Spring miscellany

The best book: Saturday, March 16

Seth holds a book we found at D.I. Obviously the world needs a book that spells out the guy stuff in scriptures.

Pets: Sunday, March 17

Seth takes a picture with Peach in the backyard.

Winnie and Miriam on the hammock with Toad.

Potato warehouse: Wednesday, March 20

Andrea smiles over her place at the box shoot that leads down to the floor where the potatoes get loaded at the church farm. Seth and I spent an evening assembling boxes and putting them down the shoot until something on the potato conveyor belt broke and we all went home early.

Malcolm and D.I.: Thursday, March 21

Seth poses with his presentation before giving a training at work.

Andrea shows off the outrageously glamorous shoes we found at D.I.

Family dinner: Sunday, March 24

Rebekah, Ana and Miriam hang out in the basement of Aunt Cathy's house after eating a family dinner. 

Eczema: Wednesday, March 27

The welts that appeared on Miriam's skin. After a while, I took her in to the Pediatric Center where we learned about nummular exzema and got a couple of topical ointments to help clear it up.

Easter eggs: Sunday, March 31

Rebekah dyes Easter eggs while wearing the hat she crocheted.

Ana dying eggs.

Winnie and Miriam dying eggs.

Mortimer: Monday, April 1

Mortimer sports the new eyes Seth's coworkers gave him. Seth and I found the the sculpture at D.I. and bought it so the girls would have a white elephant gift to give around Christmas, but nobody ended up gifting it. Seth took it to work as a desk decoration, and his coworkers had fun with it.

Toad: Tuesday, April 2

Miriam holds Toad in our bedroom. Sometimes someone will bring the cat in to say hello to everyone.

Meal plan: Monday, April 8

Someone adjusted the weekly meal plan to frozen yogurt rather than "on your own."

Temple: Friday, April 12

Rebekah and Andrea pose outside the temple after going to a session.

Sully's: Friday, April 12

The family eats dinner at Sully's after doing baptisms for the dead at the temple. Aunt Jessica gave us a gift card for Christmas, so we waited until everyone was in town and well before we went to the restaurant.

Lumberjane and date night: Saturday, April 13

Seth gives Rebekah some instructions as she cuts down the stump of the tree Seth had just taken down. The tree was dying from the top down, so we removed it and one nearby that had been stunted because of the first one.

The parents pose during their park picnic on date night. We went to Broulim's to pick out our dinner--Seth chose salad and sushi while Andrea chose a brisket sandwich--then ate it at Petersen Park.

Peach time: Sunday, April 14

Rebekah gives Peach some love and attention in the sunny backyard.

Philly: Tuesday, April 16

Seth takes a selfie while on his work trip to Philadelphia. Rachel also went on this trip, so they got to do some sightseeing together.

Under the dome: Saturday, April 20

Winnie takes it easy in a giant blowup dome on display at the home and garden show in the Mountain America Center. We went to the show to see Ana perform with the ballroom team, then Seth and Ana went home and Winnie and I walked around to look at the booths.

Pucker up: Monday, April 22

Ana wears the crown she received when she was asked to prom. Her hair and makeup were done for a ballroom school show.

Pucker up: Wednesday, April 24

Rebekah poses with two shades of lipstick at Walmart. We went makeup shopping to get her long-lasting waterproof makeup for her performing mission. I'm not sure she ever wore it, though.

Temple time: Friday, April 26

Ana, Andrea, Rebekah, Miriam and Seth take a selfie outside the temple after doing baptisms.

Baritone bath time: Monday, April 29

Rebekah teaches Winnie how to give the school baritone a bath.

Spring snowstorm and Toad time: Friday, May 3

Seth shows the amount of snow that fell during the night.

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Seth plays with Toad in the yard after the snow melted.

Ana fits Toad into the upper part of her overalls.

Drum recital: Saturday, May 4

Miriam, Andrea, Winnie and Seth pose in our Star Wars shirts before Miriam's drum recital at Chesbro Music. Jonah, Miriam's drum set teacher, was also wearing a Star Wars shirt for the unofficial holiday (May the Fourth Be with You).

A major award: Monday, May 6

A display at the Idaho Falls Public Library shows that Winnie won a "special merit" award with her water poem. She was given a fishing pole.

Seth goes to Florida: May 8-11

Eating dinner after a hard day's work.

Driving into Alabama. Seth stayed in Pensacola, so it was an easy drive to go to Alabama and check another state off his list. 

Menan Butte, take 1 and some blind drumming: Friday, May 10

Andrea and Peach take a rest while hiking up and around the North Menan Butte.

Miriam demonstrates how easy it is to drum while blindfolded after Ana reported that a contestant did it during the Mr. Bonneville pageant.

Peach time: Monday, May 13

Ana reads her book in the yard and gives Peach some love.

Menan Butte, take 2: Thursday, May 16

Peach and Andrea during their hike up and around the butte.

More Peach time: Friday, May 17

Miriam reads in the backyard while Peach enjoys her presence.

Paw wax: Monday, May 20

Winnie applies paw wax to Toad's pads after Andrea bought the product for $1.

Memorial Day weekend

When I got a new phone, the pictures I lost included Ana's birthday and our Memorial Day weekend in Island Park. Gratefully I took a few pictures on my DSLR as well, so we do, in fact, have proof that we spent time at the lake.

We left for Grandma's cabin in Island Park on Ana's birthday and spent the night there. The weather worked out for us to go fishing on Saturday and Monday afternoons; the mornings and Sunday were spent hanging out, playing games, reading books and watching movies. 

Even though the weather (especially Monday) was tolerable at Henry's, the fish weren't biting. I don't think we got a single bite the whole time we were there. But we still enjoyed the time away from home.

Miriam fishing on the bank of Henry's Lake on Saturday.

Winnie using her brand new pole to fish.

Ana fishing.

Analee is 17!

This kid is headed down the retro road. She asked for a record player for her birthday. When I told Grandma Hendricks that, she was truly puzzled. Between thrift shops and her grandparents' crawlspace, Ana had accumulated quite a collection.

I took pictures of Ana opening her record player and a couple of albums on her birthday (Friday, May 24), but they accidentally got lost when I got a new phone. So I don't have pictures of those. (We gave her the Beatles' White Album; Miriam gave her the Best of Queen album.) Then we took Ana to lunch at Morenita's on Friday, May 31, and I do have pictures of that. On Sunday, June 2, we had a family birthday dinner with cake and presents ... with photo evidence!

Ana with her nachos and Seth and I with our tacos, rice and beans at Morenita's.

Ana's chocolate raspberry cake. She found the recipe but requested that I make it. 

Opening cards from her grandparents and chocolate from Uncle T's family.

A funny card.

Showing the albums she had accumulated up to that point. She has many more now.

The shoes she requested for her birthday from us.

Rebekah leaves for her performing mission

When we visited Nauvoo in 2021, Rebekah was interested in watching the Nauvoo Brass Band play because she had thought about auditioning for the performing mission when she was old enough. The first time we saw them play, we were in one of the visitors' center auditoriums, and they played hymns. I watched Rebekah's face as she watched them play. She went from "interested" to "bored" in record time. If all the band played was hymns and quarter notes, she didn't want to do it. Then we attended the Sunset on the Mississippi performance. Instead of boring ol' hymns, the band played marches and show tunes. Rebekah's face lit up as she watched them performing songs that were much more fun.

Since that time, Rebekah had her sights set on a performing mission in Nauvoo. The year she graduated high school, Rebekah lamented that she wouldn't be 18 by May 1, a rule for all band members. So she worked for a summer and attended a year of college to bide her time.

Rebekah auditioned and was called to serve. She spent time memorizing, rehearsing at home, rehearsing online and rehearsing in person in Lehi, Utah. We made sure she got her fake bun, black socks and combat boots for her costume. (All sisters have to wear their hair a very specific way for performances. Rebekah starting growing hers out as soon as instructed, but there was no way her pixie cut was going to be long enough to make a bun.) She packed her trombone, her euphonium (and squeezed anything that wouldn't fit into her suitcase into the case with the instrument) and her suitcase. On Wednesday, May 1, we got up early and drove her to the airport to see her off for her 3-month mission.

Rebekah with her luggage and carry-ons the night before leaving for Nauvoo.

One last family selfie at the airport before saying goodbye. Ana didn't come because she had her morning donut run to make for Dad's truck stop.

Talking before going through security. Poor Winnie is tired. 

Like other missionaries, Rebekah can only communicate with us on her P days. She has a schedule that includes attending the temple weekly (the house where the band sisters live is right across the street from the temple), studying, attending meetings, rehearsing and performing. We've loved getting to hear from her throughout the summer and see how things are going. And since family members are actually encouraged to come to Nauvoo while their missionaries are serving, we made a trip out in early July (post to follow). 

Rebekah started out on the trombone and added in the euphonium at her band director's request. At one point, she was trading instruments about every other song. She stepped in to play tuba for the Trail of Hope quintets so that the band could have two full brass quintets. Then the tuba elder needed to go home early, so Rebekah has switched to mainly playing tuba at their performances. 

It's been a wonderful learning experience for Rebekah and the family. At the time of this writing, Rebekah has received her full-time mission call, so this performing mission was a rehearsal for the real thing.