Bone marrow donation #2

Seth was surprised when, over nine years after he last donated bone marrow, Be the Match contacted him to see if he was still willing to donate. After some blood draws and tests to see if he was compatible with a leukemia patient in France, he was asked if he'd be willing to go to the Be the Match donation center in Seattle to undergo the harvesting procedure. We checked our calendars and decided that although we'd miss the older girls' first day of school, the patient's need outweighed any inconvenience on our part. 

Seth needed to receive injections to increase his stem cell production, but rather than needing to do those on site like last time, he was able to stay home until the day before the harvesting procedure and get his injections from a home health nurse. After three days of injections, we boarded a plane in Idaho Falls on Tuesday, August 30.

Seth and Andrea on our flight to Seattle.

We flew to Seattle, hopped on a Lyft bound for our hotel and dropped off our suitcases before exploring a little bit of the city. The last time we went to Seattle (a little trip with just Seth and me in 2011), we spent a lot of time at museums and landmarks. We didn't dedicate a lot of time to Pike's Place, so we started there. Both us and the Lyft driver was a little confused about where to drop us off, so once we excited his vehicle, we realized we were still quite a distance from Pike's. So that's how I had my first shared electric scooter experience. We found a couple near where we were, downloaded the app, unlocked the scooters and relied on Google Maps to help us get to where we really wanted to go. We checked out a bunch of stalls and shops. I spied the gum wall from above, so we went down to see it. It was truly disgusting.

Why? Just why?! What would possess you to contribute to this repugnancy?

Then we stopped by the Be the Match donation center located just outside Pike's Place for Seth's final injection.

Selfie at the donation center.

Then we went back to Pike's Place for lunch (blackened salmon sandwich, the BEST clam chowder I've ever experienced in my life ... and I generally don't like clam chowder, and a poke bowl) and more sightseeing.

Selfie with the accordion cat playing outside Pike's. There were always people busking around here. The accordion cat was, by far, my favorite. 

Then we went back to Pike's Place for lunch (blackened salmon sandwich, the BEST clam chowder I've ever experienced in my life ... and I generally don't like clam chowder, and a poke bowl) and more sightseeing.

That evening we took some long walks around our hotel area to go to--not one--but TWO Goodwill stores in the area. The only thing we bought was a shower stool (at least $50 on Amazon, but just a couple of bucks on sale at the thrift store), which gratefully fit into our backpack as we hiked a couple miles along the hilly streets. Once we got back, we Door Dashed some mediocre Mediterranean food.

The giant Pac Man we saw while walking around South Lake Union.

Seth headed back down the hill.

Seth's donation time was at 7 a.m. the next day, so we woke up, ate breakfast at the hotel and took a Lyft to the Donation Center. It took a while to get him ready and pumping, but once we were settled in, we enjoyed the comforts of the donation center and watched Stranger Things with the help of our in-room TV and bone-conducting headphones. It took Seth about four hours of apheresis to get the amount of stem cells they needed.

Pumping away.

Seth with his donation.

The last time Seth donated, the injections made him feel pretty crummy, but he felt well after the donation. This time, he felt well after the injections, but crummy after the donation. We did walk around a little more at Pike's Place to get souvenirs for the girls (Ana: hand-dyed yarn. Miri: treble clef earrings, other pretty earrings, a hand of Miriam necklace. Winnie: a spiral hair wrap with star beads on the end). We picked up the chowder sampler from Pike Place Chowder (the seafood bisque was ah. maze. ing) and headed back to the hotel for the afternoon.

Due to the feelings of crumminess, we took it easy for the rest of the day; we took a nap and watched TV. Around dinnertime, we looked at getting Door Dash again, but the app was wigging out on us, so we ventured out to an incredible Indian restaurant (MotherIndia) just a little ways from our hotel. The food was delicious, and the building was interestingly triangular.

On the walk to the restaurant.

The day after the donation, we bummed around the hotel for a few hours as Seth was still feeling a bit under the weather. Later in the morning we walked over to The Museum of History and Innovation. ("Museum of Innovation" = Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates. "Museum of History" = much political correctness.)

Seth checking out the historic ships docked outside the museum.

Andrea looking through the periscope in the museum.

We still had a little bit of souvenir shopping for our girls, so we checked out of our hotel, hitched a ride back to Pike's Place, and deposited our suitcases at a sketchy tobacco store that also apparently moonlights as a suitcase locker, and agonized over what to get Rebekah. (The final answer: owl salt and pepper shakers with googly eyes.) We ate a late lunch at The Pink Door, then headed to the airport so we could get home to our girls.

Seth eating octopus at The Pink Door, an unmarked restaurant at Pike's Place. Their lasagna was AMAZING. 

Back to school

Both Winnie and Miriam started school on Monday, August 29. Winnie is in Miss Murphy's 5th grade class, and Miriam is in 7th grade at the mastery-based Praxium Middle School (formerly Team Jaguar at Rocky Mountain Middle School). Miriam's school is located in the old vocational building behind Rocky Mountain. We're back to having kids at three different schools. It's wild having just one kid at Fairview. We had at least two kids there since Ana started kindergarten in 2012.

Winnie showing her grade.

Winnie's new backpack.

Miriam showing her grade.

And her backpack. This one last a few days before the zipper broke. (It was an old backpack previously used by Ana.) She switched a few more times in the next few weeks to find the one that best fit her needs.

Ana and Rebekah didn't start school until the next day: Tuesday, August 31. That's because for the secondary students, the 30th was a day just for 7th graders and 9th graders to get oriented to their new buildings. Ana is a sophomore, and Rebekah is a senior, and both are attending Bonneville High School. And we weren't around to take their first day pictures because we left to the Idaho Falls airport early that morning for Seattle. (See the next post.)

Ana showing her grade.

And her backpack.

Rebekah showing her grade.

And her backpack.

Summer miscellany

Timpanogos: Friday, June 17

Andrea at the entrance to the Timpanogos Cave. After dropping Rebekah and Bradley off at their band leadership camp in American Fork, I hiked to the cave entrance to help condition for the hike up Mount Borah. 

Andrea in front of the Mount Timpanogos Temple. I attended an endowment session here after hiking.

Sheep cupcakes: Friday, June 24

Sheep cupcakes Ana made for our stake Relief Society training meeting. Our theme was "Feed my sheep."

Naptime: Saturday, June 25

Winnie takes a siesta on the couch in the great room.

Restringing the guitar: Wednesday, June 29

Seth has Winnie help him restring our little guitar.

Greenbelt: Thursday, June 30

Rebekah longboards around the Greenbelt while Andrea trails behind on her bike. The two left at 6:30 a.m. for the morning ride.

Staying warm at church: Sunday, July 3

Winnie wears Seth's suitcoat  during sacrament meeting when the AC was turned up on high.

Tramp sleepover: Saturday, July 9

Seth and Winnie pose on the trampoline before their sleepover. The two made it until 4 or 5 in the morning when the "demon roosters" woke them up and they realized how cold they were.

Pioneer celebration: Tuesday, July 26

Seth and Winnie participate in the wheelbarrow race at the stake pioneer celebration. Ana entered a pie into their contest and won best overall pie made by a youth.

Library party: Thursday, August 11

Winnie asks for another block to build her tower at the Idaho Falls Public Library during their end-of-summer bash. They served Texas Roadhouse rolls with honey butter and had games available for the kids to play.

Roaring Youth Jam: Friday, August 12

Ana and her friend Iris help kids (including Winnie) make fairy houses from TP rolls and paper. Andrea and Miriam returned the next day to volunteer because they had so few people sign up.

Winnie colors on a car at the Youth Jam. Every night the owner would wash it so kids could color on it the next day.

Date Night: Friday, August 12

Andrea and Seth pose for a selfie at Lucy's New York Pizza while on a date.

Arrowhead hunting: Saturday, August 13

Winnie poses with the arrowhead she and Seth found.

Ana poses with the bigger arrowhead she and Seth found.

Family picnic: Wednesday, August 17

Ana gives Roscoe loves while at Grandma Susan's house. Uncle Doug retired, sold his townhouse and bought a new travel trailer. He parked it in Grandma and Grandpa's field during the summer, so he and Roscoe were around for family picnics and get-togethers.

Bird eggs: Friday, August 19

Winnie and the bird egg she found in the old stove outside Grandma and Grandpa Scott's house.

Anniversary getaway: Friday, August 19-Sunday August 21

Seth hooks the laptop up to the TV in the cabin so he and Andrea can watch movies. To celebrate our 19th wedding anniversary, we spent a couple of nights at the cabin. On Friday evening we watched a movie. On Saturday we went on two little hikes and saw Singin' in the Rain at the Playmill Theater in West Yellowstone. On Sunday we packed up and came home.

Andrea and Seth at Big Springs on Saturday. We hiked to the lookout tower behind Big Springs, then along the Box Canyon trail before going back to the cabin to get cleaned up and go to West to see the show.

Visiting Grandma: Thursday, August 25

Grandma Hendricks shows Rebekah a book of old receipts while we visit her at her house in Rexburg. Rebekah also vacuumed out Grandma's car while we were there.

Ballroom retreat: Friday, August 26

Ana and the other members of her group perform their skit during the Bonneville ballroom retreat at Rigby Lake. The kids got a bunch of dress-ups and props and had to come up with a skit to show everyone.

Miriam blindfolds herself to go on a trust walk with the other members of the ballroom teams. All of the BHS ballroom teams (including the middle school team of which Miriam is a part) got to spend the day at Rigby Lake eating, swimming, and doing activities together to build comradery. 

Winnie playing in the lake while the unicorn watches over her. I helped out with the retreat: driving kids to the lake, cooking pork for dinner, serving lunch and dinner, shooting pictures, etc. In between all of that, I ran home long enough to get Winnie so she could play in the water.

Daddy Mommy Daughter date: Saturday, August 27

Seth uses the Black Panther mask to decode a message in our escape room in Rexburg. Ana wanted to do an escape room, so she researched all the ones around and chose to do the Avengers-themed room.

Ana with the Infinity Gauntlet after we solved the room.

Seth and Ana at Crispy Cones in Rexburg following our successful escape room.

Cthulhu: Sunday, August 28

The Cthulhu Rebekah crocheted as a present to Seth.

Lone Star Geyser to Old Faithful

 We thought we'd be hiking Tablerock this day, but we had to make some last-minute adjustments to our destination due to Seth needing to stay in town and get blood drawn for an upcoming bone marrow donation (more on that later ... stay tuned!) and Grandma Scott worrying about elevation. So instead of Tablerock, we found a trail that starts at the Old Faithful Inn, goes to Lone Star Geyser and past Kepler Cascades and ends at Old Faithful for a total of 7.5 miles of hiking. 

We left home at 6 a.m. on Monday, August 5, with Ana driving the Stratus (it has better gas mileage than the van) so she could work on getting some hours with her learner's permit. (Confession: She did drive in the state of Montana for a couple of miles. She and I switched seats right before entering Yellowstone.) Grandma and Grandpa Scott came with us. Rebekah had band camp, Winnie had swimming lessons, Miriam had a newly operated-on foot, and Seth had his blood draw. 

The trail was really nice. Honestly, I'd love to go that way to Lone Star Geyser again. We didn't see anyone until we were nearly at the geyser. The mosquitos were pesky, but they eventually went away.

Getting to the geyser.

Eating lunch while waiting for the geyser.

Grandma, Andrea and Ana at Lone Star Geyser during its eruption. Some groups waited around for a little while, then left after a few tiny leading-up-to-the-big-one eruptions. If you're coming that way to see it, why wouldn't you stay until you actually saw it?

After the geyser, we came out the way we've gone in before, then hooked up to another trail to go past Kepler Cascades.

The four of us at Kepler Cascades. I don't think I've actually stopped at this sight before. It was beautiful!

Then we hiked the most boring part of the trail with the least amount of shade during the hottest part of the day. Regardless, I still enjoyed it. Ana had some opinions about the heat, though. Then we walked past the cabins next to Old Faithful and ended up on the boardwalk in time to watch Old Faithful go off.

Waiting for Old Faithful. A lady and her dogs came up beside us to get a picture of the dogs in front of the geyser. They seemed unimpressed. But Ana was impressed with the dogs.

After that, we made a stop for ice cream at the store and came back home.