25 December 2010

I'm not superstitious but...


I don't consider myself to be a superstitious person by any means, but, breaking our Christus statue while decorating for Christmas sure can't be the best thing to do. I am pretty sure I am due for a karmic butt-kicking. I choose to look at this as an ironic turn of events rather than a commentary on the increased commercialization of Christmas.

05 December 2010

Sing it with me...

Here is Bailey totally rocking out to the ABC's, enjoy.

29 November 2010

Dear Santa

Bailey loves to play my guitar (she can play as well as I can), so we have been thinking about getting her her own. And then one day...


Hmmm, I wonder what Santa is bringing for Christmas?

28 November 2010

My Little Cook

Bailey has really taken to the kitchen. She asks us if she can "cook" which means mixing flour with other stuff, like a whole carton of salt for instance. Whatever, the case, she loves it and she pays very close attention to what we are doing. I think that she will be a culinary queen when she grows up.

26 November 2010

The Whipping Cream Will Be Mine!


(We actually have very few pictures of me so here is one taken by Bailey. Please ignore the junk that has accumulated on the stairs...I SAID IGNORE IT!)


If you are like me and attempt to do your Thanksgiving grocery shopping the night before Thanksgiving let me just say that we are fools. I just needed a couple of things so I thought it should be simple. Well I had on my list whipping cream, none of that canned stuff for me. What I found was the refrigerated section had been completely wiped out of whipping cream with the exception of two small cartons waaaaaay in the back. At this point I could have given up but my home-made pumpkin pie deserved the very best so I mulled it over for a while. I grabbed a bottle of half-and-half and stepped into the fridge and stretched to my limit but to no avail. More mulling and then...Eureka!

There in the middle of the grocery store I calmly undid and removed my belt, Bailey looked really confused at this (Jennifer obviously wasn't there or this probably wouldn't have been allowed to happen). I formed a loop by folding my belt in on itself and with more stretching and stepping into the fridge I was finally able to grab a hold of the cartons well enough to pull them down into my reach. Feeling quite proud of myself I redid my belt and continued on my way.

I then forgot the whipping cream the next day and we ended up using the spray can whipping cream to top the pies.

21 November 2010

Never Trust a Two Year Old


Jennifer and I like to exchange gifts with each other around the holidays. We work hard to try and surprise each other, but this year, she is at a disadvantage. When I came home from work yesterday, I didn't even have the door closed behind me, when Bailey loudly announced, "Order daddy's present today. Mommy and Bailey ordered daddy's present today." Which she repeated about a half a dozen times just to be sure that I caught it.

17 October 2010

Left Is Right and Vice Versa

So our little girl is totally ambidextrous. She makes no distinction between her right and left hand and seems to be able to use them equally well. Her choice seems more a matter of mood than any type of dominance by one side or the other. It will be interesting to see if she can hold on to that.

Here she is with the left hand.



Here she is with the right (and looking adorable I might add).



You can't really tell from the angle but here she is using both!

Wedding Bells



Our family is ever growing. This last week Jeff proposed to his girlfriend Kim and she said yes! They seem so happy and good together. We are excited for them and looking forward to the upcoming wedding. Having married into the Anderson family nine years ago I can speak with authority in saying that they are wonderful and very welcoming. Congratulations Jeff and Kim!

19 September 2010

How does your garden grow?



I had Bailey stand next to it for a sense of scale (but not for too long it would have tried to eat her eventually).






I used to be happy that my two tomato plants were thriving, but now as they inch their way inexorably across our patio I have grown to fear them. Can they be stopped?

12 September 2010

Now That's What I Call An Activity






Now I don't like to brag but the Mount Rose Ward has some of the best activities that I have ever had in my career in the church. There is nothing quite like the smell of gunpowder in the morning to stir ones senses. We had another great activity for the Labor Day holiday and the turnout was good and the gun to guy ratio was ideal. Thanks President Hickey for putting it all together.

05 September 2010

Trek Day 3





















Rather than making a full account I would like to simply say that Trek was awesome! I love the youth that we were able to meet and am so excited for all of the blessings and opportunities that are in their future. I love you guys. Thank you for one of the most wonderful weekends. You will be in our prayers and memories for years to come.

29 August 2010

My Girly Girl



Well Bailey loves all things girly (she did not get that from me)so I let her pick out some nail polish at the store last week. She was so excited, it was too late to paint her nails when we got home so I told her we would do it after her nap, and when she woke up she remembered. So I painted her nails, quick dry as suggested by Apryl (Thank you!), and then she wanted to paint my nails. Luckily my fingernails were already painted (again Apryl thank you.) and I told her so but she was not deterred and she immediately suggested painting my toenails. "Um, maybe later." (obvious concern in my voice)
That evening we discovered a flaw in our quick drying beauty product. As I noticed some strange things floating around in her bath I (having feared the worst) was amused and told her lightheartedly "Oh your nail polish came off." I was not prepared for the trauma I had just inflicted on my child. "Put it back! Put it back!" (accompanied by many "wah's" and large tears) I'm trying not to laugh too hard but the intensity of her emotional attachment to this is just so cute. Well I convince her that we can just put more on so she is now mollified and we can continue bedtime.
So a couple of days later when it starts chipping off she requests another coat and I comply only to discover she has a renewed desire for painting my toenails. Oh what the heck why not right? Well...I think she needs some practice but considering the mess was contained to my feet I am pretty happy.
- Jennifer

22 August 2010

Trek Day 2















I was really discouraged the first day and in fact doubted that a good night's sleep would improve the situation, I may have been correct, but as it turns out a bad night's sleep was just what I needed.

There were hardly any stars overnight as the clouds were thick overhead. Sometime during the night I began to feel a cold splash on my face. I tried to ignore it at first but then they fell more regularly, I dragged myself out of my sleeping bag and laid tarps over the girls who were all sleeping in a neat little row. I looked at the boys who were sprawled every which way on their tarp and just shrugged my shoulders and went back to sleep, they would manage.

In the morning during breakfast time the rains finally came full on. There was a scramble in the camp sites to try to get everything packed before it got soaked, we were not successful in that respect. Still we began our trek. I was somewhat apprehensive as I knew what laid ahead.

A short distance up the trail we were stopped and all of the men were "enlisted" in the Mormon Battalion. This meant we would leave all of the women to pull by themselves in the cold, muddy conditions of the day. The weather made the separation all the more poignant for me as we left. The women looked so miserable as we marched away. I really hope that the boys appreciated that fact. While the women were left to pull solo we were marched through the brush to a meadow where the stake presidency spoke to the boys. The talks were all wonderful but President Foote's words stuck out the most for me. He spoke of women and all that is asked of them and pointed out that as men we really get the best of it. His eyes were full of tears as he spoke of how he loved his wife and again I looked around me at those boys and just prayed that they were getting the meaning of these messages. I was reminded of just how much my wife has done for me and how much she means to me.

The day continued after our families were reunited with lunch and more vignettes. At lunch the youth received letters from family via the "Pony Express" and were given time to read and reflect on them in their journals and then we continued on our path.

There was one other big event planned for the day the infamous Rocky Ridge, the idea was to really push the youth and to really try them physically. It was meant to be grueling and hard and I personally feel that it was successful in this respect. As we looked upon the hill it looked hard, as he hiked it with the handcart in tow it exceeded what we had expected. I knew the vignette that was planned, I knew that there were to be "angels" who would come out halfway up and help us out but even knowing that I still was not sure if I was going to make it. I looked at my youth as they bent down and pushed the strain evident on their faces. Then one of our youth began our family cheer and I could have cried at the way he mustered us to push on. "Who leads the camp!" he yelled, to which we all replied, "The God of Israel!" It was what we needed, when we needed it. When the angels began to pull it was all I could do to hang on, I felt then that the cart was pulling me. It was a great experience.

Camp that night was a little less than great, we found ourselves in a beautiful lush meadow, with tall, soft grass all around and an abundance of cow pies. I think the number one complaint or criticism of trek afterward was the presence of the cow pies. It was gross getting into camp and it was even worse after dark when you couldn't see where you stepped.

I want to be clear that by day two my heart was in it all the way. I felt then and continue to feel today a sincere gratitude for the opportunity to participate in the trek.