First Day of School

First Day of 1st Grade - Molly!

First Day of Spartan Station - Jack!

Summer So Far So Far So Done

What else did we do this summer?

We went to a Magic Show at Murray Park.  The kids really enjoyed this and had a lot of fun.  They may have both had a cow when we left because I wouldn't let them buy a magician prize, but life is tough sometimes.

Jack wanted to take swimming lessons.  He did one round of Seahorse (level 1) and some private lessons last summer.  This time around he easily breezed through Seahorse and his teacher said he was almost finished with the requirements for Clownfish (level 2).  He really likes swimming and has a lot of fun in the pool.  Molly, on the other hand, did not want to do swimming lessons.  Rather than fighting her and insisting that she do it, I just decided it was ok if she didn't want to swim.  She used Jack's towel and dad's tablet each lesson and just had some quiet movie time to herself.  It worked.

Molly didn't want to do swimming lessons, but she agreed to sign for dance class.  It is a month-to-moth dance class at Kearns Rec.  It is inexpensive, has a short-term committment, and requires no recitals or fancy clothes.  Win. Win.  So far she really likes it.

The kids and I went to the Museum of Curiosity one day.  We haven't been there for a long time and they had a ton of fun.  

One night we met Grandma, Grandpa, and the Howden boys at Fat Cats for some arcade and glow-in-the-dark miniature golf.  The kids had a lot of fun.  

We also met Annie and Quinner at the Zoo one day during the last week of summer.  

Our final summer adventure was a downtown Trax trip to the Planetarium, Lunch, Temple Square, and the Disney Store.

Summer So Far So Far

This summer seems like it has been uneventful.  We didn't go on any vacations and we didn't really do anything that spectacular.  Other than finishing our basement and getting my appendix out, it has really just been filled with run-of-the-mill summertime kid activities.  That's not a bad thing, though.  Here are some highlights.

We finished our basement!  Finished is a relative term.  I still have touch-up painting that I've never found the motivation to finish, but for the most part, it is done.  We love it!

We went to "This Is The Place" one day with the Howdens.  I haven't been there for a very long time and it has changed some (for the better).  The kids got to learn a little more about pioneers, living in log cabins, getting a shave and a tooth pulled, and being sold to a blacksmith.

We went to Galoon!  We called it a trial run for Disneyland and we all lived.  The kids were good and had fun.  The adults were also mostly well-behaved. Molly took good care of Quinner once he decided to ride some rides.  Jack thought the fast rides were pretty cool.  Molly was brave and went on quite a bit, including Bombora (though she may have screamed and then death-gripped my arm).  James and Willie were good sports and went with the boys on Rattlesnake Rapids.  They got pretty wet!

We went to the 24th of July float preview.  Molly got her face painted and Jack got a fancy balloon creation.  

We spent the 25th of July in Garland and Malad with the Binggelis.  We saw Amber's new house and played with Joesy's kittens.  We ate lunch at a yummy barbecue place in Malad and then had shaved ice.  We ended the night with a milkshake in Brigham City at Peach City's.  It was a good day, but HOT!!!!

That was pretty much it for the month of July.  It was hot.  There were a record number of days above 100 degrees and we mostly stayed inside every afternoon having "chill" time watching movies because it was too miserable to do much else.

The kids played with the neighbor kids most every night when it cooled off.  We ate lots of french fries and went to McDonalds a few too many times.  It was a good July.

Pioneers Part III

James had the opportunity to speak in church on Sunday, Pioneer Day.  His topic was only slightly pioneer in nature, but he mentioned some pioneer ancestry of his own.  Being the nerd that I am, I had to do some research beyond what he had done.  These pioneer relatives are on the Whittle line of Mary Binggeli's family. Whittle was her mother's maiden name.

The names are James Hendricks and Drusilla Hendricks.  Basically, they are the whole package of pioneer ancestry.  Here are a few facts from what I've read.  I'll do some more research later.

• They were born in Kentucky and Drusilla was an avid reader of the Bible from a young age.  They joined the Mormon Church during much time of persecution and unrest in the Midwest.
• James was a member of the Mormon Militia and was often called out to fight against approaching mobs.  One night he was called to do such and ended up getting shot in the back, paralyzing him from the neck down.  Eventually he regained some of the use of his arms and was able to stand, but he never fully recovered.  Fortunately, this tragic event happened days before Haun's Mill and had he not been incapacitated, James would have likely been killed there.
• There son William Hendricks joined the Mormon Battalion and headed off leaving his mother without her teenage son.  She did have an older daughter to help her, but otherwise had younger children and a disabled husband.
• Drusilla and her 5th child nearly died during childbirth.  They were given a blessing by Joseph Smith and then named the child Joseph Smith Hendricks.  This is the son who James Binggeli is descended from. 
• They acquired a wagon in 1847, put their few belongings in it and made a place for their dad to sit.  They reached the Salt Lake Valley in October, just days before William returned from his Mormon Battalion March.  
• Despite his disabilities, James was called to be a bishop in the Salt Lake Area.  Eventually the family moved to help settle Cache Valley.
• Drusilla kept a fairly well-written journal.  It's contents are preserved to read about her family's life.

Here are a few links.

https://familysearch.org/photos/artifacts/915295

https://ldsscriptureteachings.org/2012/09/08/church-history-heroine-drusilla-dorris-hendricks/

http://onceuponafamily.weebly.com/uploads/3/8/3/3/3833207/historical_sketch_of_hendricks.pdf

https://familysearch.org/photos/artifacts/1618122

John Rowe Moyle Again (Pioneers Part II)

As it turns out, John Rowe Moyle was the hit of junior primary on Sunday.  Jack did a great job giving his talk and then the presidency member doing sharing time talked more about him!  She even called on Jack and asked him questions, to which he knew the answers.  Jack informed junior primary that John Rowe got kicked by a cow and had to have his leg cut off with a saw (we'd kept that part out of the talk).

Since there was much discussion of this pioneer ancestor, I decided that we should go on a field trip after church.  It took a little convincing, but we got in the family truckster and headed south.

We visited the Moyle Family Park in Alpine and then found the large rock headstone at the top of the hill at the Alpine Cemetery.

We also ventured to This Is the Place park earlier in the week and here are some of my thoughts on being a pioneer.

Basically, being a pioneer (not necessarily a Mormon pioneer, but anyone living mid-1800's in the west) was extremely difficult.  Their lives were full of grueling physical activity all day long.  Preparing a meal would have taken forever, but to get that meal on the table would have been months worth of work to raise the animal, grow the crops, etc.  We have it so easy today.  

Their log cabin homes were so small.  How did they fit?  What did they do if there was a terrible snow storm and they didn't want to just sit outside?  There was a small cabin at the park that was probably 12 ft x 15 ft with a small attic loft accessible by a ladder outside.  The family that lived in this home had 10 kids!!  Holy cow.  They must have spent all day every day outdoors. There was no room for them inside anywhere.  Crazy!!

Back to John Rowe Moyle . . .

He has quite an impressive story that is pretty well known.  I was disappointed that there was not much mention of his wife Phillippa Beer at the Moyle Park.  I'm not discrediting his sacrifice to walk to Salt Lake every week to work on the temple.  It is a very impressive story.  But, oh my goodness, his wife delivered 10 babies! Three of them died at early ages, but the other 7 (6 boys and 1 girl) of them would have been young enough to all live in Alpine at one time.  When they settled Alpine, those kids ranged in age from 0 to 23 (the youngest was born in Alpine).  During the time that John Rowe worked on the temple, Phillippa would have been in charge of an entire farm, living in a small dug-out house with as many as 7 kids.  Now they were almost all boys and I'm sure they were put to work, but still!

Phillippa outlived John Rowe by a couple of years, but by the time he died, she had 6 kids remaining who ranged from age 31 to 54.  She raised them by herself for 5 out of 7 days of the week.  I think that is pretty impressive and I wish I knew more about her.

Anyway . . . 

That is my tribute to Pioneer Day for this year!  I'm glad I wasn't one.