Amigos Amigos Amigos!

Happy Halloween! This is the scene that greeted Trick or Treaters when they came to our door Saturday night.


And now to unveil the Anderson boy costumes for the year.... The Three Amigos.

Here is Jake and his good friend Tanner who went Trick or Treating with us and took really good care of Jake. Jake got into this whole experience, I can imagine how wonderful it must be for a one year old to hold out a bucket and have strangers fill it with delicious, mesmerizing candy. He's been enchanted with the idea ever since.

And here are the other two Amigos, pretty jazzed about the who night.

My three handsome Amigos. They crack me up.

Each Halloween the boys school holds a Story Book Parade, the kids have to dress up as a character from a book and then hold the book in the parade. Because we don't have any Three Amigo books, the boys took the book Ferdinand. I thought the Amigo outfits passed as Bull fighting outfits too. Multi functioning is the way to go. And I think I'm correct in saying that my kiddos looked the best!

One of my favorite things ever....Carving Jack-o-lanterns! Our neighbor Justin came over and we had a great time scooping out the goo. It was a beautiful day, and Jake felt like he'd prefer to go pant less. Oh, to be one again.

(for the goo... we use rubber gloves)

(Mike as the Wizard, Ike as the scarecrow, Will as the Tin Man, Jake as the Lion, and Dorthy)

And because my sewing skills are stellar....(i.e. glue gun, duck tape, staples) I decided to stress everyone out and make two costumes this year for the family. This year we chose the Wizard of Oz. It's our tradition to dress up together for our Ward Fall festival/Trunk or Treat. Mike had his choice between the flying monkeys or the wizard. I think he chose well. Thank goodness my mom and dad were in town to help. Mom, do you think it's odd that after 30 years you are still making my Halloween costumes?

Anyway, we have had fun celebrating Halloween this year!

BOO!

And now that you've watched this little video, you all know that I'm a horrible mother letting my children watch this movie. Well most of it anyway....come on they had to get into character.

Aaron Peterson's Mother who never let her children watch this show, raised a fine man, who has a great truck, and is a good friend. I'm not bitter.

I just hope my kids have a fighting chance now that they have been exposed. :)

Dreams Fullfilled

A truly beautiful, Family night.

A truly beautiful husband.

Three truly beautiful scouts.
Who built an impressive fire I might add.


A truly beautiful dinner.
(Yes we have two ranch bottles on the table, but that is in Honor of Uncle Michael, so it's OK!)

A truly beautiful, and somewhat scary and sticky marshmallow roast.

Some of my thoughts before all this beauty began.

Years ago when I was a freshman in college, I saw a picture in a decorating magazine of a beautiful kitchen. What stood out to me in the picture though, was the cute little dark haired boy (he looked to be around 6) standing in the kitchen next to the sink, wearing jeans and most definitely a play shirt. He looked so content and comfortably at home as he unconsciously held onto the collar of his big Golden Retriever as he got a drink of water out of the sink.

Random, yes.

I don't know why that picture even stood out to me.

Heaven knows why I even took a double look.

But it sparked something in my mind.

I loved that picture.

That shot looked so peaceful, happy and comfortable. And it made me think about my future. It made me wonder if there was a cute dark-haired little boy for me in years to come, and it made me think about the home I would create, and the comfortable feelings I wanted in that home.

That picture made me daydream about a day in the future when my husband would come home from work, give me a kiss, kiss the kids, then change his clothes and go out and start the barbecue. I'd be putting the finishing touches on dinner in the kitchen, the window would be open, a gentle breeze would be coming through the window and I'd be able to look out and see my kids playing in the backyard, hearing their laughter and excitement. We'd eat outside, and then enjoy the company of good friends that just stopped by for treats or just a friendly visit.

We would all be so happy and life would be good and content.

Silly, maybe.

But that thought made me happy years ago. At that time I wasn't looking to get married or have a family yet, but it reminded me of good, hopeful things to come.

Through the passing years every once and a while I'd remember that moment when I saw that picture, and dreamed the simple dream about my future.

Eventually I met and married that husband who kisses his wife when he gets home from work.

Eventually I had that cute dark haired little boy... In fact I had three.

And in all the day to day living I forgot about that picture and the thought I'd had years ago.

Until last night.

Last night as I was standing in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on dinner, that we were planing to eat outside, I heard my kids laugh through the open window, I felt a gentle autumn breeze on my cheek, and I looked out to see my kids happily playing in their new, big backyard. I looked over at Mike who had gotten home, kissed us all, changed his shirt, and went out to start a fire in the fire pit with the boys for Family Home Evening.

I again remembered that random picture and that random moment years ago, when I thought and daydreamed about my future.

I realized all that daydreaming had happened to me, in fact it was happening right now.

And standing in my kitchen I was reminded that dreams do come true.

Lunch!

Around lunchtime today I heard a crash and then a spill.
When I got to the kitchen this is what I found I guess Jake got tired of waiting for me to make him a sandwich.
Somehow he got a hold of a bag of M&M's.
Somehow they spilled all over the floor
And somehow, my one year old son knows exactly what to do with M&M's that have spilled all over the floor.
By the time I got there, Jake was flat on his stomach eating the M&M's off of the floor as fast as he could. I resisted the urge to join him and after we cleaned up this rainbow of a mess, made my son lunch. Somehow though, grapes just aren't as exciting as chocolate.

The Andersons Grow Up Overnight!

The past two months have been months of major change around here. Mid August while on vacation in Utah we purchased one of these little beauties.
Here she is: the newest member of our family.
It's true all you disbelieving friends that thought we would never make the plunge to mini-van status.....We own a van and we love it so much!
No more backbreaking bending to load up and buckle three kids into the backseat. Mike and I actually can say, "boys buckle up," and they can, because they can reach the buckles.
Oh the simple joys of life.

If that wasn't enough excitement for a while, we got home and on Labor day decided to buy a house. Gulp! It was never really in the plans to buy a house. People who know us, know that we are slow decision makers. Very slow. Purchases this big I expected would take us months to settle on, but somehow in one week it was done. Wow! we are still catching our breath.

How did this happen well...Our lease on our rental was up on October 1st. I wasn't thrilled about staying were we were. Our little house worked for us for this past year, but we needed and craved something more. Our boys needed room to play, we needed room to put stuff away, we wanted a street where boys could ride bikes etc... so Mike and I started looking for other rentals. We wanted to keep Will in the same school and Mike's commute to work is about as good as it gets not living in the city, so we started our narrow search only to be disappointed again and again. We craved a neighborhood with families, In my dream world I would love to be able to walk to and from school with the boys, we wanted space and a big yard. All this was a tall order, especially for rentals. We'd find a house for rent that might work, only to call and be shocked and horrified at the price. I consigned myself to signing another year lease, hoping by May we could maybe find something else. Then the Friday before Labor day, I took the boys to the park, our little park a couple streets over. It is right next to the neighborhood pool that we spent every summer afternoon swimming at. I've often admired the homes across the street from the Park. They have big backyards, are close to the park and pool and are about a five minute walk to the back entrance of Will's school.
Well this particular day, on the way home from the Park, I noticed a family was moving out of one of my "dream homes" I got up my nerve and pulled a very non-Anneish move and knocked on the door to ask if they were selling their home. Come to find out they were in a lease to own that wasn't going to work out, they gave me the names of the owners and well they were motivated sellers.
We feel so blessed. Buying a home made me a little nervous, because I don't want to be here forever, and the option of leaving when we want to and need to is nice when you rent, but this felt so right. I really feel like we have been directed to this spot and that Heavenly Father is mindful of our needs and desires.
The home needs a little work, but it was a perfect price for us in a perfect spot and how could we resist when it has a front door like this

And a slide off the deck like this

And big trees perfect for rope swings and a tree house.

And for bonus it has one of these in the driveway.

And if you look just up the street a way, you can see the neighborhood pool and park.

And I'm just a little excited about all the fun things we can do to this old house.

I've started painting like a mad woman.

We have now become the new home improvement do-it-yourselfers.

When we told some good friends about our major purchases they said, "Wow, it's like the Andersons grew up overnight."

It kind of feels like that.

Come visit, we'll give you a paintbrush :)