It all started with a tree...

It started with a tree and then...The day after Thanksgiving, we went out to get our tree. We found a nice family owned tree farm and cut down a beautiful tree. That day we put the tree up, with Anderson's help, and decorated the house inside and out. Anderson didn't help put the tree up, but he loved moving the box that held the lights and decorations all over the house.

Before the WHOLE (Josh's mom, step-dad, dad and step-mom, and my mom and step-dad) family came over for Christmas day, we opened presents. One of Anderson's favorites was his new indoor tent. After opening it up and putting it together, he brought all of his toys in and played. He thought it was funny to go in and out of the tent door.
Once the whole family was here, we opened more presents. Anderson is a very loved child! He got a lot of great toys and clothes. He was a very slow present opener. He would tear a piece of paper off the package, roll it up into a ball, find the perfect place to toss it, and then repeat the whole process until the package was unwrapped. He also insisted that we completely open the toy before he would open a new package. It was a long process, but a cute one!
Another favorite toy that Anderson got for Christmas, was a new car. Luckily for Anderson's parents, papa Greg was there to put the car together. What would have taken us years to put together only took Greg a few moments. Thank you Greg! Anderson spent the rest of the night driving his car around the house. I wish I had had a camera the moment Anderson first saw the car built, it was priceless! Pure child joy.

Although Anderson was up way too late (he didn't want the fun to end), we had a wonderful family filled day. It is always fun to have most of the family together, spending it just talking and goofing off.

Beach Time!

Since fall is hiding and our sunny days are staying around we decided to go to the beach. A few weeks ago Anderson, uncle Bubba, Rufus and I took our best digging tools and headed to the waterfront. I think I probably took about 100 pictures while Anderson played in the sand. He threw rocks, chased Rufus, and dug holes. We went on a walk as Anderson waved hello to strangers. He loves to say hello and good bye to people.

A Day at the Pumpkin Patch

Josh had the weekend off, so what better way to celebrate then go to a pumpkin patch! We found one nearby that had animals, mazes, lots and lots of pumpkins, and many great picture moments. We tried to time our visit perfectly, so we went right when they opened. It was great! Since we got there so early, there was almost nobody there. Anderson got to run around and climb things without having to worry about getting in people's ways. This car was Anderson's favorite part. We passed by it many times and every time Anderson insisted on playing on the car. One of the great picture moments....how can you pass up the opportunity to have a picture taken in a pumpkin house?

Anderson wasn't so sure about this picture moment. He didn't understand that he was supposed to put his head in the hole. He kept wanting to play with the legs in the back. After a long hour of fun, we came home with a tired boy and a great pumpkin.

1st Camping Trip

A few days ago our family went camping with some friends. It was Anderson's first time camping so I was a little nervous about how he would do both sleeping and entertaining himself. He did pretty well at both. He had fun playing with the flash light. He couldn't figure out how to turn it on and eventually gave up. He also enjoyed throwing rocks into the river that was behind our camping site. He would throw a rock in and then put his hands up and smile. We brought his new bike with us which he enjoyed riding down the hill and around the site.

Anderson had fun helping dad find wood to start a fire with. I don't know how much "help" he was, but he followed Josh to look for wood.

This is a good picture to give everyone an idea of how clean Anderson was the whole time we were camping. Every time we washed his face and hands, he quickly got dirty all over again. When we got home a bath was a must!

Fun Time in Tahoe!

In July we were lucky enough to go visit our good friends Shauna and Paul in Tahoe. It was a blast hanging out, watching the kids play, and swimming our days away. We were very busy in our short time there.

Since Anderson loves bikes, we rented bikes to ride around on while looking at beautiful views. It was late that day and Anderson had only a short nap that day, so of course the second we got on the bikes, he feel asleep. After an hour, we turned the bikes in. While I was paying, Josh waited with Anderson outside. The entire time I was paying, Anderson kept pointing at the bikes and pointing with a large smile on his face. The poor boy didn't even realize that we had spent the last hour on a bike.

Family photo time. With such a great background we couldn't resist the opportunity to sit and smile.

Anderson spent a lot of time putting sand into his buckets. He also enjoyed throwing rocks with his dad and mom.

Bulid a Fort

When it is cold outside and you have an energetic boy what do you do? You build a fort! We got a bunch of blankets out of the closet and hung them over the furniture. Then, we brought our favorite toys and books in with us and just hung out and played. Anderson had so much fun going in and out of the fort. He thought it was really funny when Stash tried to walk on a spot and put a hole in the fort (walked on a seam). He also enjoyed with Rufus and Ernie (the dog we are dogsitting) got into the fort with us.

Anderson figured out that he didn't have to go through the fort door to get in, he was small enough to climb under the table.

Anderson spent about 5 minutes just looking at this book while in the fort.

Fourth of July

For the 4th of July our family went to my aunt Barb's house to celebrate. She has a party each year and we cannot pass up the opportunity to see lots of family, play in the water, and roast marshmallows while watching fireworks. Anderson had a great day!

When we first got there Josh wasn't with us, because he had to work. I was too scared to go to the water with Anderson by myself so Anderson and I waited until Josh got there. While we waited, Anderson played on the deck with the chairs. He thought they were the neatest invention. He sat in them, turned himself backwards, and then tried to close the chair up while sitting in it. Every time the chair started to fold he got scared and looked at me for help. After I helped him get out, he laughed and then did it all over again. Sorry that the pictures are out of order....

After Josh arrived we went down to the water. It was really hot outside and in my opinion the water was perfect for swimming in, but Anderson didn't agree. Whenever we put him in the water he just looked at us and cried. As long as we were right next to him on the beach he was happy, so we played in the sand with our feet in the water.

At the end of the day, before roasting marshmallows, we went on a nice boat ride around the lake. Anderson just sat on my lap and pointed at things while we drove past other families celebrating. Every time he saw a dog, he pointed and said, "dog". When we got back from our boat ride, Anderson slept on Josh in the carrier, while we roasted marshmallows and watched fireworks. He slept through the loud chatter and booms all around us. Maybe next year he will be able to stay up for the show.

Day at the Beach

Recently a friend from work, Mackenzie, got married in Long Beach. Anderson, my dad, Julie, and Jordan went with us to celebrate. It was nice having another kid in the car to entertain Anderson, for most of the ride they talked with each other and Jordan "babysat" Anderson.

Before we went home we stopped by the beach. Anderson and Jordan had fun digging in the sand and filling up buckets with sand.

Is it Your First Time on a Bike?

The other day we got a bike attachment from my father. It took three adults and about a week to finally figure out how to attach it to the bike, but we eventually did figure it out. Today, after Bubba went to the store to buy a missing bolt Anderson finally got a chance to ride his much anticipated bike. After this video we went for a small ride around the neighborhood and the whole time Anderson sang to us and laughed...too cute! I cannot wait to go for a longer ride. Josh REALLY wants to go after his marathon this weekend. You might want to watch this video without sound because someone's dog (maybe it is Rufus, but we will never tell) is obnoxious in the background.

"Book"

Anderson was being silly one afternoon recently. In this video he starts off by bring me a "book" and then he shows off his skills of getting into a chair. He kept getting into the chair until I got the camera out. Once I got the camera out he kept walking up to the chair but wouldn't climb inot it. He did eventually climb into the chair but only after a long while. Since it took him so long to get into the chair, the video is almost 3 minutes long.

Anderson, Greyson, and Addison (a friend from works kids) all go to the YMCA for family gym on Sunday. Anderson loves playing with the balls, going down the slide, and mowing the lawn. Here he is going down the slide after he has trouble getting up on the slide. Next week he starts his swim lessons. I will post video soon.

Anderson's Adventure

Work just bought every teacher a video camera to use in the classroom and they asked us to take them home over the summer to practice with. This video is from the first night we had it. Anderson was enjoying himself outside in the sun.

Fun in the Sun (it finally came!)

Today was hot and Anderson and I were melting, so what to do....buy a sprinkler that Anderson can play in. At first he just looked at the sprinkler. Then, I put my foot in the water to show him how to do it. After that he got closer and got wet. What fun!

Having fun in the water. After he finally got wet, he kept trying to drink the water.

More Mariners Fun

This weekend we helped a family friend, Billy, celebrate his birthday by going to a baseball game. We were a little nervous because this was Anderson's first night game since he was a baby. Of course, there was no need to worry, he did great! Anderson found some lady friends sitting behind us who he spent a good amount of time flirting with. They kept laughing at him so in turn he laughed back at them. He was in heaven laughing his socks off. This made me very happy--it was probably the only part of the night were I got to watch the game.

Anderson sitting as a big boy in the extra seat next to us. He spent about an hour climbing into and out of this seat. Boy were we lucky that nobody was sitting next to us. The people who were sitting in front of us kept getting a little foot in their back. Good thing they were friendly and didn't seem to mind.

Anderson's favorite thing to do these days is clap. He especially likes to clap when he hears other people clap. At the game, anytime there was a good play, the fans would start to clap which made Anderson clap. It was as though he knew what was going on in the game. Too cute!

A Few Days of Fun

What a beautiful couple of days! On Sunday, Anderson, Rufus, uncle Bubba, and I went for a walk along the waterfront. We tried to get Anderson to walk around the pebbly beach but he didn't like the feel of the rocks under his feet so he just sat their. I even tried to get him to stand up, but he just looked up at me and sat right back down. He has been in a strange phase where he doesn't like the feeling of things on his bare feet. A few days before our outing to the waterfront, the family went to the opening game at Safeco with some friends. I was a little nervous about how Anderson would do. Last year when we went to games Anderson was so young that he just slept through the game. I was nervous that he wouldn't want to sit still and would get cranky. Luckily, Anderson was a champ. He sat on our laps the whole game just watching the people and eating (he ate a lot---even for him). At one point, he and I went to the play structure, but since we didn't have reservations, we couldn't go on the toy. Hopefully he will be like this at every game we go to!

Fun in SLC

For Spring Break our family went to Salt Lake City to visit family friends. We had a very busy week full of lots of fun memories. Shauna, Paul, Joaquin, and Elena were great hosts and took us all over the city. With three kids, we also had a lot of down time. Josh and Anderson enjoyed watching the fish swim in this large tank. Anderson probably had more fun walking around clapping his hands, but he did look at the animals in the tanks and point.

Is there anything more fun then a bubble bath? The boys enjoyed splashing water and dumping water on each other. By the time the bath was over, I was soaking wet! But it was worth it, because they laughed and splashed the whole time and now I have a picture to show Anderson's first girl friend.

Since it snowed most of the time we were there, we spent most of our time indoors at museums, zoos, and aquariums. On this day, we just started walking and found the planetarium. While at the planetarium, Anderson, Joaquin, and I took a quick trip to the moon. We some how managed to get out of the spaceship without oxygen masks.

At the Planetarium, Josh couldn't resist the urge to play in the weather station. I think he had more fun then the children around him while he told us the weather for the day.

What a cute little baby! Elena is only 7 weeks old, but is already a big baby weighing almost 12 pounds. She spent most of our time in SLC sleeping, but she was a joy to hold.

The boys played together very well. They enjoyed playing in Joaquin's room with all his books and toys. Anderson enjoyed playing with an older child, he just watched Joaquin and would follow his lead.

First Finger Paint

Anderson had his first experience finger painting. When I first put the paint down, he looked at it and then back to me with a very confused face. He seemed to know right away that he wasn't supposed to eat it. He just didn't know what he was supposed to do with it. I put his fingers in it and showed him what to do.

He started to understand and moved his fingers around in the paint. He enjoyed painting for a short while. He liked it best when I would put a new dollop of paint down for him to play in. Once the dollop was moved around he would look at me for more. I have already submitted his work of art to the local art gallery.