Halloween and November Events and Projects

Hello again. Time sure flies around this time of year. Excuse our tardiness in posting! So many things to report, but we'll just give the highlights.

Riley Mae is as cute as ever, and can get around pretty well now! Hope you enjoy this short video of her initial attempts. 

Dean had fun feeding her one evening, and we happened to get it on video for you too. 

Halloween was a fun time for us. We were able to enjoy three separate events that made it very fun this year. First was the Ward Party, where we all dressed up. We went in unco-ordinating costumes of a ZooKeeper, a Mad Scientist, a pumpkin and a lady bug. It was fun to dress up. 

Next was Grandma Goulding's 75th birthday party. Brittany designed the announcement (below) and we all enjoyed surprising Grandma. We got to visit with family, eat an amazing Rocky Road cake, and get to know Grandma Viola better. Dean kept snatching M&M's off of her cake, too. Lil' stinker! Good thing Gma V let him because she loves him so much! She is so amazing and we are so glad that she chose to be a mom, and grandma, and great-grandma to us even though she could have done anything she wanted to in this life with all the talents God gave her. 

(Dean with Gpa K, holding a "ball-la-loon" as he calls them. He loved playing with it!)

Halloween Night we had the kids dress up again, but we parents were boring and decided not to. :) It was so cute seeing Dean and Riley wearing costumes we borrowed from James' parents though, and knowing that they were costumes worn by him and his brothers and sisters when they were little. We have a picture of James around age 2 wearing the same pumpkin outfit that both Dean and Riley wore this year. Isn't that so fun? We loved it! Riley wore the pumpkin outfit and got to hangout in the stroller with Mommy, while Dragon Dean and Daddy went door to door for Trick or Treating. 


It was so adorable watching Dean actually go door to door this year! At first he was scared, but when Daddy went all the way up to the door with him he calmed down and said Trick-or-Treat pretty well, and even said "Thank you very much" on his way back to show us what he got. Everyone thought he was so cute. 


We only walked around for about an hour and Riley slept through half of it. We got to visit with Ray and Christina, and Gma and Gpa Anderson, and Uncle Joel. It was so fun going with them and getting to share the evening with them all. Cousin Camden even dressed up as a Knight so he could be pals with Dragon Dean (who really enjoyed snarling like one too, we might add). It was really fun showing up on Gma V's door too and letting her see Dean and Riley all dressed up on her birthday. Such sweet moments with the family this holiday season so far! 

(Feed the dragon!) 

Throughout the rest of the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, Brittany has been striving to make beautiful meals to share with everyone when they finally join her at the end of a long day. Here are two of our new favorites: Baked Chicken Chimichungas, and Broccoli Cheese Twists. 

As a family, we also enjoyed putting some 24 days of Christmas presents together to send to Brittany's brother Bryce who is serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He is currently in one of the areas near Star Valley, Wyoming, so hopefully, Elder Keel will be able to enjoy his last holiday season serving the Lord before he returns home in February 2012 and not freeze too badly in the process.  We sure do love him, and can't wait to hear what he thinks about his packages!

Brittany has also been busy with some sewing projects. She bought fabrics to do baby bedding in the colors she wanted in the babies' room and finally got around to making her first project: a quilt for Riley. And while she was at it she made one for Vance Richard Nielsen too, who was just born in the beginning of November. We hope it got to him okay, and that it works for him in the cold winters of Idaho! Riley sure loves her blanket, even if it is mommy's first try! :) 

We hope this tides you over until our next post. So many fun things to share coming soon! 


Love, 


The James Anderson Family

October is an Exciting Month Around Here!

Dean got to go visit the VVC ducks and geese with Daddy...

Riley got to visit with her cousin Matthew for the first time! He is only 11 days older than her. It was really cute watching them together and seeing how different they both are. Even though they're both so close in age and big kiddos, they're very different otherwise!

Most of the Anderson Family (Ray, Liz, James and our families and Joel and Mom and Dad) went to the pumpkin patch for pictures and fun...some of our favorite finds were a really tiny, perfect pumpkin, and a medium-sized bumpy one; we thought it looked like a brain.

AND RILEY TURNED 6 MONTHS! So we went and took some amateur photos to commemorate this...

We're so glad we're so close to family for all the holidays again! It's so much fun! We can't wait to post some pictures of the Halloween costumes our kids borrowed to wear, they're so cute.

Also, we were recently called to be Valiant 8 (nine year old class) primary teachers and are working with a bright group of kids. We really enjoyed teaching for our first time today, together, and hope we can do our best with this new calling.

Happy October everyone!

Love,

The James Anderson Family

Solvang

As previously mentioned, we had the opportunity as a family to take a trip so that James could attend an important interview. Since the interview was taking place in Solvang, CA, close to where Brittany grew up in Lompoc, CA, she knew there would be a lot of family fun to be had there. We all left by 8:00 in the morning and after a few adventures (car-sick Dean twice, getting turned around, and hungry Riley) we finally made it there by about 12:15 in the afternoon. James helped get the kids piled out for a picnic with Brittany, while he went in for his interview. He was inside for at least 45 minutes and came out with a good feeling about how he presented himself. Even if he isn't the right match for their firm because of his own personal goals and dreams, it was a good experience for him. We're so thankful! 

After lunch, we all decided to go down the street to visit some of the down-home family entertainment. Just down the street from the interview we found an apple orchard, pumpkin patches, a mini horse ranch, and an amazing park that looked like a huge Disney Princess castle. We didn't get to enjoy the park this time, but maybe we will be able to another time. We did however love getting out to enjoy the other three places to take pictures. We even let Dean pick out his own pumpkin. He sure had an exciting day! 

After spending some time walking around in the country, we decided to hit the shops before they closed. Solvang is always good for some delicious treats and interesting finds. We saw a horse-drawn trolley, ate one whole Aebleskiver before we were attacked by bees and had to throw the rest away, saw lots of beautiful plants and flowers, watched many people trying to steer their surrey cycles around town, and even stopped for some fudge in-between watching our babies loving all the excitement and attention.   

We then piled in the car to begin the long drive home. Because we had to stop anyway we decided to do it at the Pacific View Mall around dinner time for one last hurrah as the sun was setting over the water. It sure was a perfect day for a trip to Central California! 

Love,

The James Anderson Family