...and the rest of the summer

I had the boys help me write some of the captions on these pictures and My thoughts are in italics.



We celebrated our 12th anniversary in June and Brian got called as EQ Pres- (the fun never stops around here!) The Stake President and I got to have a little chat prior to his call ( I know a few of you have enjoyed this same pleasure!) I feel very blessed to have such a wonderful husband!

Brandon: I took this picture!



Brandon: It's my birthday. We had an Amazing Race around the house. My cake was ALL chocolate with cookie dough ice cream in the middle
Matthew: The Amazing Race was wild- we had kids all over the house running around.

We had a great time with Brandon's birthday- what else do you do with a bunch of boys in the middle of the summer and you just don't want to go swim????




Matthew: Zachary is trying to drink water out of the hose and he is getting soaked instead. This happens all the time.

Zach loves the water! He always wants the hose on- which alwasy results in the complete soaking of himself- but at least it dries quick!


Andrew: I love reading books and I like the pictures in them.





Matthew: Andrew's big book mess. He pulled the whole bottom shelf of books out.

Oh my dear Andrew- he really does love reading and I never want to discourage reading but this is what I come find in the boys room so very often. Ahhhh.... Also, he has taken to sleeping on the floor most of the summer so he can sleep under the fan. His blanket and pillow are amid the book stack. He has the bottom bunk and truthfully it is pretty hot under there, so I don't blame him, but it is just one more thing to clean up!



Brandon's braces. The 5th of August. They are orange if you want to see them.

Matthew: Brandon got his braces- this is the first day of school he has his braces on.

Thankfully, thankfully we got his braces on prior to school, since he didn't really eat anything for five days and was a little irritable!


Andrew: It's Andrew's first day of school and I'm lining up. I sit in the front row, the blue row. August 10th. The thing I love about school is PE and music.

A few days after school had started we were talking to Andrew about PE. The first day of PE they had played with hula hoops and he thought that was really cool. He was telling us that PE wasn't so fun that day. In response to our question as why it wasn't fun he said, " We had to exercise!"


Andrew: It's me and Zachary at Benjamin Franklin. It's my first day of school. August10.

Andrew: Its Andrew, Zachary, Brandon and Matthew. August 10

Matthew: It's our first day of school. Zachary thinks he is going to school. But in the afternoon he got pretty lonely and when he came to pick us up he got so excited, that he said OH BOY!

Zachary and I were driving to pick the boys up on the first day of school- he had been quite lonely all afternoon. Lest you think he takes a great nap and I have all afternoon to myself, I must set the record straight... I get maybe 1/2 hour nap out of him and then it's back to two year old antics. When the school came into view through his window he started screaming, Oh Boy, Boy, Boy! I'm grateful at this point he loves having them around. I'll admit I kind of missed them all too.

it's the real thing.

Family. it's the real thing. We got together with Brian's family in Duck Creek, UT for a week in July. Dawn and I, who were the lucky planners of this years reunion had been trying to come up with something to put on a t-shirt when we ran across an old photo of her wearing a Coke jacket with the words- it's the real thing- written on it. Because Grandpa White worked for Coke the Teuscher kids always had a few Coke things to wear through the years, so it seemed like a fun idea to use. Half of Brian's family we hadn't seen since the last reunion two years ago- his family is spread all over the US. We had a great time together. I know it sounds cliche- but we really had fun together. I hope all the kids realized that family *is the real thing*- it is where they will find the greatest happiness in their lives. I know my kids came home happy and with a week full of fun memories! ( and so did Brian and I :-))



On the last cast of the evening Brandon finally caught a trout. You can't beat a smile like that. A boy and his first fish.

Matthew and his catch.

Andrew- with the first cast of the evening- reels one in- it is so typical Andrew!


Dawn whistling in Zachary's ear with a reed. Zachary LOVES Dawn. She really is his second mother.

Cedar Breaks. Pictures from these National Parks that we visited hardly do them justice. They are places you have to experience to understand the magnitude of their beauty. When young boys are visibly impressed and express such you know that it truely is.

Teuscher Family 2009


The Cousins.


We divided everyone into teams and had various activities/competitions thruought the week. The highlight at the end of this activity was the Coke/Mentos experiment. (Andrew is in the orange bandana)

Aspen Mirror Lake was a ten minute walk from the cabin. The kids all loved hiking up and playing on the rocks, finding sticks, fishing or finding fishing supplies discarded on the banks to use in their fishing store. These abandoned finds were then sold to the younger cousins, who thought it was cool to buy something from the store. The money was then taken to Ace Hardware ( 2 minute walk up the road) for brand new fishing hooks. At least the money went for fishing supplies and not to the shaved ice right next door!

Walking to the lake. James, Matthew, Andrew, Cassidy, Brandon, Noah.

We hiked a portion of the Narrows in Zions Canyon.

The dot in the middle right of the picture is Brandon's head, who despite the mucky water decided floating was the way to hike!

This is what Zach thought of the magnificent scenery!

We played frsibee golf at Brian Head one morning. Brandon teeing off on the first hole

Finished with three holes! It took us an hour adn a half to get us through three holes!

And just like the photos we took of the national parks we went to, these photos don't really tell the whole story. You have to be there to experience it. I guess that is why pictures are priceless. They remind you of the feelings you had and bring you back to those moments. Thanks family for a wonderfully fun week! We love you all.

Overheard...

Sunday evening as we were eating dinner and discussing the children's lessons at church that afternoon Andrews turn came around. He told us they had talked about the 2000 stripling warriors. Brian asked him if he knew what the 2000 Stripling Warriors had done in order to come out victorious.... his response.... they used their secret attack mode. Maybe we'll have to discuss some practical applications of "secret attack mode" at a later date.

We obviously don't get many "girly" sayings around our house, but as I came down into the kitchen the other day the boys were putting together some new Space Police legos and discussing new shirts they would like. One said," I want a shirt that says, I heart Snake." Another said, " I want one that says, I heart Kranxx." Another said, "NO I want one that says I heart Skull Twins!" Chalk that up to things they hear at school- they definitely didn't hear any I heart (whatever) around here. It was just amusing to hear the boys I hearting things! I guess it is better to hear Lego names than girl names, right???

The Fish

Matthew gets the Fish award for the summer. He was in the pool more than anyone! He improved leaps and bounds throughout June and July. Probably only Jenny will appreciate the improvement in the before and after photos! The most important aspect of the summer is HE enjoyed it. Korbin, one of his best friends swam with him and the two of them just had fun being in the water. They loved getting a ribbon after each race and we loved that sometimes they would be in the last heats which typically would have 3-4 swimmers instead of 8, and they would "emerge victorious" with a second or third place ribbon! It does wonders for the self confidence.

1st Meet- notice that white skin- and the googles must be 110% fully suctioned to the eyes so to leave large red racoon prints when removed.

Last meet- he is totally brown and not an ounce of fat

First meet- the whole head must be out of the water to get a breath! I was on the wrong side of the pool on the last meet to get an after shot- but the head turn was not so dramatic.

Churning those fists as fast as possible!

Finally.....a straight arm!

4th of July

We headed down to San Diego for the Fourth. We even did another 5K along the coast. We brought the scooters for the boys this year in thoughts they would stay with me while I walked with Zach. But I should have known they do have thier fathers DNA which amounts to a fair bit of competitiveness. Instead they were zipping along far faster than I anticipated. Thankfully there were enough adults running along they could keep an eye on them. Matthew who seems to posess a greater portion of Teuscher DNA insisted that he could scooter the whole 5K. As he passed me on the way to the finish at Uncle Sam the surfer, I tried to get him to walk with me back to the end. "NO WAY, " he screamed as he passed me, " I need to get third in the ADULT race. (Last year we had an adult race and a kids race- hence his comment) I give him credit- he did it!- and he was exhausted the rest of the day!

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We spread mulch all around mom and dad's yard and swam the rest of the afternoon.
NOTHING beats homemade ice-cream for desert on the 4th ( or anytime else for that matter)

All my bags are packed (away ) and I’m ready to (stay)… I’ll take a bit of liberty in changing some John Denver lyrics… we are winding down to our last week of summer and we finally got the suitcases packed away and I’m happy they are going to be there for awhile. It happened to be one of those summers where we were gone and then home, gone and then home.. you get the idea. We hit our favorite summer places New York and San Diego and then threw in a family reunion in Southern Utah. Matthew busied himself with swim team while we were here and showed his quiet determination throughout the season. We spent most days in some sort of water- whether the pool, the water parks, splash pads or sprinklers- there is no other way to get through these scorching days! So here's to the joy of summer vacation..... and the thought of getting the kids back in school (I'm quietly excited :-))

vacation

We felt like Noah this year in New York.....it rained and rained and rained AND rained. We had to get a bit more creative with things to do.

Thankfully it was sunny one afternoon so we could head for the beach!We got smart this year and actually brought some bigger shovels so we could make some BIG castles and forts! It was most fun to be able to hide in them!

We hunted for Goliath the 100 year old turtle that lives in the duck pond. Everyone spent the entire time hanging over the edge of the bridge dangling reeds in hopes we could entice Goliath out.... the kids persisitance paid off and Goliath appeared.

The boys wrote, directed and made costumes for a reinactment of the Stanley Cup Playoffs this year between the Red Wings and Penguins. Andrew was Marc Andre Fleury, Matthew was Nicholas Lindstrom and Brandon was Sydney Crosby. Notice Andrew's great goalie stick- I guess lacrosse has a dual purpose. They even covered a lantern in foil to hoist above thier heads- I think it was their favorite part to lift the "stanley Cup" above their heads.

The reinactment even had some cross- checks!Thank goodness for well placed mats!

The beach umbrellas even got used as the goals.


They built a fort on the hill-- they roasted hot dogs and marshmallows in their fire pit. Played in the forest and even fell a tree.

Addendum...

Here's an addendum to the below post... Here's another reason you may feel like an adult... we went wakeboarding with some friends Memorial Day. I've never been wakeboarding and it took me MULTIPLE times to get up, and even when I managed to get myself up I couldn't get myself straight and hence made a quick beeline for the wake, managed a bit of a scream ( see photo) and then crashed. My arms and back were SO VERY sore the days after.

The kids who went boarding had no issues what-so-ever- and with a solid nights sleep (I mean SOLID) were good as new.

It seems that I'm finding new wisdom and understanding in the phrase "Young at Heart"!

This is one of my favorite pictures from the day:

Brandon did a great job of getting up- we were quite impressed. Matthew and Andrew enjoyed the confines of the tube, though Matthew did promise he would try to board the next time we went.

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Random Musings

Over Sunday dinner, and sometimes other times during the week, we pull out a " Table Topic". (I found this great cube full of Family Table Topics that help stimulate conversations) Last weeks topic was " How do you know you are an adult" or " What makes someone an adult"- something to that effect. We had a few suggestions thrown out for discussion, but yesterday I came to a difinitive answer. You know you are an adult when getting a new home appliance/ household item makes you really excited. My Mother's Day present ( along with birthday, anniversary, Christmas and anything else Brian fit in this year) arrived yesterday afternoon. A new VACUUM. And I was thrilled. A vacuum that really sucks things up and actually works is a wonderful thing. Our old one is slowly dying- I can't stand to use it, so I generally end up bringing the shop-vac in from the garage because it does better than what I've got. It is a real pain, but all in the name of clean floors, right? I realize I have matured over the years and I guess I have grown up. To give some perspective, our first Christmas together we received an ice cream maker from Brian's younger brother and I almost cried( knowing me I probably did- I just can't remember now) An ice-cream maker? Granted I did not understand and realize the significance of this gift at the time. Sorry Jamie. So twelve years later I'm thrilled with a vaccuum- does it mean I've grown up? Probably some. But it's a good thing.



While vacuuming yesterday- yes, we vacuumed the ENTIRE house- I found a note the leprechauns left at our house on St. Patricks Day. The boys asked them their names this year. And wouldn't you know they indulged the boys request! The names of the leprechauns that visited our house this year were: Stinky Twinkletoes, Sneaky O'Grady and Wee Short Legs. They tatalked and talked about these names for days. Dont you love it when holidays turn out fun. :-) :-)



I'm so grateful by boys had wonderful teachers this year. Both of these women truly put their heart and soul into teaching and we are the fortunate recipiants. The last day of school was Thursday and it was a bittersweet day. There were a few sad faces around the breakfast table- the bitter was in control and a few emotional moments from the students and the teachers during the day. But by the time everyone was home we were excited- the sweet had overtaken the bitter. And not having to make lunches Friday morning was definitely sweet.



In December I was released as the Primary President in our ward, by January I had been called as the Stake Nursery Leader. I have such a wonderful opportunity to work with absolutely outstanding women- they are a model of precision, love and unity and how a presidency should function. This spring has been one event after another- 11 Scout Camp ( thankfully we got to come home and sleep), Stake Leadership Meetings, Cub Scout Day Camp and Ward Conferences. Ifeel very fortunate to work with such aswome, strong women.

You Know You live in a House Full of Boys when....

Andrew decides the best Mothers Day present they can give me is a huge dog pile and I have to be on the bottom!

Zachary whose vocabulary is not where it should be at 18mos- can make great gun noises and has the intonation and beat down to " We will, we will rock you, rock you!" and the Indiana Jones theme song! Nice.