Memorial Day weekend fishing

Shortly before we left for Island Park on our traditional Memorial Day trip, I joked with Seth about our family going fishing only once a year ... on the coldest weekend of the year. I guess somebody decided I needed a big slice of humble pie, because the weather this year was warmer than I've ever felt on Memorial Day weekend.

We stayed at Grandma and Grandpa Hendricks' cabin in Island Park and had lots of people to corral kids and keep us entertained: Uncle Jim, Aunt Anne, Mack and Tav; Grandma Susan and Grandpa Dennis; Uncle Doug and Chelsy; and Uncle Kent, Aunt Melissa and Emma.

Saturday morning, the men went fishing in Grandpa Hendricks' boat. After it warmed up a bit after lunch, we took the kids to Henry's Lake State Park to see if they could catch anything from the banks.

Mack caught the first fish of the afternoon, and the largest. 

Rebekah caught the second. She got three big bites (including the fish she caught) within about 10 minutes. That was the most exciting 10 minutes of the entire trip.

The next series of pictures cracks me up. Here's Bekah with her cutthroat.

Then her little sister butted in the picture.

Followed by her cousin.

And then Seth pointed out Miriam in the foreground who was doing her own fancy pose.

These two watched as Seth gutted Bekah's fish. Notice how Bekah is grossed out and Mack is totally unphased.

Then Seth caught a nice cutthroat, which brought his total fish count for the day up to two. He had caught a nice, big brook trout from the boat that morning.

On Sunday, we went to sacrament meeting in the morning, then took a drive to Mesa Falls that afternoon.

Miriam at the upper falls.

There were tons of enormous stoneflies all over the place. The boys were catching them, then throwing them over the railings toward the falls. One tourist was appalled that the bug she had helped the boys catch seemed to be plummeting to its death, but I assured her that the fly had merely flown away.

Tav, Bekah, Ana and Mack climbing up the stairs at the upper falls.

A bunch of tent caterpillars.

Analee and the skunk pelt at the upper falls visitors' center.

The kids looking at the bug exhibit while Aunt Melissa and Aunt Anne watch.

Mack, Bekah and Tav at the lower falls.

Our family (minus Winnie who was sleeping at the cabin under the watchful care of Grandma Susan) at the lower falls.

Me cuddling a chilly Analee at the lower falls.

Rebekah and the caterpillar she found.

Monday was the coldest day of the holiday weekend, so we didn't try taking the kids back out to fish. Instead, Seth and I took them to Big Springs for a while before our family packed up and headed home.

Miriam's legs got tired on the Big Springs nature trail, so Seth had to give her a shoulder ride. Apparently her head got tired too.

To see more pictures, click here.

Dancing queens

In the past, Rebekah has been the trained dancer, and Analee has been the recreational dancer. That changed last fall when Ana got to sign up for dance classes. Both girls took to the stage in the year-end recital at the Civic Auditorium on Saturday.

The younger dancers all participated in a Peter Pan set. Ana's class dressed up as Captain Hooks and danced to "Tick Tock Crocodile.

 Analee waiting with her class for their turn on the stage during the dress rehearsal Saturday morning.

 Ana got to lead her class out onto the stage at the beginning of the number.

Check out the elaborate costumes. Those hats, albeit cute, were quite a nuisance. They shaded the girls' faces so it was hard to see them, and Ana's kept threatening to pop off her head.

Ana was so busy concentrating on her dance (which she knew VERY well), that she forgot to smile most of the time. This is, I think, the ONE time she smiled during the entire dress rehearsal and recital.

And the elaborate set. Ana was delighted when she found out that she got to be a part of the group that climbed on the boat and saluted at the end of the song.

Rebekah, being in the older class, got to participate in two songs: "Funky Monkey" from Rio, a hip hop routine, and "Turned to Stone," a lyrical.

 

 Rebekah during "Funky Monkey."

 Can you tell she spotted her photographer mom?

 She's got the smiling thing down.

 

  Perhaps my favorite image of the whole bunch. Very dramatic.

Her lyrical piece.

The hip hop costume is hers to keep, but they rented these.

 Bekah said it was very difficult to walk down the stairs to go below the stage in the long skirts.

If you've followed the links above and read about Bekah's past recitals, you'll know that I've had issues with her class' past hair assignments. Yes, hair ASSIGNMENTS. I can't just make sure her hair is pulled away from her face, I have to do her hair a specific way. Her first year, I had to make it curly and pull the sides up. That was tricky because her hair doesn't hold curl very well. The next year, I had to put her hair in two braids. That was hard because I hadn't learned to French braid very well. This year, we were assigned to do a "diagonal part over left eye/flat-ironed side pony tail, right ear." Wha-huh? With Rebekah's chin-length bob, I figured a side pony was totally out of the question. Her teacher just told her to do the part the way they wanted us to and make it stay out of her face. My solution, tons of pomade and hairspray and bobby pins.

(Analee's class, by the way, was supposed to have their hair curly with the sides pulled up ... a cinch since she has naturally curly hair anyway.)

Long story short: We're very proud of our girls, the hard work they put into their dances, and their performances on stage. They both did a super job.

Analee and Rebekah in their costumes before going to the auditorium for their recital.

To see more pictures, click here.

Little helpers

The other day while I was baby-sitting my nephew, I decided to make a pie. The two 3-year-olds in the house helped by cleaning up my utensils.

Miriam taking a break from licking out the bowl to do her usual camera pose.

Bennet enjoying his beater.

Sleepy baby

Sleeping babies are just so gosh darn cute.
 

Gwendolen asleep in her crib.

But it's time to wake up! 

And on another day ...

Going on a bike ride is tiring.

Miraculously, her head is still attached.

A conversation with Analee

What's your name: Ana.
How old are you? Five.
What's your favorite color? Blue and red.
What's your favorite food? CHOCOLATE!
What's your favorite thing to do in kindergarten? Have recess. And Mom, what about my favorite thing to play on?
What's your favorite thing to play on? Our new swing set!
What do you learn about at church? Everything.
Like what? Everything about the scriptures.
Who are your best friends? Trevor. Lilly. Samantha P. I'm thinking ... Olivia!
Tell me what Daddy does at work: Computers.
What does he do with computers? He fixes bugs.
What does Mommy do for work? Helps us.
Helps you what? Take care of us.
What's your favorite thing to do with Rebekah? Swing.
What's your favorite thing to do with Miriam? Play.
What's your favorite thing to do with Winnie? Talk to her.
What's your favorite thing to do with Daddy? Snuggle! And read.
What's your favorite thing to do with Mommy? (Hugs me.)
What's something special about you? I'm different?
How? I'm not like anybody else in our family.
What do you mean? I dunno.
Do you love your family? Yes?

Miri-ism #14

Yesterday while we were sitting on the couch, Miriam picked up Seth's scriptures that were on the end table and asked if I wanted to read them with her.

Miriam: And it came to pass that you like to go to the temple and love Jesus. 

A conversation with Miriam

  
What's your name: Miriam Grover. Miriam Grover!

How old are you? Three (holds up three fingers).
What's your favorite color? Oh, pink and blue. Just pink and blue.
What are you good at ? Playing Barbies and Ponies and Polly Pockets.
What is Daddy good at? Playing stuff with me and you playing stuff with me!
What does Daddy do for work? Uh, he's plays with his cars.
What does Mommy do for work? Oh, we stay there forever and ever and ever.
What does Bekah do at school? Oh, she plays. She goes to recess. So we got to take her still home because she goes to recess to Ana's class.
What does Ana do at school? Oh, she just plays with little car toys. And they're tiny. And SNAP!
What do you learn about at nursery? Oh, I play. I play.
What else? I do everything and I didn't go potty at nursery.
But what do you learn about there? Oh, learn. I learn nothing.
Yes, you do! I don't remember.
Tell me about your grandmas and grandpas: Mom, I'm sleepy. So can you get me another nap?
You want another nap? Yeah. You can't talk (covers my mouth with her skirt).
Tell me about your grandparents: They're not here at our house.
What do you want to name our puppy? Oh, Ariel. I want to name her Ariel.
What are you going to do with our puppy when we get her? Oh, I'm going to pet her. I'm gonna play with the swing set, and she'll like it!
What's your favorite thing to eat? Oh, marshmallows. Just pink marshmallows and blue marshmallows.
Do you love your mommy? I don't. I do! I was just kidding you.
Do you love your daddy? Yes.
Do you love your sisters? Yes.