It's 12:41, Sarah is asleep, and I am not tired. I guess that's what the holidays do to you. You get a sugar fix, then you crash at around 2:00 AM and then wake up at noon the next day. The past few months have been a lot of fun for Sarah and I. The biggest news I guess is that I graduated from BYU a few weeks ago. YAY for graduating! To celebrate, Sarah and I decided to go down to st. George with our posse friends over the weekend. We had fun exchanging white elephant gifts... there are a number of jokes I could insert here, but I would risk humiliating myself too much. Let's just say that some of the white elephant gifts were not for children under the age of 40.
The guys went and saw the movie Avatar (which by the way, was AMAZING!) except I doubt that 67% of the people who watched the commercials before the show, really went out and purchased the products like the screen had claimed. The girls saw blind side which I heard is also pretty good. We ended the trip by shopping at the outlets, eating at the pizza factory, and then playing LDS drinking games before bed. Other than the fact that I almost poisened lynsie, we spent about $150 more than we wanted to, and I lost to David in an all out war of basketball knock out (it has several names - speed, tornado, bump it, knock out, - pick one) it was a pretty good trip.
Next to my graduation, the 2nd most important thing that has happened in my life recently (I say MY life, because I KNOW this is definitely NOT important to Sarah) is that I discovered that you can now purchase tim tams in America. If you don't know what a tim tam slam is... I pitty you. I am not even going to explain, I am just going to let you sit and wonder what it is, until you get so curious you will have to spend the 10 seconds it takes to open up a tab in your internet browser, go to google, and type in "tim tam slam".
For Christmas I received snow shoes. Sarah tricked me into thinking it would be Rock Band, but I knew that it was a trick after reading the tag on the box that said "to Devin, You 'Rock!'"
I thought "She is trying way too hard to get me to think this is Rock Band, there is no way that this is guitar hero", but I had no idea that it would be snow shoes. Now we can both go snow shoeing without me having to use garbage bins. I also got a nice leather jacket which I absolutely love. Sarah got some nice clothes, and two tickets to NYC to see her parents on their mission over new years.
The highlight of my Christmas was being able to talk to my brother Tyler on his mission. He is in San Fernando California, and he is coming home on April 7th, my brother Alan and I talked about going out to pick him up, and it should be a lot of fun. He sounds like he is doing really well, and he has matured a lot. I know that he will finish his mission strong, and will be a great RM when he gets back.
Sarah and I have been spending some time putting together a puzzle of NYC, we got everything done except the sky... which is ALL THE SAME COLOR! There must be over 200 pieces of slightly different shades of blue. It took us about 3 hours or so to put the other 550 pieces together, and now I estimate that it will take us at LEAST twice that long to put together the remaining blue pieces. Puzzles are so stupid, I want a t-shirt that says "I hate puzzles... and crosswords... and sudoku... and mine sweeper... and any other game I suck at."
The day after Christmas, I remembered that I was invited to a party at the Sommercorn's house. It was kind of interesting seeing a lot of my old friends whom I hadn't seen in a really long time. Liz, Melissa, Brad C, Jon C, Chelsea C, Hi C, NBC, PVC, MTC... okay, I just made those last ones up. Everybody had babies everywhere, I felt a little bad for Sarah, knowing how very aware of that she was. We played guitar hero for a bit. Well, actually, we watched Nate and Nathan (two little kids) play... which was... interesting, lets just say it's a good thing I didn't have my giant "FAIL" stamp with me. NOW THAT's what I would have REALLY liked for Christmas; A giant "FAIL" stamp, although I would probably be too tempted to use it on some of Sarah's student's papers. I would crush their little hopes and dreams with a giant wooden block of FAIL.
After playing guitar hero, we played a game called Wacky Six's. At least, I think that's what it was called. It seemed like a mix between Nerts, spider solitaire, and bloody knuckles. Sarah and I won after a few very close calls between Adam and Lynsie, and Liz and Matt. I felt bad for Melissa's husband Steve, he was doing so well at first, and then he was abandoned to fend for himself. I would be TERRIBLE at that game if I had to play without a partner. Of course I guess Bethany had it worse, she was by herself AND she had to look after little Eden.
Afterwards Adam, Lynsie, Sarah, and I went to Leatherby's for some icecream. I don't know if mentioning this is worth it, because it was kind of a you-had-to-be-there kind of thing, but when Lynsie came in, she was looking around for us, and her head was just barely over a 4 foot dividing wall. I popped my head up and scared her half to death... oh it was great.
Well, I might try and do this more often, or then again, this might be a one time thing. We will just have to wait and see.

Nothing New

Well, I don't really have anything new to report, but I figured it's been such a long time since I posted anything that I should. Really things seem quite mundane in our lives. But here's what happening at the Andersen household...

*Devin is continuing school and looking for jobs. He recently did a short job working for BYU with some Japanese junior high kids that came. It was really fun for him because all he had to do was chaperone and tour kids around BYU. But he got to go to all these fun places in Utah and speak Japanese which he loves.

*I am still teaching 4th grade. This past week has been SUPER crazy. It's the end of the term so I've been grading like crazy. My aide has been gone for the whole week so I can't dump my menial tasks on her. (Yes, I realize I'm spoiled to even have an aide). Friday was our class auction and class party. Let's just say Friday was completely nuts. With my class I do a money reward system so our auction let them use their money to "buy" things. It was hilarious. Devin came and was my auctioneer which was a huge life safer for me. The kids definitely don't know bidding strategies yet. It was so funny to see them bid $150 bucks for a bouncy ball. But what was especially funny was when there was more than one of an item. I had 2 girls going at it for some stickers that were American Girl - I had several packs of stickers. The first girl got hers for $50 and the second girl who realized there were more got hers for $25. Our class party was really fun, but low key - which was great for me as I tried to frantically update grades.

*Friday night was also my school's Fall Festival. The kids aren't allowed to wear their costumes to school so they have a "festival/fund raiser" and let them wear it then. The teachers weren't required to go, but Devin and I did. We got a $15 movie gift card out of it though. Can I just say how funny/weird the Board at my school is? They really wanted to make it mandatory for the teachers, but our principal stood up for us and made it optional. Then they go and give the teachers that did go a movie gift card. Hmm...good thing I went!

*We are still trying to get pregnant, but much to our dismay and our bank account it hasn't happened yet. We are finding out fast that babies are expensive and we don't even have one yet :)

Even with life's challenges it's still a great life and Devin and I feel extremely blessed in our lives. Devin and I are excited for the future and all that might change and happen. We are hoping to go to Japan next year and will probably be there for about a year. That both excites and scares me to death. I better start learning more Japanese fast!

Catch up

I haven't posted in a little while so this is the condensed catch up version. I like pictures so if you don't -- too bad.

Triathlon:
Devin did another triathlon with David and Adam. This one was at Yuba lake. We went down Friday night and camped then did the triathlon and hurried home after that. It was quick, but fun.

"Spilled milk:"
It's been pretty rainy recently and on our way home one day we caught this awesome picture of the clouds "spilling" over the mountain. It was cool because the way the clouds were moving really made it seem like "spilled milk."

Gardening:
Our Garden has been doing very well. We've been getting quite the giant produce as evidence of this carrot. Ruth and I got together and made homemade tomato sauce. I'm excited to use it and see how it is.
Birthday Celebrations:
We celebrated my birthday with my family and cousins by going up the canyon and having tin foil dinners. It was a little rainy so we got creative and used a tarp to create a little tent. On my actual birthday Devin took me out to dinner at an Italian restaurant up at the Gateway called Biaggi's. It was really delicious and we got some great deals thanks to the Dine o' Round (Thanks Katie for telling us about that). Then for even more celebrations this past week we drove to Park City via the Alpine Loop and Provo Canyon. We wanted to go the scenic route to see the fall leaves. I love the fall and it was SO gorgeous. Even though the above picture is blurry I still thought it was pretty cool looking at all the aspens.We stayed over night at the Silver King hotel, walked around Main Street, did some shopping, and had an all around GREAT time relaxing with each other. Below is the view from our hotel room window. It was a perfect time of year to see the fall foliage. The Silver King has some fun memories for me from when I was a little kid. My family stayed there several times and it's a pretty nice hotel. Devin was so nice to let me do something that I love...shopping. We went to the outlets and he was so patient as I went into all the stores I wanted to and tried on tons of clothes. I ended up getting a nice shirt, several pairs of earrings, and 2 new coats that were WAY on sale.
I had the whole week off for my fall break. This week has been so nice and I think it will be hard to go back to the school routine tomorrow.

Yard Work

Come one come all!

To the 1st ever semi-annual
Andersen Family yard work party!!!

When: Friday September 25th
Time: 6:00pm
Where: Andersen Family Residence
1198 E. Mountain Oaks Circle
Alpine, UT 84004

Join us for an evening of fun yard work with great friends and great food.
Pizza, Brownies, and Ice Cream will be provided!!

Please RSVP by the 24th to Sarah or Devin

Back to School

I survived the first week of school! Although it has been really tiring and a lot of work it's been fun too. My class is really cute with quite a lot of girls. I have 25 students: 8 boys and 17 girls. They are all really well behaved which is really nice after my bunch I had last year. I only have a few that could even be considered a little bit too talkative and I just walk over and say "give me a buck you're not paying attention" and the entire class quiets down. Or I just give bucks to those that are quite and immediately everyone sits up straight, folds their arms, and shuts up. As mentioned earlier the 4th grade is doing a monetary reward system and the kids really seem to go for it. Although the first day they got really excited thinking it was real money they were getting. I've decided that kids really think the funniest things sometimes. One student turned to me "Mrs. Andersen do you have any kids?" To which I replied, "No" all while thinking "Here we go again" (I had a similar conversation with a student last year). She just simply said, "Well you should totally have kids" and continued to say why I should have kids. Here was her explanation of why I should I have kids: "They poop all the time, they pee when they cry, they cry all the time, they'll keep you up at night, they'll drive you nuts. Yeah you should definitely have kids."

I think we'll have to work on her persuasion skills. :)

Devin also starts school again this next week. He only has two classes and is really excited to be done. Once again this year he is going to be taking the bus and I'll drop him off and pick him up from the bus stop. Too bad he has to get to school so early only to sit around and study until his 1:00 class. Oh well, I guess that's what happens when you only have one car.

Happy Back to School Everyone!

Whitewater Rafting in Jackson

Need I say more?

Merry Go Round of Life

Do you every feel like your life is just going in circles? That's what I feel like recently as I get ready to start my second year of teaching. I feel like I'm on a Merry go Round, it all just seems very repetitive. I'm starting to worry and stress about teaching (much like last year), Devin is getting ready to go to school (much like last year), Devin is still looking for a job (much like last year), and we are still trying to get pregnant (much like last year). Don't get me wrong it is a "Merry" go round for a reason -- our life is good, it just seems very much like last year. Not much has changed. I actually hate talking with people you haven't seen in a while and then have to explain that NOTHING has changed in your life since you last talked to them. It just gets a little frustrating sometimes.

Anyway here I go round again...and I'll try to be happy to do it!

Amazing Adventures

The Andersen's have teamed up with the Ferrero's yet again for another amazing adventure. This past adventure took the families to....
Highlights included . . .
*Camping near the Grand Teton National Park at Gros Ventre campground. Although camping is fun both parties were ready for some civilization near the end. *Eating delicious dutch oven dinner and cobbler ridiculously late. Each night it got later and later :) And here is Lynsie anxiously waiting for dinner. She's so excited she just can't contain her emotions.*Shopping and touring downtown Jackson. Man there were a TON of antlers everywhere!!*Canoeing along the Snake River where lots of beautiful scenery and animals were seen. Among the animals were several bald eagles (one who almost pooped on us), hawks, offsprey, otters, pelicans, and a butterfly that let Sarah hold it. There was quite a bit of waiting since the car could only hold one canoe at a time. Here are the Andersen's waiting for the canoe trip.*Whitewater rafting down the Snake River. This was probably the hightlight of the trip for the Andersen's with Big Kahuna being among the favorite rapids. Photo courtesy of davehansenwhitewater.com.*Seeing a wide range of animals all throughout the trip including lots of bison and two moose! Yes it is a moose behind that bush.


Other highlights included . . .

Where the families got to see Old Faithful! Lots of different geysers all with beautiful blue water and orange/yellow rocks. Seeing the Upper and Lower Falls along the Yellowstone River which cuts through the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.


The Andersen's got to relive some of their honeymoon memories including posing by the lookout of the Lower Falls. Overall there were some amazing adventures for all involved! Can't wait to see where the next adventures will take them!

Team FAT

Team FAT (Ferrero, Andersen, Terrazas) had their first - of hopefully many - triathlons this past weekend. It was the Echo triathlon at Echo Reservoir. We went up Friday and camped at "Camper World" with the Ferrero and Terrazas Families. The men were able to be related as they passed off as Adam's Aunt Mary's Nephews -- all of them. That way we could get the camping spot! Thanks "Aunt" Mary!!
Friday night we had some fun with tin foil dinners, games, and of course some sword fighting with Nate. Below is Devin being stabbed by Nate ... who knew someone so small could beat up someone so big?!?
The morning of the event finally came and the guys headed off early to get ready for the race.
We of course had to get a picture of each of them performing their respective events. David is biking -- yes he looks like a little old man without his walker, but he's biking okay. Devin is running with a silly smirk on his face. Adam is swimming -- just out for a peaceful, leisurely swim in the lake ( I love his face in this picture).
Stretching before the first event (swimming). I believe Devin is making up a new stretch "Disco Pose" -- it's said to be really helpful :)
Adam in the water right before he heads off to swim .75 km
About 14 minutes later.... And he's back!
The transition between Adam's swim and David's bike went really smoothly and the girls couldn't get up to the top fast enough before David took off. So in the meantime while David biked 20 Kilometers we lounged out and ate snacks. Nate played peek-a-boo from the camera, but I caught him...


About 40 minutes later we headed back to where David would enter and Devin would take off. I was a little too fast taking the picture of David and as you can see below only got his head in the picture. He was really zooming, but my fingers were faster... a little too fast.
So I made up for it by taking a snapshot after the fact. Good job on the bike David!!Devin took off running his 5K once the chip was passed to him. He had a lot of fun doing it, especially crossing the finish line with his two best friends sprinting with him and cheering him on.
My camera battery of course died and I didn't get a picture of his final sprint and finish. Adam and David met him for the last little stretch and urged him faster; he was sure speeding when he finished. I was so proud of him as he crossed that finish line in 23:57 under his goal of 24 minutes!! GO DEVIN!! I love you!

As we waited in anticipation for the results the guys got massages and the girls ate their fruit and goodies :) Finally the results were in... 2nd Place!! There were only 4 teams in their relay category, but still to get second was amazing and they were happy. Plus, they were only about 30 seconds behind the first place team.

We are so grateful to have such good friends. We have so much fun with all of them and feel that they really have blessed our lives. Team FAT definitely is the BEST!!

Summer fun so far...

This summer has been a special one for Devin and I. I have time off because as a teacher I get a nice summer break. He isn't taking summer classes and is looking for a job. All of this adds up to one great Summer of Fun! We realize that we won't have too many summers like this in the future and so we've been taking advantage of our time together. Here's what we've been up to...

Going up AF canyon with Mom and Dad for breakfast
Mom and I making aebleskivers


Devin and I went camping on the last minute. We were walking to a reception when we noticed it was a really beautiful evening -- with all the rain it really made a difference when it finally wasn't raining. So we decided to go camping -- that night. We hurried through the reception and got everything ready to go camping. When we got up there we realized we didn't have something very important...
Our TENT!!! We didn't let that stop us and we slept on the ground under the stars! Thankfully we were not attacked by bugs or animals.

We also didn't have a pan to heat water up for hot chocolate in the morning -- a must when camping -- so we used an aluminum bread pan instead. It worked great and the breakfast was delicious.



Another one of our summer projects was a birthday present for Mom and Dad. We organized the storage room for them. We took everything out -- What a lot of stuff!!
Then bought some more bins and put it back so it now looks like this.



Who says kiddie pools are for kids? Devin and I pulled out Mom and Dad's kiddie pool and had a great lunch by the pool. (Except the water was FREEZING)
Devin also got to be a superhero in his blue towel. Of course, he's my hero every day.


Devin played in an Ultimate tournament. He played for 5 hours straight. I ran for the first little bit then sat and watched. We both came home pretty burned and he was pretty sore.


We pulled out my brother's legos and built a lego ship. There were so many pieces we had to organize them to find them easier.
Plus, we didn't have the instructions so we looked them up using the itouch.
After several days of working on the ship here's the finished project...
The cannons were especially fun since they could actually shoot cannon balls. We spent one evening just shooting each other with the cannons.
Well, it definitely has been a blast so far and we are excited for the other fun things we have planned this summer!