Mountain House park

Check this out:
While doing a search to find directions to a local park, I came across this web site that has pictures of our parks here in Mountain House. I found a picture from summer of 2008 of our ward summer potluck/picnic. There I was and Gary too! We were playing a game of volleyball. Gary was actively playing and i was mostly standing there. I thought it was funny to see us there. I never knew the picture was even taken. Scroll through the pictures and see if you can spot us.

www.ci.mountainhouse.ca.us/parks-and-rec.asp

Halloween fun

Gary really enjoys dressing up for Halloween! Sadie was his little prisoner. You can see Sadie's eyes the background of the picture directly above this caption. She looks very spooky and Gary looks pretty scary!

Allen & Jenny's wedding pictures

On October 8, 2009 Allen Andrews (my nephew) married Jenny in El Segundo, Ca. These are some family pictures I took during the wedding and reception that followed.

G&M'S BIRTHDAY/MIMI'S FAREWELL

September's visit to San Marcos we celebrated Mandy and Gary's birthdays. We also said goodbye to my niece Miriam who will be leaving on a 18 month mission to the south of France. We will miss her very much but know she will make a good missionary and we are all very happy she will be serving the Lord and sharing the gospel!! We love you Mimi!!

AUDREY CUTENESS

Here are some pictures from my recent trip to Utah.
Audrey is growing and changing very quickly.
She is lots of fun and is just a bundle of energy!!!

Homemade Yogurt

I purchased a yogurt maker a couple of months ago and have been enjoying making my own yogurt. It is easy to do and the yogurt tastes so good!! Yogurt makers are hard to find in stores so I searched the web and ordered one online. The one I got is called Tribest YoLife and I found it on goorganics.com I chose this one because it has the versatility of making either a small or large batch. It came with 7 small glass jars and 2 covers for the top of the yogurt maker. The small cover is for the small jars and the tall cover is for larger jars such as pint or quart size canning jars for larger batches. Yogurt makers are basically incubators that keep your milk at an even temperature for about 8 hours. All you do is buy some plain (live cultures) yogurt to use as starter. Measure out the amount of milk you would need to fill the jars you will be using. I use 1 or 2% milk. Heat the milk on the stove to 180 degrees (use a candy thermometer) stirring it the whole time. Then let it cool to 120 degrees, add the plain yogurt to it (approx. 4 oz - 6 0z)
Mix it in well with a whisk and pour it into the jars that are placed in the incubator. Put the lid on, plug in and let sit for about 8 hours. If you are making a larger batch it may take a little longer. If you want thicker yogurt add some instant dry milk powder to the milk while you are heating it. I usually add about 1/3 cup for a small batch and 2/3 cup for a large batch.
When your yogurt is done, cover your jars and place in refrigerator. You can add whatever flavorings/fruit you want. I use fresh yogurt in fruit smoothies(my breakfast everyday) and in place of sour cream. Remember to save some of your yogurt to use as your starter for your next batch.
Gary has discovered that he can not tolerate sugar. The flavored yogurt you buy all have sugar. This yogurt is so much better for you and I believe the taste is far superior to what you can buy. You may need to experiment a little as my first couple of batches didn't turn out as well. Making your own also saves $$$ The yogurt makers are about $35.

Hyrum and Tiffany

Here are some fun pictures of their family. Tiffany had a wedding she wanted to go to in the bay area , so they stayed with us last weekend. Rachel and Emma were so cute. We just loved having them here!

GRANDPA'S LETTER TO MY DAD

This is a picture of my grandfather on the left, Earl Kemp Andrews. Next to him are 3 of his children. My Aunt Lois, my dad Joe and my uncle Ron on the right. The baby is Aunt Lois's granddaughter Nicole. This picture was probably taken in 1974.
Recently while rummaging through some old papers, I found a letter among many letters that my grandfather wrote to my dad. It brought back old memories and made me wish that we still wrote letters to each other. These letters that I have would make a good journal as well. Here is the letter that I'd like to share: It is dated July 10, 1961. We lived here in California and he lived some 800 miles away in Washington. I think he really missed us!!

Dear Joe and Family;

I have put off writing hoping to hear from your Uncle Earnest Andrews. As I told you He said that he was going to come out this summer. I wrote to him and he has not wrote back so I don't know what he intends to do. I really don't believe we should even think that he might come so you just come on up. So you folks just come on up anytime you are ready. I am so anxious to see you all. I don't think I ever wanted to see anybody as much as I do you folks.
Catherine's dad passed away and we, Catherine and I took him back to Wisconsin and he was buried along side of his mother. We went back with his body on the train and after the funeral we came back on an airplane. The government paid the expense of his funeral as he was a (Spanish?) American war veteran.
That is all over now and we are about back to normal there for a long time He was in the hospital at Walla Walla awful sick and we were up there every day. Also Catherine was staying there near him some of the time and then after such a long time he passed away and then all the anguish of him passing away Catherine is just now getting over all the strain. She and I had to arrange and tend to everything without any help from her folks but it is all over now and everything is going to be all right, so you folks just come on up now. I sure do want to see the children and there is so much that I want to talk with you about.
I am not going to write anymore for I am expecting to see you real soon. You just tell Eleanor and all the children to get in the car and you just start driving on up that road for old dad wants to see you and all them so bad. Don't wait just start right now.

Give our love to all,
Dad

KIDS IN A CAGE

For some reason when little kids come over to my house they like to get in the Sadie's crate.
Sadie doesn't mind and I guess the kids like the secure feeling of being locked up? Or maybe they just like exploring. The first 2 pics are my nephews and nieces, Kyle, JT, Hannah and Sarah. The last one is of my granddaughter Audrey.

HAPPINESS IS A NEW ROBE!!!

Audrey came for a visit recently and I had made her a new robe. It does look a little big on her, but I think by winter it should fit her perfectly. She does look very happy in this picture. I think maybe she is waving to the camera. Audrey you have won your grandma's heart! I am ready and willing to spoil you kid.

SUNSET BEACH

We spend a few days camping on the beach with Paul,Marissa, Audrey and Paul's family. The weather was great and as you can see the sunsets were beautiful. We found out that Audrey does not like the sand on her feet, especially in her toes!!

Childhood memories of summer vacation

This is a picture of me (on the far left) with my family on vacation in Washington state. We would go there every year around this time to visit my grandparents. Phil is seating on my dad's lap, Joseph in between my parents and Ken on my mom's lap. We always enjoyed going there and have lots of fond memories of summers up there.

JUST A DORK!

OK, I don't have any really cute baby pictures to post. So I thought I'd just put some pics of our DORKY Dog Sadie!! She sleeps in the weirdest postions and really likes just being in her crate.