That's Right - He's 12!

Andrew celebrated with his traditional cinnamon roll.  No one ever complains about that (by the of May we are so done with cake)

 If you look past the fake smile and squenty eyes this kid is supper happy to be 12!  He got ordained to the preisthood at our house after the cousin party.  He is so excited to be able to pass the sacrament.  He will do a great job.

 We have a tradition that for your 12th birthday you get to go on a trip, somewhere in the US, with just mom or dad.  Andrew and Greg cooked up a trip to Monterey, California to look for whales.  Their trip didn't happen till June, but as you can tell from the smile on Andrew's face, he had a blast.

 One of the perks- getting to order BBQ Chicken Pizza without anyone complaining or having to share.

They went kayaking one day and out in the whale watching boat the next.

Here is Andrew's report:

We saw seals 2 feet from our kayak. We also saw sea otters just as close. We also saw a purple striped jellyfish and moon jellies.  For dinner we had pizza and I had Hazelnut Ice Cream. The next day we went on the boat. The first whale we saw I spotted and it was a Minke Whale. Then we saw a ton of humpbacks randomly. Towards the end we saw a group of Rissos Dolphins they had a ton of scars from the squid they eat. The next day we went out and found some humpbacks feeding - it was so cool they would come up with their mouths full and stretched out. While they were feeding you could see little fish everywhere.

A Bit of Spring Randomness

 As the snow cleared this spring Andrew discovered a foxes den in an undeveloped part of our neighborhood.  We watched it for weeks but decided the couple had abandoned it.  Then one night Greg and I drove by to see 5 kits playing all around then den.  Andrew and the other kids rode their bikes over and watched the babies play for quite awhile.  After than we drove by as often as possible. So amazing to see right in our neighborhood.

 Just as wild but less cool are the half a dozen snakes Perdita brings in each spring.  As long as the snake is dead or the boys are home to remove it, I don't mind, but when I'm the only one home and it is slithering around my kitchen it makes me cranky.  

After their production of Alice in Wonderland the girls started putting on their own performances here at home.  Here Kate is Alice and Lily is Dinah, the cat.

 Mack's soccer team went to a tournament in Rexburg and won 1st place.  Such a great season.