Easter festivities

Our family doesn't do the whole Easter bunny thing. No baskets, no presents, no candy or egg hunts waiting for our girls on Easter morning. Why would we need to when we have so many other things going on?

However, we do always dye Easter eggs. This time, we did it the Tuesday before Easter during the girls' spring break.

Winnie picking out stickers for her egg while Seth helps color it with a crayon before dipping it in the dye.

Bekah mimicking the face she drew on her egg.

Finished products.

Miri and her egg smiling.

Analee with one of her creations.

Now, when I said WE don't do egg hunts, I didn't mean we don't GO to egg hunts. In fact, we participated in no fewer than three this year.

Easter Egg Hunt #1: Scott family reunion in Stone

The day before Easter, we drove down to Stone to be with family and remember Walter and Jiammia Scott. Part of the festivities included an egg hunt for the littles. The kids were divided onto teams, assigned an egg color, and instructed to take turns gathering the eggs in this relay. Genius.

The kids lined up for the egg hunt relay. Although they had the kids count off, three of our four girls ended up on the same team anyway.

Winnie, Miri, Ana and Bekah running through the field. Bekah is pointing out another yellow egg so Winnie can grab it next.

Cute Seth and cute Winnie after the hunt.

Easter Egg Hunt #2: Grandma and Grandpa Scott's house

After church on Easter, we went over to Grandma and Grandpa Scott's house for dinner and a cousin egg hunt. Each kid got to collect 22 eggs.

Bekah, Miri, Ana and Bennet pointing out an egg in a tree.

A pajama-and-slipper-clad Winnie showing off her basket.

Miri and Bennet comparing spoils after the hunt.

Easter Egg Hunt #3: Aunt Rachel's house

The day after Easter, we met at Aunt Rachel and Uncle Justin's house for yet another Easter dinner and more Easter fun.

Rebekah running through the yard, Analee checking out her basket, Miriam and Winnie showing their eggs.

The girls also received giant eggs filled with goodies from Aunt Kristen and Easter baskets from Grandma Susan and Grandpa Dennis.

And although I don't always bother with getting/making Easter dresses, this year I went ahead and got each girl a fancy new dress for church.

Winnie, Bekah, Miriam and Analee outside the church after our block of meetings.

I promised they could do a silly one if they'd all hold still and smile for a nice one. Life is all about compromises.

See? I'm not actually an Easter grinch.

To see more Easter fun pictures, start here.

Provo Temple

We originally had tickets to tour the new Provo Temple the second weekend of February (see how far behind I am in my blogging?), but with Grandpa Wirkus' passing and funeral, we canceled those tickets and got more for the next weekend. (Which ended up working out better because the girls would have missed the Friday before Valentine's Day, which meant they would have missed their class parties.)

We drove down the morning of Friday, February 19, in our Sunday best and made it to Provo in time to get some ice cream at the BYU Creamery and line up earlier than our scheduled time. The interior is exquisite. It's amazing how they were able to preserve the outside of the building after its fire and rebuild the inside into a temple.

After the tour, we took the opportunity to take some pictures:

Bekah, Ana, Seth, Miri and Winnie by the fountain.

Checking out the fountain.

The girls were instructed to not touch the water.

Cute older sisters.

Cute younger sisters.

Bekah, Miri, Andrea, Winnie and Ana by a temple door.

Cute couple, if I do say so myself.

Ana and Seth recreating the statue.

Miri, Ana and Bekah trying to make grass angels while Winnie picks grass.

Then we changed our clothes and visited the Monte L. Bean Museum at BYU. It had been a while since we last visited, and we were amazed at the changes they've made. It's like a whole new museum!

Miriam, Winnie and Analee outside the museum.

Analee the photobomber.

Miriam was terrified of quite a few of the stuffed animals, including the elephant. This was as close as she would get.

They had several of Boyd K. Packer's carvings on display. I was amazed at his talent.

Winnie was a hoot. She looked at the grizzly attacking the moose and said, "It's tickling the deer [sic] with its teeth!"

Then we went out to eat and back to the hotel to go swimming and sleep.

The next morning, we took the girls to Scheel's in Sandy. I had taken the older girls there less than a year before, but we had to introduce Seth and the younger girls to its splendor (especially since the hotel was just down the road from it).

Seth took Ana (who enthusiastically volunteered) and Bekah (who trepidatiously agreed) on the Ferris Wheel while I took the younger girls around the store. After their ride, we met back up and walked around for a while.

You can tell from the picture who enjoyed the ride (Ana and Seth) and who barely tolerated it (Bekah).

We played a shooting game where Seth got the high score.

Winnie "driving" the photo op jeep.

Analee and Bekah pretending to tackle/be tackled.

Checking out the fish aquarium/columns/arch.

Miriam sitting on Abe Lincoln's lap.

Then we drove north and checked out the Hill Aerospace Museum at the Hill Air Force Base.

Seth pretending to get chopped by the propeller. 

Winnie reaching for the bottom of the plane.

After looking at all the planes outside, we headed inside to see those exhibits. We took a much-needed break at the coloring table to use the crayons.

Winnie instructing Seth on his coloring.

On one of the boardwalks.

It's obvious we're a family of girls, because after a while they weren't impressed with the planes. "Oh, look ... another plane. Another helicopter." So we zoomed through the last several.

After a quick break at Krispy Kremes, we loaded up the van and headed home.

To see more pictures from our trip, start here.

Gwen-ism #15

Randomly one day ...

Gwen: You know what rhymes with Froot Loops? Toot moops.

She also thinks a Pull-Up on her head is hilarious.

Presidents' Day

With a family funeral the same weekend, we didn't have any major holiday plans. But we did make good use of our family pass to the Museum of Idaho by taking the girls to see the newest exhibit on dinosaur egg fossils.

Miriam pretends to be bit by a baby dinosaur statue.

Seth, Analee and Winnie looking at fossils.

Four cute girls and a dinosaur.

Miriam, Rebekah and Analee dressed up as dinosaurs and sitting on a nest of eggs.This exhibit is extremely interactive and well suited for small children.

Winnie's nest.

Miriam and her dress-ups.

Rebekah covering up the eggs in the sand so all the little kids can find them again.

Rebekah, Winnie and Miriam playing with plastic dinosaurs.

Not sure what she's doing here, but it's funny.

To see more pictures, start here.

Grandpa's funeral

Grandpa's viewing and funeral were wonderful to be a part of. I could have done without the biting wind at the cemetery, but that just got us back to the church faster.

The viewing was held at Wood Funeral Home in Ammon on the evening of Friday, February 12. It was nice to talk to friends, neighbors and family members.

The funeral was held the next day at the church building on Mesa — his church before he moved to Lincoln Court. We scrunched the family into the Relief Society room to say goodbye one last time before closing the casket. When the funeral director asked if anyone wanted to come up and see him, one of my girls asked, "Mom, can we do that?" I gladly took all four of them up.

I laughed and cried through the funeral. The speakers and music were wonderful.

As mentioned, the weather was bitterly cold, but the interment and military honors were moving.

Miriam and Analee looking at the headstone while everyone gathers.

Analee had the privilege of sitting on Grandma Scott's lap under the blanket.

The grandsons were the pallbearers. There are so many, a few actually carried the casket, while the rest trailed behind.

See? Lots of pallbearers.

Soldier salute. I thought "Taps" was a recording, but Seth said the other soldier present was in the corner of the cemetery playing it live. I hadn't noticed him go over there with a bugle.

Winnie is mesmerized by the soldiers.

Folding the flag.

Headstone and family.

Back at the church, we ate a wonderful lunch, then visited and took some pictures.

All of the Wirkus grandchildren, minus one. (I didn't get the memo that said all the granddaughters were supposed to wear a shade of pink/red.)

All of the Wirkus children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren who were able to come.

The Scott family. Poor Tyson. If only I hadn't worn heels and poofed up my hair so much, he wouldn't look so short. :-)

All my life, I've had people tell me what an influence my grandpa has had on their lives: "Your grandpa sealed me and my wife." "Your grandpa was my favorite seminary teacher." "Your grandpa was my mission president." "Your grandpa was my stake president." "Your grandpa gave me my patriarchal blessing." I only hope the mark I leave on the world will be as meaningful.

To see more pictures, start here. 

Goodbye, Grandpa

Monday afternoon, my dad called. From the tone of his voice, I knew what news he would share. Grandpa Wirkus had passed away.

Grandpa Wirkus was my last surviving grandparent. After Grandma Wirkus passed away nearly 10 years ago, I decided I would take my toddler and visit my newly widowed grandparent once a week. We would go to Grandpa's house and eat his ice cream while Rebekah played with his farm and Little People toys.

Sometimes we missed a week because he was sick. Sometimes we missed a week because I was sick. Sometimes we missed a week (or two) because I had had another baby. But most every week, we visited Grandpa.

My girls grew up expecting our weekly visits. They expected to watch PBS, to play with the toys, to read pop-up books, to "ride" the deer statue in the front yard, to play in the "fort" in the back yard (the pick-up's shell sitting behind the shop), to eat ice cream, to eat cookies, to hear Grandpa exclaim "Ach du liebe zeit!" They expected him to hold the latest baby while he rocked in his recliner in the living room and sing "I've a Dear Little Dolly" or one of his German songs.

When Grandpa had a harder time living on his own and moved to Lincoln Court, our visits changed location. We learned about the mints on the front desk; the popcorn, apples, oranges, muffins and/or cookies by the fish tank; the courtyard with the dancing solar statues in the residents' windows; the water dispensers in the hallways. The toys and pop-up books moved with Grandpa, so the girls still ate, visited, read and played while they watched Word Girl or Wild Kratts.

So as my dad told me of Grandpa's passing, I cried a little. But I was smiling as I cried.

Seth got home from work while the tears were in my eyes. He asked me what was wrong, and I mouthed, "Grandpa passed" to him so he could know but the girls wouldn't overhear quite yet. He and I went to our room to talk it over, and we decided we'd center our Family Home Evening lesson around the announcement.

We all cried together as I shared the news of his passing with the girls. Miriam asked for clarification: "Does that mean he died?" We explained that, yes, Grandpa had died. Rebekah tried to be stoic. Analee cried freely. Miriam cried a little at first, then sobbed later on. Winnie, understandably, had a harder time with the concept. At one point, she said, "I think he's still alive."

Seth shared a few scriptures about Heavenly Father's plan for us, and I was able to testify to the girls that I know we'll see Grandpa again someday. We discussed how Grandpa, free from his elderly body, could see, hear and run again. We talked about how he is with his wife, parents and most of his siblings now.

Then we went around the room and shared something we liked about Grandpa and something we'll miss.

Miriam said she liked his candy, TV and cookies. Analee said she liked how nice he was. Rebekah said she liked how he loved holding babies and that she'll miss hearing him sing to them. Seth said he liked his stories and playing the guitar for him. I told the girls that, before I started taking them for visits, I used to visit my grandparents every Sunday we could and ate ice cream, watched TV and visited with them.

I was able to collect pictures from family members to create the slide show that played at the viewing on Friday. It's been wonderful to see the photos and place them to music. As I watch what I call the "Erwin and Marie" segment of the slide show, I tear up. When I cried during my first viewing of it, Seth asked, "Why are you crying?" I explained, "I'm so happy for them."

We'll miss Grandpa. It will be different for us now that we don't go to his house or apartment for our weekly visit. But I'm grateful for the time we had with him and that my girls could get to know their great-grandpa.

 Miriam and Winnie walking with Grandpa Wirkus down the hall at Lincoln Court.