The Andersens

Back to Blogging!!!!

2011-08-25T16:55:00.000-07:00

Hello blog world, that I havent been a part of in oh... 2 years or so! Crazy how time flies!!! Truly, the last 2 years of my (our) lives have been amazing, and BUSY!!!! In short - Justin went to grad school at BYU, finished his MBA, and now has a somewhat amazing job at Honeywell, that landed us in South Bend, Indiana. We never in a million billion years thought we would end up here. Ever. But it's been fun so far. We moved here in May, and had a somewhat fun summer away from our crazy Utah lives, and now Tannon is in Kindergarten. All day Kindergarten. I'm still shocked to death, and a little bit sad that he's that old, and gone for 6 hours from home without me watching his every move and helping him along the way. But his first day was a huge success and he had all kinds of great things to say about being a Kindergartner.

Hope is really growing up. She has become a fun little girl who loves to dress up, and loves makeup and everything else that is girly! She has shaved off most of her "brute" ways, and is ending up being a TOTAL girly girl (and I LOVE it!). She starts Pre-school in a few weeks, and she cannot wait! She is such a smarty pants that I'm sure she'll have a blast socializing and having fun with kids her own age.

As for me and Justin, life is good :-) We are coming up on our 9th wedding anniversary next month. We are super excited for our future with Honeywell, and we were blessed with finding a great rental home in an outstanding neighborhood. We seriously could not be happier. Other than an eventual goal of getting back to the west coast, we are pretty set.

So, for your viewing pleasure, here are some shots of Tannon's 1st day of Kindergarten.

Half marathon

2010-03-23T14:58:00.000-07:00

I promised a number of people that I would post about the half marathon that I ran this last weekend in Moab, so HERE YOU GO!!!

First of all, this was my first ever long running race, so I had a lot of mixed emotions going into it. I was terrified that I wasn't going to finish. I was excited about being fit enough to actually do it. And, I was overall just anxious about the whole situation in general. I had only been training since the begging of January, so I really wasn't incredibly prepared for the whole thing, but I am very proud to say that I never stopped moving the entire 13.1 miles. And, the only time that I even walked were at the water/Gatorade stops that were roughly every 2 miles. And, the only reason why I didn't run when I was drinking is because I hate to drink while I'm running. I slosh water all over myself, and then I'm miserable. Anyway, so that all being said, I am VERY proud of myself. I consider this a big deal for myself to do, and I had a lot of fun doing it!!!

So Saturday started off at 6:45 AM. We (Justin, Chloe and I) got up, drank a protein shake, ate a banana, put on our timing chips and race bibs, and headed out the door and into the car to drive to the finish line. Once we got there we loaded up onto a bus and drove to the start line. We got there at about 8:00 AM and FROZE our butts off waiting for the race to start at 10:00 AM. It was fun freezing our butts off, though. We had a lot of friends who were in the race, too, so I was fun chatting about how bad it was going to suck to run 13 miles, and drinking hot chocolate. At around 9:15 AM We starting walking to the start line, to get ready for the gunshot. I went to the bathroom for the last time before the race, and then geared up for a 13 mile run, and froze during the process. Finally we heard the fire, and all 5000 people started moving like we were in a cow heard. When we finally got to the staring line, I turned on my nike + and set it to a half marathon, and me and Justin started running together. The first mile was brutal, because I was just not prepared enough for how cold it was going to be. So, it took an entire mile for my muscles to warm up, then it was free sailing!! Justin was so incredibly sweet and ran the entire distance with me. We had fun making fun of other runners and the ridiculous outfits they were wearing. And, really for most of the race, I was just admiring the incredibly beautiful surroundings! It warmed up great, and the temperature really was the most perfect running temperature. In the shady areas I would start to get a tiny bit cold, and in the sunny area's I would start to get a tiny bit hot. But overall - PERFECT!

The first 11 miles of the race were on a highway that was closed off just for the marathon. That was by far my favorite part of the race. After that first 11, we turned onto the main highway and then ran through the town to the finish. The condo we stayed at was right on the path that we were running, so our kids got to stand outside of our condo to see us go by at mile 12. It was so fun to see their smiling faces and have them cheer us on. It really gave me the motivation I needed that last mile, because that's when it started to hurt! We made our way to the home stretch and my hip joints were in a serious amount of pain, but I had ran the entire way until then, and I was NOT going to stop. Justin wanted me to sprint with him to the finish right then, and I just bit my tongue and when he took off, I was right in step with him. We crossed the finish line together at 2:25, with the announcer saying "Cherity and Justin Andersen finishing together". I then stopped moving, and hobbled my way to the water tables, and downed 2 cups of water. Then I hobbled over to the stations to have them cut off my timing chip. It felt so good to have finished, though. And to have ran the entire way was so awesome! To sum the race up in one word: FUN! I'm doing it again next year, and I literally cant wait!! So, if you want to join me. Let me know so that we can sigh up together!

Halloween

2009-11-07T13:15:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I know I'm a week late, but I was told my my lovely sister that I HAD to post pics of my kids on Halloween, so here they are:

Here they are down the driveway, READY TO GO!!

Hope took to stealing candy out of Tannon's bucket while they were trick-or-treating at Grandma and Grandpa Andersens!! It was really funny, and Tannon never found out!

Tannon with his axe glow stick!

The boss of the show; our little bumble bee with the sagging wings. She never would let me fix them :)

Tannon awed at a pumpkin that our neighbors decorated!

My cute little Fire Man!! He is looking so old :(

I had to throw this one in... Hope was screaming and crying like you wouldn't believe when I was trying to get her in her costume!!! But, as you can see from the above pictures, she was fine when she started getting her candy :)

Rainbow

2009-10-14T17:30:00.000-07:00

I just opened my front door this evening to find this view:

Such a pretty view with the mountains in the background!! Yet another reason to love Utah :)

And, just for fun, here is a (fuzzy) picture of my 2 very excited kids looking at the pretty rainbow!!

Bridal Veil Falls

2009-10-14T13:19:00.001-07:00

Ok, this post needed to be done, like a month ago. But, one of the things that I love about being back in Utah, is the great and fun things we can do outdoors. Even though the weather is starting to get a lot colder, there is still a good amount of fun, family-oriented events and places to go to! We hiked up to Bridal Veil Falls a few weeks after we moved here, and it was so pretty and fun! Tannon and Hope got to get out and walk around, and there is even a little play ground that they played on, on the way back. Plus, there were climbing rocks, next to the parking lot that Tannon LOVED! We love being outdoors together as a family, and I'm so glad that we are in a great area to be able to do that!!

VERY bad blogger!!!

2009-09-29T19:33:00.000-07:00

I'm so sorry for the extended blogging vacation!! I'm being so bad at blogging lately and really have no motivation to do better. But, I am posting so I guess that's a start :)

Anyway, just to let you all know what we have been up to... we bought season tickets to the BYU football games, so that's what we do on the weekends. Then, during the week it's one busy day after another. Tannon goes to preschool 3 days a week, and I'm starting to get very involved in MBASA (MBA Spouses Association), and they do something pretty much EVERY day!! It's been fun though, and I've met a lot of awesome ladies through MBASA!! I've even got Hope's future husband picked out for her from one of the other MBASA kids!! They will make very cute baby's in 20 years :). We have also started doing an MBASA co-op club, so I'm excited for that to get started next week!!!

And, I don't have any pictures to post today, so you can go bug Chloe about that (she has all of them on her camera)

Very long and winded.....

2009-08-10T19:01:00.000-07:00

Well, we are finally moved into our new place!! I finally feel like we are "here" and somewhat settled. It has been quite the couple of weeks here but things are finally starting to settle down and we are loving being close to family and great friends!!!! We headed out of Las Vegas on Friday the 31st. Our moving journey started with Justin's Dad and step mom coming to Vegas on Wednesday and we all went to see the Donny and Marie show at the Flamingo. We of course didn't pay for it (if we were paying to see a show in Vegas, it wouldn't be that one), since a man in our new ward - which is also Justin's Dad's ward - manages Marie, so we got the TOTAL hook-up! We literally sat front and center of the stage (people pay around $300 for the tickets we got for free), and we got to go back stage and meet them after the show. It was actually pretty fun, and I'm glad we did one last fun thing on the strip before we moved!!

Here is all of us with Marie after the show. She was really nice and friendly with us, but we definitely got the vibe that she is a total diva!!! Every one of her "persons" would be to her side with a snap of her fingers! She looks great for being 49 don't you think??

Ok, next subject. Hope gets her cast off next week!! YAY!!!!!! It is getting so gross and dirty, so I'm sure glad to see it go!!

I'm LOVING my new place!!! We have to best back yard ever complete with our own personal landscaper (Justin's Dad), HUGE sad box area, Trampoline, Open lawn, and Basketball court. I know, we're spoiled! The inside of the house is so big that I sometimes loose my children. But they are having so much fun destroying their new attic play room, and I'm loving not having their messes in my living room!!! But, by far the best thing about living here is being next to Justin's and my parents. My kids light up when they see their Grandparents and they love spending time with them and seeing them on a daily basis.

We are so glad that we made the decision to move out here! Everything sort of fell into place, and we feel like the luckiest family on the planet!

Broken Baby Update

2009-07-21T07:57:00.000-07:00

We finally got Hope to her Orthopedic Doctor yesterday. She had one very traumatizing day, from getting her shots in the morning, then getting her cast on in the afternoon. She's alive still, and the Doc said she only has to have the cast on for about 4 weeks (maybe less)! She is still in pretty good spirits although hates not bein able to bend her arm!!

Right after we got home from the Doctor.

Right before bed last night.

SNAP!!!!!

2009-07-17T19:32:00.001-07:00

Poor little Hope has had a little bit of a rough day today. I have had to send Tannon to his room 3 times for being mean and pestering her today. And, to top it all off, she broke her arm this evening!! She fell off of the slide in our back yard, from the second step onto the concrete. I'm a bad blogger, and we didn't have a good camera when we were in the urgent care - but here is a pic of her in her little cast, then the last picture is her X-rays.

It is her Ulna that is broken, and we see the Orthopedic Doctor on Monday to see if she needs a permanent cast on. We definitely need some major help getting this little brute raised!!!!

Cabin Fun

2009-07-15T08:50:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, we went to my family's cabin. Because of issues with the property that the cabin is on, when my Grandpa died, things were up in the air with the cabin itself, so I haven't been there for about 7 years!!! Me and Justin were newlyweds last time we stayed there!!! I grew up just a few minutes drive from this cabin. I remember staying there with my cousins for weeks at a time. We would catch fish in the little creek (which is no longer there-so sad). We would hike and explore (and sometimes run for our lives from the occasional bull). We would ride quads all day, and the list goes on and on!!!

It was SO, SO, SO much FUN this time with my own kids!!!!!! They absolutely LOVED it there!!!!! I seriously want to make it a monthly trip! Thanks Mom, and Dad for coming with us and making memories with my kids (and Justin and Jiyon too)!!

Our whole family on my Dad's quad.

Tannon and Hope walking together, holding hands (and getting into mischief!)

Playing on the swing set.

Tannon loved spending time with my Dad!! They had sword fights with sticks, and they sat on the old rusty hammock together. My Dad even swung with him on the swing set for a while!!

4th of July

2009-07-06T14:30:00.000-07:00

For some reason this year over the 4th of July weekend, Justin decided to only take a bunch of videos with his new snazzy iPhone, so I don't have a ton of actual pictures to show you. But, here are a few. We went up to Utah (again), and had a lot of fun going to the parade and the Stadium of Fire!!! Jonas Brothers were the main performers at the Stadium of Fire this year, and my ears still hurt from the screaming teenage girls. Hope enjoyed herself and danced the entire time they were performing, and Tannon had a lot of fun too, being goofy and screaming "FIRE" every time the fireworks went off. So, we are now home again for another 5 days, until we leave for Utah again on Friday for a fun-filled weekend with my Parents, my Brother, and his wife, at our family cabin!!!!

MOVING!!!!

2009-06-29T12:19:00.000-07:00

So, most of you already know this, but the "big news" in our family lately, is that we are going to be moving next month!!! Yep, we have lived in Las Vegas for 5 years now, and the time has come for us to leave. We will be moving back to Provo at the end of July!! Just in time for Justin (and Tannon) to start school on August 18th!! He will be getting his MBA at BYU. So, for the next 2 years we will be living by 2 sets of Grandparents, 2 Great Grandmothers, Auntie Chlo Chlo, and Uncle Justin and Aunt Jiyon!!!! I am so excited for my kids to have some family around for once!! And, I'm VERY excited for Tannon to not have to go to school here in Vegas! We will really miss all of the great people we have gotten to know here in Las Vegas, but are so stoaked to be starting this new chapter!!!! Wish us luck!!!

hApPY BiRtHDaY!

2009-06-28T11:24:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Cherity! I hope you have a great day and Justin SPOILS you rotten!! (Well more so than usual...)

Going Private!!

2009-06-23T12:44:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post to let everyone know that I have decided to go private!! I will be making the transition in a week, so hurry and get those email's to me before then so I can let you in on a BIG announcement!!!! You can either send me your email to cherandersen@hotmail.com or just leave a comment...

Justin's Another Year Older!

2009-06-05T16:46:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday, hope you have a great day!

Wedding

2009-05-27T09:45:00.000-07:00

So, up to Utah for another event. This time a WEDDING! My older brother, Justin got married this weekend in the new -and gorgeous- Draper Temple! We had one BUSY day, with the sealing at 10, the luncheon at 12:30, and then the reception at 6. Luckily Chloe was still in town to help take care of the kids for us!! We had a great time seeing family and friends that we havent seen in years!! And, of course we are so excited to have Jiyon be a part f our family!! She is such a sweet girl, and perfect match for my brother! Here are a few pictures of the event...

Tannon the BREAKDANCER?????

2009-05-15T09:41:00.000-07:00

Last night, Auntie Chlo Chlo was in town again. So, we decided to go out and have Sushi, then after, we headed down to the strip to eat some ice cream at the Ghirardeli ice cream parlor. After we were done eating our fabulous ice cream we were out browsing the strip, and there was an outdoor bar that was playing music really loud. Both Hope and Tannon started dancing, and caught the eyes of a group of drunk ladys. They started laughing and telling them how great their moves were, when out of the blue, Tannon started busting out the breakdancing moves!!!!! The only time that I'm aware of him seeing a breakdancer doing his thing is when we were on the streets of San Francisco when he was only Hope's age. We were in tears by the time we left, and we now know that Tannon had a hidden talent! Pictures are in chronological order, and aren't the best quality, but you can definitely tell that they have some serious moves!!

Weekend in Vegas!!

2009-04-28T16:30:00.000-07:00

My kind and awesome sister-in-law, Chloe, was kind enough to offer to watch our kids for us this weekend. So, we decided that since we live in a tourist town, that we would just take advantage of the situation and stay on the strip for the weekend! We had a so much fun!! We went to Le Reve, which was a little weird, but very entertaining. And we shopped, lounged by the pool and walked and walked and just enjoyed having a weekend to ourselves. We ended up staying at the Flamingo in a suite on the top floor. It was the nicest Hotel room I have ever stayed in!! I will never look at the Flamingo as a ghetto Hotel again! Justin could even see his truck from the window in our Hotel room, so he was literally at ease the whole time (those of you who know Justin know why this would be so important to him)!!

And, of course the kiddy's were in good hands with their "auntie chlo chlo" with them! They got to play in the backyard in our little blow up pool, played lots of play doh and they got to go and get frozen yougurt! Auntie chlo chlo even made them spiderman mac and cheese!! And, being the awesome auntie she is, she didn't disappoint us in the picture department either!! If you want to see more pics, you can go to her blog.

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T09:09:00.000-07:00

More than you asked for!

2009-04-05T21:39:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of the kids that we took today!

Happy April Fools Day!

2009-04-01T08:39:00.000-07:00

Today is always such a great day for me every year! Today marks the day that Justin and I met, 9 years ago. Yes, we met on April fools day :) I am so glad that Justin came into my life when he did! I truthfully don't know what I would do without him! I still remember the first time I saw him and thought to myself "Wow, that guy has a really nice truck", then we hung out for the entire night and I realized that the guy driving the truck was a keeper. I even remember telling my mom after our 1st date that I could spend the rest of my life with a guy like him! It is so crazy to me that we have been together for so long! We have been through so much together and I still cannot get enough of being together with him! I know it sounds very cliche, but I love him now more that I ever have! He is truly the best thing that's ever happened to me!!!

The power of the paci

2009-03-25T08:47:00.003-07:00

In comparison to Tannon's infancy, Hope has been an angel baby. But, coming into toddler hood is starting to become a whole different story!! When Tannon turned a year old he was an angel. We could put him in his crib fully awake with his stuffed animals and he would go right to sleep. He would take 2-3 hour naps in his crib and I would get to have a wonderful 2 hour brake by myself. Hope on the other hand, not so much!!! Now, Tannon did not become an angel toddler over night. I remember hours and hours of listening to him cry, and cry, and cry when he was a baby. But with Hope, she never woke up in the middle of the night screaming like the devil, so we never had the chance to let her "cry it out". But, this past week, she has been going down at night with no problems with me in her room with her as always, then an hour later she wakes up and screams until midnight!! We have been trying everything from soothing her, to rocking her, to letting her cry it out, and NOTHING has been working!!! She's 14 months old for crying out loud!!!! So, last night, after I had had enough and was pretty much to my breaking point, Justin came to the rescue and tried something I never thought of; HE TOOK AWAY HER BELOVED BINKY!!!!! Now with Tannon, he would never take a binky, so we never had to deal with separation anxiety. But Hope is a FULL ON addict! So, when Justin took away the beloved binky, Hope had no idea what to do! The first reaction was shock, then it was hysterics again. He kept talking to her, and told her that if she laid back down in her crib, she could have her binky back. And, after a few times of him laying her back down and then giving it back, she realized that she had to lay down to have the binky. After a few minutes of him taking it away when she stood up she finally just laid down and gave up. Justin left the room, and we didn't hear another peep from her the rest of the night.

Pure Randomness

2009-03-17T08:02:00.000-07:00

I know it's been forever since I've blogged, but truthfully, nothing seriously exciting is happening here in Vegas. This weekend, Tannon and Hope got to spend some time with their cute cousins that are close to their age. Tannon loves his cousins and gets very excited to play with them.

I finally have my 'pay it forward' gifts ready to send. So if you were one of my 3 winning ladies, be expecting your gift shortly. I'll get around to it sometime this week, or next week :)

We are driving up to Utah this weekend to spend some time with family and friends. We always love that 5 1/2 hour drive with 2 kids who don't really like to travel. But it will be fun.

See, I told you nothing exciting has been happening! That's kind of all I have to blog about. But, for those of you who care, I'll throw in a few pictures of my cute kids!

By order of the king...

2009-02-20T10:22:00.000-08:00

Justin called me this morning, and demanded that I post new pictures of the kids. I have been such a bad mommy lately, and have only busted the camera out when necessary, so I'm going to take more pictures of them this weekend, but here are a few cute ones that I dug up...

Tannon loves playing with these magnets that he's holding in this picture. It sometimes amazes me the stuff he can build with them. His favorite thig to do is build houses for his toys to go in.

And this is just a cute picture of Hope and her lifeline. I'm currently working with her to get off the bottle, and eat more real food, but she's addicted to the stupid thing!

Happy Valentines Day!!

2009-02-14T13:14:00.000-08:00

Usually for Valentines day, I get kind of in defense mode. I don't REALLY like the holiday because of bad experiences I've had in the past. But, this year has been so nice. Justin really stepped it up and got a babysitter last night all on his very own and we went to our favorite Thai restaurant-PIN KAOW, then got to do a little shopping together, which is always nice when you don't have 2 kids screaming in your ear! This morning I gave the kids a little Valentines sack that had a few little fun things in it, that Tannon is still dragging around, and Hope is now addicted to the candy from her sack, and wont eat anything else today. We went to Chili's for lunch this afternoon, and now both kids and Justin are in a food coma (or candy coma-is there such a thing?). I have nothing to do now, so I decided to catch up on a little scrapbooking, and I came across this photo of my kids. I thought it was so sweet and I couldn't resist sharing the layout that I did.

I hope that everyone has a great Valentines day! BYE!!!

Neglected...

2009-02-05T09:12:00.000-08:00

I took this picture of my cute kids yesterday. I have been neglecting them over the past 2 weeks a lot, since me and my sister got into 2 new stores. It's been such a huge learning process since these stores require us to upload everything into the stores ourselves. But, I think we have finally gotten the hang of it! And it only took a few melt downs ☺. So, Tannon & Hope have been playing together a lot and have learned to be great friends, while my face is stuck on my computer screen. I love that they get along so well, and I'm grateful that I have an opportunity to make their lives better, even though I neglect them more than I should! Hopefully, now that things have settled down a bit, and I know what I'm doing, we can get into a routine again!

Wedding Bells!

2009-01-31T19:01:00.000-08:00

My brother has decided that it's finally time to settle down. He is getting married to this sweet girl this spring!!

We are so happy for him!!! We love Jiyon and can't think of anyone else we would want to be a part of our family. So, congratulations Justin & Jiyon!! Here is a picture of her gorgeous ring...

Yes, my one brother has the same name as my husband, so please don't get confused!!

Happy Birthday Hope!!!

2009-01-30T09:28:00.000-08:00

Wednesday was Hopes 1st Birthday! I haven't had very much time to do her Birthday post and I feel horrible about it, but I'm finally getting around to it 2 days later.

She had a very fun day. Aunt Chloe flew in that day to help celebrate, and we had a small party with close friends and neighbors. She scored a ton of fun new toys and lots of new clothes!

I haven't really been doing this a lot but for future purposes, I wanted to tell a little about Hope right now... She is one of the smartest baby's I've ever known! She can say a lot of words, every time Justin comes home she yells "daddy!" and all dogs are "lola" Tannon is "tata" and she can say "baby" very clearly and she loves baby dolls. She has been walking since a few weeks before Christmas. She loves her brother and will play with him all day! Her favorite food is bananas cut up into little chunks, and she also loves chicken and rice. She takes 2 naps a day and then goes to bed at 8:00 and gets up at about 7:30. She is a definite morning person and is so chipper when she wakes up (she did not get this from me). She is so happy and cute! We love her so much and are so happy that she is a part of our family! We have thoroughly enjoyed her this past year!

Pay it Forward

2009-01-28T07:54:00.000-08:00

I got this from Tammy. I thought it was a great idea so I decided to participate!

Here are the rules:

Pay It Forward Exchange is based on the concept of the movie "Pay It forward". I will send a handmade gift to the first three people who leave a comment to this post on my blog requesting to join the PIF exchange. All the gifts need to be sent out sometime within the next year. How exciting to not know when your surprise package will arrive!? What you need to do in return, is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog, giving handmade prizes to the first three commentors. Easy huh? This exchange is only open to those with active websites or blogs, and you must be willing to give your mailing address in an email because how else will I send you your gift?

So if you're interested and can promise to pay it forward to three people on your blog, be one of the first three to leave me a comment, and you win. Who doesn't love giving or receiving gifts???

Childhood Home

2009-01-21T19:25:00.000-08:00

My uncle's were in my Childhood home town of Juneau Alaska this week, and my Mom had them take a picture of the house that we lived in when I was born. It's amazing what 27 years can do to a house!! I remember it being so bright and cheery in the middle of an ice block with it's bright yellow paint. Now it looks pretty thrashed. What's sad is that this was a very nice home for that area. I look at it now that I have lived in other parts of the country and think it's kind of a shack. No wonder my Mom hated living there!!

2009-01-14T19:10:00.000-08:00

I have been such a horrible blogger lately!! I promise to the 2 of you out there that still read this thing, that I will try to be better. I really don't have a great excuse, other that I am trying to devote a lot of my time to losing 30 pounds, and iscrapbook.com.

Anywho, I have managed to take a few pictures of the little munchkins. They are utilizing Christmas gifts in these photos! Hope is trying out the Wii Fit, and Tannon is sporting his new helmet and pads.

I got a different car, like I said last post. It is a Buick Rendezvous. Yes, I realize that the average age of a buick driver is about 70, but it is actually a great car, and it is the same year as my Pathfinder was with 1/2 the miles and less than 1/2 the cost!! We are all about saving money right now, since we don't know anything about what this economy is going to do!! We are grateful that we are still employed and healthy!

Well, that about wraps things up. Right now I am looking forward to Hopes first Birthday 2 weeks from today, so stay tuned for a great Birthday post!! BYE...

Merry belated Christmas!!!

2008-12-31T07:31:00.000-08:00

First and foremost today is my sisters Birthday!!! I just wanted to wish her a very Happy Birthday. She is such a great friend and I don't know what I would do without her! Next, Merry Christmas a week late, and finally Happy New year a day early!!

Ok, I know that most of you have been dying to see our Christmas pictures, so they are finally here. I have been so busy these past few days, and I have even been stuck at home with no car (long story)!

For Christmas this year we went up to visit family in Utah. We had a lot of fun and it was a small Christmas with just parents and my brother and his girlfriend Jiyon. Christmas morning we were at my parents house and Santa sure delivered! The whole living room was filled with gifts!

Here are the kiddies on Christmas Eve just after opening their PJ's...

Hope got very spoiled for her first Christmas. I can't even remember all of the fun stuff she got, but some of the big gifts were; sit and ride scooter, cabbage patch kid, a little dog that sings to her, a "busy zoo", clothes, and a mini play kitchen that is just her size! Here are some pictures of her on Christmas day...

Tannon, got spoiled as well this year scoring a new bike with helmet and pads, dino legos, Handy Manny truck/workbench, clothes, Thomas the train stuff, a bambo memory game, and a few Chevron cars.

Well thats it for our Christmas day. We hope everyone had a great one! See you next year!!

Snowman

2008-12-16T16:10:00.000-08:00

Here is a page that I did today of Tannon and Justin building a snowman last night. This is definitely different for us!!

SNOWING!

2008-12-15T14:05:00.000-08:00

As I was putting my sick baby to sleep last night. Justin decided to turn the news on. We usually don't watch the news, since it is depressing and boring for the most part, but we watched it anyway to see what the weather would be like today. They preceded to say that from the strip west that there would be approximately 5" of SNOW! I kind of didn't believe them, and today I guess I am proven wrong.

Just to give you some perspective-Las Vegas has not had snow since 2005. Tannon was just a tiny baby last time it snowed here. Crazy.

Anyone else feeling fat??

2008-12-11T19:52:00.000-08:00

It happens EVERY year. Last year was by far the worst being that I was pregnant. But this year is still horrible. Yes, the good old holiday weight gain. So, me and my sister have teamed up to start trying to slim down. We are sick of feeling fat and not fitting into all of our clothes. So I'm bidding all chocolate, soda, fast food, and candy goodbye. And saying hello to eating a lot of fruit, veggies, chicken, and brown rice. Sounds good huh!?! I'm also saying hello to at least an hour of physical activity per day. So send skinny vibes my way and come on board with me and Josie in our quest to get skinny!!!

Tagged. And Santa

2008-12-09T08:43:00.000-08:00

This post is all about belief. Here are the rules - some of your answers can't be religious. You should include at least one belief about food and one belief or unbelief that reflects your philosophy about life.

6 things I believe

I believe in love at first sight.
I believe that having a child is the hardest thing a woman will ever do in her lifetime (also the most rewarding).
I believe that Chocolate is best with strawberries, but can be eaten any way and still warm your soul.
I believe that my husband is the best dad in the world!
I believe Christmas time is the best time of year! Especially when you have Children.
I believe a good song makes you feel better in an instant.

6 things I don't believe

I don't believe I will ever be good at Math.
I don't believe that one of my family members voted for Obama (you know who you are!)
I don't believe my sister tagged me!
I don't believe my body will ever again look like it did when I was 17 (cry)
I don't believe a girl can have too many shoes
I don't believe Hope is walking already (basically).

6 things I'm not sure about

I'm not sure why I have a pound of sees in my kitchen, and I'm not stuffing my face with it.
I'm not sure why I keep starting blogs, as if I don't have enough to do.
I'm not sure if I can think of anything else to be unsure about.
I'm not sure what the future holds.
I'm not sure if I will do my hair and makeup today.
I'm not sure why I did this tag!

Ok. On to more important stuff. We went to see Santa last night. Tannon was SO excited all day! He was so stinking cute with him, and told him that he wanted "presents" for Christmas. How easy for Santa! And obviously Hope was less than thrilled!

Yet another endeavor

2008-12-06T17:18:00.000-08:00

Just because I feel like I have all of the time in the world {heavy sarcasm}, me and my sister opened up yet another designing store. We have started doing a lot of photo announcements, both for us and friends, so we decided to put some of our hard work out there for everyone to enjoy. Not just digital scrapbookers. So, go check it out! There is still some time left if you want to order your Christmas cards!! And if you see a design on there that doesn't quite suit your taste-email me, I have a lot of cute designs that I can work with you on!

cherandersen@hotmail.com

Thanksgiving...

2008-12-02T08:21:00.000-08:00

I know this post is very long over due, but I didn't have my SD card in my camera all during Thanksgiving, so I've been waiting for my sister-in-law to send me her pictures that she took.

So, here goes! We had a great and hectic Thanksgiving this year! We have lived in this house for 4 years now, and have hosted Thanksgiving here every one of those years! It's kind of a tradition now. So, this year, we talked Justin's dad into coming down and helping us finish the crown molding in our house. We now have "crown molding throughout" as Justin referrers to it-which I guess is pretty cool. I may take pictures and post them later.

So, Wednesday started out great as me and Chloe ran some last minute errands. It was raining all day, but Tannon had an umbrella to keep him dry :)

Then of course Thursday was spent cooking and eating, and eating some more! Tannon decided that he was too tired to eat dinner with us, so he took a nap during Thanksgiving, but Hope tasted turkey for the first time on her first Thanksgiving...

Then after our feast we decided to burn off a few of the calories we consumed and go bowling!

CT call!!!

2008-11-25T07:43:00.000-08:00

So, I have just decided that I cannot do it all! We were informed after the opening of iscrapbook, that we needed to try to "promote" our designs by posting layouts made with our kits in the iscrapbook gallery. Sounds fun huh? So, I have been working on doing some layouts to get on there, but found that I can't meet the design criteria, and balance my life as well right now (Hope is at an age where she is requiring a ton of attention!). So, I KNOW I have a lot of digital scrapping readers out there!!! If you are interested in helping me out by doing some layouts with mine and my sisters kits, please email me, and I will give you the details!

cherandersen@hotmail.com

Oh, and if you register at iscrapbook today through the 29th you are eligible to win an ipod!!! They are giving one away per day! So definitely go check that out!!

Twilight-itis

2008-11-23T18:53:00.000-08:00

I met my sister in St. George this weekend, for a much needed shopping/movie trip! We had a blast together laughing and eating and shopping and laughing some more! We went to Olive Garden, and had the funniest server (who was so flaming gay and was talking about shopping the whole time). And, we spent a ton of $$ at Old Navy because they had a rocking sale! Here is a picture of our receipt...

We saw the much anticipated Twilight movie (LOVED it) and laughed every time we saw Jasper (he was SO funny in the movie, and only had like 1 line). And, we made plans to make this a semi-annual trip!

Thanks Josie for a great day! And, thanks Justin for being such a great dad and taking such great care of the kiddo's while I was gone! Here are some cute pictures of them during their day with Daddy...

FINALLY!!!!!!!

2008-11-22T08:08:00.000-08:00

iscrapbook.com finally launched today!!! Go check it out! The site is so user-friendly, and is VERY cute! Me and my sister have been working very hard this past week to get the "legal" stuff in order so that they could launch! And we were shocked to see it opened this morning!! It is so great for me to look on a website and see all of my hard work for everyone to enjoy {ahem, or buy}!!

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

2008-11-18T17:24:00.000-08:00

I have been so excited for Christmas this whole year! I love everything about it, and this year is going to be extremely special, since it's Hope's first Christmas! Tannon's first Christmas was fun, but he was only 2 months old so he obviously didn't care about anything that was going on. But Hope will be 11 months old, and will quite possibly be walking (she took 4 independent steps on Sunday!). Now, your probly thinking to yourself "Cherity, your nuts! Why would you want your baby to be walking during Christmas?" and I will tell you that I am crazy, but I love to watch baby's grow! Every little milestone that they take fascinates me, and walking is my favorite part because they have a look on their faces that they are just so proud of themselves! She is growing up fast and I am sad about that, but I love that she has such a burning desire to GO!

Also, this year is the first year that Tannon remembers last year. He see's Christmas trees in the stores and he immediately starts talking about grandpa, and snow! We don't get snow here in Vegas, so I know that he remembers everything from last year! I am so excited for him to wake up and see all of his gifts from Santa, and know what it's all about!

So I'm kicking off the Holidays eairly this year, and I'm going to enjoy every second of it!

Air Show

2008-11-14T12:10:00.000-08:00

This is an EXTREMELY late posting of this event, but Justin insisted that it be posted. So, here ya go...

Last weekend Nellis Air Force base had their annual air show. Last year we actually went into the event and it basically sucked. Not because the airplanes weren't cool, but because it was November in Vegas and it was HOT!!! And, I was pregnant, and Tannon was in the thick of his terrible twos, and was throwing a fit every 2 minutes. And, we had to wait in line for 500 hours to get on a stupid bus to shuttle us into the base. So, this year Justin really wanted to go again and kept saying stuff about it, and I kept skirting the issue since I didn't like it at all last year. So, last Friday rolls around and he called me to tell me that one of the job sites that he just bid is right next to the base and during the air show, the planes fly right over this area, and he knew the owner of the property, and we could go and park our truck and watch there. So, I agreed that that sounded better and we went! It was so MUCH better! We parked the truck in the dessert with no one around us and we had an AWESOME view from the bed of the truck. The kids played really good, and got really dirty and had tonz of fun. And we didn't have ANY traffic or crowds to deal with. YAY!!

So we took a ton of pictures with our awesome camera. So, here is a sampling for you :)

P.S. If you click on the pics you can get a way better view of them. The one with the pinkish smoke is a parachuter!

Carving Pumpkins...

2008-11-04T09:00:00.000-08:00

I know it might be a little late to be posting pumpkin carving pictures, but this year was hysterical, so I had to share! Tannon thought that we were hurting the pumpkin by cutting into it, so he was BAWLING the entire time saying "stop, stop, don't hurt!". And as you can see once the whole face was carved out, he thought that his "Jack-o-Man" was pretty cool!

Slacker!!!

2008-11-02T15:26:00.000-08:00

I have been such a horrible blogger lately!!! I promise I'll try to do better, I've been so busy with iscrapbook.com launching so I've turned all of my free time over to that! But the worst is now over, so I should have a lot more time to do other things! Anyhow... we had a fantastic and fun-filled couple of weeks! Tannon had his Birthday party that was a blast! We had our ward Trunk-or-Treat party that was a ton of fun too, and then he went Trick-or-treating on Halloween TWICE and got way too much candy!

So first; last Saturday we gave Tannon a little Birthday party with some of his neighborhood friends, and we ate pizza and cupcakes, played a few games, and then opened gifts! I think he was a little overwhelmed by all of the attention, but still had a ton of fun! The kid doesn't like the lime light on him, but he was a great sport! He got lots of trucks and lego's, and even some awesome books! Here are a few shots of his party...

Trevor and Tannon talking about how great the cupcakes are :)

This is a shot of him opening one of his presents, the guy helping him is our neighbor Ted who we have been really good friends with since we moved here 4 years ago. He loves Tannon and although doesn't have any kids of his own yet, he always comes to Tannon's Birthday party's and gives him awesome gifts!! He even gives him cool stuff for Christmas!! We love Ted!

Now since we try to be nice parents we let Tannon open all of his other gifts on his actual Birthday so I'm gonna throw in a few pics of him and his awesome gifts...

This is him with the shirt that Grandma Grimmer gave him on, opening his other gifts!

Auntie Erika was awesome and sent Tannnon lots of cool lego's! This is the fire station that she gave him all assembled!

Okay, now, we were BAD parents and forgot our camera for the Trunk-or-Treat, but both Tannon and Hope were super cute in their costumes, and Tannon won a bunch of cookies in the cake walk.

Okay, it's almost over I promise. For Halloween, we went Trick-or-treating in the mall (with his buddy Alyson), and also around our neiborhood (only the people we know).

This is them at the mall holding hands and running to the next sore to get candy...priceless!

Here is the kiddos with all of the loot! Hope is trying to get her paws on the candy while Tannon didn't like her doing that!

Then, finally here is my little fairy princess Hope in her cute little tutu that Tristan made! I made her hair piece and it was way to big for her, so it kept falling around her neck! Oh well she still was the cutest fairy in Vegas!

THREE!!!

2008-10-21T13:42:00.000-07:00

Today Tannon is 3 years old!! I will be posting a Birthday party post after we have his pizza party this weekend, but I wanted to share 3 of my favorite things about Tannon today.

1. He is so super sweet for a boy! He is definitely ALL boy, but he has such a sweet deminer about him. He is very quick to say "sorry", and he is so compassionate towards other peoples feelings.

2. He sings at the top of his lungs with me in the car!! I love to be a goof ball and sing along to my favorite songs while I'm driving, so I don't know if he picked this up by example or inheritance, but I LOVE it!

3. He loves to tease! He has quite the little sense of humor for his age. He definitely inherited that from his dad!

Happy Birthday T bear!! I love you so much!

Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-18T15:01:00.000-07:00

Today we decided to brave the pumpkin patch with the kids. It was really hot and expensive ($25 just to get in!), but very worth it because Tannon had a BLAST! They had pony rides, a little roller coaster, a train, and tons of games, jumpy houses, etc. etc. etc... And, we also got some CUTE, CUTE, CUTE shots of the kids in the pumpkins! Tannon loved the pony's of course, and the roller coaster was a little scary for him the first go around but, by the second he didn't even hold Justin's hand!

Some Good News!!

2008-10-16T13:27:00.000-07:00

I just received an email that me and my sister will be starting designers for iscrapbook.com!!!! It's a brand new digital scrapbook website that will be launched sometime in early November! We have been working our little tushies off submitting designs for the past 2 weeks!! We were sweating it thinking that we didn't get the job since we got our designs in on Saturday, and it took them 5 days to reply, but it ended up being good in the end! Anyway, if your into digital scrapping, then you should check out their website, just click the blinkie on my sidebar!

10 Things I can't live without

2008-10-12T19:54:00.000-07:00

I got tagged about a week ago, and I have a little time today, so I thought I would finally do it. Don't worry Tristan, I'll get you back.

#1. Obviously I can't live without Justin!! He is such a sweet husband and dad!!

#2. Tannon and Hope! They are my blood, and you can't live without blood!

#3. Creative outlets. Me and my sister started designing digital scrapbook kits awhile back, and I have found that I need that creative outlet in my life. It's so nice to be able to put everything else on hold and make something out of nothing!

#4. Tweezers!! I use them on a daily basis to touch up my eyebrows, and to pluck at random fuzz on my face! I can't stand hair (the unwanted kind, not the stuff on my head)!

#5. Flip flops. I hate wearing shoes. Always have. Flip flops are my best friend because it's ALMOST like not wearing shoes.

#6. Mineral Makeup. Ever since I ordered my first kit of mineral makeup 4 years ago, I've been hooked on the stuff! I love it, and my face would look horrible without it!

#7. Diet Coke. I have an (almost) 3 year old and an (almost) 9 month old. Enough said.

#8. Books. I sometimes need to let my head zone and be out of tune at times. And books are such a great way to do that!

#9. Modern conveniences (dishwasher, washer, dryer, blow dryer, crock pot, computer, electricity, digital cameras, Air conditioning, Ipods, cellphones, televisions, etc. etc.)

#10. Shopping. Again, another thing that helps get my mind off of the stressfulness of my life. Plus a good way for me to get exercise in Las Vegas when the weather is 110 degrees and I don't want to go outside to walk!

And, I'm probly being a party pooper, but I don't tag anyone. But do it if you want! It's fun to rack your brain and find things that your grateful for!

2 week re-cap

2008-10-06T08:59:00.000-07:00

Wow it's been a busy couple of weeks! I looked at my blog this morning and saw that I haven't posted for 2 weeks! OOPS!! I usually try to at least post something once a week, but I let time slip though my fingers this time. Here is a tiny bit of what we've been up to:

Hope would not go to sleep one night last week, and I was getting frustrated with her. Finnaly Tannon came to the rescue and offered to rock her to sleep for me! How very thoughtful huh? Here is a picture for you...

Doesn't she look tired? And speaking of helpful Tannon, he's finally learning how to do a few chores around the house...

Tannon and Hope have a typical Brother/Sister relationship. They are friends who think they can beat on each other. And your probly thinking that Tannon beats on Hope, and your right, but she can hold her own too...

She's even got her sumo gear on!!

And Finally Hope took a nap with Daddy yesturday, and it was so sweet that it had to be captured and shared...

6 years ago...

2008-09-22T14:32:00.000-07:00

I Married the best guy in the world!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY JUSTIN!!!!

I Love You!

New tooth

2008-09-15T14:03:00.000-07:00

Hope finally popped her first tooth! She has been one cranky girl this whole week, so I was suspicious about something, but her gums always looked normal and pink, so I didn't think it was a tooth. Yesterday at Church she smiled at me and there it was!!! So, the whole teething process has started and I'm not looking forward to it! Wish me luck!

Tannon & Hope update

2008-09-09T11:03:00.000-07:00

These 2 kids are always keeping me on my toes! They are constantly together, and Tannon loves that Hope is getting old enough to play with him. Even though really all she does is suck on Tannon's toys, so that they are all slobbery when he goes to play with them. Here is a little glimpse of what happens from day to day at my house:

And just to point out Tannon's sticking out his tongue, which is SO like his dad!!

Tagged!

2008-09-04T12:10:00.001-07:00

I've been tagged!!

4 random things I adore about my husband..
1. I love how tall he is! It makes me feel small even when I'm 9 Months pregnant (& HUGE!!)
2. He forgives easily. And, that is something that will always keep us together.
3. He loves his little rug rats just as much as I do, and will do anything for them. He's such a giving person it's scary at times!
4. He doesn't snore. I know it's weird that I adore that about him, but it makes for a great nights sleep on my part and I love that!!

4 movies I've watched more than once
1. Tommy Boy (all-time fav!)
2. Stardust
3. The devil wears Prada
4. Zoolander

4 T.V. shows I watch
1. So you think you can dance
2. American Idol
3. Other than those 2 I don't watch T.V. I'm boring that way!
4.

4 places I've been
1. Alaska
2. Puerto Vallarta
3. Canada
4. Michigan

4 people I email regularly
1. Justin
2. Josie
3. Justin (my brother)
4. Tristan

4 places I would like to visit
1. Africa
2. Fiji
3. Hawaii
4. Atlantis (when my kids get old enough to enjoy it)

4 things I look forward to in the coming year
1. Taking a trip with just my Hubby
2. Loosing baby weight
3. Watching my baby's grow
4. Tannon going to preschool

4 people that I tag
1. Tristan
2. Alli
3. Josie
4. Seraph

Weekend re-cap

2008-09-01T16:37:00.000-07:00

Ya. So, we decided that since it was Labor Day Weekend, and Justin had today off work, that we would go on a little camping trip. It's been a while since I've been to southern Utah, where I went to Elementary school, and there are plenty of outdoor fun places out there. So, we went though Zion National Park to a tiny little town called Escalante and camped out in a little place called Calf Creek. The camping trip started out fine enough, we got there a little late, so there were no places left to camp, but we found an empty site that had no tents, just a van parked out in front with no people there. We figured that they were from a different area and just needed to park there since parking was limited. Well, we paid for our spot then started dragging all of our stuff out when the people who owned the van came back and kindly let us know that this was there camp site. Oops. But, they were very friendly and said that they sleep in there van, and since we were only going to be there for 1 night, they told us that it was fine that we set up camp and stayed there. So, we set things up, and got a fire going and had S'mores and hot chocolate, and hung out just us four. Tannon was LOVING the tent and his new Lightning McQueen sleeping bag! And, Hope zonked out right before the hot chocolate was served. It got dark, so we decided that it was time for us to turn in since we had planned a 6 mile hike for the next morning. That is when the $#!% hit the fan!

So, we brushed our teeth, got into our PJ's and into the confines of our little 4 person tent and tried to drift off into dream land. Right. We had picked (well had to settle) a campsite that had a little river not 10 feet from our little tent that made me have to pee all night. Which is dealable, but very distracting when you have to unzip a tent and cop a squat in the pitch black wilderness. Then, since we didn't have any room in our tent for a pack-n-play, we opted to just have Hope sleep between us on the air mattress. And, I had no idea before hand just how badly those things moved!! Every little tiny movement we made would send her into a little rocking rhythm, and wake her up!! So, about every 20 minutes she would wake up pissed off and need to be calmed down again! Then, Tannon started to talk. Yes, we think he was sleeping, and he would say things like, "Daddy, wheres the trees?" and "No, no Lola!" and "Get baby Hope a toy!". So, by that point I'm pretty sure that it was about one o'clock in the morning and neither Justin nor I had gotten even a wink of sleep.

Then, the worst part of the entire experience happened. IT STARTED TO RAIN!!!!! Now, I'm really not that big of a baby when it rains, but when I'm camping...

Anyway, so our tent, (which we have no idea how old the thing is, we inherited it from my parents I think) isn't exactly water tight and after about and hour of it raining on us (yes, with still no sleep to speak of), it started to LEAK!! I'm not sure, but I think it dripped on Tannon first, because me and Justin were just laying there joking around at how horrible our fun camping trip had turned out, all of a sudden Tannon jumped up and was just standing there. We asked him what was wrong, and Justin snuggled with him for a second and he fell right back to sleep. Then after a few minutes, I felt a drip-on. my. FACE! Ya, I was a little ticked. Then Justin started to feel drops on his arm, then after a few more minutes Tannon stood up again. This time we figured that he was starting to get wet so he then came next to me and got under the blankets with me and snuggled back into dream land. Ya, so just in case your keeping tabs, that's 4 of us on one Queen sized air mattress. At this point I was BEGGING Justin to just get up and go home. He said that he thought it was going to start getting light soon, and if it were still raining when that happened then we would go home. Well I guess exhaustion got the better of both of us, and we both went to sleep. Tannon, in my arms, Hope in Justin's arms. Finally Tannon woke up to the wet tent against his face and started to ask questions about why the tent was so wet. And, yes it was still raining, so we decided to pack up and go home, since the entire sky was gray, with no hope of the storm letting up anytime soon. So, we go in the car due home on Sunday morning, and drove through about 3 hours of relentless rain fall and ended up in St. Goerge with our mouths watering for Pizza Factory. To our huge disgust it was closed (something with it being Sunday...) so we had to settle for Wendy's :(

We finally got home and I was so beyond tired that the rest of the day went into a haze. Tannon and Hope went to bed at 7:00 and I'm pretty sure we were in bed before 9:00. Today we woke up with a better outlook and went downtown for some good old outlet shopping. Now, were hanging out in the backyard with the great Las Vegas sun beating down on our wet souls trying to dry up our bones from our camping trip that could have been dryer.

So, now that your done reading my novel here are some pictures from this weekend.

Lake Havasu

2008-08-24T20:11:00.000-07:00

This weekend we went 2 1/2 hours south of Vegas to Lake Havasu with our really good friends Amber and Dave. It was a lot of fun and felt so good to get out on a Lake again!! We used to go Jet Skiing all the time before we had kids, and this was the first time that we had been since Tannon was just a little baby. Tannon of course LOVED it and had so much fun playing in the water with Kiely and Raya. And Hope even had fun getting into the water and playing with their baby boy Roman. I didn't take a ton of pictures, but out of the few that I took, her are some cute ones...

Baby Hope thinkin' she's super cool on the jet ski!

Justin and the kiddos playing in the water.

Tannon playing with baby Roman! He is such a cute little chub!!

Justin and Tannon self portrait!

Ok, now I hope I'm not selling myself stupid, but I had NO idea that the original London Bridge was in Lake Havasu!!! Pretty cool if you ask me! They had the whole thing dismantled and shipped all the way from London back in the 1960's!! You can read more about it HERE!!

M.I.A.

2008-08-21T11:19:00.000-07:00

So, it has been one VERY long week of agonizing pain from the lack of internet in my house! I had no idea how addicted I am to scrapping and blogging until they were ripped away from me by a horrible computer virus! But, I'm back and have a lot to blog about in my absence, but no time now, with catching up on a few things, since I sat on my butt the whole week to read the Twilight series, in my internet's absence. So, until then here are a few pics to get you by:

Raspberries

2008-08-08T15:54:00.000-07:00

I love how much Tannon and Hope get along! Today Hope got her 6 Month shots, and of course was crying hysterically, and Tannon came up to her and said 'baby why crying? Sorry baby!' and then she magically stopped! It was like just the sound of his voice was all she needed to feel better. He even had her laughing shortly afterwords.

Lately when I have been changing her diaper, and her cute little chubby tummy is in front of me, I'll blow on it (we call these raspberries). So, of course Tannon always wants to do it too. He can't wait for her to have her diaper changed so that he can make her giggle! Last night after her bath he was doing it to her on her wet tummy, and it was extra loud so they were both laughing and being so cute! I love my little munchkins! I hope they stay buds forever!

Wordless Wednesday

2008-08-06T08:19:00.000-07:00

Accident update

2008-08-04T09:58:00.000-07:00

Lots of people have been emailing us and asking about the latest news on the accident, so I thought that I would do a quick update for everyone. The guy who hit Justin accepted fault, so Justin is not responsible for the vehicle in front to him (yay)!! So, we are SO glad the that part is worked out. But, the guy who hit him only has $10,000 worth of coverage, which will most likely not repair both vehichles. The insurance estimator for his insurance company estimated Justin's truck at $6,000 which is a VERY cheap estimate, since he thinks it's ok for things on Justin's truck to be repaired with bond-o! We want it to be put back to the way it was BEFORE it got smacked!! So, we are now going through our insurance company to have it repaired to the way we want it, and since the guy accepted fault, our rates will not go up, and our deductable is waived. So, basically everything worked out. And, we are taking it to the repair shop this evening for them to do an estimate, so it will be interesting to see the difference in cost!

On another note, we went up to Utah this weekend to see my sister that we haven't seen for about 5 years!! We took a ton of pictures and our kids played together so cute for not ever meeting each other! I will post pictures and fill you in some more when I get some more time, but as always, I have laundry and unpacking to do, and having too much of my Mother in me I can't rest until my house is put back to normal!

Happy 1/2 year...and OUCH!!!!

2008-07-29T09:55:00.000-07:00

Baby Hope turned a whole 1/2 year old yesterday. That's right, she is officially 6 months old now! I can't believe how time flies. She is getting so big, and is crawling all over the place now. She loves to use her voice and talk to you and is turning into a total Mommy's girl (which is actually ok, since Tannon is a total Daddy's boy). She is still such a super sweet baby, and I'm loving every minute with her in our home!

And now, onto the reason why I had no time yesterday to post about Hopes 1/2 year mark (among other things, but this is the main one). Last night on Justin's way home from work, his truck went from looking like this...

To this...

And of course your wondering if it was his fault, and surprisingly, the answer is no!! He got hit really hard from behind which pushed him into the car in front of him. He's ok, which I am so thankful for. Just a little bit of a sore back, but nothing major. This is what the truck that hit him looks like...

And, this is the Titan that he got pushed into...

All in all, everyone involved was ok. We are just hoping that Justin is not going to be put at fault. Those dumb insurance companies have there way of getting people to blame other people to get out of paying for stuff. Luckily though our insurance company has already gotten a statement from Justin and the guy who hit him, so hopefully that will work to our advantage! I'll try to keep you posted!

My Dogs!

2008-07-25T14:41:00.000-07:00

I realized a few days ago, that I really don't have much about my 2 dogs on here. I don't know why, since they are just as much a part of our family as anything. So, here are a few tidbits about Coco, and Lola!!

Coco is a mixed breed dog between a Poodle and a Cocker Spaniel. Otherwise known as a Cock-a-poo. He is white and fluffy with beige ears and a beige spot on his back. He weighs 21 pounds, he is 3 1/2 years old and is the more mellow dog of the two. He is super smart, and will do any trick for a treat. I saw him in a local pet store (a really nice pet store that had reputable breeders), and I told Justin that I wanted that dog. We didn't get him right away, but I bugged the crap out of him until he caved, and surprized me the next day with Coco in the back seat of the truck. Coco's favorite things to do are:
-run away from Tannon
-go to the doggy park, and sniff other doggys bumms
-sleep in our closet, away from Tannon
-sleep in baby's room, to protect her from Tannon
-lick Justin's face in the morning to wake him up
-play fetch
-go for walks
-beg for food
-go in our backyard and bark at the annoying neighbor kids who like to jump over the fence that is next to our backyard fence
-pee on bushes
-get "frisky" with Lola (although she wont let him)
-swim
-chase after deer in Justin's Dad's backyard
-eat treats
-drink Tannon's & Hope's bath water
-go for car rides, and roll down the window with his own paw so that he can stick his head out the window. I mentioned he was smart, right?

Lola is our more 'special' dog. She was found on the streets when she was just a tiny puppy, by one of Justin's co-workers. They tried to find her owners, with no luck obviously, and ended up not wanting her after a week. We didn't want to see her go to the pound, and her and Coco got along very well, so we took her in! She is a pure breed Miniature Schnauzer according to our vet, and her coloring is considered 'salt & pepper', which basically means she is mostly black with some white mixed in. She is so sincerely sweet and loves to snuggle. She can't sleep unless she is snuggled up next to something. She is 2 1/2 years old, and weighs 16 pounds. She has a heart murmur, and is easily excited by stupid things, so she makes me so nervous all the time that she is going to just all of a sudden die. We can't take her on terribly long walks for this reason, and when she is overly exhausted, her body starts to convulse a little. But, we love her tonz, and even though Justin pretends like he doesn't like her, I know he will be devastated when she dies. Lola's favorite things to do are:
-sleep
-lick you when your least expecting it
-snuggle
-howl at Coco when he tries to play with her, and she doesn't want to
-howl at you if she thinks your not throwing her toy fast enough when playing fetch
-fight over toys with Coco
-hide under the couch when people come to visit
-go outside when it's 106 degrees out and lay on the grass to soak up the blazing sun
-growl at other dogs, cars, people on bikes, people on scooters, and people she deems unworthy
-sit on my lap and fall asleep
-eat (anything... unlike Coco who will only eat a chicken nugget if it has the right amount of sweet-n-sour sauce on it)
-follow me around all day
-go for car rides

Mr. Independant

2008-07-24T13:16:00.000-07:00

So, lately Tannon has been really into this whole "I'm a big boy, and I don't need your help" thing. Which has worked out to my advantage in some instances, like he now goes to the bathroom all by himself, flushes the toilet, washes his hands and everything. But, there's one thing that makes for not such a pleasant clean up. And, because your nosy and have already looked at the pictures you have probly guessed what it is. Yep, he likes to get his own snacks now, without my permission. And, today it happened TWICE!!!! It started with peanut butter, which got into his hair and everything, then he found the cookies. Ya, so he has now had 2 baths today, and it's only 2:00!! And Justin, just so you know, Tannon really did eat all of the cookies this time!

Favorite new pics

2008-07-21T22:22:00.000-07:00

I don't know how both of my kiddy's got such long eyelashes, but Hope's seem to go on for miles, and you can really tell in this picture. Tannon looks so happy in this picture, but he's actually pretty ticked at me for taking his picture so much.

Bubble Fun!

2008-07-16T17:01:00.000-07:00

I promised Justin that I would at least post some pictures. These were taken last night after I went to the store and found this cute little puppy bubble blower for Tannon to play with. He loves it and was so sad when it ran out of bubbles and he had to come inside. And baby Hope was very intrigued with them as well!

P.S. If you click on the picture you can get a better look!

To Blog or not to Blog...?

2008-07-10T13:13:00.000-07:00

I'm kinda stuck in a rut with this whole Blogging thing lately! I've been wondering if I should go private or not. I've been wondering what I could post so that it's not all monotonous and boring for all of you. And, I've also just plain wondered if I should just quit all together! I do scrapbook mostly all of the pictures I put on here anyway, so really, I have the whole "journal" thing covered. So, I think for now I'm just going to take a little break and ponder what is best for me, then I'll let you know what the verdict is.

Fishy Tannon

2008-07-08T14:57:00.000-07:00

Tannon is back to his old 'fishy' ways. It took a little convincing at first to get him to get into the pool, but once his toes hit the water, he turnes into a little fish!!! He loves to go swimming, and is learning how very well. He spent 2 1/2 hours in the pool last time he went. And, he still didn't want to leave!!!

This is him learning how to blow bubbles:

He loves to just hang out on the steps:

He's not afraidof the water at all, and will stick his face in when Justin's there to help him:

Happy Birthday

2008-06-28T08:17:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Cherity!! Hope Justin spoils you all day!

To clean or not to clean...

2008-06-27T11:21:00.000-07:00

I have been so busy this week!! I have had 2 color appointments, 2 sick kids, a long Doctor visit, friends coming over to randomly visit, a baby that wont take naps and 20 loads of laundry (you think I'm kidding...don't you)! And on top of all that have to keep my house tidy because I can't stand it when it's dirty. So anyway, on to my point. I heard a quote the other day that got me thinking: "A clean house is a life wasted". So, now I'm wondering if I'm wasting too much of my life on keeping my stupid house clean!?!? So, I want to know what everyone thinks, are you a "Cleanliness is close to Godliness" type person, or "A clean house is a life wasted" type person, and why?

Jumpy fun!

2008-06-24T13:47:00.000-07:00

Head, Shoulders...

Knees, & Toes...

Eyes, Ears...

Mouth & Nose...

Baby girl was being so cute in her jumparoo today!! Hope you like the pics of her ☺

GO ARMY!!!

2008-06-22T15:20:00.000-07:00

I am so in shock every day with how quickly Hope is growing up, but this takes the cake!! She is Army crawling!!!! I know, you probably don't believe me, and these pictures truly don't do it justice. But, to explain a little, as you can see in this picture, she gets her little bum in the air and her face planted on the ground...

Then, she scoots her body forward and lifts her head up, and voila!! She's moved a whole 2 inches!!

Now, Justin was having a few technical difficulty's with the camera, so these pictures are not in subsequent order, but you get the general idea!! And, I just need to point out how freakin' cute Tannon is with his baby sister!! He's being her little coach though the whole thing. I blame him for her crawling before she's even 5 months old!

Random cuteness from Tannon

2008-06-17T21:32:00.000-07:00

Tonight Justin was putting Tannon to bed when he told him that he had to go potty. I was in the hallway just outside Tannon's room petting our 2 dogs, and trying not to make them scratch at Tannon's door, so when they came out Tannon saw me and started talking to me. When it was time for him to go back into his room to go to bed, he wanted me in there too. So, I came in with the both of them, and laid down on the bed with Tannon and Justin. The second I got in there I guess he didn't want me there any more so he told me to get out. Seizing this opportunity to annoy him, I stayed and said that he wanted me there so I'm not leaving. Then, Justin trying to be funny told Tannon to tell me that the phone was ringing, and that I needed to go answer it. So Tannon, then proceeds to tell me in his own words 'mommy go geet the foot'. (Just to side track for a second, Tannon has been a little bit late at the whole talking thing, but has picked up a TON of words and sentences over the past few months and is doing so good, and I'm understanding more and more every day.) Anyway, whenever he says something wrong I always try to correct him, which I did a couple of times, but tonight he was bent that it was a 'foot' so I said it very slowly 'phooooone' Tannon replies: 'Ya, foooooot' It was hilarious. This might be a "guess you had to be there" thing, but me and Justin couldn't stop laughing. I guess he can call the phone a 'foot' for now.

P.S. The picture has nothing to do with this post, but Justin took it of the kiddo's tonight while I was at Enrichment. I couldn't resist this one. They are just too sweet!!

New Chair, Rice Cereal & Happy Father's Day!!

2008-06-15T20:33:00.000-07:00

First of all, Happy Father's day to my wonderful Dad, Dad-in-law, & my wonderful Hubby! I love you so much!!

Next, we got Hope one of those High Chair booster seats before she was born, because I hate how much space real High Chairs take up. And, I've been dying to try it out on her, so, tonight I figured since she can sit-up with the aide of the Boppy Pillow, then why not her little booster High Chair thing? Sure enough she sat in it and LOVED it! So, we then proceeded to feed her some rice cereal with a spoon for the first time, and again, LOVED that too!! So, here is her cuteness in her new chair eating rice cereal...

Happy Birthday too me... I mean us!!

2008-06-13T19:23:00.000-07:00

Like I said 2 posts ago, Justin's Birthday was on the 5th. And my Birthday is coming up on the 28th (hint, hint everyone..j/k)! Usually, we just get each other something nice and done. This year, we decided to get one thing for the both of us. SO---we got a 24" Ultra High-Def Computer monitor!!! I LOVE it!!! It is so weird and bright and nice!

THANKS HUBBY!!!! It's awesome!

My sweet baby girl!!

2008-06-09T11:47:00.000-07:00

Hope is just getting TOO BIG!!! I can't believe the she is already 4 1/2 months old! She is so sweet and happy all of the time, and I really don't know how I lucked out with how good she is!! Anyway we took some really good pictures of her yesturday, so I wanted to post them cuz she's just too cute to not!!

P.S. Chloe, I posted the crying one just for you ☺

Happy Birthday!!!

2008-06-05T15:37:00.000-07:00

Today is Justin's Birthday!!! So, I just wanted to wish him a Happy Birthday!! Thanks Justin for being so good to me all these years and for all you do for me! I love you!!!

Brace yourself!!

2008-06-02T19:44:00.000-07:00

WOW!! It has been a busy week! First, I just want to do some catching up...

Hope turned 4 months old last Wednesday!! She is just getting too big!! She's rolling all over the place, and is trying to eat us out of house and home. She's growing like a little weed (probably the eating) and now weighs 14 pounds!!! She has the funnest kissable chubby cheeks in the world and some good rolls on her thighs to go with them, and we just love her to pieces!!

Tannon is just his same old self!! Just as active, sweet, and crazy as ever!! He got some new softer sand to go in his sandbox, and the boy now spends half of his waking hours digging away!! I love how he has such a passion for life, and is so totally enthralled with whatever he is doing!! He also LOVES Scooby-Doo, and knows the theme song by heart and can sing the whole thing!

Next, Chloe came out for a week and we had tonz of fun!! She is the best baker, and made some amazing cupcakes, we spent a lot of time playing at the park and in the backyard. And, me and Justin even got to go on a date!!

Then we had a relaxing weekend and spend some time outside while the weather is still tolerable. And of course took some pics!!

Then, I got Hope a new babysitter!! A new fun 'jumperoo' and she LOVES it!!! Yey for me! Now, I can get things done and she can entertain herself!! LOVE IT!!!!

Ok, that's all. I hope everyones week was great!!

Tannon

2008-05-27T14:33:00.000-07:00

Tannon was tagged by Maddie yesterday, so here are 5 fun facts about him...

1. Tannon LOVES the outdoors!! Ever since he could walk-actually crawl, he has loved being outside. I remember when he was only 8 months old crawling out of the doggie door into our backyard at least 10 times a day. And, now he loves to take the dogs for a walk (and is super good with holding Coco's leash) and, loves to go to the park any chance he can get! Not to mention, he will spend hours in our backyard playing in his sand box, and jumping off of the retaining walls.

2. Tannon has a very vivid imagination. I love this quality about him! He can play for hours by himself, and it's so much fun to watch him! He can build his own train tracks for his millions of trains, and he makes all the sound effects to go along with it!

3. Tannon and his dad are more alike than any other 2 people on earth!! Every day I find another quality about Tannon that reminds me of Justin. They look a ton alike, and their personalities are so similar it's scary! But, it is definitely not a bad thing for me (since I like Justin's personality), but they may butt heads when Tannon gets older because of it!

4. Tannon is a very good minder. I say this because he's 2 1/2, and for a 2 1/2 year old, I think that this quality is very unlikly! But seriously as I'm typing this, he dumped a bag of pretzles on the floor, and is now cleaning them up because I asked him to.

5. Tannon loves his baby sister, and is very protective of her. He gets very concerned if we are going somewhere and she's not with us, or if someone is holding her that he doesn't know. I really hope that he will always be protective of his 'baby sister'. Especially when she's a teenager!

Tannon now tags: Alexa, Celsalyn & Ashton!!

Next kit on Friday!

2008-05-21T12:40:00.000-07:00

Sorry, it's been awhile since I've posted (to the 5 people who check this thing). Me and my sister have been working our hiney's off with our new blog. But, it has been a lot of fun. We will have a new freebie for you on Friday, then next week we will have a big collaboration kit for the 4th of July that turned out so good!! This will be our first "sell" so, save your penny's so that you can get it! But, of course we will have a little sampler freebie of it too. In the mean time here is a sneek peak at what you can have on Friday:

Wordless Wednesday...a little late

2008-05-14T21:22:00.000-07:00

Designing now!!

2008-05-13T18:34:00.001-07:00

So, with tons of motivation from my wonderful sister, I have now started to design my own scrapbooking stuff. She has been doing it for a while too now, so we both started a new 'freebie' blog for people to download our kits!! So, if you are into digital scrapbooking and you like our stuff, go check it out & have a download!! Here is the link. Please let me know how I did (and my sister too), and also, I'm open for doing 'custom' kits too. So, if there is a color scheme that you want--LET ME KNOW!!! This is the paper pack that I have started. I'm going to make this into a full kit, but I've only gotten the paper's completely done so far!

He's NEVER getting a motorcycle!!!!

2008-05-08T21:52:00.000-07:00

Tub time!

2008-05-06T21:17:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, another layout! I'm sorry, I just love this new digi thing, so I'm actually getting my scrapbooking done. Other than never getting them done, because I hate the huge mess of the old way! But, I was looking at all of my pictures and found these ones of Tannon in the bath tub, and I couldn't resist!! It almost makes me want to cry to think of how old he's getting! He was such a cute baby boy!!!

Little miss blue eyes

2008-05-05T15:02:00.000-07:00

Justin took this picture of Hope yesterday. And, I thought her eyes looked so pretty, and blue!! So, I decided to share her pretty blue eyes with everyone!

I ♥ Photoshop!!

2008-05-02T16:23:00.000-07:00

For Christmas last year, me and Justin splurged on a fun new DSLR camera. We have LOVED it and have taken some sweet pictures using it. But, sometimes it can get confusing. On Sunday, Tannon was playing outside in the sprinklers, and Justin was taking his picture. He couldn't figure out why they were turning out so "hazy" so he made me grab him the lens shade. Then, just as he said that they were still "hazy" even after the lens shade, he realized that he still had the camera on the indoor setting! Funny, but most of the good pictures were taken on that setting, so most of them were bluish grey. So, I thought that I would try my luck with photoshop, and it worked out well, so here they are...

Before...

After...

This particular picture looks a bit out of focus, but I do love how the water drops are in focus! Thank goodness for photoshop!!

And here's another one just because...

More pics

2008-04-29T16:49:00.000-07:00

We took a ton of pictures of Hope while she was all dressed up for her 3 month photo shoot. So, I decided to share them with you because Justin said that it was weird that I only posted one of them in my last post. So, here are some more...

3 Months!!

2008-04-28T11:40:00.000-07:00

Hope is 3 months old today! I truly can't believe how fast the time has gone!! And, how much she has changed in those 3 months is truly unbelievable! She is so strong for a 3 month old, and is almost able to roll over. She sleeps though the night most nights and is basically acts the opposite of how Tannon acted at this age, when it comes to sleeping (which I am SO grateful for!)!! She is really starting to use her voice a lot, and now that she is showing her personality, she reminds me of Tannon a lot. She loves getting her diaper changed and will always give you a smile. She smiles at Tannon a lot too. She really just smiles a lot. She has definitely changed our lives for the better, and we are so thankful for her sweetness!!

Another LO

2008-04-24T16:36:00.000-07:00

Chloe took these pictures of Tannon while we were in Utah for Easter. I thought they were so dang cute, that I wanted to do a layout using them.

Oh, and Chloe, sorry I haven't sent you the pic's from my camera. You need to teach me how to do a cool web album like you...☺

Google tagged

2008-04-23T14:43:00.000-07:00

Tristan tagged me (again ☺) to do this google thing. You go to Google Images and search for the answers that apply to you and use a photo from the FIRST page of results. So, this is my photographic list...

Age on my next birthday

Place I would like to visit:

A favorite place:

One of my favorite things:

My favorite color:

A favorite food, or my favorite place to eat:

My favorite flower:

City in which I live:

Name of a pet:

A nickname I've had:

I've never really had a nickname, so I decided to skip this one!

College Major:

First Job:

A hope for 2008:

And, just to keep you all guessing...I decided to not tell you any of my answers ☺!!! So, guess away (expecially that last one..he, he!)!!

I tag: Josie, Cynthia & Kara!!!

Winner announced, and Sunday afternoon...

2008-04-20T19:58:00.000-07:00

So, after lots of reading, and discussion, we finally have a winner! Both Justin and I jointly agreed that Cynthia's Tater Tot Casserole was the best submission!!! So, congrats Cindy, tell me what color you want, and I'll send it out to you! And, here is the recipe for all those interested:

Tater Tot Casserole

1 pound hamburger
1/2 C chopped onion (optional)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
grated cheese (optional)
tater tots

brown hamburger and onions. drain, add soup and place in dish, cover top with tator tots and bake in oven at 350 til tots are browned, add cheese on top and bake til melted.

I'll admit that it sounds a little funky...but good!! So, thats whats on the menu for tomorrow night!

On to the other stuff. We had a BEAUTIFUL day here in Las Vegas!! We went on a walk, and played in the backyard for most of the afternoon. Tannon even found a "bady bug"...

And then it flew onto the grass, so he was looking at it...

And then he CRUSHED the poor thing with his hand!! This is him showing Daddy, Hope and Lola how he crushed it...

It was apparently too hot for Coco, so he had to stand in the shade for a bit...

Sorry buddy, I think it's only going to get a LOT worse over the next few months!!

And, here is one of Hope lookin' cute!

And, just for fun, look at how pretty our bush is...

4 Quick Things

2008-04-19T16:20:00.000-07:00

First, thanks everyone for all of the yummy recipes that have been pouring in...they all look very tasty!! It is going to be hard to choose a winner-but Justin is hot on the trail of looking at each and every one of them, so I'm going to let him choose a winner!

Next, look at what Hope can do....

Why do they grow up so fast??? I swear if the girl had the strength, she would be walking, all she wants to do is get those muscles beefed up so that she can keep up with her crazy older brother!! It's no joke that the second child physically develops faster than the first.

Third, Tannons new thing is chillin' with Hope wherever she is. On the couch, on the floor, he even wants in her crib while she's napping!! Which is so cute, but annoying since he is a boy and is a little rough, even though he doesn't mean to be! But seriously it's the cutest thing EVER! Just look at these pictures...

Then, my 4th and final quick announcement...WE HAVE BEEN ACCIDENT FREE FOR 3 DAYS!!!!

I know you guys wanted a picture of him in his undies....right?

CONTEST TIME!!!

2008-04-17T15:44:00.000-07:00

So, in honor of this post I did last month, I'm going to present a little challenge, with this challenge the winner will receive a razor from my stash (in your choice of color: Blue, Purple or Pink). So, onto the challenge--I NEED RECIPES PEOPLE!! Something that is easy to make with 2 small children and something that doesn't feed a whole army of people!! I mean like I said in my last post I have a picky eater, so it's usually just me and Justin eating. And, I thought I would never say this in my lifetime, but I'm sick of restaurant food. So, here are a few pointers for you to win:

-recipe must be able to feed 2 people easily with little leftovers (we don't eat them in my house).
-the fewer the dishes the better (as in I HATE doing dishes, so the fewer I have to do the better).
-the less time it takes to prepare the better (I'm ok with letting things sit in a crock pot or the oven).
-the healthier the better.
-the tastier the better.
-the fewer the ingredients the better.
-must be emailed or in the comment box NO LATER than Saturday night.

So, get going though your stash of yummy dinners!! Justin will thank all of you!!!! Either leave the recipe in the comment box or email them to: cherandersen@hotmail.com

Winner will be announced on Sunday night or Monday morning!!!

What do toddlers like these days?

2008-04-13T21:03:00.000-07:00

Anyone else have a hard time figuring out what to feed their growing kids? I struggle with this every day. Tannon loves peanut butter, apple sauce, yogurt, and pudding. So, that is basically all he eats (that's healthy) because unless he sees those 4 items in front of him, he doesn't want it. So blogger friends--what do you feed your kids that they like to eat-and that is nutritious? Help me, so I'm not stuck watching him do this the rest of my life...

Yes, he is playing with his food, but he did manage to get a bite or two in! Please note the disgusted look on his face.

It's looking warmer!!

2008-04-10T15:19:00.000-07:00

The other day was so nice and sunny, that my neighbor decided it was time to break out the jumpy house for Tannon and Aly!! They had so much fun playing together in the warm sunshine, and I had so much fun taking their pictures!! I'm so glad that it's almost summer so that we can do more fun outdoor activities!! They are so cute together!

It's all fun & games...

2008-04-06T21:10:00.000-07:00

Tannon hit the concrete yesturday. Justin took him to the park to get him out of the house, and he was playing tag with some of the kids there and got tagged a little too hard. Justin said that he had never seen so much blood come out of his little boys mouth. Needless to say, he was a little afaid to bring him home, thinking I was going to get mad (stuff like this literally only happens when Justin is watching him). It's all good though, today it looks far better than it did when he came home from the park, it was pretty puffed up and swollen. And, despite how badly it probly hurts he still manages to smile for the camera and look cute!!

P.S. Look how cute and chubby my baby girls thighs are!!

Peaceful Moments

2008-04-06T10:47:00.000-07:00

Why is it, that when kids are asleep I'm totally infatuated with just staring at them? Seriously, I could stay up all night and just watch my baby's peacefully sleep! It's those moments when they are so cute and asleep that make the difficult times so worth it!

New Lay Out

2008-04-01T13:08:00.000-07:00

I'm am SO new to digital scrapbooking. But, I'm quickly finding that I like it better! No mess, no clean-up, no get everything out, no put everything away. And, it's quite a bit cheaper as well. I still have a ton of scrapbooking stuff. But I think I'll start using it for card making and such. And, I also want to do Hopes first year with the real stuff too. But, as for everything else, I think I'm going digital! Today I made my first lay out...

And, if any of you have been doing digital scrapboking for a while now and have some super cool tricks up your sleeves that you want to share with me-I'm totally all ears (I use Photoshop Elements 6)! Thanks.

Just for fun & Napping

2008-03-31T15:04:00.000-07:00

Here are some shots of our sweetie pie-just because...

So, Tannon has for the most part given up on naps. Which is fine, since he's a great kid and will go in his room for quiet time for an hour during the day. Every once in a while he falls asleep on the couch in the afternoon while watching scooby doo, but that's probably only twice a week or so. Today however, I was upstairs feeding baby girl, and thought that it was a little too quiet downstairs (if you know what I mean). So, I quickly wrapped up the feeding session only to head downstairs to find this...

It doesn't look too comfortable to me, but whatever works!!

2 Months Old

2008-03-28T20:45:00.001-07:00

Hope is 2 months old ALREADY!! I really cannot believe how quickly time has flown! She is seriously so super sweet, and such a great and calm baby. She can now hold her head up very well, and is starting to pull herself up, or lean forward while she is lounging on the couch. And, if she is on her side she will roll onto her tummy, and already tries to sleep stink bug. She is also starting to use her voice a lot now, which is so, so cute!! She is growing up so very fast! I love watching each and every new stage of a baby's life.

Quick Easter Update

2008-03-26T07:13:00.000-07:00

This Easter was spent up in Utah with family. Tannon got to do 2 Easter egg hunts and the Easter bunny gave him & Hope 2 Easter baskets! SPOILED!!! We also blessed our sweet baby girl on Sunday while we were up there. It was so nice to be able to spend time with family that we don't see very often. And, Tannon had such a blast playing with the 'girls' (he only has 2 male cousins at the moment, both of which were not there). So, I hope you all had a great Easter. We sure did!