So many performances/dances

Leading devotional: Tuesday, January 9

Rebekah took a basic conducting class during the winter track. The students were told they would all lead the music at devotional at some point that semester. When the professor asked who would be willing to lead the next day, there were no takers. Rebekah then raised her hand and said she'd do it. I was teaching F.A.M.E. the day of the devotional, but between classes I pulled up the video and got to see my girl in front of everyone.

Rebekah leads "The Lord Is My Light" during the first devotional of the track.

Drum recital: Saturday, January 20

Miriam's drum teacher held his first-ever recital at Chesbro. Each kid drummed along to a recording of a song of their choosing. The kids in front of us were excited when Miriam's teacher announced that she'd be playing with "Gangsta's Paradise," but their jaws dropped when they heard the first notes. Miriam was playing along to the Postmodern Jukebox version of the song, which is much different than the original. 

We all wore earplugs and sat politely in our seats (despite Jonah's attempts to get us to stand and mosh?) as we listened to the budding drummers. 

Miriam playing the drums during her recital.

First bumping Jonah after the song finished.

Eastern Idaho Ballroom Showcase: Saturday, January 27

Seth, Winnie and I went to my uncle Ross' funeral in South Jordan, Utah, then drove back north in time to attend the annual ballroom showcase at the Civic (now Frontier Center) Auditorium. Miriam and Ana had rehearsals earlier in the day and the performance that night.

Ana in "Never Alone," a waltz.

Miriam in "Can't Stop the Feeling."

Ana in her Guardians of the Galaxy medley.

Sweetheart Ball: Saturday, February

Ana asked her open partner and friend Asher to this girls' choice dance. In the morning they went to Reed's Dairy for breakfast (apparently it was National Ice Cream for Breakfast Day, so they were offering French toast with ice cream), played Jackbox games at our house, then went to an escape room. I shot pictures of them before they ate dinner and went dancing that night.

Brandon, Lilli, Ana, Asher, Eme, Kenneth, Brigham and Samantha.

Asher and Ana.

Skyridge Classic: Friday, February 9-Saturday, February 10

The high school dance teams traveled to Lehi to take part in this competition. In the past they've participated in the Utah Classic, but they were venue-less because the Legacy Event Center was being remodeled. So they found another comparable competition for the kids to attend.

Seth and I got a hotel with our airline miles and left Idaho Falls early enough Friday morning to stop at several D.I.s along the way. 

Ana in "Guardians." Their team took first.

Ana in "Tu y Yo," a samba.

Ana in "Never Alone."

Ana and Asher dancing their waltz.

Jo, Lilli, Ana and Asher asking the official about their scores. The two couples had a tie, but Ana and Asher ended up placed higher because of "Rule 11" or something.

With their ribbons Jo and Lilli took third; Asher and Ana took second in their novice open smooth.

Ana dancing syllabus.

Ana and Eme laughing at something while Brock reacts to who knows what.

Ana and Asher dancing their samba.

They took fifth in novice open Latin.

BYU-Idaho jazz festival: Saturday, February 24

Thirteen middle and high schools from around the area attended the BYU-Idaho jazz festival. Because she works for the music department, Rebekah was very involved in the preparations for the festival. After the high school students spent time learning about jazz and how they could improve as musicians, Rebekah and the rest of Sound Alliance got to perform. The school also featured an alumni band in which Kent came from Virginia to participate.

Rebekah on the big screen.

Talking to family after the concert.

Regional National History Day: Saturday, March 16

While Ana and I were skiing at Harriman, Seth took Miriam to Rexburg so she and her group could participate in the regional National History Day competition. Miriam and the other members of her group spent months researching their chosen topic and preparing a performance. Then her group competed against one other group performance and took first. Their topic: the invention of the piano and how it has shaped music. 

Their performance includes speaking as well as piano playing from all three members. Seth and the other parents got to watch as the kids performed and then fielded questions from the judges. Seth and Miriam came home for a while in the middle of the day, then went back to Rexburg to hear the results. 

Archimedes, Connor and Miriam after their presentation. Miriam is by far the tallest of the three, so for this picture she and Connor compensated.

Miriam and the other winners posing after the award ceremony.

Hand bell choir: Monday, March 18

Rebekah got roped into participating in a hand bell choir during a student recital at BYU-I. The campus has a composition club, and they worked together to compose a hymn for hand bells. They needed another bell ringer, and Rebekah was asked to participate. Rebekah learned that you have to wear gloves when you play the bells. She also learned that there are very specific methods for picking up, ringing and setting down the bells.

Rebekah leads "The Lord Is My Light" during the first devotional of the track.

Gem State Classic: Thursday, March 21-Saturday, March 23

This is the ballroom competition that requires us to stick around during spring break. The girls had practice on Wednesday, then competition on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Both Miriam and Ana had team routines and syllabus. Ana also had open.

Miriam dances swing with Jamison. They took took seventh place in junior newcomer swing A.

Miriam and Aiden receive medals for first place in junior bronze American waltz B.

Miriam dances cha cha with Timothy. They received second in junior newcomer cha cha A.

Selfie with Miriam.

Miriam and Brayden dance "Can't Stop the Feeling." Their team took second.

Miriam dances "Perfectly Loved," a waltz. They took first.

Ana dances Guardians. They took ??. 

Ana dances "Never Alone." 

Receiving their 2nd place medals for "Never Alone."

Ana dances "Broke," a novelty. 

Ana bows after dancing a waltz during Team Match on Friday night. The oldest and most experienced dancers get to participate in the dancing portion of Team Match.

Miriam cheering and holding up a sign during Team Match, which is basically sanctioned Lord of the Flies where the teams bribe the judges and scream incessantly all for fun.

Ana dances quick step with Jo during syllabus.

Ana dances with Asher during syllabus.

Miriam dances with a random ballroom kid during the 

Ana dances her waltz during open smooth. She didn't receive any callbacks for open, but we (as always) thought they did an amazing job.

Ana's samba for open Latin.

Seth's setup at the end of the Skyline gym during the final day of Gem State.

Pre-tour show: Tuesday, March 26

Rebekah and the rest of Sound Alliance performed a concert in preparation for their tour to Florida immediately following the end of the semester. They played some old-school big band hits that the retirees of Florida will be sure to jam to.

Rebekah (lead trombone) plays with the other members of the band.

Chamber brass: Thursday, March 28

Once again, Rebekah participated in a brass quintet and impressed us with their difficult song selection at the end-of-semester concert. Apparently Canadian Brass wears white shoes, so these kids did the same as a tribute to the world-famous brass ensemble. Ana particularly enjoyed their rendition of "Penny Lane" since she's become quite a Beatles fan as of late.

The members of the quintet including Rebekah.

A bad picture of Rebekah, but a good one of Grandma Hendricks whom we picked up so she could attend.

Idaho National History Day: Saturday, April 2

Because they took first at regionals, this group had time to revise their performance and then travel to Caldwell to present their project to another group of judges. It was an interesting experience involving a clankety old piano with an F key that didn't work and a pageant-girl-type mom who chewed the kids out for messing around with said piano until Seth stepped in and informed her that the piano was kind of their whole project and they needed to warm up. But the performance itself was great, and the kids took first once again. Now they qualify for the national National History Day competition at the University of Maryland in June. 

We caught as much of General Conference as we could when not on the College of Idaho campus or driving home on Sunday.

Miriam doing her speaking part during the performance.

Miriam playing "Yellow" as part of her performance. 

Miriam, Connor and Archimedes posing after their performance. (The boys wore concert black for the actual performance, but they had already changed by the time we took the picture.)

The kids receiving their first place award.

Piano recital: Sunday, April 14

Winnie and Miriam worked hard all school year long in order to be ready for their annual piano recital at our church. 

Winnie playing "Snowflake Rag," "Tarantella" and "Nocturne."

Miriam playing "Ballade" and "Yellow.:"

Standing and bowing with all the piano students.

Skiing

 A little bit of cross-country, a little bit of downhill.

CC at Teton Lakes: Monday, January 15

The kids had a day off of school, so I invited all interested parties to come with me to Teton Lakes. Winnie was the only taker. It was COLD that day, so we did an abbreviated loop

Winnie managed to fall on this flat stretch of trail, so I commemorated it.

Downhill at Grand Targhee: Monday, February 19

We knew we wanted to take everyone downhill skiing at least once this season, so we looked at all our calendars and determined that President's Day was the one day everyone was available. We shelled out the dough for lift tickets (Winnie was able to get the Idaho Ski Passport one last time as a 6th grader) and spent the day skiing. Poor Rebekah and Miriam didn't last too long; their feet hurt so badly they skied for maybe a half day. After lunch I borrowed Rebekah's lift pass (I had planned to only ski from the Shoshone lift, so I had that limited pass) so I could do the Teton Traverse with Ana. It was so windy and cold on top that once was enough.

Winnie, Ana, Andrea and Miriam riding the Shoshone lift.

Seth, Rebekah, Andrea and Miriam on the lift.

Eating our picnic lunch.

Winnie resting in the back of the truck after a full day of skiing.

Downhill at Kelly Canyon: Tuesday, February 27

Kent was in town for a BYU-Idaho alumni jazz band gig, so Seth went night skiing at Kelly's with his parents, sister and brother. 

A snowy-bearded Seth at Kelly's.

CC at Harriman: Thursday, February 29

It was killing me that I had cross-country skied only once and it was nearing the end of the snow season, so I took the opportunity to go solo skiing at Harriman on a day when I didn't have anything scheduled. The trails weren't great; it had been a while since it had snowed, and the wind had blown over the tracks in several places. I still managed to enjoy the little bit of sunshine that peeked through the clouds at one point and the swans that glided along the river. 

Andrea with swans in the background.

CC at Harriman: Saturday, March 16

Ana felt the need to go to Harriman once in the season as well (I offered to excuse her from classes so she could come with me in February, but the crazy kid said she needed to stay for school), so we used a Saturday to go back to Island Park. This time we skied up to Golden Lake and back.

Ana and her cool shades. When the wind wasn't blowing, it was beautiful, sunny and warm.

Downhill at Kelly Canyon: Tuesday, March 19

Rachel talked us into getting season passes at Kelly's for next year. Included in that deal was the opportunity to ski for the rest of this season for free. During the girls' spring break, I took Winnie and Miriam up to the ski hill. Miriam last for a couple of runs before her feet complained too loudly. She sat on a bench outside the lodge and read mangas/listened to podcasts.

Winnie with her newly retrieved ski pass. It fell while we were riding the lift when she was pulling something else out of her pocket. She remembered exactly where it landed and was able to ski right to it and pick it up.

Wihnie recovering from walking back up a hill in ski boots after we went down the wrong way on a traverse that was new to us.

Proof that Miriam was there too.

The gross, ugly parking lot after our ski day.

Christmas break

We had two kids go under the knife during Christmas break, so we attended plenty of family events but generally kept things lowkey this holiday season.

Rebekah's surgery: Tuesday, December 19

Rebekah decided to have a breast reduction to help her be more comfortable and in less pain. Before the surgery, we had to go through quite the gamut. First we saw a surgeon in Blackfoot. He submitted everything to insurance. They deemed the surgery medically necessary. (Woohoo!) So we tried to schedule the surgery. Apparently this surgeon takes a lot of time off around the holidays and doesn't get to operate at the hospital any ol' time. They kept coming back to us with things like, "How about November 11?" And I'd say, "My daughter is a college student. She can't just take two weeks off of classes. Do you have anything during her Christmas break?" The answer was a resounding no.

So we did some more research, found a surgeon in Idaho Falls and scheduled an appointment with him. We had to do the whole submitting-to-insurance thing again. When the prescribed two weeks had passed, I reached out to our insurance and said, "Is it approved?" They said, "We've got to cancel the approval for the other surgeon first." I said, "Do it!" Thank heavens we didn't have to wait another two weeks after that to get the approval.

By the time we called the Idaho Falls surgeon back, his surgery dates during Rebekah's Christmas break were full. I explained the whole situation to a very understanding nurse who said she'd talk to the doctor and get back to us. A short while later she called and said that he was sympathetic to her circumstances, so he opened up another time slot for her during her Christmas break. Hallelujah! 

The surgical center is in the basement of this surgeon's office (which is why he had more control over his surgical dates/times). Rebekah was scheduled to be there at 1 p.m. The surgery went really well, but Rebekah coming out of anesthesia was an experience. First we were told that she was in recovery and it would be a few minutes before we could see her. Not long after, a nurse came and asked how hard of hearing Rebekah is because they were talking to her and her eyes were open, but she wasn't responding. They asked if we'd like to come back and help her with her hearing aids.

When we got to her, Rebekah's eyes were open. Like, waaaaay open. She was staring around the room like an bush baby. I tried talking to her, but even though she'd look my way, she wouldn't respond. I told her I would help her put her glasses and hearing aids on. It took a while before Rebekah started talking, and when she did finally start, she kept saying the same things over and over again: "What time is it?" "That was so fast from my perspective" (meaning the surgery), and "Sweet" in response to anything and everything. She had the worse short-term memory I've ever seen, but of course that improved the longer she was awake. (I mentioned to the nurses that they must see and hear all sorts of crazy things when patients are waking up. They said the younger the patient, the more they're affected.)

Rebekah with her half-eaten container of applesauce (at one point she noticed it and wondered where it had come from because she had forgotten about it) after her surgery.

For two weeks, Rebekah was told not to do anything: lift, run, play trombone, etc. She slept in a recliner in the music room and took it easy. 

Annual Hendricks lunch and activities: Saturday, December 23

We got together with our Hendricks aunts, uncles and cousins at our church building a couple days before Christmas. I finally had my sling off so I could take pictures, but I could take too many without my arm hurting from holding it up to face level. A few days after the party, Justin mentioned that he thought Rebekah must have been up late partying or something because she looked so tired and actually fell asleep on the couch in the foyer toward the end. Of course, it was because she'd had surgery just a few days before.

Ana got called on last-minute to be the donkey for Mary to ride on during the reenactment of the nativity. 

Winnie doubling as the innkeeper and a shepherd. I guess she couldn't hear very well with the fabric around her ears?

Miriam as a wise person.

Miriam and Cameron's daughter Juliette. All little kids love Miriam, even if they don't know her very well.

Winnie sitting on Santa's (Grandpa Dennis') lap.

Miriam on his lap.

Seth and Rachel.

The older cousins. Grandpa concocted every possible combination of people so they all had the chance to get their picture taken with him.

The granddaughters/granddaughters-in-law.

Winnie picking up candy after the piñata got smashed. The glowing tube around her head was from the goody bag Santa gave her.

Miriam with Cooper and Natalie.

Grandma Hendricks telling us about Chris and his accident.

Ana building a tiny snowman out of tiny Chinese LEGO-like pieces.

Dinner and Grandma Scott's: Sunday, December 24

We attended sacrament meeting, then came home and took it easy before going to Grandma's for our traditional Christmas Eve dinner. The girls helped Grandma cook schnitzel, and we enjoyed that with red cabbage and German potato salad.

Miriam, Winnie, Ana and Grandma Scott cooking schnitzel.

Canyon, Bennet, Easton, Winnie and Oakley enjoying the German pyramid.

Winnie opening her traditional Christmas Eve pajamas.

Miriam with her pajamas. (And Easton, Grandpa Scott, Grandma Scott, Canyon, Ana and Aunt Jessica in the background.)

Rebekah opening pajamas.

Ana opening another gift from Grandma and Grandpa: 

Christmas Day: Monday, December 25

Everyone got up around 7 a.m. The girls gathered at the top of the stairs (Rebekah had to come from the music room where she was sleeping) before coming down to see what they received for Christmas.

The girls' piles of goodies on the couch, and the parents' and family's presents on the ottoman.

Miriam showing off the drumstick necklace she received.

Seth watching the slideshow I made of his skydiving experience.

Winnie putting together her Chinese LEGO knockoff typewriter.

Ana checking out her floral owl Chinese LEGO knockoff.

Ana's surgery: Wednesday, December 27

We thought we'd have plenty of time for Ana to get her wisdom teeth out, say, during the summer or something. But when she had her checkup and cleaning in November, the dentist looked at her X-rays and said she should get them out soon, "like, during Christmas break." Apparently the wisdom teeth's roots were still open and therefore more easily pulled, but if we waited much longer, they would start to close and make things more complicated. So just like that, our Christmas break plans would include a second surgery for a second child.

Ana was a little apprehensive going into the surgery. The kid has had shots before, but she had never even had a cavity or an IV. Unlike Rebekah who, frankly, was full of bravado before her wisdom teeth extraction, Ana was very quiet and withdrawn. 

But the surgery went well. I got called back to where she was waking up, and the assistant was just finishing up getting her unhooked from everything. Ana was still a little emotional and quiet, but after getting a Pick Me Up (flavored soda made to order) and taking it easy at home, she perked up.

Gingerbread houses: Thursday, December 28

Sometimes it's easier to fit in the Christmas traditions between Christmas and New Year's. There's nothing wrong with making gingerbread houses after Christmas, right? Besides, Ana needed a little time to recuperate from her surgery.

Winnie's gingerbread house.

Ana's house. And the ice packs held to her face with headbands to keep the swelling down.

Rebekah's house.

Miriam's broken down truck.

New Year's Eve: Sunday, December 31

After a full block of church, we came home and had a nice quiet Sunday afternoon before breaking out the festivities. We had been invited to a family party in Rexburg, but the girls wanted to stay home and do our own thing. We played games, ate food and watched the ball drop in NYC at 10 p.m. before calling it quits and going to bed.

 

Playing Linkee on New Year's Eve.

Museum of Idaho: Wednesday, January 3

I basically forced everyone to fit this one into our schedules. More than one kid had wanted to see the newest traveling exhibit at the museum, so I made sure it happened. Miriam had gone on a school field trip to the museum in October, but all the 8th graders were only allowed to see the permanent exhibits. Both Bekah and Ana were feeling like they could go out into the world at least for a little while, so we checked out the Amazon rainforest exhibit as well as the permanent Idaho history exhibit. We timed it so we could watch one of the live demonstrations and got to meet a snake and tortoise.

 

Winnie looking at the tortoise.

Rebekah, Miriam, Seth and Winnie watching the tortoise.

Baptisms: Thursday, January 4

Winnie became eligible to receive a limited use recommend and participate in baptisms for the dead in the temple at the beginning of 2024, so at her first official youth activity on Tuesday, January 2, she interviewed with a member of the bishopric. We had an appointment for Thursday, and all six Grovers and their grandparents got to go to the temple together.

Seth and Grandpa Scott performed the baptisms. Grandpa Dennis helped with confirmations. Grandma Susan was baptized with our family, but she was delayed in the locker room afterward because she accidentally dropped her locker key down the laundry shoot with her jumpsuit. Grandma Scott and Rebekah were confirmed but not baptized. (Rebekah still couldn't be submerged following her surgery.) It was a special day with special people in a special place.

Family selfie before baptisms.

Grandpa and Grandma Scott, Andrea, Winnie, Seth, Grandma Susan and Grandpa Dennis outside the temple following the baptisms and confirmations.