Weekend Fun!!

This weekend, we went with Mark and Kris to their ward camp out. Along with Mark and Kris, we got to go with Luigi, Domi, Katie, and Elena. We had a great time! Ryan and I brought a Brownie Bottom Pudding Pie for everyone. Since Mark said he liked it so much we thought it would be a nice surprise.

Putting raspberries in and on the pie makes it Anderson style. Papa was very nice and shared some of his pie and his water with Jared, who has now learned how to drink out of a straw.

While waiting for dinner to be ready the eat with the ward, we played at the little play ground near the pavilion. Domi, Katie, and Elena showed they were quite the acrobats and little climbers. Ryan showed Luigi how to do the monkey bars.

It was nice for Jared to have four more play mates, but he kept pulling their hair all weekend; Domi's long pretty hair got the worst of it. But, of course, Jared still got some play time with his favorite play mate of all, Daddy!

He also got in touch with nature and had plenty of leaves, grass, and rocks to play with. But, one of his favorite toys was the empty water bottle Luigi gave him; it was nice and crunchy and chewy. He liked trying to share it with Luigi.

One of the kids heard a rattle snake, so Mark and Ryan had to take a look. Sure enough, there was a rattle snake about 15'' long or so with a little rattle on the end. I didn't want to go see it while holding Jared so I had Ryan take a picture so I could see. He came back with recording of it slithering through the grass. It was kind of neat to see. Some the of the men in the ward took the job of killing it with a stick, decapitating it, and then carrying it off somewhere. I think they had a little too much fun doing it. The kids got to run over and see it before they got rid of it.

Dinner was delicious, but as soon as it was done, the kids were back to running around and playing. Domi and I threw a football around with Ryan and Luigi. Domi was my catcher (maybe more a ball "chaser", but she was very helpful), and I was the thrower. We made a good team.

Grandma Kris told the girls a bed time story with all their names in it. They really enjoyed it. But, first Uncle Ryan told them one about how they got eaten by bears and he wasn't able to save them in time. Luckily Grandma was able to tell them a better story before they went to bed with nightmares. We had a long, dark, some what cold night. Jared didn't enjoy it very much, even though he was cuddled with mommy all night. Whenever he'd wake up a little it was dark and the air was cold so he'd cry, but he woke up in the morning as bright and happy as ever.

The girls did everything they could think of the try and get Papa out of his blanket. They tackled him and tickled him and wiggled under the blanket with him (he made them wish they hadn't done that, Pee-you!!)

 In the afternoon, after eating and getting packed up, we went to the Eccle's Dinosaur Museum to look around and have some lunch. It was really neat to see all the gems and stones. They were beautiful.

We took turns holding Jared so he could see everything from a better view than from his stroller.

We stayed and spent the night Saturday at Mark and Kris's and then spent all of Sunday with them. After church, Ryan and Jared took a nice long nap. We went to Uncle Karl's and Aunt Lesle's for dinner and then played some more and visited at Mark and Kris's before we had to go home. I was a great weekend! =)

Week 6 of Gardening

We've been having a lot of fun watching our garden grow over the past several weeks. We've been harvesting more green bell peppers and strawberries, and Aunt Maureen's been cooking with the herbs out of the herb garden's, but I haven't quite got the hang of that yet. Yesterday, we pulled up 19 good looking radishes. We also have lots of small green tomatoes and peas growing. The watermelon's not looking to good. I've read that they're hungry plants and need lots of water. Otherwise, the garden looks great and everything we've planted has sprouted now. 

Zucchini, peas, spinach, cucumber, and gourd.

Tomatoes, chives, oregano, and carrots.

Pumpkin, corn, beans, squash, and watermelon.

Peppers, lettuce, cilantro, and basil.

I brought Jared out with me this morning, to water the garden. There was a time when he wouldn't hardly touch the grass. Now he's okay sitting and crawling in it, but it's funny to watch him crawl, because he tries to keep his knees off the grass. He's a funny little guy! :)

Happy Independence Day!!!

We had a fun 4th of July. We watched our ward parade as it walked through the neighborhood and afterwards we went to the breakfast they were serving at the park. Throughout the day brought plates of sugar cookies to family and friends.

 We went to my Grandma Gina Pearson's house during the afternoon, to visit and have lunch. Jared got to meet his second cousin Owen and play with him for a bit. My Aunt Christine, her son Elli and his wife and second son, Candice and Everett were there too. Jared had fun having a little friend to play with.

We spent the whole day relaxing and having fun together as a family. In the evening we went back to the park to play tennis. It was a fun day, laid back day and we hope everyone had a fun day too.

Jared's Play Time

Jared has been having a lot of fun these past few weeks learning about all the different fun things there are to play with. Like...  toilet paper. Last week Jared got into the toilet paper for the first time. It was kind of funny. He pulled off five squares and then sat down to play with them and tear it into little pieces. Since then he's been wanting to play with the toilet paper whenever he's in the bathroom, so now we keep the toilet paper on the back of the toilet seat.

 This is something he really enjoys doing. He thinks it's fun to stand on his head and look at everything upside down with his bum in the air. He's soo silly!

He's been getting some good practice being a big brother,.. sort of. He's definitely a little rough with anything that's smaller than him. So, he played kind of rough with this baby doll. It was funny too see how excited he was when he first spotted it. He had a lot of fun with it; but, I'm just glad it wasn't a real baby.

Jared's really ticklish. I tickle him almost every chance I get. He has the sweetest little giggle. It melts my heart!

He's also discovered the laundry basket. That whole pile on the floor is what he pulled out. He emptied the entire basket! He had a great time doing it too. Whenever he'd pull out one of Ryan's socks, he'd fling it around and then drop it.

We then went to the play room, where he also began unloading the lego bin, grabbing each toy one by one and dropping it on the ground. He's been so much fun to spend everyday with; he's such a little cutie! =) Here're the video's I've taken lately; they're pretty cute. There're a few of them, but if you haven't seen Jared in a while they should be fun to watch. Enjoy!

Our First Time to Moab

We had a lot of fun in Moab, last weekend (June 21-23), with the Well's family and Mark and Kris. While we were there, we stayed at the Apache Motel, where John Wayne stayed a couple times while filming movies in the area. We stayed in two rooms and one of them was the very one that John Wayne stayed in. So, we made sure to watch a John Wayne movie while there, the night before we left. It was the first time I'd ever seen a John Wayne movie. It was pretty sweet! It was a long drive to Moab. We stopped to get gas at Fly-J and have a taco salad dinner-picnic on the way there.

Jared helped toss the lettuce, so we let him try a piece. Ben was having fun walking around on the picnic blanket, seeing everyone and accidentally stepped into a couple of his sister's plates of salad. It made us laugh. =) We got back on the road again right after eating and only stopped once more before making it to the Apache Motel in Moab.

The next day, we spent the whole day driving and hiking through the Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. It was an amazing and beautiful sight. Everywhere we looked there were great rock formations. We had to take a hike about three mile longs (round trip) to see the Delicate Arch. It was a fun hike, and I was very impressed with the girls and Ben for walking the whole way without getting tired (or least without complaining). They were quite the troopers. We took turns holding hands with Katie, Elena, and Eliza. Jared stayed at the van to keep an eye on Grandma Kris. ;)

It was well worth the hike to see the Delicate Arch. It was huge! We weren't the only ones who got out in the hot sun to see the arch that day. There were several other groups and families sitting around on the rocks enjoying the magnificent scenery.

We took some time to enjoy the scenery ourselves and get some pictures before heading back to the parking lot. On the way back, Ryan carried Eliza on his shoulders and practically ran half the way. I held Elena's hand. She wanted to do some jogging, so we jogged several stretches of the way back. What an energetic little girl!

We had lunch and looked around at the visitor's center before leaving Arches National Park. While there, the girls and Ben earned their Junior Ranger pins. We then headed to Canyonlands National Park.




Jared did really well for being in a car seat for so long. He's a happy little guy and such a good boy! =)

It was amazing to see the Canyonlands. That was a lot to take in. It was like an ocean of tons of different unique and amazing looking canyons and cliffs and rock walls as far as the eye can see. It was impressive!

It was a neat experience to be able to get out and see this beautiful world God created for us, with my family. That evening we went swimming in the Apache Motel's refreshing swimming pool, got into our pajamas, and curled up to watch out John Wayne movie along with Grandma Kris's homemade milk shakes. The next day, we had to say good-bye to the Well's family, and pack up to head home ourselves. Before leaving Moab, we stopped at the Colorado River to do some fishing. When we were through with that, we skipped rocks and then had rock throwing contests and, of course, Ryan won every time. We also stopped at the Provo River to fish some more. It was a beautiful weekend to spend out in nature, and we had a great time!