Still Thankful.

Remember when I said I would post about Thanksgiving?

Today I'm git'n 'er done.

(I'm trying to sound Texan in honor of the Billats. Say it with a drawl.)

I'm git'n far-ther and far-ther behind, so I'd better start ketchin' up.

Here was my contribution to our Thanksgiving feast:

I am thankful for Pinterest and its plethora of creative ideas. I made a similar veggie tray last year. Not only is this {cute}, it's one of the easiest veggies trays I've ever made. Sold.

We held our gathering at a church by Matt and Lia in Herriman. Lia did all the food coordination (+ a lot o' cooking/baking herself), set-up, and decor. I just showed up with my veggie tray. She is amazing. I am so thankful for her willingness to put so much work and effort into making it a lovely day.

The apple crisp (bottom center) was made by Taylor and was delish. I am so thankful to have him as my son!
I am the luckiest.

(I had to include this cute pic of Rob and Sookie the day before their wedding.)

 I am so thankful for this sweet girl!

I am thankful our CA cousins could be there! It's been a long, long time since we've had Thanksgiving together.

Britt and Austin made their announcement official on social networks...

 ...I am thankful that I can now share my excitement with everyone!

Despite the craziness of the week, I wanted to be sure and get a family picture while we were all together. Unfortunately (or not), the only time-slot left in our day was right after dinner (the light was fading). I am sooooo thankful for kind and loving parents, siblings, in-laws, nieces, and nephews who were willing to clean up dinner while my family took pics. 

I am thankful that Austin has a great camera (+ remote picture-snapping and phone viewing capabilities) and some awesome photography/editing skills.

 Lynnea was sick that day (she's still suffering from bronchitis), and the last thing she wanted to do was spend an hour in the cold without her coat. You would never guess how awful she felt by these beautiful pictures. I am so thankful for such a wonderful DIL and S(on)IL - I couldn't have asked for any better!

 I love to see these girls together. I am blessed and thankful to have such amazing daughters.

 I am thankful for Billy-my-hero. He's just that. My hero.

I am thankful to have had the opportunity to celebrate with my family. We missed those who couldn't be with us, but loved spending time together. Seriously, we need to do this more often.

Quick note: While I was working on this post I was simultaneously watching an Ebay clock count down to the final seconds on the very first item I have ever bid on. My heart was pounding (still trying to calm it down). It was for a Christmas gift for Mar. I had a tiny ray of hope that the item was meant to be mine. Nope. {Sad face}

Life has been crazy busy. I want to just sit and blog about it all, but I'm too busy. I love this quote from one of my favorite bloggers:

"If we are too busy, then we are too busy."

Amen, sista.

Baby Anderson is a....

Love this cute announcement Austin and Britt put together!

I am thrilled (and right).

Campus Tours, HS Swim, and a New Favorite Thing

I often feel a little anxious when I begin a post because I really don't have the time to think it through, plan it out, and make it make sense. That would be today, but I have a lot to catch up on, so here goes.

Shilo was interested in taking a couple of campus tours with her cousin Rachael while we were in UT. I knew I would too busy to get her where she wanted to go when she needed to be there, so my seester (and partner in busy-ness) and I recruited our Dad. A few days prior to our arrival, he and my mom had been released as full-time missionaries after serving two years at the Family History Center in SLC. He had some time on his hands, right? (wink, wink).

Monday was BYU day.

He headed out with these three beautiful ladies. I'd say he's a lucky man.
And they couldn't have asked for nicer weather. Bonus!

Tuesday was USU day.

My Dad graduated from USU, so I figured he might enjoy showing them around his old stomping grounds.
This time Bill tagged along.

Bill hasn't stopped talking about the free buffet they were treated to in between the campus and housing tours. Let's just say he ate himself silly (and only two days before Thanksgiving!).
They all had lots and lots of Aggie ice cream.

After the tours, Grandpa showed the girls where he lived while attending USU.

Then they took a quick drive over to Paradise where he had lived as a child...
(I want to live in Paradise, don't you?)

... and to the cemetery where his Grandparents and Great Grandparents are buried (that would be the girls' Great Great and Great Great Great, right??)

It was a huge bonus to get a family history tour along the way! They all had a great time.

Next up, Thanksgiving (at last!). Another day. No promises on when.

Yesterday looked like this:

Shilo's first swim meet was rescheduled to next week.

She has another one today (v Regis - Missy Franklin's old school), then Saturday, so it actually spreads things out a little bit. Plus it gave her extra time to study for her Calculus test. Bonus!

Yesterday, in between and after hair appointments, I worked on locker tags for next week:

I think they turned out {cute}. Okay, maybe MORE than {cute}. Just my subjective opinion. 

I hope the girls don't mind having a cow on their lockers.

I also worked on a couple of sign ups, including one for the team Christmas Party we are hosting next week. I'm trying to calm myself by taking one thing at a time and using my time wisely (which is why I need to be done posting today!).

Before I go I have to share my new favorite thing.

In all the running around Jill and I did for wedding supplies, I ran across these little babies.
I was a tad apprehensive because they were a little pricey ($10), and I was worried they might stick to the caramel more than the traditional wax or parchment paper. Nope, they don't. And I don't have to tediously tear and cut a million little sheets of wax paper for each batch of caramel. Plus these are oh-so-pretty. Bonus!

I'm stocking up when I go back. Love. Them.

Mr. Anderson

Today is Austin's Birthday so it's the perfect day to spotlight the J.Wride concert we attended last week. I was really excited that it happened to coincide with our trip to UT, and that the weather that Saturday was great for expeditious road travel.

Here are some highlights:

I loved that so many family members were able to make it... Taylor and Lynnea, Kade and Hunter...

...Angela and Matt...

...Grandma and Grandpa Syddall.

I had to grab some digital video (on my old trusty point-and-shoot), so I know it's not high quality sound or picture, but it demonstrates a tiny bit of Austin's skills.

After the concert we stayed around to get some photos with the band.
I wanted to get a pic of Austin's groupies but missed the shot. Drat!

You can check out the J.Wride FB page here

and find their albums on itunes. Check. Them. Out.

They are a seriously talented group of guys.

It would take too much s'plaining to fill you in on the silliness that went on while we chatted it up with Austin's dad as he packed up the drum set. Lex and Shi were splitting a gut.
Something I said about Band Dads.


Happy Birthday, Austin!
We love you and appreciate all you add to our family!!

Whirlwind.

We returned home Saturday night from our whirlwind UT trip.

It was a loaded week, and I don't have time to post about it all right now, but I thought I would give the super condensed version, then expound later.

A concert.

Campus tours.

Thanksgiving.

A wedding.

There is oh-so-much more to share.

Another day.

Daughters

I once heard a young mother say she was worried about having more than one daughter.

Her first child was a boy, followed by a girl, and she had recently found out that she was expecting another girl.

I was a bit surprised and asked why.

She had been the only daughter in a family with four children.

She felt that, overall, girls were harder to raise.

More drama. More money. More emotionally needy.

Since I raised only one son, I couldn't speak to the comparison, but I could tell her that 

I wouldn't change having four daughters for the world.

I love those girls!

Here's a quick update this week on the three still here at home.

Lexee

I think I've mentioned before that Lex has more guy friends than girl friends. Lots of her member friends are leaving to serve full-time missions (I keep mentioning that she could go too!), but she also has some that aren't members of our church, to whom she is a great friend AND missionary. Her friend Chris was leaving the next day to head to the MTC, so they hung out one last time Monday night (with two non member friends). 

(We are madly trying to get Christmas decorating done before we leave for Thanksgiving... we just kept decorating around this chatty group.)

Lex was HEART ATTACKED by some friends in her YSA Ward on Tuesday night. I wanted to grab a pic of our door, but Bill had taken them down this morning because they got wet in all the SNOW.

Shilo

Shilo was a judge for the swim fundraiser Titan of Teachers Talent Show. The guy judges loved to talk it up throughout the show, but the girls didn't have much to say. At one point, the emcee asked for a female judge to comment, then got the crowd to chant, "Shi-lo, Shi-lo, Shi-lo..."

When the mic was passed to her, Shi said something amazingly witty like, "That was great!"

She has her mother's spur-of-the-moment humor - none.

(She said she thought of something good to say after the moment had passed... see? just like me.)

I have to record that she had a crowd of peers chanting her name... how often does that happen?

Here's Shi surrounded by her coaches. It's still up in the air how this season is going to go with two new coaches... things will for sure be very different. At least Coach Johnson is smiling at her!

Mauri

As I mentioned in a previous post, Mar's had a little lunchroom drama.

It's given me cause to reflect on my Jr. High days. I destroyed a couple of friendships over petty, ridiculous things. I went along (as a follower) with a Mean Girl or two, who, in moments of pride or jealousy or self-importance or insecurity decided to peck away at the first target they could find. It makes me angry that I allowed it... went along with it... felt justified in hurting someone else's feelings. It has been one of those things I have regretted my whole life since. 

As a mom, I am determined to do my best to teach my daughters from my mistakes. 

Don't go along with it. 

If you are kind, you will win in the end. I promise.

(I love these reminders)

(source)

(source)

I love the quote, "What Susie says of Sally says more of Susie than of Sally."

(source)

That being said, Mar has mixed things up a bit and started eating lunch at another table.

One of the girls at the new table came up with a cute idea - a Secret Turkey gift exchange.

Such a great way to exert time and energy (v. gossip and mean talk/texting).

I am proud of how Mar is trying to tactfully navigate it all. She is so much smarter than I was at her age.
I am so grateful. 

And here's our cute little Ava Elf.

I love my family (including my son, DIL and SIL, lest you wonder)! 

I am so grateful to have such an amazing group of people in my life and beyond.

Happy Thanksgiving Week!!

An Announcment

I've been granted permission to share...

I'm going to be a Grandma!!

We've known for over a month (it seems like an eternity), but Britt wanted to wait until she was a good 12 weeks before we started spreading the news.

We couldn't be more excited.

It was so cute how she and Austin broke the happy news (Oct13)

We were on our usual Sunday evening video chat... chatting it up about important things like

How were your Sunday church meetings?

What were the highlights of your week?

Our dogs are so cute....

We had probably been chatting for a good 20 - 30 minutes, when Britt said,

"Oh yeah, we got some new furniture for our office."

She grabbed the laptop and headed up the stairs.

Seriously, I was thinking, "Nice, they have a sofa... or a new desk..."

When she turned her computer around to show us, it took us a few seconds to see clearly (a moving screen via video chat can be a little blurry), then it took another few seconds to wake up mentally to what it was:

A crib.

With a sign that said something like

"Occupied May 2014"

It was so funny to watch the girls at home, who usually lounge around on the floor while we chat, minimally contributing to the conversation, suddenly perk up and become super animated and chatty.

We took guesses on the gender:

Bill ~ Girl

Tina ~ Girl

Taylor ~ Twin boys (this was BEFORE the ultrasound)

Lynnea ~ Girl

Britta ~ Boy

Austin ~ Boy (they had done the ever-so-accurate Chinese pencil test)

Lexee ~ Boy

Shilo ~ Boy

Mauri ~ Girl

I also sent a nice list of names I found in the family pedigree chart to get them thinking.

Some of my favorite boy names:

Truls 

(Britta said she can't even say it, but it's my fave)

Squire

Silas

Niels

And favorite girl names:

Mette / Metta

Ellse

Maren

Elsa

Comfort

I'm thrilled to be joining the ranks of all you grannies out there...
EXCLAMATION POINT!