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