Our Story

We really love looking at pictures from our wedding over and over again. It was such a perfect day, surrounded by our loving family and friends, good food, good music, and the covenants of the temple. Since our third anniversary was yesterday, we thought it would be appropriate to reminisce a bit about how we met and all that's happened since then. 

Brittany was home for the summer of 2007 from BYU-Idaho trying to figure out whether or not she wanted to go on a mission and working at Barnes & Noble, and James was attending VVC and working at Sherwin Williams. Brittany felt strongly that she was to get involved with the YSA ward and attended her first dance on May 11, 2007. That's when we met.


Brittany loved James' personality and how tall and handsome he was. James thought Brittany was an over-hyper 18 year old and wasn't interested right at first. But when Brittany kept complimenting him on his dancing he finally decided to give it a shot and asked her to dance. The dance was great and led to an even better time swing dancing later on. We talked about all the things we had in common, and by the end of the night we had exchanged numbers and planned on trying out a date together. 


Brittany was dating other people too, but not for long! After our first date at Juliano's Italian Restaurant in Hesperia, and bowling thereafter, we were both interested in being together as boyfriend and girlfriend. We continued going on dates until Memorial Day, then Brittany got rid of the competition and when we went to Disneyland together in June we made it official.  We had the most amazing time there. James not only made Brittany fall in love with Disneyland, but him too. 


At the end of the summer going on a mission was out of the question, so Brittany decided to continue the relationship while she kept working toward her degree. It was SO hard for her to leave James and be away from him for 7 months off and on. But we knew that was what needed to happen, since Brittany still wasn't sure she was ready to get married. We managed to see each other for conference in the beginning of October, and by the time Thanksgiving rolled around, James proposed and Brittany accepted. 


James couldn't wait to propose! Brittany drove all the way from Idaho to California and that same night went to a bowling activity with James, so when that was over around 12:30 AM, she was exhausted. That didn't stop James from asking her all night to check her pockets though, and when he dropped her off on her door-step there was something in the pocket. Finally! It was a ring box and Brittany was wide awake after that. 


We had a long engagement, but saw each other in between school for Christmas and Valentine's Day, and by the time June arrived we were ready. James had finished his AS in Business Administration and been accepted into the Accounting program at BYU-Idaho on the Fall/Winter track. What a fun year of dating and engagement that lead us to being a family of four by our 3rd Anniversary. We are so grateful for being in the right places at the right times to make that happen, and for all the support we've had from our loving families to do it. Two degrees and two kids later, we're ready to finish up here in Idaho and add another degree to the list. 


Love, 


Brittany and James

Countdown to California

Seems like we're leaving Rexburg and our apartment complex just in time. We were just informed by our managers here, that our complex has been sold to a new owner and the rent has been raised. We also keep hearing about ways that the community and campus are being "improved" and feel like it's changing too much to keep up with. We have been going back and forth wondering if it's the right thing to do, and it just seems like someone is trying to tell us something pretty loud when things just keep pointing us in that direction. So the prayers continue as we move forward in faith that this is what we're supposed to do for the time being.


We had a pretty busy week. We finally got a blog put together to sell some of our gently-used or really cheap items, to try and find further financing for car repairs, moving expenses, and get rid of some things. Hopefully we'll be able to get something out of that. We've also started organizing things into boxes and have been trying to foresee which things we can put into storage once we get down there, and which things we will need to have readily accessible. All of the sudden it seems like we have a lot of stuff! But we know we hardly have anything compared to most. Especially if we manage to get rid of the things we're trying to sell. 


Anyway, enough with the boring stuff. Looks like we're too busy to have a get-away anniversary after the babies go to sleep like we planned. Probably pretty typical for a 3rd anniversary right? We really wanted to steal away to go to the midnight showing of Transformers tomorrow, but looks like all our usual babysitters are unavailable. Sheesh, who said they're allowed to have lives? :) Plus, we should probably just focus on all the things we need to be doing anyway. Being a grown-up is a bummer sometimes! Haha.

 (she likes to sleep with her arms up like this lately.)

 (james' boss and his wife got Riley this adorable onesie and cute plaid shorts)

 (being cute for Momma)

(she's big enough for the bouncer now! and notice her cute skort!)

Little miss Riley Mae is growing like a weed, as Dad Keel would say. At her appointment on Thursday we were told that she weighs 13 lbs. 10 oz. and is in the 95% for weight, and 99% for height! She's 25" already! She also discovered her hands this week and they are always in her mouth now. She's doing really well with tummy time and is just the cutest when she's awake. All smiles and coos. Her sleeping through the night is benefiting all of us. We officially packed away all her 0-3 month sleepers and onesies. Thankfully, the pants, skirts, and dresses still fit her pretty well; but we'll probably be packing those away too before we move. We wish we could capture more photos of her smiling and being cute, but it always seems like we're running around doing everything else so when those moments come we just like to enjoy them without worrying about pictures all the time. It's so true how the oldest gets all the picture time. However, we have been really good at keeping her baby book and calendar up to date, since we had practice on Dean first. So you win some, you lose some. 

Speaking of the Dean-ster, he is so good at talking and running and helping now, and we've been enjoying it for the most part. The weather has been really nice lately (in the 80s until about 8 pm) and he has really been loving it. He has finally reached the point where he feels comfortable playing on the playground while we just watch. He loves climbing up and going down the slide over and over, it's fun to see him so excited. Pulling him away from it though afterward is difficult, we feel bad because he's having so much fun. He and Mommy have been having lots of fun playing pretend lately and practicing new words and actions. For example, he'll say "goodnight," after which he'll lay down, pretend snore, and then pop up and say "good morning! I'm awake!" after a few minutes. It's fun watching him try to jump, since he doesn't quite get all the way off the floor, and we can't help trying to get him to say things like "hippopotamus" because his version of the word just makes us giggle. He had a lot of fun visiting the Lane boys next door this week and blowing bubbles. All he said for hours afterward was "bubbles, bubbles!" He also got to give Shayla a few kisses when she visited this week, and ran around with a huge grin and made us chase him at the ward camp-out-feast Friday night. Such adventures! We sure do love our handsome boy. 

(walking around with a hamper on his head. stopped to say "cheese" for the camera.)

Well, back to our countdown to California list for now. Stay posted for our next developments! 


Love, 


The James Anderson Family

A Happy Father's Day Indeed

Happy Father's Day to all you amazing dads out there. We wish we could do something special for all of you. We did however get to do some cute, little things for James and Dad Keel this year and want to share them with you. 


For Dad Keel, Brittany put together a card that said...

And sent a package that included and bag of popcorn, a 20 oz bottle of orange Fanta, a bag of Tootsie roll pops, and a box of 24 Kool Pops (which are the Kool Aid version of Otter Pops). It got there on Saturday in time for him to enjoy a movie with them, so it made us pretty happy that we actually did something original and fun and got it there on time. 

For James, Brittany made him his Father's Day Over-night French Toast, complete with sliced apples. Dean also learned how to say "Happy Father's Day" to greet James when he woke up. 

And with the help of Tyler, she also got him a really nice shoulder bag (which he has been wanting for a long while) that has a compartment for his netbook and enough strength to actually carry all his heavy accounting books without tearing apart like his last one did! Thanks so much for doing that Tyler, you're awesome! 

And if you're wondering what that thing is next to the new bag...no, it's not an IPad, it's an IDad! Yes, Brittany made James an actual-sized card to look like an IPad, with app icons that lift up to write notes behind them. Dean helped too, by blowing on the glue to help it dry quicker and helping put the app icons in the right order!

James seemed pretty delighted with everything, so it was a great day for all of us seeing him so happy.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So what else is new with the James Anderson Family?


We've finally decided to take a leap and move back to California until we find our permanent roots wherever James' job takes us. He has applied for many jobs thus far, and plans to continue until he finds the perfect fit. But moving now will allow us to be close to family while we transition, and it will be nice for all of us to spend time together. We have enlisted help moving from our Aunt Jackie and she is so awesome to want to help, if she can get the right days off to do so. We are so thankful that she is willing to do that! But we all know she's awesome anyway! 


We're working on getting the Stratus up and running again after leaving it out in the blustering cold of Rexburg winter once again. We have quite a list of repairs, but found a repairmen down the street that seems like he'll be able to help us with all of them. Even if we end up having to push the car there to get them done, we're determined to get it fixed soon! Originally we thought it was  a dead battery that was causing start-up problems, but now we're moving on to other perpetrators that could cause the same problem, thanks to our dads knowing a lot more than we do. We're praying that it's something within our bounds to fix quickly and cheaply--or at least reasonably priced. 


Dean and Riley are so much fun. Riley will be 2 months tomorrow! Which means Dean will be 21 months on Tuesday. Dean had fun this week playing with his stacking cups and lining them up to make designs. 

He is very creative! He also enjoyed looking at the rainbows outside with his Dad today after all the rain finally subsided, and sitting on the big lawnmower outside our window and pretending like he was driving it. 

Riley got all dressed up in the outfit Tyler and MiLinh bought her for church today, and looked so adorable. She also had fun talking to her Dad as a gift to him for Father's Day. 

Here's another video of her doing her girly squealing with her mommy. It's so fun having a boy and a girl! 

So much to do...so glad we have our family to enjoy it all together.


Love, 


The James Anderson Family

Another Week Gone

Amazing that we find ourselves mid-way through the month of June already. Winter seems so long, and spring/summer just flies by. We have had a pretty exciting week since last Sunday that includes all the usual family fun: feeding, cleaning, and playing with our munchkins. James is getting closer to the end of his semester and has been using all of his energy to get good grades, get a paycheck, and get the word out that he is available to work beginning in August. We are full of mixed emotions as we ponder the wonderful opportunities ahead and contemplate the great memories we've made here. We know we have a responsibility to use what we've gained to bless others lives and raise our children; and we hope and pray continually that doors will be opened as we seek for those blessings. 


One of the things we're definitely going to miss is the family community here. Being so close to a park that we can enjoy whenever we want to, especially with the water park in the warmer months, has been such a privilege. We went to the park this week and here are some of the photos we captured...

Dean has been such a cutie this week talking up a storm and reminding us that we need to pay attention to all the funny new things he does everyday. He loves his dad and wants to be just like him. He stole James' extra visor when James was getting ready for work and put it on his head like so.

He loves to draw and eat yogurt! Especially because he gets to use a spoon all by himself and wear half of it. We love to watch him with his sense of accomplishment. He drew a star all by himself this week, while entertaining himself for awhile, and came up to us and said "Star!" We were pretty impressed that he not only drew it, but knew that he did! Guess Brittany does draw all his shapes with him all the time, but still, pretty cool!


As for Riley, we've been having way too much fun playing with her hair recently. 

And can't believe how cute and tubby she is getting (just like her Momma was at this age). 

And Brittany has really been having fun dressing her in the many cute outfits family members sent for her first few months. She loves all the cute ruffles on the back of her leggings and rompers. 

Riley has also been awake more this week, and cooing even more too. Her coos are more like little girly squeals and they are so adorable. We will try to capture better video of that this next week to share.

Brittany has been getting to work on a few Father's Day projects and looks forward to re-caping them with pictures next week. She is also feeling good enough lately to keep the house in better order and cook more often, which is helping many things run smoother. However she's been having a hard time getting enough calories some days to support all the breast-feeding she's doing and get all the things done that she wants to. So, she's still learning how to do this thing they call being a Mom of two. With such cute babies and the sun shining though, she feels so blessed to be where she is in her life. 


Speaking of which, so many exciting things coming up shortly for us, as is always the case when summer hits. Our 3rd Anniversary is on June 28th and that starts off a few weeks of excitement with the 4th of July and Brittany's birthday shortly after that. Hope we are able to keep up with and enjoy it all even with all the big plans we need to be occupying our time with. 


We love you, and hope this week has found you all better and happier than the last. 


Love, 


The James Anderson Family

Baby Blessing and Other Fun

Hello all! This week's hot topic is Miss Riley Mae's baby blessing. It has been a long and wonderful week of preparing for her day. We were able to get so many great pictures and had so many special moments. The weather was gorgeous allowing us to enjoy a beautiful weekend. We hope you enjoy reliving the fun with us this post.


Riley's blessing weekend was made even more special because James' Mom, Dad, and brother Joel were able to come. James' mother had been texting Brittany all week to make plans to come up and surprise James for the weekend. They both (Mom Anderson and Brittany) enjoyed trying to be sneaky for a good cause. And it worked out that in making preparations for the baby blessing luncheon we were also making preparations for the family to come up. Pretty sneaky, huh? 


It was so nice having them here! They worked hard to be able to come and drove all night from California in order to be here. Not only did they do that, they came with gifts for everyone! 


Dean got a Nemo toy that actually swims! It is so neat, and of course he loves it because it's a fish! They also bought him a t-shirt that says "Mom's little slugger" that will be perfect for the summer.

For Riley, they selected a sweet "fuzzy" pink bear that makes womb sounds, plays music, and has a white noise setting also, and we can tell it soothes her. She also got an outfit that says "Dad says I'm cuter than words" because James is always sending cute photos with captions like that. 

For Brittany (and Riley) a huge bag of cute baby girl clothes from Auntie Janine! Brittany's favorite gifts though, were the special crocheted shoes and shawl that Riley was able to wear for her blessing day. The shoes were made for Mom Anderson's baby blessing by her great-grandmother Milius, and the shawl was made by her grandmother Hyde for James', and his brothers and sisters, blessings. So special! What a great thing to be able to tell Riley when she gets older. 


For James, they brought up a family recipe, called Bean Soup; he was able to have a father's blessing from his dad; and they even left his graduation cards and gift for him before they headed back home. What sweet thoughts and gestures from loving parents. We are so grateful for our family and that they want to do such wonderful things like that to bless our lives. We hope we can show our gratitude by following their examples and striving each day to be, and do, good. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


As for the blessing, it went so well! We were all able to get up early enough to get ready and be to church early to make sure things were in order. James was able to have his father and brother, and a couple good friends in the circle with him and gave such a sweet, spiritual blessing. Riley slept through the whole meeting and got loved up by everyone. We both bore our testimonies, as well as Mom Anderson, and the meeting was so beautiful. 


After sacrament meeting we all gathered in the foyer to take some photos before walking back home for the luncheon. It turned out so nicely! We had BBQ chicken salads with black beans, tomatoes, avocado, cheese, ranch, olives, and tortilla chips inspired by Gringos. Mom and Dad Anderson brought up delicious rolls (shout out to The Cinnamon Roll Lady), and we had no bake Oreo creme pies for dessert. 


Please enjoy all the photos.

 (before leaving for church)

 (in her stroller for the short walk to and from church)

 (the back of the dress)

 (the gorgeous shoes she wore)

 (so glad they fit her!)

 (Princess Riley Mae Anderson on the beautiful shawl)

 (by this time, after we got home, she was pretty hungry)

 (the long dress)

(we're so happy she's our girl)

 (Brittany, Dean, James, Riley, Mom, Dad, Joel) 

 (our little family)

(us and the Nielsen's: Amanda, Cameron, and Shayla)

 (Dean and Grandpa Anderson)

 (Dean and Shayla enjoying the beautiful weather)

 (our handsome boy!)

(Shayla was so cute with Riley, we loved it.)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We were also able to accomplish some other family fun this week. Dean getting a haircut, going to a new frozen yogurt shop (Kiwi Loco) in town with one of their promotional coupons, and enjoying a beautiful evening in the park splashing and throwing an airplane around. Brittany even found a wall clock that she liked that was affordable! Hahaha. 


Ready for more photos?

 (Dean after his haircut)

 (Riley with her dad)

 (James and his Dad being goofy at the park)

(what a couple of wonderful men!)

 (Dean and his Grandma Anderson)

(They had so much fun together)

 (He just stood there looking at the water for the longest time)

 (Then he discovered how fun splashing was)

 (Brittany's new clock)

Thank you for making our week so memorable Mom, Dad and Joel. We love you so much!!! 


Love, 

The James Anderson Family