Anderson Family

Elvis Pezley

2012-01-18T17:02:00.001-07:00

Years ago I bought this at rite-aid as a stocking stuffer for Mom and Dad.

I'm happy to say that it has so far made the cut as they've been going through and de-junking. (Though some of you may argue the quality off their de-junking if this is still around.)

Regardless, I thought it was time it got shared on the blog.

Now that it has, maybe they'll end up getting rid of it...

Published with Blogger-droid v2.0.3

2012-01-02T08:52:00.009-07:00

Ready to open their one Christmas Eve gift

New pjs

more new pjs

This year's joke pjs went to Naomi

and to Nate (I mixed it up this year and threw in an extra joke pair):

doubling up on joke pjs

trying on the joke pjs:

and since I didn't get a picture of all the kids in their new pjs on Christmas Eve, this Christmas morning one will have to do:

Secret pal gifts:

Amanda put together a binder of all sorts of word games and coloring pages for Chris

Tanner made homemade fingerprint stationery for Naomi

Naomi made homemade bubble bath and body scrub for Amanda

Chris bleached a design on a t-shirt for Grace

And Grace (well, really I did it, but Grace helped glue a few pages) hollowed out a book so Tanner can hide his treasures in it

With their albums

trying on whatever she can

Mae got boots for Christmas

excited for part two of Christmas Day

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE!

She's learned from the best

2011-12-23T22:07:00.002-07:00

You teach on so many levels, Mom. Thanks, Mom and Dad, for coming. Love you!

Spanky's First 5k

2011-08-13T12:49:00.006-06:00

Yesterday my friend texted and asked if I wanted to run a midnight 5k. I said yes and posted it on facebook. Spanky asked about it, and ended up coming along.

Spanky before the race.

my camera flash wasn't working at this point because my battery was so low, but you can see the glow sticks on his wrists. they gave them to every runner.

Spanky after the race.

pictured: Kelsey (Jo's daughter), Jo (Annikki's co-worker who went down to Bryce with Annikki and me for the half about a month ago), Annikki (neighbor, I think most if not all of you have met her by now), me, Emily (friend of mine from high school), Spanks

Spanks ran it in about 24:30 - 8th in his age group! I came in 12 minutes later - 36th in my age group... He told me later that he was glad he saw my facebook status about it. So I think he had fun. I had fun. I've wanted to do a midnight run for a while.

Good times.

and way to go Spanks!

The Intramural Champ

2011-06-10T14:04:00.008-06:00

The action shots:

The champs have to win two out of three games against the other team. The other team had already won one game before they met up last night, so they started one game down. After winning one game, they ran with the momentum. During the 7th inning, they got 10 runs ahead (with a score of 16 to 6). With a 10 run gap they call the game, making Spanky's team the championship team.

Good game! . . . But Eden and I were looking for Riley Nelson, yeah, BYU's Quarterback was on the other team (as was a BYU high jumper, and who knows what other collegiate athletes). We couldn't find his yellow shirt.

And then I did.

Sorry for the fuzzy photo. He was "too busy" changing his shoes to congratulate the other team. Seems like Nelson needs to get over himself. He played a good game (even hitting a home run), but suddenly he isn't so impressive.

The Turtles - what a team! I should have grabbed my external flash - what was I thinking. ? Oops.

Maybe a little good luck? . . . but I still question why one of BYU's intramural championship t-shirts is RED.

Below, Clay Hardman, Harper's freshman roommate.

And collecting the coveted shirt. It was late, I'd been asleep the last two nights by the time the second game was over, so I had to excuse myself and make the 40 minute drive home. Sorry for the 2nd fuzzy photo.

Way to go Harper!!!

Two Cute Boys

2011-05-09T20:14:00.002-06:00

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

Josy sent these to Grandma. All new to me.

2011-05-01T23:46:00.004-06:00

Top (Indianapolis
Back row, left to right
Meme, Lico, Little Lico (Benjamin), Me, Grandma, Grandpa
Sitting on the ground, left to right
Pepsi (José), Pancho (Francisco), Arturo, Cindy, Jan

Middle (Lansing Ward, Detroit Stake, 1957)
Standing from left
Lico, Josy w-Cindy, Meme, Grandma, Grandpa
Sitting from left
Sylvia, Me, Lico the Younger

Bottom (taken in Logan, 1957)
Standing from front left and going up and around
Grandma, Meme, Josy's Dad, Josy's Mom, Abuela (Grandpa's mom), Lico, Beto, Grandpa
Sylvia and I sitting on the porch

Anne

2011-04-30T10:57:00.003-06:00

And just too cute to pass up . . .

Firewalker

2011-04-25T08:00:00.003-06:00

What could have been a major problem was only a $1 shoe fatality.
While all the grandkids were out in the backyard together, Guy apparently came across the embers left of some dutch oven cooking for Easter dinner. I feel that we were very blessed in that his shoes apparently took a beating, and one of his little fingers burned enough to blister, but that was it. He had a rough day yesterday (biting his tounge hard enough to bleed in a few spots when he hit the bench in front of us with his head at church), and then without a nap the burn incident was a little drawn out of a crying episode, but all in all, he took it pretty well. And I'm just so grateful it was only what it was.

Easter in Draper (just a few pictures)

2011-04-24T22:52:00.004-06:00

(maybe more than a few)

Congratulations to the lovely lady!

2011-04-21T23:00:00.005-06:00

Isn't She Lovely?

2011-04-21T21:38:00.005-06:00

But these are my favorites. I know they are similar, but each one is a little different. She was juggling her bag at the time, so it's not a weird pose - just a candid shot.

2011-02-21T18:52:00.002-07:00

During the recent holidays, we had a gray cat, named Lola, visiting our house. Her owners, who are friends of Eden’s, were away visiting family for a few weeks and they needed a place for her to stay.

She visited last year for a couple of weeks around Christmas and one other time when her owners were away. She was pretty shy, at first, and we didn’t see her very much. But this time, she seemed to be used to us and she hung around a lot. In fact, she is the kind of cat that wants a lot of petting, so she would come close to where we were and then collapse on the floor and roll around a little, inviting us to stroke her soft fur and rub her chin.

Max and Dingo—especially Max—kept a close eye on her when they could, although it turns out they are not very good hunting dogs. Sometimes they looked all around for her in one corner of the room and she was sitting and watching them from another corner. When Max did see her, he came as close as he could, usually trying to squeeze under the piece of furniture under which the cat had hidden. He got all excited and pounced around, obviously wanting to chase around with her but she never accepted his invitation.

Cats are nocturnal. That means that they do a lot of napping during the day and they like to prowl around at night. Sometimes in the middle of the night, we woke up to her loud mewing outside our bedroom door. We usually got up and let her in and then she jumped up on the bed and started a loud, rumbling purr while slinking around the pillows and blankets to find where to land so she could get some petting. (Cats make this loud purring sound when they are happy.) Sometimes she tucked her head under my chin and I felt her cool nose against my neck and her purr was so loud I couldn’t fall back asleep. She would knead her front paws against my shoulder and look like she was in “cat heaven.”

Having a cat around reminded me of the cats we had as pets when I was growing up. There were a few different cats we had but I’ll tell you about my favorite one next time.

While I was looking for a YouTube video of a cat purring, I learned something new. I didn't know some of the bigger cats purred. I found out the biggest cat that purrs is a Cougar, which is kind of nice, since the Cougar is the mascot of BYU.

Papa and I hope you are all doing well and enjoying school and helping your moms and dads.

Be Good and Do Right.

Love,
Bubbe and Papa

P.S. Does anyone remember the scripture that many of you memorized at our first family reunion? Email me to let me know.

Here's a hint:

Search d _________, Pray ___________, and Be B____________
and All Th_______ shall w_____ t__________ for your g_____
if ye walk u___________ and k_____ the c___________.

D&C 90:24

Spanky's advertising video (application.)

2011-01-13T18:20:00.000-07:00

O Christmas Tree...

2010-12-27T23:44:00.002-07:00

The Christmas Story (Draper Version)

2010-12-25T00:27:00.003-07:00

Max in the Snow

2010-12-21T23:27:00.001-07:00

Mom thought some of the little ones might enjoy this.
(maybe some of the big ones too :)

Scenes From Papa's Birthday Celebration

2010-12-12T23:49:00.002-07:00

getting an early start on dinner

getting an early start on dessert

enjoying technology

playing with the noise-making Christmas decorations

Callisters

2010-12-12T20:07:00.001-07:00

Does anyone know when the Callisters are moving? Didn't want to pester them with an address request, because I know they are busy!

2010-12-12T11:28:00.001-07:00

It doesn't capture the charm, but this picture shows something that makes me smile every day. All five of my kitchen window sill African violets are in bloom. It has been a LONG time since that happened.

Just a couple of fyi items . . .

2010-12-12T11:20:00.005-07:00

We planted some crookneck squash in this summer's garden, like the above. It's a hard winter squash. I don't have a picture of zucchini, but we had some zucchini plants, also, in the same box and got a fairly decent crop (we never get the zucchini bonanzas you hear about). But the last zucchini has been on our counter for about 6 weeks now and I was surprised it wasn't going soft and rotten. I decided to shred it (in our new cusinart that saved the day for Thanksgiving), freeze it, and use it for zucchini bread, later. This is what I found when I opened it (the top two pics)--and it much harder to cut than zucchini usually is. I think our last zucchini cross-pollinated with the harder winter crookneck squash. It smelled a lot like pumpkin when I shredded it, but that will work, too.

Just thought that was kind of interesting :).

"How come Bubbe smokes?"

2010-11-29T14:39:00.002-07:00

Overheard:

Chris: "How come Bubbe smokes?"
T and N: "Bubbe doesn't smoke!"
Chris: "You said, 'Eden's mom smokes,' and Bubbe is Eden's mom."
Tanner: "I said, 'Ian.'"

Poor Ian. Ian is sad his mom smokes and is trying to hide it from his whole family.

Bubbe, we're glad you don't smoke.

Halloween 2010

2010-11-23T07:27:00.002-07:00

I find it ironic that of the three costumes for the kids this year, the one I didn't make won a prize at Spencer's school's Halloween party. That makes three years in a row for Benny. The Max wolf suit I made two years ago won two years in a row. This year he won "Scariest" costume. I tried explaining that to him and he kept telling me he wasn't scary. He's a good Darth Vader.

I wish you could hear Benny saying "cheeeeeeeese!"

Lilia loved her costume and wore it around a couple of afternoons.
She looked adorable walking around the party.

And...
my award winning costume.

Apparently they didn't take points off for being a pregnant Pippi.
I'm just amazed that my hair is long enough to reach the end of the hanger!

Winterizing the Patio Furniture...

2010-11-20T16:40:00.001-07:00

...now looks something like this:

update

2010-11-16T13:53:00.005-07:00

Our CA home is in escrow. After only about 14 days on the market we had a number of offers, and one really stood out. If all goes as plans we'll close on December 19th and will need to be out by the 22nd, although we'll most likely be gone before we close anyway, since Nate will need to start in CO around the 15th. Our realtor has been great to work with, definitely knows what she's doing and has been a good match for us.

In the meantime, after countless hours of research on CO possibilities (seriously, Nate probably knows CO cities, neighborhoods and school districts better than most locals), we found a home we really like in a neighborhood we love there. The realtor we found via friends of Caitlin (thanks again, Caitlin) is a nice guy that we really like. He was able to get us in for a viewing on the 1st, and by the 4th we'd put down an offer. It's a short sale, but our realtor is hopeful we'll hear back from the bank shortly since they've already approved the price. Of course, he was hopeful we'd hear back last week, but we didn't. SO, best case scenario we're in by Christmas. Worst case scenario, we'll be homeless for Christmas and end up in a hotel in CO. OR, maybe we'd beg Mom and Dad to take us in and spend Christmas with them.

Just thought I'd share.

nice story

2010-11-06T22:58:00.001-06:00

http://www.mormontimes.com/article/18200/Mormon-church-helps-former-NFL-player-sort-out-spiritual-puzzle?s_cid=newsline

It's official

2010-10-20T12:36:00.002-06:00

Most of you have heard, but in case you haven't yet, Nate just accepted an offer from the Wells Fargo office in Denver and we will be moving around the beginning of December.

Eden is coming for Thanksgiving as well as Nate's brother, Jared and his family. At this point we have no more sleeping places to offer, but if anybody wants to make the trip and stay in a motel, we'd be happy to have more people over for dinner and talk.

Random pics

2010-09-24T08:53:00.026-06:00

Not in any great order--some pics from our trip to NY/CT.

St. John the Divine. Dad's favorite in NYC. This was our destination when we got caught in the storm that they think may have included a tornado touching down in Queens.

We were damp during the play but still enjoyed it.

Rockefeller Center

Grand Central Station with the Chrysler Building behind it.

Rockefeller Center

St. Pat's

Apple Store on 5th Avenue, just below the park.

I love the Tiffany windows and fountain--and many, many, many other parts of the Metropolitan.

Some modern art--we don't spend too much time with that but these were across from the impressionists.

World's biggest dairy store. This was near Darien, CT where we stayed with Steve and Tammy Potter. Dad loves stuff like this.

It doesn't capture it but it was HEAVY rain. The gutters flooded and spilled onto the sidewalk. Sheets of rain came down the sidewalk.
In the Park.

Bad news for our purple robe locust tree. Before our trip, we had a really windy night and in the morning, this is what we found. We had been trying to treat the tree for bore worms and it looked fairly healthy this year but the trunk was riddled and weak. Too bad.

Dad, I'm just curious.....

2010-09-19T17:17:00.002-06:00

Do you remember the time you were anticipating ribs for lunch but got Adam's peanut butter sandwich instead?

Nate and I still chuckle at that story.

The Best Football Defense Ever

2010-08-20T13:21:00.001-06:00

2010-08-20T10:04:00.000-06:00

Joseph August Anderson—probably May-June 1891

2010-08-15T10:58:00.000-06:00

wi [sic] held a Meeting on the 28th at Harmon Mattson Munkbo Norberke [maybe somewhere in either Munkbogatan or Norberg, Sweden or ] su. I spoke the hole [sic] time and treated on the Gospell [sic] of the Kingdom matthew 24 Chapt. and showed up to them that those sions [sic] of the times that the Savior told his desiples [sic] should preside [sic] his siecond [sic] comming [sic] or [are?] the Sions [sic] of the Times as [?} being fullfilled [sic] Right-along when wi [sic] Consider the Conditions of the nation of the Earth. and explained the first principles of the Gospell as plain as I culd [sic]. a Good spirit prevaled [sic] and those present where [sic] wery [sic] atentive [sic] and I felt well I was led by the spirit of God in mi [sic] remarks. after meeting was out did I sell good many trakts [sic]. I was promised to hold another Meeting there some other time. the same evening was a sacramented Meeting held at br C. Jansons house with those that belongd [sic] to the Church and we hade [sic] a good time together. I spoke upon the dutis [sic] of the saints and about the law of Tithing and of the word of wisdom br Nymon and Janson and three of his family bore their testamony [sic] to the Gospell about 6 o. Clock that same Evening was a daugther [sic] of C. Janson baptized she was 12 years old I baptized her and Confermed [sic] her also the 29th tock [sic] live [sic] of the saints and started back towards Solvarbo [maybe Solvarbo, Säter Municipality, 23.7 km (14.73 miles) northwest of Munkbogatan or 51.8 km (32.19 miles) northwest of Norberg]. in a plase [sic] called Morgerden Iron Works a Shoemaker by name of C.J. Blomquist came and stoped [sic] us hi [sic] wanted information regarding the Gospell [sic] and wi [sic] spoke to him for about an our [sic] and a half. hi [sic] Bought a good deal of books or tracks [sic] of us. hi [sic] has studied the Relions [sic] for many years. hi [sic] was interested to know about our Belif [sic] hi [sic] atended [sic] de [sic] Meeting held by us at Herman Mattsons plase [sic]. Munkbo wi pased [sic] Smedje backen on our way back wi [sic] tried hard to get to stop ofver [sic] night at many plases [sic] but wi [sic] failed in 11 at the 12 house we [sic] was alowed [sic] to stay and this was at Ostunds Bondhyltan Silvberg as wi [sic] called at Miller H.E. Dahlstroms house the Brethren use to stop there and holl [sic] Meetings but this time they could not take us in. but were promised to holl Meeting there in the future. it cost us 25 vee togather for the bed and the same day did wi [sic] try to get somthing [sic] to eate [sic] but could not get it at one house nither [sic] would they talke [sic] about the Gospell but we met with a Ladee [sic] in an other house and thise [sic] did wi [sic] get what wi [sic] wanted bor [sic] testamony [sic] to her about the Gospell. sold one track [sic] to her. At Busgorden at P. Hillstons Plase [sic] they Received us well and promised us to come there and holl [sic] meeting any time when wi [sic] would wiite arrived in Solvarbo the 30th saturday hade [sic] Two Meetings on Sunday in the hal [sic] at Solvarbo in the for noon there was mostly Saints and I spoke upon the duties of the members of the Church that it was nessesary [sic] to kip [sic] the Spirit of God in order that wi [sic] may retain the nolege [sic] that wi [sic] have received and Continue to receive more said that it was the Spiritt [sic] that gives nolege [sic] and if wi [sic] loose [sic] the Spirit of God and fall in sin and live [sic] this Church wi will then to a Great extent loose the nolege [sic] that wi [sic] once possesed [sic] admonished the Saints not to be dillatory [sic] concerning the work of God but be diligent to carry out His commandmens [sic] and live by the revelation becose [sic] that is the life of this Church. I felt much blessed and lead [sic] by the Spirit of God in the afternoon spoke about the first princip. of the Gospell [sic] and showed up the difference bitwin [sic] us and the Sickts [?] of to day. I was ledd [sic] by the Spirit of God. Monday morning the 1st of June Nyman and I took live [sic] of the saints in Solvarbo and went first to Sater [maybe Säter, 8.3 km (5.16 miles) southeast of Solvarbo] visited a Syster [sic] Anderson there she felt well in the Gospell and new [sic] that it was from God but her husband is not so faithfull [sic] as he shuld so she said.

from joseph august anderson's 2d mission—1891

2010-08-08T13:59:00.001-06:00

[O]n the 22d did we anoint a sick woman that had been confined to bed for about a year and hundreds of crowns had been paid out for medicine but to no avail. She having faith in the Gospell [sic] but could not get out of the house in order to receive baptism was the cause of us administering the ordinance of healing to her. wi [sic] fasted and prayed all day and the Lord heard and answered our prayers to the efect [sic] that the woman went up directly and dressed and took in food. She got well as soon as wi [sic] were through. and wi [sic] felt thankfull [sic] to God for his kindness towards and the woman she will be baptized as soon as she can obtain strength in her body to go out to the river.

Talent Show Videos

2010-07-27T12:52:00.008-06:00

a preview of what's to come:

the opener

mandita

our cousins from cowboy country (:

tanner

adam

naomi

merry girls

group song - we've got to take this show on the road, share it with the world

iris

andy

Blast from the Past

2010-07-14T11:03:00.002-06:00

Andy's Song

2010-07-09T14:25:00.001-06:00

Gracie's Haircut

2010-07-09T09:54:00.003-06:00

Mom and Michelob

2010-06-30T14:54:00.004-06:00

SO--Mom finally wins something (not that I intended to enter in the first place). Our Fresh Market (formerly Albertson's) grocery store regularly sells donation cards at the checkout. I usually buy a couple ("freely ye have received, freely give"). They were selling Make-A-Wish stars the other day and I bought a $25 one. They handed me 25 tickets and said I needed to put my name and number on them. I started and then asked why. They said there was going to be a drawing. I said that wasn't why I donated but I went ahead and filled them out. Dad had taken the groceries to the car and came back as I was finishing. We walked to the drop boxes and they had 3 prizes. A $25 gift card to Fresh Market, a camp stove, and the bike. Already having a camp stove and no longer camping, we randomly divided the tickets between the gift card and the bike boxes. As we walked out, I said, "We should have put them all in the $25 box. Maybe we would have gotten lucky." No big deal.

Two nights ago, Dad was checking phone messages before we fell asleep and we heard something about winning the bike. We deleted it and went in last evening and said we thought we won a prize in the "bike drawing" and it was--the bike. So, out of semi-guilt, I bought a couple more Make-a-Wish stars, and we took home a few groceries and the bike. A Michelob Ultra bike.

Dad and I have been talking about maybe buying bikes for the trail. We walk a lot and thought of changing things up a bit. We'll have Adam check the bike out and see if it's worth keeping for now. I'm thinking of a cruiser, myself :). Much better for back and shoulder.

See you all soon!!

Star Pitcher in Action

2010-06-10T07:30:00.001-06:00

Good luck tonight, Spanky!!!

Eden, Faith, and Mose

2010-05-24T21:05:00.004-06:00

Jimmy on Cinco De Mayo

2010-05-16T22:55:00.002-06:00

Now you can watch whenever you want.

2010-05-15T14:16:00.000-06:00

Can anybody spot me? I'm famous.

2010-05-03T21:57:00.000-06:00

Commencement

2010-04-28T09:19:00.001-06:00

(Graydon is thr good-looking one.)

The Big Moment (G's Graduation)

2010-04-27T19:44:00.004-06:00

Graydon's Graduation

2010-04-27T17:45:00.013-06:00

2010-04-27T17:37:00.005-06:00

I loved the pictures taken of Rosalie in the hospital, so we tried doing a few pictures after Mae's first home bath.

2010-04-25T19:56:00.002-06:00

Grace loves being a big sister.

Kinda Funny

2010-04-18T09:08:00.002-06:00

go here for a story on our Sunday morning. Caitlin will probably have her own version up at some point.

My welcoming to finals.

2010-04-16T23:59:00.002-06:00

We were hitting some softballs thursday to practice for intramurals.

I was pitching and got a hard hit line drive right back at me and was a little too late on getting the out.

It's not broken. Just damaged.

Is it just me...

2010-04-12T14:29:00.001-06:00

...or does anyone else see the resemblance?
I think it's the mouth.

Arizona Kids

2010-03-01T18:08:00.007-07:00

When we were down visiting a couple weeks ago we took some time on Sunday to snap some photos of the kids. It was noon sun, so some of the lighting is not the greatest in these, but I thought they turned out okay. I'm learning . . .

I'm enjoying black and white . . . and still figuring out some settings (that would have done a better job of focusing in some of these. But regardless, cute kids!

Will it last?

2010-02-14T22:16:00.005-07:00

I spent all Friday cleaning off my desk. Actually, it just took a minute or two to clear off my desk, but it took most of the day to go through the pile I had created on the floor. I admit there are still some things to be filed but most of it is taken care of. So here's what's on the desk.

To the left--a gorgeous bouquet Dad got me for Valentine's Day. Purple roses, pink lilies, some alstromeria, and some purple, daisy-like chrysanthemums.

In front of the computer--some things that I like to look at. From left, a Russian enamel box that I gave Grandma a long time ago and she recently gave me back. (She said she wanted to make sure it didn't accidentally go to Sylvia or Jan.) It has an illustration of the Russian Fairy tale, The Firebird, on the top. Russian fairy tales are very weird, but I love the painting. Next is a crystal perfume bottle Sylvia gave me. It's really quite lovely. Next a carnelian. It's a stone. Maybe you remember the line from "Amahl and the Night Visitors," " . . . one carnelian, against all evil and envy . . . " (from the "This is my Box" song--the verse about my magic stones). Then comes the Isaiah paperweight (bought in a store at Ghirardelli Square in SF, made from ash from the Mount St. Helens eruption, it reminded me of the Isaiah scripture talking about the atonement bringing "beauty from ashes"). Finally, on the right is the bottle containing all the sea glass and shell pieces that kids B through H collected on the beach in Acapulco.

On the right, my "desk garden" with a pothos plant in the back, a pot with cyclamen, ivy, and a fern, and then four blooming African violets.

I'm enjoying it tremendously. I really hope to keep it that way. And maybe it will inspire some productive writing time, ya think? One can only hope.

Happy Valentine's Day.

Love, Mom

Spanky's Debut of stardom.

2010-02-03T00:28:00.002-07:00

Hiking Hole in the Rock December 09

2010-01-24T20:01:00.001-07:00

Merry Christmas

2009-12-20T22:30:00.002-07:00

Just for fun

2009-12-20T22:27:00.005-07:00

I think this one was right before the bed collapsed. Or was that a different summer?

Baby, It's Cold Outside

2009-12-15T07:38:00.002-07:00

This is one of the cute songs of the season--obviously not strictly Christmas music, but when the temperatures drop, it seems appropriate. With our single digit temperatures last week, this song got lots of radio time.

There are so many versions of this, now, but I remembered what I think is the first time this song was done. It was by Red Skelton and an actress I don't know in a movie I've never seen called "Neptune's Daughter." And actually, this version is a reprise of an earlier scene when it's done by Ricardo Montalban and Esther Williams (she was a famous swimmer/actress who must be the title character). But apparently, the Red Skelton scene stole the show. You are too young to know about him, maybe, but he was a comedian who had his own show for a long time. He was known for being so clean in his humor. He publicly discussed his belief that humor should be clean and wholesome. Maureen Tedesco, one of our Vegas neighbors, worked ticket sales for some of the big name acts that came through one of the hotels and I asked her once what celebrities she had met and how they seemed. She said the kindest, nicest of them all was probably Red Skelton.

Anyway, enjoy.

In case anybody is looking for new Christmas music...

2009-12-12T20:34:00.001-07:00

these guys are fun:

Great Experience

2009-12-06T21:05:00.005-07:00

Ok, so I have never shared anything before on this blog. I've thought of things that I might be able to say from time to time, but nothing ever struck me as that important before until I received great news last night around 11 p.m.

I was working on a homework assignment that Caitlin had been helping me on for a while before (thanks a million Caitlin.) I was just going down the home stretch with the project when I got a call all of a sudden from a number I knew was from Mexico. I answered having in my mind who it might be, and it was her. Juanita. Juanita was a lady I found with my companion in Playa del Carmen our first week in that area. We were knocking doors and she came out rather immodestly dressed. We stayed outside of her house and did a quick five minute run down of the restoration pamphlet while we were still standing. We set up a return appointment for later that week. As we were leaving I told my companion that if she didn't read it when we returned, we weren't going to even bother trying to get her to read it more. She was a 24 year old single mother with an 8 year old son. We had learned from other stories that situations as such are usually not worth it.

Well, we returned on the appointment date and set up some chairs outside of her house (even in the 115 degree heat) and talked to her about the pamphlet. She had read it. We were surprised, we didn't think she would read it, let alone understand what it was saying. She shared with us her favorite parts and told us that it made sense to her. We asked her if she prayed about it and she said no, and that she was embarrassed to pray. It took some convincing but we had her pray to end our lesson that day. We invited her to pray about it as well by the next time we came by to see if she received an answer that it was true.

When we returned the next time she had prayed about it, and received an answer that it was true. We wanted her to come to church with us the following sunday, she said she would. We came by sunday to remind her of church later that day, and she said she would be there, but was very short with us because her sister was there. Apparently her sister doesn't want anything to do with the church, and was pretty anti-us at the time.

She didn't end up going to church that day, but we continued to visit her the next week. She continued to understand the doctrine we taught her, and was more and more interested. She was able to come the next sunday, and the following sunday after that, and the next. The rule for baptizing people was that they had to be in church at least three times before they got baptized. One of those times was April General Conference 2008, which was all the way in Cancun, and not expected that any investigators come. But she did, and she loved it.

We baptized her the following saturday after General conference, and we received permission to do it in the ocean, which was a great experience. One that I will always remember.

Juanita and her son Pedro Pablo. Tania and Maria. Maria wasn't baptized until a couple months after.

The reason I wanted to share that story was because she called me last night very late wanting to tell me that she had gone through the temple and taken out her endowments. She was so excited talking about it, and cried a lot of the time while telling me about how she felt. She said how she felt complete, and that she had finally accomplished a huge milestone in the church. She was debating or not whether to call me because of the time, but she said she couldn't help it and wanted to call me anyway. It was the best news i've received since i've been back from the mission. It was a sobering experience as far as remembering the importance of the temple. It was sort of a reversal of teacher and student between she and I. I was really glad she called, and help me realize how important it is to be worthy to be able to attend the temple, and attend it regularly.

Juanita, and two other ladies (mother and daughter) I baptized, Tania, and Maria, also went through the temple yesterday and all took out their endowments. It's been such a blessing to be able to feel the joy and love from God by hearing of these stories. I am so grateful for the experience I had on the mission, and I will never regret anything about it. I feel so blessed, and so loved by my Heavenly Father, and my family for the life that I have.

I have all of you to thank for that.

My Favorites

2009-11-30T20:12:00.002-07:00

I thought about this, then forgot to do it (sorry, Bethany). I did mention it at dinner (I know, doesn't cover it) . . . one of my favorite memories is kind of a random one . . . and was my most atypical Thanksgiving. It was right after I moved to Delaware. I couldn't go back for Thanksgiving, so I went to Virginia to hang out with Sarah Jaggi. But my favorite thing about it WAS family related . . .

Remember the radio show that Dad & Mom did? I loved how we all spent that time listening to the radio show while chatting on Skype. Everyone was so far away (and I felt it), but I really enjoyed that group conversation. If it hadn't been for that, we probably wouldn't have all communicated that day. So, I was very grateful for that as I remember feeling alone in a whole new way living across the country on my own.

I also thought of Willow, but probably not in a good way. I've never been able to watch that movie since.

Another fond memory I have is of family football games on Thanksgiving. I remember when Dad would take us out and play with us (even though I never had a clue what I was really doing).

Thanksgiving Memories?

2009-11-30T13:58:00.002-07:00

The MST3K marathon is certainly something I remember. I also remember what seemed like our own "Willow" marathon, one year. And I remember the days when I made 6 pies for several years--2 pumpkin, 2 apple, and 2 pecan. And I remember having to give that up in grad school and moving and building, etc. Then, for Thanksgiving 2001, just a month after I had defended my dissertation, I baked pies and Harper said, "I didn't know you could make pies." I thought that was so sad that he didn't even remember when I had made them before. Well, Harper, I promise to bake apple pies for Dad's birthday coming right up.

Q:

2009-11-25T13:19:00.002-07:00

Who does this remind you of?

Happy Thanksgiving to Everyone

2009-11-24T12:09:00.002-07:00

We had a great time last year with everybody (minus the Cotterells) for Thanksgiving, and wish we'd been invited back this year (along with the Cotterells), but at least know that we'll be thinking of you all while having a great time with the Mesa Andersons (my kids have been counting down for weeks and the emails between cousins have definitely picked up).

Anyway, I just thought I'd share one of my favorite Thanksgiving memories with you all, then ask for you all to do the same.

Remember that year we did the MST3K marathon? Well, that is still one of my most fond Thanksgiving memories. Especially Trumpy.

Okay, your turn.

Some more from Gardner Village

2009-11-16T21:22:00.002-07:00

Before Halloween in Gardener Village

2009-11-15T19:14:00.005-07:00

Halloween in Park City

2009-11-15T18:57:00.013-07:00

This is where I spent most of my week with my laptop. The pool and hot tubs were below and the snow machines did a pretty good job of covering the slope during the week we were there.

This is just a small sampling of the many fun things we saw in the Park City Main Street "Strut your Mutt" parade.

Mrs. Potts and the dog is Chip.

This guy was here last year, too, with these two huge Newfoundlands.

2009-11-05T17:37:00.000-07:00

Dear Spanky,

2009-11-04T20:36:00.003-07:00

It looks like you've become successful already. I never would have thought you'd choose this, but in some ways it's probably a wise decision. You know, there is never a shortage of certain things. Death, taxes...

However, I do encourage you to stay in school. Get your education.

Love,
Bethany

our turn

2009-11-04T12:36:00.003-07:00

i simplified this year. benny's a repeat of last year, andy's wearing pajamas with sweatpants underneath, and i made lilia's costume for benny's first halloween.

two very caring older brothers.

each checking out his own stash.

lilia made her debut this year in the monkey suit. i'm planning on her fitting into it next year as well. i pinned a ribbon on so people could tell she was a girl.

and max, the king of all wild things!
i'm going to brag for just a second and let you know this is a prize-winning costume two years running! last year and this year benny won the costume contest at the med school family function. he looks just like max - and actually requests that we call him max whenever he's in his wolf suit.
he didn't wear the crown trick-or-treating.

Our Halloween

2009-11-01T15:29:00.004-07:00

Yesterday we went to Park City, joining Dad and Mom up there for the afternoon. It was cut a little short because Rob wasn't feeling great (I really missed those hot tubs I'd been excited for all week), but as it turned out, by the middle of the night we had 2 sickos. Rob and I both had time with Guy up in the middle of the night (about 4 hours total). Today we're still all pretty drowsy.
a

For Guy's first Halloween I borrowed a costume from a friend. I bought a pattern but the mane seemed too labor intensive without promising results. Yesterday I got lots of good ideas for future Halloweens while walking around. I don't know that we'll ever dress up as a family, but my favorite family themed one was dad and mom as a king and queen and a little girl as a princess with a little boy as a frog. I thought it was adorable. I think mom got the best photo of our family--same pose, but Guy smiling, too.

When we got home, we did make a quick stop at Penni's, where they had scones, chili, and cider - and Rob tried scones for the first time ever. Yum!

Here's one of Eden and Guy the other night - we went to Gardener Village with some of the fam. Dominic, Jen, Eden and the kids all went through a whimsical house of some sort . . . Eden had Guy and he fell asleep in her arms. He doesn't do that often anymore, but when he does, I love it.

Callister Halloween Pics

2009-11-01T14:25:00.008-07:00

Okay, so we had:

Amanda the cowgirl,

Napoleon Dynamite (thought of it too late to get a "Vote for Pedro" shirt -- next year, perhaps),

Naomi the cowgirl,

Police officer Chris,

and Gracie the cowgirl.

And here are some from our trip to the pumpkin patch yesterday:

And because so many photos of Gracie turned out so darn cute, here's a little Gracie bonus:

(She was holding Mandy's hand - Jeremy's wife - in the photo of her holding somebody's hand. More often than not she'd look for Mandy's hand to hold.)

Halloween 09

2009-10-31T21:27:00.004-06:00

No car accidents today! Here are costumes:
Rab = frontiersman
Jack = knight
Mark = ninja
Abby = movie star, no that's not Hannah Montana
Adam = Tom from Beast Quest (book series), your basic Robin Hood type

2009-10-29T23:34:00.001-06:00

2009-10-29T23:28:00.000-06:00

2009-10-15T17:01:00.001-06:00

Not sure when this was or where it was or why I have a copy of it (I'm looking through cds of pics for a school project for Amanda), but I'm pretty sure I missed out on a sweet trip and this picture proves it.

Not sure why I have this one, either:
Anybody need a costume idea?

Famous lines from the past

2009-10-15T13:01:00.003-06:00

Who said the following:

"What, you think I don't know that? What do you think I do."

and

"Institution will not let you get on my bed."

(The former goes through my head a lot. I know a lot more than my kids think I do.)

Picture

2009-10-14T21:40:00.002-06:00

Faith called today requesting a video chat. I turned her over to Chris. Tanner joined in as well and they had a great time. I wasn't around to hear the end (which is usually the awkward part -- who x's out first? -- I usually do), so I'm not sure how that played out, but I found this picture, memorialized on my computer, of how Faithy looked with the boys the moment the chat did end.

How cute is this picture?

it's a...

2009-10-07T12:00:00.005-06:00

...double-bun holder!!!

and, you know, he's probably got enough hair these days for two buns!

don't know what a double-bun holder is? ask her or her.

2009-09-20T18:56:00.001-06:00

happy birthday, bubbe

2009-09-15T18:26:00.002-06:00

Family Trivia

2009-09-08T19:12:00.003-06:00

Does anybody remember when we had to clean the kitchen as a family and we all had to do, say, 20 "things?" Well, does anybody remember how many pieces of silverware equaled 1 "thing?"

Just curious.

I do.

I used that one on my kids tonight.

Confession

2009-09-04T22:08:00.002-06:00

Faith, remember the book I had you mail back to me because I had a friend that wanted to read the book? Well, I'm the friend.

Everybody else, the book I'm talking about is "Hypnobirthing."

If this is way too coded, then maybe this will help:

I'm guessing I'm due the end of April.

2009-08-06T10:07:00.000-06:00

pics

2009-06-22T23:19:00.003-06:00

A friend of mine took some pics of my family last Friday. I'm not so fond of the way my hair looks because I had just gotten it cut (drastically) the night before and still wasn't quite sure how to fix it yet. I'm still not sure, but it's already looking better than that. Oh well. I love the ones of the kids.

Spring Things 2009

2009-05-27T13:44:00.022-06:00

Spring around the house, from top to bottom--
--starting with tulips leftover (not eaten by gophers) in the back yard, planted for Faith and Spencer's reception. We moved the bench there last year.
In the kitchen, my most recent orchid. It's so perfect it almost looks fake.
Also on the island, lilacs the Petersen's invited us to pick. Great smell.
Another great smell outside from the wisteria bloom. We've been working it up the bridge and it's starting to look lovely.
Garden boxes planted by Caitlin and Rob last Saturday.
The Sunburst Locust tree--just starting to leaf out--that Dad and Rob moved from the other side of the waterfall (too close to the Nashi tree). It's 15 feet high, so we weren't sure it would survive, but it definitely did.
A third of our Cottonwood tree died last year. It got hot really fast and apparently the shock started killing some trees. We'll have to get that part cut down.
To empty the 2nd garden box (so we could plant the zucchini and cucumbers), Dad and Graydon transplanted all the iris in different places around the back yard--some, here, bordering the steps to the basement patio.
The Purple Robe Locust is in bloom.
Here is the little replica of the Frank Lloyd Wright garden sprite from Midway Gardens in Chicago. The original is about 7 feet tall.
Here's the view from the "tulip bench." When we planted those pine trees, the tallest was just barely as tall as the fence.
More iris starting to bloom at the base of the waterfall.
Dad's favorite pine tree. I clipped the trunk Saturday. Dad loves the split trunk.
Can you see the quail under the pine tree? Birds love our waterfall.
Another view of the Purple Robe.
From Mother's Day--a view of the tulips from the breezeway door.
Roses Dad got me for Mother's Day to enjoy at my desk all week long.

Cinco de Mayo Tulips!

2009-05-17T07:05:00.019-06:00

I forgot to load the pictures from the "bottom up" so they would be in sequence from top down. Sorry. Anyway, start at the bottom and go up for chronology. We celebrated Cinco de Mayo with the usual Mexican food fest, the Mexican flag flying, and Linda Ronstadt's "Canciones de Mi Padre" playing. Rob had to work that night, so we had taco salad on Sunday as a warm-up. Then Tuesday, we had enchiladas, rellenos, a to-die-for guacamole that Jen made, and Dominic and Jen decided to look up recipes for fried ice cream! Graydon helped put it together and we all enjoyed. We went outside to take pictures of the tulips :) and of Grandpa and Grandma in front of the backyard crabapple tree. Oh, and Grandpa is a special favorite of Iris' right now as he is always ready to respond to her request to "Can you tell me a story?" I know Cinco de Mayo is no big deal in Mexico, but I had a fun conversation (en Español) with Antonia, a lady from Mexico who helps me clean every other week. It was the day after 5 Mayo and she was trying to remember the historical roots of the day. I reminded her that it was a victory over the French and she nodded and said that was right. Then she said that it was said in Mexico that when they beat a better trained and better equipped opponent--"No somos machos, pero somos muchos." (We're not that tough, but there are a lot of us.)

In Mesa

2009-05-14T12:15:00.007-06:00

Dad and Adam rode bikes to Adam's early Sunday morning Missionary Prep class. Monday night was baseball for Adam, Abby, and Mark.

Visit to Adam and Sara's

2009-05-10T18:33:00.001-06:00

Citrus Country!

2009-05-10T16:47:00.008-06:00

It was great seeing Bethany and Nate's family, their beautiful back yard, Amanda and Tanner's school program, the Pasadena Showcase Home (always amazing), and the Farmer's Market!

While Mom's (and Dad) Been Gone...

2009-04-26T17:08:00.007-06:00

Here's what the yard looks like as of yesterday afternoon:

Trip South

2009-04-23T11:47:00.006-06:00

Just before we left for our California/Arizona visit, I snapped a couple of photos of the first part of the tulip bloom. I'm thinking that when we return, we could be in for an exciting display.

We left about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday and drove to Mesquite and stayed at the Virgin River Casino/Hotel. I was busy a lot of the way with phone calls I needed to make including a phone appointment with a client for an hour. Wednesday we answered email for a while and then got going south again. We stopped in Vegas to get Dad a shirt from Las Vegas Harley Davidson (he's getting quite the collection going now). It was a great showroom--large, lot's of bikes. And they had a bunch of mannequins modeling Harley clothes with a Las Vegas flair. Also, notice the gas tank autographed by Bruce Springsteen. Then, naturally, we stopped for lunch at the Mad Greek in Baker.

Spring Snowstorm 2009

2009-04-22T22:38:00.004-06:00

Last week we woke up to winter, again. A few shots around the house.

Healthy Habits Challenge

2009-04-20T22:28:00.005-06:00

This is being done in my ward right now for the second time. The first time I started it but dropped out, and the second time I knew myself well enough to not even sign up. (It started the week of Amanda's surgery and I knew I was headed into survival mode.) Anyway. . .

You have been challenged live the following habits for the next 12 weeks! The idea of the Healthy Habits Challenge is to motivate each other to develop 10 healthy lifestyle habits.

To participate you score yourself "on your honor" every day and then each week send in the number of points you have earned to me. I'll send out a weekly email with point totals for all participants. You can earn up to 10 points per day. Sundays are days off- you get to take a break with no points earned/lost. The person with the most points in the end wins a small prize.

The competition runs April 27 - July 18. Let me know if you plan to participate by emailing me by this Sunday, April 26th.

Daily Habits (1 point each)
1. 7 hours of sleep (not necessarily consecutive--naps count too)
2. 30 minutes of exercise (not necessarily consecutive)
3. No sweets/unhealthy snacks
4. 64 oz. of water
5. 3 servings of veggies, 2 servings of fruit
6. No soda
7. No eating after 8:00 PM
8. 15 minutes of scripture reading (family reading counts)
9. One journal entry in the journal type of your choice (personal, blog, etc.)
10. Choose you own habit (flossing, prayer, service, etc.)

For those of you who are pregnant or nursing:
You may eat after 8 pm if you have an extra serving of fruit or vegetables that day.

Oh, and everybody's lowest week will be dropped from the tally.

GOOD LUCK!

Any takers? Email me if you want to participate.

Oh, and if anybody else got sucked into the infomercial for Power 90 and bought it, I'm going to start it tomorrow and would love a partner to start with. Let me know.

2009-04-16T10:16:00.006-06:00

2009-04-16T09:51:00.004-06:00

2009-04-16T08:50:00.005-06:00

Iris knows how to conduct herself during Easter egg hunts - to the point of ONLY collecting eggs, and passing by the candy. Jimmy, on the other hand, didn't see eggs, he saw "balls."

Some Easter Pictures

2009-04-14T13:23:00.004-06:00

I wish I had more pictures of everyone! Lili and Caitlin, you should add some from your cameras! We missed all of you who weren't there. Iris and Jimmy were the only ones there to do the Easter egg hunt... we are excited to see you all in July!

Just for fun

2009-04-05T11:49:00.007-06:00

In no particular order, and for no other reason than I came across these while going through a box of pictures during conference.

Enjoy, but don't count to make sure there's an even number of everybody -- there's surely not. But, there will be more to come (although those will probably not even the score either, that's why we're not keeping score, we're just enjoying -- and laughing).

Pictures From West's Reception

2009-04-02T22:17:00.026-06:00

Jimmy and the band:

getting a closer look:

beautiful Jen:
the Anderson "boys":
Bubbe & Iris
trying not to smile...
succeeding:
a good looking couple:
trying to keep them all balanced:
The party after the party:

Videos from the Reception:

the band:

Iris loved dancing

after a few times with her dad...

...Graydon got a turn

thanks Jen and Caitlin (and Mom?) for helping with taking pictures!