Love Notes From the Zookeeper

On a hike in the Alps above Innsbruck

On a hike in the Adirondacks

To say 2018 has been a whirlwind is a gross understatement! As a family, we took a trip that we have been planning for years. We spent a month in Europe with Jeff as he led a study abroad program and then traveling with his parents, and Sara's brother, Dave. It was a trip of a lifetime and one that we will not soon forget. We had a blast, made some amazing memories, and ate lots of gelato. We followed that with our annual Broadbent reunion in the Adirondacks. This year marked 40 years of together time in the Adirondacks and we are incredibly grateful for family ties that bring us together in a beautiful place. Find us on Facebook or Instagram or on Ali's blog for all the details of our crazy summer. ;) We're looking forward to a much quieter summer in 2019 where we stay at home and do a little camping.

Post-hike

Megan, age 3

Welcome to 2016! This is the year that our oldest turns 16 and starts to drive. Hold on to your hats! This is what happened in our family last year:

2014 was a great year for us . . . and super busy!

This year was a landmark one for Jeff. The Big 4-0 rolled around in June and we celebrated by braving a fabulous local ropes course. Jeff's busy busy working at the College at Brockport. He adores his students, and hates doing research but it's coming along slowly but surely. Although Sara thinks he really ought to have gotten a chili pepper for hotness on www.ratemyprofessors.com! ;) He enjoys his classes--abnormal & child psychology, research methods, and graduate statistics--and is constantly tweaking them and keeping them fresh and fun. He also maintains a small private practice, and although he finds that work truly fulfilling, he never has enough time to meet all the demand--a bittersweet reality. He has enjoyed the last 2 years of serving in the bishopric at church, participating in the Rochester Area Mormon Choir, and serving on a district professional development committee for our local school district. During the summer, between work projects, he runs & bikes, maintains the pool, works in the garden, fixes this & that around the house, and occasionally does some woodworking in his man cave in the garage.

One of Ali's first official "selfies"

Sara's busy busy too juggling many balls in the air. She works a small part-time job tutoring at our
district's tutoring center which services secondary students out of school long-term for medical reasons, or who are at the center temporarily during a special education transition, or (the majority of the students) who have been suspended. Each day brings something new and different for sure and she finds it interesting and fun. She also taught a credit recovery course last winter at our high school for students who are struggling with math and will do the same this winter coming up. At church, she loves serving as the Young Womens President and the stake girls' camp craft lady (for a week in the summer)--the youth are so much fun! She continues to volunteer at Ali's elementary school as well as the middle school, and she serves as a parent representative on the building planning team at the middle school. And of course, she serves as the kids primary chauffeur, social planner, homework supervisor, and screen time Nazi--all of which serve as excuses to avoid cleaning the house and emptying her inbox.

Tie-dyed socks at Girls Camp

On a Rocky Mountain peak!

Hannah has been working her tail off at school. She made it into the most challenging band at the high school as a freshman and she is very committed to her clarinet. She has (amazingly!) been a consistent good sport about early morning seminary--with the side-benefit that Jeff gets her there and then has time to work out every morning. He's getting so buff! Hannah's course-work at school is demanding, but she works hard and stays on top of things in between reading novel after novel after novel. Her favorites this year have included Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive, Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice (Sara had a moment of maternal pride when that one was a success!), and the Rangers Apprentice by John Flanagan. She also really enjoys taking pictures--especially scenery--and she's looking forward to taking photography in school next year. Last summer, she participated in her first (and probably her last!) Pioneer Trek with church. She's looking forward to a solo trip out west this summer to attend EFY at BYU with one of her dear Snarr cousins and takes babysitting jobs to take care of her part of the expenses--anyone need a sitter? When did she grow up??

The hair just keeps going . . . and going . . .

Megan keeps her fingers in just about everything. She will be in her school's production of High School Musical in the spring in a supporting role. She serves on the student council. She plays the trumpet in band, jazz lab band, and the jazz ensemble group. She participated in a fabulous Christmas jazz quintet that a ward member put together for our Christmas party. SOOOO cool. She takes piano lessons and particularly enjoys playing pop music. She continues to enjoy gymnastics for fun with a session or two a year. She has an etsy shop full of creative perler bead creations here. She held a VERY successful lemonaid stand during a village event this summer when foot traffic past the house was at it's peak. And she is currently distributing free samples of this product. Shoot me an e-mail if you want to get in touch with her. She has done a lot of beginning coding on Scratch this year. She may or may not be COMPLETELY OBSESSED with Minecraft. She may or may not have her own server. She still LOVES drawing. And of course, getting together with friends. And her current plan for her hair is to grow it so long that when she cuts some off to donate, it will still be down to her waist. Always a big thinker!

Bunny cupcakes with friends & the class bunny!

Ali is our happy-go-lucky one. Everything is fun, and everything makes her smile and sing. But she's a busy girl too. She'll be in her school's play in March as well. She loves participating in Odyssey of the Mind, playing the clarinet in the school band, and taking piano and violin lessons, and being a part of her girl scout troop. In her down time (what's that?) she LOVES getting together with friends and playing with Sara's old dollhouse which we just (finally) set up recently. A highlight of 4th grade has been the class bunny rabbit Sophie. Ali is absolutely in love, and Sara is thrilled that we have an excuse to postpone any response to Ali's pleading for a pet bunny. She has come home with Ali twice for vacations, and Ali even had a bunny party to celebrate with friends. Sara will never cease to be amazed at what an outgoing confident girl Ali has turned into considering what a shy gal she was as a preschooler. Here's a peek at a monologue she performed as part of a summer drama camp:

Cousin time at the Mount Timpanogas Temple

This past summer took us out to Utah for a wonderful few weeks with family. We spent the first week visiting with Snarrs and enjoying watching Jeff's parents as they serve their full-time church mission from home. It was special to see them doing good and making a difference. Our second week was full of Broadbent time at a family reunion in Heber valley where our Broadbent roots are. We also spent a week in the Adirondacks as usual--although this time we spent it with dear friends from Long Island instead of family since our reunion was out west. Good times for sure! This may turn into a new tradition! We are certainly so grateful for family traditions and the ties that bind us to all of these amazing people.

Our campsite view in the Adirondacks

Megan, Ali, & Adorable Cousin Silas

We look forward to another year of challenges, goodness, and blessings. We hope 2015 holds the same for you! Happy New Year! We love you and miss so many of you and are grateful for the many dear friends we've had over the years all over the country. Hugs and stay in touch!

In lieu of a snail mail Christmas letter, we're doing an electronic blog version. Here an update on what our year has been like for our family.

Hannah is busy playing the clarinet in the concert band (where she and another student share concertmaster responsibilities) and the jazz band at school. She is in the midst of play practices for Annie. She's an orphan and a citizen. She's thoroughly enjoying the practices and a chance to do something new. She took horseback riding lessons this fall and loved it, and she still participates in Girl Scouts as time allows as well as Young Womens at church. She turns 14 next April and she is anxiously awaiting the day when she can attend the dances & youth conferences at church. And she is still reading and reading and reading.

Megan has thoroughly adjusted to life in the middle school as a 6th grader--except for the very early mornings. She enjoys her classes, and especially enjoys the extracurriculars available. She's on student council as the social chair, and attends art club and plays the trumpet in the 6th grade band as well as the jazz lab band. She also volunteered to help out with Ali's newspaper club at the elementary school, and she loves that opportunity to share her "expertise." She's still playing the piano and going to gymnastics, and participating in Girl Scouts occasionally, although it's hard to fit it all in. She is soooooooo ready to turn 12 in February and graduate from Primary and Activity Days at church and move up to Young Womens.

Ali has discovered the clubs at the elementary school and has gone overboard! She's doing Odyssey of the Mind (which she LOVES) and Newspaper Club and Student Council. She's still playing the piano and recently started playing the recorder through school which she finds a little bit easier than the violin which she also recently started. Ali is also doing gymnastics and girl scouts and she loves her fellow Brownies. She enjoys Activity Days at church too, and is busy busy busy.

Sara has decided that the Christmas break will include a serious evaluation of the activities that the girls are involved in since she spends way too much time carpooling and not enough time snuggling with her girls! A sign saying "Good Better Best" hangs in the kitchen and it's time to weed out some of the good things in our lives and focus on what's best. So hard sometimes. She has also continued serving in the Young Women organization at church and recently shifted over to president, and that's been a super fun change. The girls are so fun and sharp. Her other new commitments include serving on a building committee at the middle school as a parent representative, and working for the district part-time as a tutor for suspended students and students who are out of school long-term for medical reasons. She loves the job as it affords her an opportunity to work one-on-one, which she loves, and to brush up on her skills, while still having plenty of time for the kids. And the stories she could tell you about what kids do to get suspended . . .

Jeff's working hard at the college as well as at the clinic. He especially enjoys mentoring students, and challenging them in the schoolwork. He has a reputation for teaching really hard classes, but the word on the street is that it's worth the effort. Just check out his ratings on www.ratemyprofessors.com! Although Sara thinks he should have a chilli pepper. Haha! He loved spending time out west with his family. He spent his summer picking and canning plums from out giant plum tree, and staining the deck. And of course cooking. He has really enjoyed singing in the Rochester Area Mormon Choir, and is really looking forward to the semester break over the holidays.

The highlight of the year by far was out trip out west this summer to see family. We could hardly get enough of them. It was so good to see everyone, and the girls got to know their cousins in ways that just weren't possible with quicker trips in the past. And we had a blast along the way. (Just see the previous posts here on the blog for all the sordid details.) We look forward to a repeat in 2 years!

Merry Christmas to all of you and we wish you a fabulous and fun New Year!

Here is Ali's speech for the student council vote. Jeff's response was "Already a politician . . . making promises she can't keep. Whoops, did I say that out loud? She didn't say she was going to make all those things happen . . . just that she had a lot of great ideas that would make the school a better place." Haha! All part of the learning process! Just the fact alone that she is willing to make the speech is such a lovely blessing. I hope she gets elected.

Hello! I think you should vote for me because I have a few ideas that will help this school be a better place. Air conditioning in the classrooms that don’t have it. Vending machines in the cafeteria. And an orchestra because some people like to play string instruments like me and my friends. I also would love to help plan school activities and make our school a more fun and special place! Thanks!

Well, for posterity's sake, here's a quickish summary of our trip home. It included . . .

• An absolutely stunning drive along the Beartooth Scenic Byway. If you leave Yellowstone through the northeast entrance, you climb the Absaroka Mountains away from the Yellowstone Caldera, and then descend the Beartooth Mountains as you move into Montana. The scenery left me breathless and the girls got sick of me stopping for pics. Again. The Absaroka's were created by earthquake and volcanic activity so they are sharp and jagged and laced with rivers and streams. The Beartooths were the result of geological uplift, so although they are as high as many other parts of the Rockies, they are less forbidding and are dotted with glaciers and lakes. Amazing. The other highlight of the day was running into these incredibly tame little chipmunks. Hilarious.

• First night: Billings, Montana in a hotel with a pool, water slides, laundry, pizza and soda included, and a Wal-Mart for stocking up 5 minutes away. Just what we needed.

• Sunday morning we stopped by church for a little bit and headed east. Our goal: Rapid City, South Dakota. Sturgis was going on that week north of Rapid City so I was nervous about getting a place to stay but by some miracle, a site became available--one site--at Custer State Park near Mount Rushmore the night before when I was checking online. I snapped it up, and off we went. The park turned out to be a gem. We spent the evening driving the "Wildlife Loop Road" and saw more bison, pronghorn antelope, and a cayote who watched us as he slowly made his way up a hill by the side of the road. The hours after bedtime we marked by the sound of motorcycles settling in for the evening, and the night brought us two boughts of thunder that brought Ali over into my sleeping bag. For the record, it isn't really a two-man bag. Meg slept through it all. 

• Monday: In the morning, we headed over to the park visitor center to pan for gold. Who knew that Custer's demise was precipitated by a gold rush in the Black Hills of South Dakota and that he was originally sent to the area to try to protect the Indians and enforce our treaty with them? Not I. Ali's panning proved to be the most productive and she left with a few pieces of fool's gold in a little ziplock baggie. Megan did not appreciate the lesson in hard work and perseverance.  Next stop: Mount Rushmore. We drove the Peter Norbeck Scenic Highway over to the National Park, and can I just say that Peter Norbeck was a complete loon? He planned the tunnels first and then told the surveyor to plan the road around them. The tunnels on the road frame views of Mount Rushmore and required insane "pigtail curves" to get through them all. But it was beautiful and the girls----Ali especially enjoyed checking out all the motorcycle dudes and their pretty princesses. See this book for an explanation. Mount Rushmore was lovely and I bribed the girls into doing the Junior Ranger booklets with promises of ice cream when they were done. The afternoon brought us to Wall Drug and their spray pad, and Badlands.
  
  
  
  
• Badlands, Badlands, Badlands. Hmmm . . . well, let's just say that I did not realize that tornado country stretched that far north. I'd seen some lightning in the distance at bedtime. I even tried to take some pics as it outlined the forbidding spires of Badlands.
  
   Sometime around 1:00am, the winds started blowing and blowing and blowing. The tent poles were bending so much that Ali & Meg on either side of me kept getting hit in the head as they lay there. Ali, of course, snuggled in for comfort. I reached my arms up and held the tent side up from collapsing in on us. The rains came. And came. And CAME. The winds blew more and more. The lightening flashed like a strobe light or disco lighting. We were in a bit of a depression and the tall spires of the Badlands were nearby so I wasn't concerned about getting struck by lightening but the weather was something I had never experienced before, and frankly, hope to never experience again. The roaring was so loud that I didn't know if the noise was the wind or the constant thunder. And finally, the tent stakes pulled up. The tent collapsed. I could feel the rain pouring in. I could feel the hard pelting of hail outside the tent. Even though I was afraid we'd lose everything from the wild winds blowing, we abandoned the tent. I grabbed my car keys, opened the van door from the tent, and sent Ali to run for it. Fortunately it was only 15 or 20 feet away. Meg went next with her sleeping bag over her head, and then I ran, bag under my arm, in my undies (because it was hot) and we left everything else--pillows, lantern & headlamp, Ali's bag, thermarests. We watched from the car as the tent folded in on itself and slid 20 feet to the left. Amazingly, as it filled with water (there was 3 or 4 inches of it on the ground) the weight weighed everything down and it didn't go any farther. Meg said: "Now that is one storm I cannot sleep through!" We finally settled down in the car and slept for a few hours. 

Free photo collage generated with Smilebox

• Tuesday: We dragged outselves out of the car, hung up EVERYTHING to dry, and headed out for a little walk & look around. The scenery is other-worldly. Apparently it's been the filming site for Star Trek more than once. I totally believe it. We stopped by a visitor's center too, and discovered a super cool room where paleontologists were working on clearing rock off of fossils found at Badlands. We hung out, watched them work, did some coloring, and when Ali informed one of the rangers that we had spent the night in a tent . . . her sweetly offered her one of his study drawings of a fossil and offered the encouraging truth that now she had an awesome story to tell. The girls informed me that "Badlands" was a good name for this place, and we agreed that if we return (which we'd like to because it's soooooo beautiful) that we need alternative plans for the nighttime. I suggested having a tent escape plan ready. Meg suggested just sleeping in the car in the first place. And then we agreed that the cabins sounded pretty nice . . . We found reports online of wind measurements just a few miles from us in the park at 2am the night before at 65 miles per hour. Yes, people, 65. In a tent. We did it. Later in the morning, when everything was mostly dry, we headed out toward DeSmet, South Dakota. Along the way, we made a quick stop at the Corn Palace which was disappointing and flooded with disturbingly environmentally distorted propaganda--but they had bathrooms. We spent the night in a lovely little hotel in the middle of nowhere in De Smet, South Dakota. It had breakfast, a pool, and a hot tub, and was clean and cozy. Just what we needed. 

• Wednesday: We went to Laura Ingall's home and took a sweet little tour and then took off toward other Little House sites via corn-lined back roads. At first, I found the scenery beautiful and calming. A refreshing look at rural farmland America. But then the corn continued and continued through town after town, county after county, state after state . . . and I thought of the ethical issues of genetically modified crops, a dependence on a monoculture, an over dependence on fossil fuels to produce fertilizers and pesticides which then run off into our water system, the misconception that ethanol is a clean fuel, the overabundance of high-fructose corn syrup in our diet . . . and on and on . . . enough soapbox for today. We stopped in the late afternoon in Walnut Grove, Minnesota and played along the banks of Plum Creek. It was lovely and idyllic. Bless those sweet private land owners who are honoring the literary nature of the land they own by keeping it pristine and opening it to Little House fans. The girls waded in the creek and scared off the minnows, we wandered the property, checked out the site of the old dugout home, and gathered flowers for Baby Bunny. Who then had a photo shoot. Yes, yes indeed. The little basket was a little birthday present for Ali whose birthday was the next day. We would officially celebrate after we got back to New York, but the gift shop in the little museum in Walnut Grove offered us this little gem. We drove a few more hours and spent the night in Shakopee, Minnesota. The girls loved the name of THAT town.

• Thursday:  Ali's birthday brought us to Pepin, Wisconsin where the girls played around a
  
  
  
   reconstruction of the original Little House in the Big Woods. Baby Bunny had her second photo shoot while I took a nap under a tree. We then drove down alongside the Mississippi River on the Great River Road. More beautiful scenery. I never realized that Lake Pepin was really just a big wide spot in the might Mississippi. Come nightfall, we finally stopped at a Motel 6 somewhere in Illinois.
• Friday: We drove. And drove. And drove. And were so glad to be home. Finally. All in all, it was a lovely lovely trip that we will never forget. We hope to repeat it in some form in two years, although it will be a shorter trip. The main purpose was to get the girls enough time with their cousins to jumpstart their relationships. Check! And now we'll plan on going out for 2-3ish weeks instead in the future. Good times.