What Memorial Day Means to Me

Memorial Day isn't about having a good time and partying, or even getting together with family members. It is about honoring those who have died in our nation's wars and remembering that they gave their life to serve our country and provide for the freedoms we enjoy in the United States. We should live our lives in such a way to give htem all the respect they deserve. I have a lot of ancestors who served in a war but one man stood out to me. Not because he was in history books or in newspapers, but because he was just a normal man whose story of how he got to war and whose love of his country touched me. My ancestor, Roy Angus Hill was not born in the United States but in Victoria, Canada in 1918. he immigrated to the US in 1922 at only 4 years old. I understand how young 4 is as my niece is 4 years old. He enlisted in the United States Army when he was 22 years old. I have a brother that's almost 22 years old. Roy served in the 44th Infantry Battalion, Sixth Armored Division of the Third Army and was led by General George Patton. Roy arrived in France in July of 1944. He was ready to make our country proud, and he was prepared. He was part of Patton's great drive across Europe, and was part of the great rescue of the 101st Airborne at Bastogene, in the Battle of the Bulge, as a Tech Class 4. Those who held this rank were often addressed as Sergeant. Technicians possessed specialized skills that were rewarded with a higher pay grade. I don't know much about World War II, or Technician 4's, or the Battle of the Bulge, but my father showed me pictures of men digging holes for safety in a frozen land, in December, in Belgium. And of tanks, and the things of war. I've also seen images of war from Ukraine. Roy died the 1st of April in 1945 in Butbach, Germany, one month before the Germans surrendered, when he was 25 years old. I have a brother that's 25. Roy Hill was not even able to be buried in the United States but instead was transported for burial in Margraten, Limburg, Netherlands. I can hardly say the names of these lands, and probably will never be able to visit. Not one of Roy's family members has visited Roy in the Netherlands. No one has been able to lay flowers on his grave. So I choose to think of him more. to visit those I am able to visit more, to try hard in school so I can become a better citizen, and understand more the freedoms I am so fortunate to enjoy. This year, especially for Memorial Day, I remember Roy. Breyer Schenewark

Birth of Baby Ingrid Priscilla Schenewark

 

Law School Life

 

Dec. 21-30: A Covid Christmas by Hunter Schenewark

Tuesday, December 22nd, I went again to the airport (the day before I had dropped off my roommate David,) and picked up Mom and Breyer. Christmas Vacation had started! We made a couple of visits: First, we stopped by the Keller's and dropped off a loaf of cranberry/orange glaze bread with Julie's dad. Then, we headed to West Valley and surprised Sis. Cummings. After 8 years of communicating online, Sis. Cummings and my mom finally met. As soon as the door was open, they both shrieked and gave bear hugs. After that, it was off to  Uncle Ben's. Everyone there was lying a little low, be it surgery or covid, etc. Uncle Ben and Mom cried together, and it was a tender visit. Then, finally on to Provo, where we met Tanner at the park Nora. Note, the temps were freezing and after 10 minutes, I was dying to get back into the warm car, but Nora just wanted to play, play, play.

 

Mama JoJo waiting for Nora to go on the slide.

 

Mama JoJo welcoming Breyer and Nora. There might be silver in their hair, but with grandparents, there's definitely gold in the heart.

We headed to Wallaby's for some aussie bbq, and then went to Pioneer park to walk around with Tanmarie and Nora. To finish the night, (the visitors were beat!) we headed over to Julie's house, to share dinner with her and play a game. Julie kindly offered to let Mom and Breyer spend the night at her place, but the hotel was nonrefundable so to the Marriott it was. And I figured I might as well enjoy the luxury of the hotel too, so I spent the night there.

Wednesday, the rest of the crew pulled in from Texas, having made the long car ride together. We played frisbee golf in Lehi, and ate jersey mike's, and moved into our airbnb condo. Kobe let me steal the Christmas tree he had cut down from the canyon, and that was quickly decorated. Alas, I did lose Tanner's costco card.

 

T-Bone Tanner showing us his old stomping grounds - while at Canopy, he played this course almost every day.

 

The Porterhouse showing his skillz

 

A rare photo of Dad, the man usually behind the camera

Thursday's activity was a trip to the zoo. I wasn't terribly excited to go, I thought that the zoo would be great for Nora, but not for me. It's been a long time since I've been to one, and I happily admit that while it was fun to simply see Nora's reactions to the animals, I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the animals for myself. Breyer and I fell behind the main group for a few minutes, and we watched an elephant feed and water himself. His trunk control was impressive. My other favorite animal to see was probably the seals.

After leaving Hogle Zoo, we drove just down the road and made a quick stop at the This is The Place Monument and park.

Then, on Julie's recommendation, lunch was at California Burgers, a local fast-food place run by the kindest Asian family. It was amusing when we told the worker that we would pay for the car behind us (it was Tanmarie) and the employee was so happy. That afternoon was pretty quiet, and at night we had our traditional Yuletide logs.

And Porter shared his pre-Christmas gifts, with lots of clothes to share with everyone. Including, jeans for Dad. Which I don't think I've ever seen him wear. And lest you question my memory, check out Sawyer's reaction in the background of the second picture below, as Dad, in denim, descended the stairs. Questioning my siblings, we have nary a recollection of our Dad in some dungarees. Random Sawyer observation: while the chance of Big Sauce going to law school is holding steady at 63%, the chance of seeing him without boots and a shiny belt-buckle has now bottomed out at 0.03%. He's gone full-on cowboy on us.

However, we're not just whooping and hollering about these jeans. This was a shirt type never before seen either, consisting of only 3 buttons. Chances of seeing Dad in this again: 1.4%.

Christmas is always so magical. I was sleeping on the couch right by the tree, and kept any inquisitive marauders from plundering the stockings. Elder Schenewark (Cooper) called, and after talking with him for a while, we skyped with the Bach's and opened up the presents. I feel so blessed - I don't need any presents and am just happy to be with my family, yet they spoiled me silly. I joyously received ravioli cutters, a kitchen scale, a baseball glove, a record player, and a watch. Porter stole the show with his presents. Or rather, as thoughtful as the presents were, the boxes will go down in Schenewark Christmas lore. He requested cremated remains boxes from the post office, so everyone had their own cremated remains box to open up. They are very sturdy and he also taped them up with tape saying "Cremated Remains." That night, Julie got off of work and came over to meet my dad and stayed and talked until close to midnight.

 

No shower, no problem. Christmas morning with the sista

Porter also had the quote of the trip in my book, as while talking about gifts and Dad complimenting him on his incredible scrounging ability (like, if you ever need ANYTHING at all, he can get it, and probably for free,) Dad said, "That's right, don't look a gift horse in the mouth." To which Port replied, "Look in the mouth??? Don't look at the horse at all! It's free, you just take it, no questions asked."

Saturday was supposed to be our hike to the Spanish Fork Hot Springs. The fam wasn't too excited about a snowy 7 mile hike, but I finally had them convinced it would be worth it, when the beans were spilled and Dad googling it, discovered that due to Covid it was technically closed, and carried up to a $5,000 fine per person. I was disappointed, but understanding, and the day turned out much better than expected as we went and played baseball, which turned into a home run derby contest (won by Sawyer!!).

Sunday was a day not to be forgotten. After participating by zoom in the Granbury Ward meeting, we had sacrament as a family, and then Mom and I went to Scout's baby blessing. It was at Kayla and Ryan's house in Springville. Scout was so cute and well behaved, and Uncle Ben offered the sweetest blessing ever, talking about how Scout would serve as a unifying link in the families. The spirit was so strong, and Uncle Ben, who had barely enough strength and energy this day to get through, was so tender and emotional. It was quite touching to see him and Kaleb hugging and crying too.

Mom and I left there and went to go see her dear friends the Depews. I remember meeting them while they served as missionaries in Tampa Florida with Mimi and Grampy, but only remember meeting them. I enjoyed our time together and hearing their funny stories and feeling of their sweet spirits. They are in the twilight of their lives, and their sincerity and optimism made a lasting impression.

Monday, December 28th, was a day to beat all other days. I loved, loved, loved Monday. We picked up Jules in the morning and went sledding at Soldier Hollow. The timing was perfect - for most of the trip, the weather was freezing yet clear, but Monday snowed (which made the roads terrible) providing the perfect weather for our sledding, for which we had pre-purchased tickets. Ours was a 2 hour window, and we made the most of it, going down lots of times, both as individuals and groups. Annemarie stayed at the bottom, cheering us on, and was quickly joined by Nora. I was surprised how much snow slid up into our faces as we rocketed down on the inner tubes. Soldier Hollow had 8 lanes of sledding and built an escalator-like mover to bring us up to the top again. This was nice, but walking wasn't too bad either and I think was a little faster.

 

Rocking some Winnie the Pooh gloves, and happy as can be 

After our time ended, we went to In-and-Out and then said bye to Tanmarie and Jules. it's always surprising how much of a toll winter sports, i.e. skiiing, snowboarding, or even sledding, take on you, and after showers, everyone crashed. So I went over to Jules for a few hours. I made it back in time for a spaghetti dinner (we were joined by Porter's friend Parker) and then Jules came over again at night to play catchphrase and bid my family goodbye. It was a rousing good time.

Tuesday, the last full day before the departures, was a quiet one. The whole week there were games galore (and lots of frisbee golf), especially Settlers of Catan (you're welcome Miller) and our total doubled on Tuesday as we stayed close to the condo. Everyone did step up big time and helped me move into my new place. Ok ok, I need to get rid of some books. I've realized that for a while, but this move helped convince me that I actually need to act and do something about it. They're not fun to move at all. With so many hands helping, the work went quick, and we did most of it, just leaving me some things to finish up Wednesday/Thursday.

And early morning Wednesday the family was on their way back to Texas. Sawyer inadvertently brought Covid, and while it took a while, we all started dropping. Given my previous exposure without catching it, I was feeling rather immune (even though I had tested negative for the antibodies). Twas not to be...

Eternal families have been on my mind a lot, and I love the scripture in D&C Section 130:2, offering a glimpse of what life will be like after the Savior returns to earth:

"And that same sociality which exists among us here will exist among us there, only it will be coupled with eternal glory, which glory we do not now enjoy."

Sacrifices were made to make this trip possible, and it was a truly wonderful time. Many memories will be forever cherished from this one week, a week filled with love and laughter. I do hope that this same sociality will be with us. It felt like heaven on earth.

Happy Halloween!

 Cinderella's family

The Working Man's Words

I'm overfilled with gratitude. One of the reasons I stayed in Utah after graduation was to be near my siblings. They serve me, bring me joy and inspire me to be better. While I am lucky to spend time with them weekly, Porter's 22nd birthday was a catalyst in helping me realize how truly special they are. Saturday, Porter spent 2 hours helping me bring an organ from near Salt Lake to my house. Cooper provided a feast for both me and Porter that night for dinner. Then Tanner edited my law school application and AnneMarie lent me a book I've been dying to read and as always shared her positivity and non-judgmental spirit that makes all of us kinder in turn.

Today, we celebrated Porter's birthday with an incredibly delicious Italian smorgasbord and a gorgeous cake that Annemarie made. Tanner hosted a Jeopardy game that was incredibly well put together and Cooper shared a new card game that had us all in tears, and then, just to cap everything off, I went to Porter's apartment where he led 20some people through a scripture study, and bore his powerful testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ.

I am truly blessed.

10 years ago, I could not have imagined the scene that has been this weekend. Similarly, I have no idea what 10 years from today will look like.

But this I do know, as any person strives to follow the gospel of Jesus Christ, their present will be filled with peace and their future will contain more happiness than they could ever imagine.

The Working Man's Words

E Pluribus Unum by Hunter Schenewark

Here are some highlights from Christmas vacation:

-being together as a family. Sometimes (usually) its the simple things that mean the most.

-Wedding for Robin and Moriah. This happened on on December 28th. An unforgettable day. Robin quickly won me over, and I hope to be able to spend more time with him sometime. The wedding was at the Green Acres Baptist Church, and I thought the ceremony was wonderful. The pastor did a fantastic job, the location was set-up well, and the ceremony and reception mixed some German traditions in nicely. Truly a wonderful day.

-Sawyer's basketball game. Over the last few years, I've tried to stamp out some of my competitiveness and have done quite well. I almost didn't recognize the feelings I had while watching Sawyer play. It was hard to stay calm. Basketball is such a physical game. Here's my coach's report: Watching Sawyer was quite different than watching Miller. Sawyer will go head on and drive into you. He'll dive for the ball. He'll go up for the rebounds. I struggled because I wouldn't do any of these things. Miller still does it better than me, but the contrast is obvious, as he'll still try to go around people (more work, requires fanciness to pull off) instead of being more physical like Sawyer.

-Tarleton Basketball. This was Phi Slamma Jamma. Well, for one team. Officially labeled an exhibition, the game featured the Tarleton (D-II) team going up against a small university that was part of a D-II christian university league. Watching the warm-ups I felt confident I could play for the opposing team, and sure enough, by halftime Tarleton was up by 30, and on its way to over 100 points. On our way there we ate at Grumps and enjoyed their burgers.

-Tradition! This word demands to always be said like you're on the set of "A Fiddler on the Roof." Whether its the Yule Tide logs, or caroling, or simply opening up Christmas presents, I love participating in Christmas traditions.

-riding a horse. I really wanted to do this, as its been years since I've ridden a horse, and that was on our camping trip to Gettysburg, and ended up as a very contained trot more than anything. This was freedom. This was speed. This was sunshine and samba. I loved it. Sure, my thighs were sore and worthless the next day, but in the moment, I could have gone for hours longer. The Gammons were very kind to facilitate that. Here's some pictures of me and Pumpjack:

-frisbee golf. We went and played the local course, making it through 16 holes. The dog came too and we went frolicking around. I'm appreciative of being able to do that in December.

-darts. If you asked me if I would like to play darts, before Christmas break I would have said of course not. Turns out, I do. As part of the overall change of pace, I did like throwing darts. It's also fun because it's a game where we were all on the same basic level. Breyer came close to beating me, and it's not complicated, allowing for conversation to continue.

-food. Ah, yes. It was good to be back for Mom's cooking. Inevitably, I put on a few pounds. I weighed myself the first day I got there, and the weight was correct at 189. I mention that, because I found it hard to believe that when I left it was 196. Running a little with Wagner wasn't nearly enough to help prevent that. I'm glad I could snag some Texas brisket too.

-movies: I save them up for the holidays and on some cold nights we watched White Christmas, North by Northwest, and Notorious. Not sure how Hitchcock trumped the usual It's a Wonderful Life, but I enjoyed all three movies. I have a list of 7-8 movies that I genuinely want to see, and North by Northwest was on there and did not disappoint.

-burning a Christmas tree with Luke. This is kind of self-explanatory. We took our Christmas tree out after the New Year, and given that it spent weeks inside drying out, the tree went up in flames crazy quick. It's therapeutic watching it.

-Glen Rose dinosaur tracks. Aunt Janel and Luke visited Granbury and we went to a state park and hiked around. I stayed with Waggie most of the time, and we forded the river (like 100 times) and hiked up to a small peak. The tracks were very underwhelming, but being in the park was fun.

E Pluribus Unum. Out of many, one. The old adage, you can count the number of seeds in an apple, but you can't count the number of apples in a seed, rings true. All of us are at once a seed, and an apple. We are part of a family, and we can start a family. We act kindly towards others, others act kindly towards us. We teach or influence someone, and that persons influence carries a part of us much further than we would ever go otherwise.

I am not entirely sure of the point of that last paragraph. I just think life is beautiful. Life echoes the sound of the waves as they wash up on the shore. Back and forth. Much seems fleeting. Yet all play a part. There are seasons for everything. I am grateful for the Christmas season, to have spent time with family and to remember our Savior Jesus Christ.

The Working Man's Words

Prelude to Paradise by Hunter Schenewark

(Note: events happened Dec. 16-21; I didn't finish writing before I left for Texas, so here we are, one month later. Much of the delay can be blamed on Mr. John Grisham.)

There is a fine line between looking forward too much to the future, thereby not enjoying the present, and alternatively living too much in the present and not looking forward with an eye to the future. Both can be dangerous. This was a week where I was decidedly in the future. Saturday  I would fly home and be with my family again.

Of course, there is also the past and this is the perfect time to resurrect this classic.

Ah, yes. That era when my favorite word was paleontology and as long as I had dinosaurs in my front "pockets," I was invincible. 'Twas a simpler time. Of course, you could say not much has changed. I am still fascinated by dirt and the wonder of life that it conceals and helps produce.  Looking back at my scrapbook, I laughed seeing the same vest in so many of my pictures. It was my favorite outfit.

 We had our work Christmas party at Top Golf where the food was greasy yet good, and we did a white elephant in between shots. I brought a CanopyTax hat and a tie. Mason picked my present, and I walked away with 60 double A batteries. My original choice had been a crystal serving bowl, but when that was stolen, I went with the batteries. Although I currently don't have a single thing that uses batteries, I figured they were my best option.

I received my LSAT score from the first test. It was exactly what I thought I'd get, judging from my performance, so no surprise but some disappointment. I'm glad I signed up to take it again and won't have to wait long until the test in January.

The trip home was relatively uneventful. I flew out of Salt Lake City at 5:30 and met TannMarie in the Phoenix airport for the second leg of the journey. Nora is always a hoot. She pushed her little stroller all around the airport, before reluctantly boarding when the time came. We made it into Dallas close to midnight and after Dad brought us home, there were some quick hugs and hellos before we all hit our beds exhausted.

Turkey Trot

Happy Fall!

Nora N'Updates

Schenewarks - All Together Again

 

The Working Man's Words

Time in Texas: July 12-20 by Hunter Schenewark My flight arrived at DFW a little early, and I waited for a time before Dad and Porter picked me up. I should note, it was a miracle how perfect the schedule worked out. When I bought my ticket, I had just started at BambooHR. I decided to book the trip from Friday to the following Saturday, without really having any reason. Porter arrived on Thursday, and I did want to see that, but this felt right. Fast forward some weeks, and I am hired at ListReports, have the aforementioned trip to California....from Monday to Thursday. It would have been difficult to skip the first part of training, so the departure Friday was ideal. God is in the details. Two years passes by so quick; I couldn't believe Porter was back, and I couldn't believe that I was approaching (at the end of the month) my two year mark of being back in the states. It doesn't matter how long I've been gone, as soon as I'm with family, I feel at home. And it feels good. I hadn't been back since Christmas, and although Dad and Breyer came out to graduation, it was a LONG time since I'd seen everyone else. Much has already been written by other family members, and too much happened to do justice without writing page upon page, so I shall touch on only a few happenings. First, Sunday was Breyer's baptism. Ordinances are so important. We need the gospel of Jesus Christ. We need baptism. Truly, "except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." (John 3:5). I was asked by her to speak briefly on baptism, and I reminisced on my own baptism, which occurred nearly 16 years to the day. I don't remember everything, and at that age I did not fully comprehend the significance of the event. Above all else, I do remember, distinctly, the feeling of being clean, and wanting to be perfect from that time on. Breyer's was the first baptism since my mission, and it was a day I shall not forget. A bonus was hearing Porter give his homecoming talk during Sacrament Meeting. It was great to have the Bach's there; they always bring so much happiness. We played our traditional game of Rancid Tarantula. A decade in, the rule book we have created rivals the US Tax Code in length, but like Uncle Sam, I keep coming out on top. Sunday night, before their departure early. early Monday morning, Bro. Bach realized his wallet was missing. While handy to have, this was essential as he needed the ID to board the plane back to Massachusetts. He remembered having it after church when we were home, so we tore apart the house looking in every imaginable place. The search started close to midnight, and about 12:40 I asked that we gather and pray. I prayed, and felt certain, completely certain that we would find the wallet. We looked for a little longer, but to no avail and called it a night. I still felt certain, and was glad to see upon awakening, a note left from Bro. Bach indicating that he looked in his suitcase once more, and although he had looked in the very pocket a few times before, his wallet was there. I testify that God does answer prayers. Third, on Monday I took Sawyer and Miller golfing. This has likewise become a tradition. We wanted to try a new course and went to Sugar Tree Golf Course in Lipan, Texas. The course was beautiful! We arrived at 3:30 pm and played 18 holes in the hot, hot sun. I drank 160 ounces of water, 10 full water bottles. We had a great time. It was a hard course, and we saw some great shots, over water, out of the sand, etc. On 18, Miller Happy Gilmore'd his drive 270 and then hit his next one thin, saw it skip once on the water and land on the other side. His arms raised in both jubilation and disbelief, we were all glad we could spend the time together. We did a bro's trip to Tyler, with everyone but Tanner going to see the Merritt's. We played lots of games, ate lots of food, and spent so much time in the pool. We all came back with varying degrees of sunburn, but nary a frown. I even escaped losing to Aunt Janel in ping-pong. Only due to running out of time and not playing before we left though. Friday, the family was all together. The Friday before, Mom had surgery, and of course it takes more than surgery to replace the meniscus to keep her down, but it was nice to see her doing so much better and much more mobile. That night, we went to a Cleburne Railroaders game. Miller's team was being recognized, and he was memorably introduced as "Miller Schenewark, extra hitter" as his position, while walking out onto the field. We were the first fans to arrive, and had time before the gates opened to walk around the field behind the stands and find lots of home run balls. The game was entertaining, and the night capped off with a firework show. My trip was wonderful. I know, without a doubt, that "The family is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan...Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities." (The Family: A Proclamation to the World). I am thankful for parents who have taught me by example and who have always placed family, and especially their children, above any worldly considerations.

Boy Scout Camp 2019