Christmas

Let me start out by saying there is something about kids that makes Christmas completely magical. I think this is by far the best Christmas I have ever had. We started out celebrating a day early since Pete was scheduled to be on short call on Christmas day. On our Christmas Eve we made homemade pizza, acted out the Nativity, sang carols, exchanged gifts and watched "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas". It was a wonderful night! Abbie, however, made our whole Christmas. Pete showed her a redlight that can be seen from our patio and Abbie started jumping up and down screaming "Rudolphs leading the way!" She ran all over the house saying this repeatedly. It was so fun to see how excited she was. Christmas day was just as amazing. The kids were so fun to watch and it was nice having a day with Pete home where we just layed low. My best gift came that night when around 9:00pm Pete got a call from a co-worker. Sahil doesn't have any family here and so he volunteered to come in and cover for Pete. I couldn't believe it! It was wonderful having Pete home 2 days in a row. I feel so blessed and am grateful Heavenly Father continues to be aware of me and my family's needs! MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Christmas Eve Feast

The Nativity

Mary and Joseph

Christmas Pajamas

What, am I not supposed to eat this?

Daddy's Little Helpers

Abbie and Josh love using their shovels to help their dad shovel snow.

Kelly opted for a warmer climate!

FYI: Low tonight - 1 (that is not a typo)

Thanksgiving

Sorry about the Christmas picture, but it is the only one I have. Thanksgiving this year didn't turn out quite the way I would have hoped for. Pete was on call on Thanksgiving day which means he had to go in at 7:00 am and stay until 1:00 pm the following day. At first, we weren't going to do anything, but we decided at the last minute to celebrate Thanksgiving on Pete's day off which was Tuesday. I was really glad we did. Since my family is what I'm most grateful for, it was nice to be with them. Then on Thanksgiving the hospital had a dinner for those that had to work and I was going to have some friends over, but they ended up having to cancel at the last minute. This Thanksgiving has reminded me to be truly thankful for family and friends. So often I take them for granted and I now realize how special it is to get to have holidays like this where we can take time to spend with those we love and be thankful for all we have. So, Happy Thanksgiving to all! We hope you had a wonderful day and got to spend time with those you love!

Halloween Night

Abbie and Josh loved Halloween this year. They were really good about saying "trick-or-treat" and "thank-you". This was the only holiday Pete has off this year and I was glad. We all had fun walking around the neighborhood and seeing all the other kids in their cosutmes. I think it gave them some good ideas for next year. The weather this year was suprisingly mild. I guess in years past it's been quite cold. Even Kelly was a good sport and stayed nice and warm in her bee costume.

Abbie decided to have a pre-Halloween warm-up by playing drums on Halloween cups courtesy of Grandma and PaPa Anderson.

Spiderman, bee, and Sleeping Beauty

Abbie can never get enough of her sister!

The kids loved the fact that this lady was handing out candy by leaning "through" her door.

Halloween Fun

We carved pumpkins for family home evening this week and here are the results. Josh's (or rather mine) is the puppy and Abbie's (Pete's) is the smiley face. Josh refused to help clean out the pumpkin because it would get his hands dirty. What have I done!














Some people in our ward and some from another ward had a little Halloween party for the kids. Abbie and Josh were so excited about dressing up in their costumes until we got to the church. Unfortunately, I have passed on the "shy" gene and once we were there they refused to stray far from my side. I couldn't even get them to smile for pictures. Several times Abbie broke into tears until we finally gave up and left. Once in the car they were talking about how much fun the party was and how they wanted to do it again. UNBELIEVABLE!

Haircut

On Sunday I went into my bathroom to get ready for bed and found a small surprise. There on the floor was a pile of red hair. Now, Pete doesn't have that much hair and I am not dumb enough to cut my own or Abbie's (thanks to my last cutting experience where it had to be evened out by a professional!). I showed it to Pete who said Abbie had been in the bathroom earlier and when he found her and asked what she was doing she conveniently replied "Not anything" and ran out. As you can see it was quite a chunk of hair but fortunately (again thanks to my last haircut) she has layers in her hair and for the life of me I cannot find where she cut it. I guess I will be moving the scissors to another "safe place".

Leaves, Leaves, and more Leaves

All I am going to say is 21 (39 gallon) bags of leaves!

When I told Abbie we had to put all the leaves in bags - this is the look she gave me. Can you blame her?
Cute Kelly smiling in spite of the grueling hours spent stuck in her stroller.

Conference

I have been thinking this past week about President Monson's talk in conference. What a great reminder to enjoy the precious time we have with our little ones and know that one day we will miss all the little things we think are inconvenient. I remember at our wedding my dad talking about how when we were little he was always waiting for us to grow up and how now he just wished we were little enough to hold his hand and cross the street again. I think I finally know what you meant dad! And if it makes you feel any better, I miss it to! Love you!

Best Friends

I have to say that one of the best things about moving here has been how close my kids have gotten. They play so well together and look out for each other in a way they've never done before. Abbie even insists that she and Josh are going to get married and live with Pete and I forever! Whatever the reason I am grateful that they are best friends and can't wait for Kelly to get big enough to play with them. Here Abbie is helping Josh put on his Spiderman skates and then showing him how to use them!

Coming Through

Do you remember when it was so simple to be a child? I watched my kids having a ball chasing each other around with dump trucks the other day and wondered why as adults we make life so complicated. All it takes is a few minutes of playing with them and I am laughing and smiling thinking how wonderfully simple life can be. Is it bad that as an adult I am having more fun playing with dump trucks than they are?

These kids are exhausted and panting like dogs after all that running around. You would think they would take a nap but not today. Apparently they have too much work to do. (At least that's what Abbie repeats to me.) Gee, I wonder where she heard that?

Appleridge Orchard

We went with some people in our ward to the Appleridge Orchard where the kids learned how the apples were harvested and also where cider, honey and other goodies are made. It was alot simpler than I thought it would be.

After the tour we got to ride (at least the kids did) in a tractor up into the orchard to go through a corn maze and pick a pumpkin. Then when we were done we rode back down and got to try a Honey Crisp apple which was developed at the University of Minnesota. They are really good apples.

Abbie's Birthday

I can hardly believe I am old enough to have a 4 year old (ok, you can stop laughing now!). Abbie had a wonderful birthday with her family where Josh made sure to sing Happy Birthday to her what seemed like every few minutes. She spent the day playing with her new toys and was even kind enough to share with her brother. The highlight of her day however, was getting to pick who said the prayers! Oh to be young again.

Guess who likes Barbies...

and Sleeping Beauty!

Fellows Fair

The Fellows Association here in Rochester hosts several free events for the Residents and Fellows and their families. We went to the fair grounds where they had pony rides, a petting zoo, pizza, cotton candy, firetrucks, Cinderella, Spiderman, Shrek, Elmo, Dora and others along with things for kids to play on. The kids were excited about the pony ride (until they actually got on the pony) and all of the other fun things they got to do. Mom and dad were happy because it meant they didn't have to spend an afternoon trying to keep the kids entertained!

Minnesota, Here We Come!

It's hard to say goodbye to such good friends - but here we are. I wondered if we would get everything packed in time. We loaded the truck on Wednesday, May 28th and then left Thursday morning for Rochester Minnesota. Josh enjoyed riding in the moving truck with dad. Abbie thought it was to loud and after her short turn, she was glad to be riding in the car with mom and Kelly. We got to Rochester without any problems and on Friday we signed all the papers and are now home owners! We love our home and the yard that comes with it. Driving in to Rochester I told Pete it felt like home. I love the small town feel it has and the fact that basically eveything we need is within a mile of our home. The only thing that isn't is the hospital and that is only 3 miles away. It will take some time, but we are starting to get everything unpacked and put away. I will post pictures when I actually take some!

Finally!!!

Well, it finally happened! On May 15, 2008 Pete graduated from Medical School at Saint Louis University. Pete worked hard and we loved our time in Saint Louis, Missouri. We have made life long friends here and will miss it, but of course we are looking forward to new adventures (and a paycheck!). Does he look official yet?