Eastern Caribbean Cruise

A few weeks ago Arnell and I had a chance to go on a cruise with some of our dear friends from Hollister. We boarded the ship in Miami and stopped at four ports: Half Moon Cay, Bahamas; St. Thomas, USVI; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Grand Turk, BWI. It's only the second time that we've ever cruised, (eight years ago, right before we moved to California, we went on a Western Caribbean cruise with some friends of ours from college). For those eight years in between cruises, it has been hard to get away for more than a day or two and I feel so grateful that my DH finally made it happen. Thanks Arnell for a wonderful week! I hope it's not another 8 years before we do this again;-) I want to go back tomorrow!
(click on slideshow box if you want to see pics in full size)

A Year in Pictures

I have not blogged in months so I decided to play "catch up" by stealing an idea from two of my friends' blogs. Thank you Stef and Denae for the idea!

I realized that I could really make two blog posts....one could be "Favorite Pics of the Year" and the other "Highlights of the Year". This slideshow is a compilation of both. I can't believe how big my 2009 photo file is. It was really hard to narrow my selection so there are 90 photos to view. Click through as fast or slow as you like:-) Double click on the photo to enlarge it.

Summer Re-cap Part II

Four days after Berlin's birthday, we celebrated Arnell's. He was born on July 4th which has several benefits: 1-He never has to go to work on his birthday, 2-Almost everyone else he knows has the day off, 3-There is always a party going on, and 4-FIREWORKS! It's a pretty fun day to have a birthday. Better than being born on Christmas for sure. We left Bear Lake and spent the 4th in Brigham City. The 4th of July is a big deal there. The city has all sorts of activities going on all day,
ending with a firework show. We spent a good portion of the afternoon and evening at the city pool with family. The pool is right next the the baseball fields where the firework show happens. It closes during the firework show. But instead of fighting the crowds for a spot on the baseball field, we were able to stay at the pool and watch from there (we have connections--Arnell's brother manages said pool:-) It's become a fun tradition the last few years.

Our last day in Utah was spent driving from Brigham City to Highland, making stops to visit old friends from our youth and from college. We packed in a lot of visiting that day and it was worth every mile :-)

The Petersens


The Wakefields


The Sharps (had to post this one with daughter licking her foot--far left)



It was a great trip! So great we decided to do it again two weeks later to attend our nephew's wedding and go to a family reunion. The drive was torture but being with family made it worth it.

Jayson & Jordan Lee Anderson


Ila Anderson with her brother, Hatch Howard (Uncle Bud)


Kort on horse for first time


Kylii, Berlin w/cousin Jacelyn


Berlin w/cousin Kaci


Summer was busy as ever but we wouldn't want it any other way. Can't wait for 2010!

I'm a little bit country.....

One day while at Bear Lake this summer, my husband was sporting this hat and sunglasses. It made him look bit like country music singer Kenny Chesney. Anyone agree? Or was it just the hat? At any rate, I think I feel a Halloween costume coming on:-)

Summer Re-cap Part 1

I have so much to write about that I actually keep putting it off. But I realize it's time to put it in print before I forget. I'll pick up where I ended in May.

The summer fun began with Fort Benito Cub Scout Day Camp. Kort got to participate as a 3rd year cub scout and I helped teach the cooking session for the boys each day. For 5 days these scouts worked on their certification skills and had an absolute ball. It was a pleasure to be a part of it and see how much the boys learn while they are there. It's no wonder they can't wait for it to roll around each year.


The day after scout camp we left for our summer trip to Utah. We spent the first week in Brigham City so Kort could attend a basketball camp help at Box Elder High School (Arnell's alma mater). We also made it to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house. It was absolutely beautiful! Of course my kids thought the angel Moroni being struck by lightening was the coolest:-)

(Notice half the family missing in this picture. Arnell, Berlin, and Kamryn had the stomach flu that day. We were sad they had to miss this.)

Here's my sister Lani and her darling family. They went to the open house with us along with Nanna and Pappa K.



Week two of our Utah vacation was spent in St. Charles, ID at the Bear Lake house. It is one of my favorite places to go. We had no agenda, no schedule, just a week of time to spend however we chose. We did celebrate Berlin's 7th birthday there and had a good time at the beach that day (ugly-white-man beach is a more appropriate term). Below is a slideshow of pictures from the week. It was a great getaway and we can't wait to do it again!

Faster than a speeding bullet???

Summer is flying by as usual. Ten weeks of vacation sounded really nice to me at first. But now that there are only 4 of them left, I am panicking! There's not enough time left to do the things on our "To Do List". I'm not complaining though. Our summer thus far has been very eventful and loads of fun. I haven't blogged for almost two months because of that. Yet the blog post possibilities are endless. My mind is continually thinking of what to write. The purpose of today's entry is to rid myself of the guilt that comes with not keeping a regular record of the Anderson family happenings.

While time seems to be speeding by, my running pace is in slow motion. I've been training for my very first marathon for the last 10 weeks or so. Today I ran 13 miles. That's a half marathon technically speaking. So why am I not elated? For one, my right arch is terribly sore. And secondly, I am a slowwwwwwwwwwwwwwww runner. I've been trying to speed up the pace a little bit but it's just not happening. I'm sure any of you experienced runners out there will tell me not to worry about my pace so much. But I just want to be a little bit faster. Today's run was a good test for me though. I feel like a full marathon is now possible.

Stay tuned for pictures from our June trip to Utah. I finally downloaded them to the computer and will blog about it all later. We are making one more quick trip to Utah this week for a wedding and reunion. The pics and posts will come later:-)

Kort Turns "10"

I love the month of April. It's the time of year that awakens those yearnings for summer. Easter, Spring Break, and Kort's birthday always make for an eventful month. But the days pass so quickly! It's now the end of May and I am finally writing about April.

Kort's birthday was on a Friday this year. It was the week of spring break so school was not in session. Arnell took the day off so we headed for the beach and spent a good portion of our day there. The wind made it cold but the sun made us burn. Needless to say, we enjoyed our time there. The sand and waves always provide endless entertainment. The beach is one of the many, many things WE LOVE about California.

It is hard to believe that Kort is now 10. He's a decade. He's a Webelo. He's almost done with 4th grade. He's enjoying baseball. He's learned a lot from his piano teacher this year even though he doesn't like to practice. He's a great brother to his sisters. He's a terrific son. He's gonna be an awesome man someday too soon. Happy Birthday Kort!


Click on pictures to see in full size.