Mighty Mozart and Cake

Wanna see some random pictures from the last few weeks?

I thought so!

 

This sign makes me smile every time I see it,

and I think Mozart would have thought it was cool too.

Anyone who wrote music that lively would have probably enjoyed

being depicted as Superman flying to someone's rescue.

Speaking of flying, Anna's friend Sam invited her to a trampoline park this week.

They look like they're having a blast.

Joy decided to make a cake that afternoon,

but I think she forgot to grease the pans,

because the cake came out in pieces.

Fortunately, frosting hides a multitude of ills,

and the cake still tasted good.

This is my favorite April picture, no contest. 

I love it when our family has a fun time

just being together.

Conference by Candlelight

Our trip to California earlier this month happened to be on General Conference weekend,

and although we watched a few sessions with Red Grandma,

we had to miss the others . . .

. . . and we've been trying to catch up on them ever since.

It's surprisingly hard to find a two-hour chunk of time when all six of us are available . . .

. . . but we persevered and finally watched our final session this evening.

Joy lit some candles to add a bit of ambiance,

and it looks like Elder Cook thinks they're a nice touch. 

It was a little odd to see an apostle conducting tonight's session

instead of a member of the First Presidency (probably because they're getting on in age),

but the talks were still uplifting, and that's what we came for.

I especially liked Elder DeFeo's talk about the man in Mark 10

who, even though he was blind, recognized the Savior and believed He could help him.

Instead of waiting for relief to come to him, the man took action.

He cried out to Jesus, then threw away his beggar's coat and made his way toward Him to be healed.

Similarly, we can set aside negative things we might be tempted to fixate on,

and find healing by focusing on Jesus and following Him.

I love Conference, and it was actually kind of nice to stretch it out over a few weeks.

Maybe we should do that again this fall,

instead of trying to cram all 10 hours into one weekend!

Cherry Blossoms (and Rhodies Too)

One of the glories of spring for me . . .

. . . is seeing our weeping cherries in bloom.

Some years they don't bloom very much,

but for some reason, they are absolutely covered in blossoms this year

(the purple rhododendrons are looking lovely too).

And if you think that little cherry tree is fun . . .

. . . you should see her big sister out back!

She's so tall that she can peek over our garage and wink at you

as you drive past our house.

Hello, Beautiful!

Contra Dance Rookies

Practicing line dances for Aunt Heather's wedding

reminded me that I really enjoy dancing,

so I was intrigued when a friend mentioned 

that there are biweekly contra dances in Concord.

Contra dancing is basically a hybrid of square dancing

and the English country dances you see in Jane Austen movies.

I decided to give contra dancing a try tonight . . . 

. . . and I somehow persuaded my dancing-averse husband to come with me.

The dance hall was pretty empty when we arrived early

for the beginner contra crash course . . .

. . . but when the dance officially started, there were enough people to form a long line.

I'm told there are enough for two or three lines at the Thursday dances,

but the Monday crowd tends to be smaller.

At contra dances, you're encouraged to dance each song with a different person.

This is especially true if you're a beginner, because experienced partners

can give you tips and help you remember what step comes next.

Phillip initially planned to sit out the first song

(and maybe all of the songs after that too),

but when someone asked him to dance he reluctantly accepted.

Even though we were total rookies

and younger than most other dancers by at least two decades,

we were able to follow the caller pretty well,

and we both had a great time!

Maybe I can talk Phillip into coming to another contra dance

sometime soon.

Dancing at Talbots

We had a family temple baptism appointment this morning,

and since the female Hendricksons usually want to linger at the temple

while the male Hendricksons are eager to head home,

we decided to try taking two cars this time.

The girls and I stopped by Trader Joe's on the way home,

then Joy suggested we go window shopping at Talbots a few doors down.

While Joy tried on this cute yellow shirt . . .

. . . and a ginormous lavender suit . . .

. . . Anna and I danced to the elevator music in the dressing room.

Fun times. :)

Prom with a Trekkie

One of Joy's friends asked her on a double date to a prom this evening.

It was Joy's first invitation to a formal dance,

so this event raised all sorts of questions:

What does one wear to a formal dance?  Is dinner involved?

Should we wait for him to give us more details about his plan for the evening, 

or should I cheat and ask his mom???

Joy borrowed a dress from her friend Arcadia,

and braided her hair earlier today

so it would be nice and wavy for the dance.

Here she is "all buffed and fluffed" (as my mom would say)

and ready to go to the prom!

I didn't think to take a picture of the two couples,

so I was grateful that one of the other moms snapped this photo

before they headed off to the dance.

Joy said it was different from most dances she's been to.

It was run by a homeschool co-op,

and most of time was devoted to dinner and socializing

(Joy says she learned at lot about Star Trek from her Trekkie date).

Near the end, the couple who organized the dance taught their guests how to do actual dance steps

(triple-step swing and the waltz box step),

then played songs they could dance those steps to.

Joy said she had a good time,

and we're curious to see how tonight's dance compares

to the stake prom coming up in a few weeks.

Noche Sabrosa

The Division 2 (9th and 10th grade) Spanish classes at Parker

hosted their annual "Noche Sabrosa" ("Tasty Evening") tonight.

The students made food to share 

(preferably from a country some of their ancestors hail from)

and wrote down the recipe and some information about it in Spanish.

There were lots of noodles, desserts, a few meatballs,

and more noodles.

I guess pasta is a popular food the world over.

Daniel decided to make Tortellini Soup,

mainly because it has an amusing backstory in our family.

I tried using cheap tortellini the first time I made it, and the pasta tasted so gross

that the kids nicknamed the dish "Cardboard Soup."

I used better tortellini the next time, and the soup has become a family favorite,

but the nickname has stuck.

"Noche Sabrosa" in the chicken run consisted of 

a little bok choy plant that had bolted while we were out of town.

Martha immediately ate the flowers,

and soon the rest of the plant was gone too.

This bumper sticker I saw today has nothing to do with food,

but it made me chuckle, so I'm including it anyway:

"Quakers--Honk if you love silence."

Back to the Chickens

All too soon,

our trip to California has come to an end.

Time to chuck the avocado we didn't get around to eating . . .

. . . and head to LAX.

Airport food can be hit or miss,

so we were happy find a Starbucks near our gate.

Yummy sandwiches and a coffee-less vanilla Frappachino, for the win!

#CreamStache

Farewell, sunny California! Back to snowy Massachusetts we go!

Do you think the chickens missed us?

Makeup Lessons with Red Grandma

Most of our California trip has been go-go-go,

so we decided to take it easy today and just 

watch General Conference at Red Grandma's House.

Between sessions, the boys meandered around Grandma's yard . . .

. . . while Joy climbed her magnolia tree . . .

. . . and I admired the cute little carnation bouquets around her house.

Joy has been wanting to learn more about makeup,

and since Grandma knows a LOT more about that than I do,

Joy asked her for a tutorial.

Joy and I both learned a lot, and we scored some free makeup

because Grandma receives a lot more makeup samples than she can use.

In today's Conference sessions, the Prophet and several other speakers

encouraged us to spend more time at the temple,

so after the last session we visited the construction site

for the nearby Yorba Linda Temple.

I love that so many temples are being built all over the world,

and it still amazes me that the Church is building one a short drive from my childhood home

in the town where some of my cousins grew up.

Donuts and Grapevines

This afternoon . . .

. . . Aunt Heather's and (future) Uncle Joe's friends and relatives

gathered to celebrate their wedding!

Heather wanted Uncle Andrew to perform her marriage,

so with the help of the internet, he officially became a minister for the occasion.

It was kind of bizarre, but also kind of awesome.

He did a great job of making the ceremony both fun and very touching.

In years past, both Heather and Joe had sworn that they would never marry anyone,

but sometimes love has other ideas.

It was sweet to see two people who have such big personalities and strong opinions

discover that they care more about sharing life together

than about playing it safe on their own.

The bride and groom (and many of their friends) love horseback riding and cowboy culture,

so there was a lot of line dancing at the reception.

Anna had practiced a few of the easier dances in the weeks before our trip,

and it was fun to see her out on the dance floor

spinning and grapevining with the other guests.

Also, Heather and Joe decided to serve delicious donuts for dessert instead of wedding cake.

How cool is that?!?

Cat Cafe

As we considered how to spend a bit of free time

before Aunt Heather's wedding,

the kids said they really wanted to check out a cat cafe they'd found in Redlands.

"What's a cat cafe?" you ask?  Yeah, I didn't know either.

Apparently, it's a cafe (obviously) . . .

. . . where you can buy some beautiful hot cocoa

(or coffee, if that's your jam) . . .

. . . and you can pay to visit the "cat lounge"

to spend some quality time with rescue cats

who are available for adoption.

This cafe also had kitty art available for purchase.

I kinda wish I'd bought one as a souvenir.

That's not a cat, but she sure is cute!

Hi, Cousin Jo-Jo!

After bidding a fond farewell to our new furry friends,

we paid a quick visit to the Redlands Temple,

then headed back to Red Grandma's house to get ready for Aunt Heather's wedding.

But that deserves its own post . . .

The South Pas Pilgrimage

When we asked the kids what they wanted to do

while we were in California this week,

the top thing on their list was something we wanted to do last time,

but didn't have time for:

A day trip to our old hometown of South Pasadena!

The kids loved visiting the train station near our old apartment . . .

. . . and climbing on an old watering trough that was built in 1906.

Our new town has trains and old watering troughs too,

but unfortunately . . .

. . . it doesn't have La Monarca Bakery 

with its yummy, freshly baked conchas . . .

. . . and it definitely doesn't have In-N-Out.

Sorry, Chick-fil-A--

In-N-Out's fries win any day of the week.

After lunch, the kids enjoyed playing at good old Garfield Park,

then we had a little free time before Aunt Heather's rehearsal dinner,

so Daniel and Todd decided to play some speed chess.

(I brought our board, in case we got bored. :P)

Love the hat, Todd.