The Seven of Us

Well, as luck would have it, most of our Halloween photos ended up on Jared's phone.  (His phone takes phenomenal photos, and it's always in his pocket.  My camera takes good photos, but it's never in my pocket. We're working on "dumping" the Galaxy stuff onto my computer, but we aren't done yet. Anyway.)  I did take this photo of Corbin and his friend Milo playing together a week or so before Halloween. (Yes, it's before Halloween--our customary early snowstorm.) Milos' mom is pretty creative and she made him this donkey costume, which made Corbin talk about wanting to be a pig, which surprised me because he'd been set on being a bat for several weeks.  And he did end up being a batman bat--some type of crazy combination of a bat & batman. Those photos are on Jared's phone; here is the closest thing I have on the computer:       

Caleb turned fourteen on August 13th.   Since he went to two baseball tourneys in July and August, his presents were a little more under the radar than normal.  The only one of his gifts I remember is hitting lessons (he went to the NJC assistant coach, Joe Campo).       He had plenty of help blowing the candles out.     Isaac turned nine ten days after Caleb's birthday.  (When I was pregnant with Ike I either wanted the boys to have the same birthday--Aug. 13--or to have plenty of space between their birthdays. Well,  I got my wish:  Isaac was one (of my three) babies to be born a week late. He came on Aug. 23 instead of Aug. 17.  [That was a very long, hot summer!]) He had a good experience playing Pee Wee baseball and decided he loved baseball, thus the ballglove. I can't remmeber what other things we gave him.              

Since I'm on vacation, I'm trying to catch up on old posts.  This is a photo of Caleb receiving his Star  Scout award in the fall.  He was able to go toPeaceful Valley scout camp in Elbert in July, and he earned several merit badges and was able to advance. Caleb had mixed feelings about going to scout camp, but he ended up kind of enjoying himself.  There were a couple of problems with camp:  it was scheduled so that it overlapped with an all-star baseball tournament that Caleb had dreamed of being invited to for years, and he was the only scout from our ward  to attend, so he was all alone:  no friends, no leader--just Caleb.  Luckily, Caleb is social & confident and was unfazed by the situation.  His scout camp began on Monday, July 9 and ended on Fri. (or Sat) . It was in Elbert, CO (not for from CO springs, smack in the middle of CO) and his tournament was in Lamar, about 325 miles southwest....

This is a photo of my dad's brother, Uncle Drew (Isaac Andrew Droddy).  He is 9 years younger than my dad and has always been much broader. Otherwise they'd be twins.  One of his daughters (he has 5, along with a son) posted this photo to commemorate his 55th birthday yesterday.  Oh, my Isaac isn't named after Uncle Drew.  He's named after Drew's grandfather, or my great-grandfather, Isaac Newton Clegg, Jr. (So I guess he's also named for Isaac Newton Clegg, Sr.  What a name to give a child!  [Isaac Newton, not Isaac. Isaac itself is good. It's the apple falling from a tree image that's not so appealing to me.  Haha!  a peel ing!)

Well, for starters, this is not the blog post I've been meaning to write for 3 days.  That was going to be an unpublished journal entry.   But since my parents are here, and since today my dad told a story about my grandfather which I hadn't ever heard, and since I never knew him (my grandfather) but have always loved him with all of my guts (and my heart), and since I've done his temple work and I know he has accepted the gospel, and since the story is fresh in my mind and I can't sleep anyway, well, for all of those reasons, this post needs to be written...now. I guess I should explain the title first.  If you're a southerner, or a Louisiana (Loos eee anna) person, you don't need an explanation. For the rest of you, it is this: Several years ago I started wondering what I'd call my grandfather (William Droddy) if he were alive.  I decided I'd think of him as "Grandfather Bill".  Then I realized that "grandfather" would be ...

Add caption Kenna's softball team rocked this summer!   Although they weren't flashy, they were solid.  Actually, Kenna was a little flashy in one of her tournament games. She hit a grand slam!  And her team was solid enough to win the league title, defeating both Yuma and Ogallala twice.  They were wilted warriors, since they played their tourney during the hottest week of the summer.  I guess the 108* weather just energized them! 

Corbin turned five on November 7.  In some ways five years is a long time:  Time enough to wake up with a restless baby upwards of  three times per night for more than 600 nights; time enough to buy endless diapers & wipes, time enough to listen to a baby scream during every single car trip for an entire year.  In other ways, five years isn't quite enough time:  Not enough time to keep a child close; to teach the gospel; to hear a genuine child's laugh; to foster a sense of self strong enough to weather the world for another ninety years.  It's not enough time to sit close and read together, to watch a child form first letters and numbers, or to listen to a gazillion sincere questions asked with a child's innocence and excitement.    Five years is too many years to capture with the written word.   We celebrated his birthday two or three ways:  At home, where he (hurriedly) opened a few books and a dart...

The following is a facebook post from one of my high school friends:  "I wish my moderate Republican friends would simply be honest. They all say they're voting for Romney because of his economic policies (tenuous and ill-formed as they are), and that they disagree with him on gay rights. Fine. Then look me in the eye, speak with a level clear voice, and say, "My taxes and take-home pay mean more than your fundamental civil rights, the sanctity of your marriage, your right to visit an ailing spouse in the hospital, your dignity as a citizen of this country, your healthcare, your right to inherit, the mental welfare and emotional well-being of your youth, and your very personhood." It's like voting for George Wallace during the Civil Rights movements, and apologizing for his racism. You're still complicit. You're still perpetuating anti-gay legislation and cultural homophobia. You don't get to walk away clean, because you say you "disagree"...

It's been so long since I've blogged that I  forgot about this post. These photos were taken toward the end of summer and are representative of a couple of things Ike and Kenna did often. Kenna really loved playing "Ghost in the Graveyard" (a type of hide-and-seek) with her friends.  It was normal for a group of about 10-12 kids to play as often as 3 times a week this summer! (She wasn't happy that she only got to play about once a week.)  The last time everyone played, her friends Riley & Dawson joined the group.  (They live out of town, so that was kind of special.) Playing around with the Kurtzer kids.  This was in early August--notice Isaac's baseball-bat wound.

1.  Since my last post, we've celebrated a birthday (Caleb's), hit a deer on the highway (Havilah-while visiting teaching. She was the passenger.), survived another football season uninjured, stayed up too late too often (homework, church night, game nights), vacuumed the area rug in the living room more than 125 times, used about 170 lbs. of dog food, attended 2 homecoming dances (Taylor, with Quincy), watched more than 12 high school volleyball games and several jr. high games. 2.  Inorganic chemistry isn't much more interesting than it was 21 years ago.  I thought Haxtun might hold some magic that Hadley-Luzerne didn't, but so far I am truly disappointed.  And while my teacher is a nice guy, he doesn't hold a candle to Mrs. Kathy LaBombard, who finally figured out how to quiet a class of sixteen year-olds by breaking down in tears after trying--and failing--to explain a concept three times in a row.  Poor lady.   I hold out ho...

Caleb played on 3 different baseball teams this summer: his normal border league team, a legion team, and a border league all-star team.  His all-star team did really well; they were just the 3rd team in over 10 years to win the Colorado Ste Tournament and progress to the Babe Ruth Midwestern Plains Regional Tournament.  Below are some pictures of them at their first tournament, which was the weekend of July 20.  The boys were really excited to win the championship.  This was Caleb's dream for years.  He had tears in his eyes when they won. (Notice he's holding the plaque.) The team was made up of kids from Haxtun, Holyoke, Sedgewick, and Chappell.  Some of Caleb'sbest friends on the team are Gunnar Kroeger and  Cole McKinley.  Coaches were Scotty Heath and Kyle Pocock.  Caleb was especially excited to have Scotty coach since he's had him as an ump for years and has a lot of respect for the work he does behind the plate...

So...I thought it'd be good if I finished telling about Jimmer's wedding. "Part I" was about the temple portion of the wedding.  This section will cover the reception.  Part III will cover the end of our trip.    (There were no cameras allowed at the reception, so  I only have the two photos I bought from the professional photographer. At $10 per photo, they were expensive, but you'll see why I bought them later. And I still haven't scanned them. That's on the agenda, but I'm posting this anyway.  I'll add the photos when I post part III.) Jimmer and Whitney had their reception at the Cherry Hills Country Club.  I'm not sure if Whitney's family has a membership there or if they rented it.  It's well-known in Denver.  It's also very expensive: memberships run from $40-95,0000 per year. (I went online to find out their rules...as in, "Can my crazy kids come to this event?" And while online, I read about memberships....

This is kind of a random photo to post on our blog.  I've been copying lots of photos from facebook and starting to scan some, too, so that I can start my family history blog soon.  Thought I'd share this one.  This is my mom, Bonita Fredette (2nd from left) with four of her six siblings.  One brother, Gary, died in 1943 when he was only a month old. Another brother, Craig, died at age 42 in 1982.  Remaining siblings, from left to right, are Al, Bonnie, Claire, Dennis, and Brad.  This photo was taken in 2005 when everyone went to visit Brad. I think he wasn't doing real well.  He died later that year.  I think the last time everyone got together prior to this was in 1992 for my grandparents' 50th wedding celebration in Phoenix. And before that, it may have been for Craig's funeral in 1982. As I look at this photo I'm struck by how different these siblings are from one another, and also by their similarities.  For exampl...

My cousin Jimmer (James Taft Fredette) was married to Whitney Jean Wonnacott on Friday, June 1 in the Denver LDS temple.  This is a big deal for a couple of reasons:  although I have fourteen Fredette cousins and nine of them are LDS, only four of them have been married in the temple.  So adding another was pretty cool.  Plus, having the sealing be in Denver rather than in Salt Lake,  Jordan River, Frankfurt, or Washington, DC (where my other cousins were married) was pretty awesome.  First of all, our entire family was able to make the trip to Denver together---not a small feat since Jared doesn't take summer vacations.  (He had to work the Saturday before the wedding in order to go.)  We stayed at our favorite Denver hotel, the Drury Inn.  On Friday we drove to the temple, stopping on the way to eat at IHOP (Taylor's request).  Once at the temple we found my parents, who had driven up from Tuba City, where they're s...

Jared and I were on our way home from the temple yesterday when Caleb called.  He told us that Isaac had been hit with a baseball bat and needed stitches.  A couple hours later Isaac and I were in the ER getting his poor face taken care of.  I'm grateful he was okay; the damage could've been much worse. Still, seeing her child like this just makes a mom feel bad.

Taylor hit a milestone last month:  Her Magic Day arrived.  The Magic Day was her passport to freedom, aka Dating and Driving.  For a girl who's felt sixteen since she was half that age, this was a big deal! Her friend Quincy purchased tickets to a rodeo months in advance. She planned her whole day around going to the rodeo with several kids from Fort Morgn. First, she showered and was off to take her driver's test in Holyoke.  I was a little worried things weren't going well when it took longer than expected, but she passed her test. She came home long enough for me to call our insurance company and then left for Sterling, where her friends picked her up and whisked her off to Greeley.  I next saw her the following day (Jared went to get her--and our vehicle--late that night).  She still looked and felt like my kid, but I knew she felt different inside.  The Magic Day will do that to a girl.   I think the flowers were her fav...

I remember pitching to Caleb when he was four and thinking, "Wow. He can really hit."  He had a good swing.  And he loved to play.  He'd beg me to pitch to him just an hour after we'd finished playing, and many days included multiple rounds of baseball.  He just couldn't get enough.  He didn't play with many toys, but from an early age, he loved balls:  big, bouncy ones; little ones, and, later, white balls with red laces.  That was ten years ago, and nothing has changed except the fact that I'm no longer Caleb's best playing partner. I'm just not tough enough. I don't throw far enough. And I certainly don't pitch well enough to challenge him. Whenever I ask Caleb what he'd like to be he replies, "A pro baseball player."  So I've started saying, "What about after that?"  and he says, "A manager."  I  suggested he'd be a good baseball statistician,  lawyer, engineer, or sports broadcaster.  Nope...

This year Isaac is the correct age to play machine pitch baseball. (In Haxtun kids play tee ball at ages 5-6, machine pitch at 7-8, and begin the Little League program with Pee Wee ball at age 9).  Because we are short kids in the 9-11 age range, he and 3 friends were moved up to play PW this summer.  Isaac is not a bad baseball player at all; in fact, as you'll read  below, he can be a very good player.  He sometimes lacks a little focus and game sense. But today, in a PW tournament game against Holyoke Green, he and his Haxtun friends played their hearts out.  In fact, they played well enough to take 3rd place in the league.  I was concerned in the first inning because Holyoke made several great plays and allowed us no runs. But we turned around and, amazingly, did the same to them. We played better than we are, even making  a triple play in one inning. Yah, a triple play:  Clayton caught a ball, threw it to third, and the 3rd baseman thre...

I'm not sure why I equated the idiom "I'm submarined" with the song "The Yellow Submarine", but that's where my title comes from.  I'm just living in the Andersen submarine.  I'm also feeling just a little sunk. We've had a couple of rough nights at our house: late nights, followed bylong nights with restless kids, coinciding with friends needing emergency help at 3:30 a.m.  And rough nights usually mean rough days.  So today, as I was dealing with my own rough day, I had to deal with multiple others who were having their own rough days.  I'll admit:  teenage girls, distraught elementary schoolers, and an overtired, overactive preschooler with no listening ears and little understanding of the way his actions affect others make a loooooong day.  Really long.  A few of these summer days have rivaled the difficult days I often had when my three-under-four were young.  For the first time in a long time, I reached into my old fil...

What do we do with: Teenage girls who get emotional Kids who need help memorizing math facts Kids who get tired & cranky (or tired & naughty) A car that thinks it needs to rest (it's being repaired) when we need it to be driven Bills we'd rather not pay A kid whose only worry about college & a mission is how he'll pay for both Apricot trees raining on our lawn A disgusting #10 can of dehydrated beans which no one likes (they were free...guess that means they could get thrown out...wow.) A hotel reservation in Lamar, CO....length of which is determined by performance in a baseball tourney Kids who are not motivated enough to do what is asked Kids who need or want money Kids who need to work more Kids who don't want to work Programs which  are unimportant,  but which we feel obligated to participate in Siblings who don't keep in touch Parents who don't keep in touch The garage sale pile We realize that most of these things are wo...

Sometimes I like to talk.  Talking helps me  figure things out.  I have a lot of one-sided conversations, and, sometimes, I talk to Jared. (I think he gets sick of hearing the same things, so I try to spare him.)   That said, sometimes I don't enjoy talking to Heavenly Father.  First of all, I'm way too distractable to offer great prayers. With a lot of effort I can say decent, sincere prayers. With monumental effort I can listen --a little--for answers.  (Luckily, I like to read, so if the answer comes in written form--in the scriptures or in my patriarchal blessing--I'm all set...at least, once I realize it's intended for me, and not someone else in the reading audience.)  I guess Heavenly Father knew we all have different abilities & styles, and I think that's why we have multiple ways of finding answers.  This weekend, he answered my prayers in a powerful way.  The process was long, and I doubt it's over, but through p...

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This year was Kenna's last year on the 9-12  year-old softball team.  I think she's played three years now.  (She waited a year so her friends Riley and Dawson, both on her left, could also play.) She began the season catching,but was moved to third base toward the end of the season. (Kenna doesn't like to be hot, so it was a welcome change.)  McKenna  progressed from being a consistent batter to being a consistenly powerful batter, hitting  grand slam in Tuesday's game.  Kenna's team plays good defense and they hit well, too...well enough to win the Border League Championship.  This photo was taken in Ogallala, where today's temp. was just about 100*.  Tuesday the girls played in 108* weather.  Parents brought shade tents, igloo water coolers, and ice towels.  The girls used every single drop of water on Tuesday.  Today, they had enough left to do this to their coach:

These are some of the cute & funny things Corbin has said recently.  I  think I'll laugh pretty hard when I read these in a few years. "This is the Last Day of Supper"  for his primary talk (instead of "The Last Supper"). At bedtime, when he asked for bread and butter for his snack, he said, "DO you know how to make that?"  (He'd only been given that by Jared, never by me.) At the ballgame---Corbin came running up to me followed by Mason Bornhoft.  Corb was yelling, "He's going to tell on me!"  I calmly asked , "Why? What's going on?" after Corbin and Mason both tried to talk,  Corbin exclaimed, "He's being mean!!"  and Mason shot back, "But he was watching me pee!" At the dinner table on Friday, after he'd asked what the next day was:  "I thought you were meanting [meaning] it was Sunday. 'Cause if it was, boy I'd hafta get busy on Father's Day presents!" ...

Today I asked Corbin what his favorite part of summer is. Without hesitation he said, "Pot Fighting!". He pronounced the phrase strangely, and I had to ask him to repeat himself several times. Finally, it dawned on me... this is what he meant! (I know the pot looks dangerous. I'm tempted to say it's not. I know, I should know better than to let my kids do this, but it's better than TV, better than climbing on the garage roof, and much better than the squabbling these boys have been doing lately. So, for now, pot fighting stays.)

Field day is usually held just a couple of days before school is out.  My kids have always loved it.  The races (100 m dash and 400m run) and tug-o-war are always the highlight, but there are lots of other fun events, too:  softball toss, soccer kick, shoe kick, free throws, jump rope, hula hoop, long jump).  The kindergarten-sixth grade participate in field day and the 7/8 graders help with the events.  Here are this year's photos. Isaac, with his friends Kya Thacker, Cash Nab, and Ella Coffin. Caleb, Mason Edwards, tate Knapp, Aaron Michael, Megan Brown, Ashely murillo, and Callie Dickerson Kenna, with Eli Meakins,Molly brown, Riley Thompson, and Fernie  Isaac vs. Owen in the 100 m dash

Haxtun's annual FFA banquet was last week.  We felt very gratified that our  favoritist  FFA member won the Star Greenhand award.  In FFA, "Greenhand" refers to a new member.  The Star Greenhand is basically the best new member, or the highest award that a first-year member can receive.   Taylor's advisor, Jeff Plumb, recognized her leadership ability and the  effort she's put into her SAE project.  (Her job at the Daily Grind qualifies for the project.)  The video isn't the greatest; I'd just been given the camera (mother's day!) and the banquet was the first I'd used it. Taylor couldn't decide what her favorite thing was that she did this year was... Her highlights were attending the National FFA conference in Indiana this fall and becoming a Chapter Officer for next year.

It's no secret that kids grow up. Initially they're content with the simplest things.  They love their siblings unconditionally, Laugh spontaneously, And find joy in crazy, child-like pleasures. Then they get hormones. They get friends. They get busy. They morph. And one day they do this. ( Her prom date was Garrett Schafer, an old friend whose girlfriend had to go to her prom at another school that night.  They don't do many of the same activities, but they enjoyed their time together at prom. And I enjoyed knowing it was a "just friends" situtation.) They begin High School, get driver's permits, get jobs, play sports, start seminary, and their "but you said I could(s)" and eye rolls drive us crazy on a regular basis.  The good thing is, there are rays of sunshine which shine through the clouds and give even the most harried parents hope.  After prom, many of those rays came in the form of other's comme...