The 2nd annual Elf Dance... doin' a 'jig'

Featuring: Andersen, Sara, Benjamin, Caleb and introducing 'Sparky'

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/enlStfZ1vQRLWZcs

Other Christmas Season Traditions...

Saturday I took Sara down to see her cousin Emma sing in a choir

from her school. They were performing at the Arlington Stake Center.

Local choirs are invited to perform every 30 minutes in the

chapel for people to enjoy. Of course,

it's a missionary type experience... and an impressive tradition.

Every year during this time some group of ambitious people

transform the whole building into room to room vinettes of

Nativities for 2 wks. This is to say they set up backgrounds and

back drops and people from the ward/stake/community

bring their Nativity collections for display.

It's incredibly amazing... easily over a thousand sets...

the one from Kenya made from Banana tree leaves was

pretty amazing. This year they set up a stable in the gym area

and provided all kinds of costumes that people could wear

and make their own live family nativity and take pics.

Clever.

After that we grabbed the rest of the family and went downtown

for our small town like Christmas parade where

classic car zealots and hot rodders get to polish up their jalopies and

parade them down the street pelting the crowds with candy.

Firetruck, marching band, motorcycle cops, trailers of

boy scout troops and red hat ladies...

you know, typical parade fun...

There's only certain occassions

when toddlers riding in the back of a truck is acceptable.

I did mention the candy right?

Caleb has learned how to capitalize on that little benefit...

The Nutcracker, part "deaux"

Last year Sara made her debut in
The Nutcracker Ballet
as a mouse in the Fight Scene.

This year she has reprised her role
and included me in her world
as a mom in the Party Scene...

AKA: Party Mom (hey, if the name fits....)

I have to admit, it was quite a
funtastic

mom & daughter experience.
We finished with our final performance today... a matinee. This is definitely a brilliant beginning to a holiday season.

PSYCH!!

Time to restart my blog?

A lot of life's activities and trials have been consuming my time and resources like a hungry forest fire. But I've missed out on marking some of the great and pivotal moments in my life. So, I suppose it's a good time to restart my blog. My new goal is maybe a weekly update? hmmm. stay tuned.

Sara's Baptism

It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon on March 30th.

Bluebonnets were just barely in bloom,

trees sprouting their tender new leaves,

and Sara was surrounded by family and friends

to witness and celebrate

her Baptism and Confirmation.

Mom & Dad were there.... (of course!)

Grandpa and Grandma Newman came from Boise

to be here for the special event.

Grandpa and Grandma Andersen came from Pocatello

to make sure they didn't miss anything.

And of course Sara's brothers were all there.

Sara was baptized by her Dad.

footloose and fancy free. Remember feeling like this?


All the family love and support - Sara is definitely loved dearly.
Wish everyone could have been here!

Sara's Birthday Week!

When Sara turned eight last week, the party kept going...

and going.......

and going.....

and going......

and going.....

and going......

Festivities included brownie cake with sprinkles; a crew of cousins; a couple of Aunts & an Uncle; 2 sets of Grandparents; Beauty and the Beast tickets and a white party dress.

A very memorable day.

Northwest Retreat

Some things never change. I had a lot of nostolgic moments on my trip to Seattle last week. I relished the rare opportunity to return to the places I grew up in. One place that brought back a lot of memories was the Sumner Food Center. Troy & I and sometimes Melody would trek about 4 blocks down the road from where we lived to spend our berry pickin' money on candy and gum. Ahhh the simple days of youth. Other notable changes - there are 2 more homes built on the lot of my childhood home (in addition to our home!) and my middle school is now a shipyard (sans ships) by the railroad... so I suppose other things do, in fact, change.

One new change in the scenery - our dear friends..... 'the Wellborns' are now happily nestled in a super cool tucked away home on the shore of a lake in Black Diamond. I was able to snap a pic of Aaron and Michele with their newest peanut: Jane. I've always known Aaron as a perpetual student - so it was a bit surreal to see him putting his dreams into reality with his dental practice getting it's roots in Issaquah. Aaron has always been talented - but it was impressive to see all his hard work realized. He even gave me a very snappy cleaning! Thanks for the polish Aaron! I have missed my beautiful and talented friend Michele. We reminisced about how difficult it is to find couples to date - and what a perfect match we were for each other - long lost loves.... the theme of the day. Baby Jane is posing with her big sister Macy and her big brother Isaac. And then in all her glory - Maddie was in rare form after her Suessical Musical practice.... I remember when she was so so small! It's so cool to see Madeline sharing the same theatrical love as her mom. And as you can see from the picture - she's as silly fun as her dad.

Of course, the main purpose of my visit was to see my beautiful, fantanbulous, incredible niece Amber in her Miss Auburn pageant. Amber looked amazing in her red gown she wore for her talent, and you can see her brother Johnathan dressed up so nicely for the event! Little sister Sammie was a diligent score keeper - sure to be a future judge! I'm just so glad she sat by me and brought some contraband: Chocolate. Sammie, incidentally, has allowed me to officially adopt her as my niece - lucky me - she's wonderful, and we share a love for Ivar's clam chowder. Just as I was sure Justin was invisible, he appeared in time for a few noogies from a long since seen Looney Aunt. Justin recently finished basic training and is fixin' to be a brave defender of our country in Iraq by June. And it was really wonderful to catch up and spend time with their incredible mother Jane. There were many memories shared, jokes told, and plentiful hugs. It was a serendipitous occurance that I missed my flight home and was able to indulge in one more day with my nieces and nephews as we spent a relaxed and casual Sunday watching the superbowl and wrestling with Julie's (Jane's sister) son Brandon.... what a cutie! Who knew my little lego keychains could bring such joy to a little boy. I just had to keep clear of his wet willies - quite a precocious 4 yr old - just like I like 'em. Overall I was just so touched by the warm welcome I had, and really proud of what wonderful young adults my nephews and nieces have grown into. I love Amber's fiery independence, Johnathan's social sensitivity and passion for the culinary arts, Justin's love for gaming, friends and rock concerts, and Sammie's generous frienship and her not so girly competitive athletisism - and of course our shared love of food! Thanks to Ken for keeping things steady and rolling along at home so I could enjoy an amazing and unforgettable retreat. Can't wait to return!