Overheard*

When I was holding Belle (she's one of these) -

Jimmy: 'Iris, Eden doesn't have to carry Max around anymore because he's trained now.'

(did I mention that Max is 60+ lbs?)


*inspired by my sister's 'overheard' posts (which are some of my favorite)

My Grandmother is Pretty Amazing

proof here. (:

Just a Thought

Today a co-worker told me that I was one of the - if not the - nicest people she knows.

I'm not saying this to brag at all, but it got me thinking.

A lot of people have told me I'm nice. I'm glad. I try to be nice.


I don't think there's ever an excuse/reason to be mean.


I've said that before, and I believe it.

But that's what I've started thinking about.

I don't know that I'm as nice to my family as I am to these people that I work with, or go to church with, etc. I make friends with them, and I'm sometimes nicer to them than I am to my family.

Not that I'm mean to my family, but I don't think I'm always as nice to them as I am to others.

I need to work on that.

Just Now...

...

jumped on the treadmill for 1/2 an hour for the first time in... waaaaay too long

got my nieces and nephews in their pajamas (well, told them to get in their pajamas - they're old enough to get in by themselves) (:

helped them pick up the family room and kitchen

turned on 'camp rock'

went and took a shower

got dressed

am preparing to go to the hospital to be with my sister and brother-in-law as their 7th(!) child makes her way into this world

it's been a good day.

and keeps getting better!

Here's What Will Happen

 today-
- leave work in 7.5 hours (yay!)
- go to verizon to hopefully finally get my blasted phone working properly
- 4:30 - meet friends for frozen yogurt
- 5:30 - get to the temple for my shift in the baptistry (first time back after the last few weeks off)

saturday -
- 8-??? - play in the regional volleyball tournament (done when we're eliminated, however long that will be)
- afternoon - clean things up, do laundry, clean fish tank, PACK
- evening - hopefully get to friend's birthday party in park city

sunday -
- 9-12 - church
- 12-??? - visiting teaching stuff
- rest of the day - finish packing (unless i'm done) and relax (hopefully!)

monday -
- 10 - plane departs for DENVER
- 11:30 - arrive in DENVER

next 2 weeks and 1 day -
- spend Thanksgiving with my sister and her family, meet my new niece who will be born while i'm there (unless she comes before monday...), and love it!

Ticket: Purchased

This morning, the last thing I did before leaving for work was buying a plane ticket to Denver. While I'm not spending my 30th birthday there like I had originally planned to, I will get to be there when my sister has her 7th baby (5th daughter) and makes me an aunt for the 22nd time, as well as Thanksgiving - spending a total of 2 weeks and 1 day there. I must say - I'm pretty excited about it.

Just FYI, Southwest and Delta both have awesome fares to Denver right now. Cost me $115.10 through Southwest - it was $110.10 yesterday when I checked, but I forgot to buy it when I got home from work... oops.

Two Cute Girls

Yesterday I changed by gmail chat status to: 'LILIA!!! WHERE ARE YOU? (:'

Lilia is my younger sister's oldest daughter (turning 2 tomorrow!) who I haven't seen/talked to in way too long. And she's adorable. I figured if/when my sister saw that, she'd open up a video chat with Lilia around.

Turns out she was clicking on my name to chat with me before she noticed my status.

Perfect.

I also got to talk to her two boys for a minute.

Aren't they cute?


Thanks for the call girlies!

Just a Note

Last night I went to my brother's intramural championship softball game. I had been planning on going to a good friend's bridal shower (she's moving to Ohio where her fiance is going to dental school so they can finish wedding prep stuff while living in the same state, so I really wanted to go and see her before she goes, but when I heard about the championship game... well... I had to go. I called Mindy while on my way home from the game to tell her why I missed it and, as I knew she would be, she was glad I got to go to his game and really glad that he won! - don't worry, that didn't ruin my story. and, we'll hopefully get together sometime next week), but decided it was more important that I support my brother and watch his team kick the trash out of Riley Nelson's team (he's a punk, by the way. instead of joining his team when lining up to slap five with the other team and say 'good game' he walked off and started changing his shoes. harper - having had more interaction with him before that - had already told me he was a real punk, and I saw that as evidence of it. it's too bad. i hate it when athletes - and anyone else - are really good and full of themselves.). And that's exactly what happened (again, not ruining the story).

They had to beat this team twice since they had had a bad game earlier in the tournament and lost to them.

No problem.

The first game wasn't even close.

The second game was even less close.

They had to call the second game at the end of the... 6th inning (? - I think), because Harper's team was 10 runs ahead, and the mercy rule applied.

It was awesome.

I think it may have been my first time witnessing an intramural championship where the team that I was rooting for won. (unless I was at my bro-in-law's ultimate frisbee championship and they won... which could have been the case... but I don't remember. it was a long time ago.)

Now to the point of my story -

While sitting on the grass on the sidelines during the first inning of the first game, I watched a batter on my brother's team hit a popfly. I looked up and saw the ball heading straight to my head (after going up a long way in the air it started coming down a long way to the ground). I leaned my head down and away so it wasn't the target anymore, but didn't correctly estimate where it was going to land because it ended up nailing me right on my hip (I was kind of lying on my side). And - OUCH. It hurt. A ton. It stung, and hurt. But I was fine.

After batting, Clay (Harper's friend and teammate) came over and asked if I was okay, saying he was sorry, and that's when I realized who was responsible... Later, Caitlin mentioned it to Harper, who immediately turned to Clay and yelled, 'You hit my sister?' Nice. (:

Today's, it's bruised, and showing some burst blood vessels.

It's ugg-ly.

I'm just glad it's hidden by my clothes.

I will say it's kind of fun to have a (non-permanent) mark of the championship game. Maybe 'fun' is the wrong word.

Anyway, so glad I could be there to watch, and so glad they won!

Babysitting My Nephews

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Welcome to the World Little Ones

update! baby previously known as 'baby boy anderson' now has a name!

zachary david anderson
28 January, 2011

anne cotterell
5 February, 2011

cooper justiniano
12 February, 2011

Pictures From The Reunion

"I Have Got to Get Me One of These!"**

Those were some of the first words in my head after finishing my mountain bike excursion yesterday (on my niece's bike - that's why I need to get one). This was only my second time doing it (the first being one year ago), and I loved it again. Even though - once again - I ended up pushing my bike up a lot of the time. But the downhill ride... so very much worth it!

heading out

don't worry - I wasn't about to fall - I was just riding off the driveway

some of the scenery on the way up:
Draper temple

the group

lots of trees

reaching the top
definitely worthy of a victory lap

some of the scenery on the way down:
waterfall

Bethany and trees

Draper temple

there were a few spots along the way (up and down) where you could see all three temples in the area

I could really get into this. I just need to do it more frequently than yearly...

**one million points if you can name that movie

A Memory

photo found here - this is not my sister (:

once upon a time my sister wanted/needed a haircut. my mom, being too busy, told her to have me do it. i was reluctant. i had cut my own hair (straight across, taking forever to get it even) a few times, but that was it. being forced into it, i started. i started at one side (her left, i think) and made my way around to the front right. by the time i got there, it was too late to stop what had been a gradual increase that turned not so gradual by the end. when i saw what i had done i couldn't hide the horrified look on my face. thinking i was joking, she asked, 'what?' i grabbed one side of her hair showing her the length, then grabbed the shorter end. she cried. i cried. we were both upset. my mom ended up fixing it. she got a lot of compliments on that short haircut.

i have cut her hair since then (not for years now, but thankfully all our experiences were better than that one) and so obviously she has forgiven me.

don't know why i thought of that just now.

Welcome to the World Little One (again)

It's been a busy week!

Mae Callister
23 April, 2010
('auntie em' for the 18th time!)

Welcome to the World Little One

Rosalie Jane Anderson
21 April, 2010
('auntie em' for the 17th time!)

Went a Little Out of Order

I also never did a birthday post for Harper (whose birthday is four days before Caitlin's)

Oops!

Harper (aka 'Harps' and 'Spanky' - the latter, only to family):

H - heavenly
A - adorable
R - alphabetically-speaking, you're 'okay'
P - i could go on all day
E - exciting
R - alphabetically-speaking, you're [still] 'okay'!*

Seriously though - Harps is a great youngest brother for the family. He takes the teasing that's dished out in a very good-natured way. He's fun to be around, and he doesn't get mad at me when I call him Spanky** in front of other people. I've also enjoyed watching him play in different intramural games.

Happy really-late birthday Harps!

*you get a trillion points if you know where that's from
**the birth of his nickname is a long story,
but suffice it to say - I think it's going
to be around for a long, long time

To Caitlin...

... a super-belated birthday post (sorry!).

Last summer - we started doing Power90 together
Last summer - we quit doing Power90 together

Last fall - she helped me pick out a frame for a temple picture - I'm not very creative, but can appreciate the minds that are (remember this?)
Last fall - she sent me up to my room with a bunch of her professional-type clothes

Last winter - she made sure I 'dressed nicely' for a date
Last winter - she gave me a Christmas gift of more 'nice clothing' (:

Tonight - she kicked by backside into gear and 'made' me do Physique 57 (it still kicks my trash)

Last November - she and Rob made eclairs for my birthday (they were delicious!)

For the past year - she's given me more practice being a mother by letting me babysit Guy (aka "stinker" - I love this most recent post)
For the past year (and more) - it's been nice having her around

Happy super-super-late birthday Caitlin!

Disaster Relief

Last week we found out that my dad was going to go to Haiti to help in the disaster relief efforts. When he's done things like this before (hurricane Katrina, 9-11, Columbine, Indonesia, etc) it's been in a debriefing capacity. He'll help the volunteers deal with things that they are exposed to - since witnessing and working in the midst of all that devastation is naturally mentally draining. Based on the work gloves and work shirts he asked my sister to pack (he was on vacation with my mom and brother visiting my two oldest siblings when he got called away and had to fly out of CA on Sunday), it sounds like he'll be doing some of the physical work as well.

As my sister said, "I'll be following the situation in Haiti even more closely now. And be praying more fervently."

Surprise!

By the time this posts, I will have surprised my sister and her kids in sunnier-than-Utah (at least I hope so!) CA.

It'll be a quick trip (I'll be heading back home on Friday) but I'm excited.

It'll be fun to spend some time with them.

Scenes From Temple Square