Thanksgiving

Three Thanksgiving dinners. That makes for a great Thanksgiving season. Especially when they're not one right after the other.

The first, of course, was the day of Rebekah's farewell. That's covered in another post.

The second was Thanksgiving itself. We celebrated (as usual) at the Scotts'. Our family and Tyson's family joined the grandparents for a delicious Thanksgiving feast on Thursday, November 28.

Winnie helping Grandpa slice the rolls we made.

Seth napping on the couch (as usual) after dinner.

Ana reading her book.

Miriam playing Uno with Easton, McKall and Bennet.

Winnie and Oakley playing Twister.

Two days after Thanksgiving (Saturday, November 30), we had our annual Christmas tree hunt. We went the same place as last time, but this time we decided to bring Peach. Seth (as usual) found our tree first. We got it cut and returned to the truck, then Tyson settled on an enormous specimen. Seth and Tyson hauled that to their truck. Dad had wandered off on his own to find their tree, and I think he finally found it about three counties over. Tyson and I wandered for a good long while until we finally figured out where he was and helped haul it out.

Easton, Winnie and Oakley hang out in the snow.

Miriam and Andrea in the parking lot at the Mike Spence Canyon Trailhead.

Seth and Peach in the truck. Peach had a good time, but there was a lot more snow than we anticipated, so she mostly stuck to the established paths rather than wandering through the white stuff.

Ana, Peach and Miriam at the truck.

Then we gathered at our house for the extended Grover Thanksgiving meal on Sunday, December 8. Grandma Susan, Grandpa Dennis, Grandma Hendricks and Rachel's family all came to our house, but Grandma Susan and Grandpa Dennis prepared almost all the food. It was easier to host at our house because we have more space but we're close by, and we don't have two rambunctious inside dogs.

The food was delicious, but apparently I neglected to take a single picture. 

Rebekah leaves on a mission

Rebekah spoke in church on Sunday, November 17 in preparation for leaving on her full-time proselyting mission in Reno. She talked about the blessings and covenants of the temple for unmarried members. Sister Garner and Sister Anderson (fellow brass band members), Elder Voda (a high school band friend serving as a service missionary) and Abby Huber (another high school/college band friend) all attended in person, and several friends and family members watched her talk over Zoom. Then we had an early Thanksgiving dinner at our house (with all the grandparents, Rachel's family, Tyson's family, Cathy & Greg and Anne & Jim) before going to the stake center so she could be set apart by President Solomon. 

A four-generation photo before Rebekah leaves on her mission. Grandma Hendricks is Rebekah's last surviving great-grandparent.

On Monday, November 18, Sister Grover began her home MTC experience. That meant she spent the whole day on Zoom meetings in the music room learning all about the mission rules, virtually meeting and studying with her companion Sister Burris, and teaching.

Outside the Idaho Falls Temple after attending an endowment session together and with the Scott and Grover grandparents. I failed as a companion to my home-MTC missionary by almost leaving her when she stopped to talk to an elementary school friend. She grabbed me before I could get too far. 

Rebekah educating Toad in the home MTC experience on Saturday, November 23. Rebekah ran out of contacts that weren't already packed in her suitcase, so she wore glasses for the last couple of days at home.

After saying goodbye to grandparents, our family woke up and started the journey to Provo on Tuesday, November 26. We ate lunch at Chick-fil-A (Rebekah's choice) and said our goodbyes at a nearby church (which I thought was a staging area for missionaries since the Provo Temple parking lot is closed for the new temple's construction but was actually in use for a funeral luncheon) where we shot pictures and took turns hugging Rebekah before going to the MTC and dropping her off in the parking garage.

Eating Asian cabbage salad in the garage for breakfast. I asked Rebekah what she wanted for her last three dinners at home before she left for 18 months, and Korean beef was on the list. I surprised her by making this cabbage salad to go with the Korean beef because I knew it was one of her favorites. So she made sure to enjoy it while she could. 

Everyone in the car on the way to Utah.

The family at Chick-fil-A.

With her sisters at the church before dropping Rebekah off at the MTC.

With her parents.

After dropping her off, we went to BYU so Ana could go on a scheduled tour of the campus. I accompanied her and rode around in a golf cart with a family from the San Francisco area and our tour guide, Sam. Ana is planning on attending BYU-Idaho, but she figured it wouldn't hurt to see the campus of the other school she applied to. While we did that, Seth took the other girls to the Bean Museum and the paleontology musuem. After the tour, Ana asked if we could go inside the library and the geological science building. (The tour only took us around the outside of the buildings.) Winnie and Miriam waited in the van while we walked to those buildings and checked them out.

Ana and Andrea on the golf cart. It drizzled all day, so we had the plastic walls on all four sides of the golf cart. 

Then we made the mistake of traveling to Lehi during rush hour so we could go to the Thanksgiving Park's Luminaria display. The girls weren't sure what we were getting into ("We're going to a light display? We bought tickets for this? What do we do ... walk around and look at lights?"), but Luminaria turned out to be a great experience. There were acres of grounds to walk on with incredible displays. They even piped scents into the different themed areas (pine, peppermint, sugar cookie, etc.). There were interactive displays, and a whole area with statues depicting scenes from Jesus' life with another depicting the Iron Rod and Tree of Life.

Under one of the light tunnels.

Under a giant tree of lights.

Interactive light-up stepping stones that changed color as you walked on them.

With some of the Jesus statuary.

At the Tree of Life.

After Luminaria, we went back to our hotel and had a late dinner. Our room didn't have a microwave like I thought it would, so we had to go to the breakfast area in the lobby to use their microwave to heat up our cans of soup. The next morning, we headed to the outdoor heated pool where Ana and Miriam each lasted about two minutes. Winnie and I alternated between the pool and the hot tub for a while with Seth occasionally throwing snowballs at us (he forgot his swimming suit, and it had snowed during the night). We asked the girls if they were interested in going anywhere else in Utah (the aquarium, Temple Square, etc.), but everyone was content to head home.

It was different coming home and knowing that Rebekah wouldn't be there for the next 18 months. There were signs of her absence everywhere.

Winnie feeling sad at seeing Rebekah's empty bunkbed. Ever the planner, Rebekah had stripped the bed before heading to Utah the day before.

But, of course, we're happy for her and proud that she has chosen to dedicate these 18 months to serving the Lord. Rebekah has been planning to serve a mission for years, and there's no place she'd rather be right now despite the hard work and the uncertainties. 

As a joke, Ana placed sticky notes on Rebekah's face on our family picture wall. We were going to see how long it took Seth to realize what she'd done, but Miriam took them down the next day. He hadn't noticed by that point.

Halloween

 As per our annual Halloween traditions, the girls make jack-o-lanterns right before the holiday on Wednesday, October 30. 

Ana gags as she guts her pumpkin.

Winnie and Miriam prepare their gourds.

Rebekah using our new tool (a glove with a built-in scraper) to prep her pumpkin.

On the actual day of Halloween, our family went to the temple to do baptisms for a dead (Halloween is a GREAT day to do that because nobody else is there and you get in and out really quickly). Then we took pictures of the girls with their jack-o-lanterns. Winnie went trick-or-treating with her friend, Chloe, while Miriam and Ana watched a movie with a few friends at our house. I made apple cider and spudnuts. We had (only!) four groups of trick-or-treaters come to our house. 

Outside the temple before our appointment.

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The girls with their pumpkins. Winnie did a ghost and a tombstone. Ana did a silly meme pumpkin. Miriam did the Beatles' silhouettes on Abbey Road. Rebekah did a ringwraith from Lord of the Rings.

Silly family picture with pumpkins.

The jack-o-lanterns all aglow.

Even though the girls all wore their costumes to school and Seth wore his to work that day, we didn't get our family costume pictures taken until the next day when we had more time on our hands.

Miriam as Velma.

Winnie as a ghost. Or Winnie as a person dressed up as a ghost. She was going to be Bingo from the kids' TV show Bluey, but her friend that was going to be Bluey didn't go that route after all, so Winnie decided to go with the sheet right before the holiday ... which ended up working perfectly with the costumes the rest of us had chosen.

Ana as Daphne.

Rebekah as Fred.

Seth as Shaggy.

Andrea as Scooby Doo. Gratefully Rachel's family had done the same theme last year, so I was able to borrow their Scooby costume.

Being chased by a ghost.

Darn those meddling kids!

Fall performances

Once the school year gets underway, it's only a matter of time before our evenings fill up with concerts and performances. Here's the rundown of our fall performances. 

Choir concert: Monday, October 14

Ana claps and sings during the Bonnevaires' performance of "" in the Performing Arts Center at Hillcrest. It was Ana's first-ever choir concert.

Singing with the choir.

BYU-Idaho concert: Thursday, October 17

Rebekah playing the second trombone part in a trombone trio at the college. Despite not being a registered student this semester (because of her mission starting in November), she was asked to perform with her trombone professor and a senior classmate during this concert.

Rebekah with Quentin and Brother Meacham. (Rebekah is so much shorter than the others. And so much more animated when she plays.) The piece they played ("Trio Con Brio") was composed by a French music professor who came to Rexburg and conducted the piece.

ISU choir invitational: Saturday, October 19

Ana sings "Never Let Go" with the Bonnevaires at a choir invitational. Each choir sang one of its own songs, then they all got up on the stage to form a mega-choir that sang some gospel songs directed by a professor from Illinois who had spent the day teaching the kids.

Halftime: Friday, October 25

Miriam and other ballroom dancers talking to kids in the stands while waiting for halftime.

Miriam performing "Pictures of Mountains" with the ballroom team during halftime at a football game.

Miriam's first high school ballroom performance.

Band concert: Thursday, November 7

Miriam plays the bass drum as the band performs pep band songs at the beginning of their concert.

Playing the marimba during the percussion ensemble piece titled "Sofapilla."

Band concert: Thursday, November 14

Winnie takes a break between songs in her first band concert as a middle school student. We couldn't see her face whenever she had her baritone up, hence the picture between songs.

Miss Bonneville: Saturday, November 16

Ana participates in the opening number of the Miss Bonneville scholarship pageant. Ana had considered participating her junior year, but decided she actually wanted to do it her final year of high school.

Ana sings the Postmodern Jukebox version of "My Heart Will Go On" during the talent portion of the pageant. 

Ana answers her onstage question during the pageant. She was asked if she could travel to anywhere in the world, where would it be? She answered by saying she would love to go back to Italy because she has taken some classes at Bonneville (Art History I and II) and would love to see the art and architecture again. 

Andrea and Seth posing with Ana after the pageant. Despite all her hard work, Ana didn't receive any awards besides the $150 in scholarship money that every participant received.

Posing with her sisters. Ana put her heart and soul into the practices and performance, and she learned a lot.