The Andrews

Oh, The Places You'll Go!

2011-07-03T18:14:00.004-06:00

During last school year they had a week celebrating Dr. Seuss' birthday. Each day the kids got to dress up based on some fun Dr. Seuss book. One day they wore all green (Green Eggs and Ham), one day they wore creative hats, crazy socks, etc. One day they were to dress up as what they'd like to be when they grow up (Oh, The Places You'll Go). My kids really enjoyed the whole dress-up week. Makenna knew exactly what she wants to be and she immediately asked Dad to bring home a white lab coat and some medical accessories because she wants to be a veterinarian. Shaylie was pretty stumped about what she should be when she grows up. In the past she has always proudly announced that she is going to be a princess when she grows up, so I was surprized that she hesitated. Heaven knows we have no shortage of glamorous princess dresses. When I asked her about it she sniffled, "But Mom, there are no princesses in the real world!" I was so sad - it felt like the end of her little childhood... But she quickly recovered with an idea that was so Shaylie I had to laugh. She said, "But there ARE real rockstars!" And then little Kyler was really stumped. I suggested all the things he'd ever wanted to be... a cowboy, an astronaut, a fireman. None seemed just right. So as a joke I made a suggestion that he ended up going with. He wore his nice church suit and his hair slicked back, and he emptied his allowance money into all his pockets so he jingled. He even put a couple paper dollars in his pockets. Then when anyone asked him what he was, he pulled out the money and said, "I'm a Millionaire!"

You're Gonna Miss This

2011-06-06T21:35:00.003-06:00

Where is my other shoe????

This is one of those adorable little rituals which will be forgotten as the children grow, if I don't record the memory. This whole school year Carter has had trouble making it out the door on time because of this cute little game between him and Shaylie. Every morning she sneaks into his closet and finds where Daddy left his work shoes, then hides one or both of them. You'd be amazed how creative a five-year-old can be! Sometimes he finds one in the dryer, behind the computer, under a sink, in a flower pot... A time or two she hid them so well Carter never did find them and had to wear other shoes to work. On this particular day it was an easy find in the cat house.

Great Little Brains

2011-06-06T21:01:00.003-06:00

Our school's PTA sponsors a Great Brain Project every year. The kids get to do either a research or a science project and then share it with their class and then the parents. They work very hard on these (well, we all do actually) so they like me to take pictures to remember them by.

Shaylie's report was on "Outer Space." She learned the name and order of all the planets and some other big words like constellation, galaxy, and solar system. In her presentation she explained how earth's rotation around the sun gives us day and night and seasons. She learned a bunch as she did this and she was so excited to share it.

Makenna continued her theme of studying our family's pets. Last year she researched cockatoo parrots. This time her theme was Abyssinian cats; her beloved Ginny. She learned that Abyssinians are considered descendents of the ancient Egyptian cats, which they worshiped and painted on walls of tombs, etc. She really enjoyed studying the mythical legends surrounding Eghptian cats. It was also interesting to learn how many of the traits that we thought were 'just Ginny' are actually typical of her breed. Who knew?

The kids don't get any extra credit for these projects, just a "Great Brain" badge and the fun of sharing what they learned. And some late-night one-on-one time with Mom the night before it's due. hee,hee. But I was proud of them - they did great!

Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland...

2011-06-06T16:39:00.004-06:00

The weekend of McCall's Winter Carnival our family took a fun little day trip. We walked around McCall and enjoyed the amazing talent of so many snow sculptors. Then we headed to Cascade Lake for a little ice fishing. It was a gorgeous sunny winter day and we had a terrific time.

I love the bear peeking into the outhouse. We couldn't resist posing Kyler for this hillarious shot...

You know what they say... you have to kiss a few of these before you find your prince. Luckily I already found a keeper!

I realized I didn't even take any pictures of ice fishing. Carter and a couple of the kids did have poles in holes, but there was a lot more shooting, playing, and goofing going on. They would have paid better attention if the fish were biting, but it was an off day for fish I guess. Lots of fun playing on the ice, though.

Chinese New Year

2011-06-04T19:26:00.004-06:00

I always meant to be one of those moms who plans cute little projects to do with my kids. And I do try, but it doesn't happen as often as I would like. But this year I found some time to play around with my two youngest on the afternoon of Chinese New Year. Carter and I both having served Asian missions, this holiday has a some special meaning. (Actually, it has meaning on two levels, because our first date also coincidentally happened on Chinese New Year and we went to eat Chinese food. The restaurant gave our whole group free drinks, and I pretended not to know how to use chopsticks because Carter was so cute trying to teach me.)

The kids and I made a nifty Chinese dragon and some lanterns. We hung them up over the table and we ate dinner with chopsticks that night.

Go Team!!

2011-06-04T19:03:00.004-06:00

Shaylie was thrilled when I announced that I had signed her up for Columbia High School's mini cheer camp! Seriously, I think she may have hyperventelated a little.

She got to go to the high school and practice with the REAL cheerleaders three afternoons one week. They taught them several chants, some cute tumbling, and a dance routine. Then Friday night she wore her "cheerleading" t-shirt to the Columbia varsity basketball game and helped cheer! With all the mini cheerleaders she performed the half-time entertainment. It was the cutest thing you ever saw, and she couldn't wipe the smile off her little face.

Here they are dancing to "Wild Thing."

Our team is what? Dynamite!
Our team is what? Dynamite!
Our team is tick, tick, tick, tick, BOOM! Dynamite!

Shaylie is here on the left, holding up the bottom of the pyramid.

Christmas, 2010

2011-05-01T18:28:00.003-06:00

I am creating a slideshow for our Christmas holiday. It was filled with wonderful family memories, but I think the pictures speak for themselves.

Kyler also had his 7th birthday while we were with all the family at the cabin. So he enjoyed a really big birthday party. As you can see, he came up with his own creative approach to blowing out the candles...

Happy seventh birthday, Kyler, we love you!!

November 2010

2011-05-01T17:36:00.006-06:00

As my avid blog-followers (hee,hee) may have noticed, I've had some technological difficulties getting new material onto the blog for the last...oh, five months. But I've figured out a new way to get my pictures off the silly camera and should be back in business. I don't know if anyone has missed our posts, but I've missed posting. And while I am positive that no one on the planet still cares to hear about the Andrews' holiday season, I'm posting it anyway for the sake of the memory book I plan to create from our blog. So please bear with me while I scramble to bring this back up to speed.

I think it is so adorable each Thanksgiving when my kindergarteners work so hard and make cute little Pilgrim and Indian costumes, then have a big Thanksgiving Feast at school. I helped out in Shaylie's classroom that day and I got to head up the making of babyfood-jar-butter. So fun! I wished I'd had my camera at school for the feast.

We enjoyed our family's "Thanksgiving feast" up at the Andrews' cabin. They are incredibly generous and sweet to allow us to use it. Mom and Bob joined us. Mom and I paused to admire all our hard work before it was gobbled up by a pack of hungry turkeys.

One main memory I have of this Thanksgiving is the intimate candle-lit eating atmosphere, as we were having some electrical problems.

Neil and Sara Adams joined us later with their cute girls, and we had some good fun playing out in the snow while the men were off hunting. They managed to come back with some good stories, too, something about bullet-proof elk that fake dead and then streak off into the sunset.

Grandma gave Makenna her very first knitting lessons. She thought it was a lot of fun, and Grandma said she really has a knack for it.

And finally, my dear Jayden Boy turned 13 during the Thanksgiving weekend. Here he is being mobbed by his adoring brothers and sisters and showing off his new gift. Jayden, we love you!!

Jayden's First Big Game Hunt!

2010-11-24T09:12:00.004-07:00

Jayden is a proud kid this Fall. Last year he turned twelve just a little too late to do any hunting, so he has looked forward to this all year. Carter took him up by Stanley. I can't give you much of a narrative, but I know they braved some seriously cold weather and did LOTS of hiking.

Carter said he was a great shot. In fact he shot both the deer and elk right through the heart. Here is the hole in the elk heart to prove it! Congratulations Jayden! I'm sure this is just the first of lots of neat memories with your dad.

Halloween 2010

2010-11-24T08:56:00.004-07:00

We hope you all had a fun Halloween! We all love dressing up. We had mild weather for Halloween night, which is always lucky. And Carter and the kids trick-or-treated through the neighborhood with our cousins, the Breshears. So Fun!

Disneyland!!

2010-11-14T19:37:00.011-07:00

We were so blessed to be able to take a family trip this Fall - to Disneyland! We've been looking forward to this for a LONG time. And it was wonderful! The drive to California was just fine, which restored my faith in our family unity, since the DVD player didn't work. We were thankful to be able to stop and spend a night with my sister's family in Sparks, Nevada, and also get our first glimpse of her sweet new baby, Aiden. And our extremely shady Craigslist/blackmarket source for discount tickets didn't get us killed or kicked out of the park. (Whew! That's a good story, though)

It was pouring rain our first day at Disneyland. Luckily we'd seen the forecast and came prepared. It ended up being terrific because we started out riding a bunch of indoor rides, like Peter Pan and Toad's Wild Ride. Within a few hours the rain had stopped but the park was still relatively empty so we ran from ride to ride with hardly a wait.

We were so preoccupied with the rides we didn't put much effort into finding characters or standing in line for pictures. But a couple of them found their way to us. Jayden REALLY wanted to get a hug from Princess Jasmine, too, though he wouldn't admit it.

There is a new ride since we were there last, all about Buzz Lightyear, and we get to shoot lasers at targets as we move along. It keeps your score and it is unexpectedly fun. Although it would be hypothetically embarrassing to a dad to find out his son soundly beat his score. (Not mentioning any names...)

Jayden took Brennan under his wing at Disneyland and was kind enough to help haul him around when his little feet got tired. It was so nice not to worry about keeping a hand on my little guy every minute.

Captain Jayden Sparrow.

The Mad Bubba Hatter.

The Happy Hatters.

A nice guy in California Adventures offered to take a picture of our family for us, which would have been a great shot except that he cut poor Shaylie's face out of it. Maybe he thought we had too many kids.

I am in love with all things Disney. Disney movies, Disney music, Disney characters, especially Minny Mouse. I can't get enough. I was in Disney Heaven, but I wasn't the only one. The whole family had a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious time! I asked them to tell me their favorite rides and/or memories. Jayden and Makenna's favorite ride was Space Mountain. (Carter and I agree!) Since we were there in October they "Halloweenified" it with a cool and very scary fiery demon creature that chases you through space. Speaking of Halloween, one of my highlights was the way the whole place was decorated for the holiday, with giant pumpkins carved like Disney characters, and even costumes on a few of the characters as they walked around! Kyler, Shaylie, and even Brennan insisted their favorite ride was the Matterhorn. This surprised me since Brennan cried the first time he got off, and Shaylie would only agree to a second ride if I covered her eyes every time we came to the red-eyed abominable snow monster. But for some reason they couldn't get enough and rode that a dozen times more. Shaylie also loved Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. She called it "That Fast Choo Choo." The kids also mentioned the highlight of seeing the Darth Vader performance, driving their own cars with their own drivers licenses in Autotopia, and Soaring Over California. One of my favorite parts of the day was the Aladin stage performance. The family kindly humored me because I really wanted to see it, but afterward they all agreed it was phenomenal! And I've never laughed so hard as when I watched my wobbly-kneed and scared spitless family make their way out of the Tower of Terror! Holy Cow!! Carter mentioned the 4-D Bug's Life Show, which was also a hoot. But we left there feeling like we needed to check our britches for bugs! And how could I not mention the classics - Pirates of the Caribbean, It's a Small World, Indiana Jones, the Finding Nemo Submarine Ride...Oh! I love Disneyland. When can we go back??

I LOVE this picture! This is how you know you've had all the fun you can stand!

Next we spent a relaxing day playing at Huntington Beach. It was pretty windy, but not enough to discourage the kids from having some fun in the waves. There is a cool pier we walked along, and there was a cute little craft fair to check out.

Kenna found a real, live clam!

The last day of our California Adventure we spent at Sea World. There is nothing like Shamu!

And Sharks...

And incredible shows!

The first time we watched Shamu the kids were so excited to sit right smack in the "Splash Zone." They learned that they weren't bluffing, and that evening when we watched the night-time rock 'n roll Shamu Performance they chose to sit at the top of the stadium! There was also a water rapids ride which involved more water than we expected. I thought Carter was so sweet and generous to stay behind with Brennan, who was too short to ride. But two hours later when he smugly grinned as we were still dripping and shivering, I decided (and I'm quoting Carter here) "I'm not as dumb as I look." If you are heading there anytime soon, my suggestion is that unless it's August, skip Shipwreck Rapids!

One funny moment came early on in the day at Sea World while we sat admiring Shaylie's favorite - the flamingos. I have to preface this by explaining that poor Brennan was terrified of the sights and sounds surrounding Scary Space Mountain, and he spent a decent amount of time waiting out there while we all took turns riding it repeatedly. I explained to him that there was not a real monster in there, it is just "remote control," like the dancing children in Small World or the pretend pirates on the boat ride. That was a concept he could understand and it seemed to comfort him a little. After Brennan thoughtfully watched the flamingos a while he asked me, "Mom? Are these animals all remote control?" Hee, Hee!

I took almost two hundred pictures on this trip, and I've had a hard time not including them all in this blog post. Sorry if it is out of control long. But I couldn't end without the most hilarious ones of all. Remember Splash Mountain? Happy little log ride? Cute story- scenes of Briar Rabbit bunnies and animals? BIG drop? Apparently Carter had forgotten about the drop...

Let's see that a little closer, shall we??

Sorry to tease you, Carter, I couldn't resist. We think you are terrific! Thank you so much for taking us all on this wonderful trip!

Election Prep 101

2010-10-31T22:06:00.002-06:00

The more experiences I have in life, the more grateful I am for the tremendous blessing of living in this great country. The privilege of voting to influence the leadership and policies of our nation is something most of the world can only dream of. I can understand the cynicism that causes some people to abstain from voting, when they see yahoos doing dumb things in office and they feel that their vote really doesn't make much difference. But I would be ashamed of myself to join that "silent majority" of good men who stand by and do nothing while evil takes root. I can't change the world, but I can do something. This week that little something is to vote.

But I have often been frustrated as I try to be an informed voter and do a good job of researching the candidates. It doesn't always feel like I can find unbiased, truthful information. I have spoken recently with a couple people who expressed these same feelings, so I want to share a few websites that I found really helpful. If you are still working on solidifying your opinions about candidates I encourage you to take a look at some of these.

www.votesmart.org This website has a bunch of great info, but my favorite was an awesome tool called Vote Easy. It allows you to answer questions on twelve basic topics, and then it shows you which of your local candidates' views are similar or different from yours. Snazzy! It also did a really good job of giving a breakdown of those confusing ballot measures, what they mean in plain English, along with some argument statements for and against each one.

www.politifact.com This one is more national and not specific to Idaho, but it had a Truth-o-meter which was really fun to read. It researches comments by leading politicians and measures them with the truth-o-meter, giving lots of them a "pants on fire" rating. It also has a running campaign promises kept/broken list. Kind of fun.

www.uselections.com This one gives nice general info if you need to figure out your voting district, etc. And it also has links to the official website for each candidate. I don't find these as helpful because anyone can make themselves look great on their own website, but is is nice to be able to read their own platform statements.

Best one of all IdahoStatesman.com! They do a local voter guide which allows you to compare the candidates side-by-side as they answer questions on all the pertinent issues. You can then create your own personal ballot, marking your preferences for each office. I print this out and take it with me sometimes.

If you subscribe to the paper, there are ongoing articles about issues, debates, candidates, and stuff. It is hard to find the time to pour over everything, though, and that's why I like the websites that condense it for me and lay them out apples to apples. I normally ignore the Opinions page and try to focus on facts.

Can you believe I made it through all that without telling you who to vote for?! I hope everyone will take the election seriously, research the candidates, and get out there and vote. And if you happen to be interested in my opinion, just ask - you know I'll tell you.*smile*

Carter's New Hobby - Dumpster Diving

2010-10-30T19:13:00.002-06:00

Here is my handsome husband in his slightly rumpled church suit. Kind of a funny story... Jayden is thankful it has a happy ending.

Getting ready for our big Disneyland trip our family held a garage sale to earn some extra money. We were able to sell most of the stuff, but there are always the odds and ends left over which need to be packaged up and sent to D.I. The kids and I took on that job one afternoon. As we were bagging and boxing, Jayden came across Carter's good suitcoat mixed in with D.I. clothes. I said, "Whoa! What's that doing out here? Take it into the house right away!"

Now fast forward a couple days... We were getting dressed for my nephew's baby blessing and Carter asked me, "Have you seen my suitcoat? I can't find it." I gasped. All the blood ran out of Jayden's face and he looked like he'd seen a ghost. I said, "Jayden, please tell me you brought that coat back into the house and didn't bag it up." His response, "Ummmm." Ironically, that very morning we had delivered the donation to D.I. When I called over to explain what happened and ask if there was some way to retrieve the suit, the guy just chuckled and said, "I guess you could look in the clothes bin, if you want to..." His tone clearly indicated that there was no chance. Well, after the blessing Carter booked it over to D.I. He said they showed him where the clothes go, and he proceeded to climb down into a gigantic dumpster as big as our bedroom and waist-deep with clothes. When he emerged waving his suitcoat, the employees came running and cheering. They never expected him to find it. He claims, "Where there's a will, there's a way." I claim he lives under a lucky star. He catches planes he should have missed, he finds things he should have lost, and he NEVER gets the speeding ticket. Ah, well. As for the suitcoat, it was due for a dry cleaning anyway.

Shaylie's Birthday

2010-10-30T13:25:00.002-06:00

Shaylie turned five this summer and we celebrated by taking her and her cute cousin Hailey for a family adventure at PoJo's. We all had so much fun and I found lots of great photo opps, so I decided to make a slideshow. We love you Shaylie!

My New Washing Machine

2010-10-30T12:54:00.005-06:00

This spring my good ol' washing machine finally croaked. We had been expecting this for a while so we had budgeted a chunk of money to buy a new one. I did a lot of research on prices, features, brands, stores, etc. Then one day I happened to notice something for sale on Craigslist that I had been wanting for a long time...something that we couldn't afford. A swimming pool. So I made a plan. I continued to look around on Craigslist and found a used washing machine for half the price we had set aside. Then I used the remainder which was just enough to buy the pool. Sometimes you have to get creative. But I was so excited. I can just picture years of summertime memories and fun centered around this pool. I have to admit that it required a lot of work and some more expense to get the silly thing all set up. We only had two weeks of hot weather left to enjoy the pool this year, but that's okay. We are already dreaming about next summer. And just look at the happy faces on my family. That's better than a fancy washing machine any day!

New Cousins!

2010-10-30T12:16:00.005-06:00

We love our cousins!!!

My kids are lucky to have a whole bunch of the best cousins in the world, from both sides of the family. And in the last year they have been joined by three new cuties.

This summer we were so happy to get to spend a few days with Camille and get to know her new baby. They were visiting from Dubai. This is little Evelyn.

She is such a sweet, adorable little girl.

Brennan couldn't get enough of her, and asked to hold her every chance he got. Evelyn seemed entertained by the craziness of all the kids all around her, and she was a good sport. We look forward to their next visit.

Next came little Logan. These are newborn pictures - he's already a whole bunch bigger than this now, and so cute!

And my sister Amy had her fourth baby (first boy) last month. Last week they drove up to Idaho to bless him. We were thankful to be able to be a part of it! This is Aiden.

I love that little half-smile. And below are Amy and Grandma, too.

Hi Ho! Hi Ho! It's Back to School We Go!

2010-09-28T22:51:00.003-06:00

When I was a kid it seemed that summertime always flew by way too fast. Now that I'm a grown-up I think they go by even faster! I love it when school gets out. I love having my kids back home with me. I love being able to create my own schedule a little bit. I always have a big list of cool activities we will do together, terrific projects and chores we will get done. I love those warm, muggy summer evenings when it is way past the kids' bedtimes but we are all hanging out in the back yard goofing around and it isn't even dark yet.

But I blink once and it is time to heave a sigh and send them back to school. Now I also have to admit that there is something exciting about the newness of a new school year. A few new outfits, new shoes, new teachers, old and new friends, etc. Even the return to an imposed schedule feels nice. I can't help but catch the enthusiasm my kids feel. And we couldn't do without the age-old tradition of first- day- of- school- pictures.

Jayden tried to act like he despised the whole idea of starting school again, but I could tell he really did look forward to it. I could also sense the slight apprehension and remembered what it was like in middle school. Jayden is starting seventh grade. It's a tough age, but he's a good kid and he's handling it okay. (Although I wish he'd slow down the growth spurt. At the moment I'm posting this in late September I've already had to buy him new jeans because the ones I got him in July in preparation for school have become high-waters!)

Makenna is starting fourth grade! She was nervous because she had a male teacher for the first time. I shared with her that in fourth grade I also had my first male teacher and it turned out to be my favorite year of elementary school. She seems to be having the same experience. It is fun to see the very big-kid stuff she is learning.

Kyler is off to first grade. The jump to all-day school hasn't phased him a bit. His enthusiasm for each new day is contagious. He loves reading, loves P.E., loves music, loves computers, loves riding the bus...

Miss Shaylie had her own first day of school because of the crazy schedule the kindergarteners are on. Our school district is trying out an all day kindergarten program on alternating days. Just look at that little face! New backpack, new lunchsack, she's so excited to start this new adventure. I've never had any worries about how Shaylie would do - I knew she'd love school. She automatically loves everyone, so everyone loves her back. But I do hate to see my babies growing up! Here are a couple more pictures of Shaylie's big day.

I love this one of her grinning at me over the seat on her first bus ride.

The all day school schedule has been an adjustment for my little girl. On her second day of school she came home and immediately lost her temper with her brother, whacking him with her backpack. I sent her to her room, and then called up the stairs a few minutes later for her to come apologize. This is what I found:

And even little Brennan had a first day of preschool!

I'm participating in a preschool co-op with some friends. Brennan is loving it! He has his paint and scissors and he's ready to go. What a little cutie. It is fun to see his pride in his accomplishments when he brings home some neat little project he made himself.

So we're off and running. I am personally thankful for the wonderful teachers who care for my babies and who do such terrific jobs teaching them each day. And what a blessing to live in a place where my kids can receive a great education!

Summer + Family = Fun

2010-09-11T22:47:00.000-06:00

We had a terrific little family reunion this summer which was a nice "staycation" for two of the three families involved. We are so thankful Amy and Todd were willing to make the trek from Nevada so we could all be together! We loved seeing them. We spent one day at Eagle Island Park. It was one of those completely perfect summer days. We swam, we played, we ate great picnic food, and we made some terrific memories!

Bob was enjoying a quiet moment in the shade.

Here's one memory, for example. This is Carter and Todd trying to flip the burgers with a paper plate and a melted plastic fork because I forgot the spatula. Sorry about the singed armhair and eyebrows, guys. The burgers were great.

The cousins had a blast swimming and playing.

I love this shot of my handsome son!

One day we went to the Discovery Center. Mom and Todd were chillin' with the puzzles.

I think Amy was the only one who could get the stinkin' legs pedaling forward. It's harder than you'd think!

We had a lot of fun with this... There is a camera and a green screen set up in the back of the Discovery Center. The kids draped themselves in the green blankets and got a kick out of watching their heads float in space on the moon. Jayden, Makenna, and Kyler were floating here with Anachel.

Our theatrical special effects abilities might leave something to be desired, but we had fun setting up this shot, too. We told Brennan, "Look at your feet and SCREAM!" It made it easy to explain how they do lots of the cool stuff we see in movies, stuff I'm always trying to help them realize is not real.

We love the Discovery Center, and we love our awesome family!

This is Shaylie and Lanay very guilty because we were getting ready to go somewhere and they were told to run out and get in the van. They were NOT supposed to run through the sprinklers on the way. But they were so darn cute I just took a picture anyway.

Quality Entertainment at our House

2010-09-11T22:45:00.000-06:00

This is what happens when you don't have cable. (J.K.)

For family home evening recently we acted out the story of Naaman, the Syrian nobleman who contracted leprosy. Here is his adorable servant, played by Brennan.

Jayden took his part seriously. Leprosy is obviously not fun. Personally, I think the dredlocks and the Rosta hat made the whole look. We stuck pieces of masking tape all over his face and arms.

The beautiful servant who encouraged Naaman to go to Israel...

Carter narrated the dramatic performance.

Here we have the King of Israel and the Queen of Syria.

The insightful servant who talked Naaman out of being offended by the Prophet Elisha's instructions to bathe in the river.

A bit more drama...

This is Naaman dipping himself in the river Jordan. Sorry, I didn't manage to catch on the film the miraculous healing, but you can imagine, it was dramatic.

We're a goofy bunch, I know. But these type of FHE lessons seem to be the ones that stick in their minds. In any case, it was lots of fun!

Stanley in July

2010-08-24T22:45:00.004-06:00

We took our one and only camping trip of this summer up to Stanley over the 4th of July. We love it there! Carter and I couldn't help but heave a sigh of relief as we passed the spot by GrandJean where our transmission went out last year on this trip. This year we picked up Jayden from Scout Camp on our way up, so he camped for a week and a half straight altogether. I asked him if he was dying for his own bed yet, and he said, "Are you kidding me? I'd live like this all year round if I could!" I have a feeling he'd change his mind about the time the snow starts flying in Stanley. He's cute, though, and he sure does love the outdoors.

We had a fabulous time. Here are the kids in front of our awesome garage sale tent. I love this tent! I love it even more because it cost me $20, but it is heavy and warm. Setting it up is a comical process. Every time we figure we'll finally remember how to do it. And every time we lay out all the bars and then ask each other, "Now, how did this go?" I'm not sure we've ever set it up the same way twice.

Brennan was proud to pack his own heavy backpack.

How's this for camping face?! I don't know how long we'd been camping at the point that I took this picture, but I'm sure it wasn't long enough to justify this much dirt. Where's his mother, anyway?

One afternoon Carter brought out this air-pellet gun (is that the right thing to call it, Carter??) and we all took turns shooting at cans. You can do that when you're the only ones in the whole campground. We had a great time at it.

Shaylie surprised us by being an excellent shot. Surprised herself, too. I don't have any pictures of Makenna shooting because she is a lefty and maneuvered herself akwardly around the gun so that when she fired she got a scope in the eye the first time. She refused to touch it again after that.

I liked this group shot. Such happy kids. The rest of the trip was awesome, too, but I forgot my camera every time we left camp! We attended church in the gorgeous Stanley branch, explored the fish hatchery where Carter worked as a teenager, and cooked some mighty good dutch oven grub. We spent a chilly day at Redfish Lake, one of my favorite places in the whole world. We didn't do much swimming, but we did play in a paddleboat for a while, play in the sand, read, and throw frisbees on the beach. Since it was July 4th, there was music from several live bands performing on the grass by the lodge. Can you picture the scene? I hope so, it was lovely. And we enjoyed Stanley's fireworks from the front yard of the Neider's ranch; they were so sweet to invite us to join their family shindig. They really know how to throw a fireworks party! They had yummy food, a firepit, and glow bracelets! We are thankful to have them as friends. (Not just for their front yard and glow bracelets, though). I'd have a picture, but...no camera.

Camping is soooo much work! To plan meals as well as how to cook each thing, cold-weather stuff, warm-weather stuff, bedding stuff, etc, etc, it's exhausting! And then there's the clean-up of all the equipment and the LAUNDRY when we get home... At some point I always ask myself if it's worth it. And I'm sure there are plenty of other ways to make family memories, but whenever I look back on a family camping trip and the wonderful time we had all together up in the mountains, I never regret it.

What Lies Beneath...

2010-08-24T22:34:00.002-06:00

Carter and Jayden went fishing with Uncle Justin in the Snake River this summer. I think they started out cat fishing, but soon discovered they could have more fun with their crossbow and the carp. Justin is sure this one would have been a state record if they'd kept it to be weighed. Hmmm. A state record for carp?? Now THERE'S something to brag about... Anyway, they had a ball fighting it and reeling it in. I won't be swimming in the Snake River anytime soon.

Whee Heee! Brennan's Threeeee!

2010-08-24T22:11:00.006-06:00

It's my blog - I can be stupid if I want to.

Anyway, I'm getting behind on documenting some important days this summer. Brennan's birthday was in June, and I can't fail to recognize his great achievement. He has lived three years as the youngest of five children.

He was so excited to help by being my "Sprinkle Guy." I was amazed by the herculean effort it took him not to lick his frosting'y fingers (too often, anyway).

Shaylie was excited to sort of re-gift a Little People Zoo which she had decided she'd outgrown. He's been playing with it for years whenever he wants, but now it officially lives in his room. Funny how happy the gift made him...

That's my Bro. This is the big hug he gave Kyler after Kyler bestowed upon him all the cars in the car bucket, which he's also been playing with all his life whenever he wants to, but now they officially belong to him. Does that mean now he has to clean them up himself? Smart, Kyler!

Isn't that just like a cat?! She automatically assumes the seat of honor belongs to her!

Happy Birthday, Sprinkle Guy! I officially don't have a baby anymore... Just a big boy who keeps up with the best of them, who knows what he wants in life, who learns quickly and smiles a contagious dimply smile. Love you Brennan!

Grandpa's Wedding Day!

2010-08-22T08:39:00.003-06:00

Not long ago, Grandpa surprised us all by revealing that there was someone special in his life, and shortly after that they made a wedding announcement. Grandpa met Susan in his ward at church - in fact he has been her home teacher for four years! Their bishop teased Grandpa that loving the people we teach is important, but this is really above and beyond! Susan is a wonderful lady, very vivacious and fun. It has been neat to see the sparkle that young love has brought into Grandpa's eyes. And when we first met Susan she was so excited to show us her ring and talk about their wedding plans - she was positively giddy. We are so happy for you both.

Saturday, August 21st, Grandpa and Susan were married in the Boise Temple. My sister, Amy is about to have a baby any day now and couldn't travel to be here for the wedding, so I promised to post lots of pictures. It was a perfect wedding day at the temple, and Susan's daughters worked so hard and created such a lovely reception.

Congratulations!! We love you both!!!

Last Day of School!!!

2010-06-30T21:08:00.003-06:00

In addition to Kyler's graduation, Jayden and Makenna were both thrilled to celebrate the completion of sixth and third grades. On the last day of school I attended a special mathematics ice cream sundae party. The kids had to earn each part of their banana splits, like the bowl, spoon, each scoop and topping, the banana, etc, by memorizing and passing off parts of the times tables. Makenna maxed out her sundae, and loved every bite!

I also attended the ceremonial burning of what remained of Jayden's school binder. I'm not sure a good mother would have allowed that, let alone photographed it. But it seemed like a satisfying conclusion for a long and difficult school year for him. Let him celebrate - he did it!

Kyler's Kindergarten Graduation

2010-06-30T18:15:00.003-06:00

Sitting in Kyler's kindergarten graduation program someone asked me which one was my child. I told them it is the little guy in the striped shirt who is having WAY too much fun. Several people around me all commented that they had been laughing themselves silly watching his antics. He was hysterical. He was doing the same songs and dances as the rest of the kids, but he had that huge grin and some extra pep and boogie. They sang songs about things they'd been learning and it was so cute.

That's our Bubba!

But he's officially a first-grader, and we've got the diploma to prove it!

Memorial Day, 2010

2010-06-30T11:41:00.007-06:00

We found ourselves with a free weekend and decided to enjoy some family time up at the cabin. The Thuesons joined us for part of it, and we were glad! Here's my quick memory recap; the best parts were....

The musical performances on the deck Hailey, Shaylie, and Aubrey.

Makenna, Kyler, and Brooke spent an entire afternoon creating their "secret fort."

For some reason, Jayden wasn't interested in joining in the performing arts show, so he spent his time chopping dead wood with a hatchet,

and climbing WAY too high! Do you see him up in the tippy top of this tree? I just about had heart failure. He must have been two or three stories up there. He tied a piece of string around a branch just to show off later to his other cousins that he'd been up there.

Suzanne, I know these won't still be blooming when you arrive up here, so I wanted to snap a quick shot so you can see how spectacular they are!

We took a quick fishing trip with the Thuesons. Not many fish, but we had cookies, so it was still successful. ha, ha...

We spent Sunday afternoon playing games. The kids are getting a little older, which makes it possible to branch out a bit from Candyland (thank goodness!) and we found several that most of us could play and enjoy. Yay!

Grandpa built a terrific outdoor fireplace which made some mighty nice s'mores. Here are some shots of the kids being silly with their marshmallows.

And finally, the perfect touch in a relaxing weekend...a nice nap. Looks comfy.

Great family, great time together, great blessing!

KITTY MAMA

2010-06-06T22:36:00.004-06:00

I'm such a sucker... but when Carter called home from work and told me about a litter of three-day old kittens which had been found bagged up at the garbage dump, I agreed at once to take them in. They were sooo tiny and sweet and looked like drowned rats at first, like most newborns, hee, hee. My heart instantly went out to them. I don't think I realized at first what I was getting myself into. They had to be bottle-fed every three hours...around the clock. At first it took 45 minutes for each feeding. Carter was wonderful to get up with me at the 3am feeding so we could both feed and finish in half the time and get back to sleep. Middle of night feedings were bringing back memories, although I decided that bottle-fed babies are the way to go - that way Dad can help, too.

Now, four weeks later, the kittens have grown huge and plumped up adorably. Our cat Ginny despises them, but the rest of us have really enjoyed having the sweet little babies around.

Here is Shaylie reading a book to a kitty...

And Kyler helping at feeding time.

Who could resist such little sweeties as these? Which brings me to an important point... I have started the process of weaning them from the bottle and teaching them to eat cat food. They are doing great at it, so I figure they only need another week or so and then they will be ready to find new homes. Is anyone out there thinking you need a new feline friend?? Do you know anyone who might like one of the sweetest kitties ever?

Shaylie Sue

2010-04-18T22:12:00.006-06:00

My Curly Girly...

A little ray of sunshine in my day, Shaylie's bright, bubbly personality is always fun to have around. Her unpredictability keeps things interesting, since we never know what she might say next.

Shaylie is in love with everything glamorous, everything romantic, and all things dramatic.

I have at least a million dress-up pictures of Shaylie. It's her favorite thing.

Shaylie spruced up my style for me while we watched General Conference. What do you think?? "Now you're fancy,"Shaylie said.

And speaking of hair, Shaylie's biggest trial in life is her own short, little curls. More than once she has announced to complete strangers in a very optimistic way, "See my hair? It's growing!"
But she was super excited recently when we discovered it is finally long enough to put into cute little piggie tails.

Here is a silly picture to introduce a few of the funnier things my little girl has said lately that made us giggle.

Shaylie-isms... She recently combed her hair all big and fluffy in front and announced, "Look! I have a bulbous bouffant!" Thanks to Aunt Amy and Dr. Dimento for that one...
She sometimes gets her words mixed up and prays for our prophet, "Heavenly Monson."
When she first turned three she used to be deathly afraid of "spagittos" because they give you "spagitto bites."
And she was feeling left out this spring as several members of our family became miserable with allergies, so she announced, "I am allergic to cars, 'cause they can run me over!"

We are so thankful for Shaylie's sweet, affectionate spirit and her energetic hugs. She is unfailingly generous and shares absolutely anything without prompting. Shaylie, we love you and we are so thankful to have you in our family!

Makenna

2010-04-18T16:33:00.007-06:00

My little Missy is growing up right before my eyes! She is so much fun, I don't know what we'd ever do without her. She is at a neat age, learning so many new things and discovering talents. She had an opportunity to try out the performing arts last week in our school's production of Disney on Parade. Makenna was one of Pinnochio's dancing puppets, and she was fabulous! See her here, dancing behind Jiminy Cricket?

Makenna has discovered that she's a great little athlete, and a quick runner. Here she is in soccer last year and softball...

I call Makenna the Pied Piper in our house because the three younger children happily follow her around wherever she leads them and they play anything she suggests. She has a magic ability to keep them all happy and getting along. I truly appreciate this! Makenna is an outdoor girl. She finishes her homework and then runs outside until dinner, rain or shine. I asked her what she thinks her best talents are and she said, "Maybe the hoola-hoop? I'm good at that, or else cartwheels." Makenna is also very creative. She has written beautiful poetry and stories. She won an award in her school at Halloween for the most creative pumpkin. She made Raggedy Ann!

Makenna also worked hard on a Great Brain Project about Cockatoos (inspired by our Jubilation). I don't have a shot of the finished product handy, but following is a picture she included in her project.

Makenna's favorite food is mondu (Chinese potstickers). She wants to be a vet like her daddy when she grows up, and she takes every opportunity on a day off from school to go to work with him. Right now Makenna is into reading Goosebumps books. Her favorite critter is her devoted kitty. I like this picture of Kenna snuggled up with Ginny while she reads.

Makenna, you are such a special girl and we love you to pieces!

Brennan

2010-04-18T14:32:00.007-06:00

Brennan has definitely had the biggest changes of all in the last year. He learned the most important life skill - potty training. That is old news, since he was potty trained ages ago, but I guess I just mention it because it is so exciting for Mom not to have any kids in diapers! Whahoo! But that also means I don't have a baby anymore, just big kids. In fact Brennan is obsessed with growing up "Big like Hulk." If he ever objects to eating healthy food on his plate I just have to remind him it will help him grow up big like Hulk, and he gobbles it right up. His favorite phrase is, "Mom, look how fast I can run!"

Brennan brings a lot of life and fun into our family. His most famous contribution to our family hillarity is this.... I had to video it for you. He discovered that playing the name game with Daddy's name creates "Carter, Carter, bo-barter, fee, fi, fo-farter - Carter!" Somehow this joke never gets old, even to Daddy, who thinks it is adorable.

Brennan's favorite hobby is pretending. He spends most of his waking hours with his red cape tied around him, pretending to be a super hero or a Power Ranger. Or Harry Potter. Or whatever.

Brennan's favorite things in this world are pockets. Each morning as soon as he opens his eyes he tells me he wants to put on some pants with pockets. His most frequent question to me is, "Guess what's in my pocket!" Sometimes that's a scary thought with little boys, but usually his pockets are full of neat treasures like cool rocks, a rubberband, a toy airplane, a car, etc. He did worry me just yesterday, though, when he told me all about the worm he had dug up and kept in his pocket until he came to the part when he let it go again.

This is the picture that made Brennan famous. Grandpa Mawson had been telling me for months that they are always putting pictures in the newspaper of kids that aren't half as cute as our little guy. So when Brennan fell asleep during lunch the day after Thanksgiving and I snapped this picture, Grandpa insisted I send it in. They printed it in the IdaChatter section. Don't worry, he hasn't let all the fame go to his head.

Brennan absolutely loves all his grandparents. He loves his "Cabin Grandma and Grandpa," his "Grandma and Grandpa with Sasha," and he has a special relationship with his beloved "Gwappa Mawson." (his great-grandpa). Here they are watching a hockey game together.

Brennan, you are a sweet, fun little guy and we love you!!

Jayden

2010-04-18T13:30:00.007-06:00

What to say about my Jayden.....

Jayden has also had a big year, full of lots of exciting firsts. The most important being that he turned twelve and was ordained to the Priesthood. He seems to have a sense of the responsibility of it and a reverence for the duties he carries out. Young Men's activities are another fun new adventure. What a big step!

Jayden started sixth grade this year, which in our area means he was off to middle school. That was another big change for him, to a whole new world of lockers, schedules, lots of teachers, lots of homework, lots of kids. He has handled it just fine and he is having some fun times as he experiments with a few new things. He joined the basketball and tennis teams at school, and he plays the sax in the band.

During practice time I hear a lot more "Crazy Train" and "Ironman" than assigned music pieces, but that's okay as long as he is having fun with it. Jayden even figured out how to play "the Pink Panther" as a special request from me. I love it!

Jayden got glasses this year. Another first. I'm not sure it is one to celebrate, but what do ya do? Bad eyesight is a genetic gift from me. Sorry, Jayden. He took it in stride even though he didn't love them, and now he is bugging me about contacts. I think we'll wait a little while, though. Luckily, he looks dashing in his specs, don't you think?

Here he is showing off some of his dance moves with his cousins. We love Jayden's fun, comical personality.

Jayden enjoyed playing catcher on his baseball team last year.

His favorite hobbies at the moment are fishing in the canal behind our house, drawing (he's really getting good!Every piece of homework is fully doodled and illustrated.) and messing on the computer when I let him. Also hunting with Dad every chance he gets and target shooting his bow. He is into everything fantasy and midevil. He's a great reader and lately he has enjoyed the Percy Jackson books and Ranger's Apprentice books. He figures he wants to be an engineer when he grows up. He's especially interested in the aerospace thing, and designing things that fly. Of course he is also considering the FBI, or maybe Men in Black....Jayden's biggest challenges at the moment are his adorable, pesky little brothers and sisters, and his darn alarm clock that goes off WAY too early every morning.

Jayden, I love the great person you are growing into and we are all so thankful to have you around. We love you!!

Kyler

2010-03-29T21:41:00.006-06:00

I decided that since I'm so far behind in blogging the Andrews' world, rather than giving a way-after-the-fact travel log, I'd do something different. I'm going to give a little spotlight on each child and some of their accomplishments/ events in recent months. I'll probably be coming back and adding things to these posts as I think of other things. In no particular order...

Middle kids don't get to do stuff first very often, so Kyler, here's your turn first!

Kyler has had a busy year full of lots of important things. He is six years old. Here he is on his first day of Kindergarten.

Kyler is doing great in school. He has tons of friends and he's learning to read like a champ. He thinks he's the fastest runner in his class, although I haven't seen the proof. Kyler got his first pet, a hermit crab named Hermie. And he learned to tie his shoes the very first day I ever tried to teach him. Even double knots!

He loves his sports. He plays with enthusiasm, no matter what he's doing. He had a blast trying t-ball, and loves soccer. He received the award for "most energy" from both coaches. Kyler, I know if you approach everything in life with that great attitude, you will always do well!

Kyler lost his first tooth recently! He wanted to hold up this magnifying glass to make sure you could see the hole - proof that he is a big kid!

Kyler wants to be a cowboy when he grows up. His favorite food is hamburgers. His favorite thing to do is "go exploring." I asked him where he likes to explore. He said, "The forest, or just anywhere."

He has a permanent smile on his little face. He's just a happy, easy-going guy and fun to have around. The family comedian (along with his dad.) He's the one we put in the middle of the back seat to buffer the conflicts on long trips. And his best talent is that sweet little grin that melts his mom's heart.

He is a Mini-Me version of Carter at that age, and inherited Carter's fun personality, too. Adorable through and through! Kyler, we love you!

My Handy Hubby

2010-03-29T21:10:00.003-06:00

I am so excited! I have been looking forward to the day my storage room is organized with shelves. Carter decided he'd tackle that project in late winter, before the season changes. (You know...to steelhead season, turkey season, bear season, etc. ) He did a great job and I love the shelves! But now I can see how truly pathetic my food storage supply is. I'd better get working on it.

Thank you, Carter!!! You're awesome!

Nice work, don't you think?

Viva Las Vegas!

2010-02-26T12:28:00.008-07:00

Carter needed to attend the Western Veterinary Conference in Las Vegas this year, and when we found screaming deals on the trip, I got to tag along! I want to give another HUGE thank you to my wonderful mom and step-dad for caring for our children so I could go. We had such a terrific time! We had not ever taken a "just the two of us" vacation before, but now I'm thinking we need to do that more often. Loved it!

Some of our favorite sites:

New York, New York is mind-blowing! It seriously recreates the NYC skyline, with a rollercoaster looping all around it. Inside it feels like you are walking through a downtown city neighborhood, or Sesame Street (sort of).

Classic Las Vegas.

I really liked this picture, showing the gorgeous Paris Casino and Eiffel Tower, until I realized I'd framed it so Carter is sprouting a hot air balloon out of the top of his head. Ooops!

I must have taken twenty pictures inside Cesar's Palace. The marble pillars and statues are breathtaking. Walking around in there is a great lesson in Greek Mythology. I tried to take pictures of lots of it, knowing Jayden is really into that, but I did have a hard time finding decently clad statues to show my 12 year old son. There was a cool animated statue show depicting the fall of Atlantis, with water and fire shooting all around.

Next I have to mention the conservatory in Belagio. It was an incredible botanical paradise in the midst of all the lights and smoke. We were there over Chinese New Year, so several casinos had really neat oriental-feeling themes. I walked several miles out of my way so I could come back here with my camera to get these pictures!

Everything in there was alive and growing, even the panda. I loved the water show in front of the Belagio, too, but didn't get any pictures.

This is just me being silly. I've always had a thing for Elvis. Carter is okay with it since he's dead. I saw a cool Elvis look-alike one day on the strip and was dying to take a picture with him until we realized they charge you money to pose for a picture. I didn't want it that bad. But then I found an Elvis M&M who posed with me for free. HeeHee.

Favorite memories of the trip:

* Carter took me to eat Korean food! We were the only non-native kimchi eaters there in this little restaurant down a semi-scary alley from the strip. That's always a good sign. The food was sooooo good!
*Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville... pirates on stilts, exploding volcanoes, a giant blender big enough to swim in (no, Carter, I didn't take any pictures of the girl who swam in it) and their "Save the Ta-Ta's campaign." Hmmm.
*Wandering around the casino in the Tropicana like two oafs from Idaho looking for a penny slot machine that took pennies. There weren't any, so we bagged the gambling idea.
*A very confused bartender holding two Shirley Temples...
*Stepping completely out of "Mommy mode" and coming back so refreshed.
*Being "wined and dined" by Hills Science Diet in the penthouse of Mandalay Bay... They have a very exclusive, extremely fancy appreciation party for a bunch of their biggest clients. That might not include us normally, but we KNOW people! A friend from vet school works for them now and got us invited. So we tried to act sophisticated as we perused tables of completely unrecognizable gourmet delicacies and marveled at how the other half live.
Here we are with Scott Carter and Zach and Lisa Bruneel, also great friends from vet school.

This is the view from at least 50 stories up, on the balcony at that party.

The conference presented Foreigner in concert! It was a good old fashioned classic rock, let your hair down and relive the eighties concert. We were a little more in our element here, and we had a great time!

The best memory of all was a having a four-day-long date with my husband and finding that we still have a really good time together. Love you, Carter!

2009 Family Pics

2010-01-17T21:29:00.002-07:00

I LOVE having photographers in the family! Carter's sister Lynette took family pictures for us this Fall, which I just loved. I have a link to her photography blog if you want to learn more about her work. So I made a slideshow to share some of my favorites...

2009-11-22T22:09:00.006-07:00

No family blog would be complete without the yearly shots from the pumpkin patch and our adorable trick-or-treaters.
Kyler and Shaylie had a ball in the haybail maze, along with their friends from preschool.

Brennan didn't love the maze as much. He couldn't keep up with the bigger kids and soon I heard him calling, "Mom! I lost!"

All of us on the hayride. We had a terrific time. It was really windy, as you can see, so no cracks about the crazy hair!

Bubba's perfect pumpkin.

As I was paying for the pumpkins at the end of the day, I looked down and noticed Brennan sampling one of the Indian corn cobs from the pretty decorations. I don't think it was as yummy as he'd hoped.

Brennan as "SpiderCan." (That's what he called himself. He talks really well, but for some reason he got mixed up when I sang him the song...you know - Spiderman, Spiderman, Does whatever a spider can!")

Shaylie, working the Hula,Hula..

My adorable werewolf, Kyler. He was quite offended when someone said he was a cool lion. "Didn't he notice my teeth?" he asked.

Makenna, too sweet to be a mean witch.

Jayden as Legolas. I finally gave in and let Carter show him the Lord of the Rings movies this year, and Jayden is hooked, just like his dad. From this angle you can't see his cool quiver and arrows. Notice the pointy ears, too. Thanks, Oscar, for letting Jayden borrow your stuff.

And finally, Carter and I went to a Halloween party as Miss America and Runner Up. I didn't get a great picture, but it was pretty funny. See the mascarra dripping down Carter's face?

The Great Sugar Caper

2009-11-22T21:55:00.003-07:00

The pictures say it all...

Election Day!

2009-11-03T13:56:00.002-07:00

Here is your friendly reminder that today is Election Day! I figured all you Google Reader people might at least get this in time to go vote. Polls are open until 8pm.
In our town we are voting on a new mayor, two city council seats, and an important bond issue for a new jail. In these small, in-between elections every vote really counts! I hope we will all exercise this precious right.

Happy Voting!

Still Alive

2009-11-01T21:44:00.006-07:00

I am so far behind in blogging the events of our lives. But I had a minute this evening and I thought just for fun I'd post a random bunch of fun pictures of our crew just to show that we are still alive. I'll get caught up eventually. It's on my list. But meanwhile, these are the faces that make my world go round...

Darth Jayden

Goin' On a Bear Hunt!

2009-10-11T22:16:00.003-06:00

I'm not s-s-s-scared!

Carter was excited to draw a bear tag in a cool area this year. He had offers to go out with several guys he knows who run bear dogs as a hobby. He invited me to go along (or did I ask if I could come?) Anyway, what a neat experience! This is how it works...When we reach the hunting area, they bring their dogs up to ride on the top of the truck. They are belted in nice and safe. Then they drive slowly down the road until the dogs catch bear scent and start barking. They release one dog to take off and see if it's a good trail. If it's not, the dog comes back, but if it takes off howling, they release the pack. They all crash through the forest following the bear - sometimes for miles, until the bear finally climbs a tree. The dogs keep it treed by making the loudest racket you've ever heard. We follow the GPS radar things in their collars (and the noise). When we arrived we took lots of pictures and watched the bear a while. It wasn't huge, but it was beautiful, and it's sure something you don't get to see everyday. It was fun watching the dogs work, too. You could tell they just lived for this. They were amazing! Carter went out the next week again and took the Teachers Quorum for an activity, and Jayden got to tag along on that trip. Carter had no intentions of actually shooting a bear (unless they treed a monster, I suppose) but we had some neat adventures just watching them.

4th of July

2009-08-04T21:52:00.006-06:00

Before I change the patriotic background I suppose I ought to blog our holiday. Now, I'm sure that my little travel log of our 4th of July weekend can't possibly be terribly interesting to most of the world, especially a month after the fact. But for the sake of our own memories I'm blogging it.

Carter had July 3rd off work (Yipee!) so we decided to check out Eagle Island State Park. We'd never been there before, but we'd heard it was a nice place to play and swim. We loved it! There was a big playset, a waterslide although we didn't go on it, lots of grass and trees, and a nice beachy area along the river. It is not the Caribbean, but if you lay in the sand and close your eyes you can pretend.

These are the kinds of moments I hope they remember...

So, with sun and sand - and lots of junkfood, we had one terrific day!

On Saturday, the 4th of July we decided we'd head over to Melba for the festivities. This was a first for us, and I think we will make it our new tradition. Carter joked when I said I wanted to go to the parade in Melba that we'd see nothing but horses, tractors, and FFA floats. Well, we saw lots of horses, tractors, and FFA floats, and it was great. I guess I'm a small-town girl at heart, but I think this is what America is all about.

On this float rode veterans of WWII and Korea. Oh, the stories they could tell...

Now, it wasn't ALL farmers. There were also classic cars and pretty girls. At the end of the parade Jayden nudged me and pointed out Miss Idaho, who had just joined her family after riding in the parade. I tried to get him to ask her for a picture, but there was NO Way. Makenna and Shaylie really wanted a picture with a real, live beauty queen and she sweetly obliged. Sorry, I don't remember her name. Maybe Jayden does.

After the parade we enjoyed strolling around craft booths and games for the kids. We ran into several friends and even our cousins, the Breshears! The kids got to ride a tractor/train together.
That evening we had a BBQ with Grandma and Grandpa Robinson and we made homemade ice cream. Yum! We played with a few little fireworks and then we drove back to Melba to see the real show. The day reminded me how blessed we are to be members of our beloved family and this great nation.

Makenna's Baptism Day

2009-07-03T21:24:00.002-06:00

What a wonderful day, made even more special by all the family who shared it.

Makenna's cousin Kylie from Arizona just turned eight also. They travelled to Idaho and we were able to arrange to have them baptized together. What a fun memory for both girls! And as it turned out, they were the only children in our stake being baptized in June. It turned into our own family baptism after all. They were blessed to have in attendance Kylie's Abbott grandparents, Andrews grandparents, Robinson grandparents, and Grandpa Mawson, as well as loads of aunts, uncles, cousins, and siblings. We had a BBQ afterward so we could all visit and play. We really are blessed with the best family in the world.

Makenna, you put lots of thought into preparing for baptism. You have a good understanding of the gospel and a desire to follow our Savior's footsteps. I know He is proud of you, and I am so proud of you, too. Love ya, Missy!

Father's Day '09

2009-06-25T23:00:00.005-06:00

"Brethren, noble fatherhood gives us a glimpse of the divine attributes of our Father in Heaven. A father should be many things. He should magnify his priesthood and be an example of righteousness. In companionship with his wife, he should be the source of stability and strength for the whole family. He should be the protector and the provider and the champion of the members of his family. Much of his love for his children should flow from his example of love, concern, and fidelity for their mother. By his uncompromising example he should instill character into his children." President James E. Faust

I searched and searched to find a quote that seemed to sum up our dad. This one came closest, although it still doesn't say it all. No man on earth is perfect, but Carter does his best to be all these things and more. I congratulate myself regularly for choosing such a wonderful daddy for my children. Our children are blessed with a dad who gets goofy and plays with them, who makes work fun but who still teaches them to work, who encourages them to be their best selves, who sets an example of steadiness, patience, and diligence. No children ever worshiped their father more - they all come running when they hear his truck nearing home in the evening.

Carter chasing the children with a dead mouse. No childhood would be complete without memories like this.

Jayden lives for his special hunting time with Dad. He would trudge through every frozen marsh in Idaho just to be with him.

Such a sweet moment.

Did I mention we used to have seven children? (J.K.) I didn't say he has perfect judgment... like letting them play on the roof, or taking them bear hunting. But the kids sure think he's cool. And, actually, no one has died yet.

Carter, you are our favorite daddy in the whole, wide world. We love you! Happy Father's Day!

_________________________________________________

I just want to tack on a little note because I didn't want to make a new post for this quick comment. I'm sorry if the blog has been a bit dull lately since I have been busy and haven't kept it very current. We have so many things I need to catch up on...Makenna turned eight and was baptized! Brennan also had a birthday, and I have been in the habit of making a little slide show dedicated to each child at their birthday. They look forward to it now so I need to get on it. Also lots of hunting, sports, and family happenings. But I am also working on some changes I want to make to the blog. In addition to keeping a record of our events and highlights, I've been feeling like I want to create something more. Something that is more of an expression of me, my thoughts, and my family. Anyway, bear with me as I try to catch up and move along.

FLAT MAKENNA

2009-06-21T21:58:00.007-06:00

Makenna's second grade class did a Flat Stanley project this spring. Makenna made a cute little drawing of herself and she was excited to send it to her Uncle Michael and Aunt Camille. They are living in Dubai, in United Arab Emerates. Michael is an engineer, and he and Camille are having incredible adventures over there. They went above and beyond the call of duty and took some amazing pictures for Makenna's project. She was so excited about it I made the pictures into a neat little book for her, but I thought it would be fun to share a few of them here on the blog.

Dubai has built these man-made islands out into the Persian Gulf shaped like palm trees and loaded them with luxury hotels, businesses, and housing. This is the Atlantis Hotel on the Jumeria Palm.

A mosque in Satwa.

This is a real live ski slope, complete with ski lift and real snow, inside a shopping mall. How cool is that!!

This is the Dubai Marina, taken from Michael and Camille's building. How's that for a home neighborbood.

This is Burj Dubai - the world's tallest building! You can hardly see the top through the haze.

This part of the Dubai Mall is called the gold souk, chalk full of jewelry.

The Dubai Marina and Promenade, with the yacht club in the background.

And next we have grazing camels. Not something you see everyday...

Flat Makenna made friends with their gorgeous Kitty.
And finally, here is Flat Makenna catching her flight home.

Thank you again, Camille and Michael, for the awesome pictures. And let me know if I botched up any info on these shots.

Fieldtrip to the Animal Doctor

2009-05-26T22:11:00.006-06:00

Carter frequently has school groups and scout groups, etc requesting to come to the clinic for a little tour. He always enjoys showing them what he does, and the kids love it. It seems like every kid thinks they want to be a veterinarian at some point in their growing up years - I know I did. I realized that even though our own kids have spent quite a bit of time at the clinic, they probably don't know a lot of what Dad does, or what lots of the equipment is for. So I asked Carter if he would mind giving our little preschool co-op group a tour. He said to come on down.

First we checked out an exam room and talked about what kinds of pets everyone has at home, and discussed how animals sometimes get sick, just like we do. Entering the surgery room Carter had the children put on surgery caps, which they thought was a hoot. A tech had set up the room for a mock procedure so they could see all the instruments and stuff. Carter showed them the laser and he burned each of their names into a tongue depressor.

Kyler was so proud when he diagnosed a broken leg on an x-ray. I did manage to recognize a litter of unborn puppies, but for the most part I am mystified at how they can pick up such crucial, minute details from those cryptic pictures. Next, they had prepared a series of microscopes for us which were focused on some interesting critters - a louse, a flea, and a tick. The kids looked and looked again. They couldn't get enough.

Their favorite part was probably just petting the puppies and kitties. The kids got to watch a dog having a bath and also see the groomer in action, which was cute. And they pretended to be big dogs and sat in the boarding kennels. It was sweet how concerned the children were to see the critters with bandages and "owies." Thank you to the wonderful staff for being patient with us and preparing such neat things to see, and thank you to the hot doctor who showed us around. I think all the children loved it, and Kyler and Shaylie were proud of their cool dad.

My Great Brains

2009-05-08T14:43:00.006-06:00

I'm definitely NOT referring to my own "great brains." But Jayden and Makenna both elected to participate in the Great Brain Project at their school this spring. They each had to research a topic of their choosing, then present what they learned in some creative way. Jayden chose to study Sasquatch, (because who doesn't need to know a little more about that?!) Makenna chose koala bears, because they are cute. They had to present it first to their own classes and then in an assembly-of-sorts in the school library before the other kids and their parents. They both did beautifully and I was so proud of all their hard work, so I wanted to showcase their projects.

Jayden had Carter help him make a plaster mold of a "Big Foot" which was kind of fun, and he downloaded some recordings of "actual" Sasquatch screams, which was hillarious!

Makenna shared what she learned by writing a couple adorable poems about Koalas.

Kyler and Shaylie also felt the need to get in on the action and they made their own projects. They cut their favorite animal pictures from Ranger Rick Magazines. Shaylie's is about butterflies.

Stitching Up Brennan

2009-05-05T22:01:00.003-06:00

Last week Shaylie and Brennan were running laps in the house while I clipped coupons (My new hobby...) when I heard, "Tag! You're it!" Crash!! Followed by screams. I hurried over to find poor Brennan holding a cut on his head. As soon as I had him cleaned up enough to get a good look at it I knew he needed stitches. I loaded up the van and we took a trip to see Dr. Dad. Brennan was remarkably unphased by the whole thing. Once he got over the initial bonk, he happily rode in the van and munched on a snack. I couldn't believe it. He calmly explained to Daddy that he bonked his head. Carter agreed that sutures were in order. The nice tecnicians came running in with little toys and a sucker, but I can't say they helped much. This part was awful. After he was numb, I had the horrible task of holding my sweet baby still for the procedure. Poor Carter had the even worse job of stitching him up. I could tell it was hard for him. These pictures were taken right afterwards.

The good news is that it has healed up beautifully and the stitches can come out probably tomorrow. I think I'll snap one more picture to add to this post of the stitches as they look now. Thank goodness for Dr. Dad and Diego band-aids!

Spring is in the Air

2009-05-03T21:46:00.005-06:00

....And the birds are in the grill!

So a few weeks ago we spent a weekend up at the cabin watching General Conference with the family. When we came home we discovered that a pair of birds had decided to build a nest in our BBQ grill! I couldn't believe it. And at first I was adamant that they had to go. I opened up the grill and was planning to toss all the grass and garbage out, but I didn't quite have the heart. Then I got a better look at the birds and noticed that one of them has a broken foot. The poor guy hobbles and hops on one twisted leg. Well, there went my resolve. Needless to say, a bird family lives in our grill. It was so amazing how hard they worked - they must have made thousands of trips back and forth carrying more stuff for the nest. The children have really enjoyed watching the birds (so has the cat) and they have completely stayed away from the grill so they don't frighten them (the cat, not so much. She is banished from the back deck).

I don't think they have laid any eggs yet. We've been afraid to peek for a week or so. And if any bird experts out there know what kind of birds we've got (you can click on the picture to see it enlarged) please let me know. Specifically, what their nesting habits are and how soon we might get our grill back. And Carter says "Do your part; save the birds...invite us over for BBQ."

Happy Easter!

2009-04-30T16:46:00.003-06:00

We hope everyone had a terrific Easter holiday! We hunted eggs with the Andrews cousins and with Loughney cousins, and we hunted eggs in our jammies Easter morning.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Here are a couple pictures that wouldn't fit in the slide show, but I liked them!

Nearly Two (Buckle Our Seatbelts!)

2009-03-27T16:11:00.004-06:00

My first two boys were the epitome of easy-going and mellow babies. My two girls were not, but that is another story. From the beginning Brennan has been determined to make his own pattern. He has been a funny combination spunky, snuggly, feisty, and sweet. He already has a terrific sense of humor, and he cracks himself - and us - up constantly. He likes to jump out from behind a door or wait for me in the pantry and then yell, "Boo!" If he gets bored he'll climb under a table and call out "Where Brennan??" He has a goofy game of pretending to be asleep while riding in his carseat, and he giggles when we all pretend to shush each other so he can sleep. He is talking like crazy now, and he has a LOT to say. And when he gets mad...Wow! Watch out! 'Sorry' was one of the first words he learned because he was constantly whacking someone in the head with a toy.

So I shouldn't have been surprised at the new phrases that have just popped up in his vocabulary recently. Such as: "My do it!" "No want to!" and "NOOOOOOO" as he runs full speed away from a diaper change, or shoes, or jacket, or vegetables. I remind myself that independence is an important developmental step, and a good thing. But that doesn't make it easier to deal with. Then he flashes me that impish little grin and I decide it's all worth it.

High-Flying Home Evening

2009-03-27T15:40:00.005-06:00

We've had such windy weather lately, we decided that for Family Home Evening we would fly our kites. The kids looked forward to it for several days beforehand. I was secretly worried that the wind would fizzle out on us, but it blustered all evening. As soon as Dad came home from work, we grabbed our kites and headed to the park behind our house.

Unfortunately, all three of our kites broke within the first fifteen minutes. (I guess you get what you pay for when you spend a buck a piece on kites). But Kyler was undaunted. He must have run twenty laps around the park, dragging just a few feet of string and a kite which occasionally bounced up and caught some air.

THAT'S determination!
Eventually the activity turned into a game of family tag on the playground, and that was fun, too.

Wilson Pond

2009-03-15T16:37:00.006-06:00

Saturday afternoon the weather was mild and we had some cabin fever, so we packed up some junk food and the kids and went fishing with the Williamsons. We headed to Wilson Ponds, just a few minutes from our house. Unfortunately there was not a fish in sight, but we did some bird watching, ate junk food, and still had a fun time. It was just nice to be out. We felt lucky to get a cool little spot all to ourselves, but now that I think of it, maybe no one wanted to come near the crazy people with nine children. hmmm. Anyway, the older boys tried fishing for a while. The younger kids didn't even want to pose with a fishing pole and the only shots I got of them were climbing trees - or eating.

Cool hat, Parker!

Brennan nabbed four cookies at once!

After a while we switched from fishing to tossing worms to the ducks. Then there was an interesting but R-rated incident with the ducks. It prompted some uncomfortable questions, "Mommy! What are they doing?!" Of course, Oscar got the whole thing on camera. I joked about whether or not to include that on the blog. Oscar said, "Oh, you KNOW it's going on mine!" So, if you are over 17 years old or accompanied by your guardian you may check out Williamsons blog for the details if you are curious. (Unless Vicki found out and unplugged the computer first. ha!ha!)

And then just as we were packing up and I was congratulating myself on keeping all nine kids from falling in the water, Shaylie fell in. She screamed hysterically, naturally, but since the water was only eight inches deep it didn't cause too much panic in the rest of us. She was completely soaked, though. Ah, well.

Grandma's Hungry Ducks

2009-03-15T16:17:00.003-06:00

My wonderful mother has been sweet enough to keep my monkeys for me while I take an institute class every Tuesday morning. The kids cheer every time I tell them it is "Grandma Day." Last week I came back in time to tag along with them on one of their walks to feed the ducks. Grandma lives on a beautiful green belt. If I remember right it was 35 degrees that day. But the kids didn't mind, and neither did the ducks.

What shoe are you?

2009-03-01T12:42:00.002-07:00

My calling at church right now is Activity Days Leader. Last week we held our special recognition night; our theme was a twist on the scripture in D&C 19:10. It was called "The Worth of 'Soles'." As part of the activity, we set up a display table and invited each girl to bring the pair of shoes they think best describes some part of their personality. There was a little card attached for them to explain. I had to do it, too. I had a hard time, but finally decided on a pair of hiking boots. I wrote, "I chose these shoes because like me, they like to be outdoors (as long as its sunny). And like me, they're not very stylish but they are made to go the distance."

When I came home, Carter had not seen what I brought and I asked him for his opinion of what shoe best describes my personality. He thought for a minute and then said, "Maybe your Uggs? They are warm and comfy, and you like to be warm and comfy." Hmmm. I suppose that's true, but I hope that's not the defining characteristic of me. I was also fairly offended that he picked such a big, sloppy, clunky shoe. "Is that how you see me??" I asked. Poor Carter...I don't know if there would have been a correct answer. He hates it when I ask him stuff like that.

So, just for fun, I'm opening it up to you. If you had to pick a shoe that describes some part of you, what would it be?

Bearack Obama

2009-02-17T21:48:00.002-07:00

The photo below captures a trend that is beginning to affect wildlife in the U.S.

Anticipating the Obama presidency, animals that were formerly self-sufficient are already modifying their behavior to take advantage of what they expect to be a new set of societal norms in the next four to eight years. This black bear from Montana has ceased hunting for a living and is sitting outside the US Fish & Wildlife Service office in Kalispell, apparently waiting to be fed and to have his winter den dug by government employees. The residents of Kalispell are calling him 'Bearack Obama'.

(Thanks, Suzanne, I had to share this!)

Wintery Play Day

2009-02-11T19:52:00.008-07:00

Last Saturday we took a chance to get away and have some family adventures. The Winter Festival was going on in McCall, so we drove up there to see what's happnin'. This was our first time making the trek. It was a gorgeous day for playing - clear blue skies and mild temps. Can I just tell you, the ice sculptures were INCREDIBLE! The theme was fantasy so there were sculptures of dragons, castles, wizards, and a really fun one where they re-created CandyLand! It had a candy cane forest, lollypop land, bridges, paths, and slides. Amazing. Here are some of my favorite pictures, although I didn't do the sculptures justice since it is hard to photograph snow.

Jayden taking a pit-stop:)

Carter putting in a day at the mine.

This sculpture won first place. Beside the dragon was a big castle, complete with a dungeon underneath, a king and queen on their thrones, turrets, and a tunnel and a slide!

The girls are standing in front of my favorite one, although it is hard to appreciate how cool it is from my pictures. There was this enchanted forest, with faces on all the trees, and layers of detail carved inside, like walls and doors, and sitting atop the forest rose a beautiful castle.

I know this post is getting long, but I can't forget the second half of the day, when we went ice-fishing at Horsethief Res. It was such a pretty lake, we agreed that we have to come back here in the summer, too. Carter has this terrific little ice hut where we set up chairs and stay cozy in between running around like crazy people on the ice. We pulled the kids on sleds, Jayden had a good time shooting this bow and arrow at nothing, oh, and Carter fished. The fishing was a little lame, unfortunately, but the kids were fascinated by Dad's fish-finder and they played with worms and rolled bobbers across the ice. Once poor Brennan stepped in somebody's old hole and soaked one leg. After my heart started again, I kept him much closer, as I could just picture my whole baby slipping down through a hole next time. Ahhh! And note to self - bring dry socks for everyone next time!

Nice air-conditioning in those jeans, Carter!

Duck Hunting Duo

2009-01-17T15:31:00.003-07:00

Carter and Jayden were off early this morning on a duck hunting adventure. One of Carter's clients owns a private island on the Snake River and he invited them to hunt with him. They rode out to it on a jet boat (a highlight for Jayden). From their description it sounds like a hunter's paradise. There was a cozy, heated blind and lots of ducks. They were really pretty birds, called GoldenEyes.

Poor Makenna's Faceplant

2009-01-16T15:29:00.003-07:00

Makenna slipped on the ice yesterday coming home from school. With her hands in her pockets, she landed on her face, as you can see. She was a bloody mess and nearly hysterical. A bump was raising right before my eyes. It took some work to calm us all down and clean her up. I took this picture this morning, but I should have waited because the blue-black eye is deepening as the day goes on. She was pretty tough, though, once the initial trauma wore off. So my question to any friend out there with medical savvy... should I medicate her shredded cheek with Neosporin and bandage it or leave it alone?

Everyday Happenings

2009-01-16T14:59:00.003-07:00

One Sunday my boys decided they all wanted to match. (Actually I guess Kyler decided to copy Jayden so they would all match, but Jayden played along and Brennan wears whatever we put on him. ) Of course I had to take a picture of my little men in kacky pants, white shirts, and bolo ties. Those bolo ties are special, too. The one Jayden is wearing was given to him by a wonderful man in our ward. It has an Indian brave on horseback. Kyler is wearing one with a real scorpion that was Grandpa Mawson's. And Brennan is wearing a wooden/turquoise tie that was my dads.

Every kid has to have a few pictures in the album of himself with food all over his face, just to humble him when he gets big and starts thinking he's hot stuff.

Makenna decided to get a haircut, which I think is absolutely adorable. She may have done it just so I would stop pestering her everyday about pony-tails and braids. She's not a fussy kind of girl, but she sure is beautiful!

This was one of those beautiful moments when a mom sees a glimmer of shining hope. I asked Jayden to rinse and Makenna to load dishes after dinner the other night and I busily hurried on to some other task. When I passed by again, here they were, blaring music on the stereo, chatting together happily, and actually doing a really good job! This rekindling my constant hope that someday my sweet children really will pull their own weight around the house and, even better, actually like each other!

Our Garden Valley Adventure

2009-01-16T14:12:00.006-07:00

The day after Christmas our family decided to brave the snowy weather and take a weekend trip up to Grandma and Grandpa Andrews' cabin. We had a terrific time and I will treasure the memories, but we did end up having a bit more of an adventure than we'd bargained for.

We traveled carefully on slick, snow-packed roads to find around three feet of snow at the cabin. (That was in the level areas - MUCH more in the drifts). Luckily we'd brought sleds and we used them to get the little kids and the suitcase up to the house.

Next is Carter chasing the children with a dead mouse he was emptying from a trap. Nice, Dad. They really are loving it, as you can see. That's what dads are for.

We left all our Christmas gifts behind except for a couple new boardgames. So we spent the weekend out playing in the snow and playing games inside when we wanted to warm up. It was so nice. There was one memorable trip to the hotsprings pool, skipping barefoot through slush into the water, and soaking while snowflakes swirled around our heads. It was one of those things, like eating at McDonalds, that you only do because you have kids.

Here are some shots of the children playing in the snow and a few shots for Grandma and Grandpa to see how much snow was here. I think Grandpa will congratulate himself for deciding to stay in Arizona this Christmas.

This is the back end of Large Marge.

I took these pictures on Saturday. There were about two feet of additional snow Sunday, but I didn't get any more pictures because by then were trying to figure out how we were going to get home. Carter borrowed some chains from another vehicle and with some creativity and shoelaces (just kidding) he managed to make them work long enough to get us onto a plowed road. It ended just fine and it was a neat end to the Christmas holiday.

Kyler is Five!!

2009-01-15T15:01:00.003-07:00

The last five years with Kyler have flown by! No longer my dimpled, grinning baby, he has grown into my active, smart, dimpled, grinning little boy. Carter has accused me of giving him anything he wants. That surely isn't true, but I have to admit there is something about that twinkle in his eyes and that little grin that melts my heart every time. I have worried about Kyler, being sandwiched in between the two "big kids" and the two "little kids." But his easy-going nature has allowed him to be flexible and find his own place in the family. And we couldn't do without him! Kyler is quick with a smile, quick to help, and quick with a hug. He is especially artistic with colors and he has picked up reading in a flash.

We celebrated his birthday at Grandma and Grandpa Andrews' cabin in Garden Valley right after Christmas. (I have some fun pictures of that trip I will post later) It was quiet with just our family, but he had cake and presents and I hope Kyler felt how much we love him.

A Beautiful Christmas Morning

2009-01-10T16:55:00.006-07:00

We hope everyone out there had a terrific Christmas! We loved every minute of ours. We've spent the last several Christmas holidays together at the cabin with lots of family, which is completely wonderful. This year seemed awfully quiet and mellow compared to what we are used to. It is nice both ways.

Here are the things I will remember about this year. In times past I was disappointed when the kids managed to arrive at the Christmas tree and see what Santa brought them before I could be there to see their reactions. So I engineered things differently this year. The kids had a "sleep-over" in the family room downstairs, which they think is really exciting. I put the baby monitor in with them. They talked into it to wake us up in the morning (early!), and then we all arrived together at the tree. I was bleary-eyed, but ready with cam-corder in hand. I liked that. Maybe a new tradition in the making.

Brennan was happy about his cool new firetruck. Notice the chocolate all over his face. While everyone else was enjoying their presents, Brennan quietly raided all their stockings.

A blurry shot - sorry. Shaylie is in little girl dress up Heaven.
Now she's a High School Musical cheerleader. Oh, my.

We woke up to quite a bit of new snow Christmas morning, and I'll always remember Jayden and Makenna spending two hours shoveling and clearing the driveway so they could test- drive their new wheels.

This year I was especially excited to send out Christmas cards and bake, bake, bake! Last year I missed those things because we moved two days before Christmas. (I wouldn't recommend doing that, by the way). The whole month of December was a blur. So this year I had an extra appreciation for all the little things, like reading Christmas books and stories with the kids, eating too much fudge and toffee, and special family home evenings. My favorite was the evening we spent with Grandma and Grandpa Robinson and Grandpa Mawson. Grandma taught a nice lesson and then we all acted out the nativity. That was a first for us. I loved the ice and snow melting off the Baby Jesus during our performance because we'd just brought Him in from Grandpa's nativity scene outside. And my cute little sheppherd carrying a llama. And my angel breaking out in a ballet dance followed by curtsies and applause. Good times...

Jayden's Arrow of Light!!

2009-01-10T16:25:00.005-07:00

After three years of hard work, Jayden has earned the Arrow of Light Award! In case you aren't familiar with Cub Scouts, that is the highest award you can get. Kind of like graduating. Jayden, you are a good boy and we are so proud of your dedication to accomplishing good goals! His friends Mason (above) and Jared also received the award. Good job, guys!
Jayden is very lucky to have lots of family support close by, and his grandparents and great-grandpa also participated in the ceremony. Grandpa Robinson is in the picture above and Great Grandpa Mawson is below. It was wonderful to have them there for his special day.

I hope you stay at it, Jayden, I really look forward to seeing you earn your EAGLE!

2008-12-16T21:59:00.003-07:00

How I love being a mother! I can't even express how blessed I feel to share my life with these angels. Earlier this fall I had our pictures taken by my sister-in-law, Lynette Thueson. I was excited about how they turned out and I wanted to share some of my favorites. We are lucky enough to have two really talented photographers in the family. Carter's other sister Ginger Allen also does beautiful work. If you are interested, check out their photography blogs. You can find Lynette at http://sawtoothproductions.blogspot.com/ and Ginger's address is http://gaphotography.blogspot.com/ In fact, I think I'll put their links in my blog roll. Thanks so much Lynette!

First Snowball Fight of theYear!

2008-12-14T14:47:00.005-07:00

I'm posting this for our Arizona family... I called down there yesterday just as the snow was starting to fall and all our cousins were out in the back yard eating ice cream! We came home from church today and I asked Jayden to change clothes and shovel the walk. Being that this is the first snow-fall, he was excited. In fact, all the kids piled on the snow clothes and went out to "help."
Then Carter came home from his meetings and joined them for a quick snowball fight.

Life Insurance is Current, Right?

2008-12-14T14:01:00.005-07:00

Carter is a good sport, but he does not love putting up Christmas lights. Every year he accuses me of secretly scheming to make a claim on his life insurance policy by making him climb on the icy roof. Sorry, Honey, but you'd have to have a lot bigger policy for that to be tempting. Right now you're worth much more to us alive than dead. Besides, we like having you around, so be careful!

But I was starting to wonder about HIS motives when I discovered him taking the children out for walks on the roof! Do we have policies on the kids that I didn't know about?

Our roof drops off three stories in the back. Hey, let's walk up here kids!

Hug a Tree Day!

2008-12-09T16:33:00.006-07:00

The Perfect Tree!!
I'll bet you never guessed we were tree-huggers! On the first Monday night in December we traditionally pick out our Christmas tree. When I was a kid in Nevada we went out and cut one every year. (And yes, Carter, there ARE pine trees in Nevada.) We couldn't imagine buying a boring tree from a tree lot. Times have changed some and I am now happy to buy our tree. My poor kids don't know what they are missing. But it still feels like a big deal and I ceremoniously make treats and hot cocoa for the occasion.

Daddy is in charge of lighting the tree. I oversee decorations. Next to Christmas morning, my favorite part of Christmas is when I carefully unwrap each ornament and hand them to the kids to put on the tree. There are so many stories and memories. I have ornaments made of shells from our time in the Caribbean and each of the kids have an ornament from their first Christmas. Then the kids go to bed and I rearrange the ornaments. hee hee.

It's a Marshmallow War in the Winter

2008-12-09T16:08:00.004-07:00

Do you know that song "It's a marshmallow world in the winter?" Any-hoo...

For Jayden's birthday party this year Carter made a bunch of marshmallow guns with PVC pipe. The boys spent the evening playing a sticky version of capture the flag. They all had a blast. Here are the marshmallow warriors.

They all came in hungry for pizza and cake.

Happy Birthday Kiddo. I can't believe my baby is eleven years old!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-12-09T15:09:00.008-07:00

We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Our family talked a lot and ate a lot, which makes it a perfect day in my book. We shared the day with Grandma and Grandpa Robinson, Great-Grandpa Mawson, Aunt Karla and Uncle Glenn, and their boys Jeremy and Brice. We hosted the affair at our house, which was a first for me. I learned a few things. For instance, next time I won't wait until Thanksgiving Day to discover that the 20 pound turkey won't fit into any pan that I own. I will also remember that it is better to trust the little pop-up meat thermometer than to take the turkey out of the oven because it looks done to me. (That will save having to secretly carve around the still-pink parts of the turkey). Ah, well. It was still a very fun day. Here are some shots of our group.

One special thing was that I got to use the beautiful dishes Grandma Mawson gave me before she passed away. There weren't enough for everyone so I had to alternate with other dishes, but the table still came out looking pretty. These are a few more pictures I liked of the guys playing some pool before dinner, the kids helping set the table, Makenna with the napkin rings she helped me make (aren't we fancy! :) and one happy pumpkin pie face.

And last, but not least, Jayden's birthday fell right on Thanksgiving Day this year. (He was actually born on Thanksgiving Day.) So he got to blow out his candles in a coconut cream pie and open some gifts after dinner. By the way, Jayden, you can thank your dad for that gift. You can be sure it wasn't my idea. He got a real cake at his birthday party later on.
Jayden, we love you!! Happy Birthday!!

No Rolling Your Eyes, Carter!

2008-11-25T21:57:00.002-07:00

Okay, so I went to see Twilight on Saturday, and I haven't seen or talked to anyone since then, and I want to know what everyone thought.
Personally, I was a little nervous to watch it. Once you've seen a movie, those images are forever stuck and it changes the way the story looked in your head. I was afraid to hand over the reigns to a story that I really liked in my head. But anyway, I was very relieved, because I liked it. I thought it wasn't perfect, but better than I thought it might be. I wasn't sold on Robert Patterson as Edward, but by the end I was okay with him. And parts of the movie felt too rushed to me. What did you think? I guess you have to condense some things to fit it into a two hour movie. Overall, I approve, but I think I'd better see it again to be sure:)
Shout out to tell me what you thought.

A Pumpkin Poem - by Makenna

2008-11-07T07:37:00.002-07:00

Halloween '08

2008-11-05T14:23:00.007-07:00

What a fun Halloween!

Grandpa dressed up as a scarecrow to hand out candy. He looked great!
Our ward had a fun carnival with games and cotton candy. Thanks to our 24th ward buds for the invitation to trunk or treat.

Brennan's First Haircut (sniff, sniff)

2008-11-02T20:22:00.006-07:00

Dad was throwing a fit about the adorable little curls around my baby's ears. I put it off as long as I could... As you can see, Brennan did not love the experience. I don't think he got a very good cut - I'm not too slick at offensive haircutting. Brennan put up some pretty good moves. But in the end, his adorable curls wound up in a plastic baggie, and my baby instantly transformed into a little boy. (sniff, sniff). It breaks my heart. No babies were injured in the filming of this.

I hope no beauticians are out there laughing at my "scissors in the mouth" technique. I know it's not professional, and it gets hair in my mouth, but it's the best I can do.

And he's all done. I really should have taken an after-shot so you could see what I mean about him looking so grown up. Maybe I'll take a picture in the morning and add it to this post as a P.S.

Mommy Preschool

2008-11-02T15:49:00.005-07:00

I am happy to be in a preschool co-op with a bunch of fun moms. Kyler and Shaylie are both participating and having a ball. The last three weeks it was my turn to teach. It took a healthy chunk of time, but I had a good time, too. I took a few pictures of some of our activities when I remembered. Below, Brennan is waving the flag wildly during the Pledge of Allegiance.

P is for Pumpkins! We explored pumpkin innards and then cooked up the seeds.

F is for Fall and Friendship. We took a Fall walk-about collecting leaves for crafts and science stuff.

J is for Jack-O-Lantern, which came to our Halloween Party!

Ghost, Ghost, WITCH!

My favorite was reading the kids storybooks and watching their little faces so absorbed in the story. It was a good reminder how much fun it is to have little cuties at this age. I want to be better at playing with and enjoying them every day.
So, we cut and glued and colored, we sang and danced and played, we practiced writing and counting and sharing. We were busy!

Jayden's Last Pinewood Derby

2008-11-02T14:45:00.008-07:00

DRAGONFIRE!

I'm pretty sure that if I asked Jayden what is his favorite part of Cub Scouts, he'd say it's the Pinewood Derby. He worked very hard and came up with a cool-looking car which did very well in the races. He spent a lot of time drawing sketches with designs for his car this year. Jayden borrowed Grandpa Robinson's tools and he cut the car out himself! I'm glad I wasn't around to see that. My little (big) son operating a power saw is enough to make my heart stop. But he did great and still has all his fingers. He spent hours sanding it to perfection and painted and decorated it himself. Dad helped with the wheels and, viola! Jayden's car won first place out of the Weeblos and third place overall!

Grandpa Mawson came to support Jayden, too. I love this picture of Grandpa holding Brennan.

I know Jayden treasured the time he got to hang out with Dad while working on the car.

Jayden also earned his Weeblo Scout Award at this pack meeting, and he is all set to achieve his Arrow of Light next month. We are proud of you, Jayden!

Goodbye to Soccer

2008-11-01T23:14:00.003-06:00

Jayden and Makenna both played soccer this year. They both had wonderful coaches and fun teams. And both of them worked hard and showed terrific improvement throughout the season. I am very proud of you guys! It was a grueling season for Mom, with practices every night of the week, and I welcome the thought of family dinners once again. Sorry I didn't get more pictures. I watched most games with one eye on the game and one eye on Brennan who was running the other way. But these were my favorite shots...

Makenna turned out to be really quick, and tallented at ball-handling. I loved the orange and blue uniforms - they called themselves the Broncettes.

Jayden actually was dribbling the ball here, I just managed to cut it out of the picture. He usually played back as a defender, but he scored his first goal in the last game! Way to go Jayden!

Mountain Home Air Show

2008-11-01T22:45:00.005-06:00

Kind of a flashback to summer, but I didn't want to forget one of our summer-time traditions. We love to take the kids to the airshow. The Nampa show is great, too, but this year we hit the one in Mountain Home. Carter loves the jets that rip the sky open like thunder. I love the loop-dee-loop trick flying (Greg Poe is AWESOME). The kids love the parachuters and all the hands-on activities, like walking through HUGE cargo carriers, climbing around in tanks, and peering in helicopters. They are always fascinated with the "real soldiers" all around. I try to teach them a respect for our servicemen and women. Carter and I decided our kids need to see the movie Top Gun!

And McDonald's on the way home was a big hit, too! Thanks Daddy!

Korny-time with Kenna

2008-10-17T16:21:00.008-06:00

Makenna's second grade class had a fieldtrip today to the Idaho Corn Maze. One of the great perks about being a stay-at-home mom is being available to help out for things like this. Her teacher needed six adults to come along, and sixteen parents volunteered. I wondered if maybe I didn't need to go, but Makenna was so excited about me being there... so off I went. By the way, thank you, Mom, for taking care of my little ones so I could go. I figured there will be plenty of time when Makenna won't be so excited about hanging out with Mom in front of her friends, so I'd better enjoy this now. And it was a ton of fun!

Makenna tried her hand at roping a hay-bail cow. Not too successfully, as you can see. Her expressions are hilarious - I laughed when I realized I'd caught this last face on film. (If you click on a picture you can see it up close).

So, the corn maze was incredible. It blows my mind how anyone could create something like that in a cornfield. The maze itself was a picture of McCain and Obama and a little sign that said "Left or Right?" (Which I thought was funny in a maze.) We must have wandered for an hour in there. Someone with my sense of direction really shouldn't be allowed to chaperone children into a maze. Luckily, the bus drivers came along and we followed them out, otherwise we might still be circling John McCain's eyebrow.

It was a fun place. There was also a big bouncy bubble, a corn box (like a sand box, but corn), a peddle-car race track, a cow train, a petting zoo, duck races, and a hayride to pick out our very own pumpkins! Mostly, it was just a wonderful day with my sweet Makenna.

Peachy

2008-10-07T22:07:00.006-06:00

We took a trip out to the Church Orchard a couple weeks ago to pick peaches with our ward. We had a good time and afterward we bought a bunch to bring home and can. Yummy!

The trees had been pretty well picked over and the only peaches left were up pretty high or well hidden. Shaylie actually found more peaches than the rest of us combined - her little vantage point did the trick.

I LOVE the satisfaction of rows and rows of beautiful fruit bottled up for the family. As a mom, you can't usually see the results of a hard day's work. Stories read, meals cooked (and eaten), laundry washed (and dirtied again), kids taxi'ed here and there... But lined up on my counter - see? I did something today!

Shaylie Sue

2008-10-07T21:57:00.004-06:00

I couldn't let the summer pass without celebrating Shaylie's third birthday. We had her party at Lakeview Pool. She also shared her day with twin cousins, Collin and Sydney. What can we say about our Shaylie??? I had someone say recently, "Wow! She's quite a little pistol, isn't she." I thought that sums her up pretty well. Along with darling, energetic, friendly, and did I mention - spirited? Happy Birthday, Shaylie! We love you!!

It's a Guy Thing

2008-09-27T15:47:00.007-06:00

Carter and his brother Boyd have a yearly tradition - every August just before school starts up again they take a long weekend and head for the mountains by Stanley. They hike, fish, camp, fish, float the river, fish, and live on granola bars and creek water. Okay, I made up the last part, but you never know. Carter really looks forward to this trip, and they had a terrific time. Here are some of the highlight photos.

This is Boyd. Did I mention he's single, in med school, and very sweet? (Sorry, Boyd's going to kill me.)

Oops! How did that salmon get on my line??

Up on top of the world. My feet ache just looking at that hike. Down to the right is one of the lakes they fished. I'm not sure even a monster fish would be worth that much exertion to me. I guess that's why I'm never invited on these trips. What a beautiful view!

Just Because He Cracks Me Up

2008-09-16T22:08:00.006-06:00

Brennan is at a hillarious age. Every day he pops out with a new word, and he gets so indignant when he isn't treated just like the other BIG kids. And busy...One of these days I'm going to follow him around with a camera all day and post a blog called "A Day In the Life of Brennan." His little face just makes me smile.

Now I'm going to get brave and try to add a little video. Brennan has the funniest way of coming down the stairs. He is FAST, too. I think he could beat anyone in the family down. Again, this just cracks me up.

Whew!!

2008-09-16T21:57:00.002-06:00

Turns out my mistake was fix-able after all. Well, live and learn. I'd like to say I won't botch up the whole blog again, but I'm sure I probably will. Give me time. I'm glad to be up and running again. Now that the summer is over with all its trips and adventures, I kind of look forward to blogging some normal, around-the-house life. I've been feeling a little sentimental lately. It seems my children are growing right before my eyes. I've stopped feeding them, but it hasn't helped.

oops!

2008-09-03T14:21:00.002-06:00

Okay, the blog is under construction. I tried to change the background and for a few minutes I deleted the whole she-bang. This HTML code is a pain in the rear. It may take me a few days to restore anything normal here. Sorry, all the links are a.w.o.l.

Adventures in Yellowstone

2008-09-01T19:35:00.013-06:00

Our last big fling of the summer was a trip to Yellowstone with Grandma and Grandpa. (Loughneys - we missed you guys). In some ways the trip turned out a little more eventful than we might have hoped, but it was wonderful!

Here are some of the highlights:

Grandma's baggy omelets, the kids hiding food for the grizzly bears and watching them find it (in Bear World), the PlayMill Theatre, Old Faithful, spying buffalo...

The Wildlife:

The Scenery:

We hiked down a STEEP trail with many hundred stairs to see this view of the waterfall. The kids were troopers, and it was worth the effort. Breathtaking! Imagine this view and feeling the ground thundering under you from the force of the river. I took the picture of the rainbow about half-way down. My photography doesn't do it justice. These were all taken in the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.

The Geisers:

Lower Geiser Basin (above) and Makenna at Artists Paint Pots (below).

The character-building moments:

Daily rain.

Daily car trouble. We had to borrow jumper-cables every time we turned off the car until Bob figured out what was going on. Thanks, Bob!

A Super-Storm ripped through Henry's Lake, demolished our tent beyond repair, blew our belongings all over the campground, and soaked EVERYTHING! But it could have been so much worse. We weren't in camp when it happened, thank goodness. Luckily we were able to sleep that night in a cute little cabin that had just become available, and we slept in sleeping bags borrowed from campers all around us. Their kindness and generosity amazed us. We cut the camping short by one night and traveled back to stay with relatives in Idaho Falls.

Memories of happy times with people we love...

Twin Falls

2008-07-29T16:04:00.010-06:00

Our family took a drive to Twin Falls. It was a quick trip, but filled with special moments that will be wonderful memories. We stopped to admire the view of the gorge from the overlook at the Perrine Bridge.
I was so excited to take my children to see the new Twin Falls Temple. I love the temple so much, and the peace and joy I feel there. This was a unique opportunity to give my children at least a small glimpse of the beauty and spirit of a temple. I was a little worried at first that the whole experience would be lost on them when they got so infatuated with stomping around in their crinkly booties. But it didn't take long for their faces to register the reverence and awe they soon felt. Jayden asked lots of questions about baptisms for the dead, which he will be able to do in less than two years. I enjoyed showing Makenna the lovely brides dressing room. Sitting in the Celestial Room, squished on a couch with my dear husband and children all around me, I couldn't help dreaming of the day we will again sit together in this room of a temple.
That evening I also had the opportunity to take Jayden and Makenna to see the stage production of Saturday's Warrior and White Star. The story of Saturday's Warrior was such a part of my growing-up years, I couldn't wait to share it with them. We had so much fun.

We stayed with Steve Boren, a great friend of Carter's since they were kids. Steve lives on a farm, and my little city-slickers had a ball. He let them ride a horse. Steve also has the absolute coolest guest house I've ever seen. My kids called it the "Haunted Mansion."

Baby Torture (a.k.a. A Day at the Water Park)

2008-07-22T22:57:00.008-06:00

Our kids have looked forward all year to their promised day at Roaring Springs. We arrived bright and early and we closed the park down that night. And we all had a blast, except maybe for poor Brennan. Check out his little face as the kids take him down the slides.

Kyler and Shaylie also got a piece of the action...

Smokin' Moles

2008-07-22T22:32:00.003-06:00

Our new house backs up to a park, which we LOVE. But we don't love the little moles who burrow tiny underground cities in our back yard. Someone is going to break an ankle in those holes. So Carter came home with a solution. Mole extermination is a first for us, so I tried not to think about the awful death being inflicted on the critters and I came out to film the action. My camera has this multi-picture burst-thingie that I thought I'd try out, and I captured a comical scene. I promise no children were injured in the filming of this. Ha!ha!

Swimming Lessons - A Summer Tradition

2008-07-22T22:14:00.006-06:00

What would summer be without swimming lessons? They all worked very hard and made great progress this year. And I know they had a good time.

Makenna's favorite was the backstroke... and diving for rings...and the slippery slide.

Kyler on safety day. Isn't he cute?!

"I believe I can fly..." Jayen's most favorite was the diving board. His least favorite was the butterfly stroke, at least until he got the hang of it.

And I just liked this one of Brennan waiting patiently during lessons. Happy guy!

July 4th at Stanley

2008-07-07T21:26:00.021-06:00

This year our family spent 4th of July weekend camping near Stanley, Idaho. The area holds a special place in our hearts. Carter's family spent every summer in Stanley running a family business, called Sunbeam Village. In addition to working with the family, he worked for the Fish and Game and as a white water river guide. After we were married we spent our first couple summers living and working there as well(Oh...the stories I could tell! Ask me sometime about living in the toolshed), but I inherited a love for those incredible mountains. It was fun introducing our children to our favorite spots.

Up the Yankee Fork we explored Custer, the spooooky ghost town. It took some explaining to convince some of the kids that there aren't really any ghosts. We also checked out the giant gold dredge, which is another fascinating piece of history.

We spent most of one day soaking up the sun and the breathtaking scenery at Redfish Lake. That has to be one of my favorite places in this world. We rented a paddleboat for a while and had a blast. I took an unexpected dunk in the icy water when I tried to gracefully hop off. The kids got a kick out of that. They chased minnows with a little fish net and built sand castles.

The inevitable family group shot...

After the freezing water of Redfish Lake, we stopped for a quick dip in Sunbeam Hot Springs. (Actually we were hoping to soak off a bit of dirt, grime, and campfire smoke before we attended church in the Stanley Branch the next morning). It felt so nice, and we had good entertainment watching Carter and Jayden climb around the rocks above us, trying to redirect the hot water flow to get the temperature 'just right'.

But my favorite memories of the trip are the times we had just hanging out at our campsite. We were excited to find a terrific camping spot near Puzzler Gulch (love the name!) which sat beside the river, surrounded by a gorgeous view of the mountains and trees. It even had a homemade outhouse which had to be a hundred years old. Of course I took a picture.

So here are a few shots of the family roasting marshmallows, playing in the fire (yikes!), and just being cute.

And lastly, the trip home was memorable for a couple reasons... The gear we tied to the roof of our minivan sprang loose and bounced all over the highway behind us. After we collected our bedding and our underwear from the bushes, my hero-husband pulled out his shoelaces and used them to secure our stuff for the rest of the ride home. And then there was the little matter of the speeding ticket... We hoped the cop was pulling us over to warn us that shoelaces were not legally approved for binding overhead loads, but no such luck.

Tie 'em Up and Shoot 'em

2008-06-29T22:19:00.006-06:00

This weekend was our stake's Cub Scout Day Camp, and some of my favorite men-folk were involved. Jayden was returning enthusiastically, this year as a big Weeblo. Carter volunteered to run an archery workshop for the boys. Justin, our brother-in-law, kindly agreed to assist him. And my beloved Grandpa, who also lives in our stake headed up the knot-tying station.

(Notice the action shot)

Jayden was engrossed in a first-aid class, so I took the picture from a distance. Isn't he handsome?!

They had a hot, sweaty morning, but they all enjoyed themselves. And Jayden and my other boys are very lucky to have wonderful men in their family who love them so much and set such great examples to follow. Jayden, I hope you learn more than shooting and knot-tying from these great men.

the Baby Borrowers

2008-06-23T21:57:00.003-06:00

Did you know Carter is soon to become famous?!
Well, that might be an exaggeration. But he was involved in the making of a new reality TV show called the Baby Borrowers which is premiering Wednesday, June 25th on NBC at 8pm.
It was pretty funny...last year Carter got a phone call from a guy claiming to be a Hollywood producer, the same one who produced the Apprentice, who wanted to meet with him. I think Carter expected a prank, but agreed to meet him anyway. The man explained his project - taking several teenage couples who think they are ready to get married and setting them up in a home, then introducing them to real adult life, parenthood, the working world, etc. He wanted to know if Carter would "hire" one of the young men to work at the vet clinic. It sounded like fun, so Carter said, "What the heck." And he did it. For three weeks they had a whole camera crew following them around while they worked. Carter's favorite part was when he made the poor kid pick maggots out of a rabbit's wounded rear end. (The camera guys were all over that. ) He has no idea how much airtime the clinic will receive, but anyway, tune in with us to find out. And you can see more about the show at www.nbc.com/The_Baby_Borrowers/index.shtml

And Carter would like to thank in advance all the little people who helped him get to where he is today...ha!ha!

Brennan is One!!

2008-06-16T22:38:00.003-06:00

My baby is one year old! Brennan is such a joy. He has been fun and spunky from the very beginning, and our home wouldn't be the same without him. We celebrated his special day with lots of our beloved family. My sister Amy was even here, visiting from Reno. As you can see, he did more than eat his birthday cake - he experienced it!

Brennan's new Mickey Mouse-mobile was a big hit. Today he climbed on it a dozen times and yelled until someone pushed him. My busy guy has places to go.

Yellowstone

2008-06-16T21:27:00.005-06:00

One of the perks of Carter's calling is that he got to tag along on a youth super- activity to Yellowstone National Park. They had lots of rain and snow, but it sounds like they had fun anyway. He brought back some neat pictures. We are planning a family trip back there this summer, but I think we will wait until it stops snowing.

Makenna is Seven!!

2008-06-08T18:03:00.001-06:00

We love you, Makenna! Hope your birthday was wonderful.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Diggin' Up Bones

2008-05-28T15:31:00.004-06:00

Memorial Day
We took a fun day-trip to Hagerman, Idaho, with Grandma and Grandpa Robinson and Grandpa Mawson. The kids had a great time in the fossil museum. Brennan makes a great "Mastadon Munchie," and I love my "Indiana Jayden." I just missed a picture of Grandpa kissing the Hagerman Horse.

Here we Go!

2008-05-28T14:19:00.004-06:00

Welcome to our new blog! I've been wanting to do this for a while, but it took me some time to get up the nerve. And a huge thank you to Alyce for helping me set it up. This is the newest picture I could find of the whole family together. We took it when we went sledding up at Garden Valley a few months ago.