The above video is showing Andrew's personality as
he records Jeremy pushing mom over the edge, literally.
I thought it would be fun for you to hear what he's like
these days.
As I was looking at pics and videos to put on the blog
I realized this was the first time I had heard Jeremy's
recording. He sure had a lot of fun with this and I
thought you would like to hear this side of him.
Here is my brother Daniel and his wife Megan. I believe this picture was taken at Christmas. Shortly before they found at they were expecting. They kept it from their family until she was 12 weeks along! I don't know how they could sit on that kind of info for that long! 
Lilly found this apple sitting on grandma's table. She munched on it for about 1/2 an hour. The thing was so big she could barely hang on to it. 
Here is Jeremy goofing off with his friend Cody in the background. Of course Andrew is trying to hide his face. Lately to get any pics of Andrew I have to threaten him. We were at Jumping Jacks in this pic and the next few ones. They have several bounce houses set up in a warehouse and we go every once in a while. This time the boys really needed to get some wiggles out. It was near Thanksgiving and we'd had some cold weather so everybody was feeling stir crazy. 
They have a big fan for all the kids to cool off with. Jonah's enjoying the breeze. 
Lilly was scared of all the big colorful puffy things that were not stable (bounce houses) so I spent my time following her around while she watched everybody play. She also pretended to play video games and played with the kiddie toys. 
Andrew on the move. One of his favorite things to do right now is to chase his brothers around. This is a great place to do that except that they are not supposed to run, but do you think the Dutton boys pay attention to the rules when there is fun involved??? 
Andrew is in beginning band this year and is playing the clarinet. He was orginally going to the play the sax but was told that learning the clarinet was the same as the sax, except it was easier to start with. He wants to play the bass sax, which is a huge instrument, next year. We will have to see. This pic is from their Christmas concert. 
Lilly often does a wake up call for Jeremy in the mornings. He sleeps on a trundle and so he's at the perfect height for Lilly to climb all over him in the morning. 
The boys and I went on a hike with my dad one day during Christmas break. We hiked one of the nearest volcano knolls. The boys had a ton of fun going up and down the slopes. 
Here is Jonah resting in the shade. 
Andrew was antsy to have the snack I brought (as he eats like a horse already!!)so he stuck close to me. Grandpa was trying to get pictures. He really enjoys scenic views. 
Jonah and Jeremy were in their own little world while we were there and it was really nice to see them play together so well. That doesn't happen as often as I'd like. And like Jonah is showing here we had to empty shoes often and still brought quite a bit of lava rock home in shoes, pants and sweaters. 
I love this pic. They were all cuddled up. I don't ususally let them sleep together because they get all riled up, rough house and then someone ends up getting hurt. They must have been exhausted on this night. The video below is from Jumping Jacks. The kids had a blast and burned off a lot of energy.
we are still kicking. Things have been so extremely busy lately. Our computer crashed again a few months ago and then we had a lot of changes occur of late that has kept me so busy I don't know what to do with myself. I've actually avoided even looking at anybody's blogs because I feel so guilty I can't keep mine up. My New Year's resolution is to, at the very least, begin working on it again in January and update you on what the Dutton's have been up to. Don't give up on me yet! We love you all and wish you a Very Merry Christmas. May you all be healthy, happy and wise!!!
Love, Vera
Here is my daughter with her 2 fingers
in her mouth. I wonder if it will be twice
as hard to break her of the habit...
I came in one night to head to bed and
caught her sleeping like this. I just had
to take a pic.
I was taking a lot of pics of her this day,
but her trying to grab the camera all the
while showing of her red (and swollen) eye
was the cutest one.
Her dear big brother wasn't thinking ahead
when he flipped a toy in her direction. She
survived with two little cuts, one on her lid
and another just below her eye. It was a
little scary at first because of where the
bottom cut was it looked like she had bloody
tears.
Lilly has the cutest kisses and I was afraid they
would go away so I had record it before they did.
This is so dang cute, but who knows I might be biased!
When Jeremy started his music Lilly really got into it.
She still dances, even to hymns occasionally, and has,
on occasion, sung along. Enjoy!!!
I am a bit of slacker, as you all probably
know by now and waited until the last day
of school after the bell rang to get pics of
the kids with their teachers this year.
Jonah really enjoyed Mrs. Sabiatis this
year. I didn't get a chance to know her
as well as the other boys' teachers. I do
know that she is a great teacher and even
Jonah said that Lilly might end up having
her as a teacher in a few years. I was
impressed with her in that on the last day
of school as she let them out the door that
she was so sad to see them go she was
crying. It was nice to see her love her kids
so much! At the end of the year they did
a reader's theatre and I think Jonah really
enjoyed doing it and he did great at it!
Mr. Judd was Andrew's teacher this year.
I really like him. He has a way of really trying
to teach the kids lessons of morality along with
teaching them the curriculum. I know some
of what he taught was being moral, treating
others the way you would want to be treated,
honesty, working hard, etc. He was a good
teacher for Andrew. Andrew didn't enjoy the
student teacher so much because he was harder
on him then Mr. Judd. He's a little worried he
might end up in Fossil Ridge as a teacher this
coming school year, but he's really hoping not.
One of his favorite activities this year was to
do the rocket launch at the end of the year.
That would be Andrew, he loves all things
science!
Mrs. Paxman is wonder woman! I really got
to her know her as I helped out in her class a
couple of years ago when Andrew was her
student. Back then he enjoyed being the class
clown. Luckily he's eased up on that. She is a
great teacher and my favorite out of all the kids
teachers. She is just amazing and really cares
about her kids in all ways. She pushes them,
encourages them and really does love them and
want the best for them. She has survived two
of my boys and is still in the running. Jeremy
enjoyed making great gingerbread houses in
her class.
It was a crazy year and it seemed even harder
to keep up with then the previous year. I was
totally ready for summer to come. I'm thankful
for the wonderful teachers my kids have had in
the past and look forward to seeing what is
coming this year.
