Happy Birthday Alecia!

Happy 11th Birthday to my gorgeous niece ALECIA! I had the privilege of living with my sister Marci and my brother-in-law Bill and the kids (Kayla, Karl, and Alecia . . . I missed Alex by just 11 months) after I graduated from Ricks College in 1998, before I moved to Arizona. I loved my time with the kids and Alecia was especially cuddly! I remember one of the last nights I lived with them, the kids were all trying to brush their teeth at the same time before going to bed, and little 3 1/2 year old Alecia comes running out of the bathroom crying, trying to tell us what was happening. We couldn’t understand her, but eventually we got out of her that Karl pushed her while she was on the stool, and then she ended it by saying, “And now I’m never going to brush my teeth again!” That’s a gem I quote in my frustrations too! Happy Birthday my gorgeous girl!

Fun at the Park

Adam and Xan planned a nice outing at the park for our families on Saturday night! We played on the playground, ate some hotdogs, threw some Cheetos at the ducks, and went in a boat. Anabelle and Stella came with me and Elliot in the USS Alexandra (Adam’s inflatable boat), while Adam, Xan, Raymond, and George went to float origami boats and go fishing. Anabelle and Stella both got a chance to row the boat after we pointed out several ducks and a crane.



The funniest part of the night was after the boating and fishing when the kids were playing on the playground. I loved it because the boys were actually letting me play with them and we were having a great time. At the end of the night George started just sitting at the end of the swirling slide, waiting for Anabelle to come down. Eventually Raymond would come down – head first – and they’d all get off and slide again. Stella became part of the fun on the big slide and it looks like she kicked all of the other kids off! I didn’t get a picture of it, but Anabelle had a wet face full of sand. The kids had a great time, I had a great time, Elliot had a great time . . . why don’t we do this more often?

Update on Aunt Lindsay

It sounds as though Lindsay's surgery went really well. The 5-7 hour surgery only took 3 1/2 hours, thankfully without having to use the heart and lung machine and not needing any extra blood. They kept her heavily sedated the first night to make sure her heart was handling the extra pressure they put on it with the band tightening. I haven't talked to my mom today, but yesterday she said that all of the breathing tubes were out of Lindsay and that she was trying to joke around with everyone. I hear she also told a dirty joke before she went in for surgery. Let's blame that one on the anesthesia. We're so excited for Aunt Lindsay to come home . . . Stella especially!

Panty Head

Stella wanted to help me with her laundry by throwing all of her clothes out on the floor. She found the bloomers of one of her dresses and just put them on her head! We, of course, laughed and she just thought it was the funniest thing after that! Girl, you’ve got a panty on your head!

Surgery

Aunt Lindsay is having her 3rd open heart surgery today in San Francisco, California. Last March she had a surgery to put a band on one of the arteries in her chest. I’m a little shady on the real details and I could quite possibly be making this all up, but I think the point of the band is to force the weak side of her heart to work harder like it’s supposed to. Today’s surgery is tighten the band to make her blessed little heart work more! This just makes her tired, but it’s all good stuff because then in about 6 to 9 months she’ll have her 4th surgery to switch the main arteries to where they should have been in the first place! I can just hear that “Glory of Love” number complete with dancing, actions, and costume! Can’t wait to see you Lindz!

Happy Birthday Karl!

Happy 13th Birthday to my very first born nephew KARL! He’s a teenager! One of my favorite memories of Karl is when he was about 3 years old and would stand on anything that would make him a little taller so he could tell the stories that he just made up. They always started like a fairytale and about 30 seconds later, they were over. He just made us laugh so much, and though he’d hate it if I even got close now, he loved to give out kisses! Happy Birthday Karl!

Sleepy Mermaid

This is what happens when I leave getting Stella ready for bed up to Elliot. He put both of her legs into one side of the sweats and we didn’t notice until this morning!

WEEK 6

I haven’t been to the gym this week because I got strepp throat AGAIN! I’m not contagious anymore, but I’m still battling the sore throat and don’t feel like wheezing my way through a workout. I did, however, have a burst of energy the day after I started the medication and started cleaning . . . WHAT?! Ceiling fans, my craft room, I even put up curtains in my bedroom that we’ve been waiting a year and a half to do. So in a way I have been getting a little exercise. Plus this morning I went to the Mesa Cannery to help and did my weight training there. Everyone else that came to volunteer was either pregnant or 80 years old. Once we all get healthy around here, you just watch out for my new bursts of energy!

Dancing with the Stars

Did anyone else feel like the dancers weren't having very much fun last night on Dancing With The Stars? Even though she's not my favorite, I think Lisa Rinna deserved a 10 on at least one of the dances last night. She deserved a 10 for last week's performance of her quick-step. I hate the quick-step and it makes me nervous to watch people do it, but I thought they did a good job. The judges obviously want Stacy Kiebler to win (so does Elliot, he has a crush on her), but I think that Drew Lachey should win. Poor little guy just dances his little heart out. I like him because he actually dances - does the foot work, the arms, and even though his partner freaks me out, they are really good (Louis freaks me out too). I liked his Thriller dance a couple weeks ago. I love this show! It makes me want to dance!

Keys

Stella loves keys. She has a set of play keys that are always to be found when needed. Silly me thought that if I let her play with my keys, of course she wouldn’t lose them because she never loses her own keys. They were nowhere to be found! I had a bunch of friends and kids over that day and had no idea where they could have been or who could have taken them! I kept asking Stella to help me find them and I honestly think she was trying to find them. She’d look in her stroller and take a peek in the laundry room, but we just couldn’t find them. The next day we did the same thing. I emptied all of her toy baskets, I checked under beds, under furniture, everywhere! I had given up, so Elliot and Stella kept looking. Right before bed time, Stella decided to jump on the trampoline and all of the sudden we just hear her say, “KEYS!” She found them under the trampoline pad . . . and was so proud of herself for doing so.

Laughter

Can you just hear that laugh?

Boy Scouts

My cousin Nathan Anderson is awesome. I'm sure we could have fun hanging out because we both like computers, but I'm also positive I'd feel way out of my league because he's a brain when it comes to technology. As I was reading my comments from old blog entries I found out that Nate has a blog that he started for the Boy Scouts and Duty to God. I haven't taken a good look at it yet, but I'm sure it's helpful. Here's what he says:

"I am a driven person who loves technology. I have been involved with computers from an early age. I started eTrailToEagle.com because of the need I saw when I was called to be the 2nd Counselor in the Young Men's Presidency. Our Ward needed a better way to centralize the Duty to God tracking information. I started eTrailToEagle.com two years ago, but released it to the public in May of 2005."

Check out his blog (Boy Scout and LDS Duty to God Tracking)!

Quotes

I'm a thief, but I enjoyed these quotes from Adam's blog (one great thing) and Beth's blog (Defying Gravity).

"When you blame others, you give up your power to change." - Dr. Robert Anthony (American educator)

"Happiness is a journey, not a destination. Happiness is to be found along the way, not at the end. For then the journey is over and it is too late. The time for happiness is today, not tomorrow." — Joseph Smith Jr.

Keefee & Lou

Uncle Keith and Aunt Lindsay shared Family Home Evening with us on Monday. While Elliot and I were finishing up dinner, Lindsay and Keith were bouncing the nerf soccer ball back and forth with their heads and Stella was laughing so hard that she was BAWLING! Tears, I tell ya, tears! I didn't get a picture of that, but I got the video of her adorable giggle! We're so happy when Uncle Keefee and Aunt Lou come to visit!

Smells like Zoo

Two of my friends are celebrating their birthday's today (Brooke Cook and Carla Spidell) and so before we went out to lunch this afternoon, I went to the zoo with Brooke and the kids (Justin and Tyler).


Stella is starting to get a little more excited about the animals now that she can make their sound. She got to throw a carrot at the elephant (Sheena) and we watched the orangutans (Michael and Duchess) eat some palm leaves.


The 3rd orangutan (Bess - Duchess' daughter) had a baby about 3 weeks ago and they are about to put her on display in the next week or so. We saw a little picture of the baby and she's so adorable!

The zoo keepers haven't actually examined the baby to see if it really is a girl, they've just been letting the mommy take care of it. If it is a girl, the Phoenix Zoo will probably be able to keep it, but if it's a boy, they'll have to move it to another zoo. Michael wouldn't do well with another male in the group. I can't imagine what those giant hands could do to a tiny little baby!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day! I've not been a huge fan of the holiday myself . . . that was until Elliot entered my life! He's totally redeemed it for me! Not that flowers and candy and gifts make me happy . . . well, actually they do, but that's not the point. I'm just so grateful to have my sweetie and know that he thinks of me and loves me!

We spent our Valentine evening at the park with Stella. She loves to be outside and loved the slide this time at the park. She doesn't like the swing and if she's on it too long, she'll just stop breathing. When she can, she'll get a kung-fu grip on me to try to get out of it. Nothing could make me more happy that to spend Valentine's Day with my two adorable Valentine's! I hope you had a great day too!

WEEK 5

In the month that I've belonged to the gym, I've lost 2 pounds and AT LEAST a half inch to an inch off of all of the measured body parts, lost 2% body fat, and improved my fit test score by 2 points. I just had my reprogramming with the trainer at the gym and although he was nice about the loss, both he and I are irritated that I could have done better. I took another picture to see the before and after in the last month, and although I'm not really feeling a difference or seeing a difference each day, you can see a tiny difference in the gut/top fat roll area. My trainer worked out with me again and noticed that I wasn't lifting enough weight, so he increased EVERYTHING by at least 15 pounds. I can barely move! In fact, I'm typing with my nose. Who hasn't encouraged me for a while? I need a little push!

Adam & Jenny

Happy #8 Anniversary to Adam and Jenny! I'm almost confident that I'll have your wedding album done by #10! Have a great celebration you crazy kids you!



Happy Anniversary . . . happy, happy, happy, happy, happy anniversary . . . happy, happy, happy, happy, happy anniversary . . . happy, happy, happy . . . shut it! (That's from So I Married An Ax Murderer . . . I know Lindsay thinks it's funny . . .)

Borgata & Sugar Bowl

Stella and a sleepy Daddy at The Sugar Bowl after a fun night of Brazilian Jazz at the Borgata . . . Stella loves to say “Borgata.” Two seconds after the waiter brought Daddy’s hot fudge sundae, Stella was nearly on top of it for a bite. She loves the ice cream!

STELLA IS 1 1/2 YEARS OLD!

Shh, I'm Sleeping

Stella's new thing is to "fake asleep." I don't know who taught her, and if she keeps up this learning by herself thing, I think my work here is done. The first time I saw her do it was when I opened the car door to get her out of her carseat. Her eyes were closed and her head was tilted to the side and I was thinking, "hum, I swear I just saw her awake 2 seconds ago." Then I saw that big grin on her face and heard her giggle. She just thought it was so funny, and now she does it every time. Now she's faking sleep in her high-chair. After a nice lunch and a little tickle game, I took our plates to the sink and this is what I came back to.

WEEK 4

I'm a little irritated that I'm already in week 4. I don't feel like I've worked very hard, but wasted valuable time. I need help with the nutrition part. I've found that I have a hard time listening to people who I think don't know what they are talking about. For instance, when I was a member at Curve's (gym for women), the woman who owned it was 2 times bigger than I was. When she sat me down to talk about my nutrition, I just let everything bounce off of me because I was sitting there just thinking that she couldn't possibly know what she was talking about if she was bigger than me. I feel that same way about people at the gym who work out next to me and are ever so willing to share their story about how they lost 30 pounds. They are also extremely willing to give their opinion about how I should do it. I just have a hard time listening if they don't have that personal trainer or nutritionist certificate in their hand. In reality, I think I know what I need to do, but I also need a babysitter. I've lost 6.8 pounds, but it was entirely because I was sick and would have rather walked on hot needles than swallow anything.

Grandma Rose

Today would have been my Grandma Rosamond Hannah Frank Anderson's 89th birthday. Some things I've learned about her from reading her journals and rootin' around her house is that she LOVED pictures. In looking through her photo albums, I know that she had a lot of pictures taken of herself . . . sounds like Natalie. You remember all of the pictures she had on her refrigerator of grandkids and sometimes even people we didn't know, well she kept EVERYTHING! Did you know that she was also a hair dresser? She also worked for a doctor in Weiser and was doing both when she married Grandpa Lynn Anderson in 1936. This is a picture of her at about age 17. See any family resemblance?

One Year

Elliot has been a bishop for one year. I can't believe how fast the time has gone. At the beginning everyone at church and sometimes even family would console me, yes console, because I was the bishop's wife. It didn't seem any different than any other calling he had because he works so hard and understands how important the gospel is understands his role in it. He is a blessing to our family. He's a good man and I love him and his cute head.

Comments

I realize that I'm not the smartest person in the world. I also just noticed that people have been leaving comments on my blog. I just assumed that no one was looking at my blog since there weren't any comments that I could see. I had a crash course on blogging, so I've not been able to root around and explore like I'd like. Thanks for the comments!

Week 2 Clarification

I've had 2 people ask me about the 11 pounds I gained from week 1. Let me just clarify that it wasn't eleven pounds, it was one pound and a tenth (1.1, one decimal one). And no, I don't think I've lost it yet.

BANGS

Why? What is the point of bangs? They used to be handy in covering enormous zits, and also helpful in increasing height . . . but really, unless they are gently wisped to the side in a professional cut, I find that full on bangs are nothing but disaster. I’m sure the words I write will not convince anyone of my point, so I’ve put together a series of photos which no one, NO ONE, can dispute. I think we can all safely blame our mothers, bless their ever-loving hearts, for the initiation of this bang issue, but who is to blame when we do it to ourselves and our own children today?

I’ve heard many comments on how Stella’s hair is always in her face and she can’t see and asking when I’ll give her a hair cut. Well, if you could all just try to remember about 20 years ago when nearly every female, and several males, had bangs. You know you had them . . . and you know now how dreadful they were! Why would you ask me to do this to my own adorable child? Do you want her to have the same bitter feelings I’ve had against my own mother for ruining my hair all those years? (Don’t worry Mom, I’ve nearly forgiven you). Stella doesn’t like to have cute barrettes or bows in her hair and pulls them out nearly as fast as I put them in. One of these days, if we are all very patient, her hair will grow in nice and thick and she’ll be able to put it behind her ears, or she might even allow me to put a barrette in it. I think we all just need to have some patience, more patience than our parents had 20 years ago when they started cutting bangs for us. Some of these bangs turned into sideburn bangs, which drastically, I also have photos of (I won’t post them Teener).

After reviewing these photos and re-evaluating your life and how your bad bangs had an influence on the person you are today, please call me. I’m here with a listening ear, which thankfully, was never covered in sideburn bangs.



Yes, I have a fat lip, but I'm sure Miles has head-gear hair.





DISCLAIMER: If you find it necessary to cut your child’s bangs, I guess I can find a little understanding in my heart. Just be careful my friend . . . be very careful!

WARNING: Anyone attempting to cut or pressuring anyone into cutting Stella’s hair will be on probation. Anyone succeeding in cutting Stella’s hair willingly relinquishes contact with Stella and will henceforth and forever more . . . be dead to me!

WEEK 3

I gained another 2 pounds by Monday. Everyone is trying to be supportive by telling me that it's all muscle, but come on friends, don't coddle me. Are you all trying to say that from 2 weeks of mild work outs I've gained 4 pounds of muscle or more? We all know it's because I haven't changed my eating habits. I had to call Elliot and another friend last week for an intervention because I had made cake mix and wanted to just eat it. They encouraged me to pour it down the drain . . . well, Emily told me to talk to it first and tell it that it didn't beat me and then pour it down the drain . . . but anyway, it made it's way down the drain! Elliot and I have strepp throat and we both want to die every time we swallow. I've not been to the gym since Monday, but as soon as I stop twitching in pain with each swallow, I'll be right back, ready for my next challenge at the gym.