I'm dreaming of a white Christmas....

Yes, it's true. I love snow, especially at Christmas time. I believe I have been singing this song for way too many Decembers. Is it too much to ask for a little snow to make it feel like Christmas? Oh well, I suppose I should just remember that the important part of Christmas is remembering the Savior. I am trying really hard this year to focus more on Him during this season. I love Christmas and all the wonderful traditions, but sometimes it is hard for me to determine whether the traditions we have really have anything to do with Christ. This is my first Christmas being out of school and I'm loving it! I have so much more time to focus on the important things instead of worrying about finals and buying presents the day before Christmas. This year I got my shopping done early (most of it anyway) so now I can focus on serving people around me and spending time with family.

Backtracking a little... We had a really nice Thanksgiving with both our families. We took family pictures with Barrett's family Thanksgiving morning (hopefully I will be getting those soon) because it was the first time we have all been together for 3 years. Then we ate the big meal at his parents house. After that we went with my family and cut Christmas trees! (pictures to follow soon). We usually do this the day after Thanksgiving but the weather was so nice we decided to go the same day. I'm really glad we did because the next two days the weather was really yucky! We got a beautiful tree and I loved putting it up. I love the smell of the freshly cut tree. It always helps me have the Christmas spirit. I love this time of year!

Picture Tag!

I think this is a great idea for a tag! Who knows what random pictures I might come up with? I guess you are supposed to post the 4th picture from the 4th picture file on your computer. Lets see what we find....

Well that's definitely random. This is one of the high ropes course elements at Badger Creek (BYU-I's outdoor learning center in Tetonia). I worked there the summer of 2006 and loved it! The ropes courses are so much fun. I don't even know who that person is on the course; I think I took the picture just to remember what it looked like? Those people at the bottom are my co-counselors. This was taken in June, but it was freezing! I think it snowed that week.
Lets tag Megan, Kylie, and Chiara.

Halloween!

We carved pumpkins at my parents' house the week of Halloween and had a fun time. I love carving pumpkins even though it is a messy job and I can never think of what to carve. It's always been a family tradition for Halloween and we always have so much fun doing it. My dad puts a big heater out in the garage and we carve the pumpkins out there. This is a fun tradition I will definitely have to carry on with my family.

Barrett carved a pirate skull in his pumpkin and mine was a scary witch.

Having fun with the pumpkins!

My little pumpkin!

All dressed up for Halloween! Cooper even got to wear a vampire cape.

Barrett is the Stay Puffed Marshmallow Man, I am a witch and Anna is a duck. We didn't try her costume on her before we got it and it was too small! She could barely move her little legs!

We got the idea for Barrett's costume when we got a package with giant bubble wrap in it. It is really big and the pockets are all connected in a chain. It reminded us of the Michelin man and I told Barrett he could dress up as him for Halloween. But then he had a better idea: the Stay Puffed Marshmallow man from the Ghostbusters! We looked up a picture of him online and I made his costume out of white sweats, a couple of shower caps, and some blue material. It turned out really well and he was a big hit at our ward party. Fun times!

My Sister is Married!

My little sister Rachel got married two weeks ago, October 18, in the Rexburg temple. She married Anthony (Tony) Lee from Washington. It was a beautiful ceremony and they were so happy! We had a lot of family come and it was really neat to see them all. My sister Miriam and her two little girls, Hannah and Myah, came from Cleveland, Ohio and my sister-in-law Kim came from D.C. with her baby Rya. It was fun to have all the little cousins together. It was a little crazy because they all have rhyming names, but we had a good time together.


We didn't get any good shots outside the temple. This is the best one and you can't even see Rachel!

Miriam and me with a friend, Kayla Hill, at the reception. Rachel's colors were black and copper and everything turned out really pretty.

Cutting the cake!

Enjoying a little break in the line. That's my mom on the right.

The pretty wedding cake!

Rachel and Tony Lee! Her dress was so pretty. They had some people in China make it for her and it only cost like $100. Wow!

I didn't have my camera when we took pictures of the four cousins, so as soon as I get them from my sister I will post them. They are pretty funny.

The Beautiful Outdoors

Anna is a girl after my own heart...she loves to be outside! This summer was great because I could go outside with her and she loved to just sit in the grass and wiggle her feet. I seriously don't know what I'm going to do with her this winter. Lots of times she would be really grumpy and I would just take her outside and she'd be happy as can be. I can't do that when it's -20 outside! Anyway, here are some fun pictures of Anna enjoying the great outdoors.

Shooting guns with Daddy...NOT! What kind of mother would I be? Anna loves to ride in the backpack though. I got a jogging stroller so we could go places, but she likes the backpack way better.

Just enjoying a beautiful day in the park

Anna loves swinging at the park by our house. She was a little upset at me for stopping the swing so I could take a picture.


She loves the feel of grass. She's always kicking her feet in it and rubbing her hands over the tops of the blades. She likes to grab it too.

Wishing she could be outside on a cold day!

We put Anna in this pile of leaves the other day. I wasn't sure how she would react, but she loved it! She really liked the sounds they made as she kicked her feet and picked the leaves up. I love that children are so fascinated by the simplest things. It makes me remember and reflect on all the beauties of this world that I take for granted, like the petals on a flower. I love being a mom!

Tagged!

This is my first tag...thanks Em! :) The rules are list 6 quirks about yourself and then tag someone else.

I really had to think about this...

1. I absolutely love heights. I worked at Badger Creek for a summer and they have a ropes course. I loved being way up high all the time. Jumping off cliffs and bridges into the water is a lot of fun too. Growing up we used to jump off the roof of our house into the snow or onto the trampoline. I also like to climb trees...maybe I'm part monkey?

2. I have kept a journal since elementary school. I probably have at least 10 full journals in my storage room. I don't know what it is about keeping a journal, I almost feel compelled to write in it sometimes. It happens especially when I haven't written in a few weeks. Its like I'm thinking Oh no, some of my life hasn't been recorded! What ever will I do? ha ha But it is a great resource for remembering dates and other things that I have forgotten.

3. I am obsessed with milkshakes! It doesn't even matter what kind or where it comes from, I just love them. (This obsession was especially bad when I was pregnant!) I am a little partial to Arctic Circle though, because they have so many delicious flavors! My recent favorite is Nutter Butter with fudge. I do really like the berry ones too.

4. I am also somewhat obsessed with peanut butter. I love the stuff, and it goes with so many things. I eat it on bread, apples, pancakes or waffles, graham crackers, mixed with syrup (suprisingly yummy), on crepes, in ice cream, on crackers, mixed with chocolate (especially delicious)...the options are limitless. My children will have a hard time in my house if they are allergic to peanuts! It also has practical use: if you ever get gum stuck in your hair just use some peanut butter to get it out. It works!

5. This one is kinda gross, but I love to pop things. Some good examples are blisters and pimples. I know this sounds really disgusting, but I get satisfaction from watching the stuff shoot out of them. I also enjoy popping normal things though, like bubble wrap and plastic bags.

6. I am often very proud of the fact that I remember faces really well. (Not necessarily names though). I used to drive my family crazy whenever we went places together because I would see people that were familiar and say, "I know them"! My family would ask me what their name was and I would always say "I don't remember. But I know them from...". They all just laugh at me now. But it really drives me crazy when I see someone that I recognize and I can't remember where I know them from. Or sometimes I freak people out because I remember exactly who they are and they don't remember me. They think I am some weirdo who is stalking them!

Well, those are the quirks I came up with...hopefully they aren't too freaky! Lets see what these people's quirks are: Miriam, Jessica, and Sadie. Tag, you are it!

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

My silly girl

These are just some funny pictures of Anna that make me laugh. She is a funny girl!

This was one of those pictures that I took just at the right moment without even meaning to. She looks so happy to be getting a smooch from Dad!

We were taking a walk one day and this leaf just fell on Anna's head and stayed there until we got home. It was such a coincidence and made us laugh! It was like a little hat.

Silly Dad! I don't have any idea what he was doing with his socks all over her, but it was funny so I took a picture. (Notice I am not in any of these funny pictures. It's usually her dad's ideas that are crazy!

Mmmm, love that food! Sweet potatoes all over my face!

For a while Anna went through this phase where she was spitting all the time. She often looked like this when she was eating because she would spit right as I brought the spoon to her mouth and it just sprayed everywhere. It was pretty funny. Aparently she thought so too! She is my little miss sunshine!

Haircut!

Once again, I'm way behind in my posts. About a month ago we finally broke down and gave Anna a haircut. She had just one patch of hair that grew in the back and it had gotten so long it was almost to her forehead. It was really funny because it would stick up and wave in the wind. It looked like a really bad toupee. The funny thing is, now all of her hair is growing in, but that one spot in the back still grows a lot faster. Now she just has a lot of fuzzy hair that sticks up all over the place. My Grandad would have called her a tennis ball head!

Anna's long hair before we cut it.

We stuck it in a little ponytail just for fun. Talk about Alfalfa!

No more Alfalfa for me! (She really enjoyed the haircut as you can see)

This is what her fuzzy hair looks like now. It's pretty funny. (By the way, Anna has been sitting up on her own for about a month. She's only 5 1/2 months old! So strong!)

Blog Handicapped

I've been looking at a lot of other people's blogs lately and have realized that my blog is lame lame lame. I finally made some changes to make things a little better, but I think the biggest problem is my posting. I like pictures, so most of my posts have them, but a lot of my life does not get photographed and therefore does not get written about on my blog. I keep a journal and write lots of things in there, but maybe I need to make this more of an online journal. I'm just trying to make it more personable and tell about what's going on in my family. I would love any feedback on the subject or how my blog could be improved. (Maybe it's not the blog. Maybe I'm just lame lame lame! ha ha) Any comments would be appreciated.

Hurray! The Internet!

It was an eventful day at our house today: we finally got the internet after living here 2 years! I'm so excited! The real reason we got it is because Barrett is only 2 weeks into fall semester and already feels like he's getting behind in his classes because most of his homework is online. So we got the internet so he doesn't have to be gone as much and can do his homework at home. I'm glad and so is he. I don't like to be left alone (well not really alone with a baby and a dog) for a long time. I need adult conversation!! Anyway, that's my exciting news. Hopefully I will be able to blog more often and visit everyone else's blogs too!

New Cousin

Anna's cousin Myah Pope was born July 8, 2008. She was almost exactly the same size as Anna when she was born, but was 2 ounces bigger. She definately has more hair though. Welcome to the world Myah!

Another New Cousin

Anna's new cousin Katelyn Sierra Jensen was born August 7, 2008. She was a lot smaller than Anna when she was born, only weighing 6 and 1/2 lbs.

Katelyn waving hello to the world!

Here is Anna meeting her new cousin. Look how much more hair she has!



This picture is so funny I had to include it. She looks like she's on a roller coaster!

Katelyn and her older brother Cameron.


The skinny one and the chubby one



Anna's a monster! She's 4 months old and wearing 6 to 9 month clothes while Katelyn is 3 weeks old and still in preemie clothes.

Jacque (Katelyn's mom) and I decided she looks like a flying squirrel in this outfit. Whoever decided preemie babies needed that much width in their clothes was silly!

Happy Day: Pacifiers are Great!

Anna would not take a pacifier for 3 months. Then on her 3 month birthday, July 19th, she finally decided they are a good thing! I think it is because she started teething already and her gums hurt, so it feels good to suck. Here are a few fun pictures of her firsts with a pacifier. I was so glad she finally took one because she was starting to suck on her thumb a lot and I didn't want to worry about stopping that habit later!

Before the pacifier

Happily sleeping after!

Car rides have been a little quieter since the pacifier

Cuddling with her bear blanket that Grammy Andersen made her.

Anna's Blessing Day

I'm finally getting around to posting again. I'm almost 2 months behind! Anyway, Anna was blessed on July 6, 2008 by her daddy, Barrett Gibson. Her Grandpa Gibson, Grandpa Andersen, Uncle Paul Andersen, and Great Grandpa Andersen were in the circle too. She looked so cute in her dress that her Grandma Gibson gave her. It was really funny because I didn't put her dress on her until we got to the church. On the way there I was looking at it and thought the dress looked huge and would drown her, but when I put it on her it fit perfectly! She is such a little chunk!