Some Fall Fun - and potty training - at the Andersons!

Quickly, here's what's been going on...

A bottomless boy who has been amazing at peeing and pooping in the potty. That's not to say that we haven't had our
share of accidents and tantrums in the process.

A sweet redheaded girl who is now 3 months old - yes, the saying is true; times flies!

Several days of snow - in October! I am so NOT ready for it.

Amazing fall colors and some fun hikes to take it all in!

My sweet husband surprised me with a Halfy Birthday Party including him in a half shirt (that's right, picture it) and a half
ice cream birthday cake. I never knew until that day when my half birthday was. It was sweet (Rob's gesture and the cake).

A crazy but great fall as we are always busy this time of year.

A new/used car. LOVE the Honda Pilot - thank you, honey!!!

Lots of fun cooking and baking with my little sweet tooth! (For some reason, this time of year makes me excited about
cooking, baking and trying new things. Rob is thankful!)

Projects...there is much to be done before the snow falls...and stays...forever...

A REALLY cute giraffe and a tiny, little cheetah for Halloween.

Updates!

Young Life Family Camp!
This year, Rob was assigned to do program at Family Camp at Frontier Ranch. We decided to take the whole family and enjoy the weekend together. It was a great weekend except for the part when the wheel fell off Rob's truck on the way to camp. That and when we had to put the truck in the shop again on the way home because the wheel was still not repaired. Our weekend in Colorado turned into six days in Colorado and $1000 spent at two different car repair shops. Despite all that, we really did have a great time, and we got to spend time with some great friends in Grand Junction. Rob was hilarious, as usual, as a Scottish Cub Scout and a guy named Coach Thunder. Use your imagination.








Zwahlen Camp!
Our friends the Zwahlens had to head out of town for a few days. Unfortunately, Brian's father passed away and the whole family went to Kansas for the funeral. Our family got to spend those days at their home and take care of their animals: 3 horses, 3 goats, 4 dogs, 2 cats, a bunch of chickens and roosters, and 2 ducks. Rob got to milk two of the goats twice a day, and by the end of our stay, he was really good at it. We got to enjoy fresh goat milk and fresh farm eggs each morning. It was SO fun and we only lost one chicken to Rodeo, their puppy.






Gentry!
Our sweet girl is 7 weeks old already. She loves her bath, sleeps 7 to 8 hours at night (awesome, I know!) and smiles all the time at her big brother. Sawyer loves his little sister. He always wants to kiss her and wishes she would play with the toys he gives her.

Gentry is Here - and two weeks old already!

I know, I am FINALLY posting some pictures of the girl. Gentry was born on July 16th at 4:47 am after a very quick dash down the canyon to make it to the hospital on time. She barely waited for my midwife to arrive before she entered the world. I MUCH prefer the quick delivery compared to her older brother's gradual arrival. She weighed 8 lbs 11oz and is absolutely beautiful. She is so so sweet and treating us very well. Here she is!

Still Pregnant!

For those of you checking this for updates and photos of the new baby girl, they don't exist yet. I am officially past my due date and still pregnant. This girl is clearly on her own agenda. The rest of us will just keep waiting.

Sawyer and Karsten!

Here's a quick video clip of Sawyer and his buddy Karsten. Both of these little guys made their first emergency trip within days of each other. In this video, Karsten has a badly sprained ankle and Sawyer has stitches in his lip. You would never know it!

"Sign Me Up For Five More!"

These are the words Rob said to me on Friday as we celebrated our five year anniversary. Actually, we celebrated on Tuesday because Rob had 14 guys in town for their annual "Hack Fry." This is an annual tradition where the guys from Rob's pledge class back at Tech gather for a golf tourament every year. Usually this takes place in Texas but Rob convinced the guys to come to PC this year. They had a blast! Rob played golf and hung out with 14 of his buddies on our actual anniversary; I went to the doctor and hung out with Sawyer. Considering what happens during your last month's visits to the doctor prior to giving birth, I'm thinking Rob had more fun.

Either way, we have been married five years! It has been an amazing five years, and I continue to thank God for blessing me with such an amazing husband, provider, leader, father, lover and friend! I am one lucky girl! I am more in love with him today than the day we married! I love you, baby!

We don't have a scanner and I was trying to find an old disk with wedding pictures, but I had no luck. I did find the disk with pictures from the rehearsel - which was an event in itself. Rob and all of the groomsmen found the chuch choir robes and decided to sport them for the rehearsel. I still think of the wedding organinzer and wonder what she thought of our gang. Poor lady. So, here is a peek at the rehearsel the evening before the big day! We have both put on a few pounds since that day. Also, I put together a book that documented our dating/engagement and gave it to Rob that same night. I included this poem inside.

Thirty years the two had to wait,
'Til God gave them their one soul mate.
No one knew God's amazing plan
For this lovely woman and this handsome man.
Thankfully, it's all in His time -
"They will love each other, but the beloved are Mine."
Crooked Creek Ranch is where they met,
A month together and they were all set.
Out to see each other's lives,
From Park City to Houston they would fly.
The month of July is when she knew,
Later on in August he knew too.
God allowed two of his own to meet,
Who knew it would have been such a big feat.
On December 30th he got down on one knee,
She said "Yes! I can't believe you chose me."
On this day we celebrate as the two become one,
Rob and Christa Anderson!







Sign me up for AT LEAST five more!

A Month in a Minute.

Here's a QUICK update on the last month!

Rob still coaches baseball at the high school and his team won first in our Region. The Miners made it to the State Semi Finals as well, which meant Mom and Sawyer got to see dad in action for several days in a row since several of the games were close by. Way to go Miners!


Rob took one of our Young Life kids to Lubbock to visit Texas Tech. He got accepted and considered attending Tech. Unfortunately, he chose to attend the University of Utah - I know, what is he thinking. I think all things Texas were too intimidating for him - I mean look at the airplane below. Really?! Only a real Texan can appreciate such things. That, and catfish and good barbeque. He couldn't believe that we actually eat catfish. What other fish is there that you can fry up and chase with a few hushpuppies and some iced tea.


I got to attend a Beth Moore Conference in Wyoming with a friend. It was INCREDIBLE - as I knew it would be! I am still soaking in and reflecting on everything I learned! While mom was at said conference, Sawyer got his first stitches! He and dad had a little bicycle accident that warranted a trip to the emergency room in Salt Lake. The entire ordeal was WAY more traumatic for dad than for Sawyer. He is fine and may have a scar to brag about when he gets older. Dad still hates to think about that day!



Young Life and Wyldlife are over as far as weekly meetings go. Young Life rounded out the year with Tacky Prom on the City Bus. Hilarious! Rob and the kids leave for camp in California soon, but he won't be attending WyldLife Camp this year since the baby is due that week. Also, Rob was asked to speak at the PCHS Bacclaureate. He did an outstanding job - and he looked hot in his suit and tie! (I didn't snag a picture of him in his suit, so I know it's hard to believe. Several hundred people witnessed it in case you are doubting.)


Summer has arrived! This means lots of play time outside, picnics, Farmer's Market, cookouts, sandals and lots of yard work!
Unfortunately, Summer departed - temporarily. We have been having extremely abnormal weather for Park City. It is 64 in my house right now - a little too cool for June! Despite the fact that daily rain showers mean we don't have to turn on the sprinkler system, it also means my son and my dog (and often times my husband) cannot get rid of enough energy on those days. This tends to drive mom a little crazy!




Our baby girl will be in here soon as I am 36 weeks pregnant! We have moved Sawyer's room and painted the baby room. Change is coming! Sawyer has brand new bunk beds and loves the idea of them - he has yet to sleep in them.
(I will spare you the photos of my belly, but I promise photos of the new rooms are coming.

Ok, so that wasn't as quick as I intended. Sorry.

In case you were beginning Taiwan -der!

FINALLY, here are the photos from Rob's trip and the Sweeney boy visit!!











And, what was happening back home!













In case you were beginning to wonder, we have not returned to normalcy quite yet. Three days after we returned from our trip to Mexico, Rob left for a Young Life trip to Taiwan. The morning after he left, three of my friend's boys came to stay with us for 10 nights and 11 days while she and her husband went to Ireland. Rob just returned on Thursday night, so I have been the "temporary" mother of three more boys this past week.

I am not going to say it has been easy, because it hasn't. In fact, I have learned some things about my personality that I don't necessarily like. For example, I don't like that I find it necessary to clean the kitchen floor after every meal. This has proven to be way more time consuming than usual due to the fact that four boys are eating and spilling instead of one. I don't like the fact that I find myself getting tired of answering the barrage of questions that come my way all day long. They are just curious boys; why can't I just answer and move on. I don't like the fact that it bothers me to come upon a toilet that hasn't been flushed. In fact, I have learned that 6 year old and 4 year old boys rarely flush the toilet. I need to get used to this - I am the mother of a boy that will one day be 4 and later on 6. I also need to embrace the fact that, as the mother of a boy, there will be pee on the seat once he starts using the toilet. I have thought about this, but I didn't want to believe it until now. (I have an incredible husband who always lifts the seat, wipes the seat if he drips, and returns the seat to the down position when finished. I know, I am spoiled.) I don't like that I attempt to be really quiet in the morning, even though I am awake. I know that if the boys see any signs of life, they are in my room with their huge, incredible smiles and "it is on." They know better than I do, and they know that I need to get up and get moving. "Hey Mrs. Anderson! Are we going to have breakfast?"

Please don't get me wrong. I said it hasn't been easy, but it has been really fun, and truly a learning experience for me as we are going to have multiple children in two months. The Sweeney boys are INCREDIBLE and have had me laughing most of their time here. We have had some crazy fun as we have been to a Bees baseball game, we went to see the movie Earth, we had picnics, lunch dates, play dates with buddies, several bike rides around the neighborhood, our own baseball games, a movie on the Young Life big screen in our living room, battles on the Wii, and great conversations! I am honored that Kenyon and Laurie would ask us to parent their children while they were away, and I am so glad to have had the opportunity. Sawyer is going to miss having the "feeney boys" around. He has had some crazy fun!

I have also learned some key bits of information you can only obtain from a 4 and 6 year old boy - mostly from the 4 year old.

1. Favorite fruit: fruit snacks
2. Why they fart: they like the smell of them. (So they told me yesterday in a fit of farting.)
3. High school kids eat food. (Who knew?)
4. God made us out of skin. (Obviously.)
5. Rocks are also made of skin - skin and wood.
6. Baths are not necessary, even when you have been playing in the mud, rolling around with goats, and pooped on by a chicken. (All of these things happened when we went to visit the oldest brother who has been staying with another friend.)
7. Elmo is for babies, not 4 year olds.
8. You have to be in the Air Force to go to college. (Things have changed since I was in school.)
9. Dessert is a must!
10. It's good to have on clothes in the first place, so don't sweat it if my pants and shirt are both on backwards.


I have to go, but I will return soon with lots of photos!!!

Mexico!

Ahh...Mexico. Besides visiting family in Texas, Rob and I haven't taken a non Young Life related trip since our first year of marriage. We are strong believers in the whole "marriage comes first" philosophy and in order for us to be good parents, we have to put our marriage first. So, a few months ago we talked about taking a quick trip to Moab over Spring Break since there is no Young Life that week. Some AMAZING friends of ours from our church heard about our desire for a quick getaway before baby #2 arrives, and they GAVE us a trip to Mexico. When I say GAVE us, I mean they provided the flights and the stay at a beautiful holistic retreat near Cabo San Lucas. A place where the employees know you by name, where they rake the sand, and where they fill your room with calming fragrances and turn down your bed each night. It was heavenly. Rob knew about it several months ago and told me four days before we were to leave for Mexico. He knew I would have anxiety about both of us leaving our little guy (and putting my almost seven months pregnant belly into a swimsuit) and spared me the anxious thoughts for a few months. This way, they were all crammed into the four days prior to our trip. Even though it was very difficult for me to leave, it was so worth it. We had a great week of reading, relaxing, discussing baby names, and soaking in the warm, Mexico sun. It was such a blessing, and we are better because of it!

And no, we still don't have a named picked out for the baby girl. If it were up to me, I would have chosen one months ago. Take it up with my husband.



Rob and his Surf and Turf! Yummy!


The locals are so friendly - a bit stiff but really nice.



A beached whale! Oh wait, that's me.






This is how we spent most of our time. Ahh....



And this is what we got to come home to. Sawyer got a new, Mexican guitar to play alongside Daddy, and he and Truman were reunited.

Sawyer is Two - Here are a few more photos from my camera - ridiculous, I know. Mom and Dad (and Grammy) were all taking pictures!

We were ready for the snow to be gone, but Mallory came to PC to see some snow. So, we went to the Park for some fun in what was left of the snow.



Dad's favorite gift for Sawyer - his first ski helmet.



Dad even got to dress like a Fireman! After all, he is Sawyer's hero!


The little man is now two! We are so blessed by our little guy and can't believe he is already two years old. As I am sure you will all agree - time flies! Grammy and cousin Mallory were able to come from Austin and celebrate with us. This made the day even more special! Since one of Sawyer's favorite things is firetrucks, we decided to have a firetruck party to celebrate year number two. We even had the real thing as the Park City Fire Department stopped by the party and let the kids have some fun. The firemen were extremely kind and allowed the kids to climb inside, wear the jackets and helmets, and they even shuttled them around the block while blowing the horn and ringing the bell. It was a hit with all the little ones as well as the dads. I think some of the dads were more impressed and excited than the kids. Especially when the firemen pulled out the Jaws of Life and started telling life saving stories. Thanks so much to Officer Vokel and Officer Cromm for their kindness and willingness to share with both little and big kids alike! It was a fun celebration thanks to good friends and good people like the Park City Fire Department! Happy Birthday sweet, little Sawyer! We love you!