The Patriarchs

We celebrated Father's Day earlier this month,
and lately I've found myself thinking a lot
about the good men in my life.

The Sorenson patriarchs at General Conference
(From left: my dad, my grandpa, and my Uncle Nile) 

I was blessed to have a father who loved his family, 

and set an example for us by giving 110% in whatever the Lord called him to do.

He was also one of the friendliest, most encouraging people I've ever met.

A few days ago, I ran across this note from my dad in Daniel's scriptures,

encouraging him to "seek understanding of the Atonement from their pages,

become familiar with them and they will become your friend."

I'm also grateful for the patriarch of our little family,

who works diligently to support us,

but also likes to sing with us . . .

. . . and play tennis with us.

Who rode through a rainstorm to bring Joy's new motorcycle home . . .

. . . and then taught her how to ride it.

I'm so grateful for the patriarchs our family has been blessed with,

and I hope their legacy of devotion to God and family

will continue for many generations to come.

Riding and Painting

It's nice to have a break from school in summer,

but Joy doesn't want to spend her whole vacation lounging around.

She plans to work on some goals, too . . .

. . . such as improving her painting skills.

I like her rendering of our parakeet Tia on the left under the flower,

and I'm impressed that Joy could create such nuanced facial expressions

with just a cheap little paintbrush.

She also decided to practice motorcycle riding this morning.

After a few lessons with Daddy, she feels confident enough

to venture out on her own . . .

. . . but I said an extra prayer or two 

as I watched my (grown up) baby ride off into the unknown.

I knew she'd probably be fine, and she was,

but one of the challenges of parenthood is striking the right balance

between keeping your children safe

and teaching them how to navigate a world that sometimes isn't safe.

Speaking of things that are mostly safe, but kind of not,

the rest of the Hendricksons set a goal to put up our big trampoline today.

Why is that activity so fraught with peril, you ask?

Because we live near a swamp, and the mild winter at the start of this year

means there are even more mosquitos than usual.

I put on full mosquito armor today (long sleeves, jeans, and boots)

and the little vampire bugs still managed to bite me.

Tennis Cubed

Our family likes tennis,

but with the exception of Daddy (who played a lot in college),

most of us aren't very good at it yet.

It's hard to enjoy tennis together when rallies don't last longer than 30 seconds . . .

. . . so we recently invested in a Tennis Cube ball machine.

We got it partly so we can practice and improve our tennis skills,

and partly so we can have fun together on the tennis courts this summer.

We broke out our new tennis ball machine for the first time today,

then lined up and took turns hitting the balls it lobbed at us.

Most of us were a little rusty because we haven't played much 

since we took lessons back in 2020 and 2021.

(Our private tennis "P.E. classes" were my favorite part of homeschooling.)

Hopefully we'll be able to hit as hard and as accurately

as Daddy someday.

For now . . .

. . . most of us feel pretty good if we hit the ball at all.

Four Boxes = One Treat?

We made our annual summer treat run to the grocery store today.

I picked up a yummy, healthy, Rainbow Machine smoothie . . .

. . . but most of the rest of the family . . .

. . . headed straight for the candy aisle.

I gave each of the kids a five-dollar limit on how much they could spend . . .

. . . and Daniel realized that was exactly enough

to buy four big boxes of Mike and Ikes.

Given that he rarely remembers to eat his candy,

he'll be lucky to finish even one of those boxes before school starts again.

I may need to rethink the summer treat policy next summer.

The Starter Bike

Joy is eager to learn how to ride her new motorcycle . . .

. . . so she and Daddy went out on the driveway this afternoon

to discuss some motorcycle basics.

Joy was a little nervous at first

but Daddy walked her through the essentials . . .

. . . then they both suited up . . .

. . . and Daddy drove the bike and Joy 

to a big, empty parking lot so she could practice riding and turning.

She dropped the bike once, but that's OK--

the previous owner had dropped it once or twice too while he was learning.

That's what cheap starter bikes are for.

Incidentally, now that Joy has driven both a car and a motorcycle around a parking lot,

she says she can safely say that she much prefers motorcycles.

Another Yellow Motorcycle

Daddy, Joy, and I took a little road trip today . . .

. . . down south to the Ocean State.

We wanted to check out a used motorcycle

that seemed like it would be a good starter bike for Joy.

The two riders in our family concluded it was a good fit,

so we bought the bike (Joy paid half the cost)

and Daddy rode it home.

 

We watched the weather forecast closely all afternoon,

hoping to thread our way back north between two storms.

 

We ended up catching the edge of one of them,

and poor Daddy got pretty soaked,

but we made it home and are now the owners of not one

but two yellow motorcycles.

Which kinda match our yellow chicken tractor.

In front of our yellow house.

The end.

Joy Art

Joy has been our resident doodler for years.

Most of her doodles are boxy characters inspired by Minecraft endermen

(they are NOT ROBOTS--she gets asked that a lot),

and they've evolved from this clunky fellow 

on a sign she made for me several years ago . . .

. . . to remarkably expressive characters

like these little guys she drew all over her periodic table this year.

(The Chief Wish-granting Officer cracks me up.)

Joy decided to expand her art skills a bit more this past semester

by taking a drawing and painting class.

In addition to more traditional assignments like sketching a still life

or painting a road in her neighborhood . . .

. . . she used her endermen to explore color, shading, 

and art as social commentary.

(I asked her what she was trying to say with that blue project,

and her interpretation was rather different from what I took from it.

That's art for you.)

Now that the class is over, she'll probably go back 

to sketching endermen just in black and white,

but her assignments make a fun addition to our art wall

(along with the colorful AT-AT that has cakes for feet).

A Historical Scavenger Hunt

The kids were off school today for Juneteenth.

Although that holiday has been celebrated for many years in some parts of our country,

it's kind of new to this area and to our family, 

so we don't really have any traditions around it yet.

Joy, Anna, Todd, and I decided to spend the holiday 

trying out a historical scavenger hunt.

We saw some interesting historical sites

and learned cool facts about the first day of the American Revolution,

but mostly we just made our own fun along the way . . .

. . . climbing a giant tree . . .

. . . sniffing a golden pineapple . . .

. . . pretending to be a statue . . .

. . . posing on a big rock . . .

. . . and hiding in a hollow stump.

I suppose it's fitting that we spent a historical holiday

which commemorates the joy of freedom

learning about patriots who fought against oppression

and making fun memories together.

Someone Else's Dress

Joy recently mentioned to her friend Arcadia

that someone gave us a beautiful hand-me-down dress,

but Joy doesn't wear it because it isn't her style.

Naturally, Arcadia asked Joy to wear it to church 

so she could see what the mystery dress looks like.

Joy wore it to church this morning,

then realized that Arcadia is out of town this week.  Whoops.

She got a lot of compliments from other people, but that was both gratifying and annoying--

it's nice to know people think you look good,

but annoying when they're complimenting a look you don't like. 

It's kind of unfortunate that Joy dislikes that dress, because it looks lovely on her

(doesn't she look elegant playing the piano in a lacy gown, with her hair done up?).

I get it though.  It's nice to get compliments, but even nicer to feel authentic.

I guess the good news for the dress is that

Anna can't wait to wear it when she's a bit older.

Nice Vibes

The girls and I had a fun time shopping this afternoon.

Anna was hoping to find some new Sunday shoes--

preferably snazzy, strappy, gold ones.

Anna:  Should I get 'em?  Should I get 'em?  I'm not sure!

Joy: You should totally get them.  And I'm definitely buying these boots.

Then we headed next door to Kohl's,

where Joy spotted this blazer as soon as we walked in the door.

It looks nice, in a kooky sort of way,

but it didn't fit in her budget.

She also tried on these glasses, which I think look really great on her . . .

. . . but she and Anna decided to buy some dangly earrings instead.

Then we went to IHOP for lunch.

The food was good, and the decor had gotten a nice makeover recently.

Joy: This place, like, has a vibe!

Camel Jumping at the Country Expo

We headed over to the middle school today

for the 6th grade Country Expo!

Anna and her friend Sam scored prime spots 

at one of the few display tables that had attached seats.

The expo was three hours long, and they were grateful to have a place to sit and chat

when they weren't teaching people about Poland and Switzerland.

Some of the displays had fun embellishments,

like hand-drawn illustrations . . .

. . . a 3D topographical map made from painted playdough . . .

. . . and a camel jumping challenge that was popular with a lot of boys.

Apparently, camel jumping is a professional sport in western Yemen.

Todd was delighted to see the Zimbabwe poster.

He's really into international flags right now,

and the Zimbabwean flag is his favorite

(he thinks the red star with a gold bird is a nice touch).

I enjoyed visiting the Ukraine display

(located a safe distance from the Russian poster a few tables down)

because the presenter served a tasty Ukrainian winter punch called Uzvar.

I also liked the Haitian lemonade (or "jus de citron").

I never would have thought to put vanilla extract in lemonade,

but it really took the flavor up a notch.

I guess Todd geeks out about flags,

and I geek out about food (and drinks).