Miss Riverton 2021

 

Saturday, April 24th was the Miss Riverton Scholarship Competition.  Bethany-- Miss Riverton 2019 (and 2020, thank you Covid)-- was giving the crown away and Elinor was competing for the title.  Abe got to escort Bethany out on stage for her final walk-- so here are the three of them backstage during a little run-through just before the festivities began.

Here is the cover of the program.

The candidates. 

The girls had so much support from family and friends who came to cheer them both on.

The opening production number was to "Dynamite" by BTS-- a K-Pop group that Elinor adores.  She considered it a good omen:)

Bethany and her 2nd attendant-- Gentri co-hosted the event.  They did a really great job.  Gentri will be representing Riverton at Miss Utah in June since Bethany will be on her mission in Nauvoo.  

Elinor played "Maple Leaf Rag" by Scott Joplin.  She only had 90 seconds for her talent and she wanted to play the whole song, so she played it pretty fast!

Here is the video

She worked so hard on this piece and we were so proud of her.

Bethany reprised her excerpt from Mendelssohn's Concerto in E Minor that she played when she won in 2019.  

As well as Elinor did in her talent, we felt like she absolutely nailed her onstage question.  Here it is

Here is her evening wear walk.  

Bethany was happy to get to perform one of her original songs-- "Eleven, Eleven".  Singing and playing guitar for a crowd was pretty new for her and she was a pro already!  I can't post a video of it yet because she has recorded the song and is in the process of getting it copyrighted.  You know-- like a pro!

Abe escorted Bethany on stage and the she did her final walk with her pre-recorded speech playing.

Here is the video

What a wonderful experience this was for Bethany.  We are all so grateful.

And then it was time for the results!

Here is the video-- beginning with the 2nd runner-up.  

If you don't have time to watch, I'll just tell you---- 

ELINOR WON!!!!!!!

We absolutely adore this photo of Elinor's total shock and Bethany's utter excitement that Elinor won.  What a moment.  I also love Bethany's reaction on the video.

And then this.  

Sniff, sniff.

I love this picture-- Sister crowning sister.  When I envisioned how I wanted this evening to go, this was the image I pictured.  Elinor is a lot taller than Bethany and she wore pretty tall heels-- because why not be as fabulous as you can be!  So that was quite a leg squat Elinor had to hold:)

Here is the 2021 Riverton Royalty.

Kaylee Hodges-- in red-- was first runner-up.  Her talent was singing and her Social Impact Initiative (SII) was Celebrating Diversity Through Education.

Emma Bowen -- in gold-- was second runner-up.  Her talent was dancing and her SII was developing self-love. 

Elinor's SII was Misuse is Abuse: Prescription Safety.  She talked about proper adherence, storage and disposal of prescription drugs.  Someone really likes working in the pharmacy:)

What a fun and memorable night for Elinor and Bethany and our whole family.  I will always treasure this picture and this moment.  These two sisters are very different from each other, and so beautiful in their own ways. I love that they will always share the crown:)  Congratulations, Elinor Fox-- Miss Riverton 2021!

Tulip Festival 2021

 

Ahh, the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point.  We love it.  I love that we love to do this together.  I fear we get a little louder and a little more obnoxious every year and I suspect that some year we will be asked to leave the park and never return for one reason or another... but until that happens we will continue the tradition.  

Clark and Alexa-- we came here with them last year when they were dating.  It was fun to be back with them now that they are married.

I have very fond memories of seeing tulips in Holland as a child.  I remember getting my own pair of wooden shoes.

A lovely family picture... but wait!  Moments after we took this picture, George popped out from behind a hiding spot across the way laughing his head off that he had avoided the family picture!!!  Little stinker!

Had we noticed he was missing?  Well, no, we hadn't.

You can't avoid a family picture that easily, Mr. George!  Get over here and SMILE-- SO HELP ME!

These two are just about the same height these days so sometimes we call them the twins.  I think Faith is just glad Cannon hasn't passed her up quite yet. 

They were quite palling around-- making up funny choreographed walks and generally enjoying one another's company.  This isn't there usual mode of operation.  At 15 and almost 13, they are more often found challenging one another and engaging in physical contests of strength and battles of wills.  So, this moment was especially delightful to watch.  

Abe wanted to get a nice picture of he and I together.  What followed is pretty representative of our lives and our room in the evening...

First one child joins us...

Then another...

They just keep coming-- this is ridiculous.  I'm cracking up while Abe is telling them to go away.

Now here comes George...

And finally Bethany.  It was a funny little moment.

We all love it when Bethany is home for the weekend.  Thanks to Miss Riverton preparation workshops, we've had lots of time with her..  At this point she is only a couple weeks away from leaving for her Young Performing Missionary summer in Nauvoo.

Follow the Yellow Brick Road-- nice synchronization!

In action

Elinor is a very busy girl with her school and work schedule.  It is a joy to have her with us for family outings when it does work for her.

We're so excited to go to the Sacred Grove in Palmyra, New York this summer.

Oh, Cannon.

Why?  I couldn't say.

Family dinner out together after the Tulip Festival.  Clark made the comment after dinner how awesome it was to just be sitting around together talking and laughing and enjoying each others company.  I couldn't agree more.  

Spring Happenings

 

Virtual Primary-- our church's Sunday School class for children-- began last Sunday.  In very happy news, we just got word today that regular 2 hour church will resume the first week of May!!  So really, we'll only have one month of virtual Primary.  The kids were so excited.

Peter got his cast put on on Monday.  That's no reason to not do his piano practice:)

He likes all his cast signatures.

You can kind of see where the break on one of the bones is in this picture.

Abe, Elinor, Faith, Cannon, and I went to a Hale Center Theater production of Les Miserables.  We saw the cast with all three members of the singing group Gentri.  I was phenomenal and we loved it and the discussed it all weekend.

She's been telling us she's freeway-ready for months:)  Here she is on the freeway for the first time.

George built her a little fort.  George is really useful to have around for building things.

Bethany has been writing a lot of music and she got herself into the recording studio last week!  Stay tuned:)

Abe and I went to see Bluffdale Arts production of Steel Magnolias.   Very sweet and they did a great job.

Abe and Cannon went ice skating with the Deacons last week.