MRE Campout

After we got home from the park yesterday, Amber and I had planned a surprise evening for the kids of camping out in the back yard.

One of the purposes for the little back yard campout was to try out some of the food in our 72 hour kits to see if we had planned the right proportions, could handle the food, and to rotate some of the items. We got out our 72 hour kit backpacks and cooked some of the MRE's for dinner. They were actually really pretty good!



Everyone downed all of the MRE contents and no one complained about the tast. The little MRE warmers that we had were neat. You just add water to the heater pad and it warms up the food so it is nice and hot.





Aliece helped me break up the sticks for our little campfire. I cheated and doused the wood with gasoline and nearly burned every hair on my arm off when I reached into the firepit to light the kindling.

Aylee had carved out some roasting sticks from branches lying around in the yard. We gathered around the small fire and roasted our marshmallows for some smores.



Around 9:00PM We had the kids make their beds on the trampoline. I set up our two-screen portable DVD player that we use in the van and let them watch "Cars" all night. I popped them some popcorn to go with it. They had a ball camping out on the trampoline.

So where was Jace during all of the campout festivities?



Jace was worn out from our busy day's activities. He broken down while we were cooking our MRE's and so he was fed some leftover pizza and eagerly went to bed.

While the kids were sleeping outside, I moved the couch in the family room over to the window and left the window open. I went to sleep under the pretense of helping the kids if they needed it during the night. However, I was woken up by Amber about 1:30 telling me that there was a lot of lightning and a big storm coming in fast. Jace had woken up and she then saw the approaching storm. I ran outside and woke up the kids. We quickly cleared the trampoline and all of their items and sent them to their beds. Thank heavens for Amber, as soon as we got the kids in the house, a huge downpour rained down on us. It was a terrific rain and electrical storm. The sky was ablaze with some incredible lightning displays.

Hanging Out in the Canyon

After Jake and I got home from riding, Amber started me cooking hotdogs for the kids for lunch. Just after they were cooked, however, she thought it might be fun to run up into Provo Canyon at one of the parks and have our hotdogs there.

We bundled the hotdogs in tinfoil and loaded everyone in the suburban and headed up into the canyon.



During our lunch, Aylee and Johnathan started having contests to see how many cheese puffs they could stick in their mouths. Obviously John won.



I tried to take a nap, but Jace found me after about ten minutes and pounced on me. I was not allowed to take a nap, obviously. This picture was my view of him standing above me with the big canyon walls in the background.

These last pictures below are of the older kids playing on the climbing walls in the park.







We ended up staying at the park until about 5:00pm. It was as lot of fun.

Holiday Ride around Utah Lake

Having lived in Utah County now for 15 years, I am embarrassed to confess that I have never been to the west side of Utah Lake.  Today, Jake and I donned our helmets and hopped on our motorcycles for a morning ride around the lake.

We had a great time getting to know various parts of the valley.  We saw some great land formations and even had some small antelope cross the road right in front of our bikes. 

We took a chance to walk right out to the lake on the west side and enjoy the beauty of the lake from that vantage point.  The lake is sure a lot prettier and prominent from the other side. 

After quick stop at a Lehi Arctic Circle for lunch, Jake and I took backroads home.  The entire trip took nearly four hours and was exactly 100 miles.

Big brother

Jace gets only a few rare opportunities to hold Avery...and he cherishes every minute!

The exterminator

Aliece was supposed to be upstairs getting dressed for a primary activity. After a long while she yelled down the stairs that there was a spider in her room. She begged me to come up and take care of it.

I was cooking pancakes and so I just yelled up at her to ignore it.

Pretty soon Alayna came downstairs and told us that she killed the spider for Aliece with a shoe.

Way to go Alayna!

Not Again...

I just got back my MRI results from this week.  They say I have a very small right posterior disc herniation at L5-S1 with a mild right impingement at S1.

Essentially, another herniated disc just below where I had my last herniation.  The nerve is pinched slightly at S1 (right in the rear end) causing the pain in my foot, calf, and left on the right side.

I guess it is time for more steroid shots, chiropractic visits, and hopefully no surgery.

I should have went for a Japanese body instead of these crappy American-made ones :-).

Aylee is off to summer camp

Today Aylee left on her first ever week away from family as she attends a special camp for soon-to-be sixth graders.

She was a little nervous, but left with her friends with excitement.

I hope we can make it through the week ok without her.

The winner of a brand new grill

On Thursday, Aylee got a phone call from the our local Macey's grocery store informing her that she just one the drawing for a new barbecue grill.

Aylee thought it was a hoax and gave the phone to her grandma r
Reed. Ann took the phone and talked to them and decided it was legit.

I called Amber to see if she knew anything about it. She had put all of our family names into this drawing several weeks ago.

I went and picked up the grill during lunch and delivered it to our house. It is a pretty nice looking Daddy tool!

Aylee has been negotiating with amber about the terms of ownership since she won it, but Amber was the one to put her name in the drawing. I think we are all agreeing that it belongs to the entire family now :).

Finally....A name!

Amber and I stayed up last night racking our brains on a name for Number 6.  We have finally decided on "Avery Frann Andersen".  Amber really wanted to have Frann as a middle name to represent Franklin (as in Verne Franklin).  It is a cute middle name.  Who names, maybe she will be a "Frannie" :-).

Anyway, the birth certificate got filled out last night, so welcome to the family Avery!

It's a little Girl

The kids just got done with their pilgrimage to see their little sister. They were all surprised to find a little girl.

Once the kids left, the nurse came in and told us that they have never had such a large number of well behaved kids visit before. They said that the nurses were all saying in the hall that they couldn't believe there were five young kids in the hospital room. Way to go Andersen kids!

Aliece picked some roses from our rose bush at home and gave them to Amber. It was a sweet thought.
Sent via my blackberry

Number 6 just arrived

Number 6 (yet to be named) joined us at 7:53 am on June 16. Baby weighed in at 7 pounds 0.5 ounces and had a length of 19.25 inches.

Both Amber and the baby are doing well.

Amber forbids me sharing the sex of the baby until the kids come to the hospital to meet the baby. However our parents know, so you can get the results that way until I post :).

A garage sale oversight

Hitting the weekly garage sale events as a family has been a huge success and fun activity -- over all. On Saturday, however, I noticed an embarrassing oversight in our garage sale activities.

A couple of weeks ago, Aliece purchased a little pink purse that she has been carrying with her everywhere. She had also purchased a plastic cell phone which she put inside of it. This little purse goes with her everywhere.

Yesterday, while we were at the church for the Cub Scout Olympics event, Aliece was walking around the gym with her purse. If you know Aliece, you know that if she is proud of something she is not discrete at all. She was flashing her little purse in front of all of our friends to show it off. When she brought her purse up close to my face, I just happened to catch a glimpse of four was written on the purse. I realized that this was no child's purse. In fact, it was a creative little shopping bag from the Victoria's Secret lingerie boutique. I nearly died!

Amber laughed and said to one of our neighbors, well I guess at Victoria's secret they don't need bags much bigger than that!

So far, Amber and I have not decided to take Aliece's new purse away from her. We just don't have the heart. I am going to have to keep a much better I on her purchases at garage sales in the future.

Wiiiiii!!!!!

As most of you know the kids have been working hard earning Wii points since last November in order to be able to buy a Wii console with four remotes. They have been very helpful around the house, be reverent at church, quiet at the dinner table, and staying in their rooms at bedtime in order to score small number of Wii points each day.

On Friday night, the kids earned their goal of 5000 Wii points. In anticipation of this event, Amber and I purchased a Wii console a couple of weeks ago. On Saturday, after Johnathan's Cub Scout Olympics and my Father's Day activities, we broke out the Wii and got all set up and even played a couple of games. The kids are really excited to be up to the latest and greatest with respect to video games.

We have talked to the kids and shows some of the first games that they want to buy. The Wii points system has worked so well that we are going to continue earning Wii points for games and controllers. Hopefully we can continue to do this without breaking the bank. The kids have responded so well to the system that Amber and I don't dare give up!

An Early Father's Day

Amber had decided that since she will just be coming back from the hospital just before Father's Day that we would hold our own Father's Day yesterday (Saturday). Amber made some yummy cinnamon rolls for breakfast. The kids then took turns giving me a variety of gifts. I loved reading their very creative cards.

For dinner Amber made me some ribs and mashed potatoes -- my favorite! We topped it off with some delicious brown sugar frosting cake with homemade ice cream.

My biggest Father's Day gift was a small refrigerator for me to put in my office at work.  Lately, I have been having a problem keeping my food in the refrigerator is at the break room. It must be the economic uncertainties of our times, because I will buy a $10 bag of string chees and find it totally gone within a few days. I have had other food disappear similarly. Amber was on the ball and realized that I needed a refrigerator that I could keep in my office so as to preserve my food. I am really excited to try it out!

It was a fun day for me. It was nice of Amber to think ahead and prepare everything for this unofficial Father's Day.

Cub Scout Olympics

On Saturday, Johnathan had a Cub Scout Olympics event. We took the whole family to the church to watch Johnathan participate in a variety of sporting events kind of like the track and field events.

Johnathan did a good job doing the standing long jump, situps, push-ups,  the 50 yard dash, etc.

The good with the bad

As you all know the kids consistently ask to have a dog at our home as a pet. However, Amber and I have refused because we just cannot see ourselves owning a dog in the city. I have always told them that if we were ever to move out to Arbon or a similar place with lots of land that we could have a dog.

The other day we had some interesting dinner table discussions. With five kids all wanting to talk it once the topic is often a creative one. Anyway, this particular night, the kids were asking what would happen if one of either Amber or I were to die. Amber explained that if I were to die she would probably move to Spokane to be closer to family they can help her support the kids. I then explained that Amber were to die I would probably move closer to Arbon to have the help of my family with the kids.

The kids thought of this for just a minute and then someone pointed out, "well, at least if mom died we could have a dog!"

Perfect Push-ups Club

The other day we received a package on our doorstep from Amazon.com. I wasn't expecting anything and neither was Amber. So, once we decided that neither one of us had ordered anything, I got out a knife and started to open the box.

I was quite surprised to find that the contents of the box contained "perfect push-up" devices. I knew  that Jake and Joe both used the perfect push-ups. I then looked on the packing slip and saw that it was from Joe.

I gave Joe a call and he confirmed that he had ordered them for me. I am really excited to get good at doing some push-ups. My back has really been hurting me lately and so I have eased up on the exercise routine. My muscles have been atrophying because of this. Now I will be able to at least do some push-ups without straining anything.

Next time you all see me I will be totally ripped and studley!

Cub scout olympics

Our family had a fun morning with John at the cub scout olympics at our church.

John did a great job on the standing long jump, sit ups, push ups, 50 meter dash, and softball throw.

Birthday Celebrations

Jake and Shantell met up with us for dinner last night at the Red Lobster restaurant.  We had a great time visiting over dinner.

After dinner they had invited Amber and I to their house for some traditional coconut frosting cake.  Shantell did a great job on the cake and we each had a nice thick slice! 

It was fun visiting with Jake and Shantell.  It has been a while since the four of us have gotten together.  It was nice of them to let us be part of their birthday celebrations.

Happy 29th birthday Jake!

Mosquito Bait

We went to the park for lunch a couple of days ago.  The mosquitoes were so bad that the kids were nearly eaten alive.

Jace was playing with the kids and then wanted to come get a drink, so he wandered over to Amber and I.  The sight was pretty freaky.  Jace had about 10 mosquitoes all over his body -- four of which were all over his little head.  We smacked them for Jace, but it left lots of blood everywhere.

Jace didn't understand what was going on and started crying thinking that we were smacking him -- not the mosquitoes.  Poor kid was heart broken.

After the mosquito attack, we packed up and left the park.

Finding Nemo

As you all probably know we got a pet goldfish witch we named Nemo. His adoption day was 6-7-8. Well on Sunday it was Nemo's adoption day Birthday. Three days after his adoption day Birthday (today) the "everlasting" fish is no more. Dad found Nemo floating belly-up in his tank. No one was exactly happy or sad. One more goldfish dead.

Meeting up with my old RA

Recently, I hooked up with my old Residence Assistant (RA) from my freshman year at BYU.  We found each other through Facebook and have corresponded here and there. He currently lives in Texas and has been running several marathons.

A few weeks ago, he notified me through Facebook that he would be coming to Salt Lake City for the week. We arranged for a date to get together for lunch and to catch up on each other over the past 16 years. Wow! As I write this I didn't realize that it had been so long since I started college!

He shared with me his memories of mom and dad dropping me off at the dorm rooms. He said that he saw their tears and he promised them that he would take care of me that first year. During that year, we became good friends and he always called me his "little brother".

He had some health problems that year, in fact he died on a treadmill during a routine doctor's visit. They revived him and decided to put a pacemaker in his heart. I was there and help him out through that trying time.

He also came out to Arbon when I gave my missionary talk there at the branch just before my mission. He loves our family and asked lots of questions about mom and dad. I was surprised that he remembered so much of our family from those few interactions that we had together.

It was a fun visit, and interesting to see where life has taken him over these years.

Curbside Drop-off

A young man that I used to home teach several years ago went into the MTC this week. He and his family moved to Ohio several years ago. His mom flew him out here this week to take him to the MTC. On the Sunday before they left for Utah, they received a phone call from the MTC notifying them that their are three cases of the swine flu at the MTC and therefore they would not be inviting family and friends to come into the MTC to drop off their missionaries. Instead, the MTC was creating a curbside drop-off arrangement for all newly arriving missionaries.

Since our friends had already purchased the ticket the mom still came out to drop her son off on his mission. She stayed at our house that night before flying back to Ohio the next morning. It was fun to catch up with her to find out all the news of her family.

As I went home teaching today, I was discussing the situation with a brother that works at the MTC. He was telling me that this new curbside drop-off arrangement would likely be the official way for accepting new missionaries at the MTC from now on. He said that the MTC has been preparing for this type of drop-off scenario for some time now. The introduction of the swine flu only brought this arrangement sooner than was expected.

Chances are, any future missionary drop-offs will be without the 45 minute orientation for the entire family. Goodbyes will be said either at a nearby parking lot or a home before the missionary leaves for the MTC.

The Garage Sale Scout

Amber and I have been fairly faithful at using garage sales this spring to look for a variety of items that we have needed around the house. Most of these items have been furniture needs.

However, we have often found that when we take the entire family we move a little slower through the garage sales. The types of things that we have been looking for are also the types of things that go pretty quickly at a garage sale. You have to be there as one of the first people in order to get it.

This Saturday, Amber and I changed our tactics a little bit. She worked on getting the kids ready and I hopped on the motorcycle and started on the garage sale route. I stopped at several garage sales quite quickly. Once I found a place that had an item that we needed, I would call Amber and she would drive to that location to pick it up in the suburban.

The results were phenomenal! We were able to pick up a porch table to go with our rocking chairs for only three dollars. We also got a nice little dresser for our new arrival for only $10. And finally, we got a second umbrella stroller for only one dollar.

Of course, our kids got their fair share of junk. We had a great time together and we were done within 90 minutes of our start time. We are so excited for our newfound "treasures".

Andersen's Take over Testimony Meeting

A few weeks ago, Johnathan gave a family home evening lesson on the topic of bearing testimonies. Aylee and Aliece have been very faithful in bearing their testimonies in a variety of church meetings. Johnathan, on the other hand, has been pretty nervous and has refrained from airing his testimony publicly very often.

During his lesson, in his hopes to break his reluctance to bear his testimony, he challenged our entire family to bear our testimony at the next fast and testimony meeting at church.

Today was the big day! It was so important to the family, that I skipped out of going to the Spanish branch and went to our Ward instead. We waited until the testimony meeting was halfway over. The kids were eager to get up there to bear the testimony -- it was all we could do to keep them reverent and hold them back until was the right time.

Johnathan started up the aisle with Amber. As they walked up, Aliece took off behind him. Aylee didn't want to be left behind and so she got up and went up. Alayna begged me to let her go and finally I told her to go ahead. I sat in the congregation with Jace while the rest of our family sat on the rostrum. After each one of them bore short, simple, and reverent testimonies they headed back to our bench and I got up and went and bore my testimony.

I hope the Ward didn't feel like we hijacked their testimony meeting. I don't think they got that impression. It was a wonderful experience for our family to do that together this time. I am grateful to Johnathan for wanting to improve himself and overcome a fear that he has experienced in the past.

Amber's Ingenious Summer System

Can I just tell you that I have a very creative wife! She is truly an amazing person.

You would think the woman that is preparing for a sixth child would be stressed out about having all the kids out of school for the summer. The opposite is true. Amber has been very excited for the kids to get out of school.

To help ensure at least some level of sanity and to help reduce complaints of boredom, Amber has devised an ingenious system that has tested out very well this first week of summer vacation.

When the kids get up in the morning, they each have a checklist of all of their chores for the day. As they go through their chores they can check each one off of their checklist. The goal is to get all of their chores done, plus a sack lunch made all before noon.

If all the kids are able to accomplish their chores and prepare their own lunches, then they are rewarded by being able to pick a number. Amber has a hidden chart of all of the parks in Provo. Each park has been given an ID by Amber. When the kids choose a number, that will be the Park that they visit for lunch.

Amber sends me an e-mail or gives me a phone call to let me know where they will be for lunch. At noon, I hop on the motorcycle and visit them at the park that they are at. Went to the park, we sit down together for a picnic lunch. The kids then go play and check out the Park. The kids get to rate various aspects of the Park for future reference. They give a rating on the bathroom facilities, the playground areas, and other factors.

By the end of the summer the goal is to have visited every park in Provo. On the days that I am not able to have lunch with them, they go to a park in a nearby city to extend their "research".

When they get home from the park, Jace goes down for a nap. The kids have an hour of quiet time where they read and work on summertime workbooks to help them prepare for school in the fall.

After that, it is free play time. We purchased a bunch of water toys that they rotate through during the week. They are welcome to play together or invite a friend to come over. So far, the kids had such a great time out in the water together that they haven't needed to have very many friends over at the house.

Of course, this is only the first week of a long summer, but at least it has worked very smoothly this week. It gives us high hopes that we can maintain some sanity in our home during the summer vacation!

Trampoline Fun

I got out of work early on Friday because we were celebrating the shipment our latest product. 

When I got into the house, Alayna asked if I would go and play with water balloons on the trampoline with her.  She had such a hopeful and sweet voice that I couldn't turn her down.

I quickly donned my swimming suit and we went outside to make a bunch of water balloons.  We played several games on the trampoline with the water balloons and had a great time.  I was glad that I agreed to go out and get wet with her on the trampoline.  Alayna is quite the sweetie.

Porch Shots - take 2

Amber wanted me to resend some of the pictures of our columns and rocking chairs that we have recently installed as a way to beautify our front porch area.  These pictures are much better than the ones I sent out last week.

Fit Kids

Aylee and Johnathan both participated in fitness events with the schools.  Aylee got the Presidential Fitness Award - the highest fitness award given in the public school system. 
Johnathan received the second tier award - the National Fitness Award. 

I never was able to get the Presidential Fitness Award.  I never could do the touching of hands behind the back trick.  Plus, I think I was way to slow on the shuttle run.  It is fun to see the kids doing the same activities we participated in when we were that age.

Deserted

Amber and Aylee had to go to choir a hour before church yesterday.  I was entrusted with getting the kids the rest of the way ready for church and to deliver them to the appropriate pew just before the first meeting was to start. 

About 30 minutes before church started I ran up to our bedroom bathroom to take care of some business.  When I came out of the bathroom and headed downstairs, I noticed that the house was unnervingly quiet. I called out for some of the kids but received no response.  I went to the front door and opened it to see if the kids were playing in the yard - only to see Jace rounding a street corner holding onto Aliece's hand - quickly disappearing from my sight.

I hopped onto the motorcycle and rode on over to the church.  Sure enough, I found all of the kids heading hand in hand off to church.  The little buggers had left me!  We ended up getting to church about 20 minutes early, but they were all well behaved, so no harm was done. 

Next time I'm going to have to handle my bathroom business when Amber is around :-)

I've always wondered!

Yesterday I was in the kitchen whipping up a batch of yummy granola bars when Alayna, came up to me out of the blue and said, "Dad, I know why you are not smart."

Surprised, I asked her how she knew that.

She replied, "Because you don't know how to build a rocking chair."

Hmm...I guess that sums it up!

woops, sorry

sorry if you got lots of the same email from me. They were mess ups that I published on acident.

love ya all! A's

Eric's mistake

Here's a movie John, Mom, and myself. It's kind of a blooper of the little mermaid.
love ya all! A's

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmLeI1XqjSc

Dollhouse Transport

Yesterday, we were going to have a pretty busy day -- especially in the morning. We still had a number of items that we are looking for the a garage sales. However, we knew that we wouldn't have time to take the whole family around Provo to search all of the garage sales in the neighborhoods.

Our schedule only allow for one hour of garage sale hunting done by one person. So, I got up early and loaded the garage sale addresses to our GPS devices.  I wanted to save some gas and make quick hunting so I decided to ride the motorcycle. The idea was that if I found anything that was too big to carry in my backpack I would call Amber and she would come pick it up after I had purchased it.

I put the car's GPS system in a little bag and hung it around my neck. I plugged some headphones into it so that I could listen to that turn by turn directions on my motorcycle. I then just follow the directions spoken to me through the GPS and rode my motorcycle by each and every garage sale. I had several people at the garage sales asked me about my setup. They all laughed and thought it was pretty ingenious -- if I do say so myself.

By 9AM, Amber was running late, and we were supposed to meet somebody at the library. I had been our garage sale-ing for one hour. I told Amber that I was going to make one more stop and then I would head over to the library to meet up with the other family. It just so happened that that last garage sale there was a Barbie doll house for sale. One of the four items that we have been looking for at garage sales was a Barbie doll house for Alayna. Alayna has been saving her money for several months to be able to buy a doll house for all of her Barbies. The one I found was perfect -- other than the fact that it was very large. The dollhouse was 18 inches deep by 2 feet wide by 18 inches tall. Since we were running late, we had no time for Amber to drive across town to pick up the dollhouse. I talked to the family and explained my situation. They were great people. The father came out with some string and they tied the dollhouse to my back. I then hopped on the motorcycle and met up with an excited Alayna in the library parking lot.

Amber laughed when she saw me carrying this dollhouse on my motorcycle and she snapped this picture from her phone. When we got home from the library, all of the kids were playing with the dollhouse. It was a hit!

Porch Work

On Memorial Day, Amber and I started a project on the porch for our house. For the past year, Amber has wanted to replace the posts in the front area of our porch. They were wooden and the paint had peeled badly. Amber had stripped them last year and trying to them so that she could paint them. However, she got an idea from a neighbor to buy some vinyl wraps that go around the posts and appear as pillars.

We saved our money all fall and winter and finally had enough for the project this week. I was given the assignment of putting the pillars together and installing them. This was no trivial task as it was difficult to keep the wrap altogether until it was in place. On Monday, I completed four of the six pillars. Yesterday, I finished the last two. It is pretty fun to have large pillars in the front of our house.

While I was assembling and installing the pillar wraps, Amber was busy assembling two rocking chairs that we purchased for the porch area. We also finished that project yesterday.  

And finally, as a third touch to our porch/front yard area, Amber installed some steppingstones in our landscaping going away from the porch into the yard. We have wanted to complete this project in the spring so that we could take advantage of the cooler weather and sit in our rocking chairs on our porch to read or talk while the kids play in the front yard. We haven't fully tested them out yet, since they take 24 hours to dry. Hopefully the weather stays cool for a little while so that we may be able to enjoy the work that we just completed.

The pictures posted with this blog are the Before and After shots.

Track & Field Day

The other day, the Provo parks and recreation department held a track and field day for all elementary school children in Provo. Aylee and Johnathan wanted to participate in the event. Amber and I expected that it would last about one hour.

I met the family there at the field at 5:00 PM. Johnathan had scouts are around 6:00 PM and so we were going to head home as quick as we could after the track meet. When we got there, we realized that this event was much larger than we had expected. There were a lot more events than we had planned for.

Johnathan signed up for the softball toss, the 100 m dash, and the 400 m run. Aylee signed up for that softball toss, the 200 m dash, and the 100 m dash. Our entire family sat in the sun and watched all of the events with the kids. Aylee and Johnathan had a great time competing. They did an awesome job.

The event lasted much longer than we had planned. Amber and the girls took off around 7:30 PM. I stayed behind with the older kids to pick up their ribbons. However, by 8:00 PM they still did not have the ribbons ready. Amber had to run to a meeting, so I took the rest of the kids home. The parks and recreation department will be mailing out the ribbons for those who were unable to pick them up.

Anyway, for the small event that we expected to last a half hour or 45 minutes, three hours later we were all home and ready for dinner!  Good thing this is just one event per year!

Stating the Obvious

This morning I had to make a variety of phone calls for some church stuff that I was working on.  I had just dialed the phone to one person and it was ringing on the other side - when Johnny walked in the office and started to ask me a question. 

The connection hadn't yet been made on the other end, so I didn't know if I could talk to John yet or not so I politely said to Johnathan, "Hey, buddy, I'll talk to you in just a second, I think I am on the phone". 

Johnathan looked at me and the phone that I was holding to my ear and said, with a concerned look, "Um, Yes, you are." 

I realized that he didn't understand what I was saying when I told him "I think I am on the phone".  We both had a good laugh about it when I hung up.

Alayna graduates from preschool

During lunch today, Alayna's preschool class held a graduation for the year.

Next year--kindergarten!

Dog Sitting

This is a picture of Jace and Aylee playing with "Crystal", our neighbor's dog that we took care of for a few hours on Saturday.  The kids LOVED her and will probably be asking for a dog of their own.  Two days later, our other neighbors got a brand new puppy.  Amber and I are sure the requests for a pet will be renewed by the kids!

Calling the Cops on the Bishop

Amber and I were hoping to sleep in on the weekend of Memorial Day. However, we were suddenly awoken at four o'clock in the morning by some shouts out near the front of our yard. I jumped out of bed in a daze and with blurry eyes. I asked Amber if she heard the same thing that I heard. She had also woken up and told me that she had. I stood by our bedroom window, which was open, and peered through the blinds looking and listening for any activity. We had both of our cars out on the street that night because of some home improvement projects that were taking up the garage. I was concerned that someone may be tempted to break into one of our cars.

We both listened by the window and heard only a few more random, but short and quick conversations between two people. As we watched, I saw a flash light come on at the neighbors house. Whoever was holding the flashlight was peering into and around our neighbor's vehicles. Fearing that some wayward youth were attempting to steal something out of the car, I dialed 911 and got the cops. I did the usual address and phone number routine and then quickly, yet quietly, explained the situation. They said that they would send a patrolman to our neighborhood, but they wanted a play-by-play action until the cop got there.

While I was talking to them on the phone I quickly dressed into some exercise shorts and a T-shirt. I still didn't have my glasses on and so I couldn't give them very much detail of the people holding flashlights. The rest of my dialogue with 911 is somewhat reproduced as follows:

Me: "oh no, they have opened the door to one of the vehicles. They might be taking something out of the vehicle or trying to start it."
911: "okay sir, can you tell me what they look like?"
Me: "no I can't make it out. It is too dark." (Amber and I then quietly run downstairs to get a better view from the office window and for me to get my glasses on and to grab a kitchen knife.)
Me: "oh no, it sounds like they have started the engine! I'm going to give the phone to my wife so that she can talk to you while I run out there and stop them!"
911: "no Sir! You cannot go out there! Our officer is almost there. I need you to stay online and tell me which way they go.
Me: "no! I'm not going to wait while they drive away in our neighbor's car!"
911: "Sir, please listen to me. You don't want to make matters worse. Please stay on the phone and just tell us where the car goes and what it looks like."
Me: "okay, they're leaving the driveway and heading west toward the lake."
911: "great sir, we have a policeman that is almost there."
Me: "wait! They have turned around and are coming back this way. They are driving slowly and weaving along the entire width of the road. They may be checking out other houses."
Me: "oh no! I am looking at the neighbors house and their front door is wide open and no one is in the doorway. My wife is trying to call them on the other phone but they are not answering! I wonder why in the world their door is just wide open with no one there."
911: "okay sir, so you are saying that no one appears to be at home and they are not answering the phone?"
Me: "they should be home because both of their cars were in the driveway. This is really strange."
Me: "oh wait I see someone coming from around the back of their house with another flashlight. They're slowly walking around the house.  Also, the person in the car is turning around again! I don't understand it. Oh wait, hold on!"

I recognized the person on foot with the flashlight. It is our neighbor, the wife of our bishop. I went outside and asked her what was going on. She explained it to me, and then I put my phone back to my ear:

Me: "I am so sorry! This is all been a big misunderstanding. It is our neighbors who have lost their dog. They've been using the flashlights to try to find the dog and finally have gotten into their car to slowly drive around the neighborhood to see if she is in the neighbors yards."
911: "Sir, I'm glad to hear that everything appears to be okay. The policeman is nearly there and I'll have him stop and make sure that everything is okay still."
Me: "thank you so much for your help. I'm sorry for the false alarm."
911: "no problem sir. We are glad that everything seems to be okay."
<I hang up>

I then went out in our Van and drove around the neighborhood to try and find the dog. We were out for the next 15 minutes or so but didn't see the AWOL canine.

I talked to our bishop and his wife after searching. They explained that they had gotten up early that morning to pack and leave for Afton, Wyoming. While they were carrying things to the car the wife saw the dog make its escape out the front door. She yelled to her husband that the dog was getting away. He was confused and yelled back asking where she went. There were quick exchanges and shouts as they split up and hurriedly tried to catch the pet. These were the loud conversations that Amber and I woke up to. They had quickly grabbed flashlights and started going around the house and around the vehicles seeing if the dog was hiding close by. Once they couldn't find her, the wife headed off on foot and the Bishop got into their vehicle and started to drive around our street shining the headlights in various yards to see if she was there.

We laughed together as I explained to them how we called 911 thinking that their vehicle was being stolen. They said that while they were out looking after I had gotten off of the phone with the police, that a cop had stopped them in their car and chatted with them for a minute. The officer then offered to go around the neighborhood also in search of the dog.

After the extensive search, our bishop and his wife decided to leave for Wyoming without the pet.  Sure enough, an hour or two after they left, I saw the dog walking down the street near their home. I went out and caught the dog and locked it in our backyard. The kids had a great time playing with "Crystal" throughout the first part of the day.  The Bishop's wife called me later in the morning and I explained to her that we had her dog. She had somebody come by in the early afternoon and pick up the dog so that she could be cared for during their absence.

In the end, we and our neighbors all got a kick out of Amber and I calling the cops on our bishop.

Sensitive Booger Seeker

The other day, I had come home for lunch with Amber and the younger kids. While Amber and I were making our lunch, Jace was sitting in his high chair eagerly waiting for some food. When the food delay, he set out picking his nose vigorously. I decided to have some fun with him, so I looked at him and said, "are you finding any yummy boogers, Jace?"

I obviously struck a chord with him in that statement. He quickly removed his finger from his nose, placed his head on the tray of his high chair, and sobbed uncontrollably. I finally had to go over and put my arms around him to console him. I was amazed that he understood my words well enough and understood what he was doing to the state of being sensitive about the activity!

Devious, Yes -- but Sly, No

Over the past few months our innocent little daughter, Alayna, has been breaking into the realm of non-innocence. She has always been a streetsmart kind of girl. She is now learning how to deviously manipulate situations whenever she feels the need.

The other day Aliece came into the office in our house and asked me if she could take a particular indoor toy outside to play with. I explained to her that I did not want her to remove that small toy from the house the that she could play with it indoors if she wanted to. She got upset, of course, and started to cry about how unfair it was that she could not take this toy outside. As the two of them started to walk outside of the room, Alayna put her arms around Aliece to comfort her. The conversation I heard as they were walking out of the room includes, "don't worry Aliece, when dad's not here we can take it outside to play with."

I got a personal chuckled inside to hear her design some plans to thwart my obvious dictatorial notions -- she just needs to now learn about the proper place and time to share such rebellious plans: namely outside of dad's presence.

Fun orchestra concert

Last night we attended Aylee's third orchestra concert.  I love this type of concert because it lasted 15 minutes.  You get to hear your child play and then leave.  It was short enough for all of the family to sit still and listen.  It is hard when a performance is one or more hours long and you spend the last 30 minutes wrestling with little kids in their hard seats :-)

 

Aylee did a wonderful job.  She was invited to play with both the beginning and advanced orchestras.  I am amazed at how well she has picked up the violin.  She has enjoyed it so much that she has worked out a trade with a neighbor for the summer.  She will babysit their kids (her first formal babysitting stint outside of our home) once a week in exchange for violin lessons.  She is really excited about this prospect!

Aliece getting her helmet fitted

One of the cool activities at the Logan bie festival. We found out that we are bad parents - aliece's helmet was a toddler one...woops!

The Girls at drag race

The girls did a small drag race at the logan bike festival.

Ward Game Night

On Friday night, our Ward had an adult game night. Several people from our Ward met and played games and had lots of yummy snacks.  The gymnasium was arranged with several round tables. Each table had a game host that hosted several games. We all rotated to different tables with different people in each session. We would play games with those people at that table for that session.

 

Amber and I had been asked to provide a game for the entire group at the end of the evening.  We have debated what type of game we should plan for the event. About a week ago we had the idea of doing a family feud game that involved the entire crowd. Amber and I came up with a list of questions that we then sent out to all of the youth in our Ward as well as other youth on Facebook that we knew. We then took their answers and rolled them up into the family feud game. We had a friend of ours be "Richard Dawson" and Amber and I were the judges and ran the computer. Everyone seemed to love the family feud game. We ended up playing the game for over an hour.

 

Amber and I had a great time working together to plan the game and put it together.

Branding 2009

It was fun to see everyone this Saturday for branding. Our family got to Arbon Saturday morning and were surprised to find that Joe ended up flying up here to be with us this weekend. Dad had put a lot of work into cleaning out the corral so that it was not so muddy. The sun was out, and there was very little wind -- it was the perfect day.

There were many of the familiar branding faces. It is always fun to be able to visit with the Andersen clan. With only 25 calves the actual branding didn't take very long. However, with all the cameras shooting off we were able to extend that time a little longer.

After branding, and before lunch was ready, dad got out the shotgun and let lots of people do some skeet shooting. Aylee was very brave and tried her hand at dad's newest double barrel 12gauge shotgun. She had three shots and hit one of the clay pigeons. I was pretty impressed that she was brave enough to try it out.

We stayed in Arbon till about 7:30 or 8 PM. We were a little later getting out of Arbon than we had planned, but it was a great visit.

Swine Flu Rumors

Before I start off this blog, I thought I would share a joke that I heard this week:

 

"Some people said that the USA would have a black president only when pigs fly.  Well, 100 days into office for Barack Obama and Swine Flu"

 

Ha ha....anyway, as a sequel to an earlier blog about Aliece claiming that Jace's current illness is the swine flu, Amber got a phone call from a friend who was at the school.  She was asking how Jace was doing.  She reported to Amber that Aliece has been telling everyone at school that Jace has the Swine Flu. 

 

So far they haven't asked to quarantine our kids or keep them from coming to school, so maybe they aren't taking her too seriously :-).

The R-Rated Mason Jar

As you all know, our family has been working hard to cut down costs while still maintaining the same level of quality family time together. In fact, Amber and Aylee entertained themselves for about a half an hour with just a simple mason jar, a few blades of grass, and a handful of ladybugs. A couple of the ladybugs apparently were unaware that their grassy environment lacked any of their typical privacy. Amber provided a narrative and Aylee added insightful comments as they watched the 30 minute mating ritual of two ladybugs who seem to be having a great time together.

 

All of this entertainment and we didn't even have to order the nature channel!

Hiccup Cure is no Old Wive's Tale!

About an hour after bedtime tonight, Amber and I were in the playroom chatting together. Amber wasn't feeling well and so she was laying down in our loveseat relaxing.

 

Alayna came down the stairs and came up to Amber and told her that she had the hiccups. Sure enough, just as she told her that she let out a big hiccup.  While she was complaining to Amber, I had a bright idea. In the middle of one of her sentences, I screamed really loud in a high-pitched scream. Alayna freaked out and buried her head into Amber's lap and started sobbing uncontrollably. I had to pick her up and hold her for several minutes before she stopped crying. I guess I really scared her to death. Once her crying subsided, I told her to notice that she did not have the hiccups anymore.  For some reason I was not the hero of the evening. Alayna acknowledged that her hiccups were gone, but she still held a grudge for me scaring her so badly.

 

I guess the old wives tale is true -- that if you wish to get rid of the hiccups you have someone scare you. I have never seen it in action, until now!

I guess Jace has the Swine Flu

We had pack meeting for Johnathan tonight at the church. While we were there, Amber noticed that Jace felt a little warm. She discussed it with me and told me that she thought that Jace had a fever. Of course the kids started to talk about it and tried to nurse him as much as they could there in the gymnasium. When we got home, we took Jace's temperature and found out that indeed he had a fever.

 

Shortly after that, I overheard Aliece matter-of-factly tell one of the kids that Jace has the swine flu.

 

I don't know where Aliece heard about the swine flu, but I guess she is well-versed in the symptoms and the prognosis. So, according to Aliece, Jace is Provo's first official resident case of the swine flu.

Laundry Boy

Yesterday, when I came home, Jace was in a whiny mood.  He was hungry and bored.  He would walk around whining and holding you. 

 

Amber asked me if I would go and get the clothes out of the dryer so that we could switch the laundry from the washer over.  I went in there, but then had the notion that Jace might be able to do it to take his mind off of things.

 

I asked Jace if he wanted to take the clothes out of the dryer.  Man, he loved it.  I left the laundry room to go grab the camera.  He stuck with it until every last piece of clothing was out of the dryer.  I took a small video clip of it.  You can see it by going to:

 

http://ht4.org/terry332

 

Jace was really proud of himself when he was done.  It is fun to see him helping out around the house, he gets a big kick out of it.  In fact, the other day, Amber and I walking into the kitchen to find him using the big broom trying to sweep the kitchen.  It was funny to see him try to manage with the tall handle.

The Race that Ran Out

The kids have been planning for quite a few weeks to attend our annual stake family fun run. This year, however, they were opening the event to bicycles also. Since it is spring, and the kids are just getting back on their bicycles, they all wanted to participate in the race by riding their bikes.

 

When we woke up early on Saturday morning, we were welcomed by dark clouds and torrents of rain. We had a quick family Council to determine if we would be participating in the race or not. Aylee, Johnathan, and Alayna all wanted to participate still. Amber and I explained to them that they would get very wet and probably cold. They were not to be deterred, however. They wanted to go to the race.

 

Originally, Alayna was going to write her scooter in the race while Amber pushed Jace in the stroller. Due to the rain, we modified our plans such that I hooked up the bike stroller to my bike so that I could pull Alayna along in the stroller. I bundled Alayna up, and gave her a good book to read. She was all set!

 

Aylee and Johnathan got their bikes all geared up. Amber, Aliece, and Jace decided to stay home since none of them wanted to get wet for this event.

 

It is about a mile to the church that was hosting this event. The four of us rode the 1 mile distance to the church by their school. The rain was really coming down! By the time we got there, we were totally soaked. Even worse, there was no one there to welcome us. I figured the event must have been canceled. However, the kids would not give up so easily. There was one bicycle chained to a bike rack at the church. Who knows how many days it had been there. The kids insisted that since there was a bike someone must be there. I explained to them that the doors were all locked and there was no one in sight. To get them calm down even further, I got on a cell phone and made a few calls. However, I was not able to reach anyone who had planned the event.

 

I promised the kids that we would ride back down to the stake center to at least make sure that no one was there -- and that we hadn't misunderstood the location. We made the wet trip down the stake center only to find it empty also. I convinced the kids it was time to go home.

 

As soon as we got home, the cold, wet, and tired kids raced in all directions to dry off were to hop in a hot shower. Hopefully they reschedule!

Alayna on her "farmer" field trip

Alayna 's preschool class went to Thanksgiving point last week on a field trip. On their field trip, they learned all about agriculture and animals. Alayna had a great time. Amber was able to go with the preschool class and hang out with Alayna as well as snap some fun photos of the day.

 

When I got home and started to question Alayna about her field trip, she was able to tell me all sorts of stories. When explaining how we get milk from a cow, she told me that the milk comes out in the same spot where the cow goes pee. Amber and I had to explain to her that those were udders and the only milk came out of those. :-)

Aylee's Piano Recital

On Thursday of last week, Aylee had a piano recital. We dressed up each of the kids and headed to a nearby church where the recital took place. Every student played two songs and one duet. For a Aylee's duet, she invited a friend of hers to play with her. They are duet piece was "in the Hall of the Mountain King". For those in my family, they will recognize this tune as one that was played over and over on one of our video games when we were children. They did an amazing job together.

 

Aliece and Alayna were very cute during the entire performance. Aliece dressed up in a dress and hat and even brought a set of toy binoculars. It was funny to watch her sit in her dress all prim and proper while looking through her binoculars at the performance. Despite her sitting in the very front row, I'm sure the binoculars helped in some way.

 

Alayna entertained herself by playing with an old cell phone that we keep in the diaper bag. She spent the performance pretending to take pictures with her cell phone at each of the performers.

 

Aylee is getting really good at the piano. In fact, on a program that it was arranged in order of skill -- Aylee was the third from the end. The most advanced students went very last.

 

It is fun to have Aylee be able to play songs from the hymnbook while our family sings along. She is getting rather quite accomplished -- we are really proud of her.