Dear Family,

We spent Christmas 2016 in Montana with Ivan’s family, where everyone got sick. We had a good time anyway and managed to see Ivan’s aunt and uncle on the way back through Idaho where the kids got a couple blissful days playing with their cousins.

School ended in May for Rachel and her brother (who is living with us). Anatomy was challenging, but not as annoying as the second Introduction to Physical Therapy Assisting class that they took together. In the end, Rachel’s brother decided to try a machining course and they decided against applying for the Physical Therapy Assisting program for this year. Perhaps another year.

School ended in May for the kids, too, and as soon as it was over, Rachel and the girls headed to Southern California for a vacation. They had a blast going to two beaches and visiting with Rachel’s aunt and eating ice cream with Rachel’s uncle in San Diego. The kids’ favorite part was Sea World, where they saw dolphins, sea lions, and orcas, and got to put their hands in water and let little fish nibble at them. It was a blast. Then they drove up to L.A. where they stayed with Rachel’s grandpa and went to Rachel’s sister’s beach house for a day. Everyone loved the beach, even though it was a little cold.

Our family had two vacations this Summer to national parks. Rachel’s grandpa loves the Grand Tetons, so we spent three days with him traveling through Jackson, The Grand Tetons, and Yellowstone National Park. We saw old faithful, but everyone’s favorite part seemed to be the cabin we stayed at in Idaho about an hour away from Jackson. It was a remote location and the scenery was beautiful. The Grand Tetons were awesome and the kids loved wading in the rivers and lakes around the mountains.

Ivan has long dreamed of going to Glacier National Park, and we finally made it this year! Rachel has tried planning this trip three years in a row, so we were pretty excited that we actually made it! The Going to the Sun Road was stunning and we probably stopped way more than we should have to take pictures and look at the scenery. The park is huge and there is so much we didn’t see, but we enjoyed what we could. We rowed a row boat on a lake in the Many Glacier area and went on a ranger led wildflower hike that ended at a lake. The kids are happy anywhere there is water. Even at our campground the kids would have spent every minute in the pool if we had let them (yes, we’re wimpy campers and camp at campgrounds with pools). We only got lost once (the map was wrong - Ivan swears) and we didn’t get eaten by a bear (whew!).

In August, we got to see more of Rachel’s family at her Mom’s family’s first ever family reunion. It was a success and they plan to do it every three years. Also in August, school started. Evelyn started 2nd grade and Avery started 4th. In spite of their teachers promising there would be no homework this year, both kids have Chinese and English homework every night. A lot of it is on the computer, which was a much bigger adjustment than expected. Scheduling our computer between the kids and Mom is dicey at the best of times.

In November, Rachel’s grandpa turned 90, so we went to his open house and visited with Rachel’s sister and nephew in L.A. They were so nice to take care of us twice this year. Then, we spent Thanksgiving at Rachel’s Mom and Dad’s house in Texas. Rachel’s youngest brother officially got engaged while we were there, so we got to hang out with his fiancée and most of Rachel’s family, which was really fun. We even saw an ice skating Santa with fireworks in his skates!

Ivan & Rachel recently lost their job as the ward librarians. They became a gospel doctrine teacher and Relief Society secretary respectively. To say they are excited about their new callings would not be entirely true. Ivan got to go to India for work again, and Rachel got to be jealous again.

Avery is continuing with Irish dance this year and got to start hard shoe. She had a competition in February where she got a medal for her slip jig. She likes competitions, even when she doesn’t win anything. It helps if you buy donuts afterward if you don’t win, though. Especially if they’re from a donut truck.

In February, Avery was in the school play. She was in the guppy ensemble of The Little Mermaid Jr. She got to wear bright orange and dance to “Under the Sea.” She thought it was lots of fun, and loves to do the play every year.

Avery has really started to like reading this year and is less involved with her friends and more content to stay at home. She still plays with the neighborhood kids a lot, but she stays home and reads a book or looks for projects to do more often than she used to. Fourth graders learn Utah history and geography, so she got to go to the state capitol building for a field trip in October. Her favorite thing right now is Shopkins, which are little toy collectibles of items you might buy at the store. She loves them and is very, very offended when her daddy suggests that they might not be awesome. She also loves anything to do with France. She is rather obsessed, and even has Eiffel Tower earrings.

Evelyn likes Chinese, but is sometimes frustrated at not being able to speak English and hates any homework she is given except the online reading game that the school started this year. She is very involved with her friends and would spend any free minute at someone else’s house if she could. When her friends aren’t home to play with she barely knows what to do with herself.

Evelyn quit Tae Kwon Do this year and started gymnastics, which she LOVES. Her favorite thing is the bar. Her teachers say she learns quickly. She likes Math and fixing things. She loves to help install toilet flush handles and smoke detectors. She’s still too short to change lightbulbs, even on a chair, so she has to have someone lift her up. She watched and helped her grandpa install baseboards at his house this Thanksgiving. She’s very outgoing and is always either very happy or very sad or mad.

Hazel turned 3 this year and loves to tag along with her sisters when they go to the neighbor’s house. Her current favorite movie (it changes every couple months) is Disney’s Robin Hood and she does NOT understand why we can’t watch it for every Sunday night family movie. She is adamant about not liking “totatoes,” by which she actually means tomatoes. Potatoes are just fine—especially as tater tots. She likes vegetables a lot and is Mommy’s lunchtime sushi and vegetable buddy. They buy California rolls at the grocery store and she can fit a whole piece in her mouth at once if she does it carefully. Also, sushi must be eaten with chopsticks. She will even get the chopsticks for you if you’re in a hurry and try to eat a piece with your fingers.

Hazel loves playgroup with her friends and story time at the Library. She just started the 1000 books before Kindergarten program that keeps track of the books a child is read before Kindergarten. She gets a sticker every 10 books someone reads to her and she thinks that is so much fun. She loves to be a helper and help stir in the kitchen too. She’s a mellow kid as long as she’s not tired, and more of a home-body personality than her sisters were.

San Martin de Qué is waiting patiently to be born. He has to wait until April to become the first boy in the house (Daddy lost his man card long ago). He likes ice cream, chocolate, and midnight walks on the bladder. We are all excited for him to come, even if the other kids would have preferred another girl.

Love,
The Andrus Family
Ivan, Rachel, Avery, Evelyn, Hazel, and San Martin