County Fair! (in pictures)

Super Spencer

My sister, Kristianne (10), is quite the writer. She has written a series of poems and stories about Super Spencer. Here is as much as I can remember of one of her first poems.

Super Spencer is so sweet.

He really is sweet.

Super Spencer loves to eat, 

He loves to eat cereal with his fingers like chopsticks. 

He uses his pointer and middle finger. 

Who needs thumbs?

Soup and Spinach salad galore.

We don't really feed him salad yet because he doesn't have any teeth, 

but he does love to eat like a grown-up. 

No bottles for him. He prefers a cup. 

Don't mash his banana. He wants to eat it right from the peel.

Super Spencer begs for more!

And who could resist that face?

Super Spencer is not sad, 

Super Spencer loves his Dad!

Brightly Beams

For Christmas, I gave Dad a paintings of two lighthouses in his mission. I haven't watercolored since I was in middle school, but I really like how they turned out. They will replace the ugly flower pictures that came with their house in the entry way.  He visited the lighthouse at Peggy's cove. I asked Dad which lighthouse he liked the best for the other one. I told him after painting them that he definitely has a lighthouse "type"... red top, white everything else. They almost look the same. It was fun doing it. Next I think I am going to try doing the Las Vegas temple for my house. We will see how ambitious I am. I have a feeling painting will have to wait until Nathan's next break now that Spencer is mobile.

Cape Anguille, Newfoundland, Canada

Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada

An Anderson Holiday Part 2

 Went to Ethel M and Magical Forest at Opportunity Village to see the lights with Grandma and Grandpa and Aunts and Uncles too.

 Made Spudnuts! One of the Keeley family traditions that we have introduced to the Andersons. They look pretty professional, right? They tasted even better than they look.

 Drove to St. George for Steak and shrimp with the extended Anderson clan.

 Watched the nativity and saw the lights at the temple. Not quite Salt Lake but it helped fill in on some missed traditions.

Had a wonderful Christmas morning with family and were spoiled by Santa and grandparents.

 

 Look at that cute boy!

Had Great-Grandma Davis and Megan over and tried to skype with Linda. It didn't work out so instead we skyped the my family and built a block tower.

 Learned to crawl and eat cheerios.

Slept under the Christmas tree post-Christmas, another tradition.

Hope your holidays were as merry as ours.

An Anderson Holiday Part 1

Nathan goes back to school tomorrow. Time really does fly by when you are having fun. One of the perks of the dad being a teacher (aside the having insurance part) is getting to have him all to ourselves over holidays.

It was Spencer's first Christmas and the first Christmas we spent with the Andersons. The past two years I could not give up going to Hyrum for Christmas. We had a great time sharing family traditions and creating some new ones.

For me, the holidays really start with Thanksgiving. Here is a glimpse into our holiday pre-break:

Spencer and his beautiful Aunt Jo

Mommy's first time making rolls...I didn't even practice. It could have been a Thanksgiving disaster. Luckily they turned out yummy.

Hanging out after eating much too much

Going on the Uncle Bob hike the day after Thanksgiving. No Black Friday shopping for me thank you.

House projects!

Started setting up Christmas

Decorated at the Office. It looked magical.

Said goodbye to good friends. We hope Rexburg is good to them.

Had a BFF Bake Off

Made the world's BEST muffins. I may have made them several times since then and eaten most of them myself.

Christmas Baking Bounty

The miracle of the Christmas toffee. It separated and we saved it.

No worries folks. We did share some of our goodies with friends and neighbors.

Oh No! My 6 month old is trapped in a 12 month old body

Alright maybe it is not that big of a deal, but now I am wishing that I had not "planned ahead" and gotten as much 12 month old clothing in summer weight material. How was I supposed to know that I would have a jolly green giant son? We do REALLY appreciate all those who have contributed with hand-me downs.

I am also grateful that Spencer is so healthy. He is in the 98%-ile for his height 78%-ile for his weight and the upper 50s for his head. He is happy, sleeping though the night, eating all the big people food his mom will let him, batting his eyes at any and all girls that are in his vicinity, trying to learn how to communicate, almost crawling (He gets up on all fours and sways front to back like he is working up the momentum to move forward.), and he often walks to school with Jimmy and Kristi and I love to see his happy feet swinging in the stroller as they head down the street. His parents love him more and more each day.

Someday I will do a real update on our lives and finish the tour of our house, but for now I am just grateful that Nathan is DONE with his masters degree and we are starting to get our lives under control.

Here are some pictures of our cute boy.

Is it just me or does this one look like someone snuck a picture of Uncle Robert in with the pictures of Spencer?

Wicked!

My handsome and winning husband took me out for a much needed night of music and theatricality. Wicked is in town at the beautiful, new Smith Center and he got tickets for us to go see it with Megan. The show was wonderful.

Here is a quick life update. Obamacare is ruining my life. The new healthcare guidelines mean a new computer system at work, which means I pretty much live at the office and don't get to see my boy nearly as much as I want to, but he loves his time at Grandma's with Aunt Kristi and Uncle Jimmy. Plan for healthcare costs to rise and trips to the doctor's office to take much longer. I am anxious about what will happen with the upcoming elections. All I know is that the changed that have been made will lead to much less patient care and that lots of good doctors will retire early rather that have to meet all of the ridiculous new requirements. And expect to be weighed at EVERY doctor's appointment...yep even for your eyes.

Nathan's students love him. I stopped by at his open-house and the parents told me over and over how great he is. I agree. He is working hard to finish up his master's program and help out the Elders in our ward as the quorum president. He also manages to find time to help out around the house and make his wife feel special. I am so glad Spencer takes after his Dad in so many ways, especially in his temperament.

Spencer is 5 months old today. He is getting ready to start crawling. He already scoots around quite a bit and rolls wherever he pleases. He likes eating at the table with the grownups and especially loves drinking out of a cup.. He makes the sweetest singing noises and can click his tongue. He sleeps through the night, but does not like the actually going to sleep process, too much he could miss out on. He likes to look at books and Grandma informs me that his favorite TV show is Dinosaur Train. He will prop himself up on his elbows and scoot around to where he is in a good position to watch. He still has the biggest, bluest eyes and smiles with his whole body. We just love him and try to enjoy every minute we can with him.