Christmas Pictures

A little late but here are some Christmas pictures of Kira. We had a good time in California but we are glad that Christmas is still 12 months away.
Kira had a good time playing with her cousins and just hanging out....

Meeting Santa, she wasn't at all sure about the big red dude...


Opening presents... next year she'll be able to do it by herself!


"For the last Mom... I'm pretty enough without the bow on my head!...Geez!"

And at the Anderson house...

Organized chaos


Rinny looks mad!.... I guess if all I got was a hanger... I would be mad too!!


Oh... Princess Stuff!


Kira and Corinne hanging on the big girl couch.


"Ok, you take the envelopes, I'll take what's inside"



Sshhh... don't let the big girls see!

Resolutions

I have never been one on making resolutions and then keeping them. But this year I feel that I should really try. While attending my mother-in-laws ward on Sunday her bishop suggested that if making a whole years resolution is too much to digest then to make one every day. It can be the same one everyday and in doing that my daily resolution may become a habit and then you can move onto something else.... So this is my goal as a person, a wife and a mother... and even a goal as a family.
I'm not sure what they are exactly but I'll be sure to let you know when I decide.

This year's music selections come from the wedding slideshow we put together for our reception, with one added song.The added song is Dela by Johnny Cregg. The lyrics are as follows:
Dela (I Know Why The Dog Howls At The Moon)

One day I looked up and there you stood
Like a simple question looking for an answer
Now I am a whale listening to some inner call
Swimming blindly to throw myself upon your shores
But what if I don't find when I have landed
Would you leave me here to die on your shores stranded?
I think I know why the dog howls at the moon.
I think I know why the dog howls at the moon.

I say:
"Dela! Dela! Ngiyadela!
(Content, content I am content)
When I am with you!
Dela! Sondela mama!
(Closer, closer, come closer mama)
I burn for you!

Chorus:
I've been waiting for you all my life -- waiting for a miracle
I've been waiting day and night -- waiting for redemption
I burn for you

A blind bird sings inside the cage that is my heart
And the image of your face comes to me when I'm alone in the dark
If I could give a shape to this ache that I have for you
If I could find the voice that says the words that capture you
I think I know, I think I know
I think I know why the dog howls at the moon.

I say:
"Dela! Dela! Ngiyadela!
(Content, content I am content)
When I am with you!
Dela! Sondela mama!
(Closer, closer, come closer mama)
I burn for you!

Chorus
I could only find a 41 second clip of it but I love this song for a lot of reasons. Dela is a Zulu word meaning content, I lived in Africa for a while and with the help of my mother feel in love with African type songs.
It might sound weird that contentment is the topic of "My song of the year" but I really am so blessed with the things I already have. The Lord has given us so much and I really want to concentrate this year on being content and grateful for the things I already have instead on concentrating on those things I don't. As for the other songs, well they are just songs Jacob and I like and have special meaning to us.
Anyway heres to wishing you all a very Happy New Year and I'll keep you posted on the Resolutions.

I got tagged

Veronica Castro - Rueckert tagged me so I must post the 4th picture in my 4th folder... I apologize it's not a great one... This was taken early fall of 1989. This is my mothers family taken with a polaroid which I have scanned in an effort to put together something that looks like a family history... specific things I love about this picture. Click to enlarge.
- my dad is wearing a pink shirt
- my uncle is wearing no socks (viva la miami vice)
- there are 4 generations in this picture including my great Aunt Ann



I tag Olivia, Korie, and Jo

What is that you think of when you think of Vegas?

Casinos, lot's of lights, heat in the summer... but when we moved to Vegas I never ever thought I would walk out my front door and see this... (Click to enlarge)






It got thicker as the day wore on but aparently this is the most snow fall since the year of my birth... 1979. And my first white christmas in 6 years.
Send us warm thoughts!

24 Hours with Kira

Kira has been both a lot of fun and a lot of work.... For some reason unknown to Jacob and me, Kira won't sleep through the night on Saturday Nights. Only Saturday nights when we have to get to church at 9:00 am. This past Saturday she woke up every two hours on the dot... so Jacob and I took turns. And He took the 3:30 wake up. She woke up again at 5:45 and I went in to make sure she had her pacifier and her blanket... and then when it was time to wake up for church she wasn't having it. So I finally went in around 9:00 am (yes, we were late for church) and found her like this ......





Then last night after dinner we were sitting in the Living Room watching Football and Iron Chef America (at the same time) with Jacob and pulled out some Oreos (darn center aisle displays). Anyway, we shared some with Kira and got these....





Then she was off to bed and I wrapped some Christmas gifts... I put the wrapping paper away in a laundry basket that was sitting in the living room so I could put it in my room, well I went to bed later than I wanted and left it out in the living room. Kira woke up and started to play after her diaper change and I went in the bedroom to start putting the clothes I had already folded away and came out to this....





So... that is Kira's life in the last 24 hours..... fun huh?

KIRA MARIE!!!

I feel like I say this a lot lately!!! I really do love her more than I could ever have imagined but she can be the most exasperating girl!
Example: After the much talked about post regarding Kira eating her weight in cardboard boxes I went out and bought some door locks. But being as unorganized and busy as we are they never quite made it ON the doors... and all was forgotten because Kira stopped playing in that cupboard for a good two months. And then one day while I was cooking she saw me open the said cupboard and remembered the fun she used to have... but instead of eating cardboard she started doing this:



Yeap... that's right. Taking my cans and putting them haphazardly all around her room. Even sometimes stacking them.
Needless to say the locks are now on the doors, which doesn't make her very happy at all, but at least my cans are safe!

We also had to move her crib away from the wall:

because instead of taking her nap, she would lay on her back with her legs between the slats and pound on the walls.... I'll tell you - that girl!

Some other exasperating reasons for be to be saying KIRA MARIE!!!
*having an affinity for the trash can - she throws her clothes (or some other type of fabric)away.
*On Thanksgiving I found her stuck under the dining table between the bottom of the table and the top of the chairs... screaming her head off because she was stuck.

It's a good thing she's so cute!

Thanksgiving and the Hoover Dam

We spent our second married thanksgiving without family this past weekend. Our first was when we went on our cruise on our honeymoon... Anyway, we invited up some old friends and they accepted. We were very happy! Martin, Susy and Tanner Ferreira joined us up in Vegas on Wednesday night.

On Thursday morning Martin got started on the turkey and we spent most of the day talking about this and that. We were hoping to be able to take Kira and Tanner to the park but it rained all day. Anyway, around 3 Jacob started on the potatoes, I started the green bean casserole and the sweet potatoes and by 5:30 we sat down to eat. It wasn't until I was listing all of my favorite Thanksgiving foods that I remembered that I forgot to make the stuffing...(my second favorite) Oh well... there is always next year.

On Friday we decided to venture out and explore more of the Las Vegas area. We started at the Ethel M chocolate factory which was a little disappointing as the workers were off until Tuesday so all we got to see what the empty kitchens where the chocolate is made... but it was free and they give you free samples at the end... Tanner managed to get two ... must be those cute puppy dog eyes...

Then it was off to Hoover Dam... a place Jacob loves. He says they have the most beautiful bathrooms of anywhere he has ever been.. a weird compliment I know but it was what kind of inspired us to do an art deco theme for our reception. There is a lot of history that goes with the Hoover Dam. It was built during the depression so it has a definite 30 /40 ish feel to it. Anyway, we took the Power Plant tour which took us way down into the mountains to see a lot of mechanical stuff I don't understand but here are some pictures.....


Martin and Tanner taking in the miracle that is the Hoover Dam


A Diagram of the Hoover Dam


The big turbines that create the power... 52% of which goes to Los Angeles... Damn Californians


One of many Native American symbols spread throughout the Dam


One of the tunnels you walk through.


A picture of people driving over the Dam from Arizona



We just want to thank Martin and Susy for coming up and spending their Thanksgiving with us. We had a great time and we hope you did too!