The Joel & Brenda Andrus Family Blog

Disneyland meets 39 Andrus'

2009-12-17T12:08:00.001-08:00

Last Thursday, (has it already been a week!) we were at the happiest place on earth!! We had such a good time. The forecast predictated it was going to rain so we packed our ponchos and umbrellas but THANKFULLY, it was a beautiful weather. Here is the group, going with that many people I was a bit nervous. But we got a GREAT group rate on hopper passes plus we had someone to watch our younger kids while Joel and I went on a few rides together. Our kids loved to be there with their cousins, it was a lot of fun to be there with a lot of family!!! It actually worked out really nice, we split up for a while and some of the moms took the little kids on all the rides at Fantasyland. While the others went on the bigger rides. Our only mistake was going on a Snow White ride very first and we had almost every kid crying. From there on out Courtney would just close her eyes if we went into a ride that was dark. They were a bit traumatized to say the least so we hit the merry-go-round!Which by the way was Courtney's favorite! She got her fair share of that ride!
Luke didn't make a peep the whole day! I think he was overstimulated but didn't seem to mind it at all.
At the end of the day we found this little roller coaster in Toon town and Megan loved it! We tried all day to get her to go on one, maybe next time. It was fun to have Brooklyn enjoy the big rides. She got to be on the front of Space Mountain two times, and I think she hit California Screamin' at least 3 times!! We were able to go on every ride we wanted to at least two times if not more. The lines were not long at all, 15 minute wait was the max if any waiting at all.
It was fun to be there during the Christmas season. It's a small world was one of my favorites, it was all Christmasy (is that a word) and had Jingle Bells playing along with It's a Small World!! Courtney even opened her eyes once she realized it wasn't a dark scary ride. Our hotel was just across the street so we were able to go home and put some kids to sleep while Joel and Brooklyn stayed and went on a few more rides before it closed. They had an amazing firework show, which I sort of watched as we were leaving the park while everyone was watching it. The next day we were going to head to the beach but it was rainy so we just at lunch at a park and headed to San Diego for Sea World on Saturday!

Seaworld

2009-12-17T11:53:00.000-08:00

Saturday as we loaded up to head to Sea World it was pouring rain and as we unloaded and got out to head up to get tickets, I wasn't sure what we were thinking!! Luke had his poncho on and it looked more like a garbage sack over his head, he wanted nothing to do with it. Our stroller was getting wet and I was worried that the kids would be miserable if they got cold and wet! Luckily it stopped shortly after and it was nice the rest of the day. The rain kept people away so it was not busy at all and we had a great day!

I even got my picture with Elmo and Zoe, Brooklyn refused to get near them (they are not cool to her anymore, dang it she is growing up) and Megan and Courtney were afraid of them so it was just me and Luke.
Surfing cow!! We had a great day!

My kids love to dance to this....

2009-11-19T14:19:00.000-08:00

If I was really good at the computer I would put it on here on my blog so you could watch it and listen but I am not, so go here and listen to the Music Box dancer. My kids love this music and all the lights. We have to turn off all the lights so they can get the full effect while they are dancing.
Let me know what you think!

http://www.holdman.com/christmas/video.asp

Eight is Great!

2009-11-09T10:19:00.000-08:00

I still can't believe that I have a daughter that is eight. Her birthday is close to Halloween and she was so thrilled that she was able to be baptized ON Halloween. She is a beautiful girl and are so proud of what a good big sister she is!!! Thanks to everyone that came and supported us on that special day!!!

She wanted breakfast in bed for her birthday. This picture is taken right before the green cup filled with OJ spilled all over the bed/floor!

Halloween

2009-11-09T10:04:00.001-08:00

Brooklyn was baptized on Halloween so we had most of Joel's family stay and come trick or treating with us. It made it for a crazy time getting ready, but very fun for all of the cousins to go trick or treating together! It was a lot of fun!!
This skunk costume is the cutest thing I think I have ever seen, I wish I would have gotten a picture from the back! And he truly is a skunk sometimes!! Thanks Kathryn for letting us borrow it!!
This is the best we could do, my dream is someday to get a shot of all of them looking and smiling because they are in their costumes!!! Maybe next year!

We caved!

2009-08-20T12:20:00.000-07:00

Meet Raskal! Joel's brother, Jayson, tried to breed their sheltie with another sheltie, but that didn't work, another dog must have jumped the fence. After two days sitting out in parking lots trying to get rid of them Jayson had no luck, we felt sorry for him and of course, our kids have been wanting one ever since they were born. So we caved. It has been fun so far, the poop has been scooped up each day by Brooklyn, he sleeps good outside, and doesn't require to much attention from me while the girls are at school. We will see how the next week goes! Oh there are six more puppies, any takers?

TRUCKS

2009-08-12T12:15:00.000-07:00

So Santa brought our first BOY toy to our house for Christmas and it has been the best toy ever. The girls will put Luke it in and push him all around. They even push each other around in it. Luke will even walk around behind it and think that he is pretty hot stuff. Until he walks into a wall and can't go any farther. Then he gets ticked off so his sisters come to the rescue. I don't know if it will ever get used as much if we take it outside! They love it, he loves it, I love it!!!

Now this beater, I mean beautiful truck, we bought needed some "minor repairs" (back seat, new windshield, new brakes, new rotors, air conditioning, other stuff that I don't worry about but cost a lot of money and take a lot of time).Thanks to a handy, hard working husband, a patient wife, and his trusty side kick we now have a truck that we can all ride in, now that we are done with our reunions and other camping adventures (until next month, of course), and most our trips to Home Depot for big items are over.
But who needs a truck when we have this amazing van that can fit all of this, two kids with car seats, and two adults! It only took us about a 1/2 hour to fit it in and a lot of strange looks from people that didn't want to offer help. No more of that we are proud owners of a truck! Joel loves it, they love it, I love it!! LIFE IS GOOD!

The pot of gold!

2009-06-18T11:37:00.000-07:00

Can you see the rainbow ending at our house?

Tired!

2009-06-18T11:02:00.000-07:00

We moved into our house almost a month ago and we are tired even our kids are admitting these days, and sleeping in the weirdest places!!! There are still so many projects to get finished and things to do. I thought that once you moved we were close, but there has still been a lot to do. We have managed to go escape up to Enterprise fishing, gone on a bike ride around the golf course, went through about 5 bottles of children's motrin, unpacked boxes that we have had boxed up for over a year (my husband wonders why we didn't just throw it away since we haven't used it), thrown away boxes that we have kept since we moved up to Provo 7 years ago, almost finished our landscaping...
We have had a MIRACLE happen this past week. Our kids are normally up by 7-7:30 even if they go to bed at 11 o'clock. But for two days (Saturday and Sunday even) in a row all four of our kids slept in until 8:30, it was much needed rest for all of us. One of those tender mercies for sure!!! It did make it kind of hairy to make it to church by nine but it was sure worth it.
She digs so much better with that pink shovel!! I sure do. It made her day anyway!
He has eaten more rocks and dirt than I think is allowed for human consumption, more protein right? He loves it and can't get enough. He also enjoys eating toilet paper fresh from the toilet! Gross, I know. But if the toilet lid is open he makes a mad dash for the bathroom and gets really mad when someone gets in his way!!
Joel enjoyed driving this little toy around, for the first couple of hours anyway, what boy doesn't enjoy moving a little dirt around.
We are trying to enjoy it all. It is so nice to be in. Joel never wants to do another project again. I have never heard him talk like that, he always has plans for something. Don't worry there are still plans for things he is just ready to relax (if that is possible for him to sit still, other than to read a book. Got any good recommendations?)

Pictures

2009-03-20T07:47:00.001-07:00

We finally got some nice pictures taken it has only been 944 days (that is what it showed on their computers as our last visit) since the last time we were there!!!

ouch!!!!

2009-03-11T16:45:00.000-07:00

Monday we were at the lot wen Brooklyn started crying.We came over to see what was rong. And we saw that her fingers were smashed.We took her home.And put sum
ice on.

**Brooklyn has been wanting to post this all week. I let her do it all by herself! The picture doesn't do it justice, just ask Sara.

We passed our four way inspection!!

2009-03-06T20:15:00.001-08:00

YIPEE!!! After a week of getting frustrated with the city inspectors, we finally passed our four way inspection, I have heard that this is the half way mark! Which is good because my brain is mush with all of the decisions you have to make and still make it look good but affordable. Bad because Joel is going to be doing a lot of the finish work (tile, paint, base and case) so if you ever get bored and are just dying to get your hands, back, knees dirty and sore give us a call!! Or maybe you'll be lucky enough to get a phone call!

Check this out!!

2009-02-23T10:50:00.000-08:00

Sorry to keep those scary pictures up for so long. Here is what I and occasionally Joel have been up to lately, changing diapers like this!! Joel has been going into to work early and then getting off work and going to our house wiring our house for central vac, intercom system, security now some day when we hit the jackpot we can actually put the systems in and use them. He loves to learn new things and has learned a lot doing this. He puts in long days and then comes home to all of us tired, emotional girls and the perfect little boy Luke. He is amazing!!

What do you think?

2009-02-12T20:37:00.001-08:00

Sorry about the weird pictures its what I got after taking like 50 of them and noticing my double chin as well as how HUGE my eyes looked I decided to go with these (double chin and big eyes). Taking a picture of the back of your own head is not easy. So I think I am having a mid life crisis maybe it is because I am turning 30 in a few months (YIKES), maybe it's building a home (without a nanny in the budget, DARN), maybe it's having four children (three emotional girls I might add, what will I do when they are teenagers, HELP), or maybe I feel like I am stuck in a rut ( I have had the same hair style for like 10 years or so). Anyway, I have been tempting myself to cut my hair short for a while now and today I was talking to one of my many neighbors that is a hairstylist and she talked me into it at a weak moment so here it is. I actually like it (I don't think the picture quite makes it look the same), Megan think I look like a boy and Brooklyn was shocked and not sure what to say. As for Joel, he is out of town and I haven't told him yet (SURPRISE). I do keep looking in the mirror wondering who that person is though so it will take a while to get used to. After all it is only hair and it can grow back right?

What did we do before band-aids were invented?

2009-01-21T20:37:00.001-08:00

Sorry can't figure out how to turn the picture (any ideas).
Luke has been scratching his nose a lot lately. He scratched his nose tonight so Courtney decided that it needed a band-aid. She is very excited anytime someone gets hurt so that she can use a band-aid to make it all better. I have a very patient son and he absolutely adores his sisters no matter what they do to him.

We're framing!!!

2009-01-21T09:48:00.000-08:00

The kids love to play in all the empty lots around ours and my brother's (Brad, is building next door). They made tumbleweed huts from a few spare ones that weren't still stuck in the ground.

Our house is coming along fast! The first floor is all done and the second should be done today or tomorrow (roof trusses are coming tomorrow). It is exciting but I find myself second guessing things a lot. It has been fun to see it in real life and not just a piece of paper.

Happy birthday D-D-D-D-D-Courtney!!

2009-01-14T20:21:00.000-08:00

Courtney is into D-D-D-D-D-Dora lately or has been for a while (if you watch the show you hopefully know what I mean with all the D's in the theme song). She even has had dreams of swiper hanging on our chandelier. She loves to say things like the song except they don't have a D at the beginning of the word. She had her birthday last week so we celebrated!!! She is one happy princess and scored big time with everything a girl could ever wish for and more (princess back pack and shoes, purse with crayons, Dora slippers, Dora doll, make-up and a dress-up chest, and last but not the least a Sharpey (?) High School Musical barbie that sings FABULOUS!!) We celebrated with family on the Red Hill with cake and ice cream and hiked around for a while. It was a great day!! We love you Courtney!!

Joel is 30!

2009-01-07T10:03:00.000-08:00

Joel turned 30 in December. We went swimming for his birthday with Joel's family. Luke's first time he enjoyed it as long as there wasn't too much splashing so he wasn't in for long with about 30 kids splashing. I made him cinnamon rolls and took them into his work, but had left overs so instead of carrot cake he got them with ice cream that night. He got a basketball hoop for our new house which we are all so excited to play on. The only bad thing about him turning 30 is that means I am just around the corner! YIKES that sounds so old!! Joel is the best husband and dad ever!! WE LOVE YOU!!!!

An expensive piece of dirt

2009-01-07T09:55:00.001-08:00

Here is our dirt that we now own!! Yes we are building a home. We have been looking at houses for over a year and have put offers on many as well. After all this time and no luck we have given up and are now building! Our realtor was a bit worried about us building because Joel and I are terrible decision makers. Yes it freaks me out. So here we go on the decisions, decisions, decisions!!!!!!!! Things that I have never noticed before and things that no one probably notices unless they have built a house are coming up all of the time. It is fun to see it starting to come together. We are going to have it starting to get framed Monday. Any advice you fellow home builders?

Hawaii pictures

2008-12-01T08:49:00.000-08:00

We had a FABULOUS time in Hawaii. Thanks to Joel's work. Every two years they take their employees on a week long trip and they don't scrimp on them either. Our hotel was VERY nice we had to pay $18 dollars a day just to park there. It was in a gated community type of thing so the lagoons were very nice because you don't get all the public there. I had never snorkeled before and the first time was on the catamaran out in the ocean (It was kind of freaky at first but fun once I figured out that I really could breathe through the mouth piece). There were about 60 employees plus they could bring another person. That is the reason why we got a convertible, having 120 people show up at the same time at a rental car place was crazy so they just gave us the first available car to get us out of there. We didn't mind!! Here are some pictures.

HAWAII

2008-11-13T11:15:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pictures of our trip so far. We are having a blast!!!! THANKS to EVERYONE that have been watching our kids--hopefully they will want to come back home. Snorkeling is awesome!!
My girls ought to like this one. (WE LOVE YOU)The down side to having a convertible is getting hit by bird droppings!! That was close!!!!!! Notice some on my head rest.

On the beach by our resort!!
We have seen a bunch of sea turtles this one was stayed by for about 10-15 minutes!!

Bald is beautiful!!!

2008-11-13T11:09:00.000-08:00

In front of our $485 a night resort!! We are enjoying the car as well!

Joel's two brothers shaved their heads. So he thought he ought to!! Hopefully he will get his tan in time before we head home!!! He has a very nice shaped head, he says its a lot cooler--maybe I should do it too!! Then my hair wouldn't get in the way with the top of our car down.

Brooklyn and her teeth

2008-10-22T08:29:00.001-07:00

The purpose of this post is more for myself so I can remember these details.
Tooth #1 Brooklyn lost her first tooth July 2007. She first noticed that it was loose while eating a peice of corn on the cob. It fell out when she was at her Grandpa and Grandma Andrus's house biting on a lego trying to get it to come apart. She put it in a ziploc bag so she wouldn't loose it and gave it to her mother. Her mother then proceed to forget where she put it while cleaning up the Sunday dinner and searched through the garbage can to find it with no luck. We had a sad girl and sadder mother so we left a note for the toothfairy to explain that her mother lost her tooth.
Tooth #2 August 2007 While out at the Church orchard in Hurricane she was eating a peach instead of picking them. And she noticed her loose tooth was gone. We don't know if it got swallowed or fell on the ground--so another note was left for the tooth fairy with no tooth.

Tooth #3 and #4 April 2008. This picture was about a week before. These two teeth were not in any hurry to come out. In fact both of the permanent teeth were starting to come in so that made these baby teeth harder to get any looser. Grandpa Baker even got his pliers out and tried pulling one out with no luck. So Easter weekend we were at the Annual Andrus Easter picnic with about 100 people. While playing with her accident prone cousin Jacob we hear her screaming just as we are all sitting down to eat our lunch. Some how Jacob's arm came in contact with her face while playing soccer and knocked them both out! They weren't coming out on their own so that may have been the best solution (but a bit painful and traumatizing). A quick trip to Harmon's for some popsicles and an Easter egg hunt made it all better. We weren't sure if they had gotten knocked back up in because of the blood but later realized that they were out in the grass somewhere or swallowed again. So another note to the tooth fairy with no teeth. She didn't have a toothless smile like this for very long since her other teeth were already coming in.

Tooth #5 May 2008 This tooth Brooklyn pulled out all by herself with some encouragement and her 'spit cup' (just like Junie B. Jones one of her favorite people) ready. This tooth went under her pillow with a note to the tooth fairy asking if she could keep it, she wasn't about to let this one out of her sight.

Tooth #6 July 2008 Brooklyn again pulled this one out by herself. Nothing too eventful on that one.

Tooth #7 October 2008 I know this was the most recent tooth that she lost but for some reason can't remember anything about it thanks to my momnesia. Luckily I took a picture. The note was to let the tooth fairy know that she would put her tooth under her pillow the next night since she wanted to take it to school and show her teacher/friends before she put it under her pillow. She was really trying hard to have it come out at school.

I love to read things that my kids have written sometimes it take some concentration to figure out what it says but I love to see their progress. They are all growing up way too fast!! I keep telling them that they can't have anymore birthdays so they won't get any older.
Brooklyn, we love you!!

Miscommunication...

2008-10-16T14:28:00.001-07:00

Joel's sister needed us to pick up two perfectly round balloons at Partyland for her the other day. Joel called in the order and I went to pick it up. When I saw these 36 inch balloons waiting for me I was shocked and wondering how I could fit them both into my van with the kids. EVERY kid in the parking lot was so amazed and jealous I might add. It was funny to listen to people reactions. Two trips later (since I couldn't fit them in my car at the same time) and we find out she just wanted the balloons not filled with helium. But hey we had some fun playing with those babies!! Good times!

HOMEWORKS a drag

2008-10-08T16:13:00.000-07:00

After school I try to get Brooklyn and Megan to get their homework done so that we aren't trying to get it done as they run out the door for school the next day. Some days they are better at getting it done than others. Today for example, I was trying to help Megan figure out the sounds to LIKE, she was getting frustrated and so was I so I left for a minute and came back to this. That is one way of getting out of your homework. Any ideas how to keep your kids awake and more excited about doing homework?

Luke's Blessing

2008-10-01T15:45:00.000-07:00

We blessed Luke this past Sunday. We were even ready early to snap a few shots before church and our girls even smiled. It is a miracle!!!! So here they are...

We had a dinner after in our back yard. It was a nice afternoon. When both of our families combine it adds up to a lot of kids!! There is 21 grandkids in my family and 31 in Joel's. There was only 5 that weren't at our house so it was pretty crazy, but I haven't noticed anything broken. We had lots of yummy food chicken alfredo, breadsticks, salad, not to mention wonderful desserts. THANKS everyone for all your help!

SUCCESS!!!!!!!

2008-09-29T08:55:00.000-07:00

Joel went up to Enterprise Tuesday night with his dad and brothers to start the hunt early Wednesday morning. It was originally a 'guys' hunt but quickly turned into everyone and their dogs (literally). So Brooklyn got to go out with dad and hang out with Grandma while the men went out to hunt. The rest of us came out Thursday in time to see Joel bring in his deer! I was hoping for no deer, I don't mind the meat that much. But for the money (and smell while I'm cooking it) I would prefer something from the store or maybe Texas Roadhouse. But if it makes the husband happy and someone else brings it home in their truck and not on top of or in back of our van, I suppose it is worth it. The girls had a blast playing with cousins on the four wheelers, horses and eating as much junk as possible. Luke was a trooper and enjoyed the fact that someone was holding most of the time. He takes much better naps that way! We had a good time!!!

What we are up to

2008-09-18T15:15:00.000-07:00

Well this is my first official post. Yipee! We have been keeping track of most of you and now we officially have our own blog to blab about our days on.
This is a picture of my brother and his kid's, and our girls. We went out shooting guns about 10 minutes from our house last Saturday. Joel has a hunt next week (the muzzleloader) and needs some practice so that he can get that huge buck that is just waiting for him.
It has been fun having some blue things around the house. There are some really cute boy clothes out there. Luke is doing well and loves to sleep peacefully during the day no matter how many kisses he gets from his sisters. They adore him. As for night time he is a very noisy sleeper and is usually grunting or making some sort of noise until he can get comfortable or something. He is growing and becoming more aware of what is going on around him. He is almost three weeks already. We love having him around!! I am still trying to figure out what to do with four kids. But so far we are doing well. We have been well taken care of by our families and ward members. Thanks everyone. It was a sad day when the dinners stopped coming in and real life hit!

Picture Slideshow

2008-09-02T07:11:00.000-07:00

Here's a slideshow showing some pictures of Luke and his favorite sisters.

HE'S HERE!!!!

2008-09-01T18:24:00.001-07:00

I am no longer the sole man of the house. Luke Leavitt Andrus was born Sunday morning at 8:12 am. Thanks to my expert coaching, Brenda was able to have the baby within an hour and a half of arriving at the hospital. Actually, my technique simply involves staying as quiet as possible at the side of the bed, trying to look as sympathetic as possible, and not coming within reach of Brenda. I've found that my health is generally much better when I do these things.

Anyways, everything went really well. Brenda didn't even have an epidural (her third in a row). Of course, I spent much of that time huddled in the corner, quietly crying (remember I'm trying to look as pitiful as possible).

By the way, I learned an important lesson in the birthing process. At no time should you try and sit down or look pale at all. I tried to sit down 10 MINUTES after the baby was born (after standing for the last two hours), something I thought was perfectly natural since I tend to be a little lazy. However, the instant I sat down the good doctor and three nurses were all shouting at me to lay down on my back and elevate my feet. I guess they've had a lot of dad's pass out. However, I was just fine. Of course, Brenda was now laughing at me while I tried to politely explain to the over zealous nurses that I was FINE!!! Although in all of this I also learned that you can get just about anything you want from the nurses in the way of juice and snacks.

Being the good and caring husband that I am, I volunteered to spend the night at the hospital with Brenda and the baby. All the while knowing that a night at the hospital in a maternity ward is worse than any night I've ever had. The people in the room next to ours were loud, the bathroom has things in it that no guy should ever have to see, let alone think about, and the "kind" nurses check on you every hour as soon as you somehow manage to fall asleep. I spent the first two hours trying to find a comfortable spot on the recliner (believe me, it's not possible). The nurse came in at midnight and informed me that they could bring in a bed (I somehow managed to not tell her off for not telling me that two hours before). The next seven hours on the piece of crap mattress (I swear I could feel every spring in it) are seven hours that I would like to forget. I somehow made it through the night, and have scheduled several months of weekly chiropractic checkups to try and undo the damage that was done to my back(luckily we've also reached our out of pocket maximum on our insurance).

I went and got the kids at about 10:30, and we then spend the next several hours trying to get ready for Brenda to come at about 4 p.m. We were all glad to have her home today. The kids have been a little extra emotional, but nothing a lot of sugar couldn't fix. All in all it all went really well and we are extremely grateful to have another child in our home who is healthy. We've been really blessed to have so many great family members who are so willing to help. The doctor and nurses were great as well.