Animals...

I read a blog post this morning about having to "dispatch" a lobster for some delicious lobster rolls, and it made me think about my attitude on animals and eating them.


My father was raised on the Navajo reservation in New Mexico/Arizona.  Growing up he watched the Navajo people love their sheep, allow them to sleep in the hogan with them, and really baby them.  When the time came, they would say a prayer, thanking God for the animal, thanking the animal for their companionship and for the food and wool they would provide for the family, and then dispatch the animal.


From that he taught my siblings and me that when we have an animal we are to take care of it and give the animal the VERY BEST life we can.  If we didn't take care of our animals, life was not very happy!  There was never an acceptable reason for the cow to be without water or the chickens not to have feed etc.  


When time comes to eat the animal, we know that we have taken the very best care of the blessing that Heavenly Father has given us and then we can enjoy the nourishment they well provide for us.


We were also taught not to waste.  One time we had a bunch of salmon dropped off at our house on a Sunday morning.  The salmon all needed to be cleaned and processed.  We went to the first hour of church that day, then went home and cleaned salmon.  A lot of salmon.  We didn't waste what was given to us just because it was given at an inconvenient time.  My mom always had a garden and took a lot of time preserving the food we had grown.  She would spend hours picking raspberries, making jam and freezing fresh raspberries for us to enjoy a treat in the winter.


So is there a point to this?  Not really.  :)  Just remembering some of the wonderful attitudes that I was raised with, and how much I love a good steak.

Three Hour Tour...

On Friday Matt and I went out sailing with Charlie and his kids on Bull Shoals Lake. (The pictures aren't the best...we forgot the camera and had to make do with Charlie's cell phone...)


It was so much fun!!!

The wind was great, so the waves were excellent. It really was the perfect day. I loved being on the water again. It reminded me of being out on Grandpa Red's boat on Kachemak Bay when I was little...except Grandpa's boat was MUCH bigger! (and not a sail boat...but still...)

Matt has a chance to pilot the boat, and did a fantastic job...even if I do say so myself. Actually Charlie said so too.

I LOVE the look on Matt's face! You can tell that he's having a great time...



The skipper brought us in safe and sound, and it makes me wish that we had a bit more time in the year to go out sailing with Charlie. Thank goodness for next year!

Thanks for a fantastic time Charlie...we loved it!!!

Get a Clue...

The other night Matt and I watched the movie "Clue"...circa 1985. It was so fun to watch an "old" movie. Both Matt and I had seen this as children and thought it would be fun to watch it again. It was FANTASTIC! The cast is great, and I think Tim Curry and Madeline Kahn are hilarious!!


After watching the movie, we were talking about the game. We took a quick trip to Wal-Mart and we became the proud owners of the board game Clue. (And it cost a whopping $7.20...the box was a bit damaged and I got a discount for it...Booyah!)

The game is a little newer than the editions we played as kids, but it works. We've had fun the last few nights playing the game. We're having a fierce winter storm here in Missouri, and it's a cozy activity that we're really enjoying. Game nights is a tradition that I think our family is going to keep!

We won't tell who has consistently won, but let's just say I want to keep playing and Matt is done after one game a night. ;)

We're having so much fun playing Clue that I think we might get Monopoly on our next Wal-Mart run. Matt's all for it because...well...let's say I'm better at Clue than I am at Monopoly!

Merry Christmas...

Matt and I had a wonderful Christmas. We started the holidays by attending a Christmas Madrigal Concert on the 18th that Matt's sister Rachel performed in. Even though it was a large group that performed, Rachel did a fantastic job, and we were glad that we were able to go!

On December 19 & 20 we were up in Cole Camp visiting Grandpa and Grandma Towns. While we were there, Matt was able to help Grandpa refinish a front-porch post that was taken from the home that his Great-Great Grandfather built. Grandpa Bill "rescued" four different posts from this home and gave them out. Grandpa had a great time working on the post with Matt and we are blessed to have that part of our family history available to us!

Christmas Eve we headed out to the Anderson farm to spend Christmas with my side of the family. It was an extra-special time this year, because my oldest sister, Sarah, her husband and their seven kids made the trip from Utah to Missouri to spend Christmas with us. The Crawford kids wanted to surprise their cousins, so that added to the fun of when they finally showed up.

Between sick kids, weather issues, and car troubles, poor Sarah and Rob had a horrific trip there and back, and we really appreciate their sacrifice to have the family around for Christmas!!

While it was fantastic to see everyone, it was just a *little* crazy at Mom & Dad's. At the peak there were 10 adults and 16 kids in a 3 bedroom 1 bath house. Thank goodness Charlie had a travel trailer for some to sleep in!! To add to the "fun" the flu was making cycles throughout the families.

My dad wanted to get pictures of the grandkids with him and Grandma, which made me a bit weepy because ALL of the grandkids wouldn't be able to be in the picture. I had a mother's necklace that my wonderful friend Stacy sent me, and we had our little niece Audrey wear the necklace in the picture so Ande would be represented. We took a variety of different combinations of pictures, but the only one I have a copy of is one of Mom and Dad with all of their children. It is one of the favorites!


I had a lot of fun deciding what to get Matt this year. I got him a book that he's wanted for a while. He got me a mandolin (a fancy kitchen slicer) that I've been wanting FOREVER. I also made us "Yale" t-shirts and got us some nice matching, comfy pajama pants.


We had a fantastic Christmas being with family and focusing on the blessings of our Savior Jesus Christ. Because of His birth, we are able to reap the blessings of the atonement and the resurrection. We are able to be with each other, our little Ande, and other, future children for an eternity.

Superman...

Yesterday morning, my sister Mary had her fifth baby, a little boy!

He's awful darn cute, but seems so BIG!!! He has HUGE hands and feet...that boy's going to be a big one!!!

He doesn't have a name yet, but I can't say I'm not surprised. It took Brian and Mary three days to name their first boy. Poor kid...didn't know who he was! I had to start calling him SOMETHING, so for the first three days of his life, I called Hunter, Batman.

Well, since this new baby needs a name...Matt and I are calling him Superman.

Welcome to this crazy world Superman!!! You have a fantastic family, and SO MANY people who love you!!!

Matt and I

We want to let everyone know how much we appreciate your thoughts, prayers, and love.

However, right now we are pretty darn exhausted.

We will keep the blog updated, and if there are developments and we can't post, we'll get someone to take care of it for us.

We're not really answering our phones or emails, so don't worry if you call and can't get us.

We plan on catching up on our sleep over the next few days...and just over all laying low. We do love emails, but if you send one, we may not be able to answer it.

Again, please know that we appreciate everything that has been done for us, and all of the prayers on our family's behalf.

Lots of love,

Matt, Jeanne & Baby Ande

Family Update...

Thanks to the great advice, I think I'm going to stick with maternity pants, but regular shirts. So what if they are a bit tight and show off the baby. I've waited long enough to be pregnant, I want to show it off!!!

And I will put up a picture soon...I just have to take one I like. I just got my hair cut again (Thanks Crystal!) and I'm starting to feel a bit better about myself. The day my sister cut my hair, I was almost crying because I felt like it looked like I was just getting fatter, not looking pregnant. Crystal told me that I didn't look like I was getting fatter, but to go buy maternity pants...it would help me feel better. And it did!

I'm now a bit over 14 weeks. I have a doctor's appointment on Wednesday, so hopefully we'll get to at least hear the heartbeat again. Matt is super anxious for our ultrasound...Ok I am too. Much to my father's dismay, we want to find out the baby's gender as soon as we can. It will be a surprise whenever we find out, and we want to know what "flavor" our baby is as soon as possible! Now let's just hope that the baby cooperates and will let us know when we try to peek!

Matt and I both have been fighting being sick this last week. It started out with a cold/sinus thing, and I came down with it first. Matt got rid of that fairly easily, but it's been hanging on for me. We both then got a stomach thing. I ditched my stomach junk early, but poor Matt is still fighting the bug. He's been sleeping a lot today, and I hope when he wakes up he'll feel better.

I have always said that because of the way my body is built, when I got pregnant, there would be nowhere for the baby to go but OUT. It will be interesting that as this pregnancy progresses, to see what my shape ends up being!