Runny Noses And Boogers

(Click on the picture to get a better view of this work of art)

Last night while I was working on some homework and Amber was cleaning the kitchen, Aliece was busy with an art project that was consuming all her attention and effort. She would occasionaly blurt out, "Look Dad!", as she held up her partly finished drawing. I would acknowledge her and she would go back to work.

When it was completed she ran over to Amber to show her the finished masterpiece. Amber asked what it was that she drew, and Aliece said, "Runny Noses and Boogers".

I guess the circles in the artwork are eyes and vertical lines are the noses with long horizontal lines being the mouth. All the dots are boogers and all the other lines are runny noses.

I personally, think the work and the title of it would rival any modern art that I have experienced myself. I think I might want to send it to the Gugenheim Art Museum in New York City for display before we try to sell it though - so that the entire world may enjoy our child's creativity, talent, and oh yes, personality.

My first MRI

As most of you may have heard, I have been suffering from a sciatic nerve problem for over four weeks now. I walk like a 90 year old man. Amber jokes around that I am trying to look like President Hinckley - however, he walks better than I do at this time.

I had talked to a lot of people about it and most said that when they have had it, or when someone they know has had it, it took them between one and two months to get feeling better.

Last Thursday, I finally broke down and went to the doctor. He gave me some really good pain medications. The first couple of days on the meds I was pretty looney. There are three different types of pills and each bottle lists immediate side affects which are: Drowsiness, Dizziness, Blurred Vision, and Liver Disease (if taken with Tylenol). I had a hard time being alert with those in my body, but now I have grown accustomed to them.

Anyway, the doctor scheduled an MRI for me for this Thursday. I have never had an MRI done, so this is going to be a first. I have heard many people tell me about this small tube they stick you in - Man, I can't wait.

I'll try to update you all as soon as I know the results. It has been hard having this back problem because I cannot run, bike, or do any other kind of exercise. Because of this, I have gained about six pounds. On Saturday, I enlisted myself into a strict diet. If I don't weight 202 in the morning, I don't get any treats and my eating is very restricted. This morning I was down to 203. Hopefully tomorrow I will be at 202 or lower.

What a wussy generation

Johnathan came home with a chant that he learned in kindergarten. It had a catching rhythm to it and I quite enjoyed hearing him recite it. However, as I listened to him perform a second and third time, I realized the tune was a familiar one to me. Do you all recal the little rhyme or song..."Going on a Lion Hunt?"

It goes something like this:

Going on a lion hunt,
I'm going on a lion hunt,
But I'm not scared,
I'm not scared.
I've got my gun by my side
I've got my gun by my side
and my bullets too
and my bullets too.

Well, the version he learned starts something like this:

I'm going on a bear hunt,
I'm going on a bear hunt.
But, I'm not scared
No, I'm not scared.
I got my lunch by my side
I got my lunch by my side
and my camera too
and my camera too.

I guess we are not supposed to hunt Lions, tigers or bears with guns and bullets now-a-days.

My biggest concern...what are the chances of a kid surviving a bear hunt with a smelly lunch and a useless camera?

I'll stick with the song the way I learned it.

The Little Bear song

Here is yet another song that Johnathan has learned in school - I thought it was fun.

The Little Bear Song

Wedding Part II: The Honeymoon

I know that many of you still feel as if I have died, but I have been very busy. I have a few blog topics that I have wanted to do but haven't gotten around to them yet. So, this may be reaching a little far back in time, but I think you'll find this interesting.

THE HONEYMOON:

As Shantell and I awoke at the Radisson Hotel, I looked at my cell phone and noticed that I had received a message. It was 6 am and we were in a hurry to get ready to go to the airport. When I heard the message, I about died. "Hello, Jacob. This is John Doe from Expedia.com. I am just calling to tell you that your cruise dates have changed." Right about there, my heart dropped. This couldn't be happening! I then listened to the rest, "Instead of a 7 day cruise, it will end one day early. I hope this doesn't mess up your plans. To compensate you, Carnival is giving you $100 per person refund and $50 per person ship credit." I felt relieved that our plans would remain the same for the most part.

We got to the airport and flew to Galveston, TX. I think many of you remember that I had had a cold during my wedding so I was worried about my ears on the flight. They hurt a little, but I did alright. We arrived in Galveston, got on the ship, and went to our cabin right away. We had a window room (that was nice). Otherwise, it was exactly the same as our rooms when we were on the Sensation. We were very tired from our late night the evening before (driving home from Idaho) and our early morning to goto the airport. So we just went to bed.

The ship was very similar to the Sensation. There were some differences, but the decks were named the same and the layouts were very similar. The light scheme was different (less Vegas style, more relaxed).

I don't remember, now, exactly what order the following events occurred, but there are some of the highlights of the cruise:

Gambling! Shantell and I tried our luck on Blackjack while we were onboard. There was a tournament that was going on where you could pay $20 and receive 1k worth of chips. I thought that this would be good for Shantell and I to get to play a lot on a real table, with a real dealer and play awhile without losing any money. We did this and I did VERY well. I came in 8th place overall and the top 7 went to a playoff! I was almost in! Oh, well, I guess I still haven't gotten over that yet.
We then paid $20 and I took 2 chips and she took 3. We played for about 5 mins, took our winnings and left. We cashed in $20 in winnings and had $25 left over. The next day we played a little more and more than doubled our money again! We cashed in $40 and kept $20 a piece in chips for each other. The following day we played for a long time and did very well again. We cashed in another $80 and kept $40 in chips total for us to play with on our last cruise day. Our last cruise day we lost that money in about 5 mins. However, we had cashed in around $150 from our $20 investment:) . We did very well and had a lot of fun.

SNORKLING: In Cozumel, we got of the ship and I found us a Mexican that would take us snorkling out at the coral reef. We went on a glass bottom boat with about 6 other people to the reef. We snorkeled most of the day. There were so many beautiful fish! I have learned that snorkeling out by the reef is the only way to go. The Mexicans took us to 5 different parts of the reef. We even got a picture taken of us underwater with the fish! They gave us Coke and we had a great time
That day was probably the best day of our cruise. However, it was cloudy outside and neither one of us put any sunscreen on our backs. Of course, when you snorkel, your back faces the sun pretty much all day. Our backs got burn very bad and hurt the rest of the trip. ;(

TOUR IN BELIZE: I was disappointed with Belize. I didn't think there was much to do at all. We did find a guy who took us around the country and he showed us a lot of places. Shantell wanted to see the orphanage so we went and played with the kids there. They were so fun that I wanted to bring one of them home :). There was a little boy there that jumped in my arms (I felt like it was against some rule for me to hold him). We dribbled a ball around and just played. I was very sad to see the poverty these kids were in at the orphanage. I really think this little boy wanted to come home with us. If we can't have kids, I might just adopt a kid from there.
Shan also wanted to meed our Belizian guide's family. So he took us home where we met his wife and kids. That was fun. He then showed us a little plot of ground that he is homesteading. I guess the country will let residents homestead a piece of ground. They have to build up the swampy soil with clay, and then build on it. It was very interesting.

There is so much more that happened. A lot of it I believe I'll put in my journal instead of here. This text would be too long to keep anyone's attention. I just wanted to let you know a little part of our honeymoon. It was really nice.

I See...

Amber spent most of the day today at various doctors' offices with Aylee and Aliece. This is a picture of Aylee after having returned from her Eye Appointment. They ran a series of tests on Aylee and determined she has near-perfect eyesight. Aylee has been suffering from headaches off and on and we wondered if it might be her eyesight. Due to these concerns they opted to dialate her eyes to check inside them. She got these cool sun glasses for it.

On the other side of things, Amber took Aliece and Aylee to an Ear, Throat, and Nose specialist. He said Aliece looks good and Aylee probably ought to have her tonsils removed - we are hoping that will solve her regular snoring problem.

January, February, March, April...

Johnathan sings the "Months of the Year" song. Although, he still calls them days of the week instead of months of the year. I fall for it every time. He says, Dad, what is the first day of the week? I say, Sunday. He emphatically demands that it is not, and so I say, Monday. He still insists it is not. So I proceed to go throught each of the days of the week, with the same response on Johnathan's end. Exasperated, I insist that those are the days of the week. Johnathan always replies that he wants me to tell him the first of the OTHER days of the week. Then, I realize what he is talking about - it is the months of the year, rather than the days of the week. So, I say January. He then breaks out into this song.

I Can Choose

Johnathan singing "I Can Choose"

I Survived!

Well, after numberless meals of cold cereal, hotdogs, hamburgers, cheese sticks, and a shamefull number of hours of television, we welcomed Amber after her week long stint in Vermont. She has finally returned home to bring peace and order to our week of chaos.

We may have survived the week ok, but there are three younguns and one guy that sure are glad to have Amber (and Alayna) home once again.

They looked good and seemed to have had a great time. Rumor has it Amber even went off on her own during her three hour layover in Boston riding subways and snapping pictures of Boston Harbor.

Thanks Ashlee, Brett, Elyvia, and Sammee for entertaining these two escapees. But, as Aliece stated yesterday, "Mom can't leave anymore" - well at least for a very long time!

Letter from Aylee to Johnathan

Aylee wrote this letter to Johnathan on the computer today...
Dear Johnathan,

I know my persen that I am going to spy on. Now lets not forgit that

I am spy capten.Is enything going right abowt spy stuf.Woud you like to here how I am going spy on?I am going to spy on mrs. Fair.I love you super

dopper much.

Love, Aylee

Jake & Shan Get Married!

(A little late, I know :) ) As you may well be aware now, Jake and Shentell are officially married! I thought that I would tell you all exactly how the day went. This blog is also for those who were not able to be part of the wedding and keep asking me how it went.
On Sat morning, I was a little bit sick with a cold as we headed into IF for our wedding breakfast. When we got to Denny's, we sat and ate some really good breakfast. Only immediate family and very close friends were there. We sat in a U shape with Shantell and I in the middle and our parents on either side of us.
Dad conducted the breakfast very well. He had each of us introduce ourselves and then say a small memory about the bride or groom. It was a lot of fun.
After this, we went to the temple and got married, took pictures, and talked with our invitees. Everyone left to get ready for the reception while Shantell and I decided that we needed to eat somewhere. We were alone and didn't have much time. We were also dressed. So we decided to eat our first meal as husband and wife at the temple cafeteria :). This is one of our favorite memories. We hadn't had time to be alone the entire day until now. We had great food and we could tell that the temple workers were staring at us. A couple of them even asked why our family wasn't able to make it to our marriage :). We had a good laugh about that. I don't think that it's often that a bride and groom are alone in the temple cafeteria right after their marriage. We really enjoyed it, though.
We then had our reception which I really enjoyed. I don't think most newlyweds enjoy the reception but Shantell and I loved it. The food was great, the company was wonderful, and everything just came together. Susan Oler did a magnificent job in all of this. As did everyone else who helped. Thank you all very much, we know that it wasn't an easy task.
One more thing to add.... After the reception, we drove to SLC and made it to our hotel by 10:30 (we drove pretty fast :) ). When we got there, was unpacked a little, and started to get ready for the night when I saw a framed engagement picture of Shan and I on the nightstand. I yelled out to Shantell who was in the other room, "honey, did you put this picture of us here?" She did not. Then I noticed on the desk there was a gift bag. The coworker who paid for our hotel had traveled to SL, figured out which room I had reserved, and placed those items there before we got there. We were both pretty suprised. We then checked around the room for any tape recorders or video equipment. I wouldn't put it past him :).
It was a wonderful wedding. I have not, however, received or seen any pics from the wedding yet so I have none to post except for one that is present on a blog from one of our visitors. I've downloaded that pic and posted it here.

So that's what Amber does at home when I am gone

I am working from home today to help out Amber if needed today. They all seem to be feeling better, but a little weak from last nights gastrointestinal activities. We let Aylee stay home from school today with the other kids just in case she is contagious or comes down with the bug.

Well, anyway, Amber has been lying on the bed and I have been working in our room on the computer. The kids have been in the family room watching TV. I started to hear an arguement in the family room. Aliece and Johnathan were yelling at Aylee that they didn't want to watch this show. After a few minutes of this, I went in to to calm things down. Just as I entered I caught Aylee saying, "just wait, it is a good show, you'll like it". I intervened and agreed with the younger kids on this one. Amber may allow this kind of TV viewing while I am at work, but when I am in the home, I put my foot down! While I am at home, the kids will not be seeing, "The Young and The Restless".

The Plague

What a long day! Our home has been infected by some sort of pink-vommiting plague. I was preparing for a training this afternoon. Amber gave me a call and we visited around 1:00 pm. My training started at 3:00pm. While I was giving the training I received a cell phone call. I didn't want to draw attention to myself, so I just quickly hit the silence button and continued on with the training. A few minutes later, Jake, who was also in the training, got a call on his cell phone. He walked out to take the call. A few minutes later he came back in and slipped a note in my hand. I stopped the presentation for just a few seconds as I read the note.
Well, I finished the training for the rest of the hour. When it was over, I gave her a call and she sounded terrible. She said that around 2:30 or 3:00 it hit her hard - without any real warning. She wanted me to come home and watch the kids so she could lie down.

I hung up the phone and immediately packed my things and headed home. By the time I got home, I found Aliece in the bathroom puking out her guts. This is the first time that she has vomitted that I can recall, and she was not enjoying the experience. Amber helped her get cleaned up and then laid down and I took my turn watching the kids. Aliece was very docile and laid on the couch for the rest of the night - moaning occasionally.

When Aliece would moan, I would grab an old bowl and try to give it to her. However, she must have thought that meant I "wanted" her to throw up. She would vehemently exclaim that she didn't want to do it. I would leave her alone until she would moan again. Once more I would run to her side with my trusty bowl. She, however, would freak out about "the bowl" that she would get up and run away from me. So, here I was with my bowl, running after Aliece all around the house while she would be yelling, "No!! I don't want to!! No!!"

By the time the vomit came again for Aliece however, she could not run and I was able to make it to her in time for the chunky-pink interception.

Aylee, Alayna, Johnathan and I ate our dinner while Aliece lay on the couch and Amber lay in our room.

Once it was bedtime, Johnathan started to complain of a upset stomach. We gave him a bowl just in case. Well, about an hour later, Johnathan started the cycle - to be repeated again yet another hour later.

Seeing as Alayna threw up today and a couple of days ago, it looks as if Aylee and I are the only survivors. It is after midnight, and as I type this, I wonder what is in store...Tomorrow are Aylee and I going to be grabbing "the bowl" for our own needs? Is this my last blog before the plague catches me too? Is it just a matter of time?

We'll all find out tomorrow (or, err... I guess today).

Ok...Maybe I jumped the gun

The subscription service sure looked like a great idea, but it doesn't seem to be working. Let's put it on hold for now. I'll announce it when it looks like it is working.

Subscription service

I receive requests from people all of the time to see our blog. Since it is available to all the world as a website, I thought it would be cool to be able to have people sign up for notifications when we post a new article on the blog.

To facilitate this, I have added a Subscription Service on the blog site such that anyone can subscribe to the blog so that they can get an email notification when the blog changes. They still do not have rights to post articles on the blog, only read and comment.

Thus, if you have family or friends that are hoping to keep in touch with the goings on of the Andersen family, give 'em the website, arbonfarm.blogspot.com and tell them to subscribe at the bottom of the page.

It's simple, it's easy, and best of all, it's free! (That's my marketing classing shining through)

Sorry Guys, It's Therapeutic

(FROM AMBER) I realize that our family wirtes the majority of the blogs, and that of those, the majority are about Aliece, but John and I have decided it is quite therapeutic to let our families know a small part of what we are working with, and why we are suddenly (within the last 3 1/2 years) insane!

Another Aliece story...

This morning as I was blow drying and trying to sculpt my hair for the day, Aliece had her own sculpting project going on. With a pair of scissors and her imagination she cut all but 3 of the branches, and leaves off of one of my tallest plants. Can anyone tell me what would possess a 3 1/2 year old to do that? I had checked on her a few minutes previously, and she was calmly watching cartoons. Lucky for Liecey, her parents seriously are going a little looney, so rather than lashing, all I could do was laugh. Any sympathy would be greatly appreciated....

She was innocent!

Another Aliece story....

Joe came down this weekend and visited the Provo clan. He stayed from Friday and was going to leave Sunday night. Well, he came to dinner and we enjoyed a long evening visiting. About 9:30, Joe decided he need to be headed home. He had borrowed Jen's roomate's scooter and needed to return it to her before he left. He went to get on the scooter and realized that he didnt have the key to the scooter. He thought he had set it on the console in our entryway when he had come to dinner.

Right then we knew that if there were any keys there, Aliece would have taken them to play with. The problem was, Aliece was already asleep and we didn't want to wake her up to ask her where they were. So, we searched all of the locks on all of the car doors near the house (seeing if she tried to open any of the doors). No luck. We look all around the scooter, No luck. We looked in cushions and under furniture, No luck. It was dark, and we new if the lone key had been dropped in the grass, it could be a long search in the daylight.

Jen called her roomate to inquire if she had an extra set of the keys. To our horror, she did not. She has only just recently purchased the scooter and had not gotten duplicate keys made.

We finally woke Aliece up and tried to get the truth out of her, but we could it right away it was going to be no luck.

Amber first got Aliece up and asked her, "Where are Joe's keys?". Aliece got off the bed and led Amber to the bathroom. She then took of her pants and sat on the toilet to use the bathroom. Once that was done, Amber asked her again, "Where are Joe's keys?" Aliece started off into the family room with Amber close behind to see if she could gather any clues from Aliece, but no, Aliece went and laid down on the family room sofa. Amber got her up again and asked, "Where is Joe's key???". Aliece stood up once more and Amber followed her to her room where Aliece simply laid down on her bed and went back to sleep.

Well, needless to say, we all said many prayers in our heart for the missing keys. After a few more minute's search, I found the key stuck between the rocking chair cushion and the chair frame. It had fallen out of Joe's pocket while he sat and visited from that chair.

Believe it or not, Aliece was Innocent!!!!

A mad dash

I don't want to stuff this blog full of the activities of one, Aliece JoAnn, but our lives seem to be entertained (if that is the right word) each day by her actions.

During sacrament meeting yesterday, Aliece was pretty clingy with Amber down on the bench. Amber would have to set Alayna down on the floor so that she would hold Aliece. However, Alayna would keep trying to get away from the pews and walk down the isle. Amber would have to grab her and bring her back into the pew-space. At the closing Hymn, however, Amber let Aliece sit down on the bench so that she could attend to Alayna's needs.

We were singing the closing hymn for sacrament meeting when Clark Jensen jabbed the bishop, who then jabbed me and pointed to the side door of the chapel near the stand where we were seated. There was Amber in the doorway holding Alayna and trying to get my attention. When I saw her, he made a "what should I do?" sort of look. I followed her eyes and noticed that Aliece was standing behind the chorister leading the hymn and walking around.

Now most of you know that Amber sits at the back of the chapel in case she needs to take a crying child out without too much disturbance. Also try to picture the pews on the sides of the chapel against the wall - you know how they are angled. Well, Because of the angle of the pews, there is about a five inch gap between the pew edge and the wall. Aliece had squeezed through that space into the row in front of Amber and then she would do the same to the next row, catching stunned looks from the occupants of each row that she would squeeze into. She did this through every row on that side of the chapel. Amber spotted her and ran outside the chapel to intercept her at the doors near the podium, but Aliece was too quick - she was on the stand before Amber could get to her.

Luckily one of the speakers was a friend of Ambers from the relief society presidency. She grabbed Aliece and tried to have her sit there. Aliece sat for about 15 seconds and then hopped up. She came near enough to me that I was able to catch her and set her on my lap - all to the stirring tune of "Dear to the Heart of the Shepherd".

Tonight the Bishopric hosted a Daddy-Daughter Activity up in the canyon. We had a potluck dinner and then the kids played soccer and got their dad's to go on some mini hikes with them. We concluded the evening by having the bishopric provide a skit (our third time doing the same skit this year :) ). Then I, Clark Jensen, and then the Bishop gave some remarks to the crowd. It was a fun evening. Here is a picture taken by myself with Aylee and Aliece at the activity. We had a great time eating, playing, and spending the evening together.
 

The nurse is on the loose

For my birthday I received dress shirts from Ann & Verne and Amber. I had hung up one of the shirts for wearing the next morning. As you are all aware, each dress shirt comes with about 50 gazillion pins inserted throughout to make it look nice at the store. Well, I was in a hurry so I stuck the pins in an old hat I had sitting on top of our filing cabinet.

The next morning, the kids did not have school so I left for work with Amber and the kids all in bed. Well, I shouldn't say all of the kids - Aliece actually got up before I left and I sent her into the bedroom to lay down by Amber.

I guess she was a little more busy than I had hoped (I must be a slow learner). While Amber was asleep, Aliece brought a chair into our bedroom and set it next to the file cabinet. She climbed the chair and played with the items sitting on the cabinet. Well, she saw the pins stuck in the hat and formed a plan. She took one of the pins out of the hat and crawled into bed with Amber. She then proceeded to play "nurse". Amber awoke to hear Aliece telling her "Don't worry Mommy, this will only hurt for a second"!

Needless to say, Aliece didn't stay in bed with Amber much longer that morning.