August 2011 – Page 2 – Andelin Adventures

School starts

Well summer vacation is over and today is the first day of the 2011-2012 school year!!! Kyle took the day off so he could help walk the kids to school, and be here when they got back from their first day. I got up early to make cinnamon rolls for breakfast, unfortunately they took too long to rise and weren’t ready before we had to leave to take Ethan and Tyra to school. Kyle made the kids protein shakes for breakfast while we were waiting for the cinnamon rolls and that ended up being their entire breakfast. Oh well they got to eat the cinnamon rolls as a snack later.

Ethan’s teacher this year is Mrs Quist, and Tyra has Mrs Gustafson. Here they are all ready for their first day back:

Here’s Tyra by her classroom door:

Ethan had been really excited for school to start back up, but as soon as the bell rang, and he had to line up, reality set in and he started being rather sulky:

While the kids were at school, we came home and played for a bit. The little kids ate their cinnamon rolls and Kyle started taking pictures of them since they were being so cute:

Then we went to Costco to get some staples that we had been running low on, and since we had a bit of time after that before the kids got out of school, we decided to stop by the ward garden and check it out.

Remember that picture that I posted back in July when the corn was only a few inches high? Now it’s taller than Jeremy! Check that out. We got to harvest some potatoes and green beans then it was time to get home and go get the big kids from school.

Look at that! He went in sulking and came out with a smile. 🙂 I knew he would have a good day. (Actually I didn’t KNOW I just REALLY hoped he would).

Tyra came out of school with her backpack on her front and this new one on her back. I guess Costco provided new backpacks with some supplies in them for all the kids in 1st through 5th grades. Ethan got one too but his new one was on his back under his old backpack. All in all it was a good day, and the kids seem to like their new classes.

School Shopping

We decided to go shopping for school clothes today. We really didn’t need much, but the boys were both running out of pants that didn’t have holes in them, and Tyra was in need of new shoes. Since the boys are so rough on their pants, and jeans are so stinking expensive we decided to start the trip off by going to Deseret Industries. I’ve NEVER shopped there before so I had no idea what to expect, but we were able to get each of the boys a pair of hole free pants in their size, Tyra got a nice play dress. I love this dress that we found for Dinah:

Cute little Polynesian dress that appears to have been hand made. She just loves it. 🙂

We got something for everybody, including some little jelly sandals for Lydia to grow into. 😉 But the kids were going crazy in that store, wanting everything they laid their eyes or hands on, so Kyle decided to take them out to the car. Since I was alone I decided to check out the clothes in the women’s section and decided to try on a couple of dresses.

I got that dress for $8! Of course, then I had to find an undershirt because the dress alone is really low cut. But I really like it. Kyle likes my hot new dress too, and I really do look better than that, but for some reason my husband makes me feel silly when he is taking pictures of me.

Anyways the rest of our shopping trip was a success, and we got all the things the kids were in need of. We probably also got a few things we didn’t need, but that’s a different story.

Father’s and Son’s Campout

Rebecca is exciting about camping. It’s never been an interest of mine, due to having to live out on the dirt, not take showers, and of course, deal with uneven ground and my bad ankles. However, she convinced us to go to the annual ward Father and Son camp out, which happened at the Cherry Campground of Hobble Creek, near Springville. I don’t know why the ward chose that area, but I was glad they did, once we arrived. It was very woodsy and close to the creek, and there were plenty of trees for shade. Considering the weather was overly hot through the past week, it was a welcome coolness.

I got off work a little early on Friday, as Rebecca met me at work and I loaded the boys and our camping equipment up in my car, and then we set off for Springville (after a quick stop at McDonalds for food). I was surprised with how far the campgrounds were into the mountains, as the directions said to simply go to a stop sign, turn right, and continue on to the camp. It was miles past there to the grounds, then miles more to the Cherry Camp.

We arrived and found other members from our ward, then set up the tent. Ethan and Jeremy tried to help (Ethan read the directions, both tried to set up the poles) and eventually we had our tent up.

The boys went exploring up the hillside where everyone else was going, and I just hung around the camp.

The boys found much pleasure in climbing up the hill and sliding down (notice all the dirty back sides?).

After a while, the boys decided they wanted to pee, so we made our way to the restrooms. I was surprised that they were more of a glorified outhouse (brick building with a hole in the ground, and a hollow toilet seat over it). Jeremy refused to use it at first, and we stayed outside whilst Ethan used the room. I showed Jeremy the posters on the walls of the bear and snake warnings.

He wasn’t too happy about them, and wanted to pack up and leave.

We stayed, though. Next time, we’ll probably bring campfire foods (marshmallows, hot dogs, etc) and just roast them, instead of doing McDonalds. They continued to play, and there wasn’t much structure to the evenings’ events. After a small fireside-like message, people started going to their tents to sleep. We ended up trying to watch a movie on my tablet, but the volume wasn’t good, so instead, we played with glow bracelets until we were all too tired.

It was hard having to sleep with a slight feeling like I had to pee. In the morning, we woke up early and all went to the bathroom, then made our way back to the camp to help make breakfast. There was more than enough food (supplied by the ward) and we had pancakes, sausage, hash browns, eggs, and juice to choose from. After everyone had their fill and we cleaned up, and the boys played some more, and we started tearing down tents and picking up random bits of trash, then went home.

No bears or snakes were seen, though.

Our Little Jailbird

Yesterday morning Jango was getting wild as she was playing with the kids and I felt it was time that she went out in the backyard to go potty, since she hadn’t been out since the night before. So Ethan opened the back door and let her out. A little bit later, I put Chewy out in the backyard to go potty, but I don’t recall Jango being right there. She is usually right there when I let Chewy out because she wants to play with him. I just figured she was laying down in the shade somewhere, and thought nothing else of it.

Throughout the day I would look out into the backyard, and I remember thinking that Jango wasn’t running her usual circle, but thought that maybe she was laying down in the shade since it was hot. And with all the weeds in the back I couldn’t SEE that she was laying down in the shade, but thought that she MUST be there. After the kids woke up from their naps I thought that maybe I would let Jango in for a bit since it was really hot by this point and besides, maybe she was thirsty. I opened the door and called for her, but she didn’t come. So I went out to look for her. I went to the side of the house because sometimes she likes to curl up in the gooseberry bed to take a nap, and I saw the side gate wide open and blowing in the breeze! As soon as I saw that, I knew Jango wasn’t anywhere in the yard. I then remembered that Kyle had used the side gate Sunday night to get the trash can out of the backyard and put it on the street since Mondays are trash days. And I had left the lawn mower in the backyard on Saturday and he went out to put it back in the garage. So basically the gate had been wide open since Sunday night, and Jango most likely got out as soon as we let her into the backyard. 🙁

I immediately called Kyle and told him that he hadn’t shut the gate after moving the trash can, and he asked me if Jango got out. I told him that she had and she had most likely been gone for hours. He left work to come home and help find her and I loaded the kids up in the van and started driving around the neighborhood. We drove around for awhile seeing no sign of Jango and I came back home to get the kids some dinner while Kyle continued the search. I called him up to tell him where we were and I suggested that he go to the mini-police station and ask if they had picked her up or something, and if that failed I suggested that he swing by the animal shelter on Lake Mountain Road. Less than 20 minutes later Kyle was home saying that a police officer picked her up this morning and took her to an animal shelter near his work. But they were going to close in half an hour so Kyle didn’t have time to go get her.

Today after work he went to go pick Jango up to bring her home. She was there, and we had to pay a fee to get her back, not to mention the fact that the police officer wrote us up because she was “running at large”, and she wasn’t wearing any tags. So there will be some fines for us to pay because of that, but she’s home and safe and that’s all that really matters right? 🙂

Q&A Fireside with President Draper

Every year our Stake President invites the women in Relief Society to submit any question that they might have. We can ask ANY question, and he will research answers and then there’s a big Relief Society fireside where he answers them all. I have gone the past two years and these firesides are really amazing. This year, we have been told, will be the last of these question and answers firesides with President Draper, as he mentioned that there will be some changes made to the stake at our coming stake conference in October.

I personally have never submitted any question, but I like to go and take some paper so I can take notes. 🙂 Here are some of my notes from this years fireside:

Sincerity of prayer-TALK to my Heavenly Father, show respect, but just talk to him.
Don’t play violent video games-video games are the biggest waste of time.
Regarding choices that our children may make as they grow up-Live as pure a life as you know how. And if you are teaching correct principals you must find peace with that.
Someone asked President Draper if he could go back and do anything different with his family what would it be, and his wife in the audience said “More scripture study”.
Don’t find an excuse to remove your garment. It’s perfectly ok to wear your garment while working out. The only times you should remove your garment are when you’re swimming, when you’re showering, and when you’re being physically intimate with your spouse.
Someone asked about Joseph Smith’s polygamy habits and President Draper said all we need to be concerned about regarding Joseph Smith are two things 1. DID the Father and the Son in fact appear to Joseph Smith? And 2. Is the Book of Mormon true? Anything else Joseph Smith did is HIS business.
There’s a wealth of knowledge in the Bible Dictionary.
Study the conference talks to find the apostolic blessings within.
Someone asked a question about how to encourage her husband to take the lead in holding Family Home Evening, family scripture study and family prayer. She said that she felt like if SHE didn’t call the family together for these things then they just didn’t happen. When President Draper read this question I totally felt like it could have been written by me, because that’s the way those things are in our house too. If I don’t say it’s time for FHE and already have something planned then it just never happens…Anyway President Draper suggested reviewing the Proclamation to the world on the Family with my husband to review what each of our jobs are, then reward good behavior. 😉
How do you approach teaching the law of chastity to your children? For the Strength of Youth.
Interview your children, one on one (fast and pray for guidance).
The most important traits in marriage are unselfishness and gratitude.
The purpose of the sealing ordinance is to ensure eternal parentage for your children. Then you must earn the right to be that parent.
Within marriage there are three areas of intimacy 1. Spiritual (most important) 2. Emotional (we need to talk eye to eye) 3. Physical (this is the bonus). If the first two are strong, the third will also be strong. 🙂
Communication is EVERYTHING-Have Family Council
I need to be worthy to be a goddess before I can apply any secular learning to my life.