We are right in the middle of the last week of school. With finals, and final performances, and tryouts for next year's things, and preparation for summer things, it's all been quite the push. We're almost there though. Here are some photos:

Final performance in concert band for Ev. This year she was the section leader for percussion, and probably will be next year as well. She also auditioned to be in a different band next year that travels a little more and she got in. She is considering jazz band as well, I think. But so far she does concert band, wind ensemble, drumline, and Retrospect (garage band), as well as private drum lessons. It's a lot, and she does it well. Also, the guy in the back looks like a creeper, but he is apparently a very nice kid.

Lindsey had signed up for a trial run of elementary school choir. They meet early in the morning before school starts and it requires a bit of commitment. I hadn't heard them sing until last week, and I was honestly very impressed. Those who know me know that I don't say that unless I mean it. But seriously, they sounded really good!

Lindsey also signed up to be in the school talent show. She chose some music and choreographed an Irish dance for herself. It was really fun to watch! Sometimes, our kids do things and it's like, yeah they are in this thing or that thing or whatever, but then when I see the results I am actually quite floored. I guess that consistent practice and hard work really do pay off.

These last two are from a night out we had as a family to see the play "Legally Blonde." We had an outdoor dinner beforehand at a beautiful restaurant in Sandpoint, and then had a blast watching the show. The kids already knew all the songs, and though it was a late night, energy levels were high until the very end.

Also, I have to mention that even though we got home around 11:30, Jackson woke up at 5:00 the next morning because he had committed to help a friend work on the nearby golf course. I was really proud of him for doing that.

Just a random picture from a church potluck- known to our kids as "all-you-can-eat-dessert." Make note of the huge plate of sweets, and the single bite out of the hamburger on his plate. I'd let you guess which plate was clean at the end, but I think his smile already gives away the answer.

Wow- there is a lot of Lindsey in this post. This is from a Shakespeare performance she did with her Challenge team (it's like a gifted and talented thing). They had worked up little skits based on scenes from Hamlet. L was actually in two of them since she was also filling in for someone else.

Maren has been rocking the choir thing. Lately she has been in private voice lessons, which she begged us for and looks forward to every week. For the end-of-school-concert she auditioned for a solo part and got it, and then auditioned for the select choir next year and got in to that too! She's does well, and I have watched her confidence level rise through the roof with all of this. Later in the month she'll be part of a concert-in-the-park thing where she'll sing a few solos from musical theater.

Here's Addy at her end-of-year concert. This is what happens when you text a kid to put their head up and smile so you can get a picture. I don't know how I feel about her responding to text messages in the middle of a concert, but I guess it worked. Saxophone has been a big thing for Addy. She already has some small scholarships from it and she is excited to be in some of the high school bands next year.

I was roughly the same age as Adalie and Jackson when my family moved to Rexburg. When I think about growing up, virtually all of my "childhood" memories come from our house in Merced (California), with Rexburg being reserved for a few awkward, yet very formative teenage years through high school. I left home right after turning 19 years old, which is when, up until very recently, I felt like I said goodbye to this place.

Well, my parents have recently sold that house. They are moving to a different town and onto a different stage of life. It's probably a good thing for them. This last weekend, the majority of my siblings and I got together one last time as a kind of farewell. For some of us, it will probably be the last time we ever really go to Rexburg.

We had a good weekend that was a family reunion of sorts, and we visited some of the old places of our youth. It wasn't until about an hour before we left that it really hit home to me how much I was actually going to miss it all. And by "it all" I'm not really talking about the physical place, per se. But it is undeniable that there is still a "feeling" there for me. A feeling of belonging. Of comfort. Protection. I guess, in a certain way, of "home." 

Like, when I visit my parents from now on, it will very much feel like going to "my parent's house" instead of "my" old house. It will never again have that sense of "going home." That home is gone now. The new place will be foreign. I mean, we might as well stay in a hotel with them. I won't know if a beloved family pet was ever in the backyard chasing thunderstorms. Or if kids ever jumped down the stairs onto pillows. How teenagers built makeshift gyms or clubhouses or stereo systems, or where all the best hiding places are during night games. And though these things are irrelevant to my life now, just being in a place where, on a subconscious level, I "felt" this history all around me was somehow very comforting, familiar, and reassuring. These thoughts shook me more than I thought they would, and I can't deny that I feel like a part of me is being lost here. It makes me a little bit sad.

On a more practical level, it also makes me kind of sad that we are not likely to see my parents as much as we used to. I feel like I had very involved grandparents growing up, and I want that for my kids. The vast majority of my own childhood memories includes at least one of them being present. And though it isn't exactly close, Rexburg was at least within striking distance of a single weekend for us. It was also a convenient stop on the way to other places, meaning that we had many impromptu visits as we traveled to and from other destinations. The new town, however, is both further away and more remote from our family. We'll make an effort, of course, but especially as our teenage kids get busy with jobs and friends and extracurriculars, it is hard for me not to see our family losing something in this move in terms of familial relationships.

Anyway, I'm not trying to sound all somber- We really did have a great weekend and it was nice seeing some extended family. Here are some photos. Have a good week!

*****

This is on top of "R Mountain." It's a hill, with on R on it for "R"exburg. This is one of many small day hikes that we used to do when I lived there. As you look out from the top you get a pretty good view of the surrounding area.

Ev, Addy, and I took a long way down and did some scrambling along the way. It was kind of a fun run/hike.

This is at a park along the Snake river. I would often take my dog on walks to this place. It was always amazing to me how I could throw a tennis ball as far as I wanted into the dense undergrowth and how she would always find it. This was also a common destination for me to go by myself as I was learning to drive. It was a nice place to end up, and a secluded place to practice starting and shifting gears as I drove around the nearly-always-vacant campsites. (It was also fun to peel out or spin the car on the gravel roads)

I wasn't planning to visit Beaver Dick Park during this trip, but I had pointed the area out to Evelyn on previous drives so she knew about it. On Saturday night she told me she was planning on waking up early and driving out there the next morning, and she asked if I wanted to come. I thought that was kind of neat, and quickly jumped onboard. 

The nature ponds. I spent a lot of summer days at this place, swimming with friends, jumping off rocks and goofing around in the water. We would often bring kayaks and slide down the steep banks into the water, or practice our "combat rolls." All this play actually turned me into a pretty proficient whitewater kayaker. We would almost always stop on the way home at Dairy Queen for ice cream.

The skate park. I didn't skateboard a lot growing up- that is a more recent thing. I did spend a fair amount of time on rollerblades though. In California we would play roller hockey in the cul-de-sac by our house, or build mini "skateparks" out of random pieces of wood and pipe. In Rexburg I would take my dog for runs- throwing a ball down a hill and then holding onto the leash for dear life as she pulled me on skates to chase it. 

Addy soon learned that bike jumps don't work as well on skateboards.

This is the big field at the elementary school where my mom taught and where many of my siblings attended. We had to play a family wiffle ball game there.

Well, this brings back memories. When we moved to Rexburg I was a teenager, and kind of a quiet one at that. It wasn't easy for me to make new friends, but I found a lot of encouragement and acceptance in a budding local rock climbing scene, consisting mostly of college students. What you are looking at in this picture is my very first training apparatus- a makeshift hang-board that I put in the storage room. The holes in the ceiling behind the blue block are from small screws that held a piece of foam from an old camping mat. The foam was so I didn't hurt my head so much when I bumped it doing pullups. Surprisingly, it still held my weight and I did a few one-arms for old times' sake (I didn't trust it enough for front levers though). I also went outside and did the traverse one more time across the brick wall from the my old window to the other bedroom window. I used to do that to train finger strength.

If you're interested, this is a much better photo at high res if you click on it

Goodbye old house

Bedtime stories. That's what they are, really. It started when the kids were very young, as the final step in a nightly ritual. Picture books first. Then Magic Treehouse and easier chapter books. Maybe some Roald Dahl. As they got older we transitioned to Newberry winners, and then on to some easy YA fiction. 

Since then, the dynamics of our family have changed considerably. Bed time rituals are a thing of the past, and some of our teenagers are often up later than we are. But reading has not gone anywhere. If anything, it has become more important- a time when the whole family is together, often connecting or discussing challenging topics with each other. It's definitely not an every night thing- maybe like three times a week. But I love it every time.

Last night we read a short story assigned in Evelyn's AP English class and I was impressed with the insight that each person brought to the table. Just before that we had finished reading The Outsiders, since Addy will likely be seeing the Broadway play in New York in a few weeks. It is a weekly occurrence in our family for someone to reference a work of literature when trying to get a point across or to reach out and identify with a character or situation that is similar to what they are experiencing. Anyway- I don't really know where I am going with this. It's just something that I don't think I could have predicted for us and I just really love that this is a thing. That is all.

*****

Okay. On to our week:

When I go home from work today there will be zero rats in our home (as far as I know). This is a chapter that has finally come to a close, and though it took longer than ideal, the ending was a good one. Here's a  recap of the story:

Maren got some pet rats back in February. She had done a lot of thinking about it, and spent most of the money she had to get things ready for them. She bought books and watched internet tutorials on how to take care of them, and she made impassioned arguments that they are actually very smart and clean creatures. Her and I stayed up late one night putting together a cage, and her room was rearranged to make a perfect little space. She looked at multiple pet stores and rat places and finally found a couple of furry friends that she brought home. Tito and Daisy were their names. Maren was so excited. And I have to admit- the rats were kind of cute.

But then Maren started getting rashes. It took a couple of weeks to narrow it down- mostly because we wanted to be in denial about it- but after a while it became pretty clear. Maren was allergic to her new friends. Now, by this point they had already managed to become a part of the family- at least from Maren's perspective. They had names and personalities and had gotten used to their new home. And despite the allergy, she loved holding them. But we knew that this couldn't last forever.

And then something else happened. It turns out that, unbeknownst to anybody, Tito the rat was recently pregnant at the time that she came to live with us. It wasn't long before we had, not two, but thirteen rats living in Maren's room! This was a huge blow- especially to a girl with as tender a heart as Maren's. Without loving them, she dutifully took care of those baby rats for as long as she could. They all looked pretty much the same, except for one who was more curious than the others and had a little white star on his forehead. We named him Cheeto Puff. The rest were just "the baby rats."

Because of the allergy, Maren had to take a shower every time she held any of them or cleaned their cage. Most days she ended up taking some sort of medication or cream to help relieve itchy skin. And she couldn't really even go in her room, so she slept on the couch. This also affected Lindsey, who shares the room, because the thirteen rats were pretty active at night and would run around and wake her up. So Lindsey would sleep on the couch too. This meant that in our house, which already has fewer bedrooms than it does kids, an entire room was devoted only to these rats. And this has been the status quo for at least the last couple of months.

For a while it looked like the only solution would be to surrender the rats to a pet store, where they would be sold as feeders. This was unacceptable. These were Maren's babies, and as annoying as the situation was, putting them to certain death out of convenience was simply not an option. And so the long, arduous process of selling them to loving buyers commenced.

And that's pretty much it. Once the babies reached a proper age they were sold off in pairs. Tito and Daisy were given to a very kind owner who lives in a big house with a whole room devoted to rats and who sends pictures to Maren from time to time. Even though they ended in a good place, there were a lot of tears during that transaction. And then finally, finally, the last of them- including little Cheeto Puff- were given away to a very understanding pet store manager who gave Maren a solemn oath that they would never become food.

And that was that. I feel bad for Maren. She stuck through all of this. She had the best of intentions, and she showed more personal sacrifice and responsibility than what I would have expected. It just didn't work out though. I guess this is as happy an ending as we could ask for.

*****

Here are a few other pictures from the week. Also, Ev and I played in the church band together again- her on drums and me on bass. I really enjoy doing this with her. 

Evelyn organized a cleanup of a local climbing area. It was part of a school assignment and she recruited a bunch of her friends and some of our family to help.

Lindsey's class went on a field trip to the Cataldo Mission, and Rachel went along with them.

Look behind us- it's the early stages of an actual wall! This project is slowly marching forward. These walls will probably take the majority of the summer to finish. We'll hopefully do carpet and lighting in the fall, and have everything furnished and ready before next ski season starts.

These next few are just from hanging out and hikes and stuff around our area. 

Have a good week!

Even though it's still May, it feels like summer is here. Last year on this week we went skiing. This year we went to the lake, and Evelyn went to Silverwood. Kinda crazy. 

There are some good little stories in the captions this week for those who are interested.

We celebrated our 19th anniversary. It is quite the life we have built together.

Addy (far left in the picture) at her NJHS thing with some of her friends. It's like a smart people club or something- I'm not a hundred percent sure.

Lindsey's friend invited her to a thing that is sort of like scouts, but with church stuff I think. Again, I'm not totally sure, but this was a little award ceremony they had and Lindsey got some patches.

While Rachel was gone last week with Evelyn, we built a bench. It's not just any bench though. This is the old Chair 3 from Lookout Pass- the one that we have ridden a hundred times as our kids learned how to ski. They replaced the lift last year as part of their expansion, and we were able to pick this relic up for ourselves. This chair then, is a physical representation of an intersection of our own family history with the history of skiing in our area. I think it's pretty neat.

And here it is on the front porch of our Wallace house. We have filled this place with fun historical artifacts, but I especially love that we have some of our own history with this one.

Rach and I got some touring kayaks with the intention of exploring more of the waterways around here. We went out on Friday for a quick sunset paddle. It was very lovely. Little did we know at the time, but this was only the beginning of a pretty spectacular night.

I'm excited for some kayak camping with this girl

Once the sun went down, we went to a lakeside restaurant with a nice patio and good food.

When we went back to the lake to retrieve our boats, we were surprised to see the parking lot full of people. Like, really full. People everywhere. Just mulling about, looking at the sky. I was confused. Was this some cult awaiting the rapture? It sure looked like it.

And then someone kindly informed us that the Northern Lights would likely be visible that night and that was the cause for all the activity. We took out a blanket, sat on the lawn, and joined the crowd.

Things were uneventful for a long time. Sometimes if you pointed your camera at just the right place and took a long exposure, you could see stuff in the screen. People seemed pretty excited about it, but honestly, it was a little "meh." Rachel liked doing the camera thing. As for me, I covered up with the blanket and closed my eyes.

But then things changed. The sky sort of just exploded (visually- no sound obviously). That is the picture above. Everywhere around me I could hear people saying "wake up, wake up." When I came out from under my blanket I could see, without any artificial enhancement, colors and streams of light. It was pretty cool.

Here's another one from our little spot on the lawn. The phone camera still enhances it a bit, but it was honestly pretty neat to just the naked eye as well. The later it got, the more spectacular it was. We called our kids at this point to wake them up and then drove home to enjoy the show with them.

To conclude this part of the blog, I have to include this random picture of Addy on our deck. I took it a few weeks ago and didn't think much of it. It didn't make it onto the blog or anything. Just a random picture on my camera reel. Which is the whole point I am about to make. Because look behind her. Look at that sunset. I mean, we get a light show virtually every night of our lives. Most mornings too, if you are willing to wake up early enough. And it is spectacular and magical every single time. Personally, I think it's more beautiful than the display of Northern lights that we saw. But it is so "normal" that these moments are just taken for granted. I get that what happened the other night is something new and surprising to most people who live here, and that is noteworthy. But I also think we don't have to look all that hard to see magic all around us. We really do live in a beautiful area.

The rest of these photos are just from things we have been up to around town. Here is a lake day with the kids (different from our sunset paddle). It is nice that so many waterways are so close to our house.

Here's from a bike ride that Rach went on with her friend. 

And these next two are from a park day where we all brought skateboards and just cruised around for an hour or so.

Also, happy Mom Day to this one. She's a good one.

Have a good week!