First day

O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! It's the first day of kindergarten!

This is Bekah in her chosen first-day attire:

Here is the pre-kindergarten clothes-choosing conversation:
Me: You can wear outfit with the striped pants, or this new shirt that says "Love you berry much," or ...
Bekah: Love you very much!
Me: ... this yellow shirt or ...
Bekah: Love you very much!
Me: ... this purple shirt.
Bekah: Love you very much!
Me: It actually says, "Love you BERRY much."
Bekah: Love you very much!
Me: No, it says, "Love you BERRY much." Because there's a strawberry on it. It's kind of a joke.
Bekah: Oh. Love you berry much.

Later when she showed Seth her clothes for the first day ...
Bekah: See the shirt I'm going to wear to the first day of kindergarten? It says, "Love you berry much." It's a joke! Because it has a strawberry on it! Get it?!?


Here is the backpack she chose from Target:


Here's what she did when I said, "Show me how excited you are for kindergarten":


Here she is outside the school when I dropped her off this morning:


And here she is finding her hook and hanging up her jacket and backpack:


Here are Bekah's thoughts on the first day of school:

What did you do today? I read If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. And then we went on a treasure hunt because the mouse took things from our classroom! We went to music class and learned, "Feliz Cumpleanos." A friend I was sitting by already learned that song in church like I did. I went to P.E. There's a morning class too. She [presumably the P.E. teacher] sang a song and said, "Where is somebody? Where is Bekah? There is Bekah!" When I was standing up they'd say, "There is Bekah." And then they did that to AAAALLLLL the other kids. And then I went crash! Crash! And then I fell down because a skunk sprayed me.
What?! What skunk? The one at school that I had for a pet. And then a skunk sprayed me to my death. And then the skunk when wham bam!
Do you like Mrs. Campbell? Yeah.
What do you like about her? She made cookies for a snack for us and they were crunchy. Cookies aren't crunchy ...
What do you think you'll do at school tomorrow? She told us what we'd do. We'll have recess tomorrow. We will not have music class. We played ABC games at the computer place today. I plugged my headphones in.

Nuptial festivities

We got to take part in the blessed union of Seth's brother, Kent, and his lovely wife Melissa last weekend. It was a busy day ripe with photo ops. (Let that be a warning to you all. ... I hope your scrolling finger is warmed up!)

(Another word of caution: These aren't the photos you're looking for [insert Jedi hand wave here]. That is, if you are a family member and want a copy of one of these, resist the urge to download it now. I have yet to do all the nice editing to them. I'll post all the photos I shot that day/night on Picasa for later viewing/choosing.)

Aunt Rachel with Rebekah and Analee outside the temple after the sealing.

Analee decked out in all her jewels outside the temple. (Don't worry ... I made her take it all off for the family pictures later.)

Seth dutifully feeding Miriam her first formula outside the temple. I had forgotten to pump enough milk for a feeding, and I didn't want to start feeding Miriam and then have to jump up and start taking pictures when the bride and groom came out, so this was the safest answer.

Rachel holding Cooper who was getting a taste of the non-alcoholic bubbly at the luncheon.

Dennis toasting the couple.

Seth telling about/presenting his sibling gift. Kent had a hat very much like the one perched atop Seth's head when he was younger. We recreated it so Seth could talk about all of Kent's obsessions throughout the years.

Rachel and Justin helping Cooper and Miriam get acquainted. Miriam was enthralled.

Rebekah was overjoyed and being able to hold Melissa's bouquet for a moment while they posed on the tire swing.

Rebekah, Analee, Lily and Miriam. This is our attempt at a picture of all four Grover grandgirls in their pretty purple dresses. Lily didn't like having to lie in the grass. Bekah and Ana were being goofy. Miriam was stoic.

Calvin and Cooper: the Grover grandboys.

Seth entertained the guests at the receptions with several songs, including "Stairway to Heaven," which somebody requested.

Jason and Heather enjoying the refreshments.

Susan and Kent dancing.

SRRYJ 2010

We LOVE the Snake River Roaring Youth Jam. (As is evidenced by this and this.) As soon as we find out when it's scheduled for, I write it on the calendar. Then we count down the days until it's time. Then we haul all the strollers, wipes, wagons, drinks and snacks we can handle to the Idaho Falls Greenbelt.

So today we spent a very happy three and a half hours by the river making arts, crafts, noise and messes.

Bekah and Ana painting at one of their all-time favorite booths: The Xtreme Xylophone. Look at the paint fly off Ana's brush! (And, as we later discovered, into her hair.)

First the girls made these boats (Ana's is the pink; Bekah's the blue). Then they got to use their own wind power to sail them on this rain gutter river.

Ana wailing away on the junk.

Bekah attempting to get rid of the paparazzo who was documenting her eating a dreamsicle snow cone.

After we experience all the fun we could manage, we ate our picnic lunch on the lawn of church where we had parked. The girls felt a bit chilly, so they wrapped up in our picnic blanket.

Upon our return home, our first order of business was to record the mess the girls had made of themselves. The second order of business was to take a bath.

Bekah's painty mess.

Ana's painty mess.

And in case you were wondering, Miriam DID come with us. She chilled in the stroller and longingly watched the big girls roaring and jamming.


Don't worry, little one. Your time will come ... August 11-13, 2011.

(To view even MORE pictures of our SRRYJ adventures, click here.)

Bekahism #32

(Before sacrament meeting yesterday. I had been asked to lead the music because the chorister was out of town.)

Me: Bekah, you know the opening song today, so I want to hear you sing it, okay?
Bekah: What is it?
Me: "Come, Follow Me." (We are learning verses 1 and 6 for the Primary program next month.)
Bekah: Okay.

Later in the day ...

Me: Bekah, did you sing "Come, Follow Me" in sacrament meeting?
Bekah: Not all of it. I only know the slome part.
Me: The what part?
Bekah: (Singing) For the slome can we be one ...
(The correct wording is "For thus alone can we be one ...")