And the Verdict Is….

New Mexico.  We are moving to New Mexico.  I am not happy to be leaving the northwest but it does seem to be the right decision for our family.  Hyrum is taking a position at Sandia National Laboratories.  Do to my fragile feelings, follow your momma’s advice, “if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.”  All positive commentors please leave your thoughts on New Mexico.  :)

Spatula Bandits

James has a shirt that matches Hyrum's Russian sailor shirt he brought home from his mission. What can be cooler than matching your baby? Hyrum thinks James looks like a sailor, but I think he sort of looks like a convict, so with his dish fettish, we call him "Spatula Bandit."

Dishes

Doing dishes is one of James' and Scottie's favorite things to do. Scottie loves to climb up on a chair, run the water, pour water back and forth between cups and bowls, and maybe even suds up a dish or two. James loves to pull all of the silverware out of the dishwasher. Between the two of them, I can get a little blogging done, maybe look at the mail, but our dishes don't seem to be any cleaner.

So Tired.

Somtimes Life is hard. All you can do is put aside your grilled cheese sandwich, lay your head on your hands, and take a nap. Here here!

Crafty

Is it the winter weather? Is it because I am home too much? Something has made me obsessed with sewing these days. I had a Crafty Christmas.

These ridiculous rubber gloves were for my mother. She can be a domestic diva when she cleans toilets and washes dishes. My dad got a chefs hat that I made but I am not sure I got a picture of that one. Maybe I will post it later.

The flower was for Baby Kate on a head band to match the 4 aprons of her 3 sisters and mother below. Shawn also got a matching chefs hat but without the pink.1 `

My latest project are these adorable baby shoes. I have made 5 pairs so far and am using up all my scraps. Any of you having babies, make your requests. :)

Karissa modeling her apron she got for Christmas. Her nickname is "Kiss" so this was appropriate I thought. She also got a rice bag to heat up and bring to bed with her since our house is freezing!

Rainy Day

Mommy, this is Fun!!!

Let's do it some more!

Oops...

Christmas Take 2

Our neighbor outshined us in the gift department this year. He opened her gift first and didn't care much about the others after that. She gave him this sweet Lightning McQueen track with a talking Sheriff and a Train. The Lightning McQueen has a remote controller too. He LOVED it.

James and Karissa showing off their enviably fashionable headgear.

Hyrum gave me this great Duet book so we can play piano flute duets. It is a ton of fun and we have been performing for any guests who will listen to us. Come over and you will see. :)

Hyrum in his spiffy new chefs hat made by Yours Truly. We were pretty low-key this year. He did get something else though, don't worry.

Karissa trying out her new Hello Kitty vacuum that plugs into her USB port. She will get some real good use out of that I am sure. That is one of our treasures left over from our trip to China last summer. I am so glad we saved it for this special occasion.

Belated Christmas photos

 

Scottie and James enjoying they’re yearly visit with Santa.

Decorating the Christmas tree.

Merry Christmas from the Anderson’s (and foster daughter Karissa).

Things you'd never see on a sunny day

Sometimes it's nice to have a good rainy day....but rarely do you wish for 20 in a row. There is only so many times you can go to the library in a week; and Scottie is beginning to think he owns the train table at Barnes and Nobles... So, we branched out: Monroe's fabulous reptile zoo, "home of the the Reptile Man and the only albino alligator in the Pacific Northwest". How's that for staking a claim? The albino's name is "basker".

Also, look closely at the pictures again. That really is a single turtle with two heads. The old wise turtle's name is, most fittingly, Jolly.

Halloween

I went out of town for two days to go to my friend Jodi’s wedding.  Jodad was her usual radiant self, and I enjoyed seeing some old Boston friends.  Because it was the weekend of Halloween though, I cut the trip short and came home for the festivities.

 

Beautiful Jodi, Matty and Summer, and Brian is holding Maren, Allison had to leave early, and James was fascinated with something at the next table apparently.

 

Though Scottie would have probably rather gone in his new Lightning McQueen pajamas which he got for his birthday, he consented to be a cowboy for Halloween.  Notice that he wanted a sword in his holster though, this is one fierce cowboy.

James was a chicken.  This costume brings me so much pleasure.  Poor James was really hot when we were inside the church so we had to lose the costume not too long after we got there but I loved holding him in it.  Scottie wore it when he was one year old too.  Probably all of our kids will get to wear it. 

Can anyone guess what Hyrum’s costume was?  He was an aquarium or a coral reef.  Karissa lent him her fish slippers MaryKate and Ashley.  They were a lot of fun until he got soaked outside in the parking lot.

 

Karissa put in a cameo as James Magelsen.

 

Jem is my name, no one else is the same, Jem is my name!