Anderson Reunion

One of the bonuses of being home for the summer, is all the family activities we finally get to attend. We were able to go to the annual Anderson Family Reunion. There were about 60-70 people there and we had a blast. Addy had a blast playing with cousins in the sun. I was so worried about how her and Mason would sleep, but they did great.

Mason hates to be laying down, and we don't have bumbo yet.. so we put him in his jumper and he bounces and spins in circles...he LOVES it!


Best Buds..Addy and Ellie playing in the cabin.


Our big boy chillin at the pool.


This big field makes Addy look so little.








jumpin on the bed!

3 months!

I can't believe it's already been 3 months! Mason is such a good baby..so chill and happy. He's an adorable chunky boy, who looks like he's more around 5-6 months old. He's super long and has the chunkiest thighs I've ever seen:) He's sleeping so much better this past month. He wakes up once at night and then around 7am..but will go back down for another hour and a half. He's ticklish everywhere..especially his neck and face. He loves to be around all the action, so when we try to put him down for naps in his room, he can't sleep. But when I put him in his bouncer in the kitchen or living room where it's noisy, he'll go to sleep:) I can't imagine life without this little boy, he's brought so much joy to our family and he's got his big sister wrapped around his finger:)

Cowboy Party

Every summer, Chris's mom does a cowboy party at her house. We've been doing alarm systems every summer, so this summer we finally got to take Addy. They roasted smores, had baked beans, played lots of cowboy games and Addy had a blast with all her cousins.

Addy sat at the table eating baked beans for the longest time..


getting ready for the horse races


and off they go..


all the girl cousins


all the Rose cousins

Come Unto Christ

Our Relief Society has given us a "Come Unto Christ" challenge to read the Book of Mormon by the end of September. They gave us these little "kits," with the time-line schedule, 3 colored pencils and the instructions to color when Christ is speaking, adjectives that describe Christ, and all the different names that Christ has. I've sadly never dived into one of these challenges before and finished..but I am dedicated this time. It came at such a perfect time and I have loved it so far. Having to do the highlighting definitely makes you re-read each verse so many times to make sure you caught it all, and I am understanding and learning so much more. Our Bishop talked about how this won't just bless us personally, but how it will bless those around us. I have been so on edge and cranky lately and it was affecting my patience with Chris and our kids and I couldn't seem to get out of the rut. I wasn't doing anything wrong in my life, but I wasn't pouring my heart into the things that we should be doing each day. There's a difference when we pray and read our scriptures just to say we did, or when we pour our heart into them because we want to be close to our Savior and we crave that strength and spirit that comes into our lives. This challenge takes a lot of time because it's anywhere from 3-5 chapters a day...but the sacrifice to wake up earlier or stay up later to read has already blessed me so much the past couple weeks. My patience level has increased and I'm just all around more happy. One of the biggest things I noticed after having Mason, was that with 2 kids taking all my attention - my relationship with Chris was suffering. Mostly my fault - but as we've focused more on praying together, individually, and as a family morning and night and reading scriptures and the Ensign together...we've been blessed with more time together that we somehow hadn't been able to find before. Marriage is all about selflessness and serving each other. It's about each partner putting Christ first and then everything else just falls into place. We just can't be the parents and spouses we need to be on our own...we need His help. Satan is too powerful and wants to destroy families. It makes us so sad the more we see loved ones losing their marriages. In every case, they had stopped going to church, stopped praying, reading scriptures..etc. You just can't afford to stop those things. I have a testimony of these "small" things that we HAVE to do each day..because they aren't small things. They are the big things that keep us strong and keep the spirit in our lives each day. I'm not strong enough to to be a mother and wife on my own. I need my Savior in my life.... in my home and in my marriage. I am so grateful for this challenge and the for the way it has helped me "Come Unto Christ" more in my life. I love Him and have felt Him closer these past couple weeks, and am so grateful for the Book of Mormon for helping me strengthen my relationship with Him. I have been blessed, my marriage and home have been blessed. I am so grateful for my Savior and that through Him I can repent each day for my many weaknesses and try a little harder each day to be more like Him.

Cousins

We love when Ellie comes up to visit. I love that the older Addy gets, the more fun it is to watch her play with cousins. The best part about being back in IF is being closer to family. We watched Ellie yesterday while Darik and Kristine went to the temple.

playing on the patio. Ellie would pretend she's Rapunzel and hang our workout band from the patio down to the parking lot:)


we painted toenails....


played dress up...


ate corn dogs....





I don't know why the camera was going out of focus

This first picture almost doesn't look like him..but it's so cute anyway:)


We love these thighs


Best buds




Had to post Mason's smiles, coos and giggles

Family Pictures

I was going to wait to post some of favorites until we tweaked them in photoshop..but that hasn't happened ..so here's some of our favorites besides the ones I've already posted. There's 250..so it's been really hard to pick which ones to frame and put up. They were taken last month at Sacajawea Park in Pocatello by Dave Bagley. He did my brother's family pictures and I loved them..and we were SOOOO happy with how ours turned out.

Addison is 2!

I can't believe my sweet little girl is already 2! I know it gets said all the time, but I really can't believe how fast time flies. I had the stomach flu and Chris worked 10-7 on her birthday so we didn't do much during the day. We had the Rose monthly birthday party that night to celebrate everyone's birthdays in June at Tautphaus Park. It turned out really good and Addy had a blast playing on the toys. All day long she would sing.."happy birthday to you and you and you"...it was so cute! My camera has been dead the past month so I sadly haven't had any pictures from her birthday, the 4th..etc. Luckily Chris's mom took pictures so we have some memories from these events:)

Some of Addy's favorites right now:
~still Elmo everything
~BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS!! She'll sit on the couch or her bed and say, "Mommy sit"..and pat the spot next to her and have me read books with her all day long. Sadly, Mason doesn't agree with this very much:)
~trampolines
~bicycles..her legs are almost long enough to push the wheels..for now we have to push her. ~jump on the bed, play ring around the rosie, tag, hide and seek..etc
~she sings most of her ABC's, twinkle little star, no more monkeys jumping on the bed...at night she'll ask for us to sing: "temple"(i love to see the temple), "God" (I am a child of God), and "twinkle."

She weighs 27 lbs and is 34 1/4." She's moved into a twin bed which is good and bad. Sometimes she'll crawl in it herself when she's tired..but she wakes up once a night and comes and taps on my back and I have to go put her back in bed. She is growing up so fast and surprises me each day with new phrases and things she's learned how to do. She's still an amazing big sister to Mason and loves to give him his binky and tell him "shhhh" when he cries:)..and for the record she is still calling him "Manos." :)She's such a happy girl and loves to make us laugh. Words can't express how much I love her and how grateful I am to be her mother. She makes me so happy each day, and there's just nothing better in the world than having your child run up to you and hug your leg and say "love you Mommy," or "thank you Mommy," everytime you give them something or help them. I love you Addy..you're more than I ever dreamed of in a daughter.

6/28/08 at the hospital

one week

3 weeks

4 months

6 months

1 year

2 years

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to my amazing husband, amazing Father, and amazing Father-in-law. I am so lucky and blessed to have all these men in my life.