October Birthdays

Emily & Gwen's Birthday

We celebrated Emily and Gwen's birthday last Sunday. Emily turned 11 and Gwen turned 2. Their birthdays are 1 day apart. Granny Louw fixed us a wonderful meal and we had yummy cake to eat afterward.

Emily blew all her candles out in one breath. Way to go! We got Emily some lip gloss and nail polish...you know - girly stuff.
We gave Gwen a princess book and a princess t-shirt. She also got some cute dresses, pj's, and and little princess play piano.

I think Gwen was asking Zane to help her blow out the candles. Andersen was a willing participant, too. (Notice the shirt that Anders is wearing...he calls it "grandpa shirt". Grandpas must wear a lot of plaid.)
Rachelle stepped in to offer some additional help. What teamwork!

ROWAN'S BIRTHDAY

Andersen was invited to his first "friend" birthday party last Saturday. Deanna and Austin were friends of ours from Cedar Hills. Their son Rowan just turned 2. The kids had a fun time and the parents had fun breaking up 2 year old pushing and shoving matches and visiting, too.
Rowan and Andersen eating doughnuts. Yes, doughnuts with sprinkles make a mess! (Deanna doesn't like messes.)
They tried to get a picture with the kids wearing their animal masks. Some cooperated, others did not...Anders, of course, was one who did NOT want to wear the mask.

Holly wasn't willing to wear the mask either, but she was willing to eat it!

Road Trip - To Old Sac and Back

We took the opportunity to turn Charl's training seminar into a family vacation in mid September. The conference was in Sacramento for 2 1/2 days, so we went 2 days early and stayed 2 days late, and we did a ton of stuff. Hopefully I can remember everything, because when we got back, we discovered that our computer was "fried", so it took a while to get back up and running...but that's another story!

Monday, September 15, our journey began at 7 am. We made it to Winnemucca for our first stop. The gas station had a grassy area where I sat on a blanket and fed Holly. Charl wouldn't go on the grass because it was the doggie bathroom. We let Andersen run around and play with the pay phone...do people use those anymore??? This stop was about 45 minutes and it was, believe it or not, our only stop until we got to my brother's house in Tracy, CA.


We pulled into my brother's house around 6 pm. Jason and Michelle live on the outskirts of Tracy and I guess you could say they live on a small farm. They have horses, chickens, dogs, cats, a calf, tractors, a snake, and a skink. Andersen got to feed the chickens, gather an egg, ride a horse and sit on a tractor. He liked all the animals except the boa constrictor...its cage was in the family room next to the couch where the kids played. Here is a video of Andersen on the horse and some other pictures from "the farm". (Click on the pictures in the small boxes that are labeled to see more pictures.) Thanks Haley for helping Anders ride your horse.

Jason's House

The next day Jason's kids played "hookie" from school and we went to Shadow Cliffs in Pleasanton. Shadow Cliffs is a park with a beach area and lake where people go to picnic, fish, swim, etc. They also have waterslides, but they were closed. I used to go to this park when I lived in Pleasanton. It was a perfect day for a swim and a picnic lunch. We had thought about going to the ocean, but this was much closer, safer, and warmer. Since kids were back in school, we had the whole beach to ourselves. I took Charl on a brief tour of downtown P-Town and then we went to see the house I used to live in on Shearwater Ct.

Shadow Cliffs

Tuesday evening, we drove to the hotel in downtown Sacramento. Charl's training started the next morning. The kids slept much better in the hotel this time. (We stayed in a hotel back in April and they were difficult.) Wednesday morning I hung out with the kids and then we met up with Charl and took a walk through the parks and around the capitol building. That evening we got in the car and drove to Oak Knoll Dr. This is the street where I grew up. I got to see three families who still live on that street: Sue Violet, Jo Bowman, and Norma & Jeanette Anderson. Sue happened to be out on the street with her 2 grandsons as we drove down the street. Sue's daughter Cindy and her family now live in that house and Sue watches the kids while Cindy works. Jo is the mom of my childhood friend, Jenny. We had a nice visit, but Andersen was acting up so that's when we took a walk down the street to take pictures of my old house. From there we headed up to Norma Anderson's house. She invited us in despite being up to her elbows in wedding cakes. Her youngest daughter, Susan was getting married that weekend. Her daughter Jeanette who is a year older than me lives closeby, so she came over with her son. We had a fun visit. Since I showed up unannounced, I only expected to take a picture of my house, but to re-connect with my childhood friends was such a treat. I was lucky that everyone happened to be at home.
My childhood house: 4251 Oak Knoll Dr. I think the trees were "twigs" when we moved.
Close up of the front porch. I believe the porch swing is the one my grandpa and dad made, but we left it with the house.
The Andersons. Norma is holding Holly. Jeanette is holding her son Marcus. Andersen and Marcus were instant little friends. It was exciting to hear that Jeanette was baptized shortly after marrying her husband, who was already a member.

This is my house on Shearwater Ct. in Pleasanton, CA.

Thursday was another full day. My friend Elise and her 2 kids Kate and Matthew met me at Fairy Tale Land. It's a big park with playgound toys themed after Nursery Rhymes. It's very 70's...I went there on a Kindergarten field trip. I think the kids had fun playing on all the slides and stuff. Thanks Elise for meeting me (she lives about 40 minutes from Sac.). I don't think I could have done it without an extra set of grown up hands. Even at that, Andersen managed to fall out of the stroller TWICE. Here are pictures from the park. (click to see all pictures.)

Fairy Tale Land

Later that afternoon, while the kids were napping, I arranged to meet Jenny Bowman. She lived on Oak Knoll with me and we were best friend growing up. Since she lived only 10 minutes from downtown, we decided to get take out and eat at her house rather than dealing with kids in a restaurant. She has a cute house with a great backyard and a cat that kept Andersen entertained. (Not sure the cat felt the same.) It was fun to see her and talk about our elementary school friends. Oops, I forgot to take a picture.

Friday was the last day of the seminar. It ended at 11:30 am, so I spent the morning packing everything up. We headed back to Jason and Michelle's for one more night. We were going to go to another lake area when the kids got home from school, but Michelle had a meeting with Mason's teacher and she had to move a Japanese student to a new home, and Sydney had a birthday party. So, we just hung out at the house and had a BBQ and played Guitar Hero.

Saturday was the last big day of the trip. We packed everything up and went to Six Flags Discovery Park, in Vallejo. Elise and her family, and Mica and her family met us there. Kristin couldn't come to the park because her nephew had a birthday party that afternoon. This amusement park is so huge that it was hard to do everything, but we still had a good time. We mostly did kiddie stuff, but I did get to go on the big roller coaster so I was happy about that. Andersen is still too small to do most stuff, but he did like what he could do.

Six Flags Discovery Park

After the park we all went to Elise's house and Kristin met up with us. We ordered food in and visited all night long. We stayed at Elise's that night and got up the next morning and drove back home. We had such a good time and thanks to Jason & Michelle and Elise & Alan for letting us stay with you.
Me and my good friends: Kristin, Elise & Mica. Mica, baby Tyler is sooo cute. Congrats on your little boy. It was so fun to see you all. Come and visit us anytime!

Wedding Day Bliss

K&A Wedding

September 30, 2008...Keith and Amber's Wedding Day. It was a perfect day for a wedding with a sunny, bright blue sky and temperatures reaching 85. Everything went smoothly. They were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple and had a funny sealer...joke after joke after joke. We went to Lion House for the luncheon and had a yummy chicken meal topped off with a raspberry tart. The reception was at the Provo Library and we had a fun time eating and dancing. Layne watched Anders and Holly while we were at the temple. Holly took a bottle (yeah!), but got sad at times because she missed her mommy. Anders was just happy to play with cousins and toys. We picked them up after the luncheon and went back to Charl's parents to get them dressed for the reception. Holly was beside herself because she just wanted to be held. Anders was a big "PILL" and refused to get his dress clothes on. It took 3 of us (me, Charl and Teresa) to accomplish this task. Once we actually got to the reception and he saw all his cousins in the same clothes he was fine. Holly was great at the reception, too. Amber looked absolutely amazing and Anders was totally smitten with her. He kept wanting to give her my flowers (she gave all the sisters a bouquet of flowers that were supposed to be a corsage) and he kept trying to sneak into the pictures with her side of the family. I think he even got the last dance with her...Keith was busy singing Raw Hide. We are so happy for you guys!

Oh To Sleep Anywhere!

So today was a busy day. We rushed out the door after breakfast and went to the nursery to return our dead tree. We bought an Austrian Pine and we still have store credit. Then we went through Carl's Jr. drive-thru and ate at Charl's parents. We visited for an hour and then went back to our house beating my mom, Sam, and Maddie by just 15 minutes. My mom has been visiting from Atlanta, GA and she spent time in Idaho with her high school girlfriends and my sister Sam who lives in Idaho Falls. Sam drove my mom back down for one more night with us before she flies back home. We were grateful that Sam could drive her back down to the SLC area. She wasn't feeling very well, but she knew that I wanted to see her...it's been 1 year since I have seen her. (She also brought me a toddler bed that we set up for Anders. Now Holly is in a real crib, with cute girly bedding. It's about time..she turns 9 months next week.) We hung out with them for a few hours and then they left to go to Layne's house in South Jordan. My mom is sleeping at her house tonight and Sam and Maddie are driving back to Idaho. When they left, Charl planted our new tree and I vacuumed out our car. By this time I am starving because it was 7 pm. I fed Holly first and then made waffles, eggs and sausage for us. It was ready just as Charl finished mowing the lawn. We didn't finish dinner until 8 pm and we still had to go to the store to get stuff for Sunday dinner and our trip to California (we leave Monday morning). I had Charl run to the store and I got the kids bathed and in bed and started on 2 loads of laundry. While I was getting Holly settled, Andersen went downstairs looking for Charl, but he was gone. So he turned the TV on and found a football game (I could hear it upstairs) and climbed in the exer-saucer. I could tell he was in this because he was spinning this ball thing that makes a very distinct noise. I got Holly to bed and just as I shut her door, the phone rang. It was Charl. He wanted to confirm that he got everything. After a 5 minute conversation with him, I spot treated some clothes and threw in a load of laundry (aware that Anders is still downstairs). 5 minutes later, I go downstairs to retrieve Anders and I find him sound asleep in the excer-saucer. I'd love to be able to sleep anywhere! It was a fun day and Charl was happy because BYU killed UCLA 59-0. Way to go Cougars!

Granny Louw's Birthday Fun

Here are some pictures from Granny Louw's birthday dinner. It's always fun for Anders and Holly to get to see their cousins, aunts and uncles. Granny's birthday is always fun because she gets gifts (fun little trinkets and treats) for everyone. Anders loved his m & m's and tiger car. Holly loved the wrapping paper and the cute book, too. Charl loved his Toblerone and I, of course, LOVED my Almond Roca and Butter Rum life savors (she knows me well). Thanks Granny, we love and appreciate all you do for us. P.S. - Notice the size of the "muskmelon". We grew that in our garden and gave it Granny for her b-day. She said it was perfect.

I've Been Tagged!

My sister Layne "tagged" me this afternoon. I had to call her to find out what that meant. Read along and you'll know by the end.

These are my favorite shoes. They are easy on and easy off. They can be found on this rug in my foyer when they are not on my feet.
This is my favorite room in my house. I love to sleep! I'm lucky I didn't look at Layne's blog until late in the afternoon, because I washed and ironed my linens this morning and made my bed when the kids went down for naps.
Me talking to Layne, trying to learn about being "Tagged". Andersen helped take this picture. He held the camera and aimed. I pushed the button.
What I'm doing now: TENNIS ANYONE? I love the US Open. I was sitting in that stadium just 4 years ago...what a blast.

My kitchen. Yes, I almost always have stuff on the counters. It drives me crazy, but I don't have a solution for it yet. I want to install more cabinets in my kitchen and create a real desk area. Then I'll have places to hide the junk.

My laundry room. I ironed Saturday and the clothes on top of the dryer have been folded for well over a week and there they still remain.

My closet. I just tidied this up on Monday, so it doesn't look that bad. Layne and I have the same size closet (hers may actually be bigger), but I love my closet and she says she hates her. If you ever re-do it... copy mine.

My sink. I should probably de-clutter this, but overall, not too bad.

OK - there you have it. Now I TAG - SAM and BIRDO!

Things I Want To Remember

Charl has funny names for baby items.

we say binki, he says mouthpiece

we say car seat, he says baby seat

we say bib, he says apron

There is some logic to his terminology, but it still sounds funny.

Tonight Andersen had a couple of 1st.

The first thing new he did tonight was pee in the potty. Before his bath I've been putting him on the potty to get him familiar with the toilet. Since Charl usually bathes him, this has only happened maybe 4 or 5 times. As expected, he never does anything (except try to put his feet inside...it took him a few tries to figure out how to sit on it). Tonight, however he got a bath right after drinking a full glass of milk. I put him right on the potty and he let it rip. I said, "Yea, you did it!" He smiled from ear to ear. It was really cute. A few days later, he pooped in his diaper as he usally does in the late morning. So I took the diaper off and dumped the poop in the potty and set him on the potty again. He looked down, while sitting, and noticed something in the bottom of the water and he said, "stinky rocks." I got him down and we flushed, and he said, "bye stinky rocks." He thinks he poops rocks.

The second thing new for Andersen was he said, "YES." For those who Anders, you know that he is very good at saying NO. I have never heard him say "yes" to anything. Even if I ask him if he wants "chocolate milk" he never says "yes", instead he'll just run and get a cup and wait by the fridge door. He lets his actions do the talking. Well tonight we were watching Andy Roddick play in US Open. There was an exciting point and Charl yelled, "YES! HE GOT IT!" Andersen, too, got caught up in the excitement and yelled, "YES!" just like his daddy. At least now I know he can say that word.