We love our stay here in Ivins.  We especially love the backyard and the critters.  Every morning Grandpa faithfully feeds them their birdseed.  As we sit eating our breakfast we can hear them singing a familiar tune.  Do-doot-tu-tu-tu!

Earlier in the month when Jon and Jolynn and their family were here for a visit, Grandpa had the kids all giggling as he told them that our whole family knows the tune the quail sing. We've used it for many years as a call for help when we need something.

All that giggling and storytelling turned out to be very useful when we were visiting in Annabella last week.  There was something missing in the bathroom and as Grandpa hummed out the tune,  Hannah ran, giggling all the way, and got him a fresh roll of toliet paper. 

A few weeks ago I was playing soccer with Kade.

He said something like this "my team is the Black Hulkers. Think of a name for your team."

I said" my team is going to be the Green Grandmas"

"No Grandma", he said "it has to be something cool."

"Uhhhhhh...."

Some Maestri funnies (as told by Jodi)... With her baby brother on the way Emma has had some good questions for Jennie and Jason.  They have a policy of giving straight honest answers to Emma's questions, until Emma asked, "But how does the piggy get the bacon out?" 

Beloved Ellie lives life with an exclamation point.  She feels- Happy!  Sad!  Hungry!  The other day she was wandering around the kitchen saying "Nummy, are you?"  Only Matty could understand hunger so urgent.  He'll have to teach her how to sniff out hidden treats.

Traveling this week with Dad to Sacramento has been a lot of fun and a welcome rest.  But we always have adventures.

It was our plan to visit our friend Laura Kroeker while we were nearby.  Grandma wanted to send her a treat so just as we were leaving she handed us a box of See's and this cute stuffed bunny.  Where to put it in our already stuffed suitcase?

Dad stuffed the little bunny in his carry on with his breathing machine.  Naturally his machine had to be checked by the security guy at the airport.  He raised his eyes in question when he saw the bunny.   Dad just said "I can't sleep without it".   The security guards next question was  "Does it have a name?"

Ahhh!  We lead an adventurous and amusing life.     MOM

Travis loves legos and BYU cougar apparel. He is reading a lot and likes Horrible Harry, Secrets of Droon, Magic Treehouse and information books. Size 8-10.

Alyss is really into crafts and coloring. Also, anything Barbie, Polly Pockets or froofy girlie type stuff. Size 7.

Hannah is into My Little Pony, Barbie, Dora the Explorer and Holly Hobby. Size 5.

Max is into anything with wheels. He likes balls too and board books with farm animals. Size 2-T.

Jolynn likes Deseret Book gift cards and decorating stuff. Jon likes anything to do with Hunting (12 Gauge shotgun shells - pheasant load), Fishing (Bass lures) or tools (Pliers, Vise Grips, Screwdrivers and any other hand tools).

Kade- probably size 4T, shoes 9?  Loves super hero stuff- action figures, pajamas, costumes, etc.  Loves his trains and hot wheels.   Would love "a superman and castle like travis has", justice league anything, "power rangers like Keanon has", and he'd kill for a Batmobile.  He'd like Little Einsteins dvds, and he'd really like for some snow and Matty to visit.

Zach- wearing size 6-12mo right now, he's learning to walk, and likes to figure stuff out (gadget baby).  He loves trucks and things to push.  He loves Jamba Juice, Ellie, Grandpa's camera, and following the big kids.  He could use a CD player for bedroom, lullaby cds, baby einstein dvds, might like Little People gear.

Kyle and I- we hope to be getting our new house set up by Christmas.  We'd love a babysitter (full time would be great, but we'd take an occasional outing instead!). We frequent Jamba Juice, Cafe Rio, and make daily trips to Lowes.  Kyle would love do some skiing.  We ain't proud- we don't mind hand me downs- we could use a portable DVD player for car, laptop or hand me down computer, digital camera (ours doesn't work very well indoors), couch, a great leather chair.  And since the Maestri's brought it up, we sure could use a truck to pull the boat sitting in our driveway. 

Yippee!  Don't you just love Christmas!  Kade thinks we should put "spooky lights on our tree, like a haunted house."  Should be exciting.  We are excited to see you all soon! Love,  Jodi, Kyle, Kade and Zach

Maestri Family Christmas wishes --

Emma
Size: She's just getting too tall for a 2T but is still skinny as ever, so your guess is as good as mine! Shoes size ?
Interests:
Princesses, Carebears, Thomas Tank Engine, and Superheroes
Dressing up and playing pretend
Art projects (coloring, painting, cutting, gluing, etc.)
Books
Movies
Simple Games

Ellie
Size: 12-18 mos, shoes 3
Interests:
Books
Learning to walk and stand-up toys
Blocks, dolls, cars or other age-appropriate toys
She likes soft and fuzzy things, texured things, things she can bang together or pull apart - anything she can do with her little fingers
But mostly she's just interested in anything Emma is doing

Jennie & Jason
Interests:
Dates or family outings
Fun family games or activities
Movies and books
New car (it is a wish list after all, isn't it?)

Christian

Sizes: Pants and Shirts M (8-10), shoes

Kade was looking out the car window while we were driving today and said, "I wish I could be a bird."  Intrigued, I asked why.  "So, I could fly with the birds," he said.  I asked him where he would fly.  He thought about it for a few seconds and said, "To Hannah's."  It looks like it's time for another visit to Richfield!  We love you guys.

You might not recognize this room at the teen cabin.

But it is finally finished and decorated and waiting for someone to come try it out.

Dad wanted some outdoor time so we took a quick trip to the cabin and enjoyed our evening and morning there.

We even managed a cabin breakfast.  The night was cold, but the stars were fabulous when we went for our 3 a.m. walk.

The colors are starting to turn - Wow, we sure love the cabin!

Just so nobody thinks I am a party pooper, I am posting to this blog. I don't have any pictures though on this computer so I am posting this one of my most sunshiney of children. He is the man of a thousand smiley faces. We are excited to see every one at Capitol Reef and to get my second long weekend in a row! WHOOPEE!

Hey, I wonder if I can put any old kind of HTML in here, like a font that is SUPER HUGE.

We  had a fun time at the cabin with Jim, Barb, Christian, Kayson, Keanon, and Kelsey. The boys and grandpa built an A-frame hut.

Grandma Lee requested a Sunday picture of these 8 silly kids, but Christian was too fast at changing out of his Sunday clothes. It was hard enough to get them all to hold still for a minute. The kids had a blast playing in the yard and goofing off together. We had a fun tailgate party with Pizza and hot wings for the BYU football game. Even though they lost we still found hope in a good defense and  some offensive sparks. Tomorrow we hope to play some more and ride four wheelers and romp in the country.

Roland and I visited the Lee's in annabella and spent our first night in the guest roon.  We were disappointed that there isn't a plasma tv and x box in the guest room.

We played with the kids while Jon and Jolynn went to "Back to School " night for Alyssa.   Jon and Roland fed the chickens and played with the dogs and went for a 4-wheeler ride in the rain.

We delivered a new chair to Jon from Costco that has been living in Sarah's garage.  She was glad to get it out of the way.