Happy Easter!

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. II Peter 1:3

The Anderson family had such a blessed Easter weekend. We were fortunate enough to spend some quality time at home with each other, as well as some quality time with good friends. On Friday evening, we went to Pete and Jenny's house for dinner because our good friend Dan Ruth was in town. Dan used to live here until he moved to Minnesota to go to seminary. This was the first time we all got to meet Dan's fiance' Ellie. She's great and we are so excited for their future. The Marsh family joined the fun as well, and it turned out to be a great evening with friends. We enjoyed fajitas, a March Madness basketball game, and Dan's notorious interpretive dance (don't ask). This was Ellie's first time to see the dance, and fortunately, the wedding is still on! Thanks to the Joneses for a great evening!
Our small group met on Saturday evening and, as always, it was so good to have everyone together. We started our new study that stems from Max Lucado's book 3:16, which is based on John 3:16. It is going to be really incredible to "sit" on this scripture and rest a while - to come back to this simple, yet profound and foundational bit of truth. I look forward to the many weeks ahead.
Today we awoke to a beautiful - I wish I could say warm, but it wasn't very warm this morning - day. Let's just say there was no Easter egg hunt for Sawyer. If we hid them, it would be in the snow, and we probably wouldn't find many of them until mid June. There is also the fear that, after a winter of Truman going "out," Sawyer might find a not so pleasant "egg." Gross, I know, and totally not appropriate for this sweet, pleasant Easter blog. Sorry.
It did warm up throughout the day, so much so that we enjoyed a stroll around the neighborhood this afternoon. After an Easter morning service at church, we went to brunch with Pete, Jenny and Parker. We went to Cisero's on Main Street and enjoyed their special Easter brunch. Let's just say that Rob and I did not eat dinner because we were still recovering from our food comas left over from brunch. In addition to all the fruit, pastries, salad, eggs benedict, smoked salmon, potatoes (mashed and roasted), lasagna, peas, cheeses, and carving station, you could special order omelets and waffles - which both Rob and Pete did including toppings of caramel and chocolate chips for their waffles. Both the food and the company were delightful!
I am thankful for today and thankful that God loved enough to make the sacrifice for me - stubborn, doubtful, wavering, selfish me. Thank you Lord! He is risen indeed!

Our little Easter bunny.
A neighbor gave Sawyer this hat last Easter. It was too big then and is too small now, but it is so great (in a very strange yet silly, "this is an interesting hat" kind of way) that I had to take some photos of him in it.
Everyone got to wear the hat...Robby...
me...
even Truman...I think he looks the best in it.
Sawyer got an Easter basket in the mail from my mom and another package of goodies from Rob's mom. He's spoiled from Grandmas hundreds of miles away.




Rob and Sawyer enjoying some desert at the Joneses on Friday.
Rob and sweet little Parker. I think Rob told him a joke - that or he has gas. (Parker, not Rob.)
Dan in his beginning position for his interpretive dance...
Dan during the dance...
Sawyer during the dance...I think this represents the look on all our faces.

Surprise Dinner Guests!

While Rob and I were sitting and enjoying dinner this evening, two uninvited guests made their way up the stairs, shuffled onto the deck and peeked in at us through the sliding glass doors. Rob and I looked at each other as we were both thinking the same thing. "Um...ok...is the gate open...I don't think so...surely they didn't jump the fence...did I leave the gate open...how the heck did they get back here...
Our uninvited guests just stood there peering in and wagging their tails. Fortunately, we recognized them -all 130 lbs each of them. They are Great Pyrenese puppies - very large puppies - that live on the back side of our neighborhood. Truman demanded to be let out. The fierce, protective guard dog that he is, he bolted out the door to protect his property. Well, not exactly. He did bolt out the door, and after everyone introduced themselves with a few sniffs of each other's privates, Truman wagged his tail, and in his typical Labrador style said something like, "Hey guys thanks for coming to play with me. Come down here and we can play around in the snow. I've got a few tennis balls, a bone and a Tickle Me Elmo (minus the stuffing) buried under here somewhere. Come help me find them!"
I went onto the deck to figure out how our furry friends made their way into the backyard. As I was considering the possibility that they jumped over the lower fencing we have on the side of our yard, both dogs simply lept right over our tall fence into our neighbor's backyard. One led the way and the other followed. During the summer when no snow is on the ground, this is a typical 7 foot fence. However, this winter the snow has remained no less than halfway up the fence. I still think it is impressive that the dogs decided to scale the fence. I can understand why they are roaming the streets as it is probably impossible to keep them fenced in this winter.
After a few minutes, the dogs jumped back over the fence into our yard. Moments later, we all heard their names being called, and without hesitation, they flew through the yard and over the fence. Just like that, they were gone. Poor Truman. He was left all alone and a little perplexed with a mangled tennis ball hanging from the side of his mouth.

We looked up from our dinner plates and this is what we saw. It was pretty funny.
This is one of the pups on our deck. I don't know if you can tell how big they are, but they make Truman look small.
This is them in our neighbor's backyard. One of them is headed up their steps to surprise them.
This is right before they jumped back over the fence to return to our yard. Hilarous.

From Austin to Park City!

Some of our family from Austin came to visit this week. Rob's mom, sister, and her sweet little ones came to town for a little snow and PC hospitality. We had such a good time, and as always, it went by too quickly. We kicked off their stay with our traditional Sushi night at the Zwahlens. This special night is always fun and always filling - in more ways than one. I rolled sushi with Caleb, Hudson and Abby, while Rob did the cutting and presentation (you can see by the pictures that he is really good at presentation. He ran out of time and left out the dragon roll this time). The favorite among the Zwahlen kids is crab, avocado, mango and cream cheese. My favorite is a spicy salmon roll with all the veggies and the secret, yummy ingredient - lemon! Sawyer passed on the sushi and stuck with some green peas and mandarin oranges. He did enjoy using chopsticks - as drumsticks, as he has yet to master the spoon and fork and would rather pound out a tune with those as well. We love Sushi and we love the Zwahlens. We even convinced Rob's mom to try some sushi - she didn't hate it.
Rob was pretty busy while his family was here, so we enjoyed some nice "girl time." Poor Blaine; he was the only boy, but I think he enjoyed all the attention from the girls. Mallory got to frolick in the snow, and thanks to a few bluebird days and the beautiful sunshine, we were able to enjoy a few strolls around the block. We love it when family comes to visit; we only wish it could be more often - hint hint to all the family reading this right now!

Nice presentation!

Check out all that sushi. Can you imagine the bill if we ordered all that at a sushi bar!
The little drummer boy.
And we thought he would end up playing guitar like his daddy.
Grammy with all of her babies. This is the only picture where they were all looking forward - well, sort of.
Sawyer entertaining Blaine.
Mallory trying really hard to figure out her Uncle Robby.
Amy and Mallory strike a pose during our stroll around the neighborhood.
Me and my sweet boy!
Mallory and Sawyer - he is truly amazed at how someone with teeth eats a goldfish.

All I want for Easter is my two front teeth!

For months now, any time Sawyer drools. sucks on a finger, has a runny nose, or fusses, I think he's teething. He has done all of those things - many times, but still NO TEETH. He turned 11 months old this week and he is still gumming his food. He doesn't seem to mind, and as you can see by the looks of those chubby cheeks. he manages just fine. However, mommy is beginning to wonder if he will ever get teeth. I know the time will come, and until then, I will continue to enjoy that sweet, gummy smile. I love it!

Ode to Spring!

I am sitting here in my pajamas wearing socks and a sweater as well, so I decided to write an ode to spring. Ok, so it doesn't necessarily follow the exact format of an ode, but you get the idea. I don't really hate winter, but I am experiencing some serious spring fever right now.

ODE TO SPRING
by Christa Anderson

Welcome March and your sweet friend, Spring;
the sun is peeking eagerly through the clouds.
When will the birds once again sing
their delightful tunes and songs so loud?
I have grown weary of cold and weary of snow,
I want to put my Smartwool socks away.
The lifts are still open and slopes busy, I know,
but I'm done - don't want the snow to stay.
Green grass, Aspen leaves, when will you return?
Flip flops and bathing suits, where did you go?
I am so ready for a good old sun burn,
a tank top and pink polish on my toes.
Sweet March pave the way for April then May,
Spring, make your presence known here.
Make the snow disappear, put all sweaters away!
Winter, we'll see you next year.