Trip to Manti

When we found out that Seth's cousin Patrick would be getting married in Manti, we decided we needed to make a family trip out of it for two reasons: (1) Seth's great-grandpa lived in Manti, and Seth has memories of spending time with him there. (2) We wanted to have the chance to go to the historic Manti Temple to perform some ordinances for ancestors.

We left home right after school on Thursday, April 18 and got our rental home after 9 that night. The next day, we met Grandma Hendricks' sister Shirley. She lives in Manti and has several family history-related items at her house. She shared information about ancestors and let the girls check out her cool stuff.

 Ana, Bekah and Miri sitting on Shirley's couch with pictures of Christian and Mariane Larsen behind them. 

 Shirley showing the girls the people on their family tree that she's talking about.

Winnie trying out the butter churn. 

 Bekah playing the conch shell Shirley got on her mission to Samoa.

Miri and Seth looking at the rocking horse that belonged to Grandma Hendricks' brother Joseph Rigby Larsen. He died of scarlet fever when he was almost 2 years old. 

Shirley and her sister, Grandma Hendricks. 

Seth helping Ana try out a Native American drum.

Then we went to the temple and did baptisms for the dead with Ana and Bekah.

Selfie outside the temple.

We left Bekah in charge of the girls back at the house while Grandma Susan, Seth and I did a session at the temple. Then we had dinner with Grandma Hendricks, Aunt Cathy, Uncle Greg and Austin at our house.

The next day we had breakfast and saw some unexpected visitors on the back lawn.

I thought Grandma Susan was kidding when she said there were deer back there. Turns out she wasn't.

We went to the temple for the sealing (our girls walked around the cemetery and pioneer park across from the temple grounds while we were inside), then back to the house for a little while before driving to Central Valley for the ring ceremony and reception.

 Seth dancing with Winnie after the ring ceremony.

Winnie inhaling to keep a flower petal on her nose. 

Miriam before the luncheon. 

Rebekah at the luncheon. 

Analee at the luncheon. 

Couple selfie at the luncheon.

 Winnie with dandelion rubbed all over her face. There was a playground right outside the church where the festivities were held, so the girls spent a good amount of time there. 

The next day was Easter Sunday. We took a picture in the living room of our house before walking to church.

 Rebekah, Winnie, Miri, Andrea, Seth and Ana.

 Winnie with the bouquet of flowers she picked in the yard.

 Seth and Bekah walking past Great-Grandpa Larsen's home in Manti on the way home from church.

 Winnie looking at the camera while the other walk home from church.

Family picture on the corner of Great-Grandpa Larsen's home in Manti before driving back to Idaho Falls. Ana, Miri, Seth, Winnie, Bekah, Grandma Susan, Grandma Hendricks.

Miriam is 9!

Miriam celebrated her birthday by opening a big ol' LEGO Fantastic Beasts set, then going to school. We had her family birthday dinner on Friday, March 29. We love this funny, loud kid of ours.

 Miriam the 9-year-old with her cake.

 Miriam said she wanted a cake with the sun setting over the ocean. Okay?! Ana and I did our best (and added some candy decorations we received at the school carnival.

Miriam eating her Caesar salad, pasta with marinara sauce and Grandma's breadsticks for dinner.

Rather than making and smashing a pinata, Miriam opted to hide goody bags around the family room for her sisters and cousins to find. The weather was too cold to do it outside.

Miriam opening presents. She received the LEGO set and a Marauder's map bandana from her family. She received $25 hidden in a pickle and mustard sandwich from Grandma Susan and Grandpa Dennis. She received a rock art kit and a kids' charades game from Grandma and Grandpa Scott. She received a LEGO Friends set, a Harry Potter LEGO minifigure and sour watermelon gummies from Aunt McKall and Uncle T. 

Miriam getting ready to blow out her candles. 

Scott family reunion

Our family always looks forward to the Scott reunion in Stone every March. (Most people say, "A reunion in March?" and "Where is Stone?" Well, we hold the reunion in March because that's when my grandparents were married, and Stone is basically in the middle of nowhere.) We were unable to go last year because Grandpa Hendricks' funeral was held the same day. To make more a day of it (on Saturday, March 23), we stopped at both the Holbrook and Snowville cemeteries to see the graves of our ancestors. (And BONUS! Analee didn't even throw up on the way down like she usually does! The ups, downs and curves through Arbon Valley usually do her in.)

I brought photos of the ancestors' whose graves we were visiting. This is me telling about George Grow and Sarah Scott, my great-grandparents.

By George and Sarah's graves. Look at all the snow in Holbrook!

 And compare that to the lack of snow in Snowville! At Walter and Jiammia's graves (my grandparents).

William and Maria's graves (my great-grandparents). 

Esther's grave (my great-great-great-grandma). 

 Jesse and Sarah's graves (my great-great-grandparents).

Winnie pretending to be baby Jesus.

Rebekah's jazz festival and the Fairview carnival

Back on Saturday, March 9, our family spent the day running to Rexburg to watch Rebekah's jazz band play, then coming home and preparing for the elementary school carnival which was held in the spring for the first time. Seth took Winnie around to the games while I supervised student council members running games. Ana helped with a game, then went around with her friend. Miriam ran around with her friends, too.

 Rebekah playing with the jazz band.

Rebekah playing her feature in "God Bless the Child."

Seth watching Winnie play bucket ball and the spring carnival.

Miri-ism #44

While playing with her magnetic star sculpture.

Miri: Look, Mom! It's the eye of Star-on!

My skiing oopsie

The girls didn't have school Friday, February 1, so we thought it would be fun to take Rebekah and Analee skiing at Targhee. The girls have loved skiing at Kelly Canyon, and Seth assured them there would be a lot more runs of all difficulties at Targhee. Seth and his mom took the day off, my parents took care of the younger girls, and the five of us headed northeast for a fun day of skiing.

Prior to lunch, we stuck together and explored several green and blue runs. Ana and I took the long, easy way down from the top of the Dreamcatcher lift while the other three (more adventurous and experienced skiers) took a steeper route. We loved seeing the Tetons and enjoyed the clear blue skies and well groomed trails.

Rebekah, Andrea, Analee, Seth and Susan at the top of Teton Traverse at Grand Targhee.

It was so nice outside that we found a tucked away picnic table and ate our lunch with our coats off. The post-lunch plan was for Susan, Seth and Bekah to hit the harder runs while Ana and I stuck to the easier ones, then meet back up at 3 p.m. to do a couple of runs together again before heading home.

Ana was intrigued by the bunny hill's conveyor belt (in lieu of a rope tow), so she and I went up that just for kicks, skied down the bunny hill again, then rode Shoshone up so we could ski down Big Horn, catch Dreamcatcher and do the Teton Traverse run again.

We were nearly to the bottom of Big Horn (a green run, mind you), when the softened snow caught my pole. In the split second it took for me to wrench it free, I lost control and crashed. As I tumbled end over end, I felt my right knee wrench. When I finally came to a stop with my back on the snow and my head pointed downhill, I laughed at the absurdity of the situation. A nice older gentleman who had seen me crash asked if I was okay. I assured him I was and accepted his help to get back in a standing position. As soon as I was upright, I knew something was wrong with my right knee.

The gentleman asked if I needed a ski patrol toboggan. I quickly told him no. He helped me get my skis back on, asked again if I was okay, then finished the run.

Ana, in the meanwhile, had caught up to me and watched the man help me. We skied the rest of the way down, and I quickly realized I could only use my left ski to steer and dig in because my knee hurt so badly. Ana helped me find ski patrol, and I told her to go ski anything she could reach from Shoshone while I got checked out.

All the ski patrol member could tell me was that "it didn't present as an ACL tear," which was my worst fear. With some ibuprofen in my system and a bag of snow, I made my way to Shoshone and sat on the bench at the lift. Seth and Susan showed up at 3 and took Ana on Teton Traverse again. Rebekah had gone back to the truck because her feet hurt.

The next Monday, I saw the orthopedist. The next day I had an MRI. The day after that I went back to the orthopedist and found out that I had torn my medial and lateral menesci. The next Tuesday (February 12), 10 days after the accident, I had surgery. The surgeon repaired the menesci and tightened my ACL as some of the fibers were loose and/or fraying.

My elevated right knee, episode of Sherlock, and the line of Beanie Boos Winnie brought it to watch over me the day of the surgery.

After waking up in recovery and getting wheeled out to the van, Seth drove me home. Over the next few days, I got to lie in bed and watch several episodes of Sherlock, read books and nap repeatedly. Friends, neighbors and family members brought over dinners and helped with the girls. Seth and the girls were extra sweet to me. I could have lived without the post-anesthesia nausea, the blurred vision from using anti-nausea patches, and the physical pain of healing, but at least I can play volleyball again (albeit more gingerly than usual).

I'm three weeks post-op now, and things are almost back to normal. Compared to the ACL reconstruction I experienced in high school, this is cake. But I've sworn off any more downhill skiing this winter.

Analee's GATE and NHD

For the second trimester of GATE (gifted and talented program), Analee got to choose an elective. She picked drama, and was therefore assigned a group to perform with. Her group performed "The Ethics of Pig," a short play based on an O. Henry short story. Ana played the narrator. She had to memorize several lines and speak them in a cute southern accent. Seth and I were able to watch her group perform at the Telford building on Monday, February 24.

Introducing the play.

Reading from her diary.

Several weeks ago, I was conversing with Ana about middle school electives since she will be registering for middle school in a short while. I listed several classes off, and when I reached "National History Day," she asked, "What's that?" I explained that National History Day is a competition for middle and high school kids. They pick a topic that relates to the annual NHD theme, then prepare a project. Ana was already doing an independent study project for GATE, so she asked, "Do you have to take the class to compete?" I assured her you didn't. She then asked, "Could I compete?"

Thus began Ana's NHD project. Her independent study project was about Amelia Earhart. She looked over the possible projects (website, paper, performance, exhibit, documentary) and said she'd like to make a website. So she did. Many hours later (designing the website, writing her process paper, creating an annotated bibliography, finding photos, maps, videos, etc.), her website was finished.

http://66851279.nhd.weebly.com 

I don't know how long the website will be up, so here are some screenshots.

The day of the competition, we went to Rocky Mountain Middle School where she answered some questions for the judges, and they gave her some feedback. We left, then returned to the school later that day to here how she did.

Analee placed third in the Junior Division, individual website, flight B. She (and everyone else) is proud of her work.

Rebekah's festival recital

Rebekah has a new piano teacher this year, and as such she's having some new experiences. She performed for a judge as part of the annual piano festival and scored 99 out of 100. Then she and the other students got to perform their songs for their parents the following day.

Rebekah playing her classical and jazz pieces on Sunday, March 3.

Dressing up

Rebekah and Analee got to participate in a "Decades Dinner" in February. The Young Women and Young Men of the ward could dress up in clothes from their favorite decade and enjoy dinner and getting to know some of the older members of our ward. Analee and her friends decided they would go with the 80s, so we made her some big hair. And Rebekah wore one of her great-grandma's dresses from the 60s.

She was trying to tell me how to make her hair big, and I said, "Child! Don't tell me how to make big hair! I was BORN in the 80s!"

Rebekah wasn't so sure about the dress, the tights or the hair, but I begged her to do all of it. And she ended up looking this cute!

Then for Dr. Seuss day at school on March 1, the younger girls dressed up as favorite book characters.

Winnie went as Piggy from Mo Willem's Piggy and Elephant series. 

 Miriam wanted to be Ginny from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. I told her no one would know who she was supposed to be if she just wore pajamas, so she wore a robe, borrowed her sister's Gryffindor scarf, and we fashioned a basilisk fang and Tom Riddle's diary.

Choir clinic and concert

Some of Ana's friends signed up for a Bonneville choir clinic, so Ana and Miriam decided they'd like to try it out, too. They spent all morning on Saturday, February 9 at the high school getting to know the other participants and learning their songs, then on Monday, February 11 they got to perform with the Bel Cantos choir at Thunder Ridge.

 Miriam singing.

 You can see Analee's mouth directly under Mr. Dresen's right armpit.

When he moved, we finally saw her!

Middle school honor band

Rebekah was one of seven kids from the Rocky Mountain Middle School symphonic band to be invited to participate in the area honor band. That meant she got to spend the day in Rexburg with other honor band kids, learn a few songs together, and perform them that evening (January 24).

The band after warming up. Winnie caught Rebekah's eye and waved, so Rebekah smiled back. 

Rebekah sitting with other honor band participants.

Rebekah performs her songs with the middle school honor band.