Farm Field Trip

Maddie's preschool had a field trip to Hee Haw farms and the rest of us couldn't pass up a chance to see some baby animals!

Feeding the baby goats was fun, but the big ones were scary. Some even jumped up on us like a dog, demanding food!

The baby piggies were so cute, but so scared. The kids chased them around in a frenzied herd, but this nice lady caught and held one for the kids to pet.

These baby cows were only 8 days old!

Our baby sat pretty contented in the stroller for 2 hours. What a trooper.

 

They have a big homemade slide, and for some crazy reason Ella thought it looked fun. This girl is terrified of slides, but she went by herself... and was screaming and crying at the bottom.

Maddie loved it though!

They also enjoyed the horsey tire swings...

and especially the corn box! The other two little girls live down the street from us and my girls love them. They could have played in there all day.

On the way out we got to see some baby bunnies, ducks, and chickies.

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. So cute.

Auction Action

This is what has been occupying my time (waking and sleeping) for the last few weeks! Just wanted to share how awesome our youth and ward are, and document some things for my memory.  

As camp director I was responsible for the fundraiser on the young women side. We combined with the young men and made it a team effort. Really it became a ward effort, as so many people donated their time and talents for the dinner and auction. I am overwhelmed by the generosity of others, and feel so blessed to live in this ward!

To go with the spaghetti dinner, we decided on Italian themed decorations and our Mia Maid advisor had the vision of hanging tissue paper balls and balloons from the ceiling. We borrowed greenery from women in the ward and just used colored napkins for centerpieces!

One of my favorite ideas was covering the tables with butcher paper (like Macaroni Grill) so the kids could color on them. It served two purposes: keeping the kids busy during the auction, and keeping us from having to wash red spaghetti out of white linen!

These are a few of the wonderful women I work with (there's Jen too in the background!). Camp is gonna be great!!!

The auction itself was so successful! We had over 70 donations of homemade goods, desserts, and services.

These aprons were hot items... I tried to bid on the apple one, but soon realized certain YW were not going to be outbid... (Behind the gal in the yellow you can kind of see the patio flower pot I brought. I was happy there was a small bidding war for it!)

We have a certified auctioneer in our ward and he did a great job! Up on the stage are the items that went in the live auction. You can kind of see but they included homemade stick horses, a scrapbook goodie bag, a handmade wood mantle, a handpainted picture of Christ, original photos of temples, and some of the services included a family photo session, tractor work, sprinkler repair, horse riding lessons, a family carriage ride and root beer floats, a boat/waterskiing trip, and the list goes on. It was astounding. 

Mike and I didn't intend on buying anything, but it was hard not to! We ended up with this darling rocking chair handmade by our patriarch, a set of pizza garden herbs, a quilt, a Snickers cake, and 5 shrubs of our choice! The best thing about an auction is you feel like you scored, and all the money goes to a good cause!

G&G Getaway!

Maddie, being the ripe old age of 5, and being the oldest grandchild on my side, got to start a new tradition with Grandma and Grandpa and go to St. George by herself for 3 days and 3 nights!

She and Grandpa have been planning this for months. It had to involve a pink fishing pole, ice cream, and bike rides. Sounds pretty idyllic, right? Well childhood should be, especially with Grandma and Grandpa at the helm.

 Pink fishing pole: check!

Back at the ranch, I just had these two little hooligans! We were really worried about how Ella would take it because she and Maddie are two peas in a pod, not to mention that St. George is Ella's favorite place on the planet. Ella often feels left out and left behind, so we had to try hard to make her feel special too. She actually did great, and it was fun to see her personality shine unchallenged. I didn't miss the sisterly bickering one bit, but I did really miss my Maddie. It was weird to have a hole in the family. Speaking of holes...

They found a bunch of holes on their hike on the red cliffs!

These are so beautiful with the red against the bright blue sky.

  I guess the tired her out.

 

I think they checked everything off the list. They ate world famous custard, went to a cupcake shop, biked around the neighborhood, went shopping for new play clothes, and learned new songs. Maddie came home singing "Lollipop" and "Itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow polka dot bikini". Grandpa's proud moment though was when Maddie sang the Aggie fight song at the top of her lungs. Right colors, wrong song! :) Maddie admitted to Daddy that night that she is really still a Cougar. 

Grandma is amazing with fancy hair. Maddie loved the personal spa treatments. They swam in the hot tub, curled and braided hair, and did sparkly fingernails and toenails.

Ella got plenty fancy too. She got to have her best little friend over for a dress-up playdate and lemonade tea party.

We also took Ella swimming at the Legacy Center on Saturday. She had plenty of fun, but I have to say it was pretty sweet when Maddie walked in the door, and Ella shrieked "Maddie!!!" and then Maddie rushed into my arms and wouldn't let go. I think she missed us, although she did get a little teary eyed when G&G left. They strengthened a special bond and I'm thankful to my parents for being so great!

Easter Fluff

Our Easter was full of fluff. We had some true substance in there too... powerful Easter hymns by the MoTab, beautiful messages at church, and a new Gospel Art Book to use in our home study. But these pictures are all about the fluff!

We tried a new egg hunt this year at our old Alma Mater. The girls were born true blue through and through, but this was the first time they had been in the stadium! It was all very exciting.

Try getting hundreds of kids together, put tons of candy in front of them, tell their parents the eggs may contain BYU football tickets, and stand back to watch mass hysteria. 

Tyler and Mike performed their tricks while we waited for the GO!

Ella and Maddie had to be separated because of different age groups, so I only got pics of the 3 year old... and boy was she cute!

We really only made it a few steps onto the field and then decided to just stop and pick up where we were. The eggs were gone in about 5 seconds flat, but it was still fun!

We spent the rest of the day weeding some more while the kids played outside.

The girls created some easterey masterpieces with chalk.

We found a few moments to dye our easter eggs. Gotta have those for the deviled egg tray!

Luckily the Easter Bunny came during the night, and he even knew that Maddie really wanted a CTR ring. I love those cute chubby fingers.

Assessing the spoils... the EB knew Tyler didn't need candy and filled his basket with baby food and balls. Maddie got window markers and Ella got new watercolors.
 

The budding artists loved their new mediums.

Time to don the Easter duds! Ooooooooh this boy is so yummy.

The girls could use a few more lessons in sitting like ladies, yes?

An attempt at a family picture....

Cutest little boy on the planet...

Finally a passable shot of the Andrews Easter 2012.

After church we had Mike's brother and sister and families over for dinner. For some reason I always want lemon-flavored food this time of year!

A cousin egg hunt ensued, along with birthday festivities for the newest teenager, Bryce.

The "birthday spanking machine" was pretty hilarious!

It was another wonderful Easter. I can't believe it's been over a year since we moved into our new house... It went by incredibly fast, but when I look back the kids have sure changed a lot! We love it here and it's fun to make memories and family traditions.

Chicks in a Row

Noelle was in town for a few days and we were able to have all 8 little cousins together for an afternoon. The babies are growing up so fast!

The bigger kids played outside with the wheelie toys. Daxton worked so hard to keep up!

Just wait till all 8 kids are mobile and then we will be the ones keeping up.

Tyler gets so excited when we go outside! He's also been carrying around that pink egg for a week. My girls cannot wait for Easter egg hunts this weekend.
 

I just had to share a moment from this morning. Every time we go to the library the girls revel in the new print and pictures. It's amazing how much they love books.

I was just thinking about what a powerful force language is and how it unlocks doors and imaginations. Tyler is beginning to say words with purpose (Mama and Dada, but also nana for food, and uh-oh) and I love seeing into his thoughts. Ella sleeps in a pile of books and just burned out a flashlight because she left it on after she slipped into dreamland... way past her bedtime. She knows all her letters and gets so excited about writing them herself. Maddie is getting really good at reading and writing and she goes around spelling and sounding things out all day long. Their little minds are astounding.