunt Jessica came just a little while later. All three parties had our trailers up there, and the spot we had was perfect for us.

On Thursday, July 2 we got set up, had dinner together and played some games. On Friday, July 3 we drove to the nearby pictographs, played in the creek and shot skeet. On Saturday, July 4 we did some fishing before coming home (too late to make it to the parade, darnit). Everyone was okay skipping the fireworks, so we spent the evening taking it easy.

Playing SkipBo Thursday evening.

Winnie taking it easy on Andrea's lap after breakfast Friday morning.

Miriam chilling on the picnic table bench.

Miriam showing off her spoils. We all learned to play poker and used gummy bears for betting. Miriam won all of them.

Grandma Susan, Grandpa Dennis, Seth, Winnie, Grandma Scott, Grandpa Scott and Aunt Jessica looking at the pictographs. We got permission from the landowners to drive across and see them up close.

Grandpa Dennis Grandma Susan, Grandpa Scott, Grandma Scott, Winnie, Miriam and Andrea up in a little bowl created by the rock.

Winnie, Seth and Miriam wading in the creek. They looked for arrowheads but didn't find any.

Andrea and Seth taking it easy in the creek. We took our Kindles and camp chairs out into the middle of the creek to relax.

Seth and Andrea creek sitting.

Miriam chilling in the trailer.

Winnie napping on the dinette seat.

Winnie reading by the creek.

Grandpa Scott fly fishing.

Grandpa Dennis showing Winnie how to load the shotgun.

Miriam reading her book and watching everyone else shoot skeet. 

The gang watching the shooting.

Grandma Scott getting a fist bump from Grandpa Dennis. After everyone else who wanted a turn had had one with the shotgun, Grandma Scott finally worked up the gumption to shoot. She was a little hesitant ("You're going to have to show me how to stand and everything.), but she nailed the first clay pigeon that was launched. She decided to quit while she was ahead, so after that first shot she handed off the gun.

Winnie shooting the Ruger 10/22.

Miriam, Seth and Winnie fishing on the creek on Saturday morning.

Miriam's very first fish. She was the only one of us who caught anything, and it was her first time catching a fish despite all our years of spending Memorial Day weekend at Henry's Lake.

Seth walking along the creek.

Softball

Winnie played her third and final season of City of Iona fast pitch this year. We were able to find a pitching coach (Kali Scoresby, a pitcher for ISU who graduated from Thunder Ridge), and she was amazing! Winnie (and I ... and Grandpa Scott) learned so much from her. I feel bad that I never got around to finding pitching coaches for Rebekah or Miriam because the information was invaluable. Winnie wasn't bad before, but with Kali's instructions, Winnie became quite the standout.

Our team (Bunt Force Trauma) actually had five girls who all pitched for us during the season. Winnie didn't have the highest percentage of strikes pitched in games, but she was a close second, and her pitches were all way faster than the others'. In fact, we had random people stop to tell us that Winnie was a great pitcher.

Winnie also did a great job fielding and batting. She caught a couple of pop flies during the season, and she scored lots of points for us by hitting (or walking) to get on base and then working her magic as a base runner/stealer. You could see the kid paying close attention to the whole situation--the pitcher, the catcher, the other base runners, the fielders, her base coaches--and running smart and hard. She stole home several times and always slid. It was majestic.

And our team as a whole did better than any other season. Our record going into the tournament was 3-5, but we ended up playing five games in the tournament and taking third place overall. The team met all of their goals, and the morning of our last day of tournament Winnie helped me dye by hair bright red because that's the color the girls picked after earning their final reward. It was a magnificent way to end my coaching career.

Winnie all suited up and ready for a game.

Andrea heading out to base coach.

Winnie sliding home.

Pitching. Isn't she incredible?!

Fielding the ball at third base.

With her teammates eating pizza (their second to last reward for meeting goals).

Coach Grover, Winnie, Coach Scott.

Winnie dying Andrea's hair.

The red hair. Before that day, I had never done anything to alter the color of my hair. This was an abrupt change from my dirty blonde with white highlights.

Here's a list of the teams I have coached or helped coach over the last 12 years:

• Red (T-ball, Miriam): 2014
• Iron Men* (T-ball, Miriam): 2015
• Ponies** (pitching machine, Rebekah & Analee): 2015
• Stormtroopers (T-ball, Miriam): 2016
• Pink Angels*** (modified fast pitch, Rebekah): 2016
• Hogwarts Express (T-ball, Miriam): 2017
• Fantastic Beasts (fast pitch, Rebekah): 2017
• Bouncing Ferrets (pitching machine, Miriam): 2018
• Order of the Phoenix (fast pitch, Rebekah): 2018
• Fire-breathing Kittens (pitching machine, Miriam): 2019
• Base Invaders (fast pitch, Rebekah & Analee): 2019
• Pancake Batters (modified fast pitch, Miriam): 2020
• Pitch Perfect (modified fast pitch, Miriam): 2021
• Screaming Goats (fast pitch, Miriam): 2022
• Burninators (fast pitch, Miriam): 2023
• Mitt Fits (fast pitch, Miriam & Winnie): 2024
• Mad Batters (fast pitch, Winnie): 2025
• Bunt Force Trauma (fast pitch, Winnie): 2026

*I didn't sign up to coach this team, but after a couple of games, the coach's husband was in a car accident and could no longer come to games. At that point, I stepped in and coached the rest of the games that season.

**Barbara Bird coached this team, but she asked if another parent could step in as an assistant coach to (1) base coach and (2) take over when she was gone for a week, so I acted as an assistant coach.

***Kris Whitehead coached this team when no other coach could be found for a group of girls who all registered without teams. She asked if there was a parent who could help, so I offered and helped with base coaching.

That's a whole lot of teams and a whole lot of ball. I have to note that I only coached T-ball or assistant coached other people's teams until 2017. I knew the league needed more fast pitch coaches, but I was admittedly scared to take on something as serious as that until I went to my dad and asked if he'd be willing to coach with me. He was more than game, and our father-daughter coaching legacy began. 

I took care of all the paperwork: registering the team, getting signatures for waivers, scheduling practices, creating lineups, tracking tournament play. Dad was the steady hand that helped girls with the mechanics of hitting, throwing, catching, running, fielding, etc. I base coached first; he base coached third. I learned as much about the game as I did about coaching in general from him. It was a blessing to have that time and shared experience together.