Blessings

(Written March 17)

May 2005

I am eight months pregnant with our first daughter. I teach Photo I, Photo II, Journalism I, newspaper production and English 11 at Bonneville High School.

One bespectacled blonde student in my photo class asks, "Will you be returning to teach next year?"

"No," I tell her and the class. "I'm going to stay home with the baby."

Another kid, a vocal needler named Brad, incredulously declares, "You got a college degree and a job just to throw it all away for a baby? Man, kids are such a waste."

"Is that how your parents feel about having you?" I ask with a smile.


March 2020

Spring break starts early and will end late. Our evenings are free--an incredible change of pace from just the week before. We stay at home instead of attending dance class, musical practice, youth symphony rehearsals, youth activities, Primary activities, church.

The district announces that, starting April 1, all classes will be available online, and students are strongly encouraged to opt for remote learning rather than returning to their classrooms. Rebekah matter-of-factly states that she doesn't understand how her four band classes would work in an online setting. Ana mourns for her musical, her lack of social interaction, the teachers she has grown to love and will no longer see on a daily basis. Miriam and Winnie more simply state that they feel sad they won't get to see their friends.

My heads is whirling as I check the news this morning, just liked I've checked for updates every morning for the last week or two. So much has changed in such a short amount of time. Our carefully scheduled lives are now much more flexible, but we have nowhere to go.

And yet, I can't help but feel blessed. We will be okay. We are making adjustments every day. We are dealing with something completely unprecedented. But we will be okay.

Besides the material things--food and food storage, a home, books, games, a yard to play in, water--I feel very blessed to be in a situation that enables me to support my children and husband through this time. Despite renewing my Idaho teacher certification every five years, I have yet to return to a classroom of my own.
With Winnie in school full time, this is the first year when I feel like I could have picked up a job--full- or part-time. In fact, I was offered a teaching job at my kids' elementary school last spring. And the principal had previously told me that, if I was ever looking for a job, she would find a position for me. Back before we'd had all our girls, I had assumed I'd at least start subbing at the elementary school as soon as our girls were attending full-time.

But none of it felt right. So now when our children will be staying at home and participating in online school, I can be here with them. I have no obligations to contracts, time cards or salaried positions.

I am a stay-at-home mom. Whereas before the pandemic I used my time to work on our home, volunteer in school, run errands, etc., now I will be my kids' supervisor, tutor and facilitator.

It will take time to adjust. It will be difficult for all of us. But we can do it.

Now more than ever I appreciate the emphasis the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints places on home and family. Family is the central unit, and it is an important part of God's plan. My purpose is to help my children, my husband, myself and those around me to draw closer to Christ and receive eternal life. I feel that these tumultuous times have helped me to see and understand that even better than before.

Don't misunderstand me. I'm not saying that working moms are not fulfilling their purpose. I'm not saying that I'm better than others because of our decision for me to stay home. I'm not saying that my path and my choice are right for everyone. I don't know or understand anyone else's circumstances completely. I'm happy to acknowledge that.

What I am saying is that the Lord has guided me in my decisions. He has led the way for our family to do what is best for us.

My kids are not a waste; they are among my greatest blessings. My degree and my former job (despite its lack of longevity) helped shape me into the person I am today. I am grateful for all the experiences I've had, and I'm sure I will look back at this scary and uncertain time and think the same thing.

I feel blessed.

Gem State band

Rebekah auditioned for and made the Gem State Band. She was supposed to perform with the rest of the band during the previously mentioned week of snow and drifting in January. Because students weren't able to make it to Gem State rehearsals in Blackfoot, they rescheduled for Tuesday, February 11.

Bekah spent the day in rehearsals again, then performed on her euphonium. Again, the performance was very impressive. Seth and I attended the concert that  night in Blackfoot. Aunt Jessica baby-sat Miriam and Winnie. Ana got a ride to her youth activity. All returned safely for bed that night.

Headed onto the stage with her euphonium and music.

 All I could see of her while she was playing. (Look for the bell of her euphonium, and you'll see her blonde hair behind it.)

 Smiling after the performance.

Honor Society and choir concert

Our night on Monday, February 10 was full of craziness. Analee was inducted into the National Junior Honor Society at Rocky Mountain Middle School, and then we made a mad dash to the Hillcrest Performing Arts Center to watch Ana and Miriam perform with the Bonneville choirs. Ana made honor society because of her amazing grades (of course). Ana and Miri were in the concert because they had participated in a choir clinic the Saturday before. Both the induction and the concert had to be the same night because we weren't crazy enough already.

 Ana headed to her assigned seat in the auditorium.

 Receiving her certificate and shaking hands with advisers.

 Miriam singing "The Voice that I Hear" and "Homeward Bound."

Ana singing at the concert.

Rebekah at all-state band

Rebekah qualified to play trombone in the all-state band, so she boarded a bus with the three other Bonneville band members who made it on Wednesday, January 29 and headed to Nampa.

Bekah spent more than two days in rehearsals; all the practice culminated in a concert at Northwest Nazarene University on Saturday, February 1. Seth and I drove to Nampa on Friday, went to a session at the Boise Temple, checked out their D.I. and said hello to my brother and his family in Meridian. That way, we were set to check out Goodwill, Idaho Youth Ranch and D.I. in Meridian before seeing Rebekah's concert on Saturday. My parents were also able to attend.

 Andrea tallying yearbook surveys in the foyer while waiting for my parents to arrive.

The entire all-state band warming up on stage.

 All I could see of Rebekah from the front of the auditorium. See her little blond head and the temple piece of her blue eyeglasses? 

 Check out two o'clock, and you'll see Rebekah's head. It was absolutely impossible to see her from where we were sitting.

Good thing Grandpa sneaked onto the stage during warm-ups so we could actually see her face.

Rebekah leaving the stage with her music, trombone and two mutes following the concert.

We may not have been able to see her, but we certainly heard her (and the rest of the band). We were very impressed by their performance.

Bekah rode home with us and napped part of the way. 

Yule Ball

Poor Rebekah missed out on the Idaho Falls Public Library's Yule Ball this year because she made all-state band. Her group left the same day as the ball (Wednesday, January 29), so we adopted Aunt Jessica to come with us. Our group ended up winning third place in the family costumes contest, so now we have a cool Harry Potter wand that lights up (besides all the cool memories of drink butterbeer, dancing, making wands, etc.).

 Winnie as Dolores Umbridge. 

 Andrea as Rita Skeeter.

Miriam as Nymphadora Tonks. 

 Ana as the golden snitch.

Let's take a minute to appreciate Ana's costume, shall we? She wanted to be a snitch, but the only gold metallic clothes we could find at D.I. was this pair of 2XL leggings. 

I'm no seamstress, so I must say that I'm pretty darn impressed with myself for being able to transform that pair of leggings into Ana's snitch dress. Let's see the side-by-side, shall we?

Her wings are various silver tulle and ribbon I found at thrift stores.

Seth as the biggest Dobby you've ever seen. 

Aunt Jessica (as Ginny Weasley) with Winnie, Ana, Miri and Albus.

Tonks chasing Umbridge through the library.

Seth helping the snitch to fly.


Forbidden love: Rita Skeeter and Dobby.

Targhee

We made a trip to Grand Targhee on Saturday, January 25. With the fog and snow, visibility was low. Winnie stayed with Grandma Susan. Bekah's feet were hurting her (we have since found out she has bunionettes and the start of bunions), so she went on the runs that were easy enough that she could just point her skis downhill and go. Seth went up Dreamcatcher once, thought he would die, then stuck to the easy runs. Miriam experienced the bunny hill and magic carpet several times and then braved several runs accessible to Shoshone. Ana showed us all the green runs she had discovered last year. I managed to keep all parts of my body intact.

 Bekah, Ana, Seth, Andrea and Miriam at the top of Shoshone.

 Andrea at lunchtime. We tried to sit as close to the outdoor fire pit as possible.

 Seth pulling a face.

 Rebekah.

 Ana.

Miriam and her peach ring.

Snow days

These kids have been a little spoiled with the number of snow days they've had so far this year. In fact, the week of January 13, they only had school for 1 1/2 days because of the snow and drifting. But we made the most of it.

Ana and Winnie in the ditch. The girls braved the weather to dig tunnels through the snow that drifted and completely filled the ditch. 

Ana playing Settlers of Catan with me while Miriam plays with her dolls. 

We also made a trip to the library, had some hot chocolate, worked on driver's ed (Bekah) and borrowed Seth's truck to go grocery shopping since it has four-wheel drive.

Gwenism #26

During family scripture study.

Seth: (1 Nephi 8:33) And after they did enter into that building they did point the finger of scorn at me and those that were partaking of the fruit also; but we heeded them not.

Winnie: [Holding up her hand with her fingers spread] Which finger is the finger of scorn?

The rest of Christmas break

An encapsulation of the other activities we did over the two-week break:

Gingerbread houses and dinner

Uncle Kent and his family were visiting from Virginia, so we hosted dinner and a gingerbread house-making extravaganza on Saturday, December 21.

 Everyone creating their yummy and artistic houses around the kitchen table.

Winnie with her creation. The roof HAD been peaked, but the weight of everything on it led to its flattening. 

 Rebekah with her house. This is the first year Rebekah has successfully made a house that hasn't fallen apart by the end.

Miriam with her icing. 

 Ana's beach house.

Star Wars

We wanted to take the girls to see The Rise of Skywalker before they went back to school, so we watched the prequels, Solo, Rogue One, the original trilogy and episodes seven and eight before going to the theater to see episode nine on Friday, January 3. (Seth found some great fan edits of the prequels that we enjoyed, and some lovingly and painstakingly restored versions of the original trilogy that look exactly like the original theatrical releases.) To help with the hype, we made Star Wars pancakes on Sunday, December 22.

Winnie's and Miri's yoda pancakes.

Seth's septoplasty

Seth saw an ENT about his snoring shortly before Christmas break, and Dr. Capener recommended getting Seth's deviated septum straightened out, as well as reducing his turbinates. Since our deductible had already been met, he scheduled Seth for surgery before the end of the year. So on December 26, Seth went to Mountain View for day surgery.

Seth prepped and ready to be wheeled off to surgery.

Date at the aquarium 

Miri and Winnie wanted to go to the aquarium for their mommy-daddy-daughter date, so we took them and enjoyed seeing the sea life on Monday, December 30.

 Seth pointing out one of the fish to Miri and Winnie.

 Miriam coaxing a parakeet to eat the birdseed she is holding.

New Year's Eve party at Anne's

Anne graciously invited us to her annual New Year's Eve party, so we (except Seth who had caught the stomach bug) went. Good times were had by all.

Arbitrarily counting down (it was around 9 p.m.) so the balloons can be dropped.

Sledding 

We woke up New Year's Day to a bunch of new snow, so we decided to take advantage of it by going to Freeman Park and sledding down the hill. We had the entire hill to ourselves for the hour and a half we stayed.

 Miriam catching some air on the jump we made.

Seth helping the girls construct a big snowman next to the light show's snowman. 

A side-by-side. 

Winnie made her own snowman and loved it. 

Museum of Idaho

While Seth attended a temple session in Rexburg with his grandma, dad and brother, I took the younger three girls to the Museum of Idaho to see the Darwin and Dinosaurs exhibit on Saturday, January 4. Rebekah had gone previously with Seth and me on a date, so she opted to stay home and practice trombone.

Winnie sizing herself up against a dinosaur leg. 

Ana and Miri using the touchscreen.

Christmas

Minus the pesky stomach bug I ended up with, Christmas day was great for everyone.

 Miriam's pile this year.

 Winnie's. She obviously likes unicorns and Shimmer and Shine.

 Ana's pile.

 Rebekah's.

 Ana opening up her mermaid tail blanket.

 Miriam sporting hers.

 Seth helping Winnie get her feet clear to the bottom of her mermaid tail blanket.

Bekah helping Winnie be completely engulfed in hers.

After presents and breakfast, I went to our bedroom and hung out there for the rest of the day. We watched Rogue One together (me upstairs; the rest of the family downstairs), Grandma Susan and Grandpa Dennis came over to check out the girls' presents, and everyone (except me) went back over to Grandma and Grandpa Scott's house for schnitzel leftovers.