"G" is for...Getting Big

Avalon turned a big 3 months old on December 30th. She has a super sweet personality and is happy to give smiles all the time. She has been such a joy and loves to cuddle with her Daddy, which she has been doing a lot lately. I am stopped all the time and told how beautiful she is and I would have to agree. She has such a special mix of traits and I see a little of Anali and a little of Aden. Most of all she is our little Princess!!!



Enjoy this!!!! Showcasing none other than the 3 month old, Avalon.

"S" is for...Santa came to Town

Christmas Morning was a great time at our house. Not only did our kids sleep in until 7:30, the latest they had slept in weeks, but they were also VERY excited. Aden and Anali are at such perfect ages for all the fun of Christmas.

Santa did indeed find our house and spoiled our kids to no end. They each loved their gifts from Santa and we had a great time watching as they played with their new found favorite toy.

Aden asked for a "work bench like Daddy's" and that is what he got. He loves building the little mini tool box, and the little flashlight that lights up his work bench. I think he is pretty happy with Santa.
Anali had a long list for Santa and he chose to bring her "My little Pet Shops". She has had fun decorating the rooms in the house and playing on the Gondola with her pets. She chooses to wake up at 5 am and turn on all the lights downstairs so she can create a perfect play house with her pets, all this instead of watching TV. I think she likes it!!!
Avalon was a little harder for Santa to pick something for, but decided on this counting piggy bank. She seemed to like the music and voices coming from it, one things for sure if she doesn't like it Big Brother and Sister do.

Christmas morning was a mess of paper throwing and piles and piles of toys and clothes. Needless to say I think we were all treated very well for Christmas, we all must have been on the good list. Here are several of the favorite gifts that the kids opened up.

Aden's John Deer Tractor and Garbage Truck were sure winners with him. He loads garbage with his tractor and dumps it with his garbage truck. He thinks it is great fun!

Two sure hits with Anali were the Dress-up Trunk and her Leapster. Ever since Christmas you can find her in one of the dresses from the trunk playing her leapster. She thinks she is such a big girl and I would have to agree.Dad and Aden were surprised to get a present to both of them. They got a ship building lego set that blasts cannons. I am tired of the little balls all over the house already, but they have had some really great "cannon wars" and enjoy building crazy lego creations together.
One of the cutest gifts was that of their Webkins. Aden and Anali each got one and they LOVE them. They have been named (Froggy and Sparkly) very original if I must say so myself. They have decorated their homes online and they are sure to feed Froggy and Sparkly each day. They both think it was very nice of Avalovely to give them these new Webkins. Avalovely is our other Webkin that we have had for several months (a gift to Avalon hence the name). Out of the blue Anali will say "it was so nice of Avalovely to give us new webkins". I think she thinks Avalovely is real....which is so cute and naive. They are the animals that they both chose to go to sleep with and the ones that get carried all around. I am so glad that they have something that they can enjoy together as Brother and Sister.

Thanks to Grandmas and Grandpas for making Christmas so special for us as we are away from you all during the holidays. What a MERRY Christmas we had.

"E" is for...Eve of Traditions

Christmas Eve, what a fun filled and exciting day!!! Our kids were so well behaved and the holiday excitement was in the air. Anali controlled her need for presents pretty well, however Aden was the one begging "me open present now" most of the day.

So here is how our Eve of Traditions unfolded. We started the day out with lots of relaxing in a clean and mostly organized house. Monte of course running to town to do his last minute Christmas shopping (when will he ever learn?). Our relaxing consisted of......

lots of cuddles,
snow fun for a good 2 hours solid,and reading a Creating Keepsakes magazine that the mailman was nice enough to deliver on Christmas Eve....what a great surprise!
Prime Rib Feast!!! Super delicious.
Reenactment of Nativity with special speaking parts for the kids.
Aden's part was telling Mary "No room at inn" and Anali saying "lets just stay in the stable". Avalon did her part perfect which was "laying still and not crying".
We headed outside with Reindeer Food in hand to mark the path for Rudolph.
Back inside we dressed in Christmas PJ's. Opened Gifts,
and left a plate for Santa.

Anali decided that we could leave Santa some Cake and Milk instead of cookies because maybe he would "be bored of too many cookies".

And off to bed to dream of sugar plums in their heads!!!!

"I" is for...I Love You

This is too cute not to post and since Santa is working his way to our house (he was in Japan last we checked) I thought it would be fun to share.
December 20th was Anali's Preschool Holiday party. The parents were invited to attend and the kids shared some cute songs and activities with us. Just as we started the story "Twas the night before Christmas", what did we hear but jingle bells in the back ground, followed by a hearty "Ho Ho Ho". The look on the kids faces were priceless, as you can tell from this surprised look on Anali's face.
Santa had come to visit and let each Preschooler sit on his lap and give him their wish list. Anali informed him in a happy but somewhat shaky voice that she wanted a "My Little Pet Shop and a Leapster." She was so big and proud!!!

Next they sang Jingle bells with Santa and then the teacher turned the time over to the kids to ask Santa questions. Anali's hand was the first and only hand that went up and she was so excited when Santa pointed at her. She sat there somewhat in awe, not sure she had a question and if she did not knowing what to say. Then just as they were ready to move on, she shouted out a "I LOVE YOU SANTA!!!" I think I might have seen tears in Santa's eyes as it was the most sincere and heartfelt I Love You a little girl could say.

As the day went on, she was so excited to tell her friends and people we saw that she had seen Santa (even though we had seen Santa at the mall several weeks ago, this was "way cooler" as Anali would say) It is so amazing that the 3 small words "I Love You" can mean so much.

"T" is for...Two Months

Two months is how old Avalon turned on November 30th. She is so cute and fun!!! She is smiling and cooing and has become a pretty pleasant little Angel. These pictures were taken December 7th, by a co-worker of Monte's, named Bev. Thanks to the crappy weather of Iowa, we had an ice storm on Avalon's 2 month day, so I had to wait another week before we could get her pictures. The red sweater was made by Su Yi who is a friend on Monte's from Tae Kwon Do. Both Bev and Su are super talented and a big Kudos to them both for the perfect Two Month pictures!

"M" is for...More Holiday Music

Here is a moving rendition of Jingle Bells from the Male Anderson Chior!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-25775994426954544&hl=en

"H" is for...Holiday Music

A very merry song by the resident Diva at the Anderson house.

"U" is for...Unbelievable

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Eathyn Manumaleuna blocked a field goal as time expired to give No. 17 BYU (No. 19 AP) a 17-16 victory over UCLA on Saturday night in the Las Vegas Bowl.

BYU Cougars WIN the Las Vegas bowl on a miraculous field goal block with no time left on the clock. Cougs pull off the win 17-16 to extend their winning streak to 10 games - the second longest win streak in the nation.
Monte kept the kids up until the end of the game and they saw the whole range of emotion from happiness to disbelief to extreme grumpiness and then finally to elation. It was quite the game!

"C" is for...Christmas Crafts

We have been crafting away here at the Andersons. In preparation for the upcoming holiday, we made Reindeer Root beer and Reindeer Food to take to all of our friends and neighbors. It is always so fun to watch Anali carefully assemble a craft and Aden who always wants to help. So this year Aden had the very big job of filling the baggies with oatmeal and glitter for the Reindeer food, and I must say he only spilled a little....I was so impressed. As for Anali she was in charge of putting the eyes and noses on the bottles. She was so sure to place them just right and I think she pulled each eye off and replaced it at least 3 times per eye per bottle, can you say "little perfectionist". I of course was in charge of the labels and antlers, with lots of assistance from both Anali and Aden. Avalon had to join the fun as well and spent some of the time sitting on Mom's lap. So here are a few pictures of the assembly line craft process and the end result. We have crafted, delivered and wished Merry Christmas to all, and what fun we have had!

Anali working so hard at pulling off the A&W labels so they can be replaced with the "special" Anderson Home Crafted ones.
Aden helping Anali with the task of adding the Rudolph noses. The finished product.....a fun little treat for all our friends.

"B" is for...Beginning

So here is the beginning of our new blog. We are excited to share the happenings of our "basic" life. Updated posts to come on a weekly basis (hopefully).