December Happenings 2010

These are a few of the things going on in December before Christmas.


Miles earned his Bear rank in Cub Scouts. The miracle is that he earned it BEFORE the last pack meeting before his birthday. It is an Anderson family first.


Dallin had two winter concerts for Band and Choir. That always makes for a busy December. This is his Choir concert.


I decided to learn to knit just before Christmas (great timing, I know.) This is the scarf I made on a knitting loom for my mother.


We had very little snow before Christmas, but Asher REALLY wanted to make a snowman. This little guy is only about 2 inches tall.

Happy Birthday Asher!! 12-5-2010

I can't believe my baby boy is 5! In our house, you have your first friend birthday party when you're 5. Asher's party was scheduled for December 4th, but Jason was sick with a fever, so we had to reschedule for the 11th. He didn't quite understand party etiquette, like playing with your guests and not on your own, but I'm sure he'll learn. Asher is a sweet, shy boy who doesn't like to be the center of attention, so he was very quiet as he opened his gifts. I know he had fun, though. I love you, Asher!



When I asked him what he wanted on his cake, he said cars fighting a tank. I think he got that from an iPod game he had been playing recently with his Aunt Brittany and Uncle Jared. I'm pretty sure there aren't any party plates with tanks fighting cars on them, but at least we found a tank amongst our toys for the cake!

Thanksgiving 11-25-2010

Somehow I managed to not take a single picture of Thanksgiving this year. That's not exactly true. I know I took a picture of Ellie and Marin on the deck that day, but it is nowhere to be found. So, I'll just have to write about what we did.

Brittany, Jared, and Ellie came for Thanksgiving. Brittany and Ellie came on Sunday so we could play and do girl stuff before Jared came on Wednesday. We had the Huffs, the Redds, and the Wilkersons over for Thanksgiving dinner as well, so it was a busy day. Jared and I had talked about running the Manchester Road Race that morning, but I'm glad we didn't. We wouldn't have eaten until 7pm, I'm sure!

On Friday, Ellie and Marin were both sick, so we just hung out around the house. That night us grown-ups went to see Harry Potter 7 part 1. Shayne and I rarely go to movies, so it feels like every other one we see is a Harry Potter movie. It was really good, but now I can't wait for part 2! On Saturday we hiked the Nipmuck Trail together. It was chilly, but lots of fun. In the afternoon Shayne and Jared went to a sports bar in Manchester to watch the BYU/Utah game. It would have been even more fun if BYU had actually won, but I'm sure they both enjoyed their guy time together.

Climbing Trees 11-3-2010

Asher decided he wanted to climb trees, and there was nothing I could do to stop him. I loved climbing trees as a kid, and tried to keep that in mind. It's a pretty scary thing to see your 4 yearold 10+ feet off the ground.



This was the small tree





I had to get out the ladder to help him down, when he was ready.



Asher in his thinking spot. He told me it had a beautiful view.

Halloween 10-29 and 10-30-2010

These are pictures from our ward party on Friday the 29th, and from the Community Center party on Saturday the 30th. The kids were pretty upset that Halloween was on a Sunday this year and that we weren't going Trick or Treating. We added the Community Center party, which we'd never done before, and went Trick or Treating to our neighbors the Duvalls and the Marcuses on Saturday, but still they whined. In the end, they had a good time handing out candy to kids on Sunday night. Besides, every kid has to deal with a Halloween Sunday at least once in their childhood.



I have to admit that there are a lot of pictures of Marin. It's the first year I've had a princess in the family. Can you blame me? I decided to make Marin's costume entirely out of fabrics I already had, since I've been stock piling girl fabrics for years. Also, this is Marin's idea of "smiling for the camera" I'm not sure how squatting and squinting have anything to do with it, but it's her thing.



Below is a picture of Marin and Eli Redd. Eli is wearing the lion costume I made for Dallin when he was a year old.




Dallin was dead set on being a candy bar for Halloween this year. He wanted to be a Nestle Crunch Bar, but he didn't tell me that until after I'd bought the fabric for the Hershey Bar. Thank goodness, he was okay with it.



Asher, my little knight, also made from fabrics I already had.



Jason doesn't like change when it comes to Halloween costumes, so he was a skeleton, again, for the 3rd year. Before that he was a dalmatian for 3 years in a row. At least he's chosen more than one costume. It's progress, trust me.



Miles wanted to be a black phantom, so I found him this great costume that came with a gigantic skeleton mask and a gigantic hood to go over it. He hated it, so I relegated the mask to Halloween decor, and cut the hood smaller to fit his head. As we were getting in the car to go to the ward party, Miles realized that he left his hood at school. A phantom just isn't' a phantom without a hood. So as Shayne got everybody into the car, I grabbed some black fabric from my stock pile and sewed him a hood. Finally, all this fabric is coming in handy!







This picture didn't turn out well, but I wanted to show how sweet Miles was helping Marin play the games at the party. He's such a wonderful big brother.

Apple Picking 10-23-2010

We love to go apple picking at the Horse Listener's Orchard, but we hit it a little late this year. It was still fun to eat and pick, though. We just need to be earlier to pick our favorite Ida Reds!

Fall Festival 10-11-2010

I took all of the kids, on my own, to Buell's Orchard for their Fall Festival. I'm not particularly good at taking the kids places on my own, so why I chose to take them to a festival with crowds of people and lines for everything is beyond me. But, I think we all had a good time, and, most importantly, we survived! (We did loose Miles for a while, but he turned up eventually).












Above is a picture of a group of birds that was flying in an "A" formation just before I took the picture. Asher was so excited to tell me that they were making his name!