Therapy

I've decided that this time, right now, is my absolute favorite time of year in Arizona. Yes, I just got a sunburn yesterday from working in the yard, but the mornings and evenings are just absolutely beautiful. For the past several weeks I've been spending so much time outside working in gardens and the yard and I can't get enough of it. After having a pretty crappy start to this year, I decided to medicate myself with the beauties of the earth, so I planted flowers. The very thought of those flowers outside just makes me happy and the sun soaks away (or burns away) any nuisance that tries to creep back in!

Friends

Because our homes are so close, Emily and I frequently go back and forth for short (yah right, mostly long) spontaneous visits. Ideally we'd like to be next-door neighbors without that pesky house between us. We've often said that if there was one more house between us, we couldn't possibly be as good of friends . . . at least it'd be more of a hassle to borrow eggs and such. :)

The kids often play together. On this day, Clarkie was trying to teach Stella how to ride a tricycle because I've given up for a while because of her steering challenge. Who knows what Sam and Joe were doing. It's amazing what big brothers can make little brothers do for them.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Lunch

I forgot to post these pictures from almost a month ago when my family was in town for Hannah's sealing. Dad took us all to lunch on a raining day.

Hannah taking another stab at the lemon. She loves it.

Poor Miles had to sit between the kids and I'm sure his left arm is grease-stained with Stella's french fry fingers.

Natalie, Marci, and Mom

Lindsay and Hannah

Daddy-O

Nursery Story

Cute story about my Nursery kids. During the lesson the teacher showed a picture of a father baptizing his son. When she asked the kids what they were doing, some kids said that they were swimming, others weren't able to see the picture because they were either underneath their chair or turned around completely. When another teacher whispered to Mason that he was getting baptized, he turned around and said, "He's getting bad guys!"

WANTED: A Sunbeam Teacher . . .

. . . because after today, I'm sure they want to quit. Let me start at the beginning because it didn't quite start out very well. For weeks we known and practiced for Stella's prayer debut in Primary. I really thought she'd go through with it, but when the time came, she just said, "I'm too sleepy!" and refused. So I prayed and I'm kind of bitter that I didn't get a sticker for it.

Fast-forward an hour or so, I was summoned from my Nursery class with a crying Stella. We talked in the hallway for a short while and I found out that Stella was having a hard time in her Sunbeam class and . . . she burped in her poor teacher's face! STELLA ROSE DIBBLE! TROUBLE!

We drew a flower for poor Sister Harris and went back to Stella's Sunbeam class for the rest of the lesson. Stella sat reverently, picked her nose, and then was able to apologize to Sister Harris and give her the flower picture minus a small corner of the paper which was now containing the booger. I'm sure Sister Harris will forgive Stella for burping in her face, but who gets in trouble for forgetting to brush Stella's teeth this morning?

Of course I'm tremendously attractive . . .

Take the Quiz here!

You are Elizabeth Bennet of Pride & Prejudice! You are intelligent, witty, and tremendously attractive. You have a good head on your shoulders, and oftentimes find yourself the lone beacon of reason in a sea of ridiculousness. You take great pleasure in many things. You are proficient in nearly all of them, though you will never own it. Lest you seem too perfect, you have a tendency toward prejudgement that serves you very ill indeed.

Book Club Update

OK, so I totally LOVED The Goose Girl (Shannon Hale) and would recommend it (that's for you JuJu). It was a fairly easy read (Middle School book) and I couldn't put it down! I actually read it pretty fast, so I was kind of proud of myself. I loved the story. The book club ladies said that it was pretty predictable (though exciting), but I was totally surprised by everything that happened, so you be the judge! I come away from reading this with the same sort of feelings I had when I watched Ever After for the first time (which is why I can watch it over and over again . . . in the same day). I was so happy that she didn't have to be rescued, but that she figured it out for herself and became a strong woman! Love it! Read it! Next book is Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell.

Lynn Alfred Anderson - obituary

Lynn Alfred Anderson, 90, a long time resident of Weiser, Idaho, died Thursday, Feb. 7, 2008, in Boise, Idaho. Lynn was born Nov. 20, 1917 in Cardston, Alberta, Canada the son of Moses Albert and Sarah Aurelia Garner Anderson. When Lynn was seven years old, his father died in a tragic accident. At the age of 10, he moved to Weiser with his mother and brothers and sisters and his mother married her husband's brother, Sam Anderson.

When Lynn was 15, his mother died and Lynn stayed behind in Weiser and his siblings moved back to Canada with an aunt and uncle. Lynn became a United States citizen in the early 1950's. Lynn met Rosamond Hannah Frank after moving to Weiser, courted her and they married on Dec. 23, 1936. They were later sealed in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Salt Lake Temple, Salt Lake City, Utah on April 2, 1937. Following their marriage, they remained in Weiser, bought a small farm, and worked side by side. Eventually their little farm grew into many acres. During W.W. II, he and Rosamond had four children and in order to provide for his growing family, while still farming, he went to work with the Union Pacific Railroad Roundhouse in Huntington, Ore. Farming seemed to be in his blood and was successful in row crop as well as having a small dairy.

Lynn was always happy, had a contagious laugh, was willing to help those in need, was a loving husband, father and grandfather. He lived his life to the fullest, living by example for others to follow. His brief absence from the lives of his family and friends will be immensely felt. Lynn has been a faithful member of the LDS church, having served in many capacities. He served as a Temple worker in the Boise Idaho Temple for 23 years and he and his wife, Rosamond, served a one year mission to the Denver, Colo. LDS Temple. Lynn retired from farming in 1983 but couldn't give it up entirely and continued working up to 2001. After Rosamond's death in Aug. 2000, Lynn married Lula Fox Garner Zaugg on Nov. 18, 2000.

He is survived by his wife, Lula, Weiser, Idaho; children Linda and Allan Jorgensen, Damascus, Ore.; Loretta and Reid Dunbar, West Valley City, Utah; Marc and Jeanette Anderson, Weiser, Idaho; Ned and Sharon Anderson, Cedar Hills, Utah; Sylvia and Clyde Garner, Emmett, Idaho; Bruce and Nita Anderson, Weiser, Idaho and Kim Anderson, Centerville, Utah. Lynn is also survived by his brother Frank Anderson and sister June Fawns, both of Raymond, Alberta, Canada; 40 grandchildren, 97 great-grandchildren, one great-great grandchild and numerous step-grandchildren and step-great- grandchildren.

Lynn was preceded in death by his parents, his first wife, Rosamond, his brother Lloyd and sister Mabel Salmon, and his great grandson, Isaac Daniel Bangart. Funeral services for Lynn will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 16, 2008, at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Weiser, Idaho, with Bishop Brett Dille officiating. Interment will follow at Hillcrest Cemetery in Weiser. A viewing will be held from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. the morning of the service in the Primary Room. The online guest book may be signed and condolences sent to the family at www.Haren-Wood.com. Arrangements are under the direction of the Haren-Wood Funeral Chapels of Payette and Ontario. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the LDS Humanitarian Aid Fund.

Reading . . . yes, a book.

It's happened friends . . . I know, I know . . . this is uncharacteristic of, well, a good portion of my family, but I've read a book. In an attempt to know what the crap my husband is talking about most of the time, I've decided to start reading to expand my vocabulary. Perhaps I'll even be able to have intellegent conversations someday . . . or learn to spell intelligent.

I've joined a book club made up of ladies (all my friends) that have been meeting for the past 4 years. This book club's reputation is rumored to be extremely strict on rules such as actually reading the book, so a lot of people are afraid to join. But once you realize that they just talk about the book for 10 minutes and then move on to other topics such as childbirth, breastfeeding, husbands, and our children's bowel movement frequency, it becomes not so intimidating.

We read The House of the Scorpion (Nancy Farmer) in January and I really enjoyed it! It took me over a month to read it and Elliot read it on a flight last week. I'm not what you would call a "good reader."

This month's book is The Goose Girl (Shannon Hale) and I'm a chapter in! I have one week to finish it, so everyone just leave me alone! (or tell me what happens, find the movie for me, or the CD's)

Hannah Banana!

There's no getting out of it now! Hannah is ETERNALLY my niece! She was sealed to my sister Lindsay and her husband Keith on February 2 in the Arizona Temple! I love my Hannah Banana! Take a look at Lindsay's blog for some great pictures!

Kiss and Make Up

I was watching my friend's kids today which was so nice because Stella and Justin play so well together and although Justin's volume switch is missing, he is one of the most polite kids I've ever met!

Stella and Justin were in a fight over a toy and Stella ended up sitting in a time-out for hitting Justin. After her time-out, we do the same thing we ALWAYS do after a time out. We talk about WHY she's in a time-out. Well, in the 2 1/2 years that we've actually been doing time-outs, she's only answered me correctly about 5 times. Most of the time she's dancing or trying to get the whole experience over with by trying to hug me. Today was no different. Here is our conversation:

Mommy: "Do you know why you are in a time-out Stella?"
Stella: "Yah."
Mommy: "Why?"
Stella: "I don't know."
Mommy: "Did you hit Justin?"
Stella: "Yes."
Mommy: "Are we supposed to hit? (she's dancing around at this point) Look at Mommy. Are we supposed to hit?"
Stella: "No."
Mommy: "What can we do instead of hit?"

Now, the right answer would be "come and get Mommy," but Stella's answer was this:

Stella: "Kiss."

Grandpa Lynn Alfred Anderson

My Grandpa Anderson passed away yesterday evening. We were able to celebrate his 90th birthday over Thanksgiving a few months ago with an enormous Family Reunion (120 family members attended). I'm so grateful for ALL of the events that were planned during that time. We were able to sit as a family and hear some of Grandpa's stories as well as his children's stories about Grandpa. I'm so grateful for my sweet Grandpa who just seemed like the happiest man ever with the cutest laugh! He passed away in the Boise Temple right after he finished his shift. What a wonderful blessing (and birthday present) for my Grandma Rose to have her sweetie back! I love you Grandpa!

My sister Lindsay made this video of Grandpa:

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Thumb Sucker

Stella has sucked her thumb since she was 4 months old. I thought it was cute at first and somehow thought that it was better than a pacifier, but I’m wrong. It’s already moved some of her teeth, and her thumbnail is flat and flaky and calloused. I found a new sore on her thumb on Sunday and told her that if she didn’t stop sucking her thumb that “it would turn green and slimy and fall off and it would hurt really bad.” She started crying. I tend to go a little overboard when I’m trying to get my point across.

So this week Stella has been waking up early (most likely with her thumb in her mouth) and FREAKING OUT because she thinks her thumb is going to fall off. Let’s face it friends, with her mother’s family dental history, there is no way that Stella is avoiding the absolute necessity of orthodontia as a teenager. So my question is simply this: should I just let her suck her thumb or should we just accept what she's chosen for her thumb replacement?