Waiting...

We've been striving to keep busy and productive while we wait for any news of things to come. Among family it has been pretty fun. Dean and Riley have been learning and growing, so much, so fast. 

Dean is definitely in his terrible twos a bit ahead of schedule. He's having a rough time with all the new no-no's and to top it off has decided to ditch normal routines of sleeping, and lost his pacifier in the process of getting up in the pitch dark of morning and being put back to bed several times. (Which was creepy, by the way!) Finally no more pacifier!! That hurdle is being conquered slowly, but surely. One more month until we were going to do it anyway so it is just as well. Especially since it really wasn't doing the trick anymore of keeping him in bed morning, or night. He sure is a cute kid though, and so smart. He can open doors now! We even tried putting some of those door-knob protectors on to prevent this and he figured out how to get them off (first try), came out, and handed it to us. Lil' stinker! He loves to make everyone laugh, be a helper, and tell everyone what their names are. He has also been enjoying playing peek-a-boo with Riley and hearing her giggle. He has grown so much in the past few weeks too. We finally had to buy him new PJs, and the 3Ts fit him perfectly snug. It's crazy how tall our kiddos are.

 (Our techy son)

 (In his little man chair)

 (kiddie-pool!)

 (helping Gma K mix the eggs for lunch-yum!)

 (Daddy and Dean on a tractor ride with Gpa A)

Little miss Riley Mae sure is huge too! 17 pounds plus, and at least 25 inches long. She has already outgrown most of her 6-9 month outfits and has been sporting a few of her 12 month ones recently. We sure do love dressing her up in all the adorable clothes we received from Janine and all our other family. Having a girl is so fun! She has gotten really good at rolling from her back to her tummy, and has learned a few other tricks also. She definitely has her own personality. Each time someone tries to change her diaper now she will turn toward her diaper package, grab it, and throw it off the dresser. Then after she's accomplished this, she will push with her legs and launch her whole body upward bit by bit until she almost falls off the dresser too, all the while smiling and giggling. She sure is a squealer too. We always know when she isn't getting what she wants. Hahaha. But her smiles and excitement the rest of the time sure make us all melt. She is also getting a few teeth (up top) trying to cut through, which has made her a bit more tired, cranky, drooly. Everything makes it into her mouth (and sometimes her nose!) and she sure is enjoying her new discoveries. 

 (Our classy girl...teehee!)

 (her unhappy face)

 

(head-band turned sleep-mask)

 (she loved the kiddie-pool!!)

James turned 27 this month! We had a small gathering of family and a Snicker's Bar cake to celebrate. It was so fun actually having others over to celebrate after a few years! He is trying to bide his time before his internship starts (still not sure when quite yet, but soon!) going to In-N-Out, spending his birthday money, and playing with the kiddos and his family. He has really enjoyed playing in the kiddie-pool with Dean and Riley and planking with his brothers-in-law for some good fun. Visiting his family, VBA projects, and doing some yard-work has also been keeping him occupied. 

 (James getting in the ready position...haha.)

 (He got some nice gifts!)

(Dean was glad Dad had a birthday so he could party too!)

 (James planking...)

 (Levi planking...)

 (Westly planking...)

Brittany has really been enjoying being with family too.  Being around her sisters and brothers-in-law and nieces and nephews has been great; chatting, letting the kids socialize, Christina taking pictures, and Janine providing more hand-me-downs to keep a Riley Mae clothed are just a few things she's loved. Shopping and talking with her mom and working on organizing and creative projects has been such a fun thing for her also. Her most recent project was creating a Family Home Evening chart to be hung on the wall in the Family Room for assignments and themes. It turned out pretty cool--pictures to come soon! She also enjoyed planning James' birthday and has been gathering ideas and supplies for Dean's upcoming Fish birthday to celebrate his 2nd year! 

We're really thankful for the time we have here to spend time with those we love so much, even though we miss some people who are still far away. We hope the waiting will prove worthwhile shortly and that things will be in motion toward the next goals we have as a family. Summer is winding down and we're determined to enjoy it while it lasts!

Love,

The James Anderson Family

August Rush!

No, we don't mean the movie, but it is a good one! We are talking about the last few days of July going in fast forward! Can't believe it's been two Sundays since we've been back in California with family. We have so many things to be grateful for and to talk about this time. Hopefully at least bits of it are interesting and entertaining for those of you who haven't heard it all yet. 

First of all, James got an internship!!! We found out the day before he officially finished his classes and that kicked off all the excitement for the rest of the weekend. ((He actually got the ball rolling this morning there at VVC with the Auxiliary Department filling out all the paperwork that needs to be completed and approved before he can begin marking off his required hours. Can't wait to see what the next developments there will bring.)) 

Then Thursday morning, the 21st, we picked up Mom Anderson from the Idaho Falls Airport after her long morning of travel to be with us for James' convocation the next evening, and to be so gracious as to help us by watching babies and driving the long miles back to California while following a trailer and an over-heating car on Saturday when we finally left. Needless to say she is amazing! She dealt so admirably with all the stressful situations we found ourselves in including our flaring tempers here and there along the way. We sure do love her for her generosity and support even during such fun! Hehehe.


Friday was even more exciting! We packed as much as we could and began cleaning here and there while receiving guests to help us pack up a trailer. Aunt Jackie and Bea came down from Boise, on their way out to Vegas for some fun, and were so amazing! Aunt Jackie has really been an awesome influence in Brittany's life and she again saved the day with transportation (for all of our junk in the form of a graduation gift) from Idaho to California, which she has done a few times before. All we can say is she must love us a lot to do so much for us! Mom Keel arrived that afternoon also and helped so much with babies and cleaning and packing after driving long hours from California to do so. It worked out so great to have both our moms there to help us drive straight through and clean and watch babies. We really don't think we could have done it ourselves after all the effort it took with all the help we had! It sure was a blessing!!! 

James walked Friday evening and our babies were there to see it, as well as our moms, Jackie, and Bea. We even had a small gathering at our half-packed apartment before-hand where Aunt Jana, Heather, Cousin Lori, and good friends the Nielsen's were able to celebrate along with our mamas. It was such a great time to recognize all of James' hard work and be excited for his future achievements.  

Saturday morning we finally finished packing and cleaning around 5, just in time for the carpet cleaners to show up, and then we set sail for home. We had all kinds of fun trying to get our new managers to recognize the fact that we were leaving, and ended up having to leave anyway even though they didn't show up to do the normal check-out routine. Fun, fun, fun. We tried though, so we've been just doing what we can to make sure all is well since then. Besides that we had quite the adventure trying to make it to California with two cars, a truck and a trailer. We made quite a few stops, including a stop in Vegas to pick up my Aunt Jean, which was a fun surprise, and finally got home around 3 in the afternoon. We ended up completely missing a night of sleep in order to unpack, keep babies entertained, and pick up a car that had to be left on the side of the road, but we did it--thanks to the efforts and prayers of all! We were jet-lagged, caffeinated, and felt like we were still behind the wheel for quite and few hours after arriving, but the relief out-weighed all of that pretty quickly, thank goodness! Everyone really went above and beyond to help, including Dad Keel and brothers unpacking and picking up our stranded car packed with essentials. We're pretty sure that Aunt Jackie had to sleep for a whole day just to recover! 

We still can't believe we're here and are trying to make the most of it. We had a week of unpacking and settling and then a weekend of fun. We went to Balboa Beach with extended family--Aunt Jana, Uncle Brian, Heather, Dillon, Kavan, and Calista, Fawn & Devon and all their cuties, Mom and Dad Keel, and brothers Levi and West, plus Uncle Rick's two girls, and Rachel's two kiddos too. We traveled for quite awhile with a couple puking incidents and finally found parking for everyone after almost giving up. The tide was in and the sun was setting; it was beautiful. We even saw dolphins pretty close to shore. We enjoyed almost 2 hours of wading and digging in the sand and then piled in the cars again for home. We haven't been to the beach since we were dating! James enjoyed body surfing and diving in and over the waves while we all soaked our feet nearer to shore. We got home around 9:30, ate pizza, bathed and then crashed in time to be awake at 10 for church. It was so awesome. 

Thank you to everyone who loves and supports us, we sure do appreciate all your effort, time, and thoughts on our behalf. We are so glad to be home, and excited for the next steps toward our future here despite any bumps in the road. Oh, and Congrats to Tyler and MiLinh for getting engaged we are so excited for you!!


Love, 


The James Anderson Family