Winding Up the School Year

Maggie thrived in 6th grade at Madison Middle School, under the team of teachers Dobson, Ostermiller and Schraedel. She sang solos in choir and glowing reports from her teachers every parent teacher conference. AND she learned a valuable lesson - that you must study outside of school when necessary, like for her Greek and Latin roots test for her advanced writing teacher, Mrs. Mounts. Real life getting closer, eh Mags? Bring it on!

She had her first bombed test and needed some encouragement to put in the work necessary to bring the grade up to an A again. I told her she could pierce her ears if she did - and have never seen her work so hard! (her next test was 100%)

Sophie and her BF Chacie Draney have been in the same classes since kindergarten! They are so similar in that they are both great students, very helpful around the house, like to play the same games (like dressup and makeup and Polly Pockets) and teachers pets. This is them at their class field trip to the Tautphaus Zoo in Idaho Falls- a charming little zoo, surrounded by parks where we ate lunch. My friend Saralyn also chaperoned the trip with me, with her kids Hyrum, Ammon and Max. Good times.

Spencer had a huge year as well, acing his first year of public school with great academic achievement (though he and I both hate kindergarten homework) and only one trip to the principal's office (for fighting with Ammon about who was Ben's best friend. Really, bud? I chaperoned his end-of-year party too, to the Craze family party place where he played his first game of lazer tag. I think we've found a new passion!

 He tolerated his graduation program... (third from the left, back row)

 ... to enjoy the party afterwards, with crafts, treats and face painting.

 And their brave, long suffering teacher, Mrs. Wilcox, survived having these four little crazies in her class! Ben, Spencer, Lucas Spaulding and Ammon. Best frenemies ever! Ah, the drama of kindergarten social politics. Spence does great in school, is in the highest reading group and listens well to his teacher... unless provoked, usually by Ammon. Sigh.

 

Mrs. Wilcox LOVES Spencer and kept a special eye on him for me. She even caught a few weeks where Spencer was having a hard time, not being his sunshiny self and was withdrawn and quiet in class (it was when Ben was absent from school for a month - they missed each other). She was wonderful!

And this, this is the famous Mrs. Dennis, the best teacher in the school! Sophie was so lucky to have her this year! Maggie got in to her class Mrs. Dennis' first year of teaching (and our first year back from North Carolina) so we were the first to see how awesome this woman is. This is the teacher who put on Sophie's Wizard of Oz and Mother's Day tea. She is loving and wise and fun. She decorates her room with monkeys and a tree house. I had to hold back the tears saying goodbye to her at the end of the year! And if Spencer doesn't get her next year, I am going to be really distraught. 

They have a field day the last day of school - I was in charge of the ring toss. Time to go home and drink some 7Up.

Thank you South Fork Elementary for taking such good care of my kids! See you next year!

May = Performance Season

So, our Spring Concert and our national competition at Lagoon are probably our biggest events of the dance year, besides Festival Team which got up and running in February, but that's another story - coming soon. Our 2013 Spring Concert at Madison High School was undeniably our best yet - few beginning (ie boring) classes to sit through between the good dancing. Our senior teams were great this year (Tricky, Demented Circus) and the presence of the Festival Team dances (Evo Clog, which started the show; Charleston; Swing; Hoe Down; and Parker and David Stone's Banjo boy duet) definitely upped the entertainment value. I have no pictures because I was too busy running around to make sure everything flowed well to take them. But it went well, which is all that matters. Pizza provided by Nana and Papa, and Kiwi Loco frozen yogurt afterwards with half the studio. Good times all around!

Lagoon was fun this year too, but mostly because I've learned over the years not to stress at competitions. Everyone gets on stage in the end. We go down for the performance experience, not to win (because extreme competition turns out mean, catty dancers - so NOT our motivation). Everyone relaxed and enjoyed the day, and our teams did great!!!

 Kallie, Mairin and Maggie leading the way in a'capella, On The Job.

 The two little girls, hamming it up

 Clogging upside down? With hammers, no less!

 Tricky - a surprise hit this year. Such great energy!

 David Stone, Parker Stone and Joe Andreasen - three of our top boys. In cute headdresses.

 Walk like an Egyptian... or dance like a clogger.

 Demented Circus was everyone's favorite! So "us". No other dance looked like it. Which at a competition in Utah, that's saying something, because most of the other teams dance exactly like each other.

Yay we won cool stuff! Who cares? Can we go on rides now? Yes, our priorities are straight...

The Perfect Mother's Day

I had a most wonderful Mother's day. We were in Salt Lake, and I woke up to cuddles, got to hear my kids sing and my parents speak in church, ate an incredible lunch (the Club!) that I did not have to cook or clean up, took a nap, ran through sprinklers and rolled down a grassy hill with my hub and kids... what a lovely day. Even the three hour drive back to Rexburg was okay, since our dog was ecstatically waiting there to welcome us home. I love my life!

And Sophie's incredible 2nd grade teacher Mrs. Dennis does a mother's day program with her class, including place settings, books for moms and grandmas, a musical program with each child reciting a piece of poetry (Sophie did Shel Silverstein's All the Woulda Coulda Shouldas), and a fabulous dessert. Such a special time together! 

  

The kids made necklaces for their moms, and being the thoughtful, adorable girl Sophie is, she made one, and a book, for Nanny as well. 

 

Random Spring Stuff

In Mrs. Dennis's class, each kid did an animal report. Sophie's school project was on Chimpanzees; she had to make her own poster, do her own research, and have a 3 minute presentation memorized to give to the visitors. She was awesome. And here's her crazy hair day, below. My best creation yet, I think!

 We had an 80's prom theme for the Activity Days Daddy Daughter Date. Here is Sophie and Gary doing an awkward date picture...

 ...and gorging on the chocolate fountain (thank you Saralyn!)...

 ...and eating dinner...

 ...and making Italian Sodas, our latest sweet treat streak in the Larsen Family.

 We played some minute to win it games, did a (clean) spin the bottle truth or dare game, and...

 ...had the girls and dads identify each other's feet from behind a blanket. Hilarious! Then of course we finished off with the traditional dance party to 80's tunes.

I have to say, I LOVE how easy it is to host parties in our barn. It is the best part of our current residence! We have a lot of fun out there!

Here's Spencer playing soccer with his buddies Ammon and Ben. They have a ball together! Spence gets all excited and jumps up and down, and prefers to slide onto the ground every time he kicks the ball for added effect. It's total mob ball at this age, but it's a blast to watch! Spence even did really well with scoring this year, at least one every game. One game he was on a roll and got 7 goals! Go Spen!

He also has a great time with his special buddy, Ben Goodnough. Here's them in the back seat of Dawn's car, totally delighted with jawbreakers smeared all over their faces. Boys are so weird! but I love them.

Maggie and her friend Mairin got to perform at their middle school, so they adapted their team number, Tricky, for two people. Maggie's the one with her hair pulled back. Everyone loved it!

Easter 2013

 Neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt at the Spauldings. Each family contributed 12 eggs per child attending, and the Spauldings went to a bunch of businesses for coupons and other prizes as well. It was awesome!

 Sophie, Lucas Spaulding and Spencer all lined up, ready to go!

 Sophie and Brooke Ricks showing off their baskets.

And on to Salt Lake and Nana and Papa's House for Spring Break! Of course we hit the zoo, and its amazing new Sea Lion and Polar Bear exhibits...

 ...and Pioneer State Park, another of our favorite SL stops. And yes, Nana's the best!

 Learning to write their names with the Deseret alphabet in the schoolhouse.

 Uh oh, Spencer's getting punished! What did you do this time, buddy? :-)

 Baby animals everywhere! Including a 20-minute old baby goat!

 Panning for "gold" - always a favorite activity. This time we also got to talk to a "mountain man" who told us all about their survival techniques and living quarters. Fascinating! I love this park!

 Tapping leather.

And, to top it off, Conference was during our spring break this year! Thanks to Papa's connection with President Monson, who always gives us great Conference tickets, Gary and the girls got to sit with all the GA families right up front for the Sunday morning session. Pretty darn awesome! We are so lucky. So many blessings in our lives.

Ch Ch Ch Changes.... Or Not

One of the reasons I got so behind in blogging was a big decision we had to make back in March; it sucked out every ounce of my energy and already limited brain power to deal with it.  The Job at BYU, the one we've been eying for for a decade,  became available, and Gary went down to Provo to interview for it.

So would it be this?









Or this?








We lost more sleep over this decision than we have over any other single decision in our entire marriage. Painful. And no direct answers, which means that the Lord wanted us to work it out for ourselves. And (we hope) that he would be happy with either.

We agonized for two weeks, fasting, praying, going to the temple. We were trying to force ourselves to fit into the path we had always foreseen for our family, which was BYU Provo. But there were some definite cons to moving south, including the stupor of thought and a considerable pay decrease. Once we came to grips that we did not have to do down there simply because it was expected of us, the choice became fairly clear.

In the end, this is what we sent out to our family:

Dear All,

Well, it finally came - the job offer to take over the folk dance team at BYU. And we have turned it down to stay here at BYU-Idaho. It was a painful decision, but we have finally found peace with our answer. It took weeks of praying, fasting, and talking within our family until we were blue in the face and sick of the subject. The answer didn't come right away, and it really surprised us when it did. We had to piece together feelings we've increasingly had over the past year that BYU was not where we needed to be. Gary sensed when he interviewed in February that it was a no-go. Which was weird. We always thought we'd end up there, and we're still trying to get our heads around the fact that we are now Idahoans for the foreseeable future. Luckily we like it here. We are small-town kind of people. Rexburg is an awesome place to raise kids, Gary has great job satisfaction, and there's no place we'd rather be at the end of days. :-) We know Gary can do important work here at the college and he is definitely needed and valued here. The program in Provo will continue as it always has, whereas if he left Rexburg, it's pretty much guaranteed that BYUI's world dance department would cease to exist.

So there you have it. Staying here is right for our family. At least for now. Maybe if they offer us the directorship of the Polynesian Cultural Center we can go over to Oahu for a few years and you can all come visit! Or maybe we'll get called to another, as yet unknown destination. The Lord has handed us some wild, crazy, wonderful adventures and we have learned so much from all of them. And hope to learn from many more. 

love you all,

Mindy and Gary and fam

The reaction to this news was generally stupefied disbelief, but after that initial reaction most of the people who really care about us were very supportive (though I think Pete still thinks we're crazy). So there you have it, and here we stay! For now...