Memorial Day, 2010

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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?