Merry Christmas!

Hello friends and family! Just wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas! We (I) decided to skip Christmas cards & neighbor gifts this year to save myself some anxiety and money. So know that I love you all and please accept this blog entry as a humble replacement. Here's the best picture I could get of the kids and a little note about our year.

Jack is now 3 and full of energy, personality and funnies. He's always pushing our limits and making us laugh. We potty trained him this past spring and on the 4th day I was trying to get him to use the potty after his doll friend, a life size Diego (a friend of mine recommended using a doll, which worked great actually!). Anyway, I said, "Jack it would make Diego sooo happy if you would use the potty." And he said back to me quickly, "NO, it would make YOU so happy."

Lately we've been trying to teach him about the sacrament and what it means to take the bread & water at Church. We've told him that it's just like being baptized each week and if we say we're sorry and take the sacrament, Jesus takes all our spankings for us and we can be fresh and clean. (Not sure if that's the best thing to teach, but it's the best I could come up with for a 3 year old.) This past Sunday after he ate the bread, he hollered out quite loudly, "I feel better already!" It provoked some giggles from myself and some families sitting around us. I was much more proud of this loud statement than of the times past when he's blurted out four letter words during the sacrament.

Halle just turned 18 months. She's in the 75% for her height and -5% for her weight...still not quite 19 lbs. She's sweet and cute and lots of fun. She's started talking quite a bit this past month or two and now tells us, "Love you." (We do have to ask her to hear it though.) She loves playing with Jack, when he's not beating her up, and still lets us snuggle her on occasion. She loves baby dolls, her blanky and of course, her binky.

Dusty just passed his Security+ test for work and is now certified for life. He studied for weeks and worried he'd fail, but actually passed with an 895 out of 900. Way to go, Sweetie! Now he can keep his job. We're hoping he'll be picked up by the new IT contract out at Hill AFB next year, whenever they figure out which company will be taking it all over.

And I'm just enjoying being at home with the kids. I'm looking forward to Christmas and all its traditions, as well as visiting with lots of family. This year is the first that Jack really understands the whole Santa concept, so Dusty and I are excited to watch him Christmas morning. (And the whole naughty or nice threat has been working on occasion as well.)

Thank you for all the cards and neighbor treats we've received already. You are all wonderful and have such cute families! Wishing you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year...

Love,
The Anderson Family

Gingerbread Men Massacre

See what I'm talkin' about? I came across this poor little victim yesterday as I was cleaning up the front room. There have been several others in similar condition found laying at the base of the tree. They never had a chance at the Anderson's house!

My Favorite Christmas Flicks

The Family Man is by far my favorite Christmas movie. We even took it to the hopsital when we were having Jack so I could watch it...and that was in August!

A Christmas Story...a good old classic and a Christmas must!

The Polar Express. It's just got great pictures and sound and I love the hot chocolate scene. I'm hoping we can take the kids on the semi-real polar express up by Heber City when they're a bit older. http://hebervalleyrr.org/excursions/polar.php

While You Were Sleeping. Dusty and I both love to quote Joe Jr. from this classic. He's great. And if we have another girl, we both like the name Lucy, which I started envisioning after I fell in love with this movie.

I've loved this one since I was 12. And it's where I first heard the name Halle and decided that was going to be my daughter's name no matter what my husband thought. Good thing Dusty liked it too! Thora Birch was adorable in this show.

And of course, I love The Grinch. I love to sing "Where are you Christmas?" And I love to say, "Oh Christmas, Oh Sweetie!" throughout the year whenever I'm excited about anything. I just love Christmas! It's my favorite time of year.

Gingerbread Men

I've made gingerbread men for our Christmas tree nearly every year since Dusty and I have been married...and every year they break and fall off the tree. For the past two years, Jack and Halle have enjoyed speeding the process along by ripping them off the tree branches and biting their arms or heads off. Halle even choked on a peppermint today! (Maybe it's not such a good tradition to continue.) Anyway here are some pics of Jack & his cousin Gavin making the cookies, then eating them, and the final product at the bottom. I lightened up this year and even let the kids help decorate; I'm making progress! Also, these cute (and somewhat girly) aprons were mine & Natalie's when we were little. Jack & Gavin couldn't wait to take them off.

And here's our tree finally decorated. I've been in a slump lately and can hardly get my motor going (which is very unlike me for those of you who know me well). It took me a week to get those cookies made and decorated so we could hang them on the tree. And fluffing and decorating the tree was a two-day event! And to top it off, we decorated it Monday, and I'm barely blogging about it Friday night. Hmm, hopefully I'll get my energy back soon.

Disneyland!

On Day 6 of our trip we hit Disneyland...thanks to some great friends and their connections! Here's Jack posing with Zurg on the Buzz Lightyear ride, which was his #1 favorite. I think this was the 3rd time around.

Little Halpal was already zonked out at 10:30 in the morning! She slept through most of the Finding Nemo sub ride.

Halle waitin for the Casey Jr. Train. Jack was tall enough to do the Matterhorn so he hopped on. He didn't make one peep through the whole ride, but he did say afterward, "That was a little scary."
Here he is on Thunder Mountain with a similar expressionless face. I just don't think he knew what to think of those wild rides.

This was Jack's 2nd favorite attraction, and annoyingly, the wait to see Tinker Bell was longer than any of the other ride lines. Finally we made it to Pixie Hollow and Jack got to meet Irridessa, Tinker Bell and Fawn.

It was so cute how he crouched down to meet her.


And he was so shy when talking with Tinker Bell.
Despite Dusty's many attempts to persuade him otherwise, Jack is a big fan of the new Tinker Bell movie. It's a cute one if you haven't seen it. Oh well, he's only 3. Here's me and my little Princess in front of Cinderella's castle.
And here it is again all lit up for the holidays...
Jack & Daddy making their funny faces.

Grumpy.
And Dopey.
The kids finally got to meet Mickey around 8pm, just before we left. We caught him just outside of the hat shop.
Merry Christmas! This was the perfect way to end the night. We strolled down Main Street and looked at all the Christmasy shops, then ended in front of the big tree before heading back to our train. We had such a fun day! Thanks Ron & Karissa!

Cali Trip Day 5

Today was kind of a lazy day. We stopped by the beach to say bye to everyone, then headed up north to Anaheim. We had to stop at another In n' Out for Dusty, but we all enjoyed it too. Here's Halle diggin in.


Later we met up with my old roomie, Karissa, and her family for dinner at The Rainforest Cafe. She and her husband, Ron, got us all into Disneyland for free for the 2nd time now! What awesome friends. We had lots of fun with them and wish we would've had more time to visit.

Karissa with Blake

Colin

Jack & Ron

This picture is not the best, but it's the only one of Karissa and I that we got. Here we are nearly 7 years and 4 kids later from the time we lived and worked as tramps in Salt Lake. Just kidding, we didn't make any money...but we had lots a fun!

I just thought this picture was funny cause Halle took over Blake's spot in the stroller and Jack decided to share Colin's seat in the back. My kids are so polite. Jack & Colin were buds from the first minute and we even caught them holding hands while we were walking through the restaurant. So cute.

Sherm & Jo walking through Downtown Disney.

And Rie, I took this one for you!

Cali Trip Day 4

My Dad & Dayle planned this Family Thanksgiving Weekend at San Elijo State Beach over a year ago. Not all of us kids were able to make it, but those of us that did had a great time. We did this back in 2000 as well when Dawn & Mike's oldest, Kendell ,was the only grandchild...now there are 16 among us!

Dusty and I opted to stay at a nearby hotel with the little ones rather than brave the camping experience. The hotel was awesome and my Marriott discount gave us a comfy stay for only $39 bucks a night. Dusty's parents joined us for the trip as well. Friday he took them to see San Diego. They stopped at In n' Out Burger (one of Dusty's favorite burger places), the La Jolla Temple, and then they took a Seal tour of downtown and the harbor.

The rest of us hung out at the beach for the day.

Here's Jack helping Grandpa Tedrow chop firewood.

And running for his life from the incoming waves.

Here's Halle being sweet & cute, as usual.

And trying to stay warm with Grandpa.

It was somewhat cold Friday.

I was so jealous of Nat! Halle fell asleep in her arms

and they got to snuggle for a bit.

Here's Uncle Scotty flying his kite.

Jack wanted to help so bad, but was turned down.

Drew & Jack making good use of the picnic table bench and enjoying their cheezits.

Later Mike cooked up his yellow tail for us on his

awesome fire-top grill. It was delicious!

Sitting around the campfire...

here's Kendell, Tristan, Chase, Jackson & Michael.

Uncle Scotty & Halpal. He was hogging her so bad for the warmth!