We just got this photo done for Bella's one-year old birthday.  

Kate "tagged" me, so here goes - though I may not put 8 things in each category:)

8 things I not only like but love - Samantha, Channing, Logan, Carter, Chloe, Benny, Annabelle, and Nolan - and 8 more things - Justin and Velvet, Ryan and Amber, Wes and Kate, Hayley and Spencer.

8 foods I really like - See's chocolates, filet minon, lobster, shrimp cocktail, my dad's turkey dressing, popcorn at the movies, mashed pot. with gravy (I am an Anderson, after all) and any of my aunt Agda's homemade pies (which we have all missed).

8 words or phrases I say a lot - "Don't tell your dad", "I love you", "I'm a little dingy", "I ache", "Love" (pet name for Vern), "quit picking at your fingers" (to Vern), "I wish I had a day to just sit down and read", "bye hon".

8 things to do before I die - read Ryan's novel if he ever completes it, go on a Mediterranean cruise, take all my kids on an adult trip, get all my children and grandchildren in one place at the same time, attend the temple again with all my children, complete all my unfinished projects, loose 25 lbs. more, see grandchildren married in the temple.

8 places to visit - the rest of Europe, Australia, Grand Canyon, Nauvoo, start golfing again so visiting golf courses, Vern's aging aunt Mildred, New York's Ground Zero, Scotland.

8 things I have learned from the past - Listen to the prophet, don't sweat the small stuff, stop and smell the roses, really really pick your battles with your children, be a parent first (don't just try to be their friend because that will come), there are times to be nice and times to truly stick up for you and yours, money doesn't make you happier, you don't need a lot of "stuff", and as a bonus here are a couple more - pay lots of attention to your husband/wife and cherish them, serving others truly brings you happiness, you won't please everyone no matter how hard you try and that's okay........................................... the list could go on and on.

8 wants or needs - I want to make a difference in this world and leave my mark, I want to see all of my children and grandchildren live the gospel, I want to be able to do hard things when I am called upon to do them, I want to serve, I want my husband to think I am great, I want to challenge my brain, I want my children to remember all the fun and good times (and not just the silly stories they always tell), I want my family to know that being their wife, mother, mother-in-law, and grandmother is the most important thing to me.

Love, MOM

Alpine Loop

We took a beautiful drive after Conference yesterday through the Alpine loop.  It's activities like this that make me never want to leave Utah.  Samantha is really starting to enjoy the outdoors and Annabelle is always happy when she is strapped to her dad.  Annabelle is already 1 years old this Saturday!  

Great Videos of Cute Kids

Here are a few really cute videos that I have been meaning to post for quite a while.
Enjoy!!


Carter and the Reindeer Moose

Samantha's inchworm.

One can not defeat two, but two can defeat one.

Smooth moves by Benny.

A pretty song

This is the shorter of the two videos I took- hope you like it. Listen for "A pretty walk, A pretty run..." and the breath at the end after "wish i could be". I love it when he sings this. He gets pretty into it.
- Hay

Jackson, Bear Lake and Yellowstone

Ah Ha! I'm back! I have to use my apple computer to post anything now. I'll be doing more blogging. Go to our utah Staub link to see some photos of our 4 day adventure.

Funny Fishing Video

Spence and I got a good laugh out of this tonight and thought we'd share it with you. The way this guy says "Dadgummit" really reminds me of Dad. Enjoy.

A Trip Down Memory Lane

I decided to whip out the scanner tonight and download a few pics. I had such a good time going through old pictures. What a lot has happened in such a short time! Anyway, I thought these were some classics. I don't really have that many pictures of our family, though. I think I have another box of stuff out in our shed. If I find some more good ones I'll scan them and put them on here. Sorry there aren't more. I don't think Basil ever got over having worms. Eew. But check out the blue and mauve decor. I love it. Someone else probably knows when this is more than me. For some reason I've had it in my mind that it's at the airport for something. Probably some cool trip that Wes and I got left behind on again. But what is with Dad's hand??
I know this was Justin's wedding. If it were Ryan's, it would be a picture of me with my head in the toilet and then in the emergency room. Check out how skinny we are. (and there's Justin in the background. I think I can see his ripped abs from here)

My guess on this one is Christmas sometime. That's just a wild guess but I'm pretty sure Mom's sweet sweater gives it away. If I had to stick a year on it, from the necklaces and shirt I'm wearing, I'm gonna say about 1998. I think that's still Dad's favorite winter jacket. Apparently Wes didn't exist in my former at-home life (or at least I didn't want him to). I don't think I have a picture of the kid anywhere. Hope you enjoyed my little journey. Let me know if you have any more details on these pictures. ~Hay

New Bass Boat!!

Check out this footage from a guy that just bought the same bass boat as dad. Hope ours has the same effect.

Between Ryan and Hayley, I have finally figured out how to get on our family blog and post something - so here goes.

My stories won't be as clever and cute and the other girls post, but you will at least know what it going on here with g'ma and papa.

Dad just called and both the old fishing boat and the SeaRay ski boat got sold today. He and Wes were fishing in the "GeeWhiz" beautiful new fishing boat, but were catching squat. We going to have the boathouse tweaked a little to house the new boat, and the future and upcoming party boat, and still keep the wave runner. We have a guy coming up with a plan. This guy is also going to put an overhang cover over the complete deck, and we will have fans, etc., so that should make sitting out there much more pleasant.

Two blog-worthy things have happened to me in the past few weeks, so I will share them. You probably have to be me to fully appreciate both.

First, a few weeks ago I opened a can of DelMonte spinach. I heated the entire can and began to eat it. After a few bites, something large and hard, unlike spinach, hit my tongue. I immediately spewed it out on to my plate. It made a little "thunk". I took a knife that was sitting there and started to part the green spinach away when - wings - yes, wings, popped out. I about died. Upon further inspection, it was a cooked flying beetle, a pretty large one. GROSS doesn't begin to cover it. Needless to say, that was it for me on canned spinach. UGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Second, last weekend I was taking care of Channing and Chloe while Ryan and Amber were on their cruise. To be a good grandma I took them to lunch at McDonald's so they could play on the playground. WELL - suffice it to say we became the McDonald's lunch time entertainment when Chloe (tiny little thing that she is) wormed her way up to the tippy top and furthest edge of what I now call "the gerbil tubes" and commenced to get seriously freaked-out and wouldn't/couldn't make herself move to get down. My first thoughts were of me at about the age of 7 when my brother Craig talked me in to climbing up a huge tree in a field near our house and when I got pretty far up there, I wouldn't/couldn't move from fear. Craig went home and got our dad. Dad came and tried EVERYTHING to get me down, and then the poor man just finally climbed the tree and somehow made it down with a sobbing little girl hanging on him. So, I tried the same thing - to talk Chloe down. NO WAY! So, next, I tried to get her to come down with Channing. NO WAY! You must also understand, that I could hear her but because those tubes are solid, I couldn't see her and she couldn't see me. She was getting hysterical by now. A little Asian man was there with his kid and said he could probably go up and just grab her and make her come down, but I thought Chloe might pass out with that one, so I declined the help. After a few moments of wondering how a too tall and chunky grandma of 59 was going to twist herself this way and that and start climbing up there, I just jumped in a tube and started. Oh My Gosh - those things are definitely made for little children. I honestly said a quick pray and had to keep going on faith - I was so hot and chlostophobic (I have no idea how to spell that) but I keep following the sound of "Grandma, help me". My heart was pounding. Finally I could tell I was getting close. It was probably only a couple of minutes but it seems hours. I could tell I was right under her, but I couldn't turn around. So, I put my hands up where I was sure she could see them, praying she would take my hands and I could pull her down. NO WAY! I just quickly and miraculously twisted my body (thank heaven I lost all that weight) so that I could barely stick my head up and she could see my eyes. When our eyes met she quit crying and starting that deep breathing thing we all do after sobbing. Then, finally, she moved toward me. I grabbed her and we hugged for a couple of minutes. We were both relieved. Coming back down was much easier than getting up. We were quite the talk of all the people in McDonald's. After exiting (which was probably not a minute too soon for them) we all came home, and all three of us had to have a nap. What a trauma.

By the way, I love ALL of your blogs! Let's get Velvet going.

Well - that's it for tonight. Love to all---MOM

Happy Easter

We spent Easter weekend at the lake house. We couldn't have picked a better weekend to be there, the weather was beautiful. The kids had a great time doing all the traditional easter activities. They colored eggs, hunted eggs, ate everything inside the eggs and then didn't care anymore about the eggs.

Papa bought a new fishing boat. It's pretty cool! The guys were very excited to try it out and you can see from the pictures they had great success! We love the lake house and are so glad we have somewhere to meet as a family and escape the everyday life. Chloe cried Sunday morning when we woke her up to come home. She didn't want to leave. Thanks grandma and papa for the great weekends at the lake house.

I thought this was funny because Mom and I just had a conversation about this when she was here for Nolan's blessing. We were talking about where the phrase "cut the cheese" came from. Anyway, I thought it was very appropriate for our family. Hope you enjoy.
Hay

Alert the Media...

Wes has done it, he is no longer addicted to nose spray. Please make sure to congratulate him as this has been a difficult process.

Family Weekend

Wes and Kate came to visit last weekend. We had a great time. Grandma took Logan and Channing to see Alvin and the Chipmunks. They loved it. Ryan, Wes and Vern spent some time drooling over some sweet boats at Bass Pro Shop. Kate and I had fun getting a manicure. On Monday we all went to the zoo. It was a beautiful day to be outside and the kids loved looking at all the animals, ok I did too. We are glad Kate and Wes live close enough that we can get together often. We wish you all could have been here.

The Boys

The other morning when Nolan woke up I heard Carter yelling, "MOM! I'M LAYING WITH THE BABY! COME LOOK AT US!" I grabbed the video camera and got some footage. Nolan's had a really stuffy nose so I have him inclined on a pillow and Carter was laying on it with him and putting a blanket over the both of them. It was TOO cute. I hope your kids like this video as much as Carter has liked Chloe's. He has watched it probably 50 times. I'm not kidding. It's a hit. Every time I'm on the computer now he says he wants to watch Chloe. So I put the arrow on the "play" button and he just clicks the button to make it play over, and OVER and OVER and OVER and OVER....you get the picture.

I Love To See The Temple

This is one of Chloe's favorite songs to sing. Also, I finally created a Ryan and Amber family blog. Check it out!
h-townstaubs.blogspot.com

"Nana" Ain't Flyin' so Far

We've tried to convert Carter to "Nana" today and it's been a bit of a struggle. Papa was playing with him in his room and said, "Go get Nana!" and Carter said, "Yeah, I go get banana" So the rest of the morning Carter called her "Banana". It's been rough for the rest of us to try and remember as well. That's half the battle.
Anyway, my opinion is that we can still do it. Mom says she thinks it's a cute idea but doesn't care enough about it. So as I write about it we are deciding to give it up. Now Carter is thoroughly confused.

A New Name for Grandma

Dad and I have decided that Grandma's new name is going to be "Nana". Mom is in favor. Let us know what you think.

Hair Cute...

That's funny. It was actually a type-o when I typed hair "cute" but sense it worked, I left it. Awww, isn't that precious??

Here's a pic of the new 'do, along with a goofy smile.

And our next-door neighbor's dogs had puppies a few weeks ago. They are SO cute. Here's a pic. The puppy was giving Carter kisses on the nose and he was getting a kick out of it. And yes, this weed-filled background is supposed to be my garden.

I can't even describle how beautiful the weather's been every day. It's been so gorgeous- I never want to come inside. It's awesome. I love California winters.

Here's a pic from Disneyland. Tigger's fur is super orange. I'm not sure I like it. He needs to tone down the dye. He keeps himself really clean, though, and is really soft. Carter was speechless (for once).

Disappearing Post

I'm concerned for our blog. A post has mysteriously disappeared. What the heck happened to it? It was there just last week and now it's gone. Wierd.
Anyway, we're settled back into normal life after Christmas. It's a bitter-sweet feeling that the holidays are over. There's not much to look forward to (minus M&D's visit out here soon) for the next few months but I am glad to get a routine back. BTW, anyone who wants to come for Nolan's blessing- it's the first weekend in February. I don't think that anyone else will come but thought I'd throw the invitation out there anyway. Pretty sure we're all too poor.
Nolan is sleeping through the night now. It's fabulous. I don't even worry about him waking me up anymore, he's gotten so consistent. He had his shots on monday- 3 shots, 6 immunizations. He wasn't a very happy camper all day and had a touch of a fever that night. It was so sad.
Carter got a new hair cut and it makes him look so much older (and Gerrold thinks it makes him look like Wes) I'll get a picture out here sometime soon. It's cute on him.
Well that's pretty much what's going on around here. We went to Disneyland yesterday. For more info and pics, check out my family blog.
Hay