These are mine and Charl's. Layne is still working on the kids'. When she's done, I'll add a picture of them. We may try to monogram them somehow, too.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
I Finally have Christmas Stockings
I really wanted to buy Christmas stockings last year, and the year before, and the year before, but the only ones I really liked were from Pottery Barn and they were between $26 - $36 EACH. That adds up, so I kept thinking how hard can it be to make them. I figured I could buy material for $50 or so and make quite a few. The problem with my plan is - I DON'T SEW. I have my mom's old sewing maching that sits in a closet...I don't even remember how to thread the bobbin. We'll I never got around to doing anything last year, or the year before, etc, and now that it is the holiday season again, I began searching for stockings again. So I bit the bullet and went a fabric store and walked out with $65 of cute fabric. Thanks to Layne I now have 2 christmas stockings with 4 more on their way.
These are mine and Charl's. Layne is still working on the kids'. When she's done, I'll add a picture of them. We may try to monogram them somehow, too.
These are mine and Charl's. Layne is still working on the kids'. When she's done, I'll add a picture of them. We may try to monogram them somehow, too.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Tonight's Drive Home
Today we spent the day at Layne's house. Charl helped Rich hang their Christmas lights and Layne and I sewed (I cut, she sewed) my Christmas stockings (we finished 2 of of 6). Anyway, we headed for home at 8 pm and the radio station was on KSL (we listened to the BYU game on the drive to Layne's house so it was still on that station). Playing on that station was the Doug Wright show. We tuned in during the middle of his rant about playing Christmas songs before Thanksgiving. He would play snippets of songs and say, "I definitely can wait until Thanksgiving before hearing that song. The first song we heard him rip on was, "I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas". As soon as the song began to play, Andersen pipes up in the back, "Hippo, Mommy" and procedes to sing the song. Sad for Andersen because he only played a few lines, but he sang right along with it. Then Doug Wright comes back and starts in on his lead for the next song that should not be played until after Thanksgiving. I say to Charl, wouldn't it be funny if he does the "donkey" song next? Ten seconds later we are busting up laughing because sure enough, Dominick the Donkey plays next.
The reason this was so humorous to us is because last year at Christmas Teresa discovered the "donkey" song and intoduced it to us at her birthday party. Nearly every Sunday after that, we have watch the You Tube video of Dominick the Donkey and when you go to that video the "Hippo" video is the next one in line. Now, whenever Andersen sees a computer, he shouts "donkey, Mommy" or "hippo Mommy", and continues to shout until he is singing along with the video. HE'S HOOKED...thanks, Teresa!!
The reason this was so humorous to us is because last year at Christmas Teresa discovered the "donkey" song and intoduced it to us at her birthday party. Nearly every Sunday after that, we have watch the You Tube video of Dominick the Donkey and when you go to that video the "Hippo" video is the next one in line. Now, whenever Andersen sees a computer, he shouts "donkey, Mommy" or "hippo Mommy", and continues to shout until he is singing along with the video. HE'S HOOKED...thanks, Teresa!!
Friday, October 31, 2008
Halloween 2008
It's 9:45 pm on Halloween night. The kids are in bed. We turned off the porch lights to ward off the last of the teenage candy addicts. I just completed a "movie" of the pictures from the day using Picasa, but I was disappointed at how blurry the pictures turn out. So, I'll leave the "movie" on here for you to view, but I'll also add some of the "not blurry" pictures, too.
Here is how the afternoon and evening unfolded. Charl came home from work around 3 pm. We put the kids in the car at 4 pm and headed off to granny Louw's house. The Pews met us there around 5 pm. Andersen knocked on granny's red door and said "trick or treat". He spent all morning watching Halloween cartoons and he got very well schooled on the ins and outs of Halloween. After hanging out with cousins, we got back in the car and headed back home. When we got back at 6:15 pm the neighborhood kids were out in full force and Andersen couldn't wait to join them, despite the light rain. Somehow, I (katie) got nominated (by Andersen and Charl) to take the cute elephant around the neighborhood. Charl stayed home with Holly and handed out the treats. We went up and down 2 streets and it seemed like we were gone forever. Andersen would walk up the driveways saying "trick or treat" and then he'd say it again while knocking, but as soon as the door was answered he wouldn't say anything. If he knew the people he would invite himself in. He made his way into the Hoskins (his former nursery teacher) and left with a toy car. They loved his costume and they love him so he got the VIP treatment. When we got back home, we ate pizza (frozen from Target and it wasn't that great), but it was food. All in all, it was successful, however next year it is Charl's turn to walk the streets! (Good thing it was warmer than last year.) Enjoy the pictures.
This year Andersen was an elephant. He loves elephants, so we had to get this costume when we saw it at Costco. The size is for 2 -4 year olds...Anders is a short 2 year old and look at the floods! We just got him out of the car so he could go trick-or-treating at Granny's house.
Trick-or-Treating. He's thinking...Granny, where are you?
So, I got lazy with Holly this year. I put her in the dinosaur costume that Granny Annie made about 7 years ago for Rylan. Andersen wore this costume last year. It was a little big and she didn't really care for the headpiece when it was on her head.
Andersen posing with the Jack-O-Lantern in he pre- trick or treating Halloween outfit.
Holly posing for her first "pumpkin" picture. What a cutie!
Here is how the afternoon and evening unfolded. Charl came home from work around 3 pm. We put the kids in the car at 4 pm and headed off to granny Louw's house. The Pews met us there around 5 pm. Andersen knocked on granny's red door and said "trick or treat". He spent all morning watching Halloween cartoons and he got very well schooled on the ins and outs of Halloween. After hanging out with cousins, we got back in the car and headed back home. When we got back at 6:15 pm the neighborhood kids were out in full force and Andersen couldn't wait to join them, despite the light rain. Somehow, I (katie) got nominated (by Andersen and Charl) to take the cute elephant around the neighborhood. Charl stayed home with Holly and handed out the treats. We went up and down 2 streets and it seemed like we were gone forever. Andersen would walk up the driveways saying "trick or treat" and then he'd say it again while knocking, but as soon as the door was answered he wouldn't say anything. If he knew the people he would invite himself in. He made his way into the Hoskins (his former nursery teacher) and left with a toy car. They loved his costume and they love him so he got the VIP treatment. When we got back home, we ate pizza (frozen from Target and it wasn't that great), but it was food. All in all, it was successful, however next year it is Charl's turn to walk the streets! (Good thing it was warmer than last year.) Enjoy the pictures.
This year Andersen was an elephant. He loves elephants, so we had to get this costume when we saw it at Costco. The size is for 2 -4 year olds...Anders is a short 2 year old and look at the floods! We just got him out of the car so he could go trick-or-treating at Granny's house.
Trick-or-Treating. He's thinking...Granny, where are you?
So, I got lazy with Holly this year. I put her in the dinosaur costume that Granny Annie made about 7 years ago for Rylan. Andersen wore this costume last year. It was a little big and she didn't really care for the headpiece when it was on her head.
Andersen posing with the Jack-O-Lantern in he pre- trick or treating Halloween outfit.
Holly posing for her first "pumpkin" picture. What a cutie! |
| From Movies |
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Picture Tag
This is the 4th picture in my 4th folder. It was taken in August of 2006 at Park City. We (granny and grandpa, teresa, rachelle and tim and gang, and our family) rented a nice town home for the week and had a Louw family vacation. (Keith wasn't able to make it.) This was Andersen's first real "vacation". We played tennis, went swimming, walked around the town and got ice cream, went shopping at the outlets, and went down the alpine slide. This picture was taken just after we made it safely down the slide. Charl had been before and went faster than me. I was a little cautious because Charl scared me by telling me I could fly off the track if i went too fast. Hmmm...did he just want to make sure he beat me??? None the less...it was still fun. Anders was 3 months so he waited at the bottom with grandpa and Rachelle (who was 7 months pregnant with Gwen). We'll have to take him when he gets a little older. Fun times!
My face looks fat in this picture.
My face looks fat in this picture.Thursday, October 23, 2008
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!
Monday, October 13, 2008
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.
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.
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.)
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.
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!
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.
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| 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.
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| 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.)
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| 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.
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| 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
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| 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!
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