The Dennis Family: Family Time and Drama Camp

We made the summer pilgrimage to the West. Lots of fun in store this year. First we went to Bountiful and hung out with Aaron's family. We finally saw the new kitchen. August of 2020, Aaron had helped them to start on that project. But we'd never seen it finished. It was so beautiful! So much space, and John and Julie designed it just how they wanted it. Everything was laid out in such a convenient way. One thing I really liked was the opening to the vacuum system. You can sweep your pile over to one corner and then open up the thing with your foot, and it sucks it all up! John and Julie did not invent this--apparently it's in hair salons and such. But I had never seen one, and it seemed like a miracle because using a dust pan is my least favorite job, but I actually quite like sweeping.

We also had fun playing with Angela's two cats, Thumper and Katya. They were friendly, for cats:) And Aaron and I had an exciting night sleeping on foam pads on the living room floor: the cats became extra friendly at night time and wanted to play and jump onto our faces. Scared the bejeebies out of us, but eventually they went into Angela's room. Aaron may have herded them there--yes, you can herd cats...if you have a PhD.

There was toast!

And we did a hike. Sometimes you think a hike will be easy, and then it's super hard. This one was actually easy. And pretty. I think Utah was greener than Texas this summer.

We also squeezed in a family dinner at Shauna's house. It was Father's Day. They made some delicious grilled chicken that I've had at their house before. So good! And Aaron and I brought pies from the store. It was nice to see everyone in one place.

On Sunday Aaron drove us up to Tremonton where we met my parents. They took us the rest of the way to Aberdeen. Then Aaron went back to Bountiful because the kids and I were going to be busy doing the drama camp for Aberdeen Days. He stayed in Bountiful and worked and hung out with his family for the week.

It was so good to be with my parents. And we also got to see Liz and Darren of course, and even Phil was there for a couple of days. I was very busy with the play, time-wise but even more so mentally. It took a lot of mental energy, especially on the first day. I had tried to plan what I would do but then I actually had my group, and they were real people, and I had to adjust the game plan. It was hard and a challenge for my confidence, but I think I managed to do a good enough job. And I learned a lot!

I was surprised by how many teenagers there were in the group. It was cool that so many 13 and 14 and 15 year olds wanted to be involved, but there were times during the week when they acted like they had been forced to be there. And they did things half-heartedly--too cool for school, you know. But when it came down to it, to actually performing, they all gave it their best. And I never knew how I was doing as a director, if I was doing it "right." But I did my best, too.

The 9-12 year olds in the group were delightful. That included Ben and Scotty. Such good boys, always paying attention, always giving it their all, always being where they needed to be. And there was one girl named Emma who was such a sweetheart, and she called me "Teacher." I loved that. She also wanted to know if I would be coming back to help again next year. And there was a boy who, during the show, really just wanted to watch the movie playing backstage. That made me laugh. Poor kid, probably doesn't get enough TV at home:) And the twin brothers who would fight with each other but couldn't leave each other alone and also worked so hard and memorized all their lines. And Spencer who ended up being a hilarious performer. The audience really helped him to reach his full potential. What a great kid! And Cutthroat Clegg carrying around his saw and refusing to run across the stage when I told him to but turning out to be a great leader. Good times! It was a crazy week, and kids can be frustrating, but also great.

Thanks, Cousin Heather, for taking this pic of me being all directorly.

This was my group! Those kids in the captain hats--two of them were homeschooled. Quite the homeschool community in Aberdeen.

Aren't they the cutest?? Aiden was cast with the pirate group.

And Annie and Emma got to be sisters-in-law in the play. They did such a great job...I think:) I didn't actually get to see them perform much because I was backstage, and they were in a different group. But I did hear them sing their solo, and it sounded SO NICE! And I did get to see Annie hit her husband (who was two feet shorter than her) with a plastic fish. To which he said, "You're giving me a haddock!" I always laughed at that line, though the audience didn't seem to appreciate it as much as I did.

The kids are still walking around the house singing, "Lumbago, in the Sea of Sciatica. Where the sky is so blue and your troubles are few and you dance the night a-way!"

This is how we all felt after a CRAZY but fun week.

That reminds me...there was a night at my parents' house where we were woken up by the scent of a skunks! There must have been three or four outside just spraying to the heart's content. The smell was so bad that it was actually painful. And you didn't get used to it. Powerful stuff! My dad found out later that their neighbor's dog had chased the skunks, and that was probably why we got to enjoy their odeur.

I also got to go to the Pocatello temple with my parents. That was so wonderful, and they took me to Costa Vida at the end because there isn't anything quite like Costa Vida in Texas, and I was missing it.

What good parents my people are! I love them so much! So nice to have some one-on-one time with them. And I also saw my old Young Women's leader, Sister Ure, working in the temple. There's no place I'd rather run into someone.

This was in the parking lot of the temple, and it seemed like a sign that I was in the right place.

The kids played with cousins all day, and it was so great. They had adventures all over Aberdeen. We also had so much fun in the evenings at Liz and Darren's house. They recently put in a volleyball net. So we played and had a fire. And Aaron got to chop wood like a manly man. He came up on Thursday night. And a note on Idaho: It was absolutely beautiful...and so cold! When we were hanging out at Liz and Darren's in the evenings, I had to put on every warm thing I owned. There was some warmth during the day, but I tried to soak up all the chilliness to take back with me to Texas.

I can't get these pictures to all be in the right spot. So up above, there is Aaron chopping the wood. Down below, we are at a melodrama that was in a nearby town called Rockland. It was so, so beautiful, nestled down in this lush valley. Oh my goodness! So pretty! And their melodrama was very well done.